Drought? What drought?

Being British, I like to talk about the weather. Today, I decided I ought to visit drought stricken areas more often. Whenever I go, it rains. On the last day of judging, I was rudely awoken by rain, which persisted all day.

Let me remind you this is Mildura, which can almost virtually guarantee blue skies and drizzle almost warrants getting the bunting out. Coming from grey London, I was less than impressed but this is great news for drought stricken growers. Tomorrow, 14 producers will be even happier when the show results are announced and they get shiny gold medals.

Going for Gold

So who's on the rostrum? Well some of the top wines of the show are an Arneis, Barbera, Marsanne and Tempranillo but I can't tell you any more or I'll ruin the prize giving - you'll be able to find the results on the Alternative Varieties Wine Show www.aavws.com.

The show is over - almost

After judging finished, more than 80 people turned up to an afternoon of seminars. While admitting climate change, water use, sustainability and uncertain economic times are incredibly important to the industry, it was decided there is also room for entertaining seminars, hence we kicked off with The Wackiest Wines in the World. Max Allen unearthed some obscure varieties to try like Malagousia. Strange but true was the cloudy lemon Chardonnay/Gewurztraminer/Moscato Giallo blend (co-fermented on skins and macerated for months before pressing, no fining) from Mornington Peninsula's T'Gallant.

Wine and Music

Back at the London International Wine Fair, Chilean producer Montes published new research with Herriott Watt University on music and wine matching. It's a fairly wacky thing to do and this is a fairly wacky show, so it seemed appropriate to include it in the seminars. If wine can change your mood then maybe it can change your perception of a wine. It's certainly something to consider. The idea that an Austrian Gruner Veltliner would be better consumed listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons rather than Iron Maiden isn't too bizarre. If this is something that floats your boat, check out the work of Vinovation's Clark Smith.

Michael Bubbly in concert

A group of four Aussie winemakers including young gun William Downey have formed a band, and searching for names sent out an email asking for suggestions. They received 250 responses. Here are a few: The Grapeful Dead, The Veuve, AOC/DOC, Yeasty Boys and Mercaptan and Tennille. I'm not sure what they eventually settled on but Bungs and Hoses was my favourite.

• Harpers Says...