The Vermentino white wine variety is ideally suited to handle Australia’s changing climate and consumer palates, according to winemaker Brown Brothers, which is continuing to experiment with alternative varieties at its winery in Milawa, Victoria. Executive director Ross Brown told TheShout that with 80,000 visitors to the winery every year, Brown Brothers considers its cellar door customers to be a valuable market research base, reports The Shout.

The Marlborough wine industry is the most optimistic about trading conditions out of the country’s seven wine regions, according to a national business confidence wine survey. The biannual report by accountancy firm Markhams said that more than half of Marlborough respondents believed that trading conditions were better than a year ago, with 92 per cent expecting conditions to improve or remain the same. In line with last year’s predictions, 33 per cent of respondents stated that conditions had remained the same, while 13 per cent said they had worsened, reports The Marlborough Express.

John Buck, OBE, Chairman of Te Mata Estate Winery, is the 2012 inductee to the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame. His selection was announced at a glittering black tie dinner at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds on Saturday night, reports Voxy News. His award was presented by the Chairman of The Hall of Fame Trust, Michael Brett, who said “John Buck has made notable contributions to the New Zealand wine industry. His Te Mata Estate has been the standard bearer for New Zealand. In Coleraine, he has produced, year after year, a wine that brings international acclaim both to Te Mata and the New Zealand industry.”

Wine Marlborough is offering a member of the UK wine trade a chance to spend up to six weeks studying the New Zealand wine industry. Called the John Avery Scholarship, the award is part of the New Zealand-UK Link Foundation, designed to further connections between the two countries. The recipient will be awarded flights to New Zealand and an all expenses paid 3 to 6 week-long stay in Marlborough to study the region, reports The Drinks Business.

Wine critic Robert Parker has hinted that Neal Martin could replace him as Bordeaux critic at The Wine Advocate but not “for at least five years”, reports The Drinks Business. In the second part of an interview conducted by Liv-ex, Parker responded to a question about his future successor as Bordeaux critic by saying: “I don’t think you have to worry for at least five years! I obviously have the young Englishman Neal Martin on my team. He is very talented and he gets better every year.”

Villa Maria Estate’s managing director and founder, Sir George Fistonich, was honoured with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his services to the New Zealand wine industry at the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards. This award follows Sir George’s induction into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame at the same show last year. In addition, Villa Maria Estate also received two trophies and the Heritage Rose Bowl at the awards dinner on Saturday night, reports Voxy News.

Patience is a virtue in the slow-moving world of wine, but few take the principle as far as the R López de Heredia bodega in Rioja. When the López de Heredia family were harvesting the grapes for the most recent vintage of what many regard as Spain’s best white wine, Barcelona was preparing to host the Olympics, and Neil Kinnock was still looking like a prime minister in waiting. That wine, the 1991 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva (£65, Berry Bros, bbr.com), was finally released a year ago, but like all the bodega’s production it was worth the wait, reports The Guardian.

When the seventh edition of the World Atlas of Wine comes out next year, Queensland winemakers will be saying cheers, because for the first time the Granite Belt will be mentioned as a wine region in its own right. It follows a recent visit by English wine writer, Sarah Ahmed. Dubbed “The Wine Detective”, what she says about this cold climate enclave will be read by millions of wine buffs around the world, reports ABC’s Landline.

The California wine market is experiencing a structural shortage and likely won’t return to balance for at least four years, according to Matt Turrentine, who spoke Thursday during the Central Coast Insights Conference. The partner with Turrentine Wine Brokerage said, “We’ve undisputedly entered a period of shortage for all areas and varieties,” reports Wines & Vines.

Wine critic Robert Parker has admitted that sometimes he finds his own influence “scary”, referring to himself as “just the messenger”, reports The Drinks Business. Speaking to Liv-ex, Parker said of his potential to impact on the market: “I don’t have any hidden agendas and I try and be as fair as possible to both the producer and consumer when I taste the wine. But I do know the impact my scores can have, particularly in Bordeaux. It’s scary sometimes; no one should have that kind of influence. It’s also a double-edged sword. It creates a lot of criticism of me when in fact I’m just the messenger.”