News

Australian Grape & Wine has established the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Wine (DEIW) Committee because we believe that the Australian grape and wine sector can – and should – be driving positive cultural change in all workplaces, in all regions of our sector. See the DEIW Committee’s Statement of Intent here. How concerned are you about diversity, …

A reminder to Australian grape and wine producers of the available online resources for Vintage 2023. Combined, the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), Wine Australia and Australian Grape &Wine have a number of resources available to winegrape growers and winemakers for use during our annual harvest. We have pulled together a list of Industry endorsed …

As noted in previous editions of Member Bites, the European Union (EU) is expected to implement new requirements for products sold on the European market to include Nutritional and Ingredient labelling. These requirements were established under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reforms, implemented in 2021. They establish a framework for wine labelling of nutritional …

In late December 2022, the United Kingdom (UK) Government announced it would extend the Alcohol Duty Freeze, due to end on 1 February 2023, by six months, to 1 August 2023. This was a welcomed relief, providing greater assurance for the Australian wine sector, which has faced uncertainty around duties for wine exported to the …

On 30 November 2022, the European Commission announced it would revise the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Key objectives of this review is to: These objectives aim to support the targets established under the European Green Deal and the new circular economy action plan that strives towards “all packaging on the EU market being reusable …

Whether written or spoken, an agreement between two parties that involves an offer and acceptance is normally considered to be a contractual obligation. Therefore, a decision not to buy grapes or to downgrade grapes requires careful consideration. It is important that methods used to assess quality in the vineyard are as objective as possible and in …

The Australian Government recently confirmed that both the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), and the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) had moved one step closer to entry into force, as they were successfully passed through the Australian Parliament during the week of 21 November 2022. Concurrently, Minister for Trade and Tourism, the Hon …

Recent weather conditions in certain regions have unfortunately been conducive to downy mildew infection. Phosphorous acid is a registered fungicide that is commonly used to prevent or control downy mildew; however, residues in wine are to be expected if it is used at any time during the growing season. Although Australia has a maximum residue …

Members will be well aware of the decision to implement a tri-colour, mandated pregnancy warning label on their containers (e.g. bottles, casks, cans) and on outer packaging (e.g. cartons), all of which enters into force on 1 August 2023. We knew the requirements to place a red, white and black warning statements on cartons was …

It was disappointing and surprising to read the New South Wales Environment Minister’s press release of 15 October 2022 that the Government was proposing to include wine bottles in the New South Wales Container Deposit Scheme (CDS). This announcement, made with no consultation or forewarning with the wine sector, would – under a conservative estimate …