Viognier is a hard sell in this country. Nick Farr of By Farr says his family scaled back its output from 500 dozen to 125 dozen three years ago. Now they’re creeping up a bit and this year will sell 200 dozen ”if we’re lucky”. “It’s difficult to get the public to taste it, and even to get sommeliers to look at it,” Farr says. ”And the price doesn’t seem to matter.” It doesn’t help that it’s difficult to pronounce (vee-OHN-yay). But that’s not the full story. Viognier is a fringe variety. There is little profile or understanding of it, writes Huon Hooke in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Riverina’s wealthiest family, the Casellas, were meant to toast what was their most public appearance ever on national television last night. But instead of being able to relax over a glass of vino to watch the ABC’s Family Confidential episode on their Yellow Tail wine brand, the family were tackling possibly the worst crisis to ever affect their 43-year-old operation, reports The Age. ”We’re working in around 14 inches of water,” said the managing director of Casella Wines, John Casella, who along with staff was frantically attempting to salvage what he could in the winery’s dry goods area.

New Zealand retailer The Fine Wine Delivery Company is making a stand against publicly listed Australian giant Treasury Wine Estates in protest against what it describes as “outrageous price increases”. The Australian conglomerate is using a surge in demand from the new and unproven Chinese market as an excuse to apply dramatic price increases in New Zealand across their popular Penfolds Bin range. The Fine Wine Delivery Company have promoted the Penfolds Bin range every March for all of their 15 years, but managing director Jeff Poole has decided to take a stance against the profiteering move, reports Scoop Business.

Sam Smail’s first vintage from his Mariri vineyard has been a golden one. His Sea Level home block Pinot Gris 2011 was one of six Nelson wines to gain a gold medal at this year’s Royal Easter Show Wine Awards. This was three more golds than the region’s winemakers received last year. It joined Waimea Estates’ Gewurztraminer 2011 and classic Riesling 2009, Brightwater Vineyards’ Lord Rutherford barrique Chardonnay 2009, Te Mania’s Nelson Gewurztraminer 2011 and Milcrest Estate’s Syrah 2010 to be among the 111 wines to receive a gold at the awards, reports the Nelson Mail.

Complexity is somewhat of a loaded term. On the one hand it suggests something intricate with the power to provoke reflection: on the other, something hard to understand and potentially perplexing. It’s often used as a positive descriptor for wines, albeit in an often ambiguous way. What makes certain wines provoke more thought is a matter up for debate, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.

Wine Business Solutions will present a two-day workshop on growing the most profitable customer base for wine businesses, around Australia in April. Taking the Direct Route is the name of this year’s round of workshops, which are set to take place in McLaren Vale, the Barossa and Western Australia as well as NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Most wine is said to be consumed within hours of purchase. But there’s great pleasure to be had from cellaring wine, whether for two years or 20, with lovely changes in aroma and flavour brought about by age. It’s not hard to get the right conditions for storing wine at home, writes Chris Shanahan in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Yalumba-owned Negociants UK is to handle its own sales direct to independents for the first time, after a deal which saw it use third party distribution through Berkmann Wine Cellars came to an end. The Australian specialist has added new wines to its portfolio for the independent sector, including Barossa Valley’s Rockford and Brokenwood from Hunter Valley. Negociants has launched an “indies programme” of incentives and support including discounts, in-store activity and trade competitions, and will embark on its first winemaker tour in September, reports Off Licence News.

Wine Australia has learned from its mistakes in recent years with an impressive showing at the world’s largest wine fair in Germany this week. Following its decision not to show at last year’s event, Wine Australia has returned to the event with a well branded stand featuring a number of well known Australian wine producers including Brown Brothers, Yalumba, McWilliams and Grant Burge, reports The Shout.

Vineyard contractor Down to Earth wants to see free or cheap camping for vintage workers in the shire, to settle the issue of illegal camping. Down to Earth director Carla Borrello said that while she was totally opposed to illegal camping, she was frustrated there was no designated backpackers’ campsite during vintage. She said many people are camping illegally because legal accommodation was full or too expensive, reports the Augusta-Margaret River Mail.