Delegat Group, the winemaker that retails under brands including Oyster Bay, says it has completed the 2016 harvest, with yields in New Zealand up 33 percent on a difficult 2015. The total harvest was 35,837 tonnes, with New Zealand making up 33,236 tonnes of the total. The group also owns vineyards in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, which yielded 2,601 tonnes, up 56% on a year ago.

Weinlese, vendange, szuret, and there are other examples in many other languages to say the same thing … “vintage”. In a small town called Blenheim, in the South Island of New Zealand within the Marlborough wine growing region, thousands of people from all over the world come together for one thing: the systematic killing and fermentation of vitis vinifera (wine grapes).

Australian wines continue to succeed at international wine competitions, taking out the second highest number of awards at the International Wine Challenge and becoming its first non-Italian Gold medal winner of Montepulciano. In the results, announced yesterday, Australia was awarded 815 medals including 80 Gold, 375 Silver and 360 Bronze. Australia finished second on the leader board, beaten only by France.

Ten high respected, nationally-based sommeliers will be visiting Coonawarra this week as part of a Wine Australia education initiative. In its fourth year, the Sommeliers Immersion Program (SIP) aims to build a deeper connection and understanding of the diversity of Australian wine and to connect sommeliers with regions and the personalities behind the wines.

The owner of the UK’s largest drinks company, Accolade Wines is looking at listing the global wine company on the London stock exchange as it gets ready to offload its 80% stake in the business, an Australian newspaper has claimed. The Australian Financial Review has claimed Accolade Wines’ owners, Champ PE, which bought the global wine company in 2010 for AUS $290 million, has signed up several high level investment banks to investigate its potential exit options.

The NSW Wine Industry Association (NSWWIA) have issued a statement saying although the recently announced changes to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) had some good intent, certain aspects of the changes were worrying. Tom Ward, NSWWIA president, said the reduction of the cap for WET rebate from the current $500k down to $290k over the next two years was a concerning development.

Next time you open a bottle of merlot or chardonnay, be sure to thank the vintner. And you might want to toast the worms, as well. Everyday earthworms are the latest solution to a thorny problem that most wine drinkers never consider: wastewater disposal. Producing a single glass of California wine may require as much as 14 gallons of water. Much of that water is used to clean the winery and bottling equipment after processing grapes.

One of New Zealand’s premier wine, food and music festivals has grown up, reaching its dignified Silver Anniversary. Toast Martinborough celebrated its first event in 1992 and returns this year on 20 November in the heart of the Wairarapa wine growing region. Anna Nielson, General Manager, said 2016 has been a very exciting year for the region. “Back in 1992 when Toast began, the newest tipple was Nouveau Rouge and Shortland Street had just come on our TV’s,” she said.

Months have passed since amalgamation was wiped from the floor as the best option for getting our five Hawke’s Bay councils together. Following the overwhelming decision, we were promised by our leaders that they would work more closely and identify initiatives that are regional. One example used was the regional economic development strategy (REDS), a plan that commenced in 2014 but it is still yet to surface.

I’m at something of a crossroads when it comes to knowing what it is that today’s consumers – particularly Millennials – want to drink. On the one hand, the big spirits brands are targeting the demographic using heritage and authenticity while, on the other, Millennial wine drinkers appear to want their wine brands to keep things simple. Earlier this week, Treasury Wine Estates announced plans to launch its Californian wine brand, Blossom Hill, in Australia.