Coming up with a list of the top 50 things to do in McLaren Vale was tough work, Chapel Hill CEO Marc Allgrove says. The winery decided to do the countdown to mark the region’s Tour Down Under leg on Saturday, January 21. On the list, revealed on the winery’s Facebook page and website each day, are swimming in the surf, breakfast at Blessed Cheese and a walk through the Onkaparinga Gorge National Park. Mr Allgrove said the winery’s workers drew on their own favourite experiences to compile the list, reports Southern Times Messenger.

Coming up with a list of the top 50 things to do in McLaren Vale was tough work, Chapel Hill CEO Marc Allgrove says. The winery decided to do the countdown to mark the region’s Tour Down Under leg on Saturday, January 21. On the list, revealed on the winery’s Facebook page and website each day, are swimming in the surf, breakfast at Blessed Cheese and a walk through the Onkaparinga Gorge National Park. Mr Allgrove said the winery’s workers drew on their own favourite experiences to compile the list, reports Southern Times Messenger.

A slow and rain-affected flowering is likely to reduce the Sauvignon Blanc crop across the top of the South Island. Last week’s downpour came just as the flagship variety was finishing flowering in Nelson, adding to headaches faced by vineyard managers in a difficult and disrupted season. The deluge three weeks ago hammered Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and some Chardonnay crops, reports the Nelson Mail.

Producers in Burgundy are thrilled with their new vintage and although quantities are small, prices will largely stay down. For both whites and reds, producers such as Alain Chavy from Domaine Alain Chavy in Puligny-Montrachet described themselves as “very happy indeed” with 2010 and expressed more enthusiasm for it than 2009, reports The Drinks Business.

American consumers will be drinking more sparkling wines from around the world than ever before in 2012, according to a new study published by Wine Intelligence. A broadening of the consumer base, a greater range on offer, and an increasing desire among some consumers to make sparkling wine a regular rather than occasional treat are the main factors driving the trend, according to the report’s authors. The Wine Intelligence USA Sparkling Report 2012 states that over 30 million Americans say they drink sparkling wine at least once a year, reports Tiz Wine.

Wine bosses in Australia are frustrated by the slow progress of the country’s vine removal programme, with around half the projected amount of vines being grubbed up since 2009. The 2009 Wine Restructuring Action Agenda (WRAA) indicated there were 20-30,000 hectares of surplus vineyards in Australia. The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia estimates 14,000 ha have been removed since the Agenda’s launch but reform has not been as been as extensive as hoped, reports Decanter.

The 2011 Frankland Estate Rieslings could be the best group of wines released by the winery so far. The estate is in the isolated Frankland River region of the Great Southern, where a growing number of Australia’s finest Rieslings are beginning to emerge. Over many years owners and winemakers Judi Cullam and Barrie Smith, and now son Hunter, have taken extraordinary, challenging and expensive steps to unselfishly promote both their releases – and the variety in general – to the international world of Riesling lovers, reports In My Community.

While New York’s wine industry has seen its promotional budget shrink the past year or two, there’s enough money there for an ambitious program called New York Drinks New York that the Wine & Grape Foundation will launch during the first quarter of 2012. Centered on New York City, the campaign is a multi-faceted program for wine trade, media, and consumers, intended to set the stage for a long-term effort to raise awareness about the quality of New York wines, reports Penn Live.

A dispute over the use of the term White Zinfandel in the European Union has been resolved. The row broke out last autumn after Italian authorities complained about the grape being referred to as “White Zinfandel” when it is a red grape, which they said would be confusing to consumers. However the term is widely understood as a brand name in the USA and UK denoting the popular rosé wine, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

Hundreds of hectares of prime wine producing land should be excised from gas company AGL’s exploration licence areas before they are renewed, Hunter vignerons and coal seam gas opponents say in a joint appeal. The Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association and the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance want the vineyard areas excluded if the government grants a renewal. AGL’s petroleum exploration licence area, or PEL 267, covers the wine and tourism areas of Broke Fordwich and Pokolbin and expires on January 19. AGL says it has applied for a renewal, reports The Newcastle Herald.