Many of you will have experienced this scenario: you visit a winery on holiday and among the array of usual suspects available to taste and buy, you find a wine that you have never seen or tasted before; possibly one you have never even heard of. You taste the range with the owner or winemaker, but it’s clear they are hankering for you to try the wine that makes them stand out: they have an absolute passion for a little-known variety and that enthusiasm rubs off.

Canberra vignerons rarely see two consecutive high-quantity, high-quality vintages as they have in 2015 and 2016. But just how good 2016 quality is depends on who you ask. Ken Helm, of Helms Wine, Murrumbateman, writes: “The 2016 vintage was the earliest and hottest season on record, but looks like equalling the great 2015, and 2013 vintages in production of quality wines; it shows the depth of the quality from Canberra can be realised across a range of climate conditions.”

The first of a series of articles by Australian wine industry commentator Tony Keys on Australia’s biggest wine export market by value, the United States, and the exciting growth opportunities emerging within it headlines the latest issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal. Beginning in the just-released March-April issue of the Journal, Tony will provide an indepth analysis of the present and future of Australian wine in the US market.

Australian wine sales are showing “tantalising signs” of recovery in the US market, but wineries re-entering or approaching the market for the first time need a new approach to ensure the upturn will continue, according to wine industry commentator Tony Keys. Writing in the first of a series of articles on the US market published in the just-released March-April issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal, Keys says Americans are open to Australian wines but are mistrustful of the past.

More than a century of continually supplying fruit to one of the Riverina’s most prominent winemaking companies is looking shaky for a grapegrowing family in the southern New South Wales region. The Delves family, located at Hanwood near the city of Griffith, have operated a farm near McWilliams for 100 years. “My great grandfather in 1913 first settled here and his neighbour was JJ McWilliam from the McWilliams wine family,” Grant Delves explained.

Wine industry representatives in Western Australia’s grape-growing regions say unexpected periods of rain late in the season caused “mild panic” in the lead-up to this year’s harvest. Uncertainty surrounding the introduction of the proposed backpacker tax also played on the minds of producers in the state’s Great Southern who are already struggling to bolster a limited workforce.

Drinks giant Diageo has confirmed its chairman is stepping down, sparking speculation of an imminent shake-up of the company’s board. The £48 billion company confirmed over the weekend that it is seeking a successor to Dr Franz Humer, the Swiss-Austrian businessman who moved into the chairman’s suite in 2010. “As a matter of good governance process, the board has clearly started to think about succession and a process is under way.”

The first kiwi wine app that allows the user to take a self-guided vineyard tour – and take in Yealands’ famous White Road hot-spots. One of the only vineyards to actually let visitors drive through its vineyard, wine innovators, Yealands Wine Group have released a mobile application that allows visitors to its Seaview Vineyard in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough the unique opportunity of taking their own self-guided vineyard tour.

A new-look Central Otago wine map showcasing 58 wineries will make it easier for people to plan their winery experiences. After a year in the planning the Central Otago Winegrowers’ Association has launched their new-look Central Otago Wine Map. James Dicey, President of the Central Otago Winegrowers’ Association and brain child behind the new wine map said based on feedback, a number of changes were made, including the move from a fold out map to booklet that featured each of Central Otago’s wine regions.

German retailer Aldi faces significant opposition as it seeks a liquor licence for its fifth WA store, where it plans to sell cut-price alcohol, including $4 bottles of wine and $1 cans of beer. Aldi’s application to the Liquor Licensing Commission for a 30sqm display area in its planned Wattle Grove store boasts that it is the best value liquor retailer in Australia.