“I just got back from (pick a country) where we had this fabulous wine. I asked for it at my favorite wine shop, but they said it wasn’t available here. What’s up with that?” We hear ya! The problem is, the U.S. is the largest wine market in the world, but also the most difficult for brands to break into. That’s because after Prohibition, the Federal Government put in place a structure to control and regulate wines and spirits to make sure guys like Al Capone stay out of the business.

After months of pruning, thinning, frost-fighting and growing – plump, sugary, juicy bunches of grapes have started to be picked across Central Otago vineyards. Burn Cottage Vineyard, an organic and biodynamic vineyard in the Cromwell basin, is one of the first vineyards to start harvesting its pinot noir grapes for 2016. Vineyard manager Shane Livingstone said a hot, dry summer had meant the harvest had started slightly earlier this season.

For Clearview co-owner and winemaker Tim Turvey it matters little that pressing a small quantity of very special grapes can take half a day when there is a way of getting it done that takes barely an hour. It could be dealt with using a hydraulic press in 50 or so minutes, while the “half a day” method uses a traditional basket press, which is literally hands-on.

TOMORROW’s official opening of Vineyard Road Cellar Door in Langhorne Creek is the culmination of 20 years’ work. But for FABAL chief executive Chris Day, it is only the beginning of an exciting new era for the diversified SA-based company. Next month will see the launch of a Shanghai office, timed to coincide with the State Government’s trade mission, which Mr Day and other company executives will partake in, and the Federal Government’s Australia Week in China.

With the 2016 vintage season in full swing, it is a great time to be involved in the Tasmanian wine industry, according to industry experts. The Certificate II in Wine Industry Operations, offered at TasTafe, has become “extremely popular over the years,” teacher Mark Brewer said. Students who attend the Alanvale Campus are privileged to an onsite vineyard.

Treasury Wine Estates traces its roots back to the establishment of Penfolds in Adelaide, South Australia, in the mid-1840s, and the founding of Beringer Vineyards in the Napa Valley in 1876. Penfolds was eventually acquired by Southcorp, and over time, Beringer acquired other wineries, too, including St. Clement, Stags’ Leap Winery and Etude in Napa Valley and Chateau St. Jean and Chateau Souverain in Sonoma County and Meridian in Paso Robles.

Climate change has created gold-medal growing conditions for some of the world’s most renowned wine regions, producing late-season hot spells that help grapes ripen. But the benefits could be short-lived, with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne no longer able to produce the wines that made them famous. Scientists from NASA and Harvard University have found that global warming has changed the recipe for producing top wine vintages.

The New Zealand horticultural industry is crying foul over freight subsidies for Tasmanian exporters, complaining it allows them to undercut New Zealand in overseas markets. Tasmanian wine is just one of the products propped up by the freight subsidy, along with onions and cherries. Australia has defended the subsidies, known as the Freight Equalisation Scheme, as being compliant with the World Trade Organisation rules, but the New Zealand horticulture industry disagrees.

A one-day conference on April 13 at UC Davis will examine the evolving wine import market in China. “Insights into the Changing Wine Market in China,” hosted by the Confucius Institute and Global Affairs, features a panel of international speakers exploring ways to promote California wines in the unique Chinese market and share insider tips they have learned along the way. The speakers, from California, France, China and Australia, all have research data as well as direct experience in the Chinese wine market.

A Nelson winery has won a gold medal and best in show at one of Europe’s leading wine competitions, the Mundus Vini Grand International Wine Awards. Blackenbrook Vineyard was one of four New Zealand wineries to be awarded a gold and also collected the Best in Show for New Zealand Red Wine for their 2014 Family Reserve pinot noir. Blackenbrook Vineyard co-owner Ursula Schwarzenbach said winning the award was a great accomplishment for the winery.