Marlborough will be among the country’s top wine producing regions attending the fifth annual Pinot Noir NZ on Wellington’s waterfront next January. Pinot Noir 2013 will be held in Wellington from January 28-31, reports The Marlborough Express. The waterfront would be awash with New Zealand’s best Pinot Noirs, the world’s leading wine media and wine lovers and traders, makers and viticulturists for four days at New Zealand’s premier wine event, said Pinot Noir 2013 chairman Alastair Maling.

Boutique vineyard Stanley Estates will be testing a popular Spanish “light white” on the New Zealand palate at a wine tasting in Blenheim today. In 2009, the Awatere Valley vineyard was the first in the South Island to plant Albarino, a premium white grape variety from the Rias Baixas area of northwest Spain and from northern Portugal along the Atlantic coast. Owners Steve Pellett and Bridget Ennals said they first sampled the wine while working in Spain as fruit technologists for import companies in Britain, reports The Marlborough Express.

Wine enthusiasts and hospitality professionals in Australia are being encouraged to apply for the 2012 Lorenzo Galli Wine Scholarship before the 9 March deadline. Now in its fourth year, the scholarship is an Australian-based Italian wine program that aims to celebrate the diversity of Italy’s wine while showcasing Australia’s latest trends with Italian varietals.

Mudgee grapegrowers welcomed a weekend of sunshine and warm temperatures but there are still watchful eyes on the weather radar. As of Tuesday a high chance of rain was predicted over the central tablelands in the next 23 of 28 days. About 40 millimetres of rain across the region last week added to what has been described as a cool and wet season. However Bunnamagoo winemaker Robert Black said recent rain should not cloud local grape growers’ judgement, reports the Mudgee Guardian.

Coonawarra grape harvesters are out earlier than ever in the paddocks this year. The ideal growing conditions have seen the fruit ripen faster than usual. Coonawarra Vignerons Association president, Sue Hodder, says there’s been a trend towards earlier vintages in recent years, reports ABC Rural.

A wine brand from Chile is unknowingly offending Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong with its explicit name. Called Chilensis, the label, from Via Wines in Chile’s Maule Valley, loosely translates as “f*cking nuts” according to a source in Hong Kong. Following local press reports about the rude label demand has in fact soared for the wine, pushing prices up for Chilensis by HK$10 in a matter of days. The wine was selling for HK$49 in Hong Kong off-licences and supermarkets, but has now risen to HK$59, reports The Drinks Business.

An alcohol control advocacy group in the Northern Territory says the number of empty wine casks found in the dry Todd River at Alice Springs is proof of the need for a floor price on alcohol. The People’s Alcohol Action Coalition says more than 230 casks were collected from a 500-metre stretch of the dry river bed in one day. The group is urging the Federal Government to include a floor price in it’s ‘Stronger Future’ legislation that will replace laws governing the emergency intervention in the Territory, reports ABC News.

A Queenstown American is producing a documentary series on New Zealand wine destinations that uniquely targets Gen-Y consumers. Wine nut Colin West, 24, is putting together a web series profiling six NZ wine regions, integrated with their adventure activities. West – who hopes to sell the series to TV networks – is co-presenting with Auckland-based presenter and regular Queenstown Winter Festival host Jo Holley, reports Mountain Scene.

The last week in January was an important one for Central Otago winegrowers and for Pinot Noir, the grape on which their industry is founded. The Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration was launched in 2000 and is held in the two consecutive years between the larger tri-annual New Zealand Pinot Celebration in Wellington. Both attract interest and key players in the wine world from around the globe, reports The Southland Times.

Pity the poor punter who, after paying $52,000 at a charitable auction for a bottle of the Prime Minister’s wine label, dropped it on the way back to his car. Luckily, Mr Key replaced the victim of this expensive accident free of charge, but the future of the traditional wine bottle is under threat from more than just butterfingered wine buyers. Wine has been in glass bottles since Roman times. However, as a particularly heavy form of packaging, environmental concerns have increasingly made the wine industry take a second look at its impact, reports The New Zealand Herald.