The growth of Australia’s bulk wine exports to record highs in 2017-18 headlines the just released November issue of the Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine.

Bulk wine represents around 35% of the volume of wine traded around the world and, for Australia, wines in containers of 2 litres or more accounted for 55% of the volume of wine it shipped overseas during the last financial year.

Grapegrower & Winemaker editor Sonya Logan takes a dive into Australia’s bulk stats for 2017-18, charting how they’ve grown, where they’re going and which varieties make up the mix.

With flowering season in Australia now under way, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest climate outlook for November to January forecasting large parts of Australia to be drier and warmer than average, Grapegrower & Winemaker regular viticulture writer Sam Bowman takes a look at the various techniques for mitigating heatwaves, particularly the use of antitranspirants off the back of some early and promising results from trials of the sprays by the NSW DPI.

Also on the subject of Grapegrowing, UK-based Australian ‘flying vine doctor’ Richard Smart describes an inventive approach to vine nutrition and weed control being implemented in New Zealand by a lateral thinking vineyard manager which promises to improve the sustainability of drip-irrigated organic vineyards. And Mary Retallack presents the second instalment of her series of articles on improving biodiversity in vineyards to create more resilient and stable production landscapes.

In Winemaking, Paul Bowyer from Blue H20 walks readers through some tips on the complex subject of filtration, while we talk to the Australian Wine Research Institute to learn about the latest methods to reduce alcohol and their effects on wine quality.

Also featured in the November Grapegrower & Winemaker is a summary of the findings from Wine Australia’s recent direct-to-consumer survey.

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