With less than three weeks to go until the deadline of 10th April, entries are pouring in for the 2015 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC). With over 650 entries in its first year, including some of the most iconic fizz in the world, the CSWWC is already being heralded the ‘Oscars’ of all things bubbly. Producers from over 15 different countries have registered their wines for this year’s competition, representing both traditional and New World sparkling wine regions across the globe.

Last year, 68% of Australian adults drank alcohol in any given four-week period, with the average volume consumed over this time being 23.6 glasses per person. The most popular place for partaking was at home and, contrary to popular stereotypes, Australians aged under 30 were slightly less likely to drink than those aged 30 and older. The latest findings from Roy Morgan Research show that 66% of Aussies aged between 18 and 29 drink alcohol in any given weeks, compared with 69% of those aged 30 and older.

Energy company AGL has rejected a call by the Hunter Valley’s wine, tourism and thoroughbred industries for a 10-kilometre buffer, arguing decisions should be made based on impacts and science. AGL has been challenged by the wine and tourism industries for a number of years over its coal seam gas (CSG) exploration in the Broke Fordwich wine region, south of Singleton. The company’s exploration licences cover areas in the vicinity of the viticulture critical industry cluster.

A series of Australian themed wine events will be held in ten of London’s top restaurants next month, as part of Wine Australia’s new on-trade campaign. The ‘Wonderful Wines of Aus’ campaign, which is being run tandem with D&D London, is on throughout April, and aims to highlight some of the premium wines available from Down Under. Three of London’s D&D wine shops will showcase Australian wine via in-store tastings and special offers on Aussie wine purchases.

Murray Valley winegrowers have welcomed the Senate’s inquiry into the wine industry, stating the issues affecting the industry a decade ago are still present. The Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee is expected to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry that tackles issues of grower profitability, the impact on industry performance of the wine equalisation tax rebate scheme, the power and influence of wine retailers, and the effectiveness of market information and wine grape pricing.

New grape varieties planted on Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT)’s Marlborough campus vineyard are looking promising, with some ready for their first vintage this year. In 2012, NMIT viticulture and wine staff and students began replacing rows of Pinot Noir on the half hectare on-campus vineyard with several new and classic varieties. The new plants were all donated by Riversun Nursery in Gisborne. Further plantings were completed in 2013 and 2014 and the vineyard also had three rows of state of the art steel trellising posts donated from Eco Trellis Systems.

Charlotte Read has been involved in the wine industry for most of her life. Her father was one of Hawke’s Bay’s first grape growers in the 1970s, during the infancy of the New Zealand wine industry. Now she is trying to convert Chinese palates to the award-wining wines of New Zealand winery Villa Maria. Read became Villa Maria’s first dedicated Chinese-based Asia market manager in 2010. She has spent significant time in both Shanghai and Beijing managing two China-based staff. Previously she was based in London as Villa Maria’s UK/European market manager.

Scientists have moved a step closer to being able to make full-flavoured wines with lower alcohol levels after pioneering work on yeast strains in Australia. Experiments by Dr Cristian Varela at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) led to a 1.8% ethanol reduction in both Shiraz and Chardonnay ferments, thanks to working with a combination of three separate yeast strains. The research, funded by the Australian Grape & Wine Authority (AGWA), comes as many New World producers are looking to reduce alcohol levels.

Memo to wine buffs: drinking rots your teeth. Taking OH&S to a new level for wine professionals, University of Adelaide researchers found the acid in wine makes teeth vulnerable to erosion within minutes, after researchers in the School of Dentistry simulated the kind of short, multiple exposures to wine acid normally experienced by wine tasters. The results, published in the Australian Dental Journal, show that just 10 one-minute episodes of wine tasting are enough to damage tooth enamel.

The growing demand for Australian organic produce in China has caused a number of regulatory headaches for Australian producers wanting to supply the region. However, a recent agreement between the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) and a Chinese organic certifier will significantly improve the process for exporting organic food and help Australian food producers to meet the growing demand for these premium products.