The owners of an earthquake-hit Sumner wine shop say they felt “sabotaged” by the Christchurch City Council while trying to open a temporary bar in the area. Village Grape owners Wayne and Debbie Hardaker opened a container store in the suburb after their original shop was badly damaged in last February’s quake. The couple decided to apply for an on-licence to operate a wine garden and were granted a temporary accommodation permit to open their business, reports Business Day.

“Pinot Noir is the next wine fashion” declared Ross Brown, of Brown Brothers, speaking at the closing session of the 9th International Cool Climate Symposium in Hobart, Tasmania. In terms of trending fashions driven by technical changes and consumer tastes, the grape variety ticks all the boxes, he said. Suggesting that wine fashions go in approximately 15 year cycles, Brown argued argued that after Cabernet Sauvignon in the ‘70s, Chardonnay in the early ‘80s and Sauvignon Blanc in the late ‘90s, now is the time for another red cycle, reports The Drinks Business.

Regularly drinking two large glasses of wine or two strong pints of beer a day triples the risk of developing mouth cancer, a government campaign will warn. Television adverts will aim to show that drinking just over the recommended daily limit for alcohol increases the risk of serious health problems. NHS recommendations are that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day, while women should not regularly drink more than two to three, reports The Guardian.

Standing in front of a wine tasting class of restaurant managers, wine importers and producers, Cavaliere Subhash Arora declares: “People in India waste too much time in matching wines to food.” The crowd looks up and stares at him curiously. Matching wines with food is why many of them are there. But most understand the frustration of trying to match wines with the spices in traditional Indian dishes. Whether or not people have found a way to match up wine and Indian food has not stopped the wine industry from booming, reports The Economic Times.

Wine Australia has awarded nine graduates of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust with scholarships to travel to Australia and undertake a study tour of Australia’s wine industry. The graduates – who come from London, Europe, Asia Pacific, the US, Canada, Ireland, China, Korea, India and for the first time Australia – were awarded their scholarships in London, on Monday 24 January.

Despite being an iconic Australian wine brand for more than 150 years, Seppelt’s crown has somewhat slipped in recent years, with its stablemate Penfold’s clearly the power player in the Treasury Wine Estates group. But the good news is that Seppelt, with talented technicians Emma Wood and Jo Marsh strutting their stuff, has not missed a beat when it comes to the quality and diversity of its wines, reports The Sunday Telegraph.

The public is being invited to taste the winning wines of the 2012 Sydney International Wine Competition over a six-course dinner in Sydney next month. Trophy winning wines will be announced at a degustation banquet from noon to 4pm at the Shangri La Hotel on Saturday 25 February. Now in its 31st year, the Sydney International Wine Competition is the only Australian wine show where wines are judged alongside appropriately weighted food.

The UK’s status as a serious producer of cool-climate sparkling wines has been further cemented by the announcement that the ninth International Cool Climate Symposium will take place in the UK.The four-yearly conference, which is being held this week in Tasmania, will be a joint effort between Sussex’s Plumpton College, the Institute of Masters of Wine, University of Brighton, the trade organisation English Wine Producers, and the UK Vineyards Association, reports Decanter.

The Hickinbotham Vineyard at Clarendon, the source of some of Australia’s finest Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, now has an American owner. Jackson Family Wines has announced its purchase of the 445-acre McLaren Vale property. The sale comprises 207 planted acres on rolling hillsides, some steep and wooded, and two architecturally significant homes. Although no purchase price was announced, industry sources estimate it was more than $10 million, reports Wine Spectator.

Accolades continue to pour in at Belgrave Park Winery. Three of the Cobargo vineyard’s tipples took home medals from the recent 2012 South Coast Wine Show in Ulladulla, where they competed against the best wineries from the Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven and South Coast. The awards were for Belgrave Park’s “Hair of the Dog”-labelled Merlot (silver medal), white Shiraz (silver) and Viognier (bronze), all grown and made at the Cobargo property, reports Bega District News.