“We know how to make wines that will get higher Parker ratings, but we want to stay faithful to the terroir.” Marie-Hélene Dussech, Commercial Director, Château Brane-Cantenac.

Hawke’s Bay – the historical homeland of New Zealand’s red Bordeaux varieties – could be due for a shake-up, with high-cropping Merlot vineyards replanted with Syrah according to Craggy Bay winemaker Matt Stafford.

Growth and momentum continue for family-owned New Zealand leader. Family owned company Giesen Wines is the only New Zealand company to be named on a prestigious list of the fastest growing wine and spirits brands in the US.

The benchmark that is the Pier One Sydney Harbour NSW Wine Awards kicks off on 20th September 2016 when the judging of over 800 amazing wines from NSW (yet another record number in the show’s 21 year history) starts in the Hunter Valley.

Produced with the support of Jacob’s Creek winemakers, the limited edition wines are believed to be the world’s first wine produced solely from grapes grown within a botanic garden.
The 1150 bottles of wine in two styles – a rose (500) and a dry white (650) – are the result of a partnership between National Wine Centre, Botanic Gardens of South Australia and Jacob’s Creek.

After 40 years devoted to creating and developing his award-winning vineyard and tourism complex, the time has come for Luigi Bazzani to retire.

Before me are nine hand-labelled samples of cabernet sauvignon picked in March 2015 from two parcels of land at one Coonawarra vineyard, fermented two ways and then collected four ways (or is that five?) in five kinds of barrels of two sizes.

Penfolds has won this year’s James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge for its 2015 Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, taking out Best Chardonnay in Australia as well as Best Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills. With an overall score of 98 points from the panel of judges, the Penfolds wine was deemed the most complete and balanced of the 600-plus entries.

A recent breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research is welcome news for master sommeliers and, well, people who just really like wine. A new study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that sommeliers, i.e., people who have heightened olfactory capabilities, are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

New Zealand Winegrowers has announced the three UK and Ireland-based sommeliers chosen to take part in its 2017 Sommit scholarship programme.