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.

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.

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.

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.

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…