New grape varieties planted on Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT)’s Marlborough campus vineyard are looking promising, with some ready for their first vintage this year. In 2012, NMIT viticulture and wine staff and students began replacing rows of Pinot Noir on the half hectare on-campus vineyard with several new and classic varieties. The new plants were all donated by Riversun Nursery in Gisborne. Further plantings were completed in 2013 and 2014 and the vineyard also had three rows of state of the art steel trellising posts donated from Eco Trellis Systems.

Charlotte Read has been involved in the wine industry for most of her life. Her father was one of Hawke’s Bay’s first grape growers in the 1970s, during the infancy of the New Zealand wine industry. Now she is trying to convert Chinese palates to the award-wining wines of New Zealand winery Villa Maria. Read became Villa Maria’s first dedicated Chinese-based Asia market manager in 2010. She has spent significant time in both Shanghai and Beijing managing two China-based staff. Previously she was based in London as Villa Maria’s UK/European market manager.

Scientists have moved a step closer to being able to make full-flavoured wines with lower alcohol levels after pioneering work on yeast strains in Australia. Experiments by Dr Cristian Varela at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) led to a 1.8% ethanol reduction in both Shiraz and Chardonnay ferments, thanks to working with a combination of three separate yeast strains. The research, funded by the Australian Grape & Wine Authority (AGWA), comes as many New World producers are looking to reduce alcohol levels.

Memo to wine buffs: drinking rots your teeth. Taking OH&S to a new level for wine professionals, University of Adelaide researchers found the acid in wine makes teeth vulnerable to erosion within minutes, after researchers in the School of Dentistry simulated the kind of short, multiple exposures to wine acid normally experienced by wine tasters. The results, published in the Australian Dental Journal, show that just 10 one-minute episodes of wine tasting are enough to damage tooth enamel.

The growing demand for Australian organic produce in China has caused a number of regulatory headaches for Australian producers wanting to supply the region. However, a recent agreement between the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) and a Chinese organic certifier will significantly improve the process for exporting organic food and help Australian food producers to meet the growing demand for these premium products.

As managing director and CEO of Treasury Wine Estates, one of the wine industry’s most geographically diverse marketers, Michael Clarke was well placed to address the topic of “The Globalisation of Wine Marketing” at the recent Impact Marketing Seminar. Clarke began by noting that some industry observers questioned TWE’s wisdom in hiring an FMCG veteran as CEO when he took the helm in February of 2014 (Clarke has held senior executive roles with both Kraft and Coca-Cola).

The Senate will hold a broad-ranging inquiry into the Australian wine industry, which is experiencing a long-running grape glut and low prices for growers. South Australian Senator Anne Ruston, who lives in the state’s Riverland wine region, moved for the inquiry to investigate whether there was market failure in the industry and whether government policies could help the industry become more profitable. “For the last couple of years, I’ve constantly watched as the industry has battled with a number of issues and it became apparent that there were perhaps some opportunities that we should have been pursuing that we weren’t.”

Murray Valley winegrowers have welcomed the Senate’s inquiry into the wine industry, stating the issues affecting the industry a decade ago are still present. The Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee is expected to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry that tackles issues of grower profitability, the impact on industry performance of the wine equalisation tax rebate scheme, the power and influence of wine retailers, and the effectiveness of market information and wine grape pricing.

Two trucks spilled grapes on Marlborough roads last week, as the first week of mechanical harvesting got underway. Sergeant Michael Moloney, of the South Island Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, said both spillages happened on Alabama Rd in Blenheim on Thursday last week. One driver was slapped with an instant $600 fine for having an insecure load. The truck company responsible for the second spill had yet to be identified, Moloney said.

WELLINGTON: As the ink dried Monday on the free trade agreement between New Zealand and South Korea, critics claimed it was a second-rate deal that would “handcuff” New Zealand’s sovereign right to make laws and regulations. Prime Minister John Key and South Korean President Park Geun-hye witnessed the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) by Trade Ministers Tim Groser and Yoon Sang-jick in Seoul. “The agreement shows the strength of the relationship between New Zealand and Korea.