THE wine industry has gone to war over likely changes to alcohol taxes that could more than triple the price of a $10 cask of wine but cut the price of bottled wines over $27. High-end winemakers are at loggerheads with bulk wine producers over how to respond to the release next week of the Henry tax review that will recommend Australia move to a volumetric tax on wine.

Spring has finally well and truly hit and what better way to celebrate than with a glass of chilled Rosé from your wine library. For the last decade or two Rosé has been in the wilderness. There were very few wines available and most were sweeter than a slab of chocolate cake

With so much talk around these days of sustainability, organic produce and other ecologically friendly practices it really comes as no surprise to see producers all round the country taking a greener approach to making organic wine and preservative free wine. In fact, as the health of the environment has a clear effect on wine quality, many producers have for some time been making changes in their day to day running of vineyards and wineries to help preserve our environment. The best news for us is that the result is often better wines and here is your wine guide to them.

Check out any wine shops and there is a fair chance you’ll notice that things have changed a bit on the wine menu over the last five years. Firstly there are new wineries and grape varieties coming out of the woodwork all over this wide, brown land, giving us a greater range to choose from than ever before. The second is that alongside these new local wines is an expanding range of imports from countries such as New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain.

Every year wine judges across the country sip, slurp and, most importantly, spit their way through thousands of wines trying the find the best wine label on offer. Often for two or three days a panel of judges wade through hundreds of samples with the best wines awarded medals (gold, silver and bronze) and trophies for a select few.

Merlot has taken a bit of a hammering of late, in part due to average wine making. All it took was a couple of body blows from Hollywood and suddenly Merlot’s fortunes, especially in the United States, are going down faster than The Titanic. But something is really a bit wrong here because Merlot should be the kind of grape that everyone loves.

Riesling from wine list australia is one of those love or hate grape varieties. For some Riesling just brings back bad memories of cheap, sickly sweet plonk from years gone by. On the other hand, for it’s fans, Riesling is a beautifully pure and refreshing white wine full of juicy, youthful fruit and there is no greater white grape on the planet. So which is it?

The blankets and jumpers are coming out of the cupboards, a sure sign that Winter is on the way and it is time to crack the types of wine well suited to the cooler months. And so are the hearty red wines that suit the cooler seasons so well. So pack away your Rieslings, Rosés and Sauvignon Blancs, wines that look great chilled down to refresh on a warm Summer day, and get stuck into some big reds and weighty whites to suit the season. The blankets and jumpers are coming out of the cupboards, a sure sign that Winter is on the way. And so are the hearty red wines that suit the cooler seasons so well. So pack away your Rieslings, Rosés and Sauvignon Blancs, wines that look great chilled down to refresh on a warm Summer day, and get stuck into some big reds and weighty whites to suit the season.

Dinner party time can send almost everyone into a bit of a spin with the pressure to serve up good food and wine matching, especially to the wine connoisseur. Perhaps the in-laws or the boss and his wife are coming over and you want to impress them with a masterful display of entertaining prowess.

You’ve probably already heard the story; the great grape glut of 2010. Last year there was so much wine sloshing round the country that winemakers frantically sold their wares to anyone that would take them. From quality wine regions, such as the King Valley, some producers had no choice but to sell their wines off at bargain prices, much of which ended up in the humble cask. That’s right, some of those cardboard boxes that are generally viewed upon as being the bottom rung are now home to some fairly smart wines, the best of which offer great value for money.