Laughter and the sound of clinking glasses of wine filled the restaurant at Ballandean Estate on Saturday as 60 visitors enjoyed lunch at the winery. Yet only 100m away, the large shed that once stored 150,000 bottles of wine lay smouldering. The Puglisi family said the difficult few days had been made easier by the flood of support they received from the local community, as well as loyal Ballandean Estate wine drinkers, reports Warwick Daily News.

The big wet has set Hunter winemakers some dangerous hurdles to clear in the next six weeks as vineyard battles mount to stop damaging diseases attacking the growing fruit. Like their farming colleagues in the Upper Hunter whose quality wheat has been downgraded to stockfeed, Hunter vignerons must manage mildew, bunch rot and other moisture-borne diseases that threaten their yields and financial returns. November was a record wet month, with Cessnock drenched in 160 millimetres of rain, reports The Newcastle Herald.

There hasn’t been much good news for Riverland winegrape growers, but a marked increase in demand for grapes could see prices increase for growers. In recent years, a glut and low prices have meant it’s cost more to produce winegrapes than growers could sell them for. Now the new owners of the Loxton Winery, US firm The Wine Group, are actively seeking more grapes for their 2012 vintage. Chris Byrne, from the Riverland Wine Grape Growers Association, says vine pulls and exit packages in the region have helped the industry in the long run, reports ABC Rural.

Whenever I am in Taupo I always make a point of visiting Scenic Cellars, as I did this week. And I’m pleased I did. Not only has Scenic, one of the country’s best wine merchants, changed location, but it has incorporated into the business a cafe-restaurant. So this was, as always, a voyage of discovery which this time started at the front door of the new premises with a display in the window of old New Zealand wines, reports The Southland Times.

Nelson Winegrowers are pleased to announce that Cameron Trott is the first winner of the David McIntosh Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship gives a local person involved in the wine industry the opportunity to further their experience with organic grape and wine production. It was established in memory of David McIntosh – a local viticulturist who was passionate about organics. A very active Nelson Winegrowers committee member, David was tragically killed on his 42nd birthday in a vineyard accident last year, reports Tiz Wine.

The UK wine trade should promote biodynamic and organic wines, a debate in London decided last night. Viticulturalist Richard Smart and biodynamic winemaker Monty Waldin went head-to-head at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust headquarters – Waldin supporting the motion and Smart opposing it. The audience, which included highly-qualified members of the UK trade, questioned both speakers closely, reports Decanter.

Spain’s 2011 harvest looks set to strengthen the country’s reputation as a source of good value wine. Despite lower yields across the country as a whole, several of Spain’s most high profile wine regions saw large harvests and good quality, fully ripened fruit, reports The Drinks Business. In general, this was a vintage characterised by a cool July, followed for the most part by hot, dry conditions and a relatively disease free crop, although a lack of water caused problems for some growers.

Walter Clappis has been to China more than a dozen times, promoting his wines and forging relationships with local distributors. It is that sort of dedication which was yesterday rewarded, with his Hedonist Wines winning Wine Australia’s George Mackey Memorial Trophy for its 2009 The Hedonist Shiraz. The wine, which was made by Mr Clappis, his youngest daughter Kimberly and James Cooter, was selected from more than 14,500 competitors for the trophy, reports Adelaide Now.

Large quantities of wine were lost when a raging fire ripped through a shed at Ballandean Estate Wines, at Ballandean, south of Stanthorpe, early Friday morning. A spokeswoman for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to the winery on Sundown Rd about 3.40am. The arrived to find the 30m by 40m shed, which was filled with wine bottles and machinery, ablaze. Business manager Robyn Puglisi-Henderson said the fire had destroyed five years worth of stock, reports The Courier Mail.

There are a number of reasons why the NSW South Coast isn’t a renowned wine region, but one local vigneron is painstakingly and effectively dispelling all of them. Growing wine grapes on the South Coast of NSW is a job so consistently difficult, the fact Ben Willis and his family have done it so well is a feat of agricultural brilliance, reports ABC News.