The Shout

With two years of construction work now complete, the new Dalmunach Speyside malt whisky distillery in Carron is expected to begin production in late October.

Nine New Zealand wines won gold medals at the prestigious UK-based International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC).

A committee of British politicians has issued a report calling for compulsory health warnings and compulsory nutritional information on all alcoholic drinks.

One American winemaker received a huge boost when a single tweet about their wine went mad on social media. The wine in question is made by Doubleback in Washington State and has been included in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list.

The results of the New World Wine Awards have been released with New Zealand wines scooping the three top awards and over 60% of the medals (including nearly three-quarters of all the Gold medals).

In lawsuits which could have implications around the world, several plaintiffs claim brewery giant Anheuser-Busch is misleading customers by not clearly informing them that Kirin and Beck’s beers sold in America are now brewed there, not in Japan or Germany.

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has published figures which show that exports of Scotch in the first half of the 2014 year were £1.77 billion (NZ$3.6 billion), down 11% from £1.99 billion (NZ$4.05 billion) in the same period of 2013.

Re-elected Prime Minister John Key may have enjoyed a glass or two after his historic win on 20 September but when he opened the recent NZ Winegrowers’ Romeo Bragato conference in Blenheim it had been five weeks since his last drink.

The 51st New Zealand Parliament is yet to be sworn in but, barring some electoral miracles, two wine industry figures will shortly be confirmed as new Members of Parliament.

Australian Clare Valley winery Taylors Wines is celebrating after collecting 14 medals, including seven Gold Medals, at the New Zealand International Wine Show.

A political stoush has erupted between two small parties both hoping to be elected to Parliament on 20 September 2014. The Act party, which realistically needs to win the seat of Epsom to be represented, has attacked the rival Conservative Party which is hoping to break the 5% threshold as it is unlikely to win an electorate.