A Blenheim vineyard contractor has been fined for failing to provide employment records for workers at a Marlborough winery. The Employment Relations Authority has ordered KRSVP Ltd, which was operating under the name S & LJ Prasad Ltd at the time, to pay more than $7500 for failing to produce wage and time records for workers at Cable Bay Wine. Labour Inspectorate regional manager Kevin Finnegan said failure to comply with minimum employment standards would not be tolerated.

Claymore Wines has signed a three-season deal with English soccer giants Liverpool FC. The deal will see Claymore and Liverpool launch a brand new wine club product, which will be available in time for Christmas. Both parties will also work together on the upcoming Liverpool FC Legends game in January 2016. Anura Nitchingham, the founder of Claymore Wines, said: “Claymore’s relationship with Liverpool FC runs deep – having spent many years in Liverpool I’m proud to say I’m a fan.”

There’s an inconspicuous family vineyard among the quiet but renowned Great Southern wine region that might just be Australia’s most prodigious. Why? Well, home to more than 80 hectares of mainly cabernet and shiraz grapes, Wilson’s Pool Vineyard provides fruit for some of WA’s major wine players, who have enjoyed unprecedented success at wine shows around Australia in 2015, helping to cement the west as the pre-eminent producer of the country’s best wines (often a fraction of the price of their hyped rivals interstate).

An exporter of Australian wine labelled as Pinot Grigio that was in fact three other grape varieties, has been stripped of its export licence by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA). Dal Broi Wines (DBW), parent company of Griffith-based Southern Estate Wines, failed to win a stay application against the licence cancellation, which the company said had already cost it a contract with US drinks giant Constellation Brands. Dal Broi had exported two parcels of wine, one to Canada in mid to late March 2015 and one to the USA in October 2014, which it described as 2014 Pinot Grigio.

VitiFerm yeasts are the first active dry yeast strains in the world that combine the flavour diversity of Non-Saccharomyces yeast with the fermentation security of Saccharomyces yeasts. They give a broad flavour spectrum, emphasising the varietal and terroir character in all wines. VitiFerm BIO Alba Fria is recommended for all fresh and fruity white wines. VitiFerm BIO Pinot Alba is recommended for all barrel fermented white wines

SINCE ITS INCEPTION in 1959, Exfoliators has been a 100% Australian-family owned and operated business. Exfoliators is proud to be a leading manufacturer and supplier of premium perlites and vermiculites as well as passive fire protection material to the horticulture, protected cropping, construction, industrial and other specialised industries. The company is known to wine grape nurseries because its premium vermiculite is by far the most widely used media in the vine propagation in Australia.

The death knell for expensive wine gifts is clanging loudly and clearly during Beijing’s age of austerity. But China’s wine market is riding a wave of positive (although perhaps unintended) consequences. Gone are the days of seeking guanxi (business connections) with a bottle of Hennessy XO. Wine culture has gone mainstream and a new generation of Chinese drinkers are enjoying more wine with greater frequency.

Jason Haas’ plan for El Nino involves oats, sweet peas, vetch, clover, sheep, alpacas, a llama and a couple of donkeys. It’s not for everyone, the organic viticulturist admits. But it works for his family’s vineyard in this Central California city, where dormant vines have laid bare acre after acre of precious topsoil on steep hillsides.

One of Waikato’s two wineries is on the market as its owners head into retirement. Garry and Vicki Major started Mystery Creek Wines 16 years ago, after planting a vineyard on a block of land they bought in 1987. The Waikato couple took out a gold award for their chardonnay in the winery’s first year, and daughter Sam Ward said from there “it just took off”.

Black Hill winemaker Ian Watson has wowed a panel of French judges to win a gold medal for his 2014 Pinot Noir The Tomboy. He won the prize in the young Pinot Noir category at the French Australian Chamber of Commerce’s wine awards last week. Mr Watson said the award was recognition from a hard-to-please group.