GEELONG bubbles connoisseur Cam O’Keefe is vying for the title of champagne king. Mr O’Keefe who owns Centra Hotel on Myers St, is one of five finalists in the prestigious biennial Vin de Champagne Awards and will be flown to Sydney for a gala event on September 26. For him, champagne is more than just a bubbly treat. “You find most people in the food and wine industry are most serious about one aspect and for me that’s champagne.”

ONE of my favourite Shiraz in the recently published Top 100 Wines winter edition was the Redman 2012 Shiraz. Its attraction, as my tasting note suggests, is because it’s an “old-school, traditionally grown and vinified style … a wine that doesn’t show off and lingers in your senses for some time.” Last week in Coonawarra, the Redmans – brothers Bruce and Mal at the helm – added far greater meaning to their sense of tradition by opening 50 consecutive vintages of that Shiraz, starting with the first one their dad Owen made under the Redman label in 1966.

One of New South Wales’ best known and most loved annual festivals returns when the Orange Wine Festival takes over the famous cool-climate region come October. Spread from 14th to 30th October, the stacked program, celebrating 20 years of Orange as a wine-growing region, will add an additional two signature festival events along with its record 90+ satellite events, making for one of the most comprehensive regional wine festivals to date.

The New Zealand wine industry must be ready to take full advantage of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, says a visiting wine trader from the UK. UK Wine and Spirits Trade Association chief executive Miles Beale has been in this country for the wine industry’s annual conference which was held in Blenheim. Mr Beale said the United Kingdom’s planned exit from the EU will open up opportunities for New Zealand as the UK starts doing its own trade deals. He suggests exporters move early and start discussions with the UK.

Visiting international wine communicator and judge Lim Hwee Peng believes the Swan Valley has an identity problem. In his opinion, with a little tweak, it has the potential to enter an exciting modern chapter in its long history as a wine-producing region. “The Swan Valley is frequently considered as a hot winemaking region, yet the wines I have assessed in the recent Swan Valley Wine Show were certainly not typical of those from a hot wine region,” Mr Hwee Peng said.

Woolworths Limited published its annual results on Thursday and although it was a disappointing result for the overall group, for the first time Endeavour Drinks Group was reported separately and it offered a promising result. Woolworths reported a full-year loss of $1.235bn, driven by $2.628bn of write-downs mostly linked to the underperforming Big W stores and its exit from the hardware sector.

It will be a dog’s day out at Pepper Tree Wines this Sunday for the annual Pooch Picnic. The picnic is a get-together for both human and dog alike, with the cost being a gold coin entry fee. All proceeds from the gate will go to Dog Rescue Newcastle – a charity group dedicated to rescuing, fostering and re-homing abandoned, neglected or abused companion animals.

The Veronicas and a newly reformed Killing Heidi will play alongside local singer/songwriter Thom Lion for this year’s Handpicked Festival at Lake Breeze Winery in Langhorne Creek. Australia’s twin electro-poppers The Veronicas and classic 90s rockers Killing Heidi have been announced as Handpicked Festival’s headline acts on Saturday, November 12.

The Clear Image Hunter Valley Wine Show, one of Australia’s leading regional wine shows, was held on August 19 and showcased a variety of high calibre winemakers and their products. Among these high quality winemakers was Dimbulla Estate, a young vineyard committed to pursuing the early European settlers experience and tradition of wine making.

French wine production is likely to be 10% lower this year than in 2015 because of frosty weather in spring and a heatwave now, officials say. A production of 42.9m hectolitres (hl) (944m gallons) is forecast for 2016, down from last year’s 47.8m hl. The harvest is expected to be down by about a third in the Champagne region.