As France’s wine tastes shift away from bombast toward more balanced efforts, let’s imagine we could reduce that trend to a single wine from a single place. This wouldn’t be a wine made to floor you, overpower you or incite some rapturous state. It wouldn’t be a “great” wine, a high-scoring wine. On the contrary, it would be a wine that symbolises the waning years of point-score piety, a wine for which profundity is an option but not an expectation, a wine whose sole purpose is to charm. To me right now that place, that wine is Beaujolais, writes Patrick Comiskey in the LA Times.

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.

Australian wine is making a comeback in its second largest export market, the United States, new research shows. Recent market intelligence shows more premium Australian wine is being sold at higher price-points of AU$15-19.00 (up 23 per cent) and AU$20-plus (growing more than 4.6%) in the US.

Post-festival wine sales from marquees in the town square could be axed from next year’s Toast Martinborough amid fallout from the boozy weekend event. Allan’s Party Bus operator Allan Marshall says vineyards were selling bottles of “take home” wine to “staggering” drunks in The Square after Sunday’s festival so they could keep drinking. He believes their action breached the Sale of Liquor Act, which makes it illegal to sell alcohol to anyone who is drunk, reports The Dominion Post.

Unlike a young wine, Dan Swincer, 30, is showing maturity and depth beyond his years. The winemaker from Orlando Wines was crowned the 2011 Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year on Friday night. Dan won the highly contended title with his Orlando 2008 Gramps Botrytis Semillon and 2007 JC Barossa Steingarten Riesling, which were judged against nine wines from Australia and New Zealand. He was honoured at a gala function held on the rooftop of Sydney’s Darling Harbour’s Coast Restaurant, reports The Barossa & Light Herald.

Unlike a young wine, Dan Swincer, 30, is showing maturity and depth beyond his years. The winemaker from Orlando Wines was crowned the 2011 Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year on Friday night. Dan won the highly contended title with his Orlando 2008 Gramps Botrytis Semillon and 2007 JC Barossa Steingarten Riesling, which were judged against nine wines from Australia and New Zealand. He was honoured at a gala function held on the rooftop of Sydney’s Darling Harbour’s Coast Restaurant, reports The Barossa & Light Herald.

The former chief winemaker at Stonehaven, Sue Bell, has bought a stately old shearing shed in Coonawarra and is converting it into a winery. The Glenroy Woolshed is built from local stone and has a unique atmosphere. It’s gradually becoming the home of Bellwether, her new brand. The move is a welcome injection of energy into the South Australian region that could use a little innovation, writes Huon Hooke in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Our love for Sauvignon Blanc has been one of the hottest affairs you could imagine. Seduced by its showy, up-front personality, we spent $440 million on the popular white drop last year. Much of the passion for the wine that exudes vibrant passionfruit flavours is directed towards Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. And much of what we are buying now is cheaper than it ever was. Down, down, down goes the price. And perhaps with it, also its trendiness is waning. Pinot Gris and Moscato might soon be our top drops, writes Tony Love in The Advertiser.

Australia’s top sparkling winemaker, Ed Carr, is looking anxiously at the calendar in the run-up to Christmas. Of the 25 sparklings he makes for the Accolade group, Carr is responsible for seriously high-end bubbles, the kind taking on the French at the cash register this festive season. Will Australian drinkers stand by the home team? Carr hopes for a little patriotism but he’s realistic. With the price of quality champagne continuing as low as $40 and $50 a bottle, it’s another tough year for Australian sparkling winemakers, writes Jeni Port in The Age.

Yallingup may be better known for its surf than its wine but little known producer Cape Naturaliste Vineyard’s red wine has been named one of the world’s best. The small producer’s Torpedo Rocks Cabernet Merlot 2009 has won the London International Wine Fair trophy for best red wine from a single vineyard at the International Wine and Spirit Competition awards. Owner Craig Brent-White said it was a major coup for the “most western vineyard in Australia”, reports The West Australian.