The Winebox Auction will be held on the 26th August, 6pm at the Hastings City Art Gallery

Thirty five artists have contributed their time and artistic skills for the 2009 event, supporting and acknowledging of the importance of RealPeople @ Mosaic. They include; Dick Frizzell, Fane Flaws, Ben Pearce, Eddie Budd, Chris Bryant, Paratene Matchitt, Riks Terstappen and Alan Toa.

With the generous support of sponsor, Riverside Wines, each Winebox artwork auctioned includes 6 bottles of wine. The bottles are uniquely hand-labelled with an image of the artwork they accompany, further adding to the value of the artwork.  The works will then be auctioned at the Winebox Auction on the 26th August, with all proceeds directly benefiting RealPeople @ Mosaic.

Chris Tremain will again be an Auctioneer, as asks you to support this worthy cause.

“Come along to this great charity fundraiser and have a fantastic night out!”

Visit www.wineboxauction.co.nz to find out more and to see this year’s artworks.

The Winebox Exhibition is on now at the Hastings City Art Gallery. Open 7 days, 10am – 4.30pm, admission is FREE.

The financial benefit to Hawke’s Bay’s Winegrowers Inc., the regional wine organisation, will be up to $50,000 to contribute to key projects under NZTE’s Regional Strategy Fund. 

“We know Hawke’s Bay Wines are fantastic but this grant is about taking that message to the rest of the world” say Mr Foss. “I understand that there are five projects that will be funded through this grant including dealing with issues surrounding grower education and technology transfer however the major project is to grow Hawke’s Bay’s Red Wine sector.” 

“This funding will help us further quantify the contribution that the wine industry makes to Hawke’s Bay,’ said HB Winegrowers’ Association Executive Officer Lyn Bevin. ‘It will also allow us to take Hawke’s Bay wines to the world and in turn bring the world to Hawke’s Bay” 

Funding will be used to develop a NZ Cabernet Merlot Forum as an annual event in the New Zealand wine industry calendar.  This forum will take place in January 2010 to coincide with a national Syrah Symposium being held in Hawke’s Bay, hosted and run by Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc. 

The aim of the forum is to identify issues that enhance and hinder the export of Cabernet  Merlot wines, and to help develop Hawke’s Bay’s strengths and market leadership for this wine category. 

Another part of the funding is to develop a programme of varietal tastings that give local grape growers and winemakers the opportunity to improve export wine quality, and to gain better knowledge of competing wines on an international level.  

“I understand the Association is planning events in Australia for 2010,’ added Mr Foss. ‘Such initiatives are to be celebrated and I am looking forward to watching our red wine industry grow”

15 June 2009 - Media Release        
New Zealand wineries can now have wine destined for Europe tested by laboratories closer to home instead of being sent to Auckland for analysis, Minister for Food Safety Kate Wilkinson announced today.

Ms Wilkinson says the new arrangements, being rolled out by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), were in response to calls by winemakers to allow testing to be done in laboratories closer to their operations.

“I was lobbied by National MPs on behalf of their local winemakers who had expressed frustration over the current process.

“It makes sense that wine should be allowed to be tested at any appropriate lab rather than forcing wineries to send everything to Auckland.

“A number of labs have indicated they want to offer the service, so wineries should soon have a choice of providers and can hopefully reduce their compliance costs.”

The laboratory recognition programme starts on 1 July 2009 and will allow any eligible laboratory in the country to apply to carry out testing of wine for export to Europe. 

The testing provides the information that New Zealand bases official assurances about the composition of our wine, and guarantees the wine complies with EU import requirements.

“This is essential for access to the United Kingdom, which is New Zealand’s biggest wine market,” Ms Wilkinson says.

“In the year to February 2009, over 33 million litres of wine reached the UK market and every different batch has to be tested to get there.”

Laboratories that want to become recognised to provide export wine testing must meet a number of requirements. 

These include achieving accreditation in accordance with international standards, participating in an Inter-laboratory Comparison Programme, and demonstrating the ability to use NZFSA-approved test methods.

Tukituki MP Craig Foss and Napier MP Chris Tremain have welcomed the Government’s decision to give wineries the choice as to where they send their wine to be tested for export clearance to Europe.

‘Until now our local wineries haven’t had a choice, they all had to pay to ship their bottles to Auckland for testing,” says Mr Foss. ‘ This added significant cost to the industry.‘

Craggy Range Winemaker, Steve Smith, is enthusiastic about the changes. ‘It’s great to see we have a Food Safety Minister who wants to reduce compliance costs,’ he says, ‘and can recognise pointless regulations.’ Mr Smith also adds ‘With the Minister allowing laboratories across the country to be accredited to test wine headed for Europe, winemakers can now choose who they want to be their service provider.’

Mr Tremain is equally adamant that this is a good move for our local wineries.

‘Craig and myself took the local wine industries frustrations on this issue to the Minister, and those frustrations have been heard,’ said Mr Tremain. ‘At the end of the day it means that our local wine producers have greater choice and compliance costs may be lowered.’

Every batch of wine shipped to Europe must be tested to ensure it meets EU import requirements

Laboratories can apply for registration to test export wine from July 1.

I especially like this bit:
This wine-producing company is located in Guia di Valdobbiadene, a villagesurrounded by steep hills covered with Prosecco vineyards. Here valleys are called fossi, and Marai is the deepest valley in Guia. Luigi Biasiotto, grandfather of Carlo – the present company proprietor – began selling wine in the early 20th century. The sparkling wine in his casks was so good that his business expanded outside the local area. A hundred years later, Foss Marai, owing to the successful management of Carlo Biasiotto and his family, is well-known for its top quality sparkling wine and exquisite bottles. Foss Marai improves and renews its products continually, to produce still and sparkling wines that meet modern taste, but do not necessarily pursue trends.