For many Australians who broke out the bubbly to ring in the new year, champagne was the tipple of choice. Of all the wine consumed in Australia, 15 per cent is imported — and the famous French beverage, along with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and reds from France, make up much of the quota. With the buying power of the Australian dollar far stronger than it has been historically, consumers are the winners. The ugly flip side is currency torture for the domestic wine industry, reports the Herald Sun.

Australian winemakers are investing in education — for themselves and prospective customers — so the Chinese continue to develop a taste for their wares. China is Australia’s fastest-growing wine market and already our fourth-biggest customer. Exports were up 32 per cent in the year to September to $194 million. But winemakers — learning from the experience in Europe, where the industry suffered after the dollar spiked — are not charging into every sector of the Chinese market in pursuit of growth, reports the Herald Sun.

Wonganella Winery has a decidedly Gallic influence thanks to the arrival of two Frenchmen helping to promote the growth of the Bobs Farm complex. Sylvain Duarte, 25 and Simone Desnoues, 22, are living and working at Wonganella as part of an international traineeship program. Mr Duarte, who studied agriculture and farm management, is helping with vineyard production while Mr Desnoues, who studied viniculture and wine marketing, is helping to manage the winery’s business model, reports The Port Stephens Examiner.

Receivers have sold 4500 cases of wine from an established winery near Alexandra. William Hill Winery, first planted in 1973, was a victim of the recession and went into receivership in May 2009, owing $4.23 million to secured creditor Southland Building Society for property, stock and equipment, reports The Southland Times.

Kiwi wine writer Michael Cooper tries to get around the wine regions as much as he can, but he’s got a lot of bottles to sample at home. Cooper has been writing about New Zealand wine since the 1980s and authors the annual bible of Kiwi wines, Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines. He has been wine writing fulltime since 1991, reports The Marlborough Express.

New Zealand wine brand, Brancott Estate, is to unveil its final transition from Montana to Brancott Estate, with a contemporary new look and extensive re-packaging. The Pernod Ricard owned brand will unveil its, contemporary logo and die cut label, which is focused on reinforcing the brand’s heritage, at the New Zealand Annual Trade Tasting in January, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

Giulio Gambelli, one of the giants of Tuscan wine, has died at the age of 86. Gambelli – who was known as Bicchierino (or ‘Little Glass’) – was celebrated as one of Italy’s greatest connoisseurs of Sangiovese, and recognised as a superb taster. He was born in 1925 in Poggibonsi in Siena, and joined Enopolio de Poggibonsi, which was then one of the largest wineries in the region, at the age of 14 as a cellar hand, reports Decanter.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert on Naked Wines’ website for being potentially misleading following a complaint. The complaint concerned an advert run by the merchant in August 2011, which offered consumers the chance to have £40 refunded to their account after making a purchase and then signed them up to a £20 a month Angels Account if they said “yes”. Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines, told The Drinks Business that the affair was a “storm in a wine glass as nobody has lost a penny – nor can they.”

Te Pa means home for the MacDonald family of Marlborough and the new wine label’s first release has been given a bit of a homecoming by wine critics. Te Pa is the brainchild of proprietor Haysley MacDonald, whose family’s Wairau Bar vineyard was created to supply grapes to several larger wine companies. The wine label was named Te Pa because that was the name the family gave to their 250 hectare home, reports The Marlborough Express.

Top merchant Berry Bros & Rudd says environmentally-friendly wines are proving less popular with consumers – biodynamic wine sales fell 54% in 2011 and organic wine sales dropped 63% on 2010. But Berry’s saw strong sales from Champagne – up 17% by volume and 41% by value on 2010; while Prosecco sales soared by 28% in terms of volume and by 37% in value on 2010, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.