An Otago pinot noir with “truffle-like” overtones may have stolen the show yet the Bay can still lay claim to the country’s best syrah. Mission Estate Winery scooped the coveted Champion Syrah category at Saturday night’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards, with its Mission Reserve Syrah Hawke’s Bay 2015. It was pipped at the post by Lowburn Ferry’s Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014, which claimed the Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Trophy in front of a 1000-strong audience in a gala dinner at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.

The winners of the 2016 Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) were announced last night, 15th November, via a web broadcast that was streamed to celebration events taking place all over Australia. Seven award winners were named in six categories. “On behalf of the entire Board of the AWIWA I want to extend our sincere congratulations to all the winners,” said AWIWA Chair, Jane Thomson. “It is truly a delight to see the breadth of talent and dedication recognized. We know these awards are having a positive impact on the conversation around gender equality in our wine community, and we know that the winners of the 2016 AWIWA powerfully demonstrate the contribution that women make.”

Wineries in Marlborough and Canterbury in New Zealand have been assessing the damage caused by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and several reported aftershocks. Yealands Family Wines, in Marlborough, said that ‘while there is some damage at the winery, the winery building withstood the conditions well, as it was designed to do. ‘It remains closed for safety reasons while the damage is being assessed and cleaned.’ The cellar door will also remain closed for the next few days, and visitors are advised to call in advance before coming to the winery. The epicentre of the earthquake was northeast of Christchurch, and the South Island has had hundreds of tremors since the initial earthquake.

Murray Valley Winegrowers (MVW) has called a special meeting of growers for Tuesday afternoon in Red Cliffs to discuss disaster relief and post-hail vineyard management strategies. The meeting will be at 5.30 in the Red Cliffs Club Function Room, Heytsbury Avenue. MVW Executive Officer Mike Stone says many winegrape growers, particularly in the Cardross/Red Cliffs/Stewart area were hit hard by Friday night’s gale-force winds and hail. NSW growers around Pomona also suffered significant losses.

Lion today announced that Accolade Wines has agreed to acquire its entire Australian premium wine business, Fine Wine Partners (FWP). FWP is a quality fine wine business offering exposure to the attractive and growing premium wine segment in desirable viticultural regions. However, following a comprehensive strategic review it became clear that considerable investment would be required to grow FWP to scale. Lion CEO Stuart Irvine said: “Lion has a range of competing opportunities for investment in its core categories of beer and cider and has been unable to prioritise the investment required to grow Fine Wine Partners to a size justifying its fixed cost base.

Australian wine has staged a successful showing in our most valuable export market at ProWine China 2016, held in Shanghai on 7–9 November 2016. The Wine Australia Pavilion included 19 exhibitors who showcased approximately 200 wines, from close to 30 brands, from nearly 20 wine regions, across 5 states. Some of these brands are already in-market while others are seeking distribution in China for the first time as Australian wineries seek to build on the positive momentum for our finest wines that is reflected in the latest export figures.

Giesen Wines has wowed the judges at this year’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards, winning three champion trophies at the prestigious competition announced in Auckland on the weekend. The family-owned business claimed the Open Champion White Wine Trophy with its Giesen Estate Riesling 2015, which also won the Champion Riesling Trophy and the Champion Sweet White Wine with The Brothers Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2014. In total, 18 trophies were presented with Giesen Wines being one of the most successful with their three trophies.

The Supermoon could affect the taste of wines and development of vines around the world, but it’s coming at a good time for vineyards, according to proponents of biodynamics. The so-called ‘Supermoon’ will appear 14 times larger and 30 times brighter in the sky tonight (14 November), the biggest of its kind for 48 years. What effect could this natural phenomenon have on the wines being made this year? Followers of biodynamic principles offer some insight below. ‘Wines most likely to show any kind of lunar effect will be those farmed biodynamically, because this is the only farming system which actively considers the the vines as part of a wider celestial sphere,’ said Monty Waldin, a biodynamic wine consultant and writer.

Revenue for Australian wineries was up 10.5% year on year to June 2016, according to new research just released by Wine Business Solutions (WBS). “This is the best we have seen it since we started doing our Direct to Customer benchmarking” says WBS Principal, Peter McAtamney. “Whilst direct sales are driving growth (up 12% and again representing 54% of revenue for wineries producing less the 50,000 cases), all channels performed strongly. Very few wineries reported lower revenue than they were achieving 12 months ago. Those that have decreased in total sales value are typical restructuring their business around higher margin opportunities.”

Riverland wine grape growers are continuing to assess the damage from last week’s vicious hail storm, which ripped grapes from vines and toppled vineyard rows across the region. Giant hailstones and strong winds swept through the Riverland on Friday, leaving several horticultural industries with a combined damage bill of about $100 million. Some grape growers told ABC Riverland they had lost 50 per cent, 80 per cent or 100 per cent of their grapes on some blocks, just when it seemed the local wine industry was entering a much-needed, positive turnaround.