• The production and distribution of the AWRI’s commemorative book Advances in wine science – commemorating 50 years of The Australian Wine Research Institute. The publication contains 16 review papers covering areas relevant to AWRI’s work. Copies have been made available for sale via the AWRI’s website (www.awri.com.au).
• The conclusion of a 12-month process to develop a strategic ten-year Business Plan for the AWRI Towards 2015. The Business Plan was adopted and presented to key stakeholders.
• As an initiative from the Business Plan, the development and completion of a Seven-Year Research, Development and Extension Plan 2006-2013. This research plan was presented to industry members in South Australia, and will be presented in other States.
• The negotiation and completion of the Wine Innovation Cluster Project Charter and Agreement to Lease. The development of the floor plans are continuing.
• As an initiative from the Business Plan, the Constitution of the AWRI was updated to include modern corporate legislation and amended to assist the transition of the AWRI’s Council to a skills-based corporate Board.
• Four patents have been granted for innovations in relation to the use of spectroscopy for compositional analysis in the wine industry.
• The use of Vis-NIR spectroscopic technology for the determination of red grape composition (total anthocyanins, total soluble solids and pH) that has been developed at AWRI within the CRCV has achieved a significant milestone with the establishment of continuing commercialisation agreements.
• An industry 'standard' laboratory method for the measurement of the concentration of total anthocyanins in red grapes has been published and disseminated by the CRCV and endorsed by the Winemaker's Federation of Australia.
• Provision of urgent problem-solving and analytical assistance to Australian wine producers, preventing the potentially widespread contamination and tainting of wine from a number of exogenous sources, and enabling the quarantining of affected wines. Sensitive and robust analytical methods were developed for the quantification of a number of compounds contributing to observed taints, some of which have apparently not previously been reported as the cause of taints in wine.
• Provision of urgent analytical assistance to the industry for the 6-CoC taint and ongoing analytical support in common wine taints.
• Low alcohol yeast – proof of concept. A selection process has been successfully devised and tested for selecting natural variants in a yeast population which produce less alcohol from a given amount of sugar than the parental strain.
• Development, adoption and application of new, industry applicable methods for tannin measurement. The method for grape and wine tannin analysis by precipitation with methyl cellulose is now fully optimised, validated and available to industry and researchers alike in 1 mL, 10 mL and high throughput formats. A standard operating protocol is available on request and the assay has been made commercially available through the AWRI Analytical Service.
• As a result of our ongoing work on the applications of rapid methods to sensory analysis, and in collaboration with DPI Queensland (Heather Smyth), a study entitled Potential of VIS-NIR spectroscopy to predict perceived ‘muddy’ taint in Australian farmed barramundi was honoured with the 'Lynsey Ann Welsh Award for Innovation in NIR Science'. Both The Australian Wine Research Institute (Rapid Analytical Methods team) and DPI were awarded as an example of collaboration on this innovative area of application of NIR spectroscopy.
• Completion of the genetic characteristion of 244 Dekkera bruxellensis isolates from 30 Australian wine regions, revealing eight distinct strains, the genetic diversity of which is greater than that previously reported for the entire Dekkera genus.
• The Analytical service performed more than 100,000 individual analyses for the Australian wine industry, covering a wide range of sample types and parameters. New services, like the MCP tannin assay, were added to the comprehensive list of analytical tools available to assist grape growers and winemakers, and routine analysis on wines became automated through implementation of NATA accredited FTIR and FIA methods.
• A new state of the art Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) in Analytical Service ensures efficient handling of customer samples, optimal data management and improved work flows. The system is customized to meet current as well as future needs of Analytical Service and its customers, including the highest standards in quality management and traceability. Customers will also see direct benefits from the LIMS through introduction of new services like electronic notification and reporting.
• During 2005/2006 the viticulturist responded to 432 enquiries. The majority (80%) were regarding the use of agrochemicals for pest and disease control, the persistence of residues through winemaking and their effects on fermentation, and issues related to maximum residue limits in overseas markets.
• Eleven thousand copies of the AWRI’s annual publication, Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture 2005/2006 were produced and the booklet was made available from the AWRI website. The booklet was distributed with the Australian New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, Technical Review and the tables were featured in Australian Viticulture. The 2005/2006 MRLs for Australia’s major export markets were updated for the AWRI website.
• The common spray diary format, developed in conjunction with industry, was accepted as an industry minimum standard by the Agrochemical Reference Group and by WFA for 2005/2006.
• The first large consumer preference mapping study carried out by the AWRI on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz red wines provided a fascinating, detailed insight into Sydney consumers’ likes and dislikes, demonstrating that wines with Brettanomyces flavour are generally disliked by consumers, and that the consumer population tested can be segregated into distinct preference groups.
• AWRI published 93 papers on AWRI activities in refereed and non-refereed publications (a 76% increase over the previous year).
• AWRI staff members gave 318 oral presentations (an 84% increase over the previous year), conducted 6 workshops and presented 21 posters.
• AWRI staff members presented 50 lectures and coordinated a six week subject to undergraduate students.
• AWRI staff members supervised/co-supervised 17 postgraduate students.
• AWRI staff members recorded and responded to 6,442 requests for information during the 2005/2006 year or, to put the statistics into perspective, 26 people contacted the AWRI seeking information on every working day of the year. This figure does not include the amount of problem samples investigated (2,630; a 52% increase over the previous year) or the number of Analytical Service analyses undertaken (>100,000; a >55% increase over the previous year) during 2005/2006.
• Staff of the John Fornachon Memorial Library responded to 4,011 requests for information during 2005/2006.
• Over 5,000 records were added to the web-accessible database of the Library (available only to Australian winemakers and grapegrowers) during the year, making a total of over 37,000 records available for searching, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Readers are strongly encouraged to read the 2006 Annual Report in detail rather than relying on the dot points above for information.