Bombay Sapphire’s Project Botanicals is back again this year and, for the first time since its launch, the initiative is being held in Sydney. Project Botanicals, a five course degustation inspired by and designed to match Bombay’s ten botanicals, roped in five of Sydney’s top bars to help design the 2015 menu. The Barber Shop, Eau-de-Vie, The Rook, This Must Be The Place and The Pocket Group partnered wi…

Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) has named third generation family member and Executive Director at Brown Brothers, Ross Brown, 2015 Victorian Legend of the Vine. The title recognises an individual who has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the Australian wine industry. Ross, a member of the board of Wine Victoria, is also a member of the advisory board for Victorian Regional Tourism, an…

Australian wine author and educator Jayne Powell has won her court case against the French-based committee for Champagne, CIVC.  Jayne Powell The court case began a number of months ago, with CIVC alleging that Jayne Powell had been misleading members of the public by promoting sparkling wines under her Champagne Jayne trademark. CIVC said Powell had “damaged the goodwill of the Champagne sector” and wan…

The 2014-15 Vineyard Census is out now, including key viticultural information for wine and grape businesses. Funded by Wine Australia, the census provides current information on grape varieties, yields and water use in each region. This year’s census shows overall vineyard plantings have declined in Australia, since the last survey in 2012. The most planted red varieties currently are shiraz, cabernet sa…

A new boutique distributor has opened for business in Australia. Coined The Pisco People, the distributor is also a wholesaler and online retailer that specialises in importing piscos from South America. Currently The Pisco People is importing from four South American producers, including Viñasde Oro, Pisco Portón, De Carral and Cuatro G’s. Styles in the portfolio include single variety Quebranta and Ital…

Shares in Treasury Wine Estates rose to $7.40 this week, after the company announced it had raised $368 million to help fund its acquisition of Diageo’s wine business in the US and UK. The new share price set on Monday, October 19 is 15 per cent higher from the following Monday. Chairman Paul Rayner said last week that the acquisition of Diageo Wine represents a highly compelling strategic and financial o…

The Boards of SabMiller and AB InBev have announced that they have reached an agreement on the key terms of a takeover offer. The ‘Possible Offer’ agrees to GBP 44.00 per share for SABMiller, representing a 50 per cent increase from SABMiller’s closing share price on 14 September 2015. The statement said that the Board of SABMiller was happy to recommend the all-cash offer of GBP 44.00 per SABMiller share…

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) made public its intention to purchase Diageo’s wine operations in the US and UK today, Wednesday 14 October. The acquisition will include both US based Chateau and Estate Wines, as well as the Percy Fox business in the UK for $754 million. Media have been speculating for some months now as to whether Diageo would sell Diageo Wine, after the spirits business said it had received…

Diageo has sold its shareholding in Jamaican brewer Desnoes & Geddes Ltd. (D&G) and GAPL Pte Limited (GAPL) to Heineken for 20 per cent of the Guinness business in Ghana. The sale sees the spirits company’s shareholding in Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) increase to 72.42 per cent. As a result, Heineken has gained Diageo’s 57.87 per cent shareholding in D&G and 49.99 per cent in GAPL. …

Tobacco company Altria has urged the Board of brewer SABMiller to accept the latest takeover proposal from Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev). AB InBev on Wednesday upped its cash offer for SABMiller to GBP 42.15 per ordinary share, with a partial share alternative. Altria, SABMiller’s biggest shareholder with a 27 per cent stake, subsequently issued a strongly worded statement in support of the revised bid….