A new invention is set to revolutionise the wine industry, but it is unlikely to cause much of an explosion in Marlborough. The handheld device, dubbed the Wine Grenade, is designed to accelerate the ageing process of wine by adding oxygen so that vintages can reach the table faster. It promises to cut back the two-year ageing wait to just six months and will also save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the cost of shipping barrels from overseas and other production costs.

Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) announced the nine winners of its Wine Communicator Awards at an event held last night. Richard Smart, long-time contributor to the Wine & Viticulture Journal and The Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine, took out the award for best trade or technical wine writer while Tyson Stelzer was awarded both the wine communicator of the year and digital communicator of the year awards.

While the big houses see the attraction of sustainability, can they bring the growers along? A cleaner greener viticulture has been very much the topic of the year in Champagne. Vincent Perrin, the Comité Interprofessionel du vin de Champagne’s new director-general, started the ball rolling when he stressed the importance of a more environmentally friendly way of grapegrowing for the region in his first official speech at the occasion of the Saint Vincent de l’Archieconfrérie de la Champagne in January.

Entrepreneurs, particularly in the wine business, can use the coming expansion of U.S. crowdfunding rules to convert “social equity” for the brand or operation into financial capital, and boost higher-margin direct-to-consumer wine sales at the same time, according to advocates of the funding method. “Crowdfunding is an opportunity for businesses to engage their community — their tribe,” said Kim Kaselionis.

The colourful history of winemaking in Hawke’s Bay, and the equally interesting personalities behind it, have been bottled in book form to create a rich, literary vintage. The book, entitled Wine: Stories from Hawke’s Bay, was sparked late last year by Tom Belford who gathered a writing, archival and photography team to turn what he said was a dream to reality.

Following 1,407 wines being entered in this year’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards, judges have awarded 84 gold medals to wines from around the country. Michael Brajkovich, chair of judges and Master of Wine said the most pleasing aspect of this year’s awards was the spread of gold medals across a number of varietal styles and regions. “Pinot Noir was once again the star performer with 18 golds,” he said.

THE Australian Senate yesterday passed two pieces of legislation relating to the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), clearing the final hurdle to the deal’s enactment. Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said Australian businesses are “another step closer” to realizing the opportunities created by the agreement.

Autumn has arrived in Europe and Aussie wines started its promotion in UK and rest of the Europe. First was the inaugural Premium Australia Tasting in London and then team Wine Australia went on tour with its annual Nordic Roadshow. Wine Australia said that they saw a strong presence of winemakers and principals travelling to each of these events. The Premium Australia Tasting, held at Australia House in London, saw more than 30 winemakers and principals pouring wines and sharing their stories with the UK trade.

Xanthe Hatcher believes winemaking is an industry that exudes love and passion. The Hunter Valley winemaker has put her heart and soul into a career that is well and truly taking off. At just 32-years-old, Hatcher has established herself as a rising star in the wine world. As well as gaining national accolades with her nomination for the Wine Society young winemaker of the year, Hatcher has been offered the opportunity to sit as a judge at the Hunter Valley Wine Show this year.

The sixteenth annual Stonier International Pinot Noir Tasting (SIPNOT) has highlighted the impressive standard of Australian Pinot Noirs which shone alongside some of the world’s finest contemporaries from Burgundy, Oregon, Sonoma and Central Otago. Held in October at ZINC Federation Square, SIPNOT showed local Pinots from Mount Mary, Shadowfax, Stonier and Home Hill alongside benchmark international examples.