A snapshot of wine business, research and marketing content gleaned from local and international wine media sources. Emailed Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. Click here to subscribe, for advertising inquiries, click to download our media kit.

Announcements and Suppliers

22/09/2016: Last chance to win a trip to Bordeaux!
The closing date for responses to the AWRI Vineyard and Winery Practices Survey has been extended until 29 September. The winner of the trip to Bordeaux to see all the latest vineyard and winery equipment at

20/09/2016: New US on-premise research
Wine Business Solutions has just released Wine On-Premise USA 2016, the first ever research into the independently owned On-Trade in the US. More than 36,000 listings from licensed On-Premise venues were collected at random across all states of the US.

12/09/2016: Barrel hall storage cooling system transforms Peter Lehmann Wines
Peter Lehman wines adopted a new cooling technology, Climate Wizard, in 2011 when the wine industry was suffering through one of the worst economic situations on record. The technology, was presented by industrial refrigeration specialists, Cold Logic, proved to be a success and is now considered to be the beginning for pioneering change for how barrels are stored in the industry.

8/09/2016: Innovate Live arrives in South Australia
After great success in Victoria and Western Australia, Innovate Live is headed to South Australia. Innovate Live is an educational seminar focused on helping wine businesses navigate the ecosystem of technology. It's 2016, and let's face it, modern technology moves fast...

7/09/2016: New US on-premise research
Wine Business Solutions has just released Wine On-Premise USA 2016, the first ever research into the independently owned On-Trade in the US. More than 36,000 listings from licensed On-Premise venues were collected at random across all States of the US.

Australian Wine Industry News

23/09/2016: Steve Flamsteed is Australia’s winemaker of the year
Giant Steps’ STEVE FLAMSTEED wins the top gong at Gourmet Traveller WINE Winemaker of the Year proudly supported by Perpetual.

23/09/2016: Cork-popping Vin de Champagne Award competition back in Sydney
It could be a florist from NSW, a manager at a Queensland clinic or maybe a marketing manager from Telstra. Next Monday, five amateur and six industry contestants fly to Sydney from across the country to vie to win the Vin de Champagne Award, a contest that could prove life changing for the winners.

23/09/2016: Why Malcolm Turnbull must jettison backpacker tax: opinion
IT EMERGES like a gleaming mirage as you enter the sleepy township of Yenda, a jumble of silver wine tanks and shipping containers. Casella Wines is one of the Riverina’s – and the nation’s –most stunning business success stories.

23/09/2016: NSW dominant as ICC Sydney launches wine collection
Australia’s International Convention Centre Sydney has launched a wine collection featuring 93 varieties, 80 per cent of which are from New South Wales wine producers.

23/09/2016: The Home of St Hugo
Set in the heart of the Barossa Valley, St Hugo wines will open the doors of its new home on Friday 23rd September. For the first time, appreciators of fine wine and exclusive experiences can indulge in the elegant world of one of Australia's most distinguished Cabernet Sauvignon producers.

22/09/2016: China's Weilong to invest $120m in Australian vineyards
China's third-biggest wine maker has purchased three vineyards in Australia as part of its plan to invest $120 million across the country in land and processing facilities.

22/09/2016: Assistant Agriculture and Water Resources Minister tips ruling on backpacker tax
THE impasse on the backpacker tax – which has farmers fearing they won’t have the labour to pick the harvest – should be resolved in days, says Senator Anne Ruston.

22/09/2016: Australia presents artisanal credentials to UK trade at Shoreditch tasting
Cargo nightclub in Shoreditch saw 23 boutique and artisanal winemakers showing some 220 wines to the UK’s independently minded on- and off-trade at the inaugural Artisans of Australian Wine tasting on 20 September.

22/09/2016: NSW Wine Awards judging in Cessnock
More than 800 wines are being swirled, sniffed, swished and spat at Cessnock Leagues Club this week as judging for the 2016 NSW Wines Awards takes place

22/09/2016: Australian Pinot Noir
The Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, is producing beautiful Pinot Noirs from a variety of new and well-established wineries. Roger Jones explores what’s on offer

21/09/2016: Early Harvest Detrimental To Australia's Wine
Last week the business section of the Wall Street Journal Reported that The Australian wine industry is attributing rising temperatures to causing grapes to ripen faster, and that can alter their flavor. Here is aginfo reporter Matt Rice who recently visited Australia with the story.

21/09/2016: Wine’s geographical symbol of success
Geographical indicators have allowed the Australian wine industry to grow and be competitive in export markets, according to Winemakers Federation of Australia acting chief executive Tony Battaglene.

21/09/2016: Australian wine industry bids to continue UK market dominance
Australia is in the doldrums after slumping to its worst Olympics performance in decades and finishing 10th in the medals table.

21/09/2016: Backpacker tax scares off 90 per cent of Casella job applicants
RIVERINA grape growers expect fruit to wither on vines if the government holds firm on the controversial backpacker tax. Originally slated to begin on July 1, the backpacker tax will ditch the $18,200 tax-free threshold for foreign workers under 30 and instead tax them 32.5¢ from the first dollar they earn in Australia.

21/09/2016: Wolf Blass Legend: Black Label 40 years on
Wolf Blass chief winemaker Chris Hatcher was recently in town to celebrate 50 years of the brand and also the 40th vintage of Wolf Blass Black Label. Decanter.com went along to meet him.

20/09/2016: Trevor Wicks Memorial
Trevor Wicks made a significant contribution as a plant pathologist to Australian primary industries across a career spanning more than 40 years. Trevor made an enormous contribution to the Australian wine and viticulture industry across several decades, through development and evaluation of many new fungicides and fungicide application programs that revolutionised the viticulture industry.

20/09/2016: WET consultation hits major wine states
The Turnbull Government is holding meetings with representatives from state and regional wine associations and local winemakers as part of its consultation on the implementation of tightened eligibility criteria for the wine equalisation tax (WET) rebate.

20/09/2016: Can this ASX wine firm do a Treasury Wines in China?
The ASX-listed owner of the McGuigan, Tempus Two and Nepenthe wine brands has secured two important distribution deals in China as it strives to emulate the success of the much-larger Treasury Wine Estates, which is delivering riches for its own shareholders.

20/09/2016: Campbell Mattinson's The Wine Hunter gets gong at the Louis Roederer Writers' Awards
Former Halliday magazine editor Campbell Mattinson was awarded the Chairman's Award at the prestigious Louis Roederer Wine Writers' Awards in London last week for the limited edition run of his book, The Wine Hunter: The Life Story of Australia's First Great Winemaker.

20/09/2016: The story of award-winning winemaker Sarah Crowe
We get the inside scoop on Winemaker of the Year Sarah Crowe. Here, the talented winemaker reveals how she's taken the Yarra Valley by storm, boldly taking the reins of its iconic Yarra Yering winery.

19/09/2016: Wine tax rebate reform to squeeze some out
Consultation on reform of the Wine Equalisation Tax Rebate starts next week with exactly who will be eligible for the scaled back rebate high on the agenda.

19/09/2016: Morgan Stanley tapped for Accolade Wines float
Morgan Stanley is understood to be one of the banks that will secure a joint lead manager role to float Accolade Wines, according to sources.

19/09/2016: Wolf Blass pops the cork - Australian wine giant moves on expansion deal in Thailand
Head winemaker for Wolf Blass Chris Hatcher recently visited Phuket to host an exclusive dinner at Bliss Beach Club, to mark the newly inked partnership, and showcase the brand’s range of premium wines.

19/09/2016: Much ado about pinot noir
Pinot bloody noir. For a grape so sparsely planted in this country, there are more paeans of adulation per vine penned about pinot than almost any other grape variety. Even riesling, and that's saying something.

19/09/2016: Can you judge a wine by its label?
We've all done it. And don't try and say you haven't done it, because you have. Probably many times. I've done it on hundreds of occasions - bought a wine because I thought the bottle looked cool. Like Pat Underwood's 2016 Little Reddie which has a label based on the cover of Sonic Youth's Goo album.

16/09/2016: Penfolds wins top chardonnay award
Penfolds has won this year’s James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge for its 2015 Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, taking out Best Chardonnay in Australia as well as Best Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills. With an overall score of 98 points from the panel of judges, the Penfolds wine was deemed the most complete and balanced of the 600-plus entries.

16/09/2016: New home of St Hugo in the Barossa takes wine tourism to the next level
Before me are nine hand-labelled samples of cabernet sauvignon picked in March 2015 from two parcels of land at one Coonawarra vineyard, fermented two ways and then collected four ways (or is that five?) in five kinds of barrels of two sizes.

16/09/2016: Bazzani looks beyond Warrenmang
After 40 years devoted to creating and developing his award-winning vineyard and tourism complex, the time has come for Luigi Bazzani to retire.

16/09/2016: Wines made from grapes harvested in a tiny vineyard within a city botanic garden have been launched in South Australia.
Produced with the support of Jacob’s Creek winemakers, the limited edition wines are believed to be the world’s first wine produced solely from grapes grown within a botanic garden. The 1150 bottles of wine in two styles – a rose (500) and a dry white (650) – are the result of a partnership between National Wine Centre, Botanic Gardens of South Australia and Jacob’s Creek.

16/09/2016: 2016 Pier One Sydney Harbour NSW Wine Awards starts next week
The benchmark that is the Pier One Sydney Harbour NSW Wine Awards kicks off on 20th September 2016 when the judging of over 800 amazing wines from NSW (yet another record number in the show’s 21 year history) starts in the Hunter Valley.

15/09/2016: Winemakers Toil to Beat the Heat of Climate Change
Grapes are ripening earlier and more quickly around the world, putting pressure on winemakers

15/09/2016: EU ambassador pushes for more regional branding in Australia
Australians farmers have been urged to introduce more so-called protected regional branding in a bid to mimic moves made by products from Champagne and Cognac in Europe.

15/09/2016: Calls for equitable trade of agriculture in deals with EU
ANY trade deal with the European Union must include “equitable” trade of agricultural products, Australia’s Trade Minister has warned. Steven Ciobo said “high levels of border protection persist” despite “comparatively low” tariffs in Australia and the EU.

15/09/2016: Britain’s Permira gets a thirst for Accolade Wines
Britain’s Permira has emerged as the mystery suitor circling Accolade Wines, as the $1 billion business heads for a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange or a trade sale.

15/09/2016: Understanding Wine Chemistry
A new book, Understanding Wine Chemistry, is the result of an international collaboration of faculty from three of the best-known wine programs in the English-speaking world. Dr David Jeffery (the University of Adelaide) and fellow authors, Professor Andrew Waterhouse (University of California Davis) and Associate Professor Gavin Sacks (Cornell University)

14/09/2016: Industry must take a lead on Brexit, WSTA urges
The wine industry needs to act now rather than waiting for Brexit, the WSTA has told members on the day of its annual conference.

14/09/2016: The wine world mourns the loss of a visionary, Stanko Radikon
Stanko Radikon of Radikon Wines in Friuli, north-east Italy, has passed away. The winemaker was a trailblazer for the natural wine movement who inspired a new generation of winemakers in Friuli, Australia and beyond.

14/09/2016: Five candidates standing in AWRI Board election
An election is currently in progress for the vacant position on the AWRI Board of Directors in the small producer category (less than 2,000 tonnes). The AWRI’s Constitution provides that there will be between seven and eleven directors on the AWRI Board. Six of those directors are nominated and elected by organisations that pay the Wine Grapes Levy (levy payers), divided into three categories divided by the size of production.

14/09/2016: Five candidates standing in AWRI Board election
An election is currently in progress for the vacant position on the AWRI Board of Directors in the small producer category (less than 2,000 tonnes). The AWRI’s Constitution provides that there will be between seven and eleven directors on the AWRI Board. Six of those directors are nominated and elected by organisations that pay the Wine Grapes Levy (levy payers), divided into three categories divided by the size of production.

14/09/2016: Sparkling future for Seppelt vineyards at Great Western
ONE of the oldest cellar doors in Australia is celebrating its 150-year history, the 50th anniversary release of its St Peters Grampians Shiraz and the fact it did not close this year.

14/09/2016: Wine served with conviction - a new brand takes on an old story
Australians know their history well – and whether they like it or not, the continent’s earliest immigrants were often young British men sent ‘down under’ in shackles to serve out convictions in the country’s extensive penal colonies. There were 19 Crimes that could land one on a ship to Australia.

13/09/2016: Europe's PAI Partners readies Accolade Wines tilt
European private equity firm PAI Partners is running the numbers on Australia's Accolade Wines, sources told Street Talk. As Street Talk revealed on Monday, PAI Partners is performing preliminary due diligence on the Australian wine bottler, seeking to strike as Accolade's biggest shareholder CHAMP Private Equity considers exit options after six years with the company.

13/09/2016: Cameron England: Real South Australian wines deserve more shelf space in liquor outlets - and in your home
Hundreds of labels are far from the quaint, handmade products their names might suggest. In reality they are mostly the product of the marketing department at one of our two major retailers, Woolworths and Coles, which now control more than 70 per cent of what they call “off premise” wine sales but what you and I know as buying from a bottle shop.

13/09/2016: VIC100 head judge Nick Stock busts the myths, misnomers and plain old white lies surrounding wine.
We all see it and taste it differently but the one thing everyone needs to remember is that wine is all about pleasure. It’s just a drink, often one with an aura of mystique, and sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s not. Nick Stock reports for the Herald Sun.

13/09/2016: Dan Murphy’s saga: Prahran Arcade Cellar adds a new chapter
A couple of months before he died in 2001, I interviewed veteran wine merchant Dan Murphy, then a frail 84-year-old living in a small unit in suburban Melbourne. Dan told me about his early years selling wine, first in the early 1950s from a small licensed grocery in Chapel Street, Prahran, then in the mid-60s from the much larger Prahran Arcade next door.

13/09/2016: Final week for wineries to enter 37th Sydney International Wine Competition
13 September 2016: Wineries have the rest of the week to enter this year’s Sydney International Wine Competition. Entries close on Friday 16 September, with judging samples required by 23 September. Uniquely, the Sydney International Wine Competition judges all its finalists in combination with appropriate food to make the Top 1OO and Blue/Gold winners more relevant to consumers. Entry for the 37th Sydney International Wine Competition is capped at 2000 wines, with just over 250 places still available for entry.

12/09/2016: Climate change affecting wine production in New South Wales central west
Wine producers in the New South Wales central west are being forced to adapt to rising temperatures which are affecting the region's "cool climate" drops.

12/09/2016: Wine with me: James Halliday reports on Durif
Durif was discovered in the 1860s in an experimental vineyard in France's Isere region, and takes its name from the man who'd established the vineyard.

12/09/2016: Trademark battle continues on WILD GEESE chase
Lodestar Anstalt v Campari America LLC [2016] FCAFC 92 is important because it clarifies what constitutes ‘control’ in determining whether use of a trademark by a licensee is ‘authorised use’. It is the latest, in Australia, in the ongoing battle concerning the WILD GEESE trademarks. It is a unanimous decision of the Full Bench (five judges) of the Court of Appeal of the Federal Court on appeal from a single judge on appeal, in turn, from the registrar of trademarks.

12/09/2016: Hentley Farm is worth the search
THE Barossa Valley has some of the oldest grapevines in the world and some of the oldest labels-productions in Australia. So in terms of vinous age Hentley Farm is but a glint in the milkman's eye. Keith and Alison Hentschke searched for many years to find the right location before purchasing the 1840s-built Hentley Farm, located in the Seppeltsfield region, in the late 1990s.

12/09/2016: Clean sweep for Granite Belt winery at state awards
A GRANITE Belt winery has dominated the Queensland Wine Awards, taking out five major accolades. Ballandean Estate Wines was named as Winery of the Year, Cellar Door of the Year and Champion Wine of Show.

9/09/2016: WSTA explores Australia Brexit talks, as minister talks of ‘cheap Aussie wine’
The WSTA has embarked on preliminary talks with the national industry body for Australia’s winemakers to explore post-Brexit trade as the country’s trade minister admits that cheap Australian wine would be “a fringe benefit” of a new trade deal.

9/09/2016: Que Syrah, Syrah… or Shiraz?
Until Australia’s inventive winemakers decided to call their Syrah-based wines ‘Shiraz’, the original historically correct and generally blended wines – grown in the Rhône Valley in south eastern France – were quietly sinking into comparative obscurity.

9/09/2016: The High-Pressure Life Of A Famous Winemaker And His Wine: Peter Gago And Penfolds Grange
Regarded as one of the world’s finest wines, Penfolds Bin 95 Grange also serves as the iconic wine of Australia. Collectors pay impressive sums (upwards of $850 for a recent vintage) for this exquisite Australian Shiraz. However, unlike most of the world’s ultra-premium wine labels that only change hands in the rarefied air of the one percent, Penfolds also makes pop and pour entry-level wines to be enjoyed every day.

9/09/2016: Researchers want to hear it from the grapevine with new study
GRAPE and wine producers are being asked to participate in an online survey about production practices. The survey, launched last week by The Australian Wine Research Institute, is aiming to determine how common a range of different production practices are.

9/09/2016: Australian grapegrowers vote for change
The national representative winegrape growers organisation has a new constitution and a new trading name. Yesterday, members of Wine Grape Growers Australia (WGGA) voted in favour of a new constitution and a new trading name, Australian Vignerons. “This is not the end of a period of hard work – it is the start of it,” said Andrew Weeks, WGGA executive director.

8/09/2016: Men urged to ‘step up’ on gender equality
The Advisory Board of the Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) is calling on men in the Australian wine community to join women in taking action to address the issue of gender diversity. “Gender equality is not just a women’s issue, it’s an issue for the entire wine community,” said Jane Thomson, AWIWA founder and chair.

8/09/2016: UK tops list of foreign investments in Australian farmland; China owns 0.5 per cent
The Federal Government's long-awaited farm register reveals investors from the United Kingdom have easily the biggest stake in foreign-owned farmland in Australia. The register, compiled by the Australian Tax Office, shows 13.6 per cent of Australia's farmland is foreign-owned. UK-based investors own 27.5 million hectares or almost 53 per cent of that portion.

8/09/2016: Thirteen new Masters of Wine named
Thirteen new members from eight different countries have joined the Institute of Masters of Wine, including Bree Boskov from Australia. Boskov started out as a sommelier in Canada before moving back to Australia and spending a decade in key account sales and brand management with De Bortoli Wines.

8/09/2016: Canned wine: convenience and a new generation of wine drinkers
In Australia, Barokes created the first successful wine in a can in 1996 and patented the technology, known as Vinsafe, in 2002. Barokes now licenses their technology to producers in Australia and overseas. Barokes’ marketing director Irene Stokes says of the technology, “The Vinsafe technology ensures wine is canned to maintain the product's integrity (colour, taste, aroma), stability and longevity.”

8/09/2016: Riverina winery winning over fans across the globe
A winery from the Riverina in southern New South Wales continues to fill the cellars of oenophiles across the world. Chalkers Crossing vineyard, located on the outskirts of the country town of Young, currently exports to the UK, China and Canada, and will soon begin selling to Thailand.

8/09/2016: NSW Small Winemakers Show 2016: Trophy winners
The NSW Small Winemakers Show celebrated its 25th year of competition this year with the highest number of medals awarded in recent years. This year also saw the largest diversity of wine regions and styles awarded medals in the shows history from 96 small producers that crush a maximum of 500 tonnes annually.

7/09/2016: 2016 Len Evans Tutorial scholars announced
A dozen members of the Australian wine community are set for a life-changing experience having been selected as the scholars for the 2016 Len Evans Tutorial. To give it some context, James Halliday describes the tutorial as “the most exclusive wine school in the world”.

7/09/2016: ASVO Advanced Wine Assessment Course scholarship recipient
Stewart Byrne, the assistant winemaker at Josef Chromy Wines, has been awarded a $4,500 scholarship that will allow him to refine his palate and sensory skills. The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) and Seguin Moreau Australasia, have announced Byrne as the 2016 recipient of the Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC) Scholarship.

7/09/2016: Cassegrain Winery land will go under the hammer this month
A public auction on September 13, will aim to sell the Cassegrain Winery land in Port Macquarie. The land has been rezoned in the hope an investor can purchase it for tourism development. A new and secure 10 year lease for Cassegrain Wines, which will continue to trade from the site, has been established.The sale of the land will not impact on the current facilities which include the winery, Seasons Café-Restaurant, Port Macquarie Horse Riding Centre and the Tesla Supercharger station.

7/09/2016: The success of Tasmania’s wines
Can the rise and rise of cool climate wines from Tasmania continue? It has been the silent juggernaut of the Australian wine industry. With minimal marketing budget, but with a product that consumers increasingly enjoy, Tasmanian wine producers are riding a wave of success. Winsor Dobbin investigates.

7/09/2016: If the TPP dies, Australia has other game changing trade options
The US Congress’ ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is in serious danger. But running alongside the crippled TPP, and potentially of more importance to Australian trade, has been the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Essentially, the partnership is a free trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN members and the six countries with which ASEAN has existing FTAs.

6/09/2016: Alibaba launches Aussie wine store
Alibaba has launched a flagship Australian wine store through its Tmall platform, providing an opportunity for Aussie winemakers to tap into the lucrative Chinese market. Australian winemakers are set to benefit from Alibaba’s latest offering — a flagship business-to-consumer wine store offering Australian wines through the Tmall.com platform.

6/09/2016: Cleanskin wine to be ineligible for tax rebate as government cracks down on rorts
The Federal Government's tax reform of the wine industry is squarely targeted at those producing bulk and unlabelled wine. Big retailers like Coles and Woolworths, which produce wine, will also lose the rebate. The government is currently meeting with the industry as part of its consultation into the changes.

6/09/2016: The best of NSW wine promoted at inaugural First Planted event
NSW wine industry personalities including Bruce Tyrrell, Iain Riggs, Darren De Bortoli and Bill Calabria helped launch the inaugural First Planted Lunch in Sydney on Friday. The Langtons-sponsored event featured a live wine auction conducted by Andrew Caillard MW which included a number of rare and unusual items including a barrel of Tyrrell’s 2016 Vat 47 Chardonnay which sold for $12,232 and a double magnum of Lake’s Folly Cabernet which sold for $990.

6/09/2016: The Farm Shed making the most of booming industry
Tasmania's East Coast wine region is booming, with 19 vineyards in operation. Many were started by farmers wanting to diversify and value-add to their land. Businesswomen Helen Bain and Subi Mead are capitalising on the local industry’s growth with their new business, The Farm Shed East Coast Wine Centre at Bicheno.

6/09/2016: How to squeeze more than 100 grape varieties into one bottle of Barossa rose
THIS has got to be Australia’s craziest wine. And no — it’s not picked by naked maidens under a blue moon. It’s not even foot-stomped by unicorns. And it’s certainly not some unpronounceable grape variety imported from Outer Mongolia. In fact it is made from an astounding 108 different grape varieties, grown in the Barossa Valley and mashed together into an extraordinary rose blend that defies all winemaking conventions.

6/09/2016: Loosen: High alcohol ‘doesn’t suit Pinot Noir’
Ernie Loosen, the exuberant Mosel winemaker, has said that he believes New World Pinot Noir shouldn’t have high alcohol levels which can mask its subtle expression and upset “its balance and finesse.” Popping over to Hong Kong and Macau in what he jokingly calls a “one week Blitzkrieg”, Ernie Loosen said he forecasts steady growth in the Asia region, and is triumphant about the popularity of his Kabinett Riesling among Chinese drinkers in Hong Kong who prefer the lighter, fruitier style which can pair well with Cantonese cuisine.

5/09/2016: Wine industry soon to have smartphone app advising on irrigation and harvesting
The wine industry will soon have another tool at its fingertips to help navigate important on-farm decisions. National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) director, Professor Alain Deloire, from Wagga Wagga, said a smartphone app is being developed by researchers with Wine Australia at Charles Sturt University (CSU).

5/09/2016: Cheap plonk to stay, but wineries may close under tax crackdown
The government's plans to crack down on tax rorts in the wine industry probably won't cause cheap-and-cheerful plonk prices to rise, but could lead to some of Australia's 2500-odd wineries go bust, winemakers say. Treasury Wine Estates, the country's biggest winemaker by market value and one of the biggest by volume, has welcomed the government's long-awaited plans to make a rebate for winemakers lower and harder to claim. But many winemakers say the government has gone too far. They will be pushing Revenue Minister Kelly O'Dwyer and Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Anne Rushton to water down the plans.

5/09/2016: Mandoon leads WA charge at wine show
Swan Valley producer Mandoon Estate has continued its stellar run at the Perth Royal Wine Show, winning three awards including best WA wine of the show, for its Frankland Reserve Shiraz 2014. Mandoon also won the award for the most successful WA producer processing less than 300 tonnes for the fourth consecutive year. Mandoon’s Reserve Shiraz also won the trophy for the best WA red wine.

5/09/2016: Winery Engineering Association national conference and exhibition
The WEA Conference and Exhibition WineEng 2016 will be held at the Serafino Winery in South Australia’s McLaren Vale region this week (September 7 and 8). The conference is a significant and unique event on the wine calendar, concentrating on many aspects of wine production and aimed at production operations personnel (winemakers, engineering and maintenance staff, bottling and packaging management, general management as well winery suppliers). The common goal for those who attend is to ensure that the Australian wine industry remains competitive both in the domestic and global markets.

5/09/2016: Here are Australia's top 50 most collected wines according to Wine Ark
Wine storage business Wine Ark keeps a keen eye on the two million bottles it keeps for customers to see what they’re collecting and this year, for the first time in since 2007, Penfolds Grange has lost the title of Australia’s most collected wine to its cheaper relative, dubbed 'baby Grange', at one-10th of the price. But luckily for Treasury Wine Estates, owners of Penfolds, it’s another wine from that portfolio – the Bin 389 Shiraz Cabernet, which sells for around $75 compared to the $750 the current 2011 vintage of Bin 95 Grange commands.

International Wine Industry News

23/09/2016: Marlborough bud burst signals start of growing season and 'roller coaster' to vintage
Vines around Marlborough are waking from their winter slumber, frost fans are starting up and wine companies are busy hiring their harvest teams. The "roller coaster" ride to next vintage has started, with the first bud burst taking place in chardonnay vines around the region.

23/09/2016: Avery’s cellar auction includes 1875 Lafite
John Avery MW was known for importing wines from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and California during the 1960s and 1970s at a time when they were little-known.

23/09/2016: China Sends Vines into Space
China has the world's largest market for wine, with sales of over a billion litres last year. In June, we reported that wine produced in the country is quickly improving in quality, and is now rivalling some imported vintages in taste tests.

23/09/2016: Why are these wine producers aging their bottles under the sea?
In a time when more wines are available to consumers than ever before, not only are sommeliers constantly looking for new and interesting bottles, but winemakers themselves are looking for innovative, unique ways of making wine. When it comes to aging, producers are experimenting with types of oak, concrete vessel shapes, amphorae, solera systems, sur lie — the list goes on.

23/09/2016: This start-up is using math to help you find your new favourite wine
Wisconsin might be known as the home of cheese and breweries, but one start up is also hoping to make it well-known for another beverage: wine. And they're planning to do it with simple math. In fact, their premise is to use an algorithm to pair people's taste buds with their ideal wine bottle match.

23/09/2016: 9 Wines From Far-Flung Corners of the World
Wines from Morocco, Greece, Brazil and South Africa are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.

22/09/2016: Salud! 30-year-old L'Etoile sommelier James Juedes learns on his feet
A few years ago, James Juedes decided he wanted to learn about wine. In 2012, after emailing every winery he could think of in Wisconsin, he showed up on the doorstep of Fisher King Winery in Mount Horeb.

22/09/2016: Tesco strengthens own label wine range
Tesco has boosted its own label range with the introduction of more than 20 new lines under its core and premium finest* wine range – which it says has seen “significant” growth over the summer.

22/09/2016: Majestic Wine shares dive on profit warning
Shares in Majestic Wine have sunk by nearly a quarter after it warned its profits would be lower than expected.

22/09/2016: Clemens: Chardonnay is the world's second-most planted white wine grape
Chardonnay is the grape people love to hate and hate to love. Many remember dreadful times in the ’80s and ’90s when chardonnay was all about oak and butter. ABC (“Anything But Chardonnay”) resistance groups sprang up.

22/09/2016: Wine Regions on the Rise
Grapes are being grown and wines are being made in more and more places around the globe. Here’s a look at some of the world’s up-and-coming vinous neighborhoods.

22/09/2016: Italian wine by the book: the Barbaresco encyclopedia
Vinyl, film, fixies, books. All making a rock-solid comeback, God bless the hipsters. I'm indifferent to the first three, being digital in my music and image acquisition and geared in the treadlie department. But I do adore paper and print: the look, feel and smell of it.

21/09/2016: Bay wines win gold at leading NZ show
Hawke's Bay wines have picked up 35 gold medals at the New Zealand International Wine Show with Villa Maria's Bay vineyards coming through with 10 of them.

21/09/2016: Okanagan winery recruits former head of New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay
Industry leader on board to take Okanagan Valley’s unique wines to the world; the natural progression in celebrating the excellence, the beauty, the outstanding opportunity that is Mission Hill Family Estate

21/09/2016: Wine and Tech - a Dismal Marriage
On Sunday 31 July 2016 one of the most innovative pieces of software ever developed for the wine industry was shut down by the company that purchased it a little more than a year before.

21/09/2016: Santero unveils new ‘hand fitted’ bottle
Santero ‘Hand’ Dilê wines are soon to hit the shelves and they may be slightly more distinctive than your average bottle, as they come with spaces carved out for four fingers on the one side and another space for your thumb on the other, according to the Metro.

21/09/2016: Richest French wine château owners revealed – 2016
Bernard Arnault, who’s Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton empire includes names such as Krug, Dom Perignon and Cheval Blanc, was beaten into second place on the annual French rich list by L’Oreal’s Liliane Bettancourt.

21/09/2016: Like fine wine, Grapevine’s 30th Annual GrapeFest improves with age
The first GrapeFest was a one-day event held on one block. About 900 people attended. This year, for the 30th annual GrapeFest — A Texas Wine Experience, tens of thousands of wine enthusiasts converged on downtown Grapevine over four days, beginning last Thursday.

20/09/2016: Marlborough man shows his age well
This week I’ve been drinking something old, something new and something orange. Well, oldish, newish and orange-ish.

20/09/2016: It’s wise to train cellar door staff
It won’t be long before cellar doors are humming once again. Holiday makers, tourists and locals alike are keener than ever to get up close and personal with the store front of a wine label.

20/09/2016: Nearly R10‚000 paid for a litre of red wine
The top red wine fetched an unsurpassed R9‚777 per litre at the Nederburg Auction at the weekend - paid for 1976 Zonnebloem Shiraz‚ totalling R22‚000 for three 750ml bottles.

20/09/2016: What to Drink Now: Riesling
I don’t think any wine tastes more like the soils it is grown in than Riesling. A bold statement, as many wines in many parts of the world, truly taste like their terroir, but after sipping through dozens of options from one side of the world to the other, I feel rather confident with the statement. And, what an experience tasting through all of them was.

20/09/2016: Conman targeted wine collections for vintage lifestyle
A fraudster who claimed to be a fine wine broker has been jailed for cheating pensioners out of their vintage collections and spending the proceeds on gambling, cocaine and luxury cars.

20/09/2016: Trump's D.C. hotel will offer wine by the spoon
Donald Trump seemingly makes headlines daily for his presidential campaign strategy, but it was a detail about his forthcoming D.C. hotel's bar that caught my attention this afternoon.

19/09/2016: Down under, up here. Two winemakers to watch
Invited to a chef’s flat in Bethnal Green to meet two winemakers from down under, Nick puts on his hipster beard and gets on the tube.

19/09/2016: Marlborough publican Rowan Ingpen on the issues facing Renwick
Renwick is the heart of sauvignon blanc country, surrounded by vineyards and wineries producing the wine that put Marlborough on the map. You can probably find a few bottles of savvy in the Woodbourne Tavern, but being a classic Kiwi pub most punters tend to favour a pint.

19/09/2016: Aubrey McClendon Wine Collection Brings $8.44 Million at Auction
The wine collection of late Chesapeake Energy Corp. co-founder Aubrey McClendon sold for $8.44 million on Saturday, above the estimated range and breaking records for some of the rare French bottles.

19/09/2016: Master Sommeliers have thicker brains – study
Master Sommeliers require so much mental agility to make the grade that the sensory part of their brains becomes physically thicker, a scientific study has found.

19/09/2016: Americans moving in on Piedmont
People went 'crazy' when news broke that a US family had bought the historic Vietti winery in Barolo country. Jane Anson visited Piedmont to test the local sentiment and get the inside track on the sale...

19/09/2016: Bordeaux wine industry innovates to suit UK consumers
A quick look at the IRI figures for the top 10 bestselling wine-producing countries in the UK retail trade reveals a stark trend: the Old World is taking a battering and the New World is surging.

16/09/2016: Giesen Wines rated a hot prospect by prestigious US agency
Growth and momentum continue for family-owned New Zealand leader. Family owned company Giesen Wines is the only New Zealand company to be named on a prestigious list of the fastest growing wine and spirits brands in the US.

16/09/2016: New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay set for shake-up
Hawke’s Bay – the historical homeland of New Zealand’s red Bordeaux varieties – could be due for a shake-up, with high-cropping Merlot vineyards replanted with Syrah according to Craggy Bay winemaker Matt Stafford.

16/09/2016: Are Wine Ratings Good for Wine Investment?
“We know how to make wines that will get higher Parker ratings, but we want to stay faithful to the terroir.” Marie-Hélene Dussech, Commercial Director, Château Brane-Cantenac.

16/09/2016: Global Syrah masters: the results
It’s far from the most modish grape on the planet, but the Syrahs our judges tasted blind impressed more than their trendier rivals, says Patrick Schmitt

16/09/2016: Vine and dandy: Dengie seeks wine region grant to help it rival France and Australia
MALDON and the Dengie’s vineyards could be set to rival those in France and South Africa under plans to establish the district as an internationally-renowned wine region.

16/09/2016: Despite fraud charges, Charles Banks still in wine business
The arrest last week of prominent winery investor Charles Banks on fraud charges has called into question the fate of his California wine empire. A federal grand jury indicted Banks in Texas Friday for allegedly defrauding former pro basketball player Tim Duncan, whom he had long served as a financial adviser.

15/09/2016: Pernod Ricard gives Brancott Estate global revamp
Pernod Ricard has unveiled a global packaging update for its New Zealand wine brand, Brancott Estate. The revamp, announced earlier this week, highlights the Brancott vineyard in Marlborough, and is a result of research that found consumers are keen to learn about brand legacies.

15/09/2016: NZ winegrowers names 2017 scholars
New Zealand Winegrowers has announced the three UK and Ireland-based sommeliers chosen to take part in its 2017 Sommit scholarship programme.

15/09/2016: Researchers Find an Exciting Link Between Wine and Alzheimer's Prevention
A recent breakthrough in Alzheimer's research is welcome news for master sommeliers and, well, people who just really like wine. A new study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that sommeliers, i.e., people who have heightened olfactory capabilities, are less likely to develop Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

15/09/2016: The 7th Annual International #GrenacheDay Returns Friday September 16!
Today, wine lovers around the world will celebrate the 7thAnnual International #GrenacheDay with toasts, tweets and tastings from Japan to France, California to South Africa, South Korea to Australia.

15/09/2016: Portuguese wine could be ideal product for China-lusophone cooperation
Luís de Herédia, director of Macau-based Vinomac Fine Wines, a six-year-old distributor in the territory offering a portfolio of wines from countries such as Portugal, France and Australia, says that wine is an ideal product for exchange on the China-Lusophone platform, which some hope that Macau can become.

15/09/2016: 30 years later, GrapeFest’s thirst for wine goes way beyond Texas
While GrapeFest will feature wines from California’s Central Coast and Australia’s Barossa Valley, there will also be plenty of Texas wine. The Lone Star State is the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the United States, Lyons said.

14/09/2016: Napa, Bordeaux, Marlborough? NZ wineries in big push for visitors
One winery is seeking inspiration from the man who landscaped Hobbiton, at least three are opening new or refurbished tasting rooms and another is renovating a restaurant. It's all part of a plan to lure tourists to New Zealand's premier wine region.

14/09/2016: Chardonnay, the marmite of wine
Chardonnay seldom sets the wine lover’s heart into overdrive. More often, it sparks ‘been there, done that’ thoughts. The swinging ‘like it/loathe it’ pendulum has often meant that Chardonnay has been consigned to the spectrum of wine being avoided if you’re trying to impress a dinner date or a legion of wedding guests.

14/09/2016: Rod Phillips: Don't take Sangria's name in vain
I was walking past a private wine store recently and noticed a big sign for “SANGRIA.” Clearly someone doesn’t know that sangria is a protected name, and can be used like that only for wine-based drinks made in Spain or Portugal. Then I searched for sangria on the LCBO website and found sangria from Spain, alright, but also “sangrias” from California, Australia, and Canada.

14/09/2016: The trendy wines of 2016: natural, orange, new wave Aussie, English sparkling, and more
Drinkers are branching out to try Greek, eastern European and Turkish vintages, while premium rosé continues its ascent and North Americans experiment with red blends

14/09/2016: Georgia’s wins 7 medals at top Japanese wine contest
The unique taste of Georgian wine is making an impression in Japan, where this week a local wine producer won seven medals at a prestigious wine competition. Georgia’s Badagoni wine company was honoured with gold, silver and bronze medals at the 19th Japan Wine Challenge, an event regarded as one of the most prestigious wine competitions in Asia.

14/09/2016: Chicago Bulls’ Dwyane Wade Will Choose LeBron James Over His Wife
Wade was talking to the magazine about a new wine business that he started with Pahlmeyer Winery. He teamed up with the wine producer to come up with his own Cabernet vintage. He chose 2012, the year he won the NBA championship with the Miami Heat.

13/09/2016: Helping drive Nelson's wine success story
Making great wine is only part of the wine business. After ensuring the quality is as good as it can be wine producers need to sell their product and because there are so many great wines available it is getting more difficult every year to get on to wine lists or supermarket and liquor store shelves.

13/09/2016: In vino veritas (and profits) in NZ
Is there further upside for New Zealand’s booming wine sector? The answer is yes. An export industry which has experienced strong growth in recent years, NZ viticulture has played an important role in providing a new source of grow for the country’s agribusiness sector.

13/09/2016: Cashing in on Alibaba’s 9.9 online wine festival
Friday marked the first online wine festival that was hosted on e-commerce and trading platform Alibaba’s TMall, which boasted more than 100,000 wines that went up for sale.

13/09/2016: For Good Red Wine at Reasonable Prices Remember This Name: Garnacha
This versatile grape, celebrated on Sept. 16 this year, does particularly well in various parts of Spain

13/09/2016: Why Investors Are Gravitating Toward Fine Wine
It seems like investors are raising a glass to fine wines. After several years of poor performances, fine wines have returned this year as one of the most productive investments, Marketwatch reported. The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index, considered the industry’s leading benchmark, has surged by 16% since the beginning of the year. It’s outperforming the gain for the S&P 500 and the dollar.

13/09/2016: The world's first winery
While archeologists unearth the world’s oldest known winery in a cave in Armenia, a new generation of producers is reviving an ancient wine-making tradition 6,100 years in the making

12/09/2016: New Zealand wineries seek 'Lord of the Rings' inspiration in export push
One winery is seeking inspiration from the man who landscaped Hobbiton, at least three are opening new or refurbished tasting rooms and another is renovating a restaurant. It’s all part of a plan to lure tourists to New Zealand’s premier wine region.

12/09/2016: Wine investor Charles Banks charged with defrauding NBA star
Charles Augustus Banks IV, a noted wine investor behind such powerhouse California labels as Mayacamas and Screaming Eagle, was arrested Friday in San Antonio on charges of defrauding retired basketball star Tim Duncan. Although Banks, 48, was soon released on $1 million bail, he faces trouble on several fronts.

12/09/2016: Official stats for August: Georgia exports 42% more wine
According to Georgia's National Wine Agency (NWA), over 28 million bottles of wine were exported to 46 countries last month, bringing $64.8 million back into the economy. In August 2016 Georgia exported 42 percent more wine year-on-year (y/y), and generated 16 percent more revenue by selling 28,156,547 bottles of wine abroad.

12/09/2016: Wines of South Africa and CEO Siobhan Thompson
Imagine an organisation of 19 people working full time to help increase the export of wines of a country, which was negligible barely 25 years ago due to Apartheid! And only one of whose several activities is to organise the Cape Wine show that brings the South African producers on a common platform in Cape Town and gets around 60 countries to attend!

12/09/2016: Aglianico: The Worlds Oldest Cultivated Grape is Italy’s Unknown Wine Treasure
According to the Wine Economics Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, the wine industry produced over 7.7 billion gallons of wine in 2014. That’s enough for a little over a gallon of wine for every single person on earth. Remarkably, although there are over a thousand grape varieties suitable for making wine, two-dozen varieties accounted for roughly 85 percent of the world’s wine production.

12/09/2016: Alibaba Wants People To Drink More Wine
Alibaba’s Jack Ma anticipates that about 100 million of the company’s more than 400 million active buyers will take part in China’s first online wine festival on September 9, according to Decanter China. The Chinese e-commerce giant is betting big on this festival where around 100,000 wine and spirits will be offered online with the help of its Tmall.

9/09/2016: International judges announced for Air NZ Wine Awards
Two highly respected international wine personalities will be joining this year’s judging panel for the country’s premier wine competition, the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

9/09/2016: Wine: Baby, don't fear the screw cap
My feelings about screw caps on wine have been complicated. I know that good wine can be under a screw cap, but I also have had fear of the screw cap.

9/09/2016: Wine Market Council Partners with Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University to Bring an Academic Perspective to Wine Industry Research
Wine Market Council, a non-profit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and other affiliated wine businesses, today announced a partnership with the Wine Business Institute, a research and education institute of the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University, to bring an academic perspective to Wine Market Council’s research and industry insights.

9/09/2016: How can a wine made in Georgia be labeled ‘Napa Valley’?
A California-led proposal to tighten wine-labeling rules has rallied the state’s lawmakers, split the industry and spurred a debate that shows no signs of resolution. Flexing political muscles, 48 members of the House of Representatives, including three dozen Californians, are seeking tighter labeling rules to protect the value of names like “Napa Valley.”

9/09/2016: Excitement from Michigan and New York
Although I have enjoyed judging wines in Australia and New Zealand, Europe and British Columbia, in recent years the most excitement has come from the Midwest and the East.

9/09/2016: Wine Kerfuffle Stains Vietnamese Banquet for French President
Vietnam's government has drawn criticism for its choice of imported wine at this week's welcome banquet for French President Francois Hollande. Photos published by local media show bottles of Australian-made alcoholic beverages alongside Vietnamese specialty dishes.

8/09/2016: Wine ambassadors wanted: Kiwi vineyards turn to tourists for help
Vignerons in the Marlborough region are on a building spree, adding infrastructure to help them leverage off record tourist arrivals. The aim is to turn winery visitors into life-long advocates of Kiwi vino. Almost 612,000 foreigners visited New Zealand vineyards in the year through June, 11 per cent more than a year earlier, and government figures show that wine buffs typically stay in the country longer and spend more.

8/09/2016: Kiwis too lazy, too drugged up to work: PM
New Zealand is forced to rely on foreign workers to fill jobs because locals are too lazy and have problems with drugs, its own prime minister said. “You don’t get a second chance when harvesting fruit – it needs to be picked in its prime. So if workers don’t show up, that hugely affects the business," said Leon Stallard from Hawke’s Bay.

8/09/2016: Why cabernet sauvignon is the big kahuna of wine grapes
Today it is the most widely planted wine grape on earth, prominent in everything from the world's premier wines to the serviceable, reliable bottles that crowd grocery store shelves and sell for less than $15. You can surely find decent bottles of Cabernet for less than $10 too. Cabernet grows well pretty much everywhere you find sunlight and warmth, from Chile to China.

8/09/2016: Pernod Ricard eyes acquisitions in China
Pernod Ricard is prepared to consider potential niche acquisitions to bolster its business in China and widen the appeal of its portfolio in what is now its second largest market, accounting for about nine per cent of its global sales.

8/09/2016: Winery worker, Napa resident killed on the job
A Napa winery employee was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics after a stack of metal wine barrel racks fell on him, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office. "This is a terrible tragedy that is felt throughout our organisation” said CEO and Chairman Roger Trinchero. “As a family-run operation, every employee is part of our extended family and the loss is very painful for all of us.”

8/09/2016: Looking to Italy for new winegrape varieties
Growers in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada gathered recently to hear what Professor Novello had to say about their region. Novello, from the University of Turin, was invited by University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor Lynn Wunderlich to tour foothill vineyards and share his thoughts. Growers in the region are finding success producing Italian grape varieties, owing in part to the ideal microclimate and soils the foothills provide.

7/09/2016: Wine industry adapting to climate change
Current and future adaptation strategies will be crucial for the wine industry. Recently more than 150 scientists from around the globe gathered at the ClimWine2016 Symposium in Bordeaux. One of the participants at the conference was Dr Amber Parker, Lincoln University viticulture lecturer, who is exploring changes to the lifecycle (phenology) of grapevines in response to temperature.

7/09/2016: Marlborough grape marc management guidelines
Marlborough wine companies and grapegrowers have sustainability guidelines around how they manage grape marc. The majority of companies in the region are members of Sustainable Winegrowing in New Zealand, a program set up by industry body New Zealand Winegrowers.

7/09/2016: Pernod Ricard UK MD departs as company hits another year of good growth
Pernod Ricard’s UK managing director Denis O’Flynn, who has been with company for 16 years leaves at the end of the month following another good year of growth.

7/09/2016: Burgundy wineries try to weather the storms: Hail, frost, rain — and Brexit
No way will a string of bad weather and some market turbulence keep Burgundy down. David Croix, winemaker at Maison Camille Giroud for the past 15 vintages, put it this way: “It’s been bad four of the last five years, and this is by far the worst. Other years we’ve had hail, this year frost. Some vineyards don’t have any fruit at all, but we still have to mow, and we still have to trellis the vines.”

7/09/2016: American billionaire buys three Bordeaux châteaux
Thomas Sullivan, billionaire founder of Lumber Liquidators and Cabinets to Go in the US, has bought nearly 30 hectares of vines across three Bordeaux Right Bank estates. The estates are Château Gaby in AOC Fronsac, Château Moya in AOC Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux and Château du Parc in AOC St-Emilion Grand Cru. These are his first vineyard purchases. Sullivan is a Boston-native and a Miami resident.

7/09/2016: Naked Wines ‘most social media-savvy’ wine retailer
Naked Wines delivers the most engaging content to its customers across social media platforms, according to new research into wine retailers’ online activity. The study, conducted retail marketing agency Leapfrogg, analysed 10 UK online wine sellers and clubs, looking at content across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

6/09/2016: Growers back PM on NZers' poor work ethic
Orchardists and grape growers have backed up Prime Minister John Key's comments on the difficulties of getting beneficiaries into seasonal work. He said the New Zealand Seasonal Workers Scheme, which is designed to give unemployed locals a job as opposed to a separate programme which brings in people from the Pacific Islands, had issues with locals who "just can't muster what is required to actually work".

6/09/2016: Tonnellerie de Mercurey NZ 'young winemaker 2016' announced
Congratulations to Jordan Hogg from Seresin – the Tonnellerie de Mercurey NZ Young Winemaker 2016. The National Final was held on Tuesday 23 August at MRC and the winner was announced at the Bragato Wine Awards dinner on Thursday 25 August. Congratulations also goes to Alex Roper from Mission Estate, Hawke’s Bay who was the runner up. Tom Hindmarsh and Matt Fox were the other finalists, also performing strongly throughout the competition.

6/09/2016: Sonoma Wine County Weekend breaks record
While its more famous cousin in Napa was flat this year, the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction raised a record $4.6 million at Chateau St. Jean Winery on Sunday. Even more impressive was the $2.7 million raised by 650 paddle-holders for “Fund the Future” – a campaign which underwrites every major literacy program in Sonoma Valley as well as several countywide.

6/09/2016: Niagara uncorked: Selecting Ontario's best wines
The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for excellence in Ontario has earmarked for the cream of the crop. Twelve wines sit atop the 473 wines from more than 70 wineries that were entered into the Ontario Wine Awards earlier this year. “The general idea was to select a case of wine, 12 bottles, that you or the lieutenant governor of Ontario could serve to anyone that shows up for dinner that represents the pinnacle of Ontario wine,” said Brent Peachey.

6/09/2016: Chilean winery teams up with WSET to offer education promotion
Marques de Casa Concha and the Wines and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) have partnered to offer consumers the chance to win a place on a wine course via a neck collar promotion.

5/09/2016: Buchan uncorks new design at NZ Winery
Global architectural firm The Buchan Group has uncorked its design of the Mt. Beautiful Tasting Room in Cheviot, New Zealand, aimed at introducing food and wine enthusiasts to this internationally successful, locally grown wine label. Mt. Beautiful is a premium North Canterbury wine brand grown and produced at Spotswood, nine kilometres north of Cheviot. The tasting room based in Cheviot showcases its varieties in Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay. Sympathetic to the timber-themed design of the adjoining Two Rivers Cafe, the fitout uses a blend of natural materials to reflect the environment of the vineyard.

5/09/2016: International design award for ‘One Off’ Pinot Noir
Hawkes Bay wine company Rod McDonald Wines is the only New Zealand winery and business to win a prestigious prize in the 2016 Harpers Design Awards. The internationally recognised design awards, made up of a high calibre judging panel, received entries from ten countries around the world, with only five picking up an award. “The standard was high, with some stunning examples of enticing and engaging design, really lifting those products above the ordinary,” said Harpers editor Andrew Catchpole. “But our brief as judges went beyond purely aesthetical considerations, looking at how well the design of each product had been tailored to the client’s brief and its target market.”

5/09/2016: Bulk wine now 38% of global wine exports
The growing bulk wine category now accounts for 38.6% of global wine exports, with 39.49 million hectoliters exported around the world last year. In comparison, bottled wine accounted for 54.3% of global exports and sparkling wine just 7.1% despite an insatiable global thirst for fizz. Since the year 2000 bulk wine has grown its total share of global wine exports by over 4%, from 34% to 38.6%. Global bulk wine sales have increased by a whopping 71%, from 59.99 million hectoliters in 2000 to 102.43 million hectoliters last year.

5/09/2016: Margrit Biever Mondavi, 'great lady' of Napa wine world, dies at 91
Margrit Biever Mondavi, the widow of California wine pioneer Robert G. Mondavi who served as the company's cultural affairs director for decades, has died. She was 91. Mondavi died Friday afternoon of cancer at her Napa home, said Keith Roberts, her son-in-law. "She was the great lady of Napa Valley and the wine world in general. She was a gift to all of us," Roberts said. "She and her husband invented the modern wine business in California, and the United States."

5/09/2016: Bordeaux 2016 harvest begins after year of two halves Read more at http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/bordeaux-2016-harvest-begins-329078/#IYSuUcIjFVvFXqyd.99
Château Haut-Brion and several dry white wine producers down in Sauternes have started harvesting their 2016 grapes, but it's still a waiting game for some following this year's late flowering - and that will affect the reds, too.

5/09/2016: The IMW announces its new students
A record number of applicants applied to join the MW Study Programme this year – 88 people have been accepted onto the Institute’s worldwide Study Programme. They come from 26 countries, and will be offered the option of attending a Master of Wine seminar in Australia, Austria, or the United States. The highest proportion of applicants came from North America, followed by the UK, Hong Kong and China.

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