There are two types of people in the wine-buying world. There’s the “it wouldn’t have won this many awards if it wasn’t a good wine” camp, and then the “wine awards can tell you nothing aside from the size of a winery’s budget” camp. Which one are you? Are those shiny medals useless, or a handy shortcut when looking for a quality wine? Welcome to Part 3 of Lifehacker’s wine guide, where we decipher what — if anything — a wine’s medal collection can teach you.

A Sauvignon shortage in Marlborough could be healthy for the image and profitability of the famous New Zealand region, according to one producer. Clive Jones, winemaker at Nautilus Estate and chairman of Wine Marlborough, told db that this year’s smaller vintage will ensure the sell-out of Sauvignon stocks ahead of next year’s harvest, removing the need to sell wine at low prices, which damages both the region’s reputation, and producers’ margins.

AS a one-time Penfolds winemaker he oversaw several Grange vintages, he was a key figure in Rosemount’s growth from a small Denman grape-growing operation into an industry giant and now at the age of 74 Chris Hancock has launched a new eponymous wine brand. It’s called Hancock and Hancock and is a joint venture between Chris and his younger brother John. The inaugural releases are 2014-vintage McLaren Vale shiraz-grenache and cabernet-touriga reds.

PREMIER Jay Weatherill yesterday spruiked the potential of South Australia’s clean, green food industry at a newly-opened winery — 400m from a proposed underground gold mine. Petaluma’s new winery at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills is just 400m from a potential gold mine planned by Adelaide company Terramin Australia. Bird in Hand winery is also right next door. Last month Terramin said it had bought 365,000sqm of land at Bird in Hand, in preparation for the development of a gold mine which would operate for four years.

CASK wine sales in the city could be restricted under a proposal being considered by the Adelaide City Council to combat problem drinking in the Parklands. Councillor Sandy Wilkinson yesterday suggested making a submission to the Senior Officers Group responsible for administering the Parklands dry zone — which includes representatives from the council, health agencies and police — to consider whether restricting the sale of low-cost and high-volume alcohol, such as cask and fortified wines, in the city would reduce problem drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Laurance Wines owner and founder Dianne Laurance has been named as a finalist for the 2015 Telstra Business Women’s Awards in the entrepreneur category. The announcement was made last week and Ms Laurance told the _Times _ she was “extremely excited” when judges called to tell her the news. “It has been a very tough and challenging 12 months for me on a personal side,” she said.

Close your eyes and think of a sommelier. What image springs to mind? Did you picture a middle-aged Frenchman with a bunch of grapes pinned proudly to his lapel? While this stereotype has been unswervingly pervasive in the wine trade, particularly among consumers, it is one that is proving to be increasingly out of step with reality. In fact, it’s being smashed to pieces by a new tranche of fresh-faced female sommeliers.

Rioja’s array of different wine styles means it is now practically impossible to define the character of the region’s reds according to one Master of Wine. Speaking during a historical tasting of Rioja wines made in Haro held in the Spanish town last Friday, Tim Atkin WW said: “It is almost impossible to define Rioja today as there are so many different styles. “I think the idea of traditional versus modern Rioja is old hat now – we’ve moved beyond that. Producers like Cune and Muga have both styles in their ranges.”

The fifth Great Sherry Tasting took place in London this week attracting a record number of trade visitors to sample wines from more than 38 producers, represented by 23 of the UK’s leading importers. More than 300 members of the trade attended the event hosted by Beltran Domecq, president of the Consejo Regulador in Jerez, who described the market for Sherry in the UK as “vibrant”.

Blue Apron, a $US2 billion company that wants to make cooking easy by sending you perfect portions of ingredients in a box with a recipe, is now expanding its offerings to deliver wine too.
The wine delivery service is called Blue Apron Wine. Every month you’ll get six 500-milliliter bottles of wine — about two-thirds the size of a normal bottle of wine — delivered to your door.