The Australian Wine Research Institute

The Australian Wine Research Institute Blog

eNews – February 2019

18 February 2019 >

Artist in residence

Postdoctoral project sheds light on red wine colour stability

New analytical method for ‘mousy’ compound

Canned wine study gets boost from food innovation funding

Smoke resources

BMSB alert

Agrochemical updates

AWRI Annual Report

AWITC registrations open

AWAC ballot closing soon

AWRI publications

Acknowledgements

Artist in residence
The Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT) is partnering with the AWRI on a new art + science residency. The AWRI will host an artist to work with its flavour chemistry and sensory research teams, led by Dr Leigh Francis, for 12 weeks during 2019. The residency is open to Australian artists working in any discipline and/or medium, and is believed to be the first wine science-focused artist’s residency in the world. More information for potential artists, including application documents, can be found on the ANAT website. Applications are due by 5 March 2019 and potential applicants can contact Vicki Sowry at ANAT (vicki@anat.org.au) or Dr Leigh Francis at the AWRI (leigh.francis@awri.com.au) for more information.

Since 2004, ANAT has brought artists and scientists together in research partnerships that have generated new knowledge, ideas and processes beneficial to both fields. Residencies have involved Australian science organisations hosting artists, leading to profound artistic and professional development for the participants, as well as building a sustainable support base for interdisciplinary creative collaboration in Australia.

Postdoctoral project sheds light on red wine colour stability

A visiting scientist from China, Dr Bo Teng, has recently completed a successful two-year postdoctoral project at the AWRI. Bo worked on red wine polymeric pigments and has drafted a manuscript on the kinetics of tannin-anthocyanin reactions, looking particularly at the quantity and stability of the polymeric pigments formed. His main findings were that larger tannins reacted more rapidly with anthocyanin, a trend observed for both skin and seed tannin. The polymeric pigments produced from seed or skin tannin showed different colloidal properties. When seed tannin reacted with anthocyanin, aggregate size increased and precipitation was initiated, resulting in colour loss. However, when skin tannin reacted with anthocyanin, the aggregation-precipitation phenomenon was not seen, and greater levels of polymeric pigment (and colour) were achieved.

This study highlights a potential pathway for pigment loss during winemaking and ageing, which might be managed by preferential extraction of, or supplementation with, skin tannin to stabilise colour early during fermentation. The results also may explain, in part, why wine tannin is primarily derived from the grape skin, and why commercial seed tannin additions neither improve wine colour nor tannin concentration.

New analytical method for ‘mousy’ compound
Mousy character is an off-flavour in wine that has been described as similar to the smell of caged mice. While there is wide variation in the ability of individuals to perceive this character, for sensitive individuals its presence can render a wine undrinkable. 2-Acetyltetrahydropyridine (ACTPY) is known to be one of the major compounds responsible for mousy off-flavour in wine. However, a practical and reliable method for measuring ACTPY in wine has not been available due to its unstable chemical nature and low odour threshold. The AWRI helpdesk team has recently developed a sensitive and simple method for the quantitation of ACTPY in wine, which has been published in the Journal of Chromatography A. The new method will be available for use in helpdesk investigations and research on mousy character in wine.

Canned wine study gets boost from food innovation funding

The AWRI has been successful in securing an innovation grant to support a study of the shelf life of wines packaged in cans. The study aims to understand the drivers behind aroma development in canned wines and identify ways to reduce the risk of short shelf life. This project will be delivered through an international industry consortium of eight major wine producers and packaging suppliers. The grant from the Enterprise Solution Centre Programme, administered by Food Innovation Australia Ltd, will provide matched funding to the study over a period of approximately 18 months.

Smoke resources

The AWRI has a range of resources related to smoke exposure and can provide technical support and analysis to regions affected by fire events. Key resources are all accessible from the smoke taint page on the AWRI website and information about analysis options can be found in the AWRI Commercial Services smoke analysis FAQ. For assistance following a smoke event, contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8 313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

BMSB alert
Australian Vignerons (now Australian Grape & Wine) recently issued an updated alert about detections of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) in Australia. Six post-border detections of BMSB have occurred since September 2018 in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, on a variety of imported cargo. Both live and dead bugs have been found. Grapegrowers and winemakers are urged to be vigilant about this pest, and to report any suspicious bugs to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881. The Department of Agriculture website has an excellent guide to identifying stink bugs that shows the differences between BMSB and a range of other stink bugs found in Australia.

Agrochemical updates

Two agrochemical updates have recently been distributed by the AWRI – one on an emergency permit to use certain metalaxyl products for control of downy mildew and one on a new permit for control of European wasps. To sign up to receive the latest agrochemical information, subscribe to the AWRI’s eBulletin or for more information, refer to the agrochemicals page on the AWRI website or contact the AWRI helpdesk on helpdesk@awri.com.au or 08 8 313 6600.

AWRI Annual Report
The 2018 AWRI Annual Report was distributed to levy payers and other stakeholders in December. It is also available online in pdf and ebook format. To request a hard copy, please contact Natalie Burgan on natalie.burgan@awri.com.au.

AWITC registrations open

Registrations are now open for the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference in Adelaide from 21 to 24 July 2019. This year’s conference incorporates the Australian Grape & Wine Outlook Conference and the McWilliam’s Maurice O’Shea Award Dinner, and will be complemented by WineTech – the Australian grape and wine industry’s premier trade exhibition. The program includes 11 plenary sessions and 34 workshops, with the workshops all held on a dedicated day (Sunday 21 July), so as not to conflict with the main conference program. Early bird pricing is available until 12 April 2019. Delegates are encouraged to register early to secure tickets to their preferred workshops. For assistance, please contact the AWITC office on info@awitc.com.au or 08 83136821.

AWAC ballot closing soon

If completing the AWRI’s Advanced Wine Assessment Course has always been on your ‘bucket list’, now is the time to make sure your name is in the ballot. Two AWAC courses will be held in May 2019. Register your details in the AWAC ballot now or check out the AWAC webpage for more information about the course. To be included in the ballot for AWAC 48 and 49, please register by Friday, 22 February. By registering now, you will also automatically be included in the ballots for future AWAC courses. Any queries? Contact the events team on 08 8313 6600 or events@awri.com.au.

Wines sought for long-term benchmarking

The AWRI is still seeking partners for a project that aims to follow a range of Australian wines for 10+ years across successive vintages. The project will use these wines to help understand emerging trends in Australian wine production as well how they develop with time. The AWRI is looking for partner wine producers to supply wine for this study on an ongoing basis. The commitment from producers would be to supply two cases of the latest vintage of the nominated wine on a yearly basis for at least the next 10 years. Each wine would be analysed post-bottling and at one, two, three, five, seven and ten-year time points for a wide range of chemical and microbiological markers. Each producer would receive a comprehensive analysis report at each time point and the anonymised overall results will be reported regularly as part of the project. Interested wine producers are invited to contact Dr Eric Wilkes (eric.wilkes@awri.com.au) for further information.

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).
  • Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI’ and ‘Vineyards of the world’ columns

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

2042 Bucher, T., Deroover, K., Stockley, C. Low-alcohol wine: A narrative review on consumer perception and behaviour. Beverages 4(4): 1-9; 2018

2043 Kontoudakis, N., Schmidtke, L.M., Bekker, M.Z., Smith, M., Smith, P.A., Scollary, G.R., Wilkes, E.N., Clark, A.C. Analytical strategies for measurement of different forms of Cu and Fe in wine: Comparison between approaches in relation to wine composition. Food Chem. 274: 89-99; 2019.

2044 Varela, J., Varela, C. Microbiological strategies to produce beer and wine with reduced ethanol concentration. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 56: 88-96; 2019.

2045 Godden, P. Ask the AWRI: Extended post-fermentation maceration. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (657): 70-71; 2018.

2046 Johnson, D. Adapting to forces of global change. WBM (November/December): 66-67; 2018.

2047 Tang, J., Petrie, P.R., Whitty. M. Modelling relationships between visible winegrape berries and bunch maturity. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 25(1): 116-126; 2019.

2048 Roach, M.J., Johnson, D.L., Bohlmann, J., van Vuuren H.J.J., Jones, S.J.M., Pretorius, I.S., Schmidt, S.A., Borneman, A.R. Population sequencing reveals clonal diversity and ancestral inbreeding in the grapevine cultivar Chardonnay. PLoS Genetics 14 (11: e1007807): 1-24; 2018.

2049 Zhou, J., Zhang, Z., Lu, M., Xiao, H., Habili, N., Li, S. Complete nucleotide sequence of a new virus, peach chlorotic leaf spot virus, isolated from flat peach in China. Arch. Virol. 163: 3459-3461; 2018.

2050 Mierczynski, P., Mierczynska, A., Ciesielski, R., Mosinska, M., Nowosielska, M., Czylkowska, A., Maniukiewicz, W., Szynkowska, M.I., Vasilev, K. High active and selective Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 and Pd–Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 catalysts for oxy-steam reforming of methanol. Catalysts 8(9): 1-20; 2018.

2051 Roach, M.J., Schmidt, S.A., Borneman, A.R. Purge haplotigs: allelic contig reassignment for third-gen diploid genome assemblies. BMC Bioinformatics 19 (460): 1-10; 2018.

2052 Gombau, J., Nadal, P., Canela, N., Gómez-Alonso, S., García-Romero, E., Smith, P., Hermosín-Gutiérrez, I., Canals, J.M., Zamora, F. Measurement of the interaction between mucin and oenological tannins by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR); relationship with astringency. Food Chem. 275: 397-406; 2018.

2053 Bekker, M.Z., Kreitman, G.Y., Jeffery, D.W., Danilewicz, J.C. Liberation of hydrogen sulfide from dicysteinyl polysulfanes in model wine. J. Agric. Food Chem. 66 (51): 13483–13491; 2018.

2054 Li, S., Bindon, K., Bastian, S., Wilkinson, K. Impact of commercial oenotannin and mannoprotein products on the chemical and sensory properties of Shiraz wines made from sequentially harvested fruit. Foods 7(204): 1-17; 2018.

2055 Hayasaka, Y. Quantitative analysis of mousy off-flavour compound 2-acetyl tetrahydropyridine in wine using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry interfaced with atmospheric chemical ionisation. J. Chromatogr. A 10.1016/j.chroma.2018.12.047; 2018.

2056 Petrie, P.R., Teng, B., Smith, P.A., Bindon, K.A. Managing high Baume juice using dilution. Wine Vitic. J. 34(1): 36-37; 2019.

2057 Costello, P., Jordans, C., Schmidt, S., Herderich, M., Johnson, D. Trials and tribulations of MLF: can timing of inoculations and MLF nutrients help? Wine Vitic. J. 34(1): 38-41; 2019.

2058 Dry, P. Pinotage. Wine Vitic. J. 34(1): 61; 2019.

2059 Longbottom, M. Reducing vineyard energy use. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (659): 44-45; 2018.

2060 Coulter, A. Understanding molecular SO2 calculators. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (660): 62-63; 2019.
2061 Varela, C., Bartel, C., Roach, M., Borneman, A., Curtin, C. Brettanomyces bruxellensis SSU1 haplotypes confer different sulfite tolerance when expressed in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae SSU1 null mutant. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02429-18

2062 Stockley, C. Ask the AWRI: Will I live longer if I drink alcohol? Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (661): 68-69; 2019.

2063 Avramova, M., Grbin, P., Borneman, A., Albertin, W., Masneuf-Pomarède, I., Varela, C. Competition experiments between Brettanomyces bruxellensis strains reveal specific adaptation to sulfur dioxide and complex interactions at intraspecies level. FEMS Yeast Res. doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foz010; 2019.

2064 Peter, J.J., Watson, T.L., Walker, M.E., Gardner, J.M., Lang, T.A., Borneman, A., Forgan, A., Tran, T., Jiranek, V. Use of a wine yeast deletion collection reveals genes that influence fermentation performance under low-nitrogen conditions. FEMS Yeast Res. doi: 10.1093/femsyr/foy009; 2018.

2065 Petrie, P.R., Wang, Y., Liu, S., Lam, S., Whitty, M.A., Skewes, M.A. The accuracy and utility of a low cost thermal camera and smartphone-based system to assess grapevine water status. Biosystems Eng. 179: 126-139; 2019.

2066 Di Lorenzo, C., Stockley, C., Colombo, F., Biella, S., Orgiu, F., Dell’Agli, M., Restani, P. The role of wine in modulating inflammatory processes: a review. Beverages 4(4): 1-17; 2018.

2067 Bucher, T., Deroover, K., Stockley, C. Low-alcohol wine: a narrative review on consumer perception and behaviour. Beverages 4(4): 1-9; 2018.

2068 Smith, H.M., Clarke, C.W., Smith, B.P., Carmody, B.M., Thomas, M.R., Clingeleffer, P.R., Powell, K.S. Genetic identification of SNP markers linked to a new grape phylloxera resistant locus in Vitis cinerea for marker-assisted selection. BMC Plant Biology 18: 1-13; 2018.

2069 Kutyna, D., Borneman, A.R. Heterologous production of flavour and aroma compounds in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes 9(7): 1-15; 2018.

2070 Wahono, S.K., Cavallaro, A., Vasilev, K., Mierczynska, A. Plasma polymer facilitated magnetic technology for removal of oils from contaminated waters. Environ. Pollution 240: 725-732; 2018.

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 February 2019 issue available online

14 February 2019 >

The February 2019 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
  • Liberation of hydrogen sulfide from dicysteinyl polysulfanes in model wine
  • Modelling relationships between visible winegrape berries and bunch maturity
  • Adapting to forces of global change
  • Ask the AWRI: extended post-fermentation maceration
  • Microbiological strategies to produce beer and wine with reduced ethanol concentration
  • Analytical strategies for the measurement of different forms of Cu and Fe in wine: Comparison between approaches in relation to wine composition
  • Low-alcohol wine: a narrative review on consumer perception and behaviour
Current literature – oenology
  • Two tribes: conventional vs natural wine in Australia
  • Stealing, counterfeiting and smuggling wine
  • Winemaking options for lighter wines
  • Malolactic fermentation in barrel or steel tanks – what are the phenolic and sensorial differences?
  • Influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lachancea thermotolerans co-inoculation on volatile profile in fermentations of a must with a high sugar content
  • Application of visible/near infrared spectroscopy to assess the grape infection at the winery
  • Effect of the winemaking process on the volatile composition and aromatic profile of Tempranillo Blanco wines
  • Consumers wine preferences according to purchase occasion: personal consumption and gift-giving
  • Solid solutions for dealing with leftover grape marc
Current literature – viticulture
  • Effect of water stress and elevated temperature on hypoxia and cell death in the mesocarp of Shiraz berries
  • The EU threatens organic viticulture
  • Working with the wind
  • Does mechanical harvesting provide superior grapes?
  • Taking yield forecasting into the digital age
  • New approach of simultaneous, multi‐perspective imaging for quantitative assessment of the compactness of grape bunches
  • Delaying winter pruning, after pre‐pruning, alters budburst, leaf area, photosynthesis, yield and berry composition in Sangiovese (Vitis vinifera L.)
  • Advances in nursery-vineyard management and healthy and disease-resistant plants
  • Emerging varietals
  • The viticultural and marketing road to alternative varieties. Part 2: the marketing and making

Agrochemical update February 2019 – Wasp control permit

13 February 2019 >

13 February 2019

Wasp control permit

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has approved a permit for control of European wasps (PER86492) to be used nationally. The permit is for use of the active ingredient non-repellent fipronil (100 g/L) in orchards, vineyards and berry farms, and is in force from 14 September 2018 to 30 September 2023. The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is the permit holder.

An outline of the approved baiting method is provided below. It is mandatory that all instructions detailed in the permit and label are followed.

BAITING TECHNIQUE

Bait station

Use 130 mm EnviroSafe™ fly traps (available from hardware stores) to house the bait. The traps require 23 mm holes drilled into adjacent sides of the trap body using a spade-bit wood drill for wasps to enter and exit. The label provided in the permit must be attached to the trap.

Non-poisoned baits

To establish a wasp-feeding habit and to establish that non-target species are not being attracted to the food, start with a non-poisoned 85 g tin of cat food. European wasps are more attracted to seafood or sardine cat foods.

Place non-poisoned cat food into the EnviroSafe™ fly trap and install the traps following permit instructions.

Ensure traps are less than 150 m apart. European wasps have been sighted up to 500 m from their hive but prefer to forage within 100–150 m.

Monitor until 3–5 wasps are feeding during the warmest part of the day. European wasps smell food on other wasps returning to the nest and follow their co-workers back to the food source. They will generally eat the bait and fly back to the nest to feed the queen and larvae.

Once 3–5 wasps are identified feeding on non-poisoned baits and there is no risk to native or non-target pests, remove non-poisoned cat food. Care should be taken when wasps are active to avoid being stung.

Poisoned baits

Replace non-poisoned bait with a poisoned bait by adding 3–4 drops 100 g/L non-repellent fipronil (equivalent to 17.5 mg fipronil) to 85 g of cat food, mix thoroughly and reinstall into the EnviroSafe™ fly trap.

It is important to apply the correct dose, because if more than four drops are used the European wasps will die before returning to the nest and the poison will not reach the target.

When the returning worker returns to the nest and dies from ingesting fipronil, it is cannibalised, and this is how the rest of the nest is poisoned.

Allow three to seven days for the nest to be killed.

End of baiting program

At the end of the baiting program all poisoned baits are to be buried 500 mm below ground and fipronil containers should be disposed of at an approved management facility when empty.

Record-keeping

Records required as per APVMA PER86492:

  • date and location of bait placement
  • amount of product used
  • names and address of persons undertaking use
  • pre-baiting non-target monitoring and observations.

Further reading

NSW DPI fact sheet on the European wasp pilot control program 2018 – 2019. Available from: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/837337/European-wasp-pilot-control-program-2018-19.pdf.

For more information or to request a copy of the ‘Dog book’, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Acknowledgement

Bruce Browne from NSW DPI is thanked for his assistance in getting this permit extended from NSW to all states.

This information is provided to inform the Australian grape and wine sector and should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product.

Reducing vineyard energy use

15 January 2019 >

Read the latest Ask the AWRI

Fuel and electricity use are both major costs and sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in vineyards. Pumping irrigation and tractor use are the two largest sources of energy use in vineyards. If energy use is high, it is important to consider whether alternative practices with potential to reduce energy demand can be implemented. This column provides answers to questions about ways to reduce water demand or the need to run tractors; however, it is recommended that growers carry out vineyard trials to evaluate changed practices at the local scale.

Trials and tribulations of MLF: can timing of inoculation and MLF nutrients help?

>

Read the latest AWRI Report

Co-inoculation of malolactic starter cultures and the use of specific malolactic nutrients are two approaches aimed at improving the efficiency of malolactic fermentation. This report summarises the main findings of several winery-scale studies carried out over two vintages investigating the effects of these techniques on MLF efficiency and wine chemical and sensory properties.

Agrochemical update: emergency use permit for metalaxyl/metalaxyl-M products

19 December 2018 >

The APVMA has issued an off-label permit enabling the use of certain metalaxyl and metalaxyl-M formulations that are not registered for grapevines. It is essential that growers read the permit prior to use and comply with all the conditions. The permit has been issued due to possible shortages of the products registered for grapes. It is preferable that growers seek out the products registered for grapes. The permit will be available from the APVMA website shortly. This agrochemical update is being issued now to allow growers time to source products, if needed.

Products to be used:

TRIUMPH 240 FUNGICIDE (APVMA Approval No. 84103)
PLUS OTHER REGISTERED PRODUCTS
Containing: 240 g/L METALAXYL-M as their only active constituent

ACCENSI METALAXYL 250 EC SYSTEMIC FUNGICIDE (APVMA Approval No.70182)
PLUS OTHER REGISTERED PRODUCTS
Containing: 250 g/L METALAXYL as their only active constituent.

RIDOMIL GOLD 480 EC SYSTEMIC FUNGICIDE (APVMA Approval No.50267)
PLUS OTHER REGISTERED PRODUCTS
Containing: 480 g/L METALAXYL-M as their only active constituent.

Directions for use:

Crop Disease Rate
Grapevines Downy mildew
(Plasmopara viticola)		 240 g/L Metalaxyl-M products:
46mL/100L
250g/L Metalaxyl products:
90mL/100L
480 g/L Metalaxyl-M products:
23mL/100L

Important things to note:
The permit is valid for a limited period (18 December 2018 to 1 May 2019). Growers should not buy more than is needed for this season, because excess stock will not be permitted for use in subsequent seasons.

Downy mildew resistance to metalaxyl and metalaxyl-M is known in Australia. It is a condition of the permit that any metalaxyl spray includes another registered downy mildew protectant fungicide. Copper formulations and mancozeb are multi-site fungicides registered for downy mildew which can be used up to 30 days before harvest on grapes destined for export wine.

Critical use comments:

  • Use in a protectant program. Limit the use of Group 4 (Group D) fungicides to periods when conditions favour disease development.
  • Spray at 7 to 21 day intervals using a protectant or non-phenylamide fungicide, not Group 4 (Group D). Use the shorter interval under prolonged humid and wet conditions.
  • When conditions favour downy mildew development (prolonged humid and wet conditions) apply 2 consecutive sprays of Group 4 (Group D) fungicides at the shorter interval.
  • Apply before the first sign of oil spots or as soon as possible after the infection period.
  • DO NOT apply more than 2 consecutive sprays of a Group 4 (Group D) product.
  • Resume the program of protectant sprays.
  • Apply a maximum of 4 Group 4 (Group D) sprays per season.
  • DO NOT apply to grapevines in flower in QLD. Minor phytotoxic reactions of some varieties of grapes may occur under certain conditions.
  • Metalaxyl and metalaxyl-M are curative fungicides and should be tank mixed with a registered downy mildew protectant fungicide.
  • Use in accordance with CropLife anti-resistance strategy.
  • DO NOT apply more than a combined total of 4 metalaxyl or metalaxyl-M sprays per season.

Withholding period:

Harvest: DO NOT harvest for 7 days after last application

Note: With the use of this permit in a tank mix with another product, the longest of the products’ withholding periods would apply.

For grapes destined for export wine users should refer to recommendations as included in the AWRI publication Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture 2018/2019. For products containing metalaxyl and metalaxyl-M the publication recommends to Use no later than 30 days before harvest.

Growers with any concerns regarding use should contact their grape purchaser or winery.

Jurisdiction:

ALL States except Victoria
(Note: Victoria is not included in this permit as their ‘control-of-use’ legislation means that a permit is not required to legalise this off-label use in Victoria).

For more information or to request a copy of the ‘Dog book’, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on (08) 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au.

This information is provided to inform the Australian grape and wine sector and should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product.

Christmas closure

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The AWRI will be closed over the Christmas/New Year period from 5:00pm on Friday 21 December and will re-open at 8:30am on Wednesday 2 January 2019.

AWRI Commercial Services
The Commercial Services laboratories will be closed from 5:00pm on Friday 21 December and will re-open at 9.00am on Monday 7 January 2019.

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 0448 889 432 or helpdesk@awri.com.au for winemaking technical problem solving issues.

Mardi Longbottom 0431 830 922 or helpdesk@awri.com.au for viticulture and agrochemical issues.

Library
The John Fornachon Memorial Library will be closed from 5:00pm on Friday 21 December and will re-open at 9.00am on Monday 7 January 2019. 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 2018 issue available online

13 December 2018 >

The December 2018 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
  • Systems-based approaches enable identification of gene targets which improve the flavour profile of low-ethanol wine yeast strains
  • Provenance, preference and Pivot: exploring premium Shiraz with international sommeliers and Australian winemakers using a new rapid sensory method
  • Vintage 2018 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk
  • Practical measurement of total SO2 in wine
  • Late pruning and elevated temperature impact on phenology, yield components and berry traits in Shiraz
  • Ask the AWRI: using composted grape marc in the vineyard
Current literature – oenology
  • How much wine is really produced and consumed in China, Hong Kong, and Japan
  • Cold maceration application in red wine production and its effects on phenolic compounds: a review
  • Australian wineries increase uptake of crossflow filtration and flotation but should they embrace more technologies?
  • Evaluation of the yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus for use in wine production
  • Reaction mechanisms of oxygen and sulfite in red wine
  • Utilization of ‘early green harvest’ and non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts as a combined approach to face climate change in winemaking
  • An ancient winemaking technology: exploring the volatile composition of amphora wines
  • Impact of temperature during bulk shipping on the chemical composition and sensory profile of a Chardonnay wine
  • Automating cork quality control
Current literature – viticulture
  • Viticultural mapping by UAVs, part 2: applying unmanned aerial vehicles in viticulture
  • Grapevine rootstocks result in differences in leaf composition (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot Noir) detected through non‐invasive fluorescence sensor technology
  • Remote sensing applications for viticultural terroir analysis
  • UC Davis Seminar highlights effects of exposure, heat and stress on grape development and wine quality
  • Reducing herbicide use in New Zealand vineyards
  • Leaf removal effects on Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot: I. Crop yield components and primary fruit composition
  • Development of an additional phylloxera detection method
  • Botrytis control gets a shake up
  • Advances on fungal phytotoxins and their role in grapevine trunk diseases
  • Is Europe starting to embrace hybrid wine grapes? Need to reduce pesticide use, better hybrid quality and disease resistance sparking renewed interest

eNews – November 2018

27 November 2018 >

Final webinar for 2018 presents vintage climate outlook

Uptake of winemaking technologies across Australia

Long-term benchmarking of Australian wines

New AWRI Board member

Awards to celebrate

National Geographic documentary

AWITC poster submissions open

Recent developments from across the ditch

AWRI publications

Acknowledgements

Final webinar for 2018 presents vintage climate outlook
There’s just one webinar left in the AWRI webinar program for 2018. Coming up on Thursday, 6 December, Darren Ray from the Bureau of Meteorology will present the seasonal weather and climate outlook for the 2019 vintage. Don’t miss the chance to find out the predictions for vintage conditions in your region. Darren will also provide information on the latest weather information tools available to assist with decision-making. Register now!

December is also a great time to catch up on any of the webinars you may have missed over the past three months. For example, recent presentations on downy mildew control and salinity are still very relevant for this time of the year. The full list of webinars presented in 2018 with links to the videos on YouTube is on the AWRI webinar page. Coming up after vintage in 2019 there will be a new series of webinars featuring common laboratory methods – stay tuned!

Uptake of winemaking technologies across Australia

Earlier in the year, AWRI Senior Engineer Dr Simon Nordestgaard gave a keynote presentation to the 2018 Australian Winery Engineering Association Conference entitled ‘Trends in wine production technology & future challenges’. In his presentation Simon provided statistics on the uptake in Australia of a range of winery technologies, based on the AWRI’s major survey of grape and wine industry practices. Some of the technologies covered included cross-flow filtration, ferment sensors, methods for juice clarification, cold stabilisation options, destemmers and sorting equipment. He also discussed some technologies that have not been adopted in Australia and possible reasons why. The slides from Simon’s presentation are now available from the Winery Engineering Association website. Slides from other presentations at the conference are also available – including from the cross-industry oxygen management forum, which featured AWRI Research Scientist Dr Martin Day’s research on oxygen use in winemaking.

Long-term benchmarking of Australian wines
Understanding how packaged wine develops over time is an important aspect of wine science and adds context to a wide range of research underway at the AWRI. To gain further insights into wine development, a long-term project has been initiated to follow a range of Australian wines for 10+ years across successive vintages. This project will use these wines to help understand emerging trends in Australian wine production as well how they develop with time.

The AWRI is looking for partner wine producers to supply the wine for this study on an ongoing basis.The commitment from producers would be to supply two cases of the latest vintage of the nominated wine on a yearly basis for at least the next 10 years. Each wine would be analysed post-bottling and at one, two, three, five, seven and ten-year time points for a wide range of chemical and microbiological markers. Each producer would receive a comprehensive analysis report at each time point and the anonymised overall results will be reported regularly as part of the project.

The target is to have ten wines (five red and five white) to create this benchmark series. Ideally the wines will be single variety and from a relatively consistent source, allowing reasonable comparison from year to year. It is also hoped that the benchmark wines will be representative of typical commercial wines produced in Australia. Interested wine producers are invited to contact Dr Eric Wilkes (eric.wilkes@awri.com.au) for further information.

New AWRI Board member

Marcus Woods, Wine Supply Director at Pernod Ricard Winemakers, has been appointed as the newest member of the AWRI Board. Marcus fills a position vacated by Ben Bryant, who left Australia to take up a winemaking position in Canada earlier this year. Marcus holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Viticulture and an MBA. He has more than 18 years of viticultural and operational management experience, working across Australia managing vineyards, wineries and distilleries. He has also taught Winery Business Management at the University of Adelaide.

Awards to celebrate
Congratulations are in order for several AWRI staff, following a busy wine industry awards season! Senior Research Scientist Dr Bob Dambergs recently accepted an invitation to become a fellow of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) at this year’s ASVO Awards for Excellence. This honour recognises a long career in grape and wine science, with significant contributions in the practical application of spectroscopy.

On the same night, Research Scientist Dr Tracey Siebert was recognised as one of the authors of the paper that won the inaugural Peter May award for most cited paper in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research. The winning paper was Scarlett, N.J., Bramley, R.G.V., Siebert, T.E. Within-vineyard variation in the ‘pepper’ compound rotundone is spatially structured and related to variation in the land underlying the vineyard. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res.20(2): 214-222; 2014.

Then, just a few days later, Senior Research Scientist Dr Jacqui McRae was named the Researcher/Innovator of the Year for 2018 at the Australian Women in Wine Awards in Sydney. This award recognised Jacqui’s work in wine protein chemistry and the development of a new heat test for protein stability in wine. Congratulations to Bob, Tracey and Jacqui for their hard work and dedication to our industry.

National Geographic documentary

The AWRI featured in a recent National Geographic documentary Great Innovators: The Rise of Australian Wine. This documentary, which was shown globally, provides a good insight into some of the key developments in the rise of Australian wine since the 1950s. The video is available for viewing online.

AWITC poster submissions open
Poster abstract submissions are now open for the 17th Australian Wine Industry Conference, coming up in Adelaide on 21-24 July 2019. Posters are a popular part of the AWITC and are displayed throughout the conference. They provide an opportunity for researchers and students to report on ‘late-breaking’ work, for researchers to interact directly with delegates, and to show industry where research is heading. In addition, the abstracts submitted will be used to select presenters in the two Fresh Science sessions within the main conference program. Poster abstracts can be submitted via the link on the AWITC website and are due by 12 April 2019. Conference registration will open in February 2019. To keep up with the latest AWITC news, sign up for the AWITC email mailing list.

Recent developments from across the ditch

Earthquakes experienced in New Zealand over recent years have led to some important changes in the NZ wine industry, particularly in terms of tank design and anchoring systems as well as insurance. While earthquakes may not be top of mind for Australian producers, these developments may still be highly relevant to Australian wineries. Presentations on seismic tank design and anchoring and winery insurance were some of the highlights from the recent NZ Winery Engineering Association Conference in Napier, NZ. Slides from the conference are now available for download.

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).
  • Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI’ and ‘Vineyards of the world’ columns

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

2031 Moran, M., Petrie, P., Sadras, V. Late pruning and elevated temperature impact on phenology, yield components and berry traits in Shiraz. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. DOI: 10.5344/ajev.2018.18031: 1-25; 2018.

2032 Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Mierczynski, P., Maniukiwicz, W., Visalakshan, R.M., Vasilev, K., Smith, P.A. Magnetic separation technology: Functional group efficiency in the removal of haze-forming proteins from wines. Food Chem. 275: 154-160; 2018.

2033 Chen, L., Capone, D.L., Jeffery, D.W. Identification and quantitative analysis of 2-methyl-4-propyl-1,3-oxathiane in wine. J. Agric. Food Chem. 66 (41): 10808-10815; 2018.

2034 Mierczynski, P., Mierczynska, A., Ciesielski, R., Maniukiewicz, W., Rogowski, J., Maniecki, T.P., Dubkov, S., Sysa, A., Gromov, D., Szynkowska, M.I., Vasilev, K. Modern Ni and Pd-Ni catalysts supported on Sn-Al binary oxide for oxy-steam reforming of methanol. Energy Technol.6 (9): 1687-1699; 2018.

2035 Essling, M. Ask the AWRI: Using composted grape marc in the vineyard. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (656): 48-49; 2018.

2036 Cowey, G. Ask the AWRI: Winemaking with high pH, high TA and high potassium fruit. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (657): 80-81; 2018.

2037 Wilkes, E. Practical measurement of total SO2 in wine. Wine Vitic. J. 33 (4): 32-34; 2018.

2038 Coulter, A., Cowey, G., Petrie, P., Essling, M., Holdstock, M., Simos, C., Johnson, D. Vintage 2018 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk. Wine Vitic. J. 33 (4): 39-41; 2018.

2039 Pearson, W., Schmidtke, L., Francis, L., Blackman, J. Provenance, preference and Pivot: exploring premium Shiraz with international sommeliers and Australian winemakers using a new rapid sensory method. Wine Vitic. J. 33 (4): 35-38; 2018.

2040 Dry, P. Pinot Blanc. Wine Vitic. J. 33 (4): p. 65; 2018.

2041 Varela, C., Schmidt, S.A., Borneman, A.R., Pang, C.N.I., Kromerx, J.O., Khan, A., Song, X.M., Hodson, M.P., Solomon, M., Mayr, C.M., Hines, W., Pretorius, I.S., Baker, M.S., Roessner, U., Mercurio, M., Henschke, P.A., Wilkins, M.R., Chambers, P.J. Systems-based approaches enable identification of gene targets which improve the flavour profile of low-ethanol wine yeast strains. Metabolic Eng. 49: 178-191; 2018.

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.

Extended post-fermentation maceration

20 November 2018 >

Read the latest Ask the AWRI article now.

This article continues a series examining treatments used in the AWRI’s winemaking treatment trials, which have been the subject of tastings staged around Australia since 2016.