A standout 2014 vintage for Shiraz and a terrific vintage for Semillon in 2015 were the highlights at this year’s 41st annual Clear Image Hunter Valley Wine Show, which saw “a serious swag of silverware dished out” according to visiting international Judge Sarah Ahmed. A record 420 winemakers and support crew gathered for one of the countries oldest regional wine shows, held this year at this year at Cypress Lake Resort. ...

New Zealand based Villa Maria Wine has claimed high honours at the 2015 Spiegelau International Wine Competition, receiving the title of ‘Champion Producer of the Show’, as well as two varietal trophies and an additional 12 gold medals across Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir. “It’s a great night out when our North and South Island winemaking and viticulture teams can walk away with a trophy each. That teamed ...

De Bortoli Wines has been recognised as an ABA100 Winner in Sustainability as part of the 2015 Australian Business Awards. The award underlines De Bortoli Wines’ achievements in implementing its “Re-Engineering Our Future for a Carbon Economy Project”, as part of the company’s goal of becoming a zero waste winery. Beginning in 2011 with a $4.8AUD million grant from the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program ...

The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society has announced the launch of the Australian Women in Wine Awards, acknowledging the work of women in the Australian wine industry. The awards - the first of their kind in Australia - will offer four categories to be judged by an Advisory Board made up of some of the industry’s leading female talent, including Jane Thomson - Founder and Managing Director of The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine ...

Held at the Glass Brasserie in Sydney’s Hilton Hotel, this week, Peter Forrestal, Rob Hirst, Sandra Przibilla and Judy Sarris revealed the winners of the 2015 Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards. The highlight of the night, the presentation of the esteemed Wine List of the Year Award, was received by Sydney’s Bentley Restaurant + Bar. “The winner of this year’s Australia’s Wine List of the Year was decided ...

Australia’s leading online businesses were recently recognised at the 2015 StarTrack Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAS), where two wine retailers, Vinomofo and Naked Wines together took home five of the awards’ 14 categories. Melbourne based online wine retailer Vinomofo secured three titles including Online Retailer of the Year Award, Best Pureplay Online Retailer and Best Online Marketing, following nominations over the last two years. Vinomofo co-founder and joint CEO Andre Eikmeier, says the ...

Announced at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, Amaro di Angostura has been named the Spirited Awards’ “Best New Spirit of Cocktail Ingredient” for 2015. Inspired by Don Carlos Siegert, the son of Angostura’s Founder, J.G.B Siegert, and who is recognised for putting Angostura aromatic bitters on the global stage in the 1880’s, Amaro di Angostura is a new liqueur from the house, reminiscent of the iconic Angostura aromatic bitters ...

International Spirits Challenge (ISC)  About the Awards:  The International Spirits Challenge is noted as one of the most authoritative and influential spirits competitions in the world. The ISC recognises three key areas of the industry: tasting, design and packaging, and marketing. The competition is founded on a rigorous and independent judging process, which serves to encourage the high calibre of spirits, designs and campaigns entered into the competition each year. ...

  Over the last two weeks, sommeliers from Australia and Asia Pacific have been hard at work sitting their examinations for the Introductory, Certified and Advanced, Court of Master Sommeliers certifications. Held only once a year in each of the countries involved in the programme, this year’s participation in Australia was the largest yet, with representation from New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand, Macau and Shanghai, as more and more ...

Telstra South Australia Business Awards and Telstra Western Australia Business Awards have each announced winners from the beverage industry, with Kalleske Wines named the South Australian Small Business of the Year and Great Southern Distilling Company announced as winner of the Western Australia Regional Award. Both winners will now proceed to the 2015 Telstra Australian Business Awards, to be announced in Sydney on 20 August. See below for further information ...