The Hawke’s Bay community know a thing or two about wine – and there is nowhere else Rod McDonald would rather be. The winemaker and owner of Rod McDonald Wines has worked in the industry for 20 years. In 2010 the highly regarded wine judge and former winemaker of the year launched his own-brand wines and then partnered with Mike Farrugia in 2012 to expand the brand. “The idea was to apply what I learned making wine and to make something different.”

Treasury Wine Estates has gone from problem to golden child in just two years since Michael Clarke took over as CEO. The company, which owns some of Australia’s most famous brands, including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Rosemount and Lindeman’s, announced that its profit had more than doubled, sending the share price up around 11% too.

THE Barossa translates in most people’s awareness to big, robust reds – Shiraz ruling above and beyond all other grapes. The existence of glorious old vines and their capacity to become ripe, sweet-fruited and generous red wine is without question the region’s star attraction. Then there’s the excitement of the ensemble casting that comes in blends of that same Shiraz with Grenache and Mataro (aka Mourvedre) varieties which also have been growing in Barossa soils for many decades.

The results are in and apparently local winemakers are a “pretty canny lot”. This is the opinion of Chairman of the Judges for the 2016 Clear Image Hunter Valley Wine Show, PJ Charteris. “On the first morning tasting the 2016 Semillons there were some real highlights from what was a challenging vintage. To look at wines with purity and clarity varietal characteristics was very, very positive for the region,” he said. “So that was neat to see straight off the bat.”

The Young Guns of Wine Awards has just chalked up its 10th year and this year’s winner, Josephine Perry from Dormilona in Yallingup, Western Australia, created a couple of firsts. It’s the first time a winemaker from the relatively conservative Margaret River winemaking region has won. And it’s the first time the award was won for natural wine, including one fermented and matured in clay amphora.

It’s hard to believe that fortified wines were once all we drank as a nation. It’s time to embrace these glorious styles and celebrate our winemaking past. Let me take you back to a time before Australians thirsted for Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc and Yarra Valley Pinot Noir – way back to the 1940s and ’50s, before table wine took hold. In those days, “wine” usually meant sherry or port. Fortified wines represented more than 75 per cent of all wine sales and most were sweet.

Opening wine with precision, knowing the principles of how to decant wine and talking informatively to customers are all part of the New Zealand Sommelier Awards – the focus of two professional competitions on Sunday 11 September this year. The New Zealand Sommelier of the Year Competition and the Junior Sommelier of the Year Competition have big prizes and bring important benefits to this country’s hospitality industry as the art of wine service is elevated to new levels.

New Zealand’s wine industry is well on track to reach its target of $2 billion of exports by 2020, according to Chair of New Zealand Winegrowers, Steve Green. New Zealand Winegrowers’ Annual Report shows exports have risen 10 per cent in the last year to just under $1.6 billion, marking the 21st consecutive year the industry has experienced significant export growth.

Lisburn-based wine sales company, Woodford Bourne, has secured the distribution rights in Northern Ireland for one of the world’s leading premium wine brands, Wolf Blass. The agreement with Treasury Wine Estates covers both the on-trade, for example in bars and hotels, and the off-licence trade, and will see the introduction of several new wines to the local market.

TIM WHITE: I found out by text: “Our bloody funny buddy Simon Burnell was found dead this morning after a windsurfing incident.” The message was from Virginia Willcock, chief winemaker and general manager of Vasse Felix. This was on March 23, 2015. For five years Burnell was winemaker at Willow Bridge Estate in the Geographe region, which begins (depending on which way you’re travelling) at Busselton, to the north of its more famous neighbour, Margaret River.