Australian Grape & Wine - Podcast Series

Join CEO Tony Battaglene with our guest, CEO of Limestone Coast Wine and former Hawthorn FC captain, Richie Vandenberg.

As a 4th generation grape grower, Richie talks to us about his move from the family vineyard to football.  He discusses his return to the industry and his passion for the environment, which inspired him to change the goal posts with his wine brand, The Hidden Sea - a brand with a conscience.  The Hidden Sea is proving to be a brand with a purpose by making it their mission to remove plastic waste from the world’s oceans, and help consumers feel part of something bigger than themselves. For every bottle of wine sold, they remove ten plastic bottles from our oceans and waterways.

In July 2020, The Hidden Sea announced their ambitious goal of removing 1 billion plastic bottles from the world’s oceans by 2030.  In Feb 2022, they reached the 10 million bottle milestone, a remarkable achievement in the space of 18 months.

Tony and Richie also discuss the impact that China has had on Richie’s business as well his attempts to break through the “wall of wine” in Australian retail stores and his success in exporting to UK and Nordic markets.

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Henrik Wallgren, Business Services Manager for the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA), as they discuss the use of heavy vehicles in the Australian wine industry, particularly throughout Vintage, and addressing the Changes to the Chain of Responsibility (CoR) laws that were introduced on 1 October 2018.  Australian Grape & Wine have collaborated with SAWIA to establish a Registered National Industry Code of Practice, through a grant from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.  A nation-wide consultation process commenced in 2020, however due to ongoing, unstable border restrictions, consultations in-region will resume in 2022. 

Chain of Responsibility is designed to ensure everyone in the supply chain play their part in ensuring the safety of their transport activities,  so that breaches of the Heavy Vehicle National Law do not occur. Vintage is a peak time for the use of heavy vehicles in the wine industry and with this, comes certain legal obligations of drivers, wineries, grape growers and vineyard contractors for ensuring the safe transportation of goods.  The Registered National Industry Code of Practice will include framework that ensures goods are not overloaded, that they are secured properly and that drivers are not encouraged or pressured to speed or drive while fatigued.  For the duty holder (eg a winery receiving grapes, a grape grower loading grapes onto a truck and a transporter carting grapes or finished wine), ignorance is not an excuse and the cost of non-compliance is significant. 

Join Australian Grape & Wine CEO, Tony Battaglene and Lee McLean, GM Government Relations & External Affairs,  as they discuss two highly topical issues currently facing the Australian wine sector.  Firstly, Container Deposit Schemes and the inclusion of wine bottles as part of the environmental policy around waste reduction; and secondly, off the back of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Winegrapes Market Study from 2019, the ACCC are currently scheduling to follow up on their recommendations to address market transparency, perceived power imbalances, market information, to name a few, by the end of the year. Tune in to hear Tony & Lee break down these issues for grape and wine businesses to plan and be prepared for any potential outcomes, which ever way the cards fall.

While the Australian Government’s policy is that receiving a vaccination is free and voluntary, it aims to have as many Australians vaccinated as possible.  Join Tony Battaglene and guest, Will Snow, Partner at Finlaysons Lawyers as they discuss the various State Government's Vaccine Mandate positions on double vaccination for COVID-19 and the impacts these positions have on grape and wine businesses in Australia.  Community transmission is the bedrock foundation that risk assessment and duty of care is based on to assess and measure risk factors within the workplace.  Will expertly tackles the big questions around the “Double Vax” issue and provides us with sound advice on how to navigate your business through this challenging time for all Australian businesses.  The Australian Fair Work Ombudsman provides guidance on requiring employees to be vaccinated, with a good approach on understanding levels of risk for workplaces. AON Insights also has a great webinar on COVID vaccines and legal issues, with excellent information from a large food manufacturer and why they implemented their mandate - this emphasizes that each employer must consider the issues in their own context.  

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Angie Schipano, Director of Bird Control Australia, as they discuss effective, humane and eco-friendly methods of controlling pests in and around the vineyard.  In the leadup to harvest, birds damage fruit by plucking entire berries from the cluster or pecking holes in the berries. Bird damage goes beyond yield loss; pecked grapes can harbour bacterial and fungal pathogens that lead to bunch rot and off-flavours in the wine. Angie provides advice on how to tackle damage to fruit by birds and other pests that not only prevent pest infestation, property damage, and the spread of disease, but also eliminate the need for chemical pesticides, poisons, and dangerous traps.  

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Dr Martin Cole, the new CEO of Wine Australia, as they discuss Martin’s initial impressions and priorities for the Australian grape and wine sector. Martin joined Wine Australia on 15 November 2021 from the University of Adelaide, where he was the Head of School, Agriculture, Food and Wine.  Along with his wine sector experience, Martin brings extensive experience across government, academia and industry – including the broader agricultural sectors – and has held senior leadership positions at CSIRO, overseas and in larger commercial companies.  It’s a critical time for the Australian grape and wine sector, with many challenges and opportunities ahead.  But as we embark on a new era, the collaborative nature of Australian Grape & Wine and Wine Australia’s working relationship has never been stronger and we look forward to paving a way forward for a prosperous and sustainable sector for all winegrape growers and winemakers.

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Mitchell Taylor, Managing Director of Taylors Wines, as they discuss cyber security.  In the lead up to Easter 2021, Taylors Wines were the target of a cyber attack across their entire business systems.  This is a must-listen podcast for all grape and wine businesses across Australia, as Mitchell describes the attack they experienced, what they learned as a business, plus he gives us some handy tips for all businesses to protect themselves from cyber attacks.  

Any business is at risk of being targeted by malicious actors in cyber space. While most of the time the risks relate to criminal actions like fraud, theft of personal details, ransomware etc, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) issued advice to a range of agriculture sector bodies earlier this month, highlighting their assessment “that cyber operators (foreign powers and their proxies) are currently targeting a range of Australian businesses, particularly those in the agriculture industry”.  

In this week's Studio Canberra Podcast, Tony & Lee discuss two significant issues grape and wine businesses are facing.  

Shipping issues are causing significant disruptions to the sector, including the increasing costs to ship and the difficulty many businesses are having in booking a spot for their wines on ships leaving Australia.  

We also discuss the availability of labour leading into the 2022 vintage in terms of finding workers in the vineyard, the winery and even on-farm expertise for technical equipment.  We know it was an issue last year – and there is an argument that we got lucky with a long and even vintage and no compression.  Given it is unlikely that Australia’s borders will re-open for travel ahead of the 2022 vintage, what should ag-businesses be thinking about?

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Lee Haselgrove as they discuss viticulture and the increasing interest from consumers about the origins of the wine in their glass; the importance of the 'partnership' between supplier and customer for strong, sustainable business relationships; and the Young Gun of Wine's 2021 Vineyard of the Year Awards, where the Australian wine sector celebrates the vineyard and its connection to the earth that nurtures and produces our grapes.

An acclaimed viticultural voice in Australia, Lee has built his career on developing a deep understanding of the land, combining a scientifically trained background with an innovative and, at times, unconventional approach. He prides himself on being an independent thinker - not beholden to wine growing trends and fads.  Lee was the inaugural winner of the 2020 Young Gun of Wine, Vineyard of the Year Awards with Swinney Vineyards in Franklin River, Western Australia.

Young Gun of Wine's 2021  Vineyard of the Year Awards

2021 Judging Panel:
Dr Catherine Kidman, Dianne Davidson AM, Lee Haselgrove, Mark Walpole, Dr Mary Retallack and Max Allen.

In this weeks Studio Canberra Podcast, Tony & Lee break down the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement process initiated by the Australian Government, in response to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s decision to impose duties on Australian wine imports in March 2021.

Whether you export wine or not, the impacts of the duties imposed by China will have a ripple affect across the sector - tune in to hear how the WTO process works, why the Government has taken this path, and what it means for Australian grape and wine producers.