The Australian Wine Research Institute

The Australian Wine Research Institute Blog

AWRI Board election – voting now open

18 October 2019 >

An election is now open for the vacant position on the AWRI Board of Directors in the small (<2,000 tonnes) producer category.

The following nominations were received:

  • Marc Allgrove (Evans & Ayers, SA)
  • Toby Bekkers (Bekkers Wine, SA)
  • Greg Clack (XO WineCo and Chain of Ponds, SA)
  • Rory Lane (The Story Wines, Vic)
  • Peter Leske (Revenir Winemaking and La Linea, SA)
  • David Lowe (Lowe Wines, NSW)
  • Mark Slade (Purple Hands and Saab Australia, SA)

Producers in the small category are strongly encouraged to vote for their preferred candidate. This is an excellent opportunity to have a say in electing a candidate that can contribute to the Australian grape and wine research and development agenda.

The levies unit of the Department of Agriculture will conduct the election. Ballot papers and candidate profiles will be emailed or posted (if an email address is not available) to all small levy payers on Friday 18 October 2019.

Votes must be received by the Department of Agriculture (levies.policy@agriculture.gov.au) no later than 5:00 pm, Friday, 8 November 2019.

Ballot papers and candidate profiles are also available from the AWRI website.

For medium and large producers, a single nomination was received in each category, so elections are not required. The AWRI is therefore pleased to announce that Louisa Rose of Yalumba Family Winemakers and Marcus Woods of Pernod Ricard Winemakers have been re-elected to the AWRI Board.

For further information please contact the AWRI at enquiries@awri.com.au.

Tasting talent rewarded

1 October 2019 >

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) announced this week that Matt Godfrey, winemaker at Devil’s Lair in Margaret River, WA, was the dux of the 40th Advanced Wine Assessment Course.

Vintage 2019 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk

23 September 2019 >

Read the latest AWRI Report

The AWRI helpdesk responds to technical issues encountered by Australian grapegrowers and winemakers, identifies the root causes of problems and provides research-based, practical, up-to-date solutions. Monitoring the technical trends encountered across the nation’s wine regions over the growing season is a useful way to identify when information or assistance is required, at either a regional or national level. Support is then provided via eBulletins, the AWRI website, webinars or face-to-face extension events. This article examines some of the conditions experienced across the nation during vintage 2019 and the growing season leading up to it, and some of the technical challenges encountered.

AWRI Managing Director Moving on

20 September 2019 >

Dr Dan Johnson, the Managing Director of The Australian Wine Research Institute, is leaving to take up a new appointment as Pro Vice Chancellor Research Innovation at Macquarie University.

The move was announced today by the AWRI’s Chair, Louisa Rose. Dr Johnson will take up his new position in February 2020.

“The AWRI is sad to lose Dr Johnson but we acknowledge the exciting opportunity he has been offered at this stage of his career,” said Ms Rose.

“The AWRI Board is grateful for Dan’s leadership and his dedication to the Australian wine industry. Dan leaves the AWRI in a very strong position and it will continue to deliver positive outcomes for grape and wine producers.”

“Dr Johnson will maintain his association with the Australian wine industry and the wider scientific community in his new role as a leader in innovation and research.”

Dr Johnson commenced at the AWRI in 2006 and held senior positions prior to his appointment as Managing Director in 2011. Under his leadership, the AWRI has continued to build its national and international reputation for excellence in grape and wine research and innovation.

“It’s been one of the great honours of my life to have led the AWRI, working closely with the Australian wine industry” said Dr Johnson.

“I’m so proud of what has been achieved for Australian grape and wine producers. The AWRI is ideally placed to undertake a leadership transition, and I wish it every success for the future.”

The AWRI Board will conduct a global search for a new Managing Director. Potential applicants should initially contact the AWRI HR Coordinator on hr@awri.com.au for information about the recruitment process. Applications will close on 25 October 2019.

Managing Director moving on from the Australian Wine Research Institute

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Dr Dan Johnson, the Managing Director of The Australian Wine Research Institute, is leaving to take up a new appointment as Pro Vice Chancellor Research Innovation at Macquarie University. The move was announced today by the AWRI’s Chair, Louisa Rose. Dr Johnson will take up his new position in February 2020.

eNews – September 2019

19 September 2019 >

New infrastructure funding

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia update

17th AWITC wrap-up

Major grant to bring EU researchers to the AWRI

Advanced Viticulture Course launching in October

Manufacturing modernisation grants

Awards and achievements

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

Acknowledgements

New infrastructure funding
The AWRI has secured a major infrastructure funding boost from a combination of Federal and State Government sources. Bioplatforms Australia, which manages investment funding through the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), together with the South Australian Government and the AWRI will collectively invest $11.1m for metabolomics and associated activities at the AWRI from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2023.

This significant investment builds on the success of the AWRI’s existing metabolomics facility, which was established in 2008 with support from Bioplatforms Australia and the South Australian Government. The facility supports local and national researchers and industries through the development and provision of metabolomic analysis. It operates as a collaborative service platform, providing access to infrastructure and specialist expertise to academia and industry across all interested sectors.

Metabolomics is the comprehensive analysis of the complete set of all low molecular weight metabolites (the metabolome) that exist within a biological system such as grape juice, yeast or wine. The metabolome consists of hundreds to thousands of molecules with widely varied chemical and physical properties. Metabolomics gives scientists the ability to look at things from a ‘global’ perspective; to see the bigger picture of what happens during biological processes such as fermentation.

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia update

Membership of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia opened on 1 July and an official launch event was held in Adelaide during the AWITC. With the integration of Entwine and SAW members into a single, united national program, Sustainable Winegrowing Australia now has more than 600 active members across 43 wine regions. Since the opening, new vineyard and winery members from across Australia have also joined. Detailed information about Sustainable Winegrowing Australia is available on the AWRI website.

If you are interested in joining the program, everything you need to get started can be found in the Program Guide and User Manual. If you are a member and have not yet completed the membership renewal/workbook information for 2019/20, please log in to the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia website now to do so. Renewing your membership now will ensure you receive a complete benchmarking report in October. For any queries about the program, contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8 313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

17th AWITC wrap-up
A positive and well-attended Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference was held in Adelaide in late July. By the time the conference closed on the afternoon of Wednesday 24 July, well over 3,000 attendees had engaged with the event in some way. AWRI staff were involved across all aspects of the AWITC and have been very pleased with the positive feedback that has been received. Webcasts of the plenary sessions are currently available to delegates (via a link that was distributed by email) and will be made available to non-delegates after 1 November. Preparation of the conference proceedings is in progress, and planning for the 18th AWITC commenced at a debrief meeting earlier this month.

Major grant to bring EU researchers to the AWRI

A new grant awarded to the Oenoviti International network of grape and wine research organisations will fund EU researchers to spend time on sabbatical at the AWRI. These placements will benefit the Australian wine industry through enhanced collaborative networks, knowledge sharing and personal relationships within the international grape and wine research community. The successful funding application was made jointly by thirteen partner organisations (including the AWRI) that are members of the Oenoviti International network. Around 11 EU researchers from France, Portugal and Spain are expected to spend time at the AWRI across 2019 to 2023 as part of this international exchange program. AWRI scientists are looking forward to sharing their knowledge and learning from the high-calibre visiting researchers.

Advanced Viticulture Course launching in October
The AWRI is presenting a new intensive three-day course in October on the latest techniques and technologies in viticulture. Participants will travel in a small group across four SA regions to visit sites and meet practitioners who are at the cutting-edge of Australian viticulture. The course is aimed at practising viticulturists with an interest in innovation and is limited to 20 participants to ensure an intensive and interactive learning experience. This year’s course has sold out; however, expressions of interest in future courses are now being taken. Visit the course page to find out more and register your interest.

Manufacturing modernisation grants

A Manufacturing Modernisation Fund has recently been announced by the Australian Government. This fund will support manufacturers to modernise, adopt new technologies, become more productive and create jobs by co-funding capital investments and associated reskilling. The program will run over three years and will be delivered through two streams of funding:

  • an estimated $20 million for matched grants of between $50,000 to $100,000 for small scale technology and efficiency investments
  • an estimated $30 million for larger grants between $100,000 to $1 million, on a three to one funding basis, to support transformative investments in technologies and processes.

Applications for grants under this program, run by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, close 31 October 2019. Full details can be found here. This fund is one example of the many grant programs offered by different levels of government in Australia that may be applicable to grapegrowing and winemaking businesses. A regularly updated summary of relevant grant programs is provided on the AWRI website.

Awards and achievements
Congratulations are due to a number of AWRI staff for achievements over recent months. At the Oeno 2019/In Vino Analytical Scientia Conference in Bordeaux in late June, Yevgeniya Grebneva was awarded the first Denis Dubourdieu award for an outstanding presentation by a young researcher. At the AWITC in July, Mango Parker, Eleanor Bilogrevic, Martin Day and Caroline Bartel were all awarded prizes for their posters – with Eleanor winning both a judges’ prize and the people’s choice! Caroline also won one of the two prizes for the Fresh Science presentations in the plenary program and Mango also won the judges’ prize in the student forum ‘In the Wine Light’ for a 3-minute explanation of her PhD research. And, to top off an incredible year, Mango was named one of three finalists in the Researcher/Innovator category of the Australian Women in Wine Awards. Congratulations to all of these high achievers!

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.

2095 Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Wahono, S.K., Smith, P.A., Bindon, K., Vasilev, K. Using Zeolites to protein stabilize white wines. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b01583: 1-8; 2019.

2096 Wilkes, E., Newell, B., Johnson, D. Wine storage temperature – investigating the impact of small differences. Wine Vitic. J. 34(3): 27-29; 2019.

2097 Dry, P. Clairette. Wine Vitic. J. 34(3): p. 53; 2019.

2098 Teng, B., Hayasaka, Y., Smith, P.A., Bindon, K.A. Effect of grape seed and skin tannin molecular mass and composition on the rate of reaction with anthocyanin and subsequent formation of polymeric pigments in the presence of acetaldehyde. J. Agric. Food Chem. 67(32): 8938-8949; 2019.

2099 Canonico, L., Solomon, M., Comitini, F. Ciani, M., Varela, C. Volatile profile of reduced alcohol wines fermented with selected non-Saccharomyces yeasts under different aeration conditions. Food Microbiol. 84(103247): 1-8; 2019.

2100 Hoare, T. Ask the AWRI: Controlling vineyard weeds. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (666): 43-44; 2019.

2101 Gupta, V.V.S.R., Bramley, R.G.V., Greenfield, P., Yu, J., Herderich, M.J. Vineyard soil microbiome composition related to rotundone concentration in Australian cool climate ‘peppery’ Shiraz grapes. Front. Microbiol. 10(1607): 1-19; 2019.

2102 Simos, C. Tech-led evolution of wine shows. WBM (July/August): p. 30; 2019.

2103 Kassara, S., Li, S., Smith, P., Blando, F., Bindon, K. Pectolytic enzyme reduces the concentration of colloidal particles in wine due to changes in polysaccharide structure and aggregation properties. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. DOI:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.08.043: 1-39; 2019.

2104 Grebneva, Y., Bellon, J.R., Herderich, M.J., Rauhut, D., Stoll, M., Hixson, J.L. Understanding yeast impact on 1,1,6-Trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene formation in Riesling wine through a formation-pathway-informed hydrolytic assay. J. Agric. Food Chem. DOI:10.1021/acs.jafc.9b03228: 9 p.; 2019.

2105 Coulter, A. Ask the AWRI: Spoilage issues in Pinot Noir. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (667): 68-69; 2019.

2106 Clarke, C.W., Norng, S., Carmody, B.M., Yuanpeng, D., Powell, K.S. Hot water immersion as a disinfestation treatment for grapevine root cutting against genetically diverse grape phylloxera Daktulophaira vitifoliae Fitch. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. DOI:10.1111/ajgw.12407: 1-8; 2019.

2107 Visalakshan, R.M., MacGregor, M.N., Sasidharan, S., Ghazaryan, A., Mierczynska-Vasilev, A.M., Morsbach, A., Mailänder. V., Landfester, K., Hayball, J.D., Vasilev, K. Biomaterial surface hydrophobicity-mediated serum protein adsorption and immune responses. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11(31): 27615-27623; 2019.

2108 Ghaemi, S.R., Delalat, B., Cavallaro, A., Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Vasilev, K., Voelcker, N.H. Differentiation of rat Mesenchymal stem cells towards osteogenic lineage on extracellular matrix protein gradients. Adv. Healthcare Mater. DOI:10.1002/adhm.201900595: 1-11; 2019.

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.

Skilled taster awarded wine judging opportunity

17 September 2019 >

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) announced this week that Sam Leyshon, from Mallaluka Wines in the Canberra District, was the dux of the 44th Advanced Wine Assessment Course.

Regulatory changes to the use of botrytis agrochemical

13 September 2019 >

Read the latest Ask the AWRI article.

A recent AWRI eBulletin cautioned wine exporters about shipments to the European Union after a change in the residue tolerance for the agrochemical iprodione – the active constituent in some agrochemicals used to control botrytis. It was recommended that wines be residue tested prior to shipment. The AWRl’s Marcel Essling answers some probing questions into the implications of the regulatory changes for this agrochemical.

Major grant supports international grape and wine researcher exchange

4 September 2019 >

A consortium of members of the Oenoviti International network of grape and wine research organisations has received a major EU-sponsored grant for international researcher exchange. Thirty-nine grape and wine researchers from the EU will be funded to spend time on sabbatical at either industry organisations in the EU or at relevant research institutions in New World wine-producing companies, thanks to the more than EUR 874,000 grant from the EU.

$11 million in new infrastructure funding to boost Adelaide research facility

3 September 2019 >

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) in Adelaide has secured a major infrastructure funding boost from a combination of Federal and State Government sources. Bioplatforms Australia, which manages investment funding through the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), together with the South Australian Government and the AWRI will collectively invest $11.1m for metabolomics and associated activities at the AWRI from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2023.