New investment agreement signed

In early September, Wine Australia and the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) entered into an agreement covering research, development and extension (RDE) activities at the AWRI from 2017–25. This long-term partnership reflects a high level of strategic alignment between the two organisations. It provides the AWRI with greater certainty and flexibility and will allow it to plan and deliver RDE more efficiently for the benefit of levy payers and the broader community.

Key grape and wine sector priorities that will be addressed under this agreement include:

• improvements in wine production efficiency
• improved tools for the creation of target wine styles and strategies to mitigate faults
• increased understanding of wine flavour and texture how they are influenced by viticultural and winemaking inputs
• enhanced yeast and bacterial germplasm options
• improved fermentation processes
• greater understanding of terroir in an Australian context
• continued support for market access for Australian wine
• extension activities that support producers and facilitate awareness and adoption of research outcomes.

For more information, please contact Ella Robinson on 08 8313 6600 or ella.robinson@awri.com.au.

A faster heat test

A selection of different white wine varieties were fined at the bentonite dose rates predicted by a 24-hour version of the heat test and the shorter 5-hour method (heating wine for 2 hours at 80°C in a water bath and cooling for 3 hours at 20°C) and stored at both 17°C and 28°C for 12 months. All wines were clear and bright when stored at 17°C. Most wines remained clear and bright after fining at the rate predicted by the heat test after storage at 28°C. These trials further suggested that a shorter heat test is suitable for predicting wine haze. Wineries interested in trialling the new shorter heat test are advised to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the results with their current heat test method.

New processing aids will soon be available to Australian winemakers – but silver chloride is not one of them!

In July and August, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) approved applications to add several new processing aids to the list permitted to be used in winemaking. It is important to recognise, however, that although six items have been added only five will be available to Australian producers. The materials to be added to schedule S18 of the Food Standards Code (the Code) are:

• Pectins
• Carageenans
• Ammonium bisulfite
• Chitin-glucan
• Polyvinylimidazole-polyvinylpyrrolidone co-polymers (PVI/PVP)
• Silver chloride

Critically, however, the last of these, silver chloride, will not be added to Standard 4.5.1 which applies specifically to Australian wine production. So, while all six will be available to foreign wine producers selling their product in Australia, only the first five will be available to Australian winemakers.

This is not an error or an oversight. After serious consideration, the Australian wine sector did not request permission for the use of silver chloride in Australian wine production. Wine Australia is aware of reports that certain suppliers are offering samples of silver chloride to Australian wine producers. Any suggestion that it will soon be legal to use silver chloride in Australian wine is based on a misunderstanding of the impending changes to the Code. It is likely that the changes will come into force by the end of this year. So, to be clear, during the 2018 harvest period Australian winemakers will be able to use five processing aids not previously available. Silver chloride is not one of them.

Rubber transfer hoses

Following a recent trial of a range of commonly used rubber hoses and other rubber products, the AWRI recommends that a proactive risk management approach is taken with rubber products used in winemaking and that contact times between wine and rubber are minimised as much as possible. Rubber products can also be tested for their potential to impart taints into the wine during processing, especially during extended contact periods. This service is available through AWRI Commercial Services. For more information, please consult the following fact sheet or contact Neil Scrimgeour on 08 8313 6600 or neil.scrimgeour@awri.com.au.

Results from AWRI Board election

An election was recently held for positions on the AWRI Board in the small and medium levy payer categories. There were two candidates in both categories standing for election. The AWRI is pleased to announce that Dr John Harvey from Bathe Wines has been elected to the vacant position in the small levy payer category and Wendy Cameron, Winemaking Consultant, has been elected to the vacant position in the medium levy payer category. Only one nomination was received in the large levy payer category, so an election was not required. Iain Jones of Treasury Wine Estates is the successful candidate in the large category.

John Harvey, a current Director of the AWRI, is the owner of Bathe Wines and a Non-Executive Director of Revenir Winemaking Pty Ltd. He is a former Executive Director the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (now part of Wine Australia) and a past Chair of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region. John holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Genetics, a PhD and an MBA from the University of Adelaide and has worked as a researcher. Away from wine, he currently holds a number of other commercial and not-for-profit board positions.

Wendy Cameron is an experienced winemaker and wine business manager. Wendy worked for Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyards for 17 years, initially as a winemaker and for 10 years as Head of Winemaking. Prior to this Wendy managed her own small family winery business in Victoria. Currently Wendy continues as a winemaking consultant to Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyards. Wendy was awarded the inaugural ASVO Winemaker of the Year Award in 2012 and was a finalist in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Winemaker of the Year competition in 2015. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biochemistry and Microbiology), a Masters of Science (Biochemistry), a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine Science) a Graduate Diploma of Education, a Graduate Certificate of Business and is a Master of Wine.

Iain Jones spent his early career working with winemaking and operational teams to improve wine quality and operational efficiencies. In the last 12 years, he has been working in senior management roles, providing leadership across a broad portfolio of areas including: Laboratories, Quality Assurance, Environmental Management, Research and Development, Health and Safety, Engineering and Lean Business Improvement. Iain is actively involved in a number of industry organisations and committees and holds a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Microbiology) and a Masters by Research (Microbiology) focusing on wine quality assurance.

All three Directors will commence their elected term on 1 January 2018. The terms of outgoing Board members, Kim Horton and Dr Stuart McNab, will conclude on 31 December 2017. The AWRI thanks Kim and Stuart for their significant contributions over the last three years.

Do you know your musty from your mousy?

The AWRI is running a free introductory taints workshop on Monday, 13 November, where participants will be able to familiarise themselves with common winemaking faults and get a better understanding of their own perception thresholds.

The suite of taint and fault compounds presented may form the basis of a sensory proficiency program available to all Australian winemakers. This would allow interested wine producers to access food-grade sensory standard compounds (in a capsule form) for regular assessment of their winemaking teams and benchmarking of their performance against others in the industry. The program would allow wineries to regularly train and monitor staff in sensory proficiency without having to be internally equipped with facilities to prepare and conduct such training. Register now for the free workshop, or for more information, please contact Neil Scrimgeour on 08 8313 6600 or neil.scrimgeour@awri.com.au.

Webinar program – what’s coming up?

Four webinars with a viticultural focus are coming up in October and into early November. First up on 12 October is Dr Mardi Longbottom from the AWRI and Andrew Weeks from Australian Vignerons discussing the biosecurity processes that are working to keep Australia’s vineyards free from exotic pests and diseases. A week later on 19 October, Andy Clarke from Yering Station will discuss the management of soil structure in established vineyards. The following two webinars (on 26 October and 2 November) focus on vineyard apps – Prof. Eileen Scott from the University of Adelaide will discuss PMapp which allows in-field assessment of powdery mildew and Mark Skewes from SARDI will discuss an app that assesses vine water stress.

For more details or to register for upcoming webinars, visit the webinar page on the AWRI website or contact infoservices@awri.com.au.

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

Accessing the latest AWRI publications is easy. Visit the AWRI Publications web page to:

• View the 10 most recent AWRI staff publications and order the articles online from the AWRI Library
• Search the staff publications database
• Read the full-text of ‘Technical Notes’ from Technical Review (PDF format)
• Read the full-text of ‘AWRI reports’ published in Wine & Viticulture Journal (PDF format).

A list of AWRI publications published since the last eNews is included below:

1920 Coulter, A. Ask the AWRI: The tricks and traps of deacidification. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (642): 56-57; 2017.

1921 Longbottom, M. Ask the AWRI: Soil analysis and soil carbon. What should you be looking for when getting your soil tested? Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (641): 44-45; 2017.

1922 Capone, D.L., Barker, A., Williamson, P.O., Francis, I.L. The role of potent thiols in Chardonnay wine aroma. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi: 10.1111/ajgw.12294: 13 p.; 2017.

1923 Wilkes, E. Why is predicting alcohol so hard? WBM (May/June): 64-65; 2017.

1924 Wilkes, E. Setting up a winery lab. WBM (July/August): 60-61; 2017.

1925 Dry, P.R. Understanding the components of terroir. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 39-44; 2017.

1926 Petrie, P.R., Sadras, V.O. Practical options to manage vintage compression. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 63-67; 2017.

1927 Schmidt, S.A., Roach, M.J., Borneman, A.R. Genetic diversity in clones of Chardonnay. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 84-86; 2017.

1928 Hall, B.H., McKay, S.F., Lopez, F., Harper, L., Savocchia, S., Borneman, A., Herderich, M. Fungicide resistance in Australian viticulture. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 87-90; 2017.

1929 Parker M., Barker, A., Black, C.A., Pearson, W., Hayasaka, Y., Herderich, M.J., Francis, I.L. In-mouth release from grape-derived precursors: unlocking hidden flavour during tasting. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 111-114; 2017.

1930 Costello, P.J., Chambers, P.J., Bartowsky, E.J. High-throughput phenotyping of malolactic bacteria. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 115-117; 2017.

1931 Day M.P., Wilkes, E.N. Measuring up authentication: analytical tools to test wine provenance. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 141-143; 2017.

1932 Bindon, K.A., Schulkin, A., Dambergs, R.G., Solomon, M., Barter, S., Capone, D., Kassara, S., Cynkar, W., Francis, I.L., Smith, P.A. Objective measures of grape quality. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 161-164; 2017.

1933 Culbert, J.A., McRae, J.M., Schmidtke, L.M., Nicholson, E., Boss, P., Smith, P., Wilkinson, K.L. Compositional variation amongst Australian sparkling white wines. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 165-169; 2017.

1934 Aramova, M., Cibrario, A., Coton, M., Coton, E., Salin, F., Albertin, W., Curtin, C., Masneuf-Pomarède, I. Why is the genetic diversity of Brettanomyces bruxellensis important for winemakers and is it related to sulfur dioxide tolerance? Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 170-172; 2017.

1935 Scrimgeour, N., Hirlam, K., Wilkes, E.N. Using cross-linked polymers to sequester metals and extend shelf life of wine. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 173-177; 2017.

1936 Rose, L.E. Australian wine in 2050. Beames, K.S, Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 24-28 July. Glen Osmond, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc: 188-192; 2017.

1937 Moran, M.A., Sadras, V.O., Petrie, P.R. Late pruning and carry-over effects on phenology, yield components and berry traits in Shiraz. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi: 10.1111/ajgw.12298: 9 p.; 2017.

1938 Longbottom, M. Scholarship, membership, sensory evaluation and excellence. Wine Vitic. J. 32(3): p. 11; 2017.

1939 Stockley, C., Johnson, D. WineHealth 2017 – Navigating the health effects of alcohol consumption. Wine Vitic. J. 32(3): 26-30; 2017.

1940 Essling, M. Ask the AWRI: Vineyard snail control: exploring the options and the timing. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (643): 46-47; 2017.

1941 Longbottom, M. Viticulturist of the Year finalists announced at Mildura seminar. Wine Vitic. J. 32(4): p. 10; 2017.

1942 Coulter, A., Cowey, G., Petrie, P., Essling, M., Holdstock, M., Stockley, C., Simos, C., Johnson, D. Vintage 2017 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk. Wine Vitic. J. 32(4): 29-31; 2017.

1943 Dry, P. Roussanne. Wine Vitic. J. 32(4): p. 56; 2017.

1944 Sternes, P.R., Lee, D., Kutyna, D.R., Borneman, A.R. A combined meta-barcoding and shotgun metagenomics analysis of spontaneous wine fermentation. GigaScience 6 (7): 1-10; 2017.

1945 Taylor, A., Barlow, N., Day, M.P., Hill, S., Patriarca, M., White, M. Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in the analysis of clinical and biological material, foods and beverages. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 32(3): 432-476; 2016.

1946 Dry, P. Bonvedro. Wine Vitic. J. 32(3): p. 57; 2017.

Acknowledgement

The AWRI acknowledges support from Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body, Wine Australia, with matching funds from the Australian Government. The AWRI is a member of the Wine Innovation Cluster in Adelaide, South Australia.