On September 20 a trade tasting is taking place that may change the way the UK wine trade views modern Australian wine. The Artisans of Australia Tasting will draw together 25 of the most exciting, innovative and down-right talented winemakers in the world today. Through their experimentation with new varietals, adoption of minimalist winemaking or their dedication to site selection and expression, these winemakers are crafting wines that are a new iteration of Australian wine brilliance.

With rogue operators threatening the reputation of New Zealand’s wine industry, the only way of catching out some labour contractors would be by conducting sting operations, a consultant says. Viticultural consultant Murray Paterson said it was too easy for contractors to manipulate timesheets and payment records, which he said labour inspectors relied on during their investigations.

A Marlborough resident has called for a high temperature furnace to be built so chemically treated posts used in vineyards can be disposed of without damaging the environment. Wairau Valley resident Cliff Smith said toxic waste dumps were being created around the region by stockpiling thousands of old or broken posts, some treated with copper-chrome-arsenic, or CCA.

Australia’s leading drinks retailer is returning to its roots with the opening of Dan Murphy’s Cellar right where it all began in the 1950s in the iconic Prahran Arcade at 282 Chapel Street. Originally built in 1890, it was here that Daniel Francis Murphy realised his dream of running his own wine and liquor store.

As winter comes to an end a poll on The Shout has revealed that craft beer is tipped to be the big seller this spring. While a lot of industry talk at the moment is about the rise and rise of dry, pale rosé, that Provencal-style of wine has been edged out in the poll by the craft beer juggernaut. The State of the Industry Report released earlier this year by the Australian Liquor Stores Association and IRI highlighted that the craft beer market is “flourishing against the backdrop of declining beer consumption”.

New Zealand’s Auckland Airport has awarded a NZ$50,000 grant to the New Zealand Wine Pure Discovery project to help boost wine tourism. The New Zealand Wine Pure Discovery Project is a collaboration between New Zealand Winegrowers and Auckland Airport and aims to improve the presence of wine and winery experiences in key tourism channels throughout the country. New Zealand Winegrowers said the grant signalled a “broadening of support for wine tourism, and an increased interest in product development within the sector”.

Queenstown wine pioneer Alan Brady is uprooting himself from the Wakatipu, 40 years after shifting there. Mr Brady, who famously planted the first grapes in Queenstown’s Gibbston Valley, is moving only an hour’s drive away to Clyde, however – still within the Central Otago region he helped put on the world wine map.

The upcoming Special General Meeting is the most important issue that Australian Grape growers have faced in the 10 years of WGGA’s existence. The purpose of this work, which will be the subject of the vote at the special general meeting, is to re-focus the national grower body to make it more sustainable and effective as a national voice for winegrowers.

China could overtake the US as Australia’s biggest wine export market thanks to the growing Chinese middle class’ thirst for Aussie wines. Growing demand from Asian markets, particularly China, has driven strong growth in Australian wine exports. IBISWorld analyst Andrew Ledovskikh expects China, which now accounts for about a quarter of Australian wine exports, to become an increasingly important market.

THE Granite Belt’s growing international reputation as an elite wine destination has been further enhanced following a visit by a Japanese wine industry delegation. The nearly week-long tour encompassed visits to Sirromet’s Seven Scenes, St Judes and Night Sky Vineyards, along with Sirromet’s flagship winery at Mount Cotton.