A wine producer and IT expert have teamed up to create a new website claiming to be the “LinkedIn” and “Bloomberg” for the wine trade. www.wineandspiritsb2b.com aims to offer a one-stop shop for the international wine community, from a comprehensive company database to event management tools and streamlined competition entry system. In time the website is seeking to act as a social networking hub as well as a market place for producers, agencies, job hunters and merchants looking to shift excess stock, reports The Drinks Business.

A new Wine Intelligence study has found the Chinese wine market will feature more white wines and sweeter styles of reds in the future. The Emerging Opportunities report is the result of three months of research among leading players in the Chinese wine trade to understand the opportunities and potential pitfalls for international wine brand owners of this “large, complex and rapidly developing market,” says Wine Intelligence. The report says the Chinese wine trade is gearing up for a diversification in consumer tastes beyond the traditional Bordeaux wines that have dominated the imported wine market for the past three years, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

The New Zealand wine industry’s lack of teamwork is causing growing pains, despite significant growth over the past two decades, according to the latest ANZ Agri-Focus report. New Zealand’s unbranded bulk wine exports had the potential to dominate the country’s supply and undermine the reputation and price of bottled wine, as seen in Australia, the report said. Without significant industry collaboration, the New Zealand wine industry faced a similar future, reports The Marlborough Express.

The Western Australian wine industry says a recent increase in sales is largely due to a growing interest in WA wine from Asian buyers. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show WA has increased its export volume by $10 million in the past year, overtaking the 2008 export value high of more than $40 million, reports ABC News.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority believes it has received more than 12,000 submissions to its controversial draft plan. The plan which includes diverting 2750 billion litres of irrigation water to the environment has been rejected by three out of four states within the basin, reports Weekly Times Now. Victoria’s Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh yesterday said taking more water from Victoria would hurt communities and industries. “Our modelling shows northern Victoria’s dairy industry would decline by 12 per cent or $54 million. Grape production would fall by 11 per cent or 38 million and mixed grazing would take a hit of 31 per cent or $38 million,” Mr Walsh said.

A love of wine and good food has turned an empty block of former spud country into a vineyard and cafe in Victoria’s southwest. Between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, at Killarney, Shane and Ali Clancey founded Basalt Wines a decade ago and leased out their former family home to local chef Christopher Grace, who has been running his restaurant since last January. Shane’s love of wine grew from his time in front-of-house at Portofinos Restaurant, which he ran with his brother and chef, Andrew, in Port Fairy. This grew after he worked with some old Italian vignerons in Western Australia, reports Weekly Times Now.

Back in 1997, Lisa McGuigan established an Australian wine packaging landmark when she sourced special bottles from Europe and put eye-catching pewter and copper metal labels on them. The initiative won the Tempus Two brand the 2002 AQ Australia Professionals’ Presentation and Packaging Award at the Wine Australia Exhibition and helped make Tempus Two a 150,000 case-a-year global sales success. Now Lisa has her own Lisa McGuigan brand and has given the five $25 current-releases metal labels and had the wines made by Liz Jackson, now First Creek chief winemaker and Hunter Valley Winemaker of the Year, reports the Newcastle Herald.

Back in 1997, Lisa McGuigan established an Australian wine packaging landmark when she sourced special bottles from Europe and put eye-catching pewter and copper metal labels on them. The initiative won the Tempus Two brand the 2002 AQ Australia Professionals’ Presentation and Packaging Award at the Wine Australia Exhibition and helped make Tempus Two a 150,000 case-a-year global sales success. Now Lisa has her own Lisa McGuigan brand and has given the five $25 current-releases metal labels and had the wines made by Liz Jackson, now First Creek chief winemaker and Hunter Valley Winemaker of the Year, reports the Newcastle Herald.

A number of California winemakers are secretly producing wines laced with cannabis, with Cabernet Sauvignon the grape variety of choice for the blend.“Pot wine is increasingly fashionable in wine country – much of the marijuana used for the wine comes from California’s weed capital Humboldt County,” Crane Carter, president of the Napa Valley Marijuana Growers said.According to Carter, pot wine delivers a quicker high than pot brownies, and the combination of alcohol and marijuana produces “an interesting little buzz,” reports The Drinks Business.

The State Government says an upcoming visit of international delegates to Western Australian wineries will provide a valuable opportunity for producers to market their wine to China’s growing middle class. Great Southern and south coast wineries will present their wines to trade delegates from China this month, reports ABC News.