Australian Rieslings in all price ranges are better than they ever have been.The flavours and textures have changed from being peculiarly Australian up to about seven to eight years ago to being more internationally recognisable as Riesling, reports inmycommunity.com.au

Another tough year for the Australian wine industry. Another excellent year for Australian wine drinkers with strong national and international competition keeping a lid on prices, writes Jeni Port, in The Age. Spoilt for choice, we saw the continued rise of the BOB phenomenon – the Buyer’s Own Brand – with more shelf space in supermarkets devoted to anonymous wines sourced and bottled by the big two, Woolworths and Coles (and, to a lesser extent, independent retailers), at prices competing with and sometimes undercutting known Australian brands.

Just in time for winter, Washington State University researchers have launched a Web-based Grapevine Cold Hardiness tool. Western Farm Press reports, based on mathematical simulations of how grapevines respond to cold temperatures throughout the winter, the tool provides estimated low temperature thresholds for bud damage of more than 20 wine and juice grape cultivars.

Over the past couple of months I’ve hosted — as always — a number of private “wine-tertainment” events. Phillip Silverstone, writes in Montgomery News, that my decision to use the same wines at all the events made sense, since the likelihood of the same people attending multiple events was slim (don’t misunderstand me — I’m not suggesting they wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to see me multiple times — it’s simply that the locations were quite a distance apart.)

The 2012 winegrape crop should amount to 1,351 714 tons, according to industry (producer cellars and viticultural consultants) estimates on 29 November 2011. South African wine news site, wine.co.za, reports the early vintage figures represent an increase of 3.9% compared to the 2011 crop, but is nevertheless 5.2% smaller than the record crop of 2008. The 2012 wine crop – including juice and concentrate for non-alcoholic purposes, wine for brandy and distilling wine – is expected to amount to 1 043.4 million litres.

The season’s deep discounting and the accelerated fall in wine volumes in the last weeks of the year will have a lingering hangover effect on the trade in 2012. That’s the opinion of sector leaders and analysts, who foresee volumes falling by up to 5% and up to one million wine drinkers leaving the category by the end of the year, reports Harpers Wine & Spirits Trade Review.

The week before Christmas can be stressful. Organise the drinks ahead of time, from festive rosato to sparkling reds, writes Jane Faulkner in the weekend’s The Age. And firston the list, is the exciting Australian first Chalmers Nero D’Avola Rosato, a juicy Sicilian red, with fruit grown at Heathcote.

This festive season is shaping up to be the booziest in Australia’s history. New research has forecast Australian spending on alcohol this December will rise five per cent – an all-time high, reports The Daily Telegraph on the weekend.The prediction, by IBISWorld, would mean NSW bottleshop sales will almost certainly top the $385 million figure recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in December last

Eyebrows were raised heavenwards this autumn when the trophy for a Bordeaux blend over £10 was snatched by a Chinese red from beneath the noses of Argentina, Australia and California. Anthony Rose writes in The Independent sneering journalists questioned the integrity of the Decanter World Wine Awards. Then they queried the authenticity of the wine itself. How could China possibly make a wine capable of taking on and beating the world? D Loh commented in the China Daily: “If the wine is good, connoisseurs query if it has been secretly imported and then placed in a Chinese bottle.”

Scientists have identified more than 20 chemicals that make smoke-tainted wine taste like leather, disinfectant and other unpalatable flavours in a new research project that aims to limit the damage to the wine industry caused by smoke. The Canberra Times reports researchers hope the findings, part of a $4million smoke taint study, will lead to better timing of controlled burns and the creation of an online interactive tool that will help winegrowers assess the likelihood of their grapes having been damaged by smoke.