About half of the wine consumed in Australia reaches our dinner tables via a plastic container – the flexible bladder crammed inside chateau cardboard. But will we embrace the polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, plastic bottle so readily? Not since the cask appeared more than thirty years ago have we embraced any non-glass packaging so enthusiastically. … Continue reading Plastic set to take a slice of the glass wine bottle market →

We’ve all heard of Seppelt, Penfolds, Saltram, Yalumba and Orlando – great and enduring Barossa names. But what do we know of Tuesner, Tscharke, Lienert, Hentley Farm, Clos Otto, Gibson, Schild, Jenke, Haan, Kabinye, Langmeil, The Willows, Whistler, Kaesler, Kalleske, Torbreck, Three Rivers, Rockford, Veritas, Turkey Flat, Greenock Creek and Murray Street Vineyards? – to … Continue reading Micro makers focus on individual Barossa vineyards →

Australian winemakers seem to be copping bit of stick from some quarters for making inky, oaky, alcoholic shiraz – ‘caricatures’ some say, of wines that taste awful young and grow worse with age. But let’s not confuse these over-ripe, over-oaked, sometimes artificially concentrated reds with our very powerful, balanced, warm-climate styles. Many of these are … Continue reading Big reds are OK, too →

When will Australia’s most prestigious wine, Penfolds Grange, adopt the screw cap? It won’t, winemaker Peter Gago told me in Adelaide a few weeks ago. So are we doomed to throwing away the odd, corked $500 bottle forever? Not at all, says Peter. But we’ll have to wait a little while for his solution. It’s … Continue reading A new seal for Penfolds Grange →

The quality and style of several great Australian wine brands owned by Foster’s remain intact despite the wine division’s ten per cent sales decline in the first half 2006–07. But will great brands like Penfolds, Wynns and Wolf Blass flourish long term under the Foster’s banner? Will Foster’s remain in the wine business in the … Continue reading Will Foster’s stay in the wine business →