Yalumba-owned Negociants UK is to handle its own sales direct to independents for the first time, after a deal which saw it use third party distribution through Berkmann Wine Cellars came to an end. The Australian specialist has added new wines to its portfolio for the independent sector, including Barossa Valley’s Rockford and Brokenwood from Hunter Valley. Negociants has launched an “indies programme” of incentives and support including discounts, in-store activity and trade competitions, and will embark on its first winemaker tour in September, reports Off Licence News.

Vineyard contractor Down to Earth wants to see free or cheap camping for vintage workers in the shire, to settle the issue of illegal camping. Down to Earth director Carla Borrello said that while she was totally opposed to illegal camping, she was frustrated there was no designated backpackers’ campsite during vintage. She said many people are camping illegally because legal accommodation was full or too expensive, reports the Augusta-Margaret River Mail.

Wine Australia has learned from its mistakes in recent years with an impressive showing at the world’s largest wine fair in Germany this week. Following its decision not to show at last year’s event, Wine Australia has returned to the event with a well branded stand featuring a number of well known Australian wine producers including Brown Brothers, Yalumba, McWilliams and Grant Burge, reports The Shout.

The state government was hoping a spirit of compromise might prevail when it launched its new plan for mining and gas drilling yesterday, but it fell flat in much of the state’s rural heartland. ”I am embarrassed to be a New South Welshman,” Andrew Margan, the head of the Hunter Wine Industry Association, said. ”What we were seeking was certainty and protection of the vineyard areas. Co-existence [with mining and coal seam gas] is not possible.” Farmers, winemakers, horse breeders and the state’s peak conservation group rejected the new guidelines outright yesterday, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Top UK sommeliers have called for Chile to show greater consistency and less extraction if it is to boost its representation in the fine dining sector.The comments arose during a tasting of a range of Carmenere wines produced by Concha y Toro in Peumo, a sub-region of Cachapoal, where the variety dominates along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, reports The Drinks Business.

The best wine brains across the globe have voted Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago their Winemaker’s Winemaker of the Year. Recognised by the Institute of Masters of Wine this week at the world’s largest wine fair in Dusseldorf, Germany, Mr Gago was rewarded for his body of work with the premium SA-based Penfolds brand, makers of leading lights such as Grange, Bin 389 and Yattarna chardonnay, writes News Limited national wine writer Tony Love in Adelaide Now.

One of WA’s biggest wine producers has been fined $60,000 after a worker suffering severe head injuries after falling off a ladder. Frankland River’s Ferngrove Vineyards pleaded guilty in the Albany Magistrates Court for failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and causing serious harm to a worker, reports Perth Now.

The former chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Tony D’Aloisio, has been appointed the next president of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. Mr D’Aloisio will succeed Barossa winemaker Peter Schulz, whose term at the WFA ends in March, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. “The Federation conducted a wide search for a president who can represent us at the highest level and provide strong leadership at a time of significant challenges for the industry,” said vice president Robert Hill Smith.

Australia should promote expensive wines in China to change a perception that Australian wine is cheap and therefore not good. Australian wine exports to China were worth $181 million in 2010-11, well up from $21 million in 2005-06, figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences show. Professor Zhangyue Zhou, director for the Centre for AusAsia Business Studies at James Cook University, there were significant export opportunities for Australian winemakers in China, but the product suffered from an image problem, reports News.com.au.

Wine Business Solutions will present a two-day workshop on growing the most profitable customer base for wine businesses, around Australia in April. Taking the Direct Route is the name of this year’s round of workshops, which are set to take place in McLaren Vale, the Barossa and Western Australia as well as NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.