A London wine expert is “appalled” with the dairy industry’s impact on New Zealand’s wine industry. However the head of New Zealand’s main farming group says the expert’s opinion is “uninformed” and “naive”. Master of wine Peter McCombie? says he is shocked with the state of the environment as a result of dairy farming. “I am appalled at the degradation of the environment that dairy in the wrong place is causing New Zealand. I have no problem with Waikato and Taranaki, but Canterbury? Dairy doesn’t belong.”

The diversity of New Zealand’s Pinot Noir came on centre stage at a SPIT workshop with Liam Steevenson MW, organized by Meiburg Wine Media. A flight of 12 Pinots from world-famous Central Otago and Sauvignon Blanc-dominated Marlborough, to rising Pinot stars including North Island’s Auckland, and South Island’s Nelson and Waipara were closely examined for their distinctive regional and terroir-driven styles at a SPIT workshop titled “Exploring New Zealand’s Pinot Noir: Latest Trends & Diversity of Terroir”. Although dwarfed by Sauvignon Blanc in terms of production and exports, New Zealand’s Pinot Noir could be the most exciting wine outside of Burgundy for its diversity and competitive retail price points.

South Korea’s IGIS Asset Management Co. is working on to buy Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution center in Bristol, U.K., from Australia-based global winery Accolade Wines in the U.K. for about 100 billion won ($87.6 million). According to the investment banking industry Monday, IGIS Asset Management has been courting local institutional investors to launch a real estate fund designed to a invest in Accolade Park, Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution center in Bristol commanding a space of 80,000 square meters.

The Hunter Valley exported 407,000 litres of wine worth $A3.62million in 2016 and 231,000 litres of it, worth $A1.72million, was sold to China. These Wine Australia Export Report figures mirror last year’s total Australian wine exports to China that rose 40 per cent to a record value of $A520million. China accounted for 23 per cent of the value of Australian wine exports, the US 21 per cent and Britain 21 per cent, but the UK topped the volume of exports with 31 per cent followed by the US (21 per cent) and China (13 per cent).

A man has died at a wine packing centre in South Australia’s Barossa Valley during an arrest on Tuesday night. Patrols were called to an area on Breakneck Hill Road, Penrice, about 10pm after reports of property damage at winemaking facility Vinpac International. A 35-year-old Barossa Valley man was found in the Angaston area where he was arrested. “After the man was arrested he suffered a medical episode and subsequently died,” police said in a statement. Police officers are at the scene investigating the incident this morning.

It seems nothing will stand in the way of a producer looking for the best wine to complement his food. For oyster grower Steve Feletti that has meant introducing a new grape variety to Australian soil. He described bottling the first of his piquepoul blanc as a “bit of a very personal milestone” after an eight-year quest to first procure the vines from France and finally convince a winery to emulate the glass he first tried at a fish market. “It’s been a fantastic journey,” the Moonlight Flats Oysters owner said.

WINEMAKER Alan Varney is looking to make his business mark with an Old Noarlunga barn he’s been eyeing off for years. Mr Varney, 36, has driven past the old barn at 62 Victor Harbor Rd twice a day on his travel to d’Arenberg Winery. “I’ve always had a look at it and to me it is the gateway to McLaren Vale,” Mr Varney said. “You catch the first glimpse of the grapevines on the horizon and you sort of feel like you are leaving it behind and entering the rural McLaren Vale scene.” Under plans lodged to Onkaparinga Council, Mr Varney wants to convert the 1870s barn into a “boutique” winery, kitchen, brewery and cellar door called Victor’s Place.

Now celebrating 30 years of success, Gambero Rosso’s best-known tour, the Top Italian Wines Roadshow, is in its tenth edition. Over 60 wineries come together annually bringing knowledge of Italy’s unmatchable grape patrimony to new generations of consumers. From 2007 (the year of the tours first edition) to 2015, exports of Italian wine have grown from 3.45 to 5.4 billion euros. The Sydney event is the last on the Asian tour, which includes Taipei, Osaka, Cape Town, Hanoi and Singapore.

New Zealand’s capital city played host to a celebration of the country’s second-most important variety, Pinot Noir. There was no Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in sight last week as 600 Pinotphiles from around the world descended upon New Zealand to discuss the famously fickle variety. The Pinot Noir NZ 2017 conference brought a host of very famous speakers to New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. The lineup included world wine authority Jancis Robinson, Japan’s first Master of Wine Kenichi Ohashi, and Tool frontman (and keen winemaker), Maynard James Keenan.

Family run Black Dog Hill Vineyard in East Sussex is going global after landing a deal to supply its sparkling wines to 24 countries. Black Dog Hill Vineyard is a family business spanning three generations, with high ambitions to lead the emergence of boutique, grower-style English sparkling wines. Founded in 2007 by husband and wife team Jim and Anja Nolan, the Westmeston-based company is championing the evolution of English Sparkling wine.