Winegrape growers in the Murray Valley are wrapping up what they say was an outstanding season for grape quality but one that has been down on size. Growers are reporting the harvest was down between 15 and 20 per cent but there was positive movement on prices for most varieties, reports ABC News.

After keeping their wallets in their pockets during the height of the recession, California winegrape growers are ready to expand their vineyards or replant existing ones. Everyone is hustling to get their vines in the ground by May. The problem: There is a shortage of vines. Nurseries got so slammed with orders from the big growers in the summer and fall that anyone who didn’t get in on the frenzy early is now grape out of luck, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Pernod Ricard is turning its attention to “premium light and fresh wines” on the back of recent sales figures that show the £6.50-£8.50 price bracket is the fastest-growing segment by value in the UK. The drinks giant believes this summer is set to be “an unprecedented season for sport and celebration” with the Queen’s Jubilee, The Olympics and the Euro Championships “serving as a huge opportunity for on and off-trade retailers”, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

Moderate alcohol consumption can help men live longer after a first heart attack, a study has shown. Two alcoholic drinks a day over a long period gave heart attack survivors a 42% lower risk of dying from heart disease than non-drinkers, researchers found. Researchers in the US monitored the progress of 1,818 men for up to 20 years after they had survived a first heart attack between 1986 and 2006, reports The Drinks Business.

Lovers of Central Otago champagne-style wines will soon have more to choose from as sparkling wine production in the region is set to expand. Veteran winemaker Rudi Bauer, based at Quartz Reef, said more winemakers in the region were joining the sparkling wine market after seeing the success of other vineyards in the area. The “leaders of the pack” like Quartz Reef were showing success from their sparkling wine production and the market could expect “steady growth” as more vineyards jump on board, reports The Southland Times.

“To know who you are, you have to have a place to come from,” noted American author, Carson McCullers. It’s an observation that rings true in many of the long-established winemaking regions of the world, with the area from which a wine hails becoming increasingly important in a new winemaking nation like ours as it develops its regional identities, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.

Amisfield Wine Company is celebrating its 10th harvest this month, marking another important milestone in the winery’s developments during the past decade. The first vines were planted in 1999, its first vintage was bottled in 2002, and every vintage since has won national and international awards. Its Pinot Noir has been the company’s flagship wine. Although still in its infancy, Amisfield has developed a strong international brand, reports Otago Daily Times.

Wine harvesting is in full swing at the historic Tahbilk vineyards in Central Victoria’s Nagambie Lakes.
“We mechanically harvest the whites at night and the reds during the day. So effectively we’ve got a 24-hour picking cycle going,” says Tahbilk’s owner and winemaker, Alister Purbrick. When the weather turns autumnal, as it has in the last couple of days, the activity shifts to the cellar while the remaining grapes ripen on the vine. It’s a game of patience, but Purbrick hopes the last of the crop will be in by mid-April, reports ABC Science.

A swag of gold medals at one of Australia’s major wine shows is a good drum roll into the region’s biggest wine event – the Margaret River Wine Festival. Palmer Wines, which will stage the premium event on April 14 at their Dunsborough restaurant/cellar, won five blue gold awards and a trophy at the 2012 Sydney International Wine Competition – and it could not have come at a more appropriate time for them, reports the Busselton Mail.

Brazil is considering raising the tariff on wine imports to protect its domestic wine industry. Proposals were announced in mid-March to hinder the expansion of imported wine into the fast-growing economy using measures such as increasing tariffs from 27% to 55% and introducing country by county quotas. Other measures suggested included imposing a minimum price, and making Portuguese front labels compulsory as well as banning terms such as organic and biodynamic, reports The Drinks Business.