Wine News with Anne Dawson

Vincor Australia has appointed two new staff members to look after its Amberley brand.

Former Cape Mentelle marketing manager Robin Birch will join Amberley as the brand marketing manager.

She will be assisted by Tyrene Newman, who will undertake front-of-house operations at the winery.

Ms Birch arrives at Amberley having spent seven years at Cape Mentelle developing the brand.

During this time she facilitated distribution into Taiwan and China, and boosted sales in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

Amberley and Goundrey Wine managing director Rich Hanan is delighted Ms Birch had accepted the offer, and says her experience within the industry is seen as a major asset to the company.

Ms Newman has recently returned to Perth after working in Canada, where she filled a number of customer service roles.

While in the Northern Hemisphere Ms Newman was recruited as Niagara Estate Winery guest service manager, retail manager and restaurant wine consultant.

At Amberley she will take on the job of further developing links with the local community, as well as building customer service skills at the winery.

Wills Domain managing director Darren Haunold has been nominated for viticulturist of the year by Australian Wine Selector magazine.

In what could be described as a purple patch for the Margaret River winery, the nomination comes hot on the heels of recognition courtesy of James Halliday.

Wills Domain was one of four Western Australian wine producers listed in the ‘best of the best by variety’ section in the 2005 edition of the James Halliday Australian Wine Companion.

Wills Domain Semillon 2002 achieved a rating of 96, proving a worthy inclusion in the list.

The three others to make this list are some of Margaret River’s most tried and true labels – Cullens for its semillon sauvignon blanc, Leeuwin Estate for its chardonnay and Vasse Felix for its cabernet sauvignon. Not a bad effort, coming first among these equally good neighbours.

The Perth Hills Wine Show is on this weekend, September 11 and 12.

The event will include more than 100 wines from producers in the Perth Hills wine region and will be held at the Kalamunda Agricultural Hall, Kalamunda.

The show will be preceded by a judging of local wines from the region, with national wine judge John Hanley as chairman of the panel.

He will be joined by Ray Jordan and Alex Hudak.