Australian wine exports to China are expected to reach a value of $200 million this year, as more Chinese drinkers adopt Western-style drinking habits. China’s biggest brewery, Tsingtao, is putting its substantial weight behind the Australian wine industry by deciding to exclusively import Australian wine throughout its vast distribution network across China.

For many people, their relationship with wine will always be short term. Others will have the patience, the space, or perhaps just the curiosity, to explore cellaring wine, and the magic that can happen as wine ages in the bottle.

International wine sales at the three main auction houses look set to reach a record $200 million in 2010 as Asia’s thirst for fine French vintages pushes up prices.

The 10 finalists for the prestigious 10th annual Young Winemaker of the Year Awards have been announced by The Wine Society. The awards are open to all Australian and New Zealand winemakers under 30 who are primarily responsible for the creation of the wine produced at their winery.

So, you’ve read all the articles on wine cellars, and have come to the conclusion that you need to buy a wine fridge. Now what? There are a lot of questions to consider when buying a stand-alone wine cellar, and it’s a good idea to run through them all before you start shopping around.

If you like drinking wine half as much as you enjoy cricket, Australia is a brilliant place to follow a cricket tour. Australia's winemakers are second to none when it comes to welcoming visitors into their vineyards and cellars.

Back in 1987, when Australia last lost the Ashes on its own soil and the rest of us were just beginning to discover the delights of Aussie chardonnay and shiraz, a group of Englishmen already knew all about them. England's cricket and rugby teams had regularly toured Australia and happily accepted invitations to visit vineyards and enjoy their bottles. Every Test in Adelaide, for example, was preceded by a trip to Geoff Merrill's nearby winery in the McLaren Vale.

For years wine drinkers in Australia (and in a lot of other countries) have been in love with Chardonnay, myself included. In fact, the Australian wine industry practically invented the modern Chardy – big, oaky, bold, consistent – and it sort of went without saying that the Australians themselves would be the biggest fans of it.

AT $700 a bottle this Barossa Valley shiraz is the most expensive new wine in Australia. Working out at $87.50 a glass, Torbreck's 2005 The Laird is even more expensive than the current release Penfolds Grange, which sells for $600 a bottle. Adding to its luxury status, it's not available at bottleshops, only at Torbreck's Nuriootpa cellar door.

VICTORIAN winemakers are joining an Aussie push for a slice of an emerging Chinese palate for wine. While exports to China account for only $145 million of Australia's $2.1 billion international wine sales, trade chiefs have identified an untapped market.

Australia's winemakers are plotting an assault on New Zealand's lucrative UK export market with a new wine style they describe as a "sauvignon blanc killer".

While Pinot Noir is traditionally viewed as a more expensive varietal, the medal tally for New Zealand Pinot Noir at this year's New World Wine Awards shows that affordable home grown Pinot is on the rise.

LIQUOR giant Foster's is embracing internet wine sales as the domestic wine sector continues to struggle with excess supply. The company is one of more than 30 premium producers to sign up with Cracka Wines, an online wine auctioneer that is hoping to fill the gap in the market between the discount-focused Grays Online and the Woolworths-owned collectable vintage wine purveyor Langton's.

Premier Australian wine bodies have hailed a ‘new era of cooperation between Australia and the European Union (EU)’ as a new deal comes into effect this month (September).

A Western Australian Chardonnay is the world’s best, according to judges at the world’s biggest and most prestigious wine show, The Decanter World Wine Awards 2010. London’s Royal Opera House was the venue for Wednesday night’s unveiling of the 28 ultimate world-beating wines from the 10,983 entries in the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards.

THE French beverages giant Pernod Ricard has reported a 5 per cent drop in sales for its Australian wine Jacob's Creek and said the gradual economic recovery in the US and austerity measures in Europe had created a mixed trading environment.

Johannes Pauw and his father Rik arrive at the Penfolds re-corking clinic at Sydney's Intercontinental Hotel filled with nerves and anticipation. Would they be walking out with the official nod to keep cellaring the dozen bottles of 1981 Grange Rik bought for his son? Or would they be lumped with the dreaded white dot indicating the bottles were on the turn. This would give them the green light to drink them but it isn't exactly how Johannes had anticipated consuming this prized gift from his dad.

Chinese wine is being repackaged as Australian Winemakers have called for diplomatic action after it emerged Chinese counterfeiters are passing off fake Australian wine as the real deal.

Wine exports are up for 2010, but grape harvests have fallen as growers trim yields because of oversupply last year. Exporters are getting much less for each litre of wine, according to New Zealand Winegrowers' annual report released yesterday. It shows a 5 per cent increase in exports pushed revenues to a record $1.04 billion for the year ending June 30. But at the same time, the grape harvest fell 7 per cent to 266,000 tonnes.

For growers of wine grapes in north west Victoria things can only get better, according to the head of the Murray Valley Winegrowers, Mark McKenzie. A report released by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) shows the estimated value of the total grape crush for the Murray Darling and Swan Hill regions dropped by 31 per cent between 2009 and 2010.

It wasn't the shirazes or merlots that stood out at the Boutique Wine Awards but the rarer types of grape. In Australia's vineyards, 72 per cent of vines grow shiraz, cabernet, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc grapes. That leaves 28 per cent for the other 100 or so varieties we grow.