News

On Tuesday 5 March 2024, ABAREs released its Agricultural Commodities Report showing sustained downward pressure on grape pricing in 2023−24 and a gloomy outlook, at least in the medium term. Prices in Australia’s key production regions of the Riverina, Riverland and Murray Darling-Swan Hill are expected to fall substantially due to historically high carryover stocks …

Food and Grocery Code The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has recently launched an Independent Review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. The Food and Grocery Code does not currently cover wine however one of the questions asked by the reviewer is whether the Code should be extended to cover other aspects …

Australian Grape & Wine would like to notify all grape and wine producers that there has been a minor amendment to the appendices of the Australian Wine Industry Code of Conduct to make the dispute resolution procedure more efficient and more accessible to growers.  The change was in response to feedback from users and was …

A significant downturn in wine exports and high inventory levels in Australian wineries have led to supressed winegrape prices in many parts of Australia. These challenging times have raised general concerns from growers about the state of the market. We have also heard several more specific concerns regarding individual dealings with buyers. Although low prices …

Following the notification of grape vine red blotch virus (GRBV) detection in Western Australia in July 2022, Autumn surveillance and testing has been conducted in several States returning encouraging results.  The very low number of positive results indicate that spread of GRBV is likely to be low. With that in mind, we remain committed to …

As the weather is starting to warm up and more wine lovers are getting out and about to cellar doors, it’s time to check and see if you need any additional DrinkWise Stay tasteful while tasting resources. The resources (including the scratchie card) are designed to increase your visitors understanding of how many pours (tastings) …

Australian Grape & Wine were fortunate to attend the launch of the next generation of the world first “BeeConnected” app at Parliament House last month.  BeeConnected is an international award-winning free app that allows farmers and beekeepers to communicate and collaborate to protect managed honey bees from farm spray activities.  This ensures the safety of …

As noted in October’s Member Bites, copper sulphate has recently been permitted for use in Japan. The approval means that copper sulphate may be used in the winemaking process, before and after the completion of liquor production, for wine destined for Japan. Importantly, no changes have been made in relation to its use as an …

The European Union’s (EU) nutrition and ingredient requirements came into force on 8 December 2023. In late November 2023, the EU published a Q&A document seeking to clarify aspects of the regulations. Since the last update Australian Grape & Wine has continued to work with World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) members, Comité Vins (CEEV) and …

In previous updates we have provided information on Australian Grape & Wine’s extensive efforts to retain Australian wine producers rights to continue to produce and label the Prosecco grape variety. This includes both the domestic market as part of the EU – Australia FTA and internationally in markets like Singapore, the United States and elsewhere …