The Australian Wine Research Institute

The Australian Wine Research Institute Blog

eNews – April 2021

30 April 2021 >

A new look and website for Sustainable Winegrowing Australia

Preparations underway for National Wine Sector Bushfire Conference

Water management resources

Towards a rapid test for smoke

Grant to develop biosensor for smoke analysis

Order the latest staff publications online

Acknowledgements

A new look and website for Sustainable Winegrowing Australia
A refreshed website has just been launched for Sustainable Winegrowing Australia – the national sustainability program for Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers. Visit http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.com.au to learn more about the program and the benefits of membership. If you’ve been thinking about joining, don’t hesitate! Sign up here to receive a short email series with tips for how you can benefit from becoming more sustainable and prepare yourself for membership. If you would like to speak to someone about Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, contact the AWRI helpdesk on helpdesk@awri.com.au or 08 8 313 6600.

Preparations underway for National Wine Sector Bushfire Conference

A number of AWRI staff are preparing to take part in the National Wine Sector Bushfire Conference on 25 May. Managing Director, Dr Mark Krstic will provide a national overview of the fires that occurred during the 2020 vintage and their impact. Dr Eric Wilkes will describe techniques used for testing grapes and wines for smoke and comparative results between different laboratories. Damian Espinase Nandorfy will discuss smoke taint sensory evaluation, including good practices to improve the rigour and reliability of in-the-field assessments. Dr Mango Parker will provide the latest results from her research on the impacts of early-season smoke exposure.

This free conference coordinated by Wine Australia, Australian Grape & Wine, ASVO and the AWRI. will cover bushfire preparedness, smoke effects and recovery from fire to ensure that grapegrowers, winemakers and businesses are better prepared for future bushfires. The National Wine Sector Bushfire Conference will be held at locations in Hahndorf, Sydney, Wangaratta, Stanthorpe, Hobart and South Perth. Register now: wineaustralia.com/national-wine-sector-bushfire-conference.

Water management resources

Water is a valuable and limited resource for grapegrowers. To support growers to manage their irrigation water most effectively, the AWRI has developed a new water management webpage. Visit http://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/viticulture/water-management/ to access a wide range of resources on topics including vineyard water use efficiency, water management plans, irrigation scheduling and irrigation system monitoring and maintenance. The webpage will also be updated regularly with activities and resources developed as part of an irrigation efficiency practice change project being conducted by the AWRI, in collaboration with Wine Australia and the inland irrigated wine-growing regions. For more information, contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8 313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Towards a rapid test for smoke
Testing grapes or wine for evidence of smoke exposure involves the use of complex analytical instruments to determine the concentration of a range of volatile phenols and glycosides. Interpretation of results then requires comparison with background levels of these compounds in non-smoke-exposed grapes. Overall, this requires a relatively high level of technical expertise and it can take around 10 days before results are available. A rapid screening test that could be used to determine the impact of smoke exposure would therefore be extremely valuable for the wine industry. AWRI Commercial Services has recently completed a project investigating the potential for using mid-infra-red spectroscopy to perform rapid screening for smoke compounds. The work was published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Wine & Viticulture and is available online here: A burning need: developing a rapid screening method for smoke-affected grapes and wine.

Grant to develop biosensor for smoke analysis

The AWRI is a partner in a collaborative project, with QUT and CSIRO, that has recently been awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant to develop protein-based biosensors for phenolic glycosides. The goal is to generate selective biosensors and devise a simple portable test for smoke compounds that can be performed in the vineyard or the winery. This is the first time this type of technology will be applied to a problem in the wine industry. For more information, visit: https://www.qut.edu.au/research/article?id=174988

Order the latest 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’ and ‘Vineyards of the world columns’ published in Wine & Viticulture Journal (PDF format)
  • Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI columns’ published in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker

The AWRI’s most recent publications are listed below.

2214 Essling, M. Ask the AWRI: Use of elicitors in viticulture. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (686) : p. 35; 2021.

2215 Varela, C., Bartel, C., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Bilogrevic, E., Tran, T., Heinrich, A., Balzan, T., Bindon, K., Borneman, A. Volatile aroma composition and sensory profile of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wine produced with novel Metschnikowia pulcherrima yeast starter cultures. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi:10.1111/ajgw.12484: 1-13; 2021.

2216 Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Bindon, K., Gawel, R., Smith, P., Vasilev, K., Butt, H-J., Koynov, K. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to unravel the interactions between macromolecules in wine. Food Chem. 352: 129343; 2021.

2217 Scrimgeour, N., Hirlam, K., Wilkes, E., Parker, M. A burning need: developing a rapid screening method for smoke-affected grapes and wine. Wine Vitic. J. 36(2): 33-35; 2021.

2218 Roach, M., Borneman, A., Schmidt, S., Krstic, M. Applying genomics to grapevine clones. Wine Vitic. J. 36(2): 39-41; 2021.

2219 Dry, P. Blaufränkisch. Wine Vitic. J. 36(2): p. 59; 2021.

2220 Day, M.P., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Bekker, M.Z., Bindon, K.A., Solomon, M., Smith, P.A., Schmidt, S.A. Aeration of Vitis vinifera Shiraz fermentation and its effect on wine chemical composition and sensory attributes. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi: 10.1111/ajgw.12490; 2021.

2221 Zhou-Tsang, A., Wu, Y., Henderson, S.W., Walker, A.R., Borneman, A.R., Walker, R.R., Gilliham, M. Grapevine salt tolerance. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 27(2): 149-168; 2021.

2222 Cowey, G. Ask the AWRI: How much sulfur dioxide (SO2) is needed at bottling? Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (687): 76-77; 2021.

2223 Capone, D.L., Barker, A., Pearson, W., Francis, I.L. Influence of inclusion of grapevine leaves, rachis and peduncles during fermentation on the flavour and volatile composition of Vitis vinifera cv. Shiraz wine. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi: 10.1111/ajgw.12489; 2021.

2224 Teng, B., Hayasaka, Y., Smith, P.A., Bindon, K.A. Precipitation of tannin-anthocyanin derivatives in wine is influenced by acetaldehyde concentration and tannin molecular mass with implications for the development of nonbleachable pigments. J. Agric. Food Chem. 69(16): 4804-4815; 2021.

Acknowledgements

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.

Technical Review April 2021 issue available online

7 April 2021 >

7 April 2021

The April 2021 issue of Technical Review is now available online. Articles and abstracts can be viewed individually, or the full issue can be downloaded. The online format of Technical Review allows you to browse the list of the latest articles on grape and wine production by keyword, view article summaries and order journal articles from the AWRI Library.

For copyright reasons, access to abstracts is available only to Australian winemakers and grapegrowers who pay the Wine Grapes or Grape Research levies. The technical notes authored by the AWRI are, however, freely available. If you have forgotten your password for the AWRI website, please use the forgotten password link to reset your password.

Below is a snapshot of what's in this issue:

AWRI Technical Notes
AWRI publications
  • Use of ultrafiltration and proteolytic enzymes as alternative approaches for protein stabilisation of white wine
  • A little dissolved CO2 goes a long way in the wine glass
  • Choosing the best remediation strategy to remove ‘reductive’ aromas
  • Ask the AWRI: microwaving wine – a scientific perspective
  • Smoke analysis at the AWRI: a testing year
  • Ask the AWRI: applying regenerative agriculture practices in viticulture
  • Novel methods to manipulate autolysis in sparkling wine: effects of yeast
Current literature – oenology
Current literature – viticulture

eNews – February 2021

26 February 2021 >

New project on autonomous machinery for under-vine weed control

A new face in the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia team

Bucket ferment video

Do you read ‘Ask the AWRI’?

Botrytis webinars online

Order the latest staff publications online

Acknowledgements

New project on autonomous machinery for under-vine weed control
TThe AWRI, in partnership with Pernod Ricard Winemakers, received a major grant from the Australian Government earlier this month for a project investigating autonomous machinery as an alternative to herbicides for controlling under-vine weeds. Funded under the Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round, the project will trial the use of an autonomous tractor and a vineyard robot for non-chemical weed control under Australian conditions. Project results will be communicated to growers via demonstrations in trial vineyards and through the AWRI’s established extension and communication platforms. The project will run until June 2023.

A new face in the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia team

In response to the growth of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and new projects in the sustainability and viticulture space, last week Liz Pitcher joined the AWRI as Sustainability and Viticulture Specialist. Liz joins the team with twenty years’ wine industry experience across numerous regions and in various roles within small, medium and corporate wine industry businesses. She will work with Dr Mardi Longbottom and Megan Coles to manage Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and deliver certification training workshops and a range of other sustainability and viticulture projects. For more information about Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, visit the program website or contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Bucket ferment video
When a vineyard is exposed to smoke, the AWRI recommends a combination of analytical testing of grapes and sensory assessment of a small-scale ‘bucket’ ferment to assess the risk of making smoke-affected wine. To support producers who need to conduct such an assessment, the AWRI has recently made a video of the bucket ferment process to complement the detailed fact sheet that describes the method. This video is one of a number of demonstration videos now on the AWRI’s YouTube channel. A major collection of resources related to smoke taint are available from the AWRI smoke taint webpage. For more information on smoke taint, contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8 313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Do you read ‘Ask the AWRI’?

Each month the AWRI helpdesk team publishes a short question and answer format article in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker on a winemaking or viticulture subject. Recent columns have covered topics including regenerative agriculture, indole in sparkling wine, soil organic matter and even microwaving wine! The full collection of Ask the AWRI columns is available on the AWRI website. If you’d like to suggest a topic for a future column, contact the helpdesk team on helpdesk@awari.com.au.

Botrytis webinars online

With recent wet weather experienced across a number of growing regions, some producers raised concerns with the AWRI helpdesk regarding Botrytis. In response, two panel-style webinars were held in successive weeks – the first focusing on managing late-season Botrytis in the vineyard, and the second on managing Botrytis-affected fruit in the winery. Both webinars are available for viewing on the AWRI’s YouTube channel and there are additional resources on the Managing Botrytis-affected fruit, must and wine webpage.

Order the latest 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’ and ‘Vineyards of the world columns’ published in Wine & Viticulture Journal (PDF format)
  • Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI columns’ published in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker

The AWRI’s most recent publications are listed below.

2198 Romanini, E., McRae, J.M., Bilogrevic, E., Colangelo, D., Gabrielli, M., Lambri, M. Use of grape seeds to reduce haze formation in white wines. Food Chem. 341: 128250; 2021.

2199 Tondini, F., Onetto, C.A., Jiranek, V. Early adaptation strategies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Torulaspora delbrueckii to co-inoculation in high sugar grape must-like media. Food Microbiol. 90: 103463; 2020.

2200 Nordestgaard, S. Sparking a vineyard revolution: Powering up the potential of electric tractors. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (683): 32-34, 36, 38-40, 42-45; 2020.

2201 Godden, P. Ask the AWRI: Lees contact in white wine. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (683): 55-56; 2020.

2202 Krstic, M. 2020 Report. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (683): 76-79; 2020.

2203 Dry, P. Lambrusco Maestri. Wine Vitic. J. 35(4): p. 60; 2020.

2204 Sui, Y., McRae, J.M, Wollan, D., Muhlack, R.A., Godden, P., Wilkinson, K.L. Use of ultrafiltration and proteolytic enzymes as alternative approaches for protein stabilisation of white wine. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi:10.1111/ajgw.12475: 1-12; 2020.

2205 Siebert, T.E., Stamatopoulos, P., Francis, I.L., Darriet, P. Sensory-directed characterisation of distinctive aromas of Sauternes and Viognier wines through semi-preparative liquid chromatography and gas chromatography approaches. J. Chromatogr. A 1637: 461803; 2021.

2206 Schulkin, A., Smith, P.A., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Gawel, R. A little dissolved CO2 goes a long way in the wine glass. Wine Vitic. J. 36(1): 39-41; 2021.

2207 Bekker, M., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Kulcsar, A., Faucon, A., Smith, P., Krstic, M. Choosing the best remediation strategy to remove ‘reductive’ aromas. Wine Vitic. J. 36(1): 42-45; 2021.

2208 McKay, S., Ismail, I., Harper, L., Lopez, F., van den Heuvel, S., Borneman, A., Hall, B., Sosnowski, M. Fungicide resistance status of powdery and downy mildew in Australia. Wine Vitic. J. 36(1): 54-58, 60-61; 2021.

2209 Dry, P. Moscato Giallo. Wine Vitic. J. 36(1): p. 68; 2021.

2210 Coulter, A. Ask the AWRI: Microwaving wine – a scientific perspective. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (684): 44-45; 2021.

2211 Wilkes, E. Smoke analysis at the AWRI: a testing year. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (684): 58-61; 2021.

2212 Dixon, R. Ask the AWRI: Applying regenerative agriculture practices in viticulture. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (685) : 40-41; 2021.

2213 Gnoinski, G.B., Schmidt, S.A., Close, D.C., Goemann, K., Pinfold, T.L., Kerslake, F.L. Novel methods to manipulate autolysis in sparkling wine: effects of yeast. Molecules 26 (2): 387; 2021.

Acknowledgements

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.

Managing Botrytis in the winery – webinar and key resources

17 February 2021 >

Recent wet weather across a number of grapegrowing regions has led to conditions that are favourable to the development of Botrytis bunch rot. Botrytis outbreaks have been reported across regions in Victoria and NSW and further wet weather is forecast in other states.

To assist winemakers dealing with Botrytis-affected fruit, the AWRI has organised a panel-style webinar on Botrytis management in the winery for Thursday 18 February at 11.30am central daylight time.

Panel members will include a mix of technical experts and industry practitioners, with short presentations followed by a Q&A session.

Register now to attend this webinar. The recording will also be available on the AWRI’s YouTube channel following the webinar.

Useful resources on managing Botrytis-affected fruit include:
•    AWRI webpage on managing Botrytis
•    AWRI fact sheet: Managing Botrytis-infected fruit
•    Testing for laccase

For more information or assistance, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Technical Review February 2021 issue available online

9 February 2021 >

The February 2021 issue of Technical Review is now available online. Articles and abstracts can be viewed individually, or the full issue can be downloaded. The online format of Technical Review allows you to browse the list of the latest articles on grape and wine production by keyword, view article summaries and order journal articles from the AWRI Library.

For copyright reasons, access to abstracts is available only to Australian winemakers and grapegrowers who pay the Wine Grapes or Grape Research levies. The technical notes authored by the AWRI are, however, freely available. If you have forgotten your password for the AWRI website, please use the forgotten password link to reset your password.

Below is a snapshot of what's in this issue:

AWRI Technical Notes
AWRI publications
  • Ask the AWRI: Sparkling wine gushing: not a cause for celebration
  • Fungicide programs used to manage powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) in Australian vineyards
  • Use of grape seeds to reduce haze formation in white wines
  • Early adaptation strategies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Torulaspora delbrueckii to co-inoculation in high sugar grape must-like media
  • Sparking a vineyard revolution: powering up the potential of electric tractors
  • 2020 Report
  • Viticultural and controlled phenolic release treatments affect phenolic concentration and tannin composition in Pinot Noir wine
Current literature – oenology
  • Use of potassium polyaspartate for stabilization of potassium bitartrate in wines: influence on colloidal stability and interactions with other additives and enological practices
  • Combination of pre-fermentative and fermentative strategies to produce Malbec wines of lower alcohol and pH, with high chemical and sensory quality
  • Oak barrel and bottle ageing: the effect of oxygenation rate and time on the evolution of red wine colour
  • Looking inside the tank: how homogenous is a fermentation
  • Oenococcus oeni, a species born and moulded in wine: a critical review of the stress impacts of wine and the physiological responses
  • Yeast derived indole accumulation: why yeast preparation can be just as important as yeast strain selection for sparkling wine
  • Free, bound, and total sulfur dioxide (SO2) during oxidation of wines
  • Sensory assessment of grape polyphenolic fractions: an insight into the effects of anthocyanins on in-mouth perceptions
Current literature – viticulture
  • Impact of vineyard topography on the quality of Chablis wine
  • Vineyard yield estimation using 2-D proximal sensing: a multitemporal approach
  • Evaluation of ripening indicators for harvest-time decision making in cold climate grape production
  • Berry primary and secondary metabolites in response to sunlight and temperature in the grapevine fruit zone
  • Biochar in the vineyard: building a foundation for sustainability
  • Big climate data assessment of viticultural conditions for wine quality determination in France
  • Winter pruning: effect on root density, root distribution and root/canopy ratio in Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot Gris
  • Evaluating the suitability of hyper- and multispectral imaging to detect foliar symptoms of the grapevine trunk disease Esca in vineyards
  • New ways of growing Sangiovese in the King Valley
  • Using rootstocks to lower berry potassium concentrations in 'Cabernet Sauvignon' grapevines

Late-season Botrytis: webinar and key resources

>

Recent wet weather across a number of grapegrowing regions has led to conditions that are favourable to the development of Botrytis bunch rot. Botrytis outbreaks have been reported across regions in Victoria and NSW and further wet weather is forecast in other states.

To assist growers dealing with this issue, the AWRI has organised a panel-style webinar on Botrytis management for next Tuesday 9 February at 2.30pm central daylight time.

Panel members include two eminent plant pathologists, Dr Kathy Evans and Barbara Hall, and two highly experienced industry practitioners, Liz Riley and Warren Birchmore. Three presentations will be followed by a Q&A session. The webinar will include discussion of the short withholding period ‘biological’ fungicides.

Register now to attend this webinar. The recording will also be available on the AWRI’s YouTube channel following the webinar.

Useful resources on managing Botrytis include:

For more information or assistance, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Christmas closure and support during the break

21 December 2020 >

The AWRI will be closed over the Christmas/New Year period from midday on Thursday 24 December and will re-open at 8:30am on Monday 4 January 2021.

AWRI Commercial Services
The Commercial Services laboratories will be closed from midday on Thursday 24 December and will re-open at 9:00am on Monday 11 January 2021.

Industry support
Telephone and email support will be available during the office closure. If you require assistance over the holiday period, please contact:

  • Con Simos on 0448 889 432 or helpdesk@awri.com.au for winemaking technical problem solving issues.
  • Marcel Essling on 0418 816 311 or helpdesk@awri.com.au for viticulture and agrochemical issues.

Library
The John Fornachon Memorial Library will be closed from 5pm on Wednesday 23 December and will re-open at 9:00am on Monday 11 January 2021. Access to the library’s online database will continue to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during this period via the AWRI website.

Technical Review December 2020 issue available online

9 December 2020 >

The December 2020 issue of Technical Review is now available online. Articles and abstracts can be viewed individually, or the full issue can be downloaded. The online format of Technical Review allows you to browse the list of the latest articles on grape and wine production by keyword, view article summaries and order journal articles from the AWRI Library.

For copyright reasons, access to abstracts is available only to Australian winemakers and grapegrowers who pay the Wine Grapes or Grape Research levies. The technical notes authored by the AWRI are, however, freely available. If you have forgotten your password for the AWRI website, please use the forgotten password link to reset your password.

Below is a snapshot of what's in this issue:

AWRI Technical Notes
AWRI publications
  • Pre-fermentation water addition to high-sugar Shiraz must: effects on wine composition and sensory properties
  • Identification of flocculant wine yeast strains with improved filtration-related phenotypes through application of high-throughput sedimentation rate assays
  • Discovering the indigenous microbial communities associated with the natural fermentation of sap from the cider gum Eucalyptus gunnii
  • Ask the AWRI: the importance of soil organic matter
  • Chemical and sensory impacts of Accentuated Cut Edges (ACE) grape must polyphenol extraction technique on Shiraz wines
  • Ask the AWRI: indole off-flavour in sparkling wine
  • Comparison of remediation strategies for decreasing ‘reductive’ characters in Shiraz wines
Current literature – oenology
  • Winery sanitation in a covid-19 world: webinar discusses best practices in cellar operations
  • WineEng 2020 survey: automation in the winery
  • Applications of nanotechnology in the winemaking process
  • Evaluating alternatives to cold stabilization in wineries: the use of carboxymethyl cellulose, potassium polyaspartate, electrodialysis and ion exchange resins
  • Sanitization of oak barrels for wine – a review
  • The effect of non-Saccharomyces and Saccharomyces non-cerevisiae yeasts on ethanol and glycerol levels in wine
  • Classification of smoke contaminated Cabernet Sauvignon berries and leaves based on chemical fingerprinting and machine learning algorithms
  • Food waste to biofertilizer: a potential game changer of global circular agricultural economy
Current literature – viticulture
  • Automatic grapevine trunk detection on UAV-based point cloud
  • Moving forward to sustainable options: the evolution of vineyard trellising and posts
  • The influence of UV on the production of free terpenes in Vitis vinifera cv. Shiraz
  • From grape berries to wines: drought impacts on key secondary metabolites
  • Fifteen years of geo-climatic characterisation of Pinot Noir vineyards in the Mornington Peninsula
  • Scott Henry trellising, the way forward?
  • A case study in sustainable vineyard practices: the benefits of rice straw for erosion, natural weed control and reducing irrigation needs
  • The Cypriot indigenous grapevine germplasm is a multi-clonal varietal mixture
  • Effect of preveraison water deficits on the yield components of 15 winegrape cultivars

eNews – November 2020

26 November 2020 >

New agrochemicals app

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia news

Trends in vineyard and winery technologies

New eBook titles available

BMSB information online

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

Acknowledgements

New agrochemicals app
The AWRI has recently relaunched its agrochemicals app, following a major project merging its databases of agrochemical and MRL information into a single system. The new app, called ‘AWRI Agrochemical and MRL Search’, allows users to perform agrochemical and MRL searches from a single platform. The app is available for free from the Apple and Google app stores. Users of the AWRI’s previous agrochemicals app should remove the old version from their devices as it is no longer supported. For more information, please contact Marcel Essling on 08 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia news

The AWRI, Wine Australia and Australia Grape & Wine have been working closely together over recent months to develop a new annual operating plan (AOP) for Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. The AOP sets out the key strategic goals for the program, its key stakeholders and how it maps against the strategic priorities of the three collaborating organisations. More information about the program, including how to join, is available from sustainablewinegrowing.com.au.

The AWRI is also working with several Australian wine regions that have recently been successful in receiving grants to support the adoption of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. McLaren Vale Rutherglen and Yarra Valley all have projects in progress to support Sustainable Winegrowing Australia members to achieve certification.

Trends in vineyard and winery technologies
During the year AWRI Senior Engineer, Dr Simon Nordestgaard has been keeping in touch with the latest trends in vineyard and winery technologies from across the globe and summarising them for an Australian audience. The use of autonomous robots and tractors in vineyards is one area where there is currently a lot of attention, with task-specific robots available as well as autonomy kits that can be retrofitted to existing tractors. In France, a key driver in vineyard robot development appears to be the automation of under-vine mechanical weeding, in response to pressures to minimise herbicide use. Some key recent developments in autonomous robots and tractors internationally are summarised in this article published in Aust. & N.Z. Grapegrower & Winemaker.

In the winery, many common processes are still quite manual, even in large wineries. Fundamentally, this likely relates to the seasonal nature of wine production; all the grapes arrive in a short time period, meaning that many tanks are needed and it is expensive to fit them all with sophisticated instrumentation. However, automation could improve process oversight and the ability to perform some tasks remotely. Two additional articles published this year in Aust. & N.Z. Grapegrower & Winemaker are available – one reviewing alternative technologies for level measurement and managing wine transfers and one on continuous processes in wineries.

New eBook titles available

A range of new titles have recently been added to the AWRI’s Grape and Wine eBook Collection. Highlights include the new Halliday Wine Companion, a revised version of Ron Jackson’s vine to glass handbook on Wine Science: Principles and Applications, Isabelle Legeron’s fresh take on Natural Wine and Robert Walters’ myth busting look at Champagne: A Secret History.

The full collection is accessible from the eBook Collection page. Access is reserved for Australian growers and winemakers who pay the Grape Research or Winegrape levy. Existing AWRI account holders need only sign in. Eligible new users should register for an account. For further information about the eBook collection or help with other library services and resources please contact the AWRI information services team.

BMSB information online
Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), commonly known as BMSB, has been identified as a serious biosecurity risk to Australia because of its potential to cause damage to a wide range of crops, including wine-grapes. The AWRI helpdesk team has recently collated the latest information about BMSB on a series of new pages on the AWRI website, covering the characteristics of BMSB, monitoring, management and symptoms of damage. Check out the new BMSB pages to stay aware of this biosecurity threat. Any possible sightings of BMSB (or any other exotic pest) in the vineyard or in goods received from overseas should be reported to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881.

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’ and ‘Vineyards of the world columns’ published in Wine & Viticulture Journal (PDF format)
  • Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI columns’ published in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker

The AWRI’s most recent publications are listed below.

2184 Varela, C., Bartel, C., Nandorfy, D.E., Borneman, A., Schmidt, S., Curtin, C. Identification of flocculant wine yeast strains with improved filtration-related phenotypes through application of high-throughput sedimentation rate assays. Sci. Rep. 10: 2738; 2020.

2185 Varela, C., Sundstrom, J., Cuijvers, K., Jiranek, V., Borneman, A. Discovering the indigenous microbial communities associated with the natural fermentation of sap from the cider gum Eucalytpus gunnii. Sci. Rep. 10: 14716; 2020.

2186 Nordestgaard, S. Autonomous vineyard robots and tractors. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (680): 50-52, 54-60, 62, 64, 66-67; 2020.

2187 Essling, M. Ask the AWRI: The importance of soil organic matter. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (680): 82-83; 2020.

2188 Smart, R., Bruer, D., Collins, C., Karantonis, C., Lockshin, L., Muhlack, R., Oemcke, D., Pike, B., Wilkes, E. Towards Australian grape and wine industry carbon neutrality… the possible dream. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (680): 100, 102-105; 2020.

2189 Kang, W., Bindon, K.A., Wang, X., Muhlack, R.A., Smith, P.A., Niimi, J., Bastian, S.E.P. Chemical and sensory impacts of Accentuated Cut Edges (ACE) grape must polyphenol extraction technique on Shiraz wines. Foods 9(8): 1027; 2020.

2190 Onetto, C.A., Schmidt, S.A., Roach, M.J., Borneman, A.R. Comparative genome analysis proposes three new Aureobasidium species isolated from grape juice. FEMS Yeast Res. 20(6): foaa052; 2020.

2191 Pearson, W., Schmidtke, L.M., Francis, I.L., Carr, B.T., Blackman, J.W. Characterising inter- and intra-regional variation in sensory profiles of Australian Shiraz wines from six regions. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 26(4): 372-384; 2020.

2192 Coulter, A., Cowey, G., Essling, M., Hoare, T., Holdstock, M., Longbottom, M., Simos, C., Krstic, M. Vintage – observations from the AWRI helpdesk. Wine Vitic. J. 35(4): 39-41; 2020.

2193 Cowey, G. Ask the AWRI: Indole off-flavour in sparkling wine. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (681): 46-47; 2020.

2194 Bekker, M.Z., Nandorfy, D.E., Kulcsar, A.C., Faucon, A., Bindon, K., Smith, P.A. Comparison of remediation strategies for decreasing ‘reductive’ characters in Shiraz wines. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. doi: 10.1111/ajgw.12459; 2020.

2195 Cordingly, B. Ask the AWRI: Sparkling wine gushing: not a cause for celebration. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (682): 42-43; 2020.

2196 Haddad, P.R., Taraji, M., Szücs, R. Prediction of analyte retention time in liquid chromatography. Analyt. Chem. DOI:10.1021/acs.analchem.0c04190; 2020.

2197 Essling, M., McKay, S., Petrie, P.R. Fungicide programs used to manage powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) in Australian vineyards. Crop Prot. 139: 105369; 2021.

Acknowledgements

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.