Just a few years ago, pretty much all Ben Jones knew about wine was that came in two colours – white and red. The American, a second-year wine science and viticulture degree student at EIT, is now being feted as the Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards’ Young Vintner of the Year. The prestigious title is a significant kick-start to any young winemaker’s career. Ben also benefits from a prize package that will see the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society, sponsor of the Young Vintner award, helping with his study fees, and he will be offered valuable work experience at Craggy Range.

These days it is almost impossible to say anything moderately optimistic about climate change. But geographers, archaeologists, historians, agronomists and biologist can show some positive effects, because they allow for the immense creativity and resilience of human societies, and of living things in general, as demonstrated throughout the ages and across the great variety of different habitats on the planet. One of those positive effects could be the evolution of wine.

It’s a big bottle at a big price.
The latest luxury offering from iconic Australian winemaker Penfolds – a six-litre bottle of Penfolds Grange 2012 in a hand-crafted crystal pouring cradle – will set you back $185,000. And, they are very rare. There are just five of the imperial – or six-litre – bottles of Grange 2012 and their accompanying service vessel. If you want one of these rarities, you’ll need a big place to put it and strength to lift it. The crystal pouring cradle is almost one metre high and weighs 50 kilograms.

In what looks set to be a potentially ‘wetter than normal’ year for many wine regions, growers are likely to continue to face challenges in managing the spectrum of diseases present in Australian vineyards in the 2016/17 season. While captan has long been a cost-effective fixture in many spray programs for the management of key diseases, its future remains unclear and use in grapes that may end up in wine destined for the EU should still be avoided.

THE country’s best cool climate wine producers have entered their top tipples in preparation for next week’s National Cool Climate Show. Now in its 18th year, the show attracts the best cool climate wines from some of the country’s most well-known wine producing areas. And, this year is no different with 760 entries received from vignerons in Bathurst as well as winemakers in Orange, Mornington Peninsula, Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley and southern parts of Western Australia.

Australia is producing the best wines in its history. Grape growers are honing in on the ideal spots for specific varieties to thrive, vine age is increasing, clonal selections are improving and cool-climate regions are enjoying their moment in the sun. In the winery, vintners are becoming ever more retrained in their use of oak and alcohol levels are decreasing, resulting in elegant wines that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of the Old World.

The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society together with the AWIWA Advisory Board today announce the
finalists of the 2016 Australian Women in Wine Awards. There were six awards on offer this year, up from four in 2015, and the number and strength of the entries received exceeded all expectation. AWIWA Advisory Board member, wine writer, and long-time advocate for women in wine Jeni Port, said she found it heartening to see such an outstanding response from across Australia in this, the second year, of the awards.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) will host its 18th Annual Bacchanal Wine Gala and Auction “Celebrating the Wines of Australia” next month on Saturday, November 12. The flagship fall soiree raises funds to support the next generation of artists through student scholarships and education programs. This year, the prestigious Australian winery Hentley Farm will receive the Thomas Jefferson Award, a Bacchanal tradition honoring exceptional members of the wine industry.

Inspired by a YouTube video of some 800 ducks lining a vineyard in South Africa, a Great Southern winery has decided to try their hand using ducks instead of pesticides and baits for problem snails. Apricus Hill in Denmark is one of just a handful of wineries in Western Australia using the animals as natural pesticides, just recently completing their first trial of the Indian Runner and Muscovy ducks.

Tonight is the night for the region’s winemakers who are testing themselves against their peers at the 16th annual Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards. Nearly 400 entries encompassing a wide range of grape varieties and wine styles were presented for an 11-strong judging panel this year at the country’s oldest regional wine awards competition. The line-up of leading New Zealand and international wine writers and winemakers spent three days at the EIT’s wine and viticulture centre late last month judging the entries to select the recipients among nine major awards, 15 category awards, and the Doug Wiser Memorial Trophy.