To commemorate the release of their 2014 vintage flagship wine, The Dead Arm Shiraz, d’Arenberg will be broadcasting a live meet the maker session on their Facebook page. At 7pm ACST on Thursday 29 th June, chief winemaker Chester Osborn will be discussing d’Arenberg’s time-honoured winemaking methods and the quality of the 2014 McLaren Vale vintage during a showcase of the 2014 Ico…

Industry leaders and representatives from Wine Australia met with the Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Regional Development, the Hon. Jaala Pulford, on the 9 th of June to unveil the Victorian Wine Industry Development Strategy. At the launch, Minister Pulford announced the commitment of nearly $900,000 in funding to the Victorian Government’s Wine Growth Fund. The grant will be used in c…

Jos de Bruin, CEO of Master Grocers Australia (MGA), is concerned that the increase to award wage rates by 3.3% will be a direct hit to small retailers. Mr de Bruin said the high cost of running a business alongside the increase in competition in the Australian retail industry is already tough on smaller, independent enterprises. MGA believes that a more moderate increase to wages by the Fair Work…

Soon, hospitality businesses will no longer need to worry about expensive recruiter fees or posting lengthy job ads online as a new online platform is launching that makes finding ready-trained and flexible staff easy. Founder and CEO Jeffrey Williams has worked in the alcohol industry for a number of years, including global and local roles with Diageo, and noticed a gap in the market for a digital ser…

Ten leading female hospitality professionals have set up a not-for-profit to help other women in the industry through the different stages of their careers. Women in Hospitality or WOHO aims to create a supportive and educational network for women working  across  the industry, whether they’re restaurateurs, chefs, waiters, sommeliers or business managers. WOHO will provide these wom…

Small and independent brewers represented by the Craft Beer Industry Association have voted for a change to the body’s membership, which will block large brewers. In a request to shift the body’s focus to the challenges faced by its small brewers, it was decided that the association should no longer provide membership to brewers more than 20 per cent owned by large brewers or other business…

Keith Villa, founder of America’s number one best selling craft beer, Blue Moon Belgian White, is currently in Australia for the Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular (GABS), on this weekend (Friday 19-Sunday 21 May) at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, followed by Sydney next Saturday (May 27). He was the first person to bring craft beer and Belgian styles to the US, at a time when neither…

A new joint venture between Société Jacques Bollinger, Henschke and Villa Maria has been announced, forming House of Fine Wine, an Australian distribution company that will offer nationwide supply of premium wines. The new company was established after the sale of Fine Wine Partners to Accolade Wines and will officially launch on 1 June 2017. House of Fine Wine will build upon the local distribu…

Here are the top ten fastest growing international beer and cider brands in Australia. In the last year, these products collectively contributed $79m worth of growth to the category. Beer continues to dominate, but perhaps we’ll see more ciders on this list in the future with local trends suggesting continued growth for this segment – and it’s positive that there are already two mentione…

Ever wondered what it takes to open a bar, the training that’s involved and how to create a popular cocktail list? We asked Joe Sinagra, Bar Manager at KU DE TA – one of the biggest venue openings for Perth in 2017 and one of the original bars of Bali. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 8.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text…