In brief

■ No early sale of Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s Provence wine estate Château Miraval is expected, despite the couple’s marital split. Rumours of its sale circulated before Jolie filed for divorce, but their winemaking partner, Marc Perrin, of the Perrin family of Château Beaucastel, denied reports.

■ China has sent grape vines into orbit, launching Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot plants on board Tiangong-2, the country’s new ‘space palace’ laboratory. Scientists hope that growing the vines in space will trigger mutations to make them more resistant to the harsh climate in some of China’s emerging vineyard regions.

■ UK officials are planning to ask for a share of the European Union’s 42,000-bottle wine cellar as part of Brexit talks, according to reports. With the UK set to begin the process of leaving the EU in March 2017, the country’s civil servants are keen to ensure it gets its share of European assets – including the EU’s wine cellar and its art collection.

■ Records tumbled at the 32nd Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Auction of South African wines, which raised more than ZAR13.8m, almost ZAR2m above the previous high. The auction, held at Spier in Stellenbosch, also broke records for the highest prices fetched by a red wine, white wine, South African Port and Méthode Cap Classique fizz.

■ Chianti Classico’s vineyards could be UNESCO World Heritage listed, following Barolo, Champagne, Burgundy and St-Emilion, if a bid by the area’s producer council, is successful in proving the landscape is of ‘outstanding universal value’. The bid was announced at Chianti’s 300th anniversary celebrations.