Four Pillars has released a limited edition gin that smells and tastes like Christmas. The gin has been aged in sherry barrels and finished with a dash of delicious Rutherglen muscat. Four Pillars Australian Christmas Gin was inspired by distillery co-founder Cam’s love of Australia, Christmas, gin, and his late mum Wilma. Cam remembers his mum making the Christmas puddings on Derby Day while the rest of …

Bacardi has installed three 20-feet high bat habitats at its bottling plant in Florida. The caves can hold up to 500 bats and will help to protect the species, which are experiencing a decline in both numbers and habitats. The initiative forms part of the company’s Wildlife at Work program and is being run in partnership with Lubee Bat Conservancy, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to saving bats an…

From Hop Harvests to Brewery Cellar Doors… As craft beer has begun to firmly cement itself in the Australian market, so too have beer festivals. Where not too long ago you might have struggled to attend a couple of memorable beer events in a year, now you can get to something every month, if not every week. The scene has simply exploded. By Ian Kingham From the Beaujolais-style celebrations of the annu…

Winners of the 2016 NSW Wine Awards were announced today at the Gala Presentation Lunch at Pier One Sydney Harbour. For the first time in the awards history, a wine from Cowra – a region in Central NSW – received the top NSW Wine of the Year trophy. The Windowrie Estate 2015 ‘The Mill’ Shiraz was described by Chair of Judges, PJ Charteris, as “a wine that expresses its beautiful fruit first and foremost. …

The Bickford’s Group of Companies has launched a new on premise distribution business in South Australia that will look after the sale and delivery of its premium range of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. Liquid Art will provide its sister companies, VOK Beverages and Bickfords Australia, with an effective and efficient distribution model for high-end, influencer bars in the state. It has its own delive…

Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) has promised that it will have adequate supplies of beer for its customers and consumers this upcoming peak season. After concerns about its recent change of outsourced providers , CUB has been w orking with unions to resolve the dispute. CUB has addressed untrue claims and offered the following statement: “Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) has reassured their custome…

Bickford’s Group of Companies opened the doors to its new Twenty Third Street Distillery, barrel hall, visitor centre and cellar door in Renmark, South Australia in September . The former Renmano Winery was under construction for two years and is now the home to a new range of craft spirits, Australia’s largest brandy trademark and from 2017, Vickers London Dry Gin. The $6.6 million build was supported b…

Wine Communicators Australia has announced the finalists for the 2016 Wine Communicator Awards. Established in 2004, the awards program is now in its fourth year, recognising outstanding contribution to, and excellence in, wine communication in all its forms. Ten wine industry professionals have been selected to judge entries to six of the awards categories, while the New Writer of the Year Award will be …

Kangaroo Island Spirits received its new 300-litre pot still this week with hopes to increase production by ten times the amount the distillery is currently running at. The eleven-year-old distillery, founded by Jon (brother of Bill Lark, founder of Lark Distillery in Tasmania) and Sarah Lark, is one of Australia’s first dedicated gin distilleries and recently produced its five-hundredth batch of its Wil…

Stephanie Jacob, Assistant Wine Buyer at Supernormal in Melbourne has won the 18th Daniel Pontifex Scholarship. Awarded by the Daniel Pontifex Memorial Trust and Wine Australia, Stephanie will now receive a trip to Europe in 2017 to gain experience in some of the region’s finest restaurants and visit its wine regions. The scholarship is awarded to a recipient based in Australia and the UK in alternate yea…