The Yealands Wine Group has put up New Zealand’s largest solar panel installation at its vineyard in Marlborough as it reinforces its claim to be the most sustainable winery in the world. The new investment in renewable energy means that Yealands is now capable of generating 411.12 kiloWatts of solar power, which is equivalent to powering 86 New Zealand homes, and will offset 82 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, the installation – which comprises a total of 1,314 photovoltaic panels on its winery roof – does not mean that Yealands is self-sufficient: the solar panels will generate 30% of the power necessary for winemaking.

Inspired by a YouTube video of some 800 ducks lining a vineyard in South Africa, a Great Southern winery has decided to try their hand using ducks instead of pesticides and baits for problem snails. Apricus Hill in Denmark is one of just a handful of wineries in Western Australia using the animals as natural pesticides, just recently completing their first trial of the Indian Runner and Muscovy ducks.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) will host its 18th Annual Bacchanal Wine Gala and Auction “Celebrating the Wines of Australia” next month on Saturday, November 12. The flagship fall soiree raises funds to support the next generation of artists through student scholarships and education programs. This year, the prestigious Australian winery Hentley Farm will receive the Thomas Jefferson Award, a Bacchanal tradition honoring exceptional members of the wine industry.

This year’s Wine Australia scholarships for wine-focused PhD and Masters by Research students are now open for application. Each year, Wine Australia provides scholarships to postgraduate students studying in the fields of wine, viticulture and wine business to assist new researchers in the sector. Wine Australia General Manager Research, Development and Extension Dr Liz Waters said the scholarships are one of the ways that Wine Australia invests in the development of the next generation of leaders in the grape and wine sector.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to pay $1.03 billion for the Canadian wine business of Constellation Brands, one of the country’s top wine sellers, with seven of market’s Top 20 brands and a network of retail outlets in Ontario. The deal comes less than two weeks before new rules governing alcohol sales in Ontario — which will make wine available in selected grocery stores — begin to take effect. Constellation’s Canadian brands include Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs; Teachers’ will also continue to distribute the company’s international brands, such as California’s Robert Mondavi and New Zealand’s Kim Crawford, according spokeswoman Deborah Allan.

The 17th Canberra International Riesling Challenge featured an outstanding collection of wines from eight countries with a record number of medals awarded. This is clearly a reflection of the outstanding 2015 and 2016 vintages in the Southern Hemisphere, coupled with a heightened professionalism and attention to detail by winemakers and viticulturists. The Chair of the Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC), Ken Helm said the increased appetite and awareness of consumers in quality Rieslings will be met with the release of these wines to the market.

In yet another attempt to make humans obsolete, scientists at the University of South Australia have developed an electronic tongue they say can taste wine and tell you its age, the type of barrel in which it is aged, and its overall quality. ‘We wanted to demonstrate the huge capabilities of electronic tongues as analytical tool for the analysis of wine samples,’ said Dr. Xavier Ceto Alseda, who ran the project with his colleagues at the university.

In a new twist on a beloved event, guests will dine under the stars as they celebrate Hawke’s Bay’s excellence in viticulture tomorrow night. Teams have been working hard over the weekend to prepare for the Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards- the country’s oldest regional wine awards competition. The winning wine entries – assessed by a panel of 10 judges – will be announced at a spectacular awards dinner held tomorrow night at the Hawke’s Bay showgrounds.

In two weeks’ time, at Oxford Town Hall, Matthew Jukes kicks off the biggest ever 100 Best Australian Wines Roadshow. He will then take this elite Australian wine tasting to incredible locations in Manchester, London, Brighton, Birmingham and Edinburgh (all dates and venues confirmed below) and then on to three other prestigious venues in the New Year (dates to follow). Matthew has been compiling his 100 Best Australian Wines Report for 13 years and this initiative is regarded as the true barometer of the finest Aussie wines on the shelves in the UK each year.

The little Wairarapa village that’s won the hearts of the world’s top wine writers is now to be toasted in a prestigious New York City showcase. Larry McKenna of Martinborough’s Escarpment Vineyard will this month speak about his pinot noir to around 1000 people at the NZ$3500-a-head New York Wine Experience, after it ranked among the top 10 in a leading magazine. The winery’s Escarpment Kupe Pinot Noir 2013 placed seventh in Wine Spectator’s top 100 wines of 2015, whittled down from more than 20,000 labels.