Wine production dips; will prices rise?

The total volume of wine made around the world dipped by around 10% in 2019 compared to the bumper 2018 harvest. 

That could mean prices rise for wines from France and Italy, particularly.  

Analysts blamed the decline largely on unfavourable weather conditions, the Drinks Business reported. 

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said global wine production fell from 294 million hectolitres in 2018 to 263 million this year.

Production was down across the major wine regions of France, Italy and Spain, with France and Italy experiencing a slump of 15% and Spain a more dramatic 24% drop.

“This can be explained mainly by random weather conditions, notably a very cold and rainy spring followed by an extremely hot and dry summer,” the OIV said.

North America fared better, with the number of grapes going into the crusher only dipping by 1% on last year. 

The Australian wine grape crush for 2019 was a decrease of 3 per cent from the 2018 but just 1% below the 10-year average, Wine Australia figures showed. 

Production fell in Argentina by 10% and in Chile by 7%. Bucking the trend was South Africa, where volumes were up by 3% on last year after a run of smaller-than-average vintages due to drought. 

The OIV’s figures are based on data from 28 countries, representing 85% of world wine production.

Tasmanian winery Milton opens new cellar door eatery

Milton Vineyards outside Swansea on the Freycinet Coast has opened its new cellar door eatery, ALM, in time for the Tasmanian summer tourism season. 

ALM, which replaces Sophie's Restaurant, specialises in Tasmanian produce, serving both small and large sharing plates overlooking the vineyard dam.

ALM is open five days a week from 12pm and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Milton cellar door is open seven days 10am-5pm. 

Bookings, for groups of six or more only, offer a family-style sharing menu at $40 per person or $50 per person.

The menu changes regularly but can feature small plate dishes like pork rillettes with radishes, or asparagus with goat curd almonds. 

Main course choices may include ricotta gnocchi with local mushrooms, or rabbit loin with pancetta and Jerusalem artichokes. 

Milton Vineyard was first farmed in 1826 for fine wool but now produces cool-climate wines. 

The 19-hectare family-owned vineyard produces pinot noir, pinot gris, riesling and gewurztraminer and Milton is known for its excellent rosé wines. 

For details visit www.miltonvineyard.com.au/

So you really need a break. AirAsia unveils bargain fares.

AirAsia is seeing out 2019 in style with six million promotional seats for sale at bargain prices.

AirAsia BIG fares start from as low as $99 for flights from Perth to Lombok or Bali and from $149 for Melbourne or the Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur.

AirAsia’s newest Australian route, Brisbane to Bangkok, starting at $169 while Sydney to Kuala Lumpur is from $159.

The last AirAsia BIG Sale of the year will not only see flights on sale but also hotels, activity deals and holiday packages on www.airasia.com.

The sale fares are available online or on the AirAsia mobile app from November 4 to November 10 for travel between April 27, 2020 and March 1, 2021.

All the fares include taxes and fees.

AirAsia Group Chief Commercial Officer Karen Chan said: “We are pleased to announce our final BIG Sale for 2019, giving guests one last opportunity to book a trip for next year up until early 2021.

"As a travel and lifestyle company, we have expanded our offering for this sale beyond just flights to include exclusive deals on selected hotels, activities and holiday packages. We’re confident that guests will be sure to find everything they need at airasia.com.”

AirAsia has been named Skytrax World’s Best Low-Cost Airline 11 years in a row from 2009 to 2019.

Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines link up

Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have moved a step closer to a long-mooted eventual merger or takeover.

The two neighbouring national airlines have proposed closer business ties for revenue sharing on flights between Singapore and Malaysia.

They will also link for expanded code-sharing, joint marketing activities and will align their frequent-flyer programs.

Flights to Singapore and Malaysia will operate under a joint business arrangement by offering joint fare products which could include inclusive air passes allowing customers regional connections on a single ticket.

Code-sharing will be significantly expanded with more than a dozen new Malaysian destinations phased in over time.

"We are very pleased to take our partnership with Malaysia Airlines to a new level - this will be a win-win for both our airline groups, and provide new benefits for our customers," said SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong.

The new agreement includes SIA subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as Firefly, the sister airline of MAB. It follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June 2019, which aimed to provide new customer benefits as well as new business opportunities.

Malaysian CEO Captain Izham Ismail said: “We are honoured to collaborate alongside SIA in providing our customers a more competitive product between Malaysia and Singapore and the opportunity to travel to more global destinations.

"This is in line with Malaysia Airlines’ long-term business plan goal of engaging in deep partnerships to extend our reach and presence globally. This partnership is more than a conventional partnership and we believe in the mutual benefits for both airline groups and countries.”

Subject to regulatory approvals, the code-share flights will be progressively made available for sale through the airlines’ respective booking channels in key markets around the world.

Innovative new short-stay hotel for Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport's international terminal is to gain a 20-room short-stay hotel in early 2020. 

The Aerotel concept is the brainchild of Song Hoi-see, the founder of Hong Kong-headquartered Plaza Premium Group, which operates 160 pay-per-use airport lounges around the world and 12 specialist in-terminal hotels.

Aerotel Kuala Lumpur 

Song said he came up with the idea for the hotel on the basis that conventional airport hotels do not meet the needs of passengers seeking a few hours' rest while waiting for flights.

"In Sydney, more than half of passengers arrive before 8am," he told the Australian Financial Review. "But we all know that a conventional hotel room is not ready until 2pm. 

"So they are forced to either buy one more night so they can check in early when they arrive, or wait for many hours. It's not a good experience."

The other issue with conventional hotels, Song said, was that they charged for a minimum 24-hour stay, even if the room was used for only a few hours. Guests can check in at any time. 

"You see people sleeping on the floor prior to flights," he said. "For us it's all about offering comfort, quality and convenience."

The new Sydney Airport Aerotel will be built within the arrivals hall at the international terminal. 

Guests will be able to check in immediately on arrival with a minimum stay of six hours. Beyond this they will be charged an hourly rate until they check out. Woe betide anyone suffering from jetlag who oversleeps. 

Pricing will be less than half of that of a conventional hotel, the Aerotel group has predicted and talks are also underway with Melbourne Airport. 

There are already Aerotel properties in London Heathrow, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing airports among others, so Australia is just catching up with its rivals. 

A pair of wines to tick the hipster boxes, but don't mention the MOG

Today is, one of my very alert public relations industry friends tells me, World Vegan Day.

And, with vegans happy to annex more than their fair share of days, the entire month of November is World Vegan Month with plant-based eaters from across the globe coming together to celebrate their 100% cruelty-free lifestyle.

Given the matter of MOG, the wine industry's dirty little secret, it is hard to see how any wine can be 100% Vegan friendly.

Anyone who has spent any time in a vineyard, or winery, can tell you about the number of bugs, insects, spiders, caterpillars, rats, mice and other Material other than Grapes (MOG) that makes its way into the crusher-destemmer.

Fortunately for Vegans, attentive producers are able to eliminate all but a tiny amount of protein from your bottle.

Vegan-friendly, preservative-free and low-intervention wines are all the rage right now and Hunter Valley winemaker Gwyn Olsen has just released a couple from Briar Ridge's vineyard in Wrattonbully in South Australia - just down the road from Coonawarra.



“These field blends are artistic expressions of my winemaking, and a great opportunity to showcase what we can do with the areas that we source fruit from,” she Olsen said. A field blend is a wine made from a melange of grapes grown in the same vineyard, and picked on the same day.

Olsen's red field blend (she recommends pairing it with a decidedly non-Vegan cheeseburger and chips) is a blend of merlot, malbec, aglianico and barbera grapes, while the white field blend is a mix of fiano, viognier, chardonnay and pinot gris (which she suggest pairing with soft cheeses).

“I wanted to create field blends because I believe they showcase the vineyard site irrespective of grape variety," she said. "They express the region and soils they are grown in without having to ‘be’ any one type of wine,” she said.

Both blends are preservative free (meaning they should ideally be drunk over the next couple of years and the white was wild fermented.

"Preservative-free is a new style of wine that has come into focus in the last couple of years, as people look for alternative and minimal interference drinks. PF wines do not contain any preservatives (primarily sulphur dioxide) in the wine whereas conventional wines do,” Olsen said.

“Preservative free wines are best enjoyed young. While the wine contains some natural preservatives like the alcohol itself, tannins and acidity, it’s not necessarily going to have the same longevity as a wine containing preservatives.”

Bentonite has been used as a fining agent rather than milk or fish products.

The wines are Gwyn Olsen 2019 Preservative-Free Wrattonbully Red Field Blend and Gwyn Olsen 2019 Preservative-Free Wrattonbully White Field Blend. Both are $16.99 per bottle in a case from Cellarmasters. www.cellarmasters.com.au

Both are fresh, crunchy and vibrant - and probably best enjoyed chilled. Quintessential summer drinking pleasure.