Improving Chile's image overseas will be top of the agenda for Aurelio Montes Sr following his appointment as international vice-president of Wines of Chile.

Prestigious Chilean producer Montes has released its first "super icon" wine onto the market.

The aging potential of Chilean wine won high profile recognition at a blind tasting event hosted by Viña Errázuriz in South Korea earlier this month.

Producer Dominio del Plata is launching an oak-matured Torrontés and "fruit forward" red blend, aiming to highlight the breadth of Argentina's wine repertoire.

A first look at vintage quality in Argentina and Chile

Carmenère and Cab Sauvignon may steal the headlines, but Chile's wealth of terroirs is raising the profile of other styles, from old bush vine Carignan to cool climate whites.

A shortage of basic supplies in Venezuela is threatening the country's stocks of Communion wine.

When Morgana Miolo started doing business in China two years ago, the Brazilian was struck by the cultural differences of operating in the world's second-largest economy.

In Mendoza, though, it has thrived, and there are now more than 120,000 acres planted to the variety in that region alone

You've probably heard the old joke that the best way to make $10 million in the wine industry is to start with $20 million. But these days in Argentina, nothing could be further from the truth.

Bibendum has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Brazilian wine producer Miolo.

A brewery in Bolivia has developed an innovative solution to the problem of altitude sickness - coca beer, which is brewed using the same leaves from which cocaine is derived.

Chilean winery Casa Silva has produceded its first, super premium, sparkling wine, Fevor, using the traditional method.

In 2012, wine exports increased in volume by 17 percent to 365 million liters and in value by 10.15 percent, reaching US$920.4 million.

What is 3.54 inches in diameter at the base, with a stem 3.94 inches in length, and a bowl that measures 5.32 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide at its fullest point? Give up? It is the new Riedel glass designed and developed specifically for the Malbec wines in cooperation with the Graffigna wines of Argentina, owned by Pernod Ricard USA.

Soaring grape prices and an overvalued peso have raised concerns about the ability of Argentina to compete at the lower end of the bottled wine market.

New world mixed with traditional flair is practised by most wineries that range in size from small enterprises to huge ones with four-million-litre holding tanks. The wineries and vineyards are for the most part organic and the grape varieties are a mixture of Portuguese (touriga nacional, touriga franca, tannat) and French (cabernet, merlot, pinot noir, alicante bouschet) grape varieties.

New world mixed with traditional flair is practised by most wineries that range in size from small enterprises to huge ones with four-million-litre holding tanks. The wineries and vineyards are for the most part organic and the grape varieties are a mixture of Portuguese (touriga nacional, touriga franca, tannat) and French (cabernet, merlot, pinot noir, alicante bouschet) grape varieties.

The four estates are Tahbilk in Victoria, Australia; Valli in Central Otago, New Zealand; TintoNegro in Mendoza, Argentina; and Château Maris in the Languedoc, France. Wines from all four were previewed at the Armit Spring Tasting last week.

Wines of Argentina claims this week's sell out consumer event, Cambalache, which is bringing together Argentinian wine, food, dance, music and culture over two nights in Dalston, east London, could show the way for how consumer events are held in the future.