Matthew Jukes, has released his fifth annual New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification, that places Ata Rangi, Bell Hill, Felton Road and Mt Difficulty, in top ‘five star’ position. Compiled in conjunction with Australian wine journalist Tyson Stelzer and based on a rolling average rating of the five most recent vintages, it has been devised to highlight producers who make consistently excellent wines year after year. The classification is aimed in contrast to “static” classifications such as the Bordeaux 1855 classification, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

An Auckland wine broker is going back to the future and bringing back not only wine on tap, but also popular ’80s drink, the wine cooler. The trend, which has begun to spread in Australia, Canada and the US, will see good quality Kiwi wine served from high-grade stainless steel kegs in restaurant bars in Auckland. It will be cheaper – $7.50 a glass – is targeted at younger drinkers and may spark renewed interest in some lesser known varieties, reports The Southland Times.

Eileen Hardy Shiraz and Eileen Hardy Chardonnay date from 1970 and 1986 respectively. The wines released under the labels since then mirror Australia’s winemaking history. Eileen Hardy Shiraz 1970 reflected the red-wine boom of the time, the dominance of warm South Australian regions in this and the unquestioned status of Shiraz in McLaren Vale – home of the then family-owned Thomas Hardy and Sons. Eileen Hardy Shiraz later wandered from its origins, parallel to similar moves across the industry, only to return to its McLaren Vale roots years later, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Winegrape growers have very little scepticism about climate change, a vigneron and scientist says. University of Melbourne Professor of Horticulture and Viticulture Snow Barlow told the National Press Club lunch today “you don’t see scepticism’’ on climate change in the wine sector, reports Weekly Times Now. “Not when you’re harvesting in February and you used to harvest in March,” Prof Barlow said.

Some Porongurup wine producers in WA’s Great Southern are concerned about grapevine damage, seemingly from spray drift of herbicides being used in summer weed control. Some growers have reported damage to the Department of Agriculture and Food and it appears that it’s consistent with the effects of phenoxy herbicides such as 2,4-D drifting on to vines, reports ABC Rural.

Organic wine growers in the Hunter Valley say their industry is in peril if coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and drilling is allowed to go ahead. Rod Windrim is the vigneron at the Krinklewood biodynamic organic winery in Broke, which falls under the NSW government’s recently released Strategic Regional Land Use Policy. Mr Windrim said he moved to the area in 1989 for its “pristine and unspoilt” environment, reports AAP. But just talk of CSG in the region has seen customers walk away, he says.

New Zealanders know the tiki as a hand-carved Maori treasure which, when gifted, bestows good fortune and love on others. What better brand name, then, for a wine crafted with the same spirit in mind? Appropriate too, that founders and owners Royce and Sue McKean, named their new wine venture Tiki to pay homage to the wisdom of Royce’s Maori ancestors. Royce’s great-great-grandfather, Tiki Tere Mihi, was a chieftain of Ngati Uenuku, who revered the land and its significance to his people, reports The New Zealand Herald.

Central Otago’s grape supply is “balanced on a knife edge” as growers expect a high demand for this year’s harvest. Central Otago viticulturist and wine industry consultant Timbo Deaker said a fungal infestation in the Cromwell basin and Gibbston area because of rain had caused “bunch rot” and wiped out some of the grape supply. About 40mm of rain fell on March 11 and the lack of wind and overcast days afterwards caused grapes to contract botrytis and become unusable, Mr Deaker said. The good news from the rain was that demand for Central Otago Pinot Noir was “exceptionally” high, reports The Southland Times.

Those who believe everything they read will tell you, if they haven’t already, that Sauvignon Blanc, the wine that put us on the world wine map, is under threat. And it’s not from other, or better, examples of Sauvignon Blancs than ours. According to a series of recent reports, the distinctive herbaceous savvies on which our reputation is based could come under attack from at least three different directions and three different wines, writes Warren Barton in The Southland Times.

At the start of this year, award-winning NSW winemaker Jason Brown was anticipating his best season yet, with outstanding crops of Chardonnay and Shiraz grapes. ”I was looking at the very best Shiraz I’ve ever produced,” he says. ”We just needed it to continue ripening to develop flavour.” And then came the rain and, with it, the washout of all his hopes for a record-breaking vintage. For while the Chardonnay was happily harvested before the sluicing rain drenched vast areas of southern NSW, including his Hilltops Moppity Vineyards at Young, the fragile Shiraz was still on the vine, waiting for some elusive sunshine to finish it off, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.