Australian vineyards are using nearly a fifth more water than they were three years ago, highlighting the dry conditions still affecting the country’s winemaking industry. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 440,000 megalitres of water was used to irrigate vineyards in 2015 – an increase of 18% on 2012. Vineyards in South Australia accounted for 46% – 203,000 megalitres of total water use – followed by New South Wales with 32% (140,000 megalitres) and Victoria with 20% (86,500 megalitres).

The Rabobank Global Wine Quarterly report says New Zealand wine growers expect the wine grape harvest will be 326,000 tonnes, down 27 per cent on last year’s record tonnage. One of the report’s authors, senior analyst Marc Soccio, said the country’s production levels had not been this low for some time, and that was part of the reason the growth in export value was outpacing the growth in volume. “Global demand isn’t necessarily growing particularly strongly, but what we are seeing is where there is growth it tends to be at higher price points.”

The New Zealand wine industry has shown resounding support for their national organisation by voting positively in the 2015 levy referenda, enabling New Zealand Winegrowers to receive continued levy funding. Electionz.com, who facilitated the levy referenda, released results yesterday which show 87 per cent of wineries (98 per cent by volume) voting in favour of the wine levy, and 90 per cent of grapegrowers (92 per cent by value) voting in favour of the grape levy.

There are more signs of rising tension between Beaujolais winemakers after Sebastien Coquard, president of the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages body, told producers he was stepping down. Coquard is believed to have resigned from his position as president of the ODG (trade body) for Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages on 17 October. An email memo signed by Coquard and seen by Decanter.com says that he faced ‘threats’ to his privacy and was under ‘untolerable’ pressure.

Driven by consumer demand, it is becoming abundantly clear that e-commerce will continue to grow its share of total wine retail sales. According to Rabobank’s latest Global Wine Quarterly Q4 report, growth rates of online wine sales vary across markets, but they have one thing in common: By far, they consistently outpace growth in traditional retail. Online retailing is so important in many markets because of the interest it can generate from millennials.

New Zealand’s first and only Master Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers will attend the inaugural Down to Earth celebration of wine in Central Otago. Rebecca Fox asks Cameron Douglas for his advice on wine and food pairing. Get Cameron Douglas talking about wine and food and he can go on forever. Being a veritable gold mine of information about the dos and don’ts of wine and food pairing comes with his title of Master Sommelier.

For Villa Maria founder and owner Sir George Fistonich and the team last night’s Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards were as good as it could get. On the group’s website it is noted they are “New Zealand’s most awarded winery” and that was emphatically underlined at the 15th annual event, which drew about 450 guests to the Waikoko Gardens. Bayleys general manager Greg Hornblow said he was proud to be a sponsor of the awards.

John Spalvins, one of Australia’s best-known corporate raiders, has sounded a note of caution as Treasury Wine Estate shares jumped almost 17 per cent to hit a record high after coming out of a halt for the institutional part of a capital raising for the acquisition of most of Diageo’s wine business. Spalvins, whose company once owned the famous Penfolds wine brand for a decade when it was part of the once-mighty Adelaide Steamship Company, which ultimately collapsed under $7 billion of debt in 1991.

Australian wine exports to the U.S. market registered a 12 per cent increase to A$117 million ($85m) in the three months through September, with the key California (+20%), Florida (+56%) and New York (+14%) markets all showing double-digit gains. The shipment increase represented a reversal for the Australian wine category in the US, which has struggled in recent years, surrendering nearly five million cases from 2010-2014, according to Impact Databank

The wine writer and educator Jayne Powell, known as Champagne Jayne, has won the right to keep her brand name following a court battle with the Comité Champagne (CIVC). The CIVC originally took Powell to court in December 2014, claiming that she had misled the public and infringed on its trademark by promoting sparkling wines other than Champagne while using the Champagne Jayne name. This, it claimed, had “damaged the goodwill of the Champagne sector”.