About the seminar

Sparkling wine has been the fastest growing wine category globally over the last two decades. So, how can you leverage your Pinot supply to make sparkling wine that works for your business? This is an opportunity to build on your reputation as producers of high-quality, cool climate Pinot Noir, expanding to include sparkling wines that are representative of the region and your brand.

Whether you’re looking at starting with the upcoming vintage, or planning for long-term, you’ll gain insights into what’s involved and how adding sparkling wine to your portfolio can provide you with greater flexibility. The program will explore different methods, including bottle fermented, Charmat and carbonation, as well as a tasting and discussion.

Steve Flamsteed from Wine Network Consulting and Dr David Jordan from Vine to Wine to Market, hosted by Central Otago Winegrowers Association, will look at benchmarking and business considerations, through to key viticulture factors and production logistics.

You will also have the opportunity to talk with sparkling wine experts from Wine Network Consulting in a follow-up half hour session, focusing on what would work best for your business and options on how to make it happen.

Join us at Mt Difficulty Winery in Bannockburn, to see if sparkling wine production could be an option for your business.

This seminar is free to Central Otago Winegrowers Association members. Register to get your tickets here.

If you are not a member but are interested in attending, or if you’re unable to attend but would like to discuss sparkling opportunities for your business, please contact our consultant Glenn Thompson.

About the presenters

Mark O’Callaghan – Managing Director & Senior Consultant, Wine Network Consulting

Mark was the recipient of the 2023 ASVO Winemaker of the Year award, in recognition of his professional excellence and contribution to the wine industry. A senior wine show judge, he is also a Panel Chair at the Royal National Wine Show and Chair of Judges for the Royal Hobart Wine Show.

Mark has worked for many years on sparkling wines for clients in Australia and internationally, including various English producers and some of the top wines in the country. With experience across a diverse range of regions, production methods, styles and price points, he has incredible insight into the whole-of-business perspective and is focused on optimising quality and processes – from finessing already excellent wines, to identifying and fixing problems.

Before joining Wine Network Consulting, Mark spent many years as a winemaker at Hardy’s and it was during this time that he was mentored by Ed Carr, who helped shape Mark’s expertise and in-depth knowledge of sparkling wine production.

Dr David Jordan – Viticulture Scientist, Vine to Wine to Market

Dr David Jordan (DJ) is a Viticulturist and the Principal Consultant at Vine to Wine to Market, based in New Zealand. Highly regarded for his knowledge and experience in wine and viticultural businesses, David consults to many wineries, vineyards and wine businesses in New Zealand and Australia.

He has been named a New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) Fellow in recognition of his services to the industry and its research over the past 40 years. David has been involved with the New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology for 34 years and was the President for much of this time. He is a current member of the New Zealand Winegrowers Research Governance Committee and part of the organising committee for three international Cool Climate Symposia. He is a dedicated industry advocate and has been involved with an extensive range of research projects and initiatives, including Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) and the development of the NZLighter Wines programme.

About Wine Network Consulting and Sparkling Winemaking 

Wine Network Consulting provides expert advice and specialised services to wine businesses and industry associations throughout Australia and internationally. This includes a comprehensive sparkling wine advisory service by a team whose collective expertise encompasses all aspects of this segment of the industry and who are leaders in this field.

We work with a diverse range of businesses, from small boutique producers to large commercial operations, working with various wine styles, methods, regions and pricing considerations. Sparkling wine in general, and traditional method in particular, requires a higher level of precision, planning and attention to detail than most other wine styles. Our sparkling winemakers provide advice and assistance to new and established sparkling wine producers, from vineyard development and planning through to production methods and operational requirements. This includes from harvest to base wines and secondary production, including wine styles; quality assessments; technical winemaking; logistics; lab processes; yeast cultures; and more.

You can read more about sparkling wine from a whole-of-business perspective in this article written by our Managing Director, Mark O’Callaghan, in 2019: Double, double, toil and trouble – with bubbles

Meet our team of expert sparkling winemakers

Glenn Thompson – Consultant

Glenn’s expertise in sparkling winemaking was developed during his 17 years at Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley, where he was also part of their global winemaking technical committee. He has extensive sparkling wine production experience, as well as an in-depth understanding of brand positioning from packaging, through to customer experience and target markets. Glenn works with a range of clients, specialising in sparkling and cool climate winemaking, from vineyard through to production and advice on quality and style.

Glenn is a regular wine show judge, a Panel Chair at the Rutherglen Wine Show and was a committee member for the Australian Sparkling Wine Show for 10 years. He is a Len Evans Tutorial Scholar and has also been a guest lecturer on sparkling wine at Charles Sturt University.

Adam Keath – Consultant

Adam is an expert in sparkling wine production and spent 20 years at Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley, where was the Operations Winemaker and part of their international innovations committee. This included leading a multimillion-dollar upgrade of Chandon’s tirage and disgorge facilities, transforming the 1980s set-up with state-of-the-art technology and robotics.

Adam consults on a range of service areas, specialising in winery operations; equipment optimisation; capital expenditure plans; process evaluation and continuous improvement; as well as training and management strategies. He has experience in a diverse range of international regions and is a guest lecturer on sparkling wine production at Charles Sturt University.