Pokolbin Estate Vineyard yet again has claimed another Australasian Winestate title, but this time it’s for a Hunter Riesling – not Semillon.
Cessnock Advertiser reports the 2011 Pokolbin Estate Vineyard Hunter Riesling was judged the best Australasian Riesling at this year’s Winestate Wine of the Year awards in Adelaide after a taste-off with the highest ranked wines in Australia and New Zealand. After winning the Winestate Semillon title four times previously, Pokolbin Estate has secured its name in the history books as a premium Riesling producer.

In the past 30 years, the University of Minnesota has developed climate-enduring wine grapes that are now made into the four most widely produced wines in Minnesota.
A full crop of “cold hardy grapes” can withstand temperatures of up to 33 below zero. Now, a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow researchers from the University and scientists from 11 other institutions to research more climate-resistant wine grapes, the acidity and taste within wine grapes and how best to market the wine to consumers.

One of Australia’s largest grapegrower associations says there are early signs that winery demand for grapes in the Murray Valley is on the rise. In its monthly grower newsletter, the Murray Valley Winegrowers chief executive Mark Mckenzie reports a number of major and a growing list of second-tier wineries have started seeking fruit for 2012 earlier than in recent vintages.

A winery which produced its first vintage just two years ago is celebrating after being named New Zealand Wine Producer of the Year by the International Wine & Spirits Competition. Marisco Vineyards was founded in his native Marlborough by Brent Marris former chief winemaker at both Wither Hills and Oyster Bay, reports The Drink Business. Setting out his ambitions for this latest project, Marris explained: “I wanted to move away from contract growers so I spent a year trying to find a specific site – I didn’t want a patchwork spread around like everyone else.”

European economic turmoil will impact on McGuigan wine brand owner Australian Vintage this year, but it was unknown to what extent, chairman Ian Ferrier said.
“Our trading results for the first four months of the 2012 financial year are above last year. But given the uncertainty and volatility and its impact on our business it would be foolish to make any forecast at this stage for the full year,” he told shareholders at the group’s annual meeting in Sydney yesterday, reports Adelaide Now.

The Australian Wine Export Council is embroiled in a storm of controversy, with reports suggesting it is about to axe its export approval panel. Decanter reports anger directed at the AWEC has been bubbling for some time, as wines that have been lauded by critics have been rejected for export. In an October article in the Australian Financial Review, journalist Tim White highlighted two such instances.

Firefighters are bracing for tough conditions today after about 20 homes near Margaret River were damaged – a dozen of them destroyed – when a prescribed burn blew out of control yesterday.
The West Australian reports that on a day one experienced firefighter called “as bad as they come”, flames carved a path of destruction around the coastal hamlets of Ellensbrook to the north and Prevelly to the south of the South West tourist town.

The wine industry is being invited to taste the results of grapes grown in dryer and hotter temperatures that could one day replicate conditions in 2050. The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is holding a wine tasting workshop for people in the wine industry in the Barossa on 15 December.

Despite the growing demand from China, the US is still the number one market for Burgundy. “America is still our biggest market,” said Louis-Fabrice Latour, chairman of the Fédération des Négociants-Eleveurs de Bourgogne (FNEB), after a press conference given by the BIVB before the 151st Hospices de Beaune auction. In his address to an international group of journalists, Latour explained that the Bourgognes Amplitude 2015 plan is designed to consolidate Burgundy wines as a “global reference for great wine produced from sustainable wine growing,” reports The Drinks Business.

Australian winemakers will soon have more control in managing wine spoilage thanks to breakthrough research which has revealed the genetic makeup of a problem yeast. Scientists at The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) have sequenced the genome of Dekkera bruzellensis (Brettanomyces), commonly known as Brett, and in doing so have uncovered its genetic blueprint.