Penfolds has struck a deal for ¬online sales in China of its new Max series of wines, named after legendary winemaker Max Schubert, through distributor JD.com, which has 5000 warehouses. This deal will not yet involve shipments direct from bonded warehouses. But Carol Fung, corporate vice-president of JD.com, told The Australian the inclusion in new customs rules last month of wine in products that could be sold via this route would probably boost sales considerably.

Small wine producers in South Australia’s Riverland have welcomed the Federal Government’s plans to reform the controversial Wine Equalisation Tax (WET), but said the changes were needed a long time ago. The Riverland contributes about a third of the nation’s annual grape crush and many of its growers have been operating at a loss for several years.

PROPOSED change to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate announced in the federal budget will “disproportionately” impact on Tasmania’s wine producers, according to Wine Tasmania. Wine Tasmania chief executive Sheralee Davies said the additional funding support was welcome but the change to the WET rebate would impact on the state’s producers. “Around 10-12 Tasmanian wine producers would be negatively impacted by the proposed reduction to the rebate, with up to $2.5M being added to their combined tax bill,” she said.

The federal government has moved to end ‘gaming’ of wine industry assistance with cuts to rebates and tightening of eligibility for the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate. The rebate will be cut from its current $500,000 to $350,000 by July 1, 2017 and further to $290,000 a year later. Wine producers want-ing to claim the rebate will also have to own a winery or have a long-term lease on one, and sell packaged, branded wine domestically under new eligibility criteria.

The Stone Edge Farm and winery in Sonoma, California has a 32 kW solar array, 14 of Aquion’s 25 kWh M-Line battery modules, and an Ideal Power 30 kW multi-port power conversion system. The solar PV array provides electricity to the primary residence, workshops, and offices. The renewable electricity system is generating so much power that some can be sold back to the local utility.

The indefatigable Aurelio Montes looks a bit worn out and admits to me, “It is exhausting, I am getting tired. We [Chile] are on the shady side of the street and we need to get some sun!” Montes is talking about the increasing competition from countries like Argentina, Australia and New Zealand and falling price points.

Britain’s wine trade has more than doubled in the last decade, making it one of the most important countries in the world for wine, new figures released on the opening day of the London Wine Fair re-veal. The UK is now the world’s second largest importer of wine by volume behind Germany, and the second largest by value, behind only the US. It means Britain imports more wine per head than any other of the world’s top markets.

International wine trade patterns are changing rapidly and in surprising ways for Portugal and other wine-producing nations. I have many friends who still are not convinced that China is now or ever will be an important factor in global wine trade beyond high end Burgundy and Bordeaux, for example. They just can’t imagine China as a wine power.

Gregan said the forecasts in the just released Vineyard Register Report 2015-18 were a minimum, and he expected the actual plantings to be above predictions. “We know there have been some land pur-chases [for vineyards] that are not included in this data, so the numbers will lift further,” Gregan said. “The industry is expanding, reflecting the demand for our products in international markets.”

Efforts to track vineyard spray drift are still in the pipeline nine years after a report highlighted gaps in the data collected by the Marlborough District Council. A 2007 report was commissioned by the council in the wake of concerns about the impact of vineyard spraying on air quality in Marlborough. The Envi-ronet report made a series of recommendations aimed at boosting base line data on the impact of vineyard sprays in the region.