Silver Heights winery recently launched its first white wine, a 2014 vintage Chardonnay, while Helan Qingxue winery released a Chardonnay as well as a rosé Cabernet Franc under the brand ‘Jia Bei Lan’ to celebrate the winery’s 10th anniversary. Non-Bordeaux varieties such as Syrah and Marselan are also gaining ground in Ningxia. It is widely believed that Helan Qingxue winery’s Jia Bei Lan winning the International Trophy for Red Bordeaux Varietal over £10 in the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards helped significantly to put Ningxia on the international wine map.

The U.S. leveraged an improving economy to maintain the title of world’s largest wine market last year. Larger discretionary income levels for consumers contributed to Americans purchasing more wine, marking a 1% growth rate to 328.6 million 9-liter cases, according to the Beverage Information and Insights Group’s 2015 Wine Handbook. The U.S. continued to lead the wine market in 2014 after surpassing France in 2013.

Students of Central Otago wines and wine lovers in general will be rubbing their hands with glee at the launch of the inaugural Down to Earth wine event starting at Labour weekend. Running from October 24 to November 4, this 12-day event spans a range of unique and ”hands-on” activities that will get you up close with the wineries and winemakers. More than 30 winegrowers are participating and the opportunity to taste not only current releases, but also museum release wines will be tantalising for many.

An agreement earlier this year by a Wellington delegation to China led by Mayor Celia Wade-Brown has borne fruit with the launch of the Seashine Supermarket group’s first ‘New Zealand corner’. New Zealand products will be promoted in the supermarket chain across Xiamen and Fujian Province, occupying a prime position of 100 square metres in six stores to begin with. There is an expectation of more to come. Seashine Group is a major player in the economy of Xiamen, a sister city of Wellington.

Howcroft Estate Vineyard in South Australia is set to attract keen attention from a range of prospective purchasers. Colliers International’s Tim Altschwager and Nick Dean have been appointed by Sandhurst Trustees Ltd to sell Howcroft Estate Vineyard in South Australia’s Bordertown wine region. Altschwager said the $9 million price tag represented excellent value at approximately $22,000 per ha of vines planted.

Researchers will tour vineyards in the Yarra Valley today to see a new phylloxera detection system in action. The Board of the Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre is making the visit as part of a regular program of visits with CRC Participants. Phylloxera is an aphid-like insect that destroys grapevines by feeding on vine roots. Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia chief executive Alan Nankivell said phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) was the only regulated pest in the wine industry and a major concern for grapegrowers.

A $70 million agricultural park will be built in Adelaide to supply Chinese shops with food and wine after an agreement between South Australian and Chinese governments. The industrial food park in Adelaide’s north will produce hundreds of containers of food and wine for China’s Shandong province, SA exporter Tony Royal says. “China’s expanding middle class has an insatiable appetite for high-quality wine and food. However, high tariffs and logistic barrier have constrained the opportunity for export growth,” he said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the world’s first ever WSET alumni networking event in London yesterday, Enotria chief executive Troy Christensen said there was “an unfortunate continuation of destroying value for volume” in the UK wine trade. Christensen, who was invited to speak at an inaugural gathering for Wine & Spirit Education Trust diploma graduates, accused the trade of using nothing but price to drive volumes, but expressed his optimism for the UK due to the high number of wine professionals in the market and the WSET itself.

An EIT foursome have achieved a first as the only students to win gold in New Zealand’s Bragato Wine Awards. Their medal-winning wine, a 2014 Syrah, was made from grapes donated by C J Pask and grown by company viticulturist Danny van Selm. One of 43 Syrahs entered in the awards, it was judged alongside commercial entries and was one of five golds in its class. “We are looking at international shows now,” Tom laughs of the group’s success.

More and more French wine drinkers are enthusiastically embracing foreign wines, as shown during a recent tour of France by New Zealand Pinot Noir producers – who also offered a critique of Burgundy for good measure, writes Andrew Jefford in his weekly column. This, I guess, is how the wine world moves forward. It starts, typically enough, with an idea – in this case, from Jérôme Faure, group head sommelier for the Constance Hotels group of Indian Ocean hotels and resorts.