Margrit Mondavi was named Citizen of the Year at the Napa Chamber of Commerce's Annual Dinner held on January 21, 2011 at The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa. This festive annual gala includes dinner, a silent auction and appointments of the incoming Chairman of the Board, Ryan Gregory, the Executive Officers and the Board of Directors. Left: Margrit Mondavi

Announcing 3rd Annual GWC International Student Grant - The International student grant aims at supporting students and researchers working on topics of interest for the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. 2 grants of 4,500 euros each are available this year again. Deadline for applying: February 8, 2011

Wine Culture and Tourism Centre in Bordeaux - Out of the 113 proposals that were received from Bordeaux, as well as New York, Tokyo, and other European cities, five Architect and Scenographic teams have been shortlised to work on the 46 million euros programme for the Wine Culture and Tourism Centre in Bordeaux. The final selection will be announced in June!

They're wealthy, well-traveled, cosmopolitan -- and thirsty. India's growing upper class wants high-end liquors and fine wines that define "the good life" they've seen on European vacations and in Hollywood films. The old habit of slinging a measure of cheap local rum into a cup of cola simply won't do. This story originally appeared in the Associated Press, Forbes and Businessweek and quotes Sommelier India Publisher, Reva K Singh.

Bangalore Wine Club members got a treat all the way from Australia, this December. A special team of winemakers and chef representing the south west, specifically Australia's highly-acclaimed winemaking region of Margaret River, were in town for a festival of food and wine, reports Ruma Singh.

For a wine fair in only its third year, the recently-concluded Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (4th - 6th November) was very well organised: nearly 700 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions, about 14,000 trade visitors (up 19% from 2009), with some 1,300 wines entered for the Cathay Pacific HKIW&S Competition reports Sommelier India correspondent, Alok Chandra.

India has granted Geographic Indication Status (GI) to the Napa Valley Appellation thereby protecting the name "Napa Valley" from mis-descriptive labeling while protecting consumers with truth in wine labeling in that country, according to a recent announcement by the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV).
Pictured Bruce Cakebread NVV Board President

New Zealand may be a long way off from India but its excellent wines have already made inroads in the Indian wine market. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has long been a favourite with Indian wine lovers and the current trend is a definite tilt towards the excellent Kiwi reds we are seeing here, writes Reva K. Singh Pictured: Christchurch Square

It's a good time to be in the auction business these days. Retail sales are flat but the auction business is strong, says Zachys Auction Director, Jeff Zacharia. Christie's Hong Kong wine sale "Modern Classics:A Selection from the SK Networks Collection" notched up an incredible HK$ 48.13 million (US$ 6.2 million) with 100% sell-through rate and several auction records broken."This is the highest sale total for Christie's Wine Sales in Hong Kong, wrote Olivia Lo

Here's good news that all Sommelier India subscribers and readers will be pleased to hear. Well-known wine writer and SI columnist, Jancis Robinson (whose bi-monthly column is avidly consumed by many of you in the pages of Sommelier India) has won a richly deserved honour.

Champagne sales around the world are picking up and production is expected to be higher this year after the slump following the economic downturn of 2008. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) has limited the harvest to 10,500 kilogrammes per hectare. In 2009 the limit was 9,700kg/ha. According to the CIVC, the first half of 2010 saw an increase in global exports of nearly 40% particularly in exports to the New World.

Daniel Lorson, Director of Communication, CIVC, said, "If Champagne is the barometer of the economy, then we can say the global economy is recovering, because the shipments of Champagne have been doing very well since the last quarter of 2009."

Friday, September 24, 2010 has been designated International Grenache Day (IGD). For the first time this versatile varietal which is also the world's most widely planted red grape will be celebrated around the world by restaurants and wine merchants highlighting its all-round virtues, reports Reva K. Singh

Three auctions of German fine wines and rarities are taking place on 24-26 September 2010 as part of the Centenary Celebrations of Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter or VDP, the oldest national winegrower's association in the world. In all these years, their tradition of wine auctions has retained its function as a benchmark of the market for top German wines.

Scheduled for the first week in November, Wine Discovery New Zealand 2010 - a celebration of New Zealand's premium wines - alongside the International Conference of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network - promises to be a great event. Christchurch South Island is a new member of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. Above: The Waipara Valley is the fastest growing wine region in New Zealand with around 80 vineyards

Sydney one weekend, Neustadt, Germany the next. And it seems the rain has followed me from Sydney, via Delhi to Neustadt. It has not, however, put a dampener on the tenth anniversary of MundusVini, among the largest wine competitions in the world, writes Sommelier India correspondent, Harshal Shah.