High profile international guest judge joins judging panel at New World Wine Awards. Sue Hodder, one of Australia’s most well-known winemakers and an international wine judge, will be part of the 13-strong team of wine judges that today begin judging the 1,325 wines entered in the New World Wine Awards 2016. Ms Hodder said this is especially timely, off the back of her attendance last week at the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference in Adelaide, which is one of the biggest international wine conferences in the world held only every three years.

MORRIS Wines has taken out a prestigious award at the Sydney Wine Show. The Rutherglen winery’s Non-vintage Old Premium Rare Liqueur Topaque was awarded the JCM Fornachon Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Best Fortified. The award caps a positive month for Morris Wines which was bought by Griffith-based winemakers Casella Family Brands last week.

It’s the competition where getting trimmed down to size is elevated to an art form. Pruners from South Australia’s premium grape-growing regions – Clare Valley, McLaren Vale and the Barossa – have faced off at the fifth annual South Australian Pruning Championships in the Clare Valley. Veteran workers from the wine industry tested their pruning skills armed with hand snips and electric shears, cutting off surplus wood left over from the previous year’s harvest.

Hong Kong-backed Belvino Investments has sold its Dunvar vineyard in the NSW Riverina to Casella Wines for about $12 million and its Del Rios vineyard on the Murray River in northern Victoria to GoFarm Australia for between $22-$25 million. In a third big vineyard sale, family-owned Kingston Estate Wines snapped up the 252-hectare New Residence vineyard near Loxton in South Australia’s Riverland region from a Seven Fields investment syndicate for an undisclosed sum.

Iain Riggs, the driving force behind Brokenwood Wines and one of the industry’s most passionate advocates, has been named the 2016 NSW Legend of the Vine by Wine Communicators of Australia. The award was appropriately presented at WCA’s annual KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show Trophy Winners Lunch on 29 July. Iain has been involved with the Show for more than a quarter of a century and was Chairman of Judges for six years.

Join us for an educational seminar, morning refreshments and a catered lunch at beautiful Howard Park, in Margaret River for Innovate Live. Innovate Live is an educational seminar focussed on helping wine businesses navigate the ecosystem of technology. It’s 2016, and let’s face it, modern technology moves fast…

Six of the nation’s leading independent wine experts have come together to create “The Fine Wines of New Zealand” – a list of the country’s most prestigious wines. A selection panel comprising Masters of Wine Alastair Maling, Michael Brajkovich, Sam Harrop, Simon Nash and Steve Smith along with Master Sommelier Cameron Douglas has agreed on the list for 2016 which includes 47 wines representing seven varietals.

The Soberanes Fire that grew to more than 23,000 acres near Big Sur today already has claimed one vineyard and is threatening the 2016 vintage in parts of Monterey County. According to Kim Stemler, executive director of the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association (MCVGA), Big Sur Vineyard owner Lenora Carey was informed Monday night that her property, which included a small estate vineyard, had been lost in the fire, which started July 22.

Apple Works Winery just wrapped up its first month of business in Germantown after opening its doors on July 1. Kevin Behnke has owned the property located on W179 N12536 Fond du Lac Ave., between Highway G and Maple Road since 2002. The site of Apple Works was once an apple orchard of the same name, which opened in 1983. “The area needs something like this because there is nothing else quite like this,” Behnke said.

Tannic Italian grape Sagrantino will one day rival Shiraz as the best red variety in Australia according to Chester Osborn of d’Arenberg. Speaking to the drinks business during a recent visit to London, Osborn said: “One of the grapes I’m most excited about at the moment is Sagrantino, which will rival Shiraz one day as the best red variety in Australia as it works all over the place and has great acidity.