Australia’s wine industry may be doing it tough but it’s certainly not standing still, growing by an average of one wine producer every five days for the past 30 years. The 2012 Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory (WID) celebrates 30 years in print, this edition. Its publisher, Winetitles, began the important role of compiling industry statistics, winery contact details and industry suppliers in the one directory in 1983 – when there were just 344 wine producers listed.

There are some spectacular online champagne deals at the moment, especially from the big supermarket retailers, but are they really good news? Ten days ago, Vintage Cellars advertised Bollinger Special Cuvee non-vintage at $56.99 (”Save $27”), plus delivery charges. ”That’s $10 less than I can buy it on my staff account,” says Robert Hirst, chairman of the official importer of Bollinger, Fine Wine Partners. Hirst is upset at what he sees as the trashing of the brand. How can a retailer sell a wine cheaper than the importer can buy it for himself? It’s called parallel importing, and the phenomenon is shaking the champagne industry to its core, writes Huon Hooke in the Sydney Morning Herald.

One of the Hunter Valley’s most exciting young winemakers has called for his counterparts to explore more contrasting styles of the region’s flagship grape, Semillon. Gundog Estate winemaker Matt Burton told The Shout that Hunter winemakers only have themselves to blame for the slow take-up of Semillon, given that so many of them are making it in exactly the same style. “I think if you can branch out into off-dry styles, or fume styles, you’re actually bringing new markets to the variety,” he said.

There is no one quite like Randall Grahm on the wine planet. That is possibly a good thing. The wine world needs someone who stands apart in the wings, who sees things not only as they are but also as they might be, who keeps his feet on the ground and his head in the clouds, who is provocative, highly articulate and comments on wine’s banalities as well as brilliance. The laid-back Californian is known equally for his “vinthology” Been Doon So Long and Twitter musings as he is for the wines he produces at Santa Cruz vineyard Bonny Doon, writes Jeni Port in The Age.

The Clare Region Wine Grapegrowers Association says growers are abandoning their vineyards because high water costs are limiting their ability to make a profit. Current peak water costs for Clare growers are nearly $3,000 per megalitre, which is nearly three times more than in the Barossa Valley. Association president John Bastian said SA Water had also increased transport charges for off-peak water by almost 20 per cent. He said most growers could not afford the rise and had few alternatives remaining, reports ABC News.

The London International Wine Fair has announced a summit on the theme of future global trends, which will take place on May 21. How today’s issues can impact wine businesses and influence future direction in an uncertain economic climate is the theme that will be discussed by an international panel of speakers drawn from wine and finance. Senior investment columnist at The Financial Times and editor of The Long View, John Authurs, will open the conference by painting a picture of life without the euro, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

The continuing success of Prosecco is good for Champagne, Lanson managing director Paul Beavis has said. Prosecco’s sales were up by nearly 50% in 2011, the Champagne Category Report for 2011, launched by Lanson International last week, found. Such success was good for all sparkling wines, Paul Beavis, managing director of Lanson International, told Decanter.com. ‘I think it proves its point as an introducer to the sparkling category. Prosecco’s done a good job in terms of value.’ The report, which used research from analysts Neilson and CGA Strategy, comes shortly after the news that Champagne’s 2011 exports were up by 5.1%, reports Decanter.

I love the first line on the Auburn Wines’ website: “We grow Riesling. We craft Riesling. We love Riesling. A lot.” First, because it intrinsically explains why they chose to become New Zealand’s only riesling-exclusive winery. Second, as they used the words “A lot” instead of “Bigtime”, “Totally” or “Fully”, which they easily could have because with their wrap-around shades, beanies and cargo pants, the Auburn crew (with the exception of the girls) all look like bewhiskered Gen-Y snowboarders, reports The Aucklander.

Ask anyone where the world’s most popular wine website is located and they’ll probably say Paris, London or New York. In fact, it’s situated in west Auckland and attracts more than 1.5 million unique visitors a month. Wine Searcher (www.wine-searcher.com) is an online search engine that will pretty much tell you all you need to know about any wine in the world, reports The National Business Review.

Like the fine wine he promised to multi-millionaire investors, Simon Mickleson displayed a complex character. His clients didn’t know the self-proclaimed wine expert with money and contacts was a serial conman who faked vintage wines by doctoring bottle labels, stole credit cards, took cash for wine he did not have, and sold historic chateau cases he didn’t own for thousands of dollars. Yesterday he was convicted of 16 counts of fraud after being charged with a $1.3 million scam that took in New Zealand’s top auction house, a leading surgeon, senior law firm partners, and the lawyer to the Todd Property Group – owned by New Zealand’s richest family, reports The New Zealand Herald.