Vinexpo opened last night with a dinner for almost 500 people given by the St Emilion Jurade – the first time the ancient organisation has been in Asia.

The proportion of UK wine drinkers buying Pinot Grigio has increased by 30 percent over the past three years, according to new research.

Decanter

A Salmanazar of Tenuta dell ‘Ornellaia 2007 has raised $45,000 for the Whitney Museum of American Art in an auction held by Sotheby’s New York.

The Hungarian wine industry has been showcasing the very best of its white wines at the London Wine Fair at an especially themed Furmint Bar. Following success in Europe, the UK on-trade is now in the Hungarian’s sights and the Furmint Bar was a way of introducing it to the trade.

Potential Chinese wine consumers are currently a drop in the ocean but opportunities for growth of imported wines will exist in the next 10-15 years, Wine Intelligence announced at the London Wine Fair.

A group of former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels are boycotting the new Alliance Cru Bourgeois system, and forming their own group. The members of the group include Chateau Chasse Spleen, Chateau Les Ormes de Pez, Chateau de Pez, Chateau Potensac, Chateau Poujeaux and Chateau Siran.

As a further sign of its strong commitment to conserving the environment and its resources, Concha y Toro has taken an additional step in its sustainable development strategy.

Worldwide Champagne sales volumes rose 19.4 percent in the first quarter of the year on the same period in 2009, reflecting the end of destocking on the part of importers and distributors, according to trade body CIVC.

A French wine body representing around 6,000 small wineries is to set up a storage and distribution hub dedicated to supplying multi-channel outlets throughout France an export markets.

Decanter

Aubert de Villaine was officially crowned as Decanter’s 2010 Man of the Year at a star-studded dinner in London last night. De Villaine has been the director of Burgundy’s legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti since 1974, having started working there ten years previously. He is also the winemaker.

In The Past Decade, On-Premise Sales of Tawny Ports Have More Than Tripled. Tawny Port is a type of fortified wine produced only in Portugal’s Port region.