The big Vinodiversity event for the year has been and gone. The Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show was held in Mildura over the 4-6 November. Wine from around Australia was judged in 23 classes. The big winner was Pizzini who won the trophy for Best Wine of the Show with their 1998 Nebbiolo. Best white was won by T'Gallant with the 2004 Tribute Pinot gris.

I will be writing more stories about some of the highlights of the show on the Vinodiversity Blog at http://vinodiversity.blogspot.com The Blog is the best place to keep up with the hottest news between newsletters.

By accident and design varietal wines tend to get concentrated into specific regions. Growers and makers of varietal wines are by definition slightly off centre so this is modified by whims and fancies. However all of Australia's wine region are experiencing a change in their varietal makeup. The Vinodiversity site is gradually building a profile of all of the major, and many of the minor regions, from the viewpoint of alternative varietals. This far there are alternative profiles of the Alpine Valleys, Barossa, Granite Belt, King Valley, Langhorne Creek, Margaret River and Yarra Valley. There are more to come. Keep watching https://www.vinodiversity.com/wine-regions.html and further updates will be notified in this Newsletter.

At the back of the Vinodiversity Site is a database which is intended to keep tabs on the alternative varietal scene in Australia. There are about 830 producers, and they are using about 100 different varieties (apart from the usual chardonnay and shiraz etc.) This information will form the core of the further elaboration of the Site as it unfolds over the next few months.