“I’ve removed the grape variety from the label and have started calling it a beverage, not a wine.” – I can’t believe I’m hearing these words from Chris Archer, who as winemaker at Alana Estate was behind some of New Zealand’s most serious wines. He’s telling me about his new project. And by the end of our conversation I’m more convinced of the merits of his radical concept that aims to get a great but underappreciated grape into more of the nation’s – and indeed the world’s – wine glasses. I have entered the land of Ritzling, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.

With New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc no longer enjoying the revered international position it once held, we need to turn our attention to the next big thing. That would be Pinot Noir. Hovering just beneath the fashionable wine radar for some time, our Pinots are now ready for their turn on the world stage, writes John Hawkesby in The New Zealand Herald.

Two of Australia’s three female Masters of Wine will be judging at the International Cool Climate Wine Show on the Mornington Peninsula. Kate McIntyre and Meg Brodtmann will be on the 16-strong judging panel, chaired by Mike DeGaris. An annual event since 2000, the popular wine show promotes the grape varieties and wine styles of cool climate regions by featuring judging, a public tasting, lunch and a dinner. The wine show attracts well over 600 entries from the cool climate regions of Australia and New Zealand, reports Peninsula Weekly.

Ambitious plans to stem a sales slump in the US have been laid out by Treasury Wine Estates, including investing in markets such as China, Hong Kong and Japan to sell more wine from its Californian vineyards. Stephen Brauer, the managing director of Beringer, Treasury Wine Estates’ largest brand in the US, has told a conference in the US of plans to globalise the Californian brands, reports Business Day.

Vineyard owners are stunned by the Skills Institute’s decision to scrap Tasmania’s only viticulture training course. The State Government has identified the wine industry as a future growth area and a shining light in an otherwise gloomy economy, but it has suddenly become a lot harder for school leavers and others to join the sector. Skills Institute chief executive officer Malcolm White said there was simply too little demand for the Certificate 2 and 3 in Viticulture, so aspiring viticulturalists would have to make do with the general horticulture courses, reports The Mercury.

Tony D’Aloisio’s link to the wine industry springs from his childhood in the Yarra Valley and, after decades as a lawyer, corporate regulator and stockmarket boss, he has returned to the industry that first shaped his life. ”Our connection with farmers and agriculture in the valley goes back to the 1960s and 1970s.” That connection included eventually buying his own winery, Oakridge Wines, which he and his wife own. Taking on the role of president of the Winemakers Federation of Australia from April 1, D’Aloisio finds himself in the midst of a quickly changing industry, reports Business Day.

The Hunter Valley wine industry is under threat because of the growing dominance of global superstores, Hunter vignerons warn. The Hunter is home to 60 winemakers and 80 wineries, and veteran Hunter vigneron Bruce Tyrrell Tyrrell believes that number could be cut to a handful of boutique operations in 10 years and a few supplying to corporations. It is the oldest winemaking region in Australia, but it could collapse under the weight of global companies that are set to dominate the market, reports the Newcastle Herald.

An Austrian exchange student who inspired her host family to pioneer a variety of grape new to New Zealand returned to their Bannockburn vineyard a decade later to help harvest the crop. And Marlene Günther (27) feels very honoured to have the Gruner Veltliner wine named after her, reports Otago Daily Times. “It’s very special, sitting with a glass of your own wine at the end of the day, and I’ve put some effort into this wine, helping with the thinning and the harvest, so this vintage will be even more special,” she said.

The world’s greatest wine tasters have flown to London from 25 countries to judge over 14,000 wines for the Decanter World Wine Awards. The Decanter World Wine Awards, now in its ninth year, is being judged by 56 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers, as part of a 200-strong team of critics and tasters, all experts in their regions. Judges taste in groups under regional chairs, many of whom have been Decanter World Wine Awards regulars for several years, reports Decanter.

Gibbston Valley Wines will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first commercial grape harvest in Central Otago tomorrow. In 1987, three companies produced wine including Taramea near Arrowtown, Gibbston Valley Wines and Rippon at Wanaka. Taramea survived only a few years but Gibbston Valley and Rippon went on to become international brands. The 1987 Gibbston Valley wines were the first Central Otago wines on the market in May 1988, reports the Southland Times.