As a producer of perishable goods, having a bank of trucks lined up at the warehouse at the end of the day waiting to deliver product was a situation De Bortoli Wines wanted desperately to avoid. Enter VineAccess – or what the Australian wine producer dubs ‘Facebook for growers’. The web-based platform puts the onus of grape testing on the growers, and gives them the ability to record their own data on things like the quality of the fruit and how fast it is ripening.

A POPULAR South Australian winery has been accused of sexism over a new label that refers to “three young blondes”, but the winemaker says it’s just humorous marketing. d’Arenberg’s new $200 red, “The Old Bloke and the Three Young Blondes”, takes its name from a blend of grapes from old shiraz vines with those of three younger white varieties, but leading wine commentator Jane Thomson says this is an example of “everyday sexism”.

Booming sales to China have pushed Treasury Wine Estates to a 72 per cent rise in earnings to $146.8 million for the first half of 2015-16, towards the upper end of its new profit forecast range of $140 million to $150 million outlined in late January. Treasury, the maker of Penfolds and Wolf Blass, lifted its interim dividend to 8¢ from 6¢ previously, and has revamped its management in the United States with Bob Spooner, the current chief supply chain officer across the group, to take over running the Americas region for Treasury, replacing Sandra LaDrew.

Wine grapes in Australia are ripening between one and two days earlier each year due to climate change in a trend viticultural experts say could see some traditional varieties abandoned in warmer areas. The Victorian wine industry is partway through what could shape up to be its earliest vintage on record, thanks to an exceptionally warm spring and warm summer.

There’s no shortage of scorn heaped upon millennials for their perceived sense of entitlement, laissez faire attitude toward work and obsession with technology. Now add this: They like to booze it up. Millennials — in general, people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s — last year consumed 159.6 million cases, or 42 percent, of all the wine sold in the U.S., surpassing baby boomers and Generation X, according to a recent survey by the Wine Market Council.

At the rate North Americans are turning on to New Zealand wine, it might be wise for TransCanada to consider an undersea pipeline from Wellington to Vancouver. Who needs Keystone XL when you’ve got a thirst for serious Sauvignon Blanc? In 2015 alone, exports to Canada were up 18 per cent in value, surpassing $92-million, according to New Zealand Winegrowers, the industry trade association.

Lead singer and lyricist for alternative metal and art-rock acts Tool, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle, and winemaker, America’s Maynard James Keenan (MJK) is heading to Pinot Noir NZ 2017. Perhaps best known as a Grammy award-winning vocalist, Keenan is the man behind Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards in Northern Arizona, where he now lives. Keenan says for him this visit to New Zealand, the first in a wine capacity, is as much about education as sharing his own journey.

VIGNERONS and grape growers have swung into harvest – with early reports of a bumper crop and outstanding vintage. The first batch of what will be more than 650 tonnes of grapes to be processed by Michelini Wines arrived at their Myrtleford plant last Thursday. Two truckloads, 16 tonnes each of chardonnay grapes, were delivered after being harvested in the dark in the early hours of the morning.

The February 2016 issue of the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine is out now – and is available online for all subscribers. In this issue, award-winning viticulturist Matthew Bailey puts the spotlight on Tumbarumba, calling it the ideal location to produce cool wine in Australia. We also feature an in depth look at the most common mistakes plaguing new grapegrowers and offer solutions to misdiagnosing vineyard problems and preventing future issues in the vines.

There’s a lot of extra energy in the industry at vintage time. The sound of gas guns firing in the distance; the eagerness of grapegrowers comparing Baumes; the sight of both old Bedfords and brand new B Doubles loaded with grapes; meeting purple-stained cellarhands at the local servo and finding out how many tonnes were crushed this week. Nathan Gogoll shares his excitement.