Australian Grape & Wine - Podcast Series

In this weeks Studio Canberra Podcast, Tony & Lee break down the in-principle agreement on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement [FTA] between Australia and the United Kingdom, and what it means for Australian grape and wine producers.

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Tim Bartsch as they discuss the importance of developing and nurturing relationships between winegrape growers and winemakers for sustainable and mutually beneficial business outcomes.

Tim  has 20 years of experience in viticulture. Since graduating from the University of Adelaide’s viticulture course in 2006 with first class honours, he has worked across many parts of the wine industry in countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand. For the past 10 years Tim has been managing his family winegrape growing business in the Adelaide Hills, Bartsch Vignerons, which supplies grapes into a range of different wineries. 

In this weeks Studio Canberra Podcast, Tony & Lee break down the 2021-22 Federal Budget and discuss a number of agriculture-sector-specific announcements aimed to deliver benefits for Australian grape and wine businesses.  Also, Australian Grape & Wine hosted the Australian Wine: Trade with China & Opportunities for Diversification seminar last week to look at the impacts of Chinas final determinations on the Countervailing Duties and the Anti-Dumping Investigations into Australian Wine - Tony & Lee recap the event and discuss how Australian wine producers can maintain our strong reputation and partnership links with China into the future.  And finally a shout-out to all producers who received the 2021 Vintage Survey link to complete the survey so we as an industry have the most accurate data available to help us plan and make the best decisions for the sector.

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Martin O'Dee as they discuss the impacts of China’s final determinations on the Countervailing Duties Investigation and the Anti-Dumping Investigation where tariffs of up to 218% were imposed on Australian wine exporters to China, and the  buzzword of the day - Market Diversification.

Market Diversification sounds like a simple thing to do.  How many times do you hear people say “winemakers just need to diversify their markets”.  It sounds simple enough, but how do you actually do that?  How do you choose a market that is right for your brand or product? Who do you speak to?  It’s actually much harder than it sounds.

Tune in to hear from Martin O'Dee from Australian Export Product Network as he talks about his experience over the last 20 years trading in Asian markets, the cultural nuances required to successfully build & maintain relationships, and how exporting into China is not the same as exporting into Asia.  

This week Tony and Lee break down the short, medium and long term strategies to deal with the latest outcomes from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).  On Friday 26 March 2021, MOFCOM released its final determinations on dumping of Australian wines in China and trade distorting subsidies (countervailing duties), applying duties of up to 218.4% on most Australian wine exporters on imports of all bottled and still wines from Australia.  Domestic tourism is one of the strategies to support winegrape growers and winemakers, and we encourage all lovers of Australian wine to get out into the wine regions this year and support our wine producers.

Join Tony Battaglene and guest Inca Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Vinehealth Australia, as they discuss biosecurity in the Australian wine sector.  The new biosecurity buzzword "Biosecurity Bubble" has got people talking, and Inca breaks the term down to what it actually means, plus she discusses the importance of businesses investing in biosecurity,  communication at the farmgate level and the shared responsibility of biosecurity at the farm-region-state levels to ensure we are all protecting our most critical asset - our vines.

This week Australian Grape & Wine Chief Executive, Tony Battaglene and General Manager, Government Relations & External Affairs, Lee McLean discuss International Women's Day and the practical measures the peak industry body is undertaking to ensure equal gender representation in leadership positions is achieved and respect in the workplace is the norm. Plus we talk about the upturn in optimism in the wine regions with wine festivals and wine shows going ahead in 2021 after the shutdowns in 2020, ensuring that all wine businesses continue to operate in a COVID-safe environment, and the importance of promoting safe and responsible drinking practices with the help of DrinkWise Australia.

This week  Australian Grape & Wine Chief Executive, Tony Battaglene and General Manager Government Relations & External Affairs, Lee McLean provide insights into international trade.  Much is made of Free Trade Agreements, and Australian Grape & Wine are heavily involved in these negotiations and believe in their benefits, but we also engage in a broad range of multilateral and plurilateral bodies.  It is a complex area to work in, but Tony & Lee break it down to help grape and wine producers understand how the decisions made at this level impact Australian wine exports.

Join Tony Battaglene and our guest Will Taylor, Head of Finlaysons Wine Group.  Will created the Wine Group in the early 1990’s, and has been instrumental in establishing Finlaysons as Australia’s leading law firm in the Australian wine sector.  In this Conversations... podcast, Tony & Will discuss the growing importance of good relationships between grape growers and winemakers, including having these relationships enshrined in a contract for transparency and clarity, the importance of adhering and signing up to the Code of Conduct for Australian winegrape purchases, what to look out for with your insurance policies, and tips for choosing a reputable contract processor.  Also keep an eye out for the 29th Finlaysons Wine Roadshow where Australian Grape & Wine will be joining the Finlaysons team in some of Australia's wine regions July - August 2021.

This week Australian Grape & Wine Chief Executive, Tony Battaglene and General Manager Government Relations & External Affairs, Lee McLean provide insight into national advocacy, as they talk about their meetings this week at Parliament House with the Hon. Dan Tehan, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, and the Hon. Andrew Gee, Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment.   Plus with a rise in online customer engagement and sales activities for many wine businesses, Tony & Lee provide a timely reminder about alcohol advertising and the role ABAC - Australia's Responsible Alcohol Marketing Scheme plays, including providing pre-vetting services, to ensure your advertising meets the standards for alcohol marketing.