Early last year in an article on the news website Techcrunch, contributor Tom Goodwin penned the now very popular statement “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. This begs the question, “How is the wine industry doing in social media?”

Mollydooker and d’Arenberg are each home to some great Australian wines, but the philosophies and teams behind them have little in common. love the expression “like chalk and cheese,” but I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone use it as much as the Australians I’ve met while I’ve been here. It’s a colourful way of referencing two things that might appear to be similar, but beneath the surface are actually quite different.

A group of 16 Bowral artists have found a way to collectively support local winemakers and breweries through its busy, town centre cooperative. The shop and gallery, named Ten Thousand Paces has thrown out convention to champion regional identity. About 13 months ago, Director and curator Hamish Ta-mé put in for a packaged liquor licence, based on the condition that they would only sell alcohol made by producers within the immediate area, from the south coast of NSW and down to Canberra.

The rise of ‘alternative’ varieties in Australia is becoming an increasingly important topic for the country’s winemakers – even if it is a trend that has been on-going for several years now. It is largely been driven by an increased awareness that the ‘traditional’ varieties planted in Australia – Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay – don’t always suit the sites or regions they currently occupy.

Australians clearly have a lot to celebrate – we’re buying more bubbly than ever. Champagne sales have surged by nearly a quarter, cementing Australia’s place as the sixth largest importer in the world, just behind Belgium. The UK took out the top spot, followed by the US, Germany and Japan. In 2015, we imported 8.1 million bottles of champagne – an increase of 24.31 per cent on the previous year’s figure of 6.5 million bottles.

The 2016 Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory is available now! The 610-page 2016 Directory includes a comprehensive listing of wine producers, grapegrowers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, universities, research and education facilities, writers, wine publications, wine blogs, organisations, events and wine shows and industry personnel – updated annually.

Fuelled by the Prosecco boom, the consumption and production of sparkling wine continues to grow rapidly year on year with all corners of the wine world now producing quality sparklers, from Franciacorta to Tasmania. The Global Sparkling Masters will judge both sparkling and semi-sparkling wines made in a wide variety of styles.

Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers chairman Michael Henley said the scorchers in January and February meant the region was trending towards the warmest grape growing season in about five years. “If the good weather continues, we’re going to have a very good vintage with an early harvest.” He said 2013 and 2014 vintages were great while the 2015 vintage was just good, but 2016 looked a strong prospect to top all three.

Accolade Wines announced it has recently acquired Mud House New Zeland wine brand is the official sponsor of the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. At a press briefing in London yesterday Accolade Wines CEO, Paul Schaafsma and the British & Irish Lions COO, Charlie McEwen, confirmed the Lions 2017 tour sponsorship.

Wine packaging company Sparflex has taken over Pacifix, an Australian producer of wire hoods for sparkling wine bottles. Pacifix, a family-owned company run by Roger Young, is a prominent wire hood supplier for both the Australian and Californian sparkling wine industries. “This acquisition will allow Sparflex to structure and grow its business in Australia and Asia,” a spokesperson for the French company said. The Sparflex Group currently generates a turnover of $90 million and has production facilities in France, Spain and California.