The Grapevine: Wine industry updates from South Australia
In this edition of The Grapevine: Winesmiths gets arty, Treasury Wines’ big profit and a University will replant its vines. Plus the latest wine industry events.
- Winesmiths collaborate with SA artist for limited edition packs
- Multimillion-dollar grant for Langhorne Creek Discovery Trail
- Significant boost for Treasury Wine profits
- Australian wine exports to China stabilise
- University of Adelaide plans vineyard redevelopment
- Seppeltsfield’s sixth consecutive luxury collection
- Penfolds unveils 2025 collection
- New recycle-ready bag-in-box packaging for wine
- SA confirmed as nation’s favourite wine capital
- Yalumba’s SALA exhibition
- Inaugural Chapel Hill Horizons Art Prize awarded
Winesmiths collaborate with SA artist for limited edition packs
Hill-Smith Family Estates brand Winesmiths has announced its latest artist collaboration with South Australian artist Claire Ishino.
The new, limited-edition collection of 2-litre packs will be available across Australia and New Zealand from September to December of this year.
Ishino, an artist known for artworks inspired by native Australian flora, has created a series of pack designs reflecting the biodiversity of Winesmiths’ vineyards. The designs mirror the changing light across the landscape from dawn until dusk.
Ishino called the opportunity to collaborate with Winesmiths a joy, explain that “it’s about celebrating the beauty of our environment and encouraging people to tread lightly.”
The collection includes designs for five Winesmiths varietals: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Rosé, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
The collaboration highlights Winesmiths’ philosophy of crafting wines with care and low environmental impact.
To further this commitment, Winesmiths have announced an intention to donate $25,000 to Greenfleet, an environmental not-for-profit that plants biodiverse forests to capture carbon emissions and restore critical ecosystems across Australia and New Zealand.
Multimillion-dollar grant for Langhorne Creek Discovery Trail
Alexandrina Council and Langhorne Creek industry groups have secured a $7 million Australian government grant to create the Langhorne Creek Discovery Trail.
The grant will fund the construction of the 2.8km trail – the culmination of years of planning and advocacy.
“The Langhorne Creek community has had a vision for many years to create a ‘hero tourism’ attraction in the region, and Council came on board five years ago to join with them to develop the concept for the Discovery Trail and to advocate and apply for funding,” Mayor Keith Parkes said.
The trail will link cellar doors in the region that produces up to 45,000 tonnes of grapes per year.
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Significant boost for Treasury Wine profits
Treasury Wine Estates said its profits rose by 341.8 per cent in the latest financial year, with earnings growth of 17 per cent driven by its Penfolds and DAOU luxury brands.
Net profit after tax was $436.9 million for the year, and the company said Penfolds delivered “another strong result, reflecting a successful return to China for the Australian country of origin portfolio”.
The SA wine brand achieved earnings of $477 million, driven by growth in Bin & Icon portfolio shipments to China.
Penfolds also announced that one of its US distributors would cease operations in California in September.
Australian wine exports to China stabilise
Australian wine exports increased by 13 per cent to $2.48 billion in the 12 months ending June 2025, Wine Australia’s latest report said.
The average value of exports also rose by 10 per cent, with Wine Australia market insights manager Peter Bailey noting the latest data demonstrated the impact of the China market reopening in March 2024 which is beginning to stabilise.
“The year-on-year increase in exports was almost entirely driven by mainland China after tariffs on Australian bottled wine were removed at the end of March 2024,” Bailey said.
Meanwhile, Australian wine exports to the US fell by 10 per cent, and exports to the UK fell by 1 per cent.
South Australian exports rose by 19.7 per cent to $1.2 billion, making up 48.9 per cent of the entire country’s export value.
China is the state’s biggest wine export market ($692.4 million), followed by Hong Kong ($84.9 million) and Singapore ($81.1 million).
University of Adelaide plans vineyard redevelopment
For the first time since the 1990s, the University of Adelaide will redevelop its vineyard at the Waite campus.
Over five years, the campus’ three hectares of vines will be replanted with varieties that are better suited to the site’s hot conditions – primarily Italian varieties, but some space will be dedicated to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
“We’re very excited to take this opportunity to redesign the Waite campus’s vineyards, which have slowly expanded since winemaking came to Waite in the 1990s,” University of Adelaide senior winemaker Jill Bauer said.
“It’s an opportunity to take a holistic view of the vineyards, taking into account South Australia’s shifting climate and the way we teach University of Adelaide viticulture and oenology students.”
Seppeltsfield’s sixth consecutive luxury collection
Heritage winery Seppeltsfield has unveiled its annual luxury collection for the sixth year in a row.
The collection is headlined by the third release from the Estate icon vineyard, the Great Terrace Vineyard Grenache, from the 2024 vintage.
There are also two wines from the ‘Grounds’ range – Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz from the 2023 vintage.
There’s also new releases from the ‘Bench Blends’ line, showcasing the 2023 and 2024 vintages centres on the winemaking art of ‘assemblage’.
Chief winemaker Fiona Donald said the collection reflects “not only 174 years of history in the Barossa, but also our future endeavours”.
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“The wines ultimately define our ambition to match our reputation for the fortified wine collection with the luxury still wine collection,” Donald said.
Penfolds unveils 2025 collection
A lineup of 24 wines from Australia, France and China make up Penfolds’ 2025 collection.
Grange leads this year’s collection, with Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago telling drinkers to “expect the unexpected”.
“A style, a blend, an experience. Buoyant, layers, accessible. Just released, compelling flavours and a liberated structure immediately tempt… when to open, when to share?
“In about 30 years we may be more confidently able to tell you just how it ranks!”
He said the Collection embodied the “trial and experimentation” at the heart of Penfolds.
“Particularly in Bordeaux, where our team on the ground in France continue to evolve and finesse our French Winemaking Trial, this year releasing 2022 FWT 585 Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot and introducing its sibling, 2022 FWT 543 Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah,” he said.
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| Gala Dinner – South Australian Premier’s Business and Export Awards: The South Australian Business Chamber and the Government of South Australia are hosting the Gala Dinner for the South Australian Premier’s Business and Export Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday, August 29, 2025.
Pinot in the Pavilion: Beresford Wines is lifting the lid on their new 2024 Emblem Pinot Noir, a cool-climate drop crafted from Adelaide Hills fruit. To mark the release, Beresford is throwing a one-day tasting experience called “Pinot in the Pavilion” at its McLaren Vale estate on September 13. |
New recycle-ready bag-in-box packaging for wine
An Adelaide-based manufacturer has partnered with leading Australian wine producers on a recycle-ready bag-in-box for wine.
SIG, a leader in food and beverage packaging solutions, made the bag out of its Terra RecShield material – a uniquely formulated polymer structure.
It means that every component of bag-in-box wine, including the bag, tap and carton, is now recyclable.
Its being used already by Hill Smith Family Estates label Winesmiths.
SA confirmed as nation’s favourite wine capital
A new report by Endeavour Group found the Barossa Valley was Australia’s favourite domestic wine region.
Other regions in SA like McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and ‘South Australian’ wine all rated highly in the report.
Seven SA regions were featured in every state’s top 20.
“South Australia’s wine regions are among the most beautiful in the world, and this report shows people don’t just visit, they fall in love with the product,” Acting Minister for Primary Industries Zoe Bettison said.
Yalumba’s SALA exhibition
SA artist Lisa Tekell has taken over Yalumba’s historic wine room as part of the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival.
Her exhibition – In Bloom – is a collection of finely detailed oil paintings of Australia’s native flora.
Guests are invited to visit the Yalumba Wine Room until 30 August to view the exhibition.
Inaugural Chapel Hill Horizons Art Prize awarded
Artist Stephanie Radock has been awarded the inaugural Horizons Art Prize by winery Chapel Hill.
The $5000 prize was awarded to Radock for her ‘It’s Morning!’ piece, which will now hang in the McLaren Vale winery’s 1856 tasting chapel as part of its permanent collection.
The piece will be on show with the wider set of finalists until the end of the SALA Festival – 6 September – in the Chapel Hill Tasting Room.
