To grow any further, the Marlborough wine industry needs accommodation and it needs labour. Reporter Oliver Lewis takes a look at the challenge facing the $1 billion industry. Behind every bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, the wine that put New Zealand on the map, lies the unseen work of thousands of pairs of hands. From a handful of vineyards in the 1970s to the engine room of the pumping wine export economy, the Marlborough wine industry has transformed the physical and social landscape of the region.

The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) 2016 were held last week, and the winners included spirits by big names like CCA/Beam Suntory and Bacardi-Martini, to boutique brands like Australia’s Archie Rose Distilling Co. Beam Suntory were one of the biggest winners on the night, taking out three major awards, including the Worldwide Bourbon trophy for Jim Beam Black and Worldwide Whiskey trophy for Knob Creek Rye Whiskey, both of which are distributed in Australia by Coca-Cola Amatil.

Geoff Barrett planted 80 hectares of grapevines on his property near Margaret River in Western Australia in 2001. Watershed Premium Wines has since become one of the region’s success stories, employing 56 workers across its viticulture, restaurant, cellar door and sales teams. But with Federal Government changes to wine taxation due next year, Mr Barrett said some of those jobs were at risk.

Australian producers of cool climate Chardonnay are being invited to take part in a tasting of the style soon to be conducted by the Wine & Viticulture Journal. It follows a tasting of cool climate Shiraz by the Journal earlier this year with the results to be published in its September-October issue which will have a special focus on cool climate viticulture.

A PROMINENT member of one of the state’s most decorated winemaking families has faced court charged with assaulting another man. Winemaker Peter Barry, of Clare, was charged by police after an incident at North Adelaide on June 30, in which he allegedly assaulted John Litchfield. Barry is the managing director of acclaimed Clare Valley winery Jim Barry Wines, which was established by his father in the late 1950s.

Despite the headline attached to a press release from UBC Okanagan, vineyards aren’t degrading soil quality, at least according to local grapegrowers. Tim Watts, who has operated Kettle Valley Winery on the Naramata Bench for 25 years, said the headline “UBC researchers determine vineyards adversely affect soil quality,” was misleading. When he received the interview request from the Western News, he was at a conference where Miranda Hart, one of the research team, was the next speaker.

Wine lists at innovative restaurants are becoming ever more seasonal in nature, reflecting both the time of year and what’s on the menu. In London, at wine-centric venues like The 10 Cases, The Quality Chop House, Sager + Wilde and Noble Rot, what’s in your glass is considered equally as important as what’s on your plate.

A new on-demand bar service is on the road in Marlborough; they call it the Vino Van. Krystal? and Jeremy Beal have retrofitted a beat-up 1960’s caravan transforming it from “rats’ nest” to “portable bar”. They found the caravan festering on a Grovetown farm, inhabited by chickens and rodents. In April, the couple started the refit and have spent about $14,000 converting it from ruin to fully functioning bar.

The wine sector is severely threatened by the impacts of climate change, but is it doing enough to prevent them? In New Zealand, the wine industry has put a large focus in recent years on becoming more environmentally sustainable. An industry-led initiative introduced in 1997 known as Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) has delivered considerable success, with an estimated 94 per cent of New Zealand’s vineyard producing area now certified.

The Champagne Guide author, Tom Stelzer will host a September masterclass in Hong Kong comparing several brands of non-vintage and vintage Champagne. Tyson Stelzer was named International Wine & Spirit Communicator of the Year in 2015 and is also the host of Australian television series, People of the Vine.