Wine industry support business Vitis New Zealand has moved into its new premises in Grove Rd, Blenheim. The family business, which has operated in Blenheim for more than 20 years, officially opened its new store yesterday. Vitis New Zealand chief executive Cathy Robinson said it was exciting to enter a new chapter in the business. The store boasts a purpose-built layout which showcases products on shelves against one wall. Winery equipment including, pumps, crushers, filters, tool and larger processing equipment are all on offer to buy or hire, reports The Marlborough Express.

Marisco Vineyards owner Brent Marris is buzzing after his winery was named best Kiwi producer at a top British wine competition – complete with trumpets and a who’s who of top international wine families. Speaking from London after the International Wine and Spirit Competition awards dinner yesterday, Mr Marris said the win was the pinnacle of his career and a tremendous statement about the quality of the 30 staff he employs, reports The Marlborough Express.

The trade is being offered the chance to find out more about Australian wine from leading wine writers and educators in Wine Australia’s new one day wine school running later this month. The course will take place in London on November 28 and 29 and in Bristol on December 2. The wine school is designed to provide an understanding of the breadth and depth of wines coming out of Australia today, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

A New South Wales winemaker has been named international winemaker of the year at a ceremony in London. McGuigan Wines from the Hunter Valley took out the title for the second time in three years at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC). The company was also named Australian producer of the year at a gala ceremony yesterday, reports News.com.au.

An apple grower from Tasmania’s north-west coast has won Australia’s most prestigious Pinot Noir award. The Pinot Noir trophy at the Royal Hobart Wine Show went to a 2009 Blustery Banks wine, made by Rebecca Duffy for Brett and Linda Squibb. They grow just two hectares of grapes – only half of which is Pinot – at Wesley Vale near Devonport, reports ABC Rural.

Jimmy Watson is 50. Not the Wine Bar in Carlton, but rather the prominent wine show award named for the bar’s founder. And in its 50th year it has received a long overdue makeover, a tightening up of entry rules. The trouble with the award is that it outgrew humble origins to become one of the most sought after – and deeply flawed – awards on the Australian wine show circuit, writes Jeni Port in The Sydney Morning Herald.