China’s wine lovers were out in force at the Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter over the weekend, tasting an array of top vintages from some of the world’s best producers in glamorous surroundings. More than 1,200 wine lovers came to the Ritz-Carlton in Pudong on Saturday 28 November to learn more about the world’s major wine region, taste mature vintages and get photos with their favourite producers in splendidly ornate surroundings.

HEFER VALLEY, Israel — The new crisp, acidic and mineral white from a high-end Israeli winery was aged for eight months — or, depending on how you look at it, at least 1,800 years. The wine, called Marawi and released last month by Recanati Winery, is the first commercially produced by Israel’s growing modern industry from indigenous grapes. It grew out of a ground-breaking project at Ariel University in the occupied West Bank.

PARIS – It’s a $200 billion industry that prides itself on being rooted to a particular spot and doing things the way they’ve always been done. But global warming is forcing the world’s wine growers to change. As a U.N. conference in Paris next week tries to limit climate change, wine makers from France to Australia are already changing their time-honoured methods, or even uprooting whole vineyards, as long-established weather patterns alter and the temperature rises.

China’s imported wine drinking population has doubled since 2012, and the new consumers are mainly under 30 and female. According to a Wine Intelligence study, China’s urban middle class imported wine drinkers totals 38 million people, up from 19 million three years ago, representing a rise of 100% since 2012. Chuan Zhou, who handles Wine Intelligence projects in China, explained during a seminar at ProWine in Shanghai recently, that this figure comprised people who drink imported wine at least twice a year.

A strong showing in the country’s most prestigious wine awards shows there is more to Marlborough than its flagship Sauvignon Blanc. While the top prize at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, held in Nelson on Saturday night, went to a Hawke’s Bay Syrah, Marlborough wines took out nine of the 18 trophies, 19 of the 36 pure elite gold medals and the only elite gold medal awarded.

The best of New Zealand wine is yet to come and will flow from a mix of tradition and technology.
That’s the view of winemaker Kate Radburnd who has been chosen to receive this year’s New Zealand Wine Growers Fellowship. She is the first female winemaker to receive the award, which recognises dedication and influence in the industry. The head winemaker and managing director for Hawke’s Bay’s Pask winery, Radburnd has been working in the male-dominated industry for over 30 years.

The latest innovative product to come out of Polo Citrus Australia is its new long term dust suppressant product for roads and unsealed surfaces, ROAD CON! This product is not just for the big multinational giants in the mining game, it’s for the everyday person with a dust problem on a road or unsealed surface.

Listings of US wine on UK wine lists have doubled in the last year. This according to Wine On-Premise UK 2015, which has just been released. With Texas barbecue and Southern food being the biggest trend in food globally, the US has never had more wine listings in the UK. And it’s not just popular brands that are benefiting. There has never been more high-end Napa Cabernet, Oregon Pinot and Washington Riesling on wine lists than there is today.

Terlato Wine Group is merging its artisan spirits division with the U.S. division of South Africa’s Distell Group, forming a new joint venture based and operated out of Lake Bluff. Terlato Wine Chief Executive Bill Terlato will be CEO of the equally owned joint venture, which will be operated as a separate division of Terlato Wines called Artisan Spirits. The deal is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2016. Both companies are contributing an equal amount of capital to form the business, Terlato said.

New Zealand wines continue to dominate sales at premium price points in the UK market, according to data from Nielsen. Volume and value are both up 10 per cent overall year on year, against a UK market that has contracted by two per cent. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is the UK’s leading grape variety with an 11 per cent share. The varietal will be showcased at New Zealand’s annual trade tasting in January.