The grape harvest, which is under way for early varieties in the Auckland and Gisborne regions, is expected to be smaller than usual. The harvest is running about a fortnight behind last year due to wet and cool weather conditions during summer which slowed down the ripening process. New Zealand Winegrowers estimates the harvest will be 300,000 tonnes this year – a fall of about 30,000 tonnes on last year, reports Radio New Zealand News.

Advertising is most effective when it creates an image or story that consumers can connect with on an emotional level, proved by Gallo with its successful late 1980s campaign. So why aren’t more wine brands following suit, asks Jonathan CahillIn. In the world of marketing, the wine industry is an enigma. Much of marketing is concerned with emotions. One of the most useful definitions of a brand is that it is something consumers buy for its emotional benefits, whereas a product they buy for its functional one, reports The Drinks Business.

Champagne connoisseur Jayne Powell traces her love of champagne to drinking fizzy drinks as a kid. ”I’ve always loved bubbles,” she said. Her father, who ran a casino in Cardiff during Powell’s youth, was keen to foster a healthy relationship between his daughter and alcohol, so wine was offered at dinner from a young age. But she was uninterested until a visit to her French penpal led to a life-long passion for the bubbly she now spruiks the world over, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Italy will be attending this year’s LIWF, returning with one of the largest stands. Many of the consorzio from key regions have signed up for the show and will take their place alongside other key national generics, reports The Drinks Business. A statement released today announced: “Brintex has confirmed that Italy will have a strong presence at this years’ show. Sicily, Friuli, UVIVE (Veneto), Lombardia and ICE – the national Italian pavilion – are all on board for 2012, as well as major producers such as Zonin and Fratelli Martini.

Tesco’s fine wine revamp has paid off – the retailer has seen sales jump 50% in the past year. The fine wine range was overhauled by Laura Jewell MW after identifying that customers were increasingly trading up on wine. The facelift was carried out in June 2011, both in store and online. Although fine wine sales have increased by 50% in the past 12 months, Tesco was unable to provide supporting figures, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

Given that I’d been long-seduced by its Sauvignon Semillons, was crazy about its Cabernet blends, and had been excited by what I’d been hearing about its culinary scene, it was amazingly only last year that I finally made it over to Margaret River. And when I finally arrived in Western Australia there were surprises in store, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.

When John Geber stumbled upon one of Australia’s oldest wineries on a morning bike ride in 1998, he saw a giant Bavarian-style chateau in shambles. All the windows were broken, there were gaping holes in the roof and pigeon droppings were everywhere. He found out the property, in the Barossa Valley in southeastern Australia, was for sale. Realizing it was a national treasure laid to waste, he bought Chateau Tanunda the very next day. He spent the next decade pumping millions of dollars into restoring the long, rectangular brick building and reviving its 220-acre vineyard, home to more than 100-year-old Shiraz and Grenache vines, reports Market Watch.

Legacy Wines, the recently launched impulse, export and on-trade division of Manchester-based Kingsland Wines & Spirits has added New Zealand brand Shorn to its portfolio. The addition follows the launch the South African range, The Gathering, which launched in January. Legacy’s contemporary New Zealand brand ‘Shorn’ currently offers a Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (rrp £7.99) from the Marlborough region, and plans to expand the range throughout the year, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

Legacy Wines, the recently launched impulse, export and on-trade division of Manchester-based Kingsland Wines & Spirits has added New Zealand brand Shorn to its portfolio. The addition follows the launch the South African range, The Gathering, which launched in January. Legacy’s contemporary New Zealand brand ‘Shorn’ currently offers a Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (rrp £7.99) from the Marlborough region, and plans to expand the range throughout the year, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.

As I write in the opening days of autumn, a potentially great Canberra vintage hangs in the balance – threatened by a massive band of rain moving across south-eastern Australia. If it hangs around too long, mildew and Botrytis could threaten the crop; if too much rain falls, berries might split, increasing disease risks and reducing yields. Should mild, clear weather follow the big wet, however, the district may yet produce some of its best wines ever, several producers say. By the time you read this, we’ll have some idea of the outcome, writes Chris Shanahan in the Sydney Morning Herald.