Jesus, it was said, was able to turn water into wine. But how much water and how much wine? That question has never truly been answered. And while a team at the University of California (UC) Davis may also not be able to resolve the matter, it is working to figure out ways to use less water for making wine. A winegrape crush held at the UC Davis vineyards on Thursday found researchers teaming up to help people in the state’s wine industry conserve water while making one of California’s more popular exports.

Winegrapes specially bred for extreme temperatures may have a future, despite any laughs connoisseurs might have at the thought of wine labels extolling the virtues of the terroir of Deadwood or Fargo. A grape-breeding project that already has pumped more than $400 million into northern states’ economies and created as many as 13,000 jobs is trying to grow wine grapes where summers are short and winters brutal. Scientists who are breeding the grapes say the wine is improving every year.

Bafta award-winning comedian Graham Norton can now add “chief winemaker” to his CV, after he created his own blend of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc – which hits Kiwi stores today. The wine was created during a two-hour blending and tasting session at a London hotel with Invivo winery’s chief winemaker, Rob Cameron, and director, Tim Lightbourne. The outcome is the 2015 vintage Graham Norton Blend, and in Norton’s own tipsy words on a video promoting the wine: “It’s that, that and that … I hope you like it.”

The USA has overtaken Australia to become New Zealand wine’s largest export market by value according to the 2015 Annual Report of New Zealand Winegrowers. Now valued at $372 million, up 13 per cent, the US market accounted for around one quarter of wine exports in June year end 2015. Significant potential for further growth in North America and other markets is cited in the Report, as the wine industry advances towards its goal of $2 billion of exports in 2020.

Australia’s family-owned wine producer Brown Brothers has appointed Fells to handle its UK distribution. The Victoria-based producer will switch on its core range of wines from PLB after August 31. Duncan Brown, export manager, said Fells has a well-earned reputation for developing premium wines in the UK and will be instrumental in rebuilding the Brown Brothers brand across all market channels.

THERE ARE two things that Australians take offence to: one is that the northern hemisphere still considers the southern to be less of a hemisphere—and this has nothing to do with the shape. The other problem is that nobody can think of Australia without trying to pitch in their favourite kangaroo or sheep joke. Oh wait, the sheep joke is an ‘honour’ reserved for the Kiwis. With wines, the same attitude carries over.

Wine producer Australian Vintage is stepping up its European ambitions with the creation of a new business manager post. The company, whose brands include McGuigan, Nepenthe and Tempus Two, has hired Tim Lockwood, former European sales & marketing manager for Grant Burge Wines. He will take up the Berlin-based role of Australian Vintage business manager for Europe on 1 September.

Premier Estates Wine is facing a furious backlash over its ‘Taste the Bush’ marketing campaign. Angry consumers have taken to social media to declare the digital push – the Australian brand’s first advertising campaign – “sexist”, “vulgar” and “childish”. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also received a small number of complaints about the digital video campaign. The ad, which was created by London agency Saatchi Masius, features an elegantly dressed woman extolling the qualities of Premier Estates’ Shiraz.

Following strong volume growth earlier in the decade, the wine industry’s upward trajectory continues, but the rate of growth has decelerated. In 2014, total wine volume rose 1.0 percent, and projections for 2015 and beyond call for a similar pace of industry expansion, according to the recently released 2015 WineTAB report from Technomic Inc. “Primary factors influencing the industry’s performance include slowed per capita consumption growth and the proliferation of brands and styles.”