Powdery mildew has been spotted in vineyards across Marlborough, and contractors have their workers fighting to keep the disease at bay. Some are spraying their vineyards, while others are simply cutting off the affected fruit. Alapa Viticultural Services owner Alan Wilkinson said at least three vineyards had been written off as a result of powdery mildew. “It’s quite significant. It’s definitely worse than last year,” he said. “It gets into the bunches and taints the fruit and the fruit gets sooty white spores. “It’s not very pretty.”

A Hawke’s Bay winemaker has suggested that a recent surge in investment from major producers has put New Zealand’s second largest wine region in a prime position to raise its profile abroad. “We’re kind of like where Marlborough was 15 years ago before Sauvignon Blanc took off,” observed Miles Dineen, winemaker at Crossroads, a 55-hectare property that came under the Yealands Estate portfolio following a merger in 2011.

The rebirth of Chateau Tanunda is one of the most remarkable stories of the Australian wine industry. This massive, iconic stone and brick building was South Australia’s second-largest building when it was built in 1890, second to Elder Smith’s Port Adelaide wool store, and was part-funded by 200 Barossa Valley grapegrower shareholders. It’s hard to believe, but by 1998 it was unoccupied, unloved, unkempt, inhabited only by pigeons, and under threat of demolition.

WINEMAKER Paul Clark remains a glass half full kind of guy, despite the devastation the Sampson Flat bushfire wrought on his vineyards. So when Birdwood High School offered to donate its crop of Sauvignon Blanc grapes to Kersbrook Hill Wines, he saw an opportunity to inspire a new generations of Hills vintners. About 50 students picked more than half a tonne of grapes to send to the winery, where Clark is now working with a smaller bunch of mostly Year 10s to produce a special 600-bottle vintage.

An exceptionally early vintage is creating production difficulties for wineries and added pressure for grapegrowers in South Australia. On average, this year’s vintage was about a month earlier than normal due to a combination of local seasonal factors and climate change, SA’s Winegrape Council executive officer Peter Hackworth said. “What it’s meant is a lot of the varieties that normally would ripen distinctively apart have tended to come in at the same time,” Hackworth said.

Sunraysia wine grape growers say they have received the worst prices from wine companies in nearly 10 years. The 2015 grape harvest has seen good quality and consistent fine weather, and will finish up earlier than normal. But Mike Stone, from Murray Valley Winegrowers, says unsustainable prices from wine companies will see those who have just been hanging on leave the industry this year. “Winegrape prices must improve in 2016 or the industry in this region will continue to shrink,” he said.