The producers behind the top three 2011 Verdelhos identified in a recent tasting by the Wine & Viticulture Journal have banded together to help create an upsurge of interest for the variety.

Marlborough’s reputation as a leading wine and holiday destination is growing, Wairau River Wines general manager Lindsay Parkinson says. That is why he decided to build a $400,000 extension to the cellar door restaurant at the premises on the corner of Rapaura Rd and State Highway 6, in August. Four months later, the large room is complete and the new open space for wine tasting sessions officially opened yesterday.

A former fine wine consultant at an exclusive Auckland auction house charged with defrauding affluent clients of over $1.3 million has been remanded on bail until the new year. His alleged victims included leading Auckland surgeons, company owners, and senior partners in law firms, court documents reveal. Alleged victims said Mickleson gained legitimacy from his position as a fine wine consultant at Webb’s Auction House, which handles some of the country’s most valuable trades.

For more than a century, grapegrowers have chosen rootstocks to fight phylloxera. More recently, viruses, nematodes, limited lifetimes, productivity and soils have been major concerns, but now it’s becoming clear that water usage will be increasingly important. Wines & Vines reports in many areas where grapes grow well, it’s only because they’ve been irrigated—and in some cases are protected from drought by spraying.

For many of us, the red wine we bring out for the Christmas feast – perhaps while exclaiming ‘tar-an-ta-raa!’ – is one of the most important of the year. Susy Atkins, in The Telegraph, writes it should certainly be something special, by which I don’t mean crazy-expensive, necessarily, just that your wine should convey a sense of careful selection.

Fears about damage to the Hunter River and the health of Camberwell village residents have prompted the NSW Planning Assessment Commission to refuse a coalmining application near Glennies Creek, outside Singleton. The Newcastle Herald reports it is the second time the commission has refused a Hunter coalmining application, the first being the Bickham proposal, near Scone, which was rejected in May 2010.

It may have been some time in coming, but the celebratory beverage known the around the world as champagne is finally being embraced by Americans as more than just, well, something we drink only when we’re celebrating. News Press reports what seems to have sparked this bubble boom is that we’re choosing to drink sparkling wines more often as alternatives to still red and white wines. Could it be that U.S. wine drinkers have noticed that sparklers offer excellent value at every price?

For more than a century, grapegrowers have chosen rootstocks to fight phylloxera. More recently, viruses, nematodes, limited lifetimes, productivity and soils have been major concerns, but now it’s becoming clear that water usage will be increasingly important. Wines & Vines reports in many areas where grapes grow well, it’s only because they’ve been irrigated—and in some cases are protected from drought by spraying.

Western Australia’s Environment Minister yesterday rejected an application to develop a black coal operation in the Margaret River wine region. The Sydney Morning Herald reports Bill Marmion said he was upholding a recommendation by the Environmental Protection Authority against a black-coal mine 12 kilometres north-east of the town. The Vasse Coal Project is owned by partners Vasse Coal and South West Coal, which engaged LD Operations to manage the approvals process.

The Wine & Viticulture Journal will be holding its next regular tasting in Tasmania to coincide with the International Cool Climate Symposium being held in Hobart from 31 January to 4 February. The focus of the tasting will be Australian Pinot Noirs with recommended retail prices of $50 and over.