Pancho Campo MW of the Wine Academy of Spain is switching his business away from wine trade-only events in part response to the “deeply upsetting” attacks he and his family have suffered in recent months. Campo admitted to Harpers Wine & Spirit he needed to step out of the wine industry’s “limelight”, following the fierce criticism levelled at him from some quarters over the alleged access to Spanish wineries given to US wine critic Jay Miller and the Wine Advocate. The controversy resulted in the Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker conducting a review of Miller and Campo’s business arrangements.

If my memory serves me correctly Auckland’s Royal Easter Show is the second of our major wine competitions in the past few months to name a Chardonnay as the champion wine of show. Back in November at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards Villa Maria’s 2010 Single Vineyard Keltern Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay got the nod. Last weekend, when the Royal Easter Show results were announced, it was a lesser-known Brightwater Vineyards 2009 Lord Rutherford Barrique Chardonnay that took the honours. They are results that say as much about the quality of Chardonnay in relation to other wines that we produce as they do about the taste and the judgment of those who shun Chardonnay in favour of wines that are seen as more fashionable and therefore more drinkable than the prince of whites, writes Warren Barton in The Southland Times.

Although the New Zealand wine industry’s story is a tale of expansion, winemakers feel the narrative’s hard edges as sharp growing pains. That was the message last week from ANZ economists who have highlighted key issues facing the industry. Issues include a splintering of approaches between small and large wine companies, bulk exports undermining branded and bottled wine, frequent over-reliance on a single variety, increased regulation/taxes/compliance costs, and higher productions costs, reports Otago Daily Times.

Southern grapegrowers have labelled this year’s harvest a success, despite lower than expected yields. The season ran two weeks ahead of schedule, with many wineries finishing their harvest in late March. McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association chair Peter Hayes said the season, which started flowering in September last year, had provided quality over quantity. He said there were no reports of any significant disease in crops, reports the Southern Times Messenger.

Planning Minister John Rau has introduced a new interim Development Plan Amendment (DPA) to protect the Barossa and McLaren Vale districts from urban sprawl. Mr Rau said the new DPA – which contains planning rules for the districts – provided revised controls to protect the districts in response to community concerns about overly restricted development in the former interim DPA. The interim DPA will ease some of the restrictive development requirements introduced last year, while still maintaining protection from urban sprawl, reports the Stock Journal.

I think it was Jane Fonda who, for health, looks and happiness, coined the term “60 is the new 40”. In a similar way, a wine-magazine editor recently claimed that, when it comes to wine writers rating wines, “94 is the new 90”. His implication was that writers are competing to push scores higher and are creating an “everyone wins a prize” sort of scenario, writes Graeme Phillips in The Mercury.

For my last meal on Earth I would happily settle for a banquet at Spice Temple restaurant in Sydney. For the wine to accompany it, I probably wouldn’t choose Henschke’s Hill of Grace because other wines would go better with the food. But here we are with Stephen and Prue Henschke and daughter Justine, drinking this famed wine and blissing out on Sydney town’s most mysteriously fascinating food. Spice Temple food is spicy but not so spicy you cannot enjoy good wine – both red and white, writes Huon Hooke in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Robert Parker is the world’s most influential wine writer. The American dominates the wine-drinking habits of consumers from Bordeaux to the Napa Valley and now has extended his reach to one of Australia’s great bastions of influence and power: the wine show. This year the 100-point scoring method championed by Parker was introduced to the Sydney Royal Wine Show, writes Jeni Port in The Age.

South Australian grapegrowers are rejoicing over their best harvest in four years. While the national grape harvest will be the smallest in 13 years, SA’s high quality grapes will ensure growers receive better prices. Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Lawrie Stanford yesterday estimated a national crop of 1.4 million tonnes and said it had been a great season for South Australian growers, reports Adelaide Now.

When a press release issued some years ago heralding the launch of a local cocoa-infused Pinot Noir was found to be an April Fools’ Day gag, I sighed with relief that this tricked-out atrocity was an imaginary concoction. But now one really exists, while the road through chocolate and wine more generally is coated with combinations both delicious and distasteful. “Chocolate Shop” is the name of the wine flavoured with dark chocolate. It’s swiftly proved a success in the US where it was initially launched last year, and Britain and Australia, where it’s recently been introduced, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.