Discovering the microbial diversity in Indigenous Australian fermentations

AWRI Senior Research Scientist Cristian Varela recently travelled to the Central Highlands region of Tasmania as part of the project team and collected samples of sugar-rich sap from the cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii), known to be the raw material for production of the traditional fermented drink way-a-linah.

Soil and bark samples were also collected. Microbes present in these samples will be isolated and characterised using metagenomic techniques. Further work will assess the fermentation properties of the isolated microbes. In other elements of the project, University of Adelaide researchers will consider historical and anthropological aspects of the production of these fermented foods and beverages and will investigate the composition of saps, nectars and other fermentation substrates.

New grants available to help improve energy efficiency

Several state government departments are currently offering heavily subsidised energy audits to businesses to help identify and implement opportunities to reduce energy use. The type of audits offered under these programs are sufficiently detailed to investigate process efficiency, which can bring a range of benefits in addition to reduced electricity costs.

For both vineyards and wineries, energy audits provide a great opportunity to explore practice change and new technology options. An energy audit can investigate the applicability of solar and other renewable energy options, as well as battery storage technologies which are a rapidly evolving area.

Information about the various state government programs can be found at the following links.

• South Australia: Energy Productivity Program (ends May 31)
• New South Wales: Energy Saver Program
• Victoria: Energy Assessment Grants

AWRI Commercial Services has a wealth of experience in conducting energy audits and identifying ways to reduce energy usage in winemaking and viticulture. Contact the team on 08 8313 6600 or commercialservices@awri.com.au to find out how to access these programs and to discuss the supporting grants that are available.

Managing powdery mildew-affected fruit in the winery

Partnering in a new Cooperative Research Centre

Earlier this month the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Senator the Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO announced that a new Cooperative Research Centre, the Food Agility CRC, will be funded with $50m over ten years. The overall goal for this CRC is to empower Australia’s food industry to grow its comparative advantage through digital transformation. The CRC bid was led by the Knowledge Economy Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), together with QUT and Curtin University.

The AWRI is a partner in the CRC and this partnership will focus on activities that increase the value of the Australian wine industry’s sustainability program, Entwine, including:

• Harmonising existing digital platforms that support food safety and sustainability
• Incorporating economic data into the Entwine benchmarking capability
• Incorporating new and existing decision support tools into Entwine
• Gaining an improved understanding of how to influence consumer purchasing using sustainability credentials and an enhanced ability to engage with consumers directly.

Details of these activities will be confirmed over the next couple of months, and work is expected to begin on 1 July 2017.

Is your bentonite up to the task?

AWRI Commercial Services is running a performance benchmarking trial for commercial bentonite products and is looking for expressions of interest from both wine producers and suppliers. The focus of the trial will be the changes in metal concentrations seen in white wines treated with different types of bentonites and the influence of wine properties on the bentonites’ performance characteristics.

For more information about the trial or to register interest, please contact AWRI Commercial Services on CommercialServices@awri.com.au.

Trial background

A recent AWRI study showed that different commercial bentonite products have the potential to affect the speed of clarification, flocculation of lees and transfer of metals, both into and out of wine during stabilisation. They can also have a significant impact on wine aroma and flavour.

The upcoming trial will benchmark the effectiveness of bentonite products in achieving protein stabilisation for commercial white wines. Key performance indicators will include:

• Dosage rate required to achieve protein stability
• Settling rate
• Lees compaction (volume)
• Impact on metals profile
• Impact on colour and phenolics

Sensory evaluation of the treated wines will also be carried out to determine the impact of the different bentonites on key flavour and aroma attributes. The trial is expected to commence in April and wrap up by September.

Pre-fermentation heating of red grapes

Pre-fermentation heating of red grapes can greatly speed up the extraction of skin colour, meaning less time required on skins and reduced demand on expensive red fermenters. It can also be used to denature laccase, remove ‘green’ aromas, and produce different red wine styles. A recent article that reviewed this practice, published in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, is now available from the AWRI website.

Science and Innovation Award winner

Crush 2017 – save the date!

The next Crush symposium will be held at the Waite Campus in Adelaide on 13 and 14 November 2017. This event provides an opportunity for researchers, technical staff, academics and students to share the latest knowledge in grape and wine science in Australia and develop industry and research collaborations.

The program and abstracts from the previous Crush symposium can be viewed here.

For more information, visit the Crush 2017 homepage or contact the WIC Executive Officer, Francesca Blefari, on wiceo@awri.com.au. Expressions of interest to present at Crush 2017 will open shortly.

New eBooks

Five new eBooks have recently been added to the AWRI’s collection, with topics covering wine tasting, Zinfandel, grapevine yellows diseases and Californian wine regions. To review the latest titles, visit the AWRI website and select from one of the two available eBook platforms. For further information on using the collection, please consult the online guides or contact the AWRI information services team.

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

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

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

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

1883 Longbottom, M. Ask the AWRI: Grapevine tissue analysis. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (635): 36-37; 2016.

1884 Johnson, D. 2016 Report: Progress and impact. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (635): 56-59; 2016.

1885 Abbott, T. AWRI Ferment Simulator joins the cloud. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (635): 72-73; 2016.

1886 Coulter, A. Ask the AWRI: Understanding molecular SO₂. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (636): 76; 2017.

1887 Goold, H.D., Kroukamp, H., Williams, T.C., Paulsen, I.T., Varela, C., Pretorius, I.S. Yeast’s balancing act between ethanol and glycerol production in low-alcohol wines. Microb. Biotechnol. 10(2): 264-278; 2017.

1888 Culbert, J.A., McRae, J.M., Condé, B.C., Schmidtke, L.M., Nicholson, E.L., Smith, P.A., Howell, K.S., Boss, P.K., Wilkinson, K.L. Influence of production method on the chemical composition, foaming properties, and quality of Australian carbonated sparkling white wines. J. Agric. Food Chem. 65(7): 1378-1386; 2017.

1889 Bindon, K., Kassara, S., Smith, P.A. Towards a model of grape tannin extraction under wine-like conditions: the role of suspended mesocarp material and anthocyanin concentration. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 23(1): 22-32; 2017.

1890 Li, S., Bindon, K., Bastian, S.E.P., Jiranek, V., Wilkinson, K.L. Use of winemaking supplements to modify the composition and sensory properties of Shiraz wine. J. Agric. Food Chem. 65(7): 1353-1364; 2017.

1891 Longbottom, M. Advanced Wine Assessment Course scholarship, wine show judge register and Mildura seminar. Wine Vitic. J. 32(1): 10; 2017.

1892 Longbottom, M., Robinson, E., Johnson, D. Building resilience in the face of a changing climate. Wine Vitic. J. 32(1): 32-34; 2017.

1893 Dry, P. Harslevelu. Wine Vitic. J. 32(1): 59; 2017.

1894 Parker, M., Capone, D.L., Francis, I.L., Herderich, M.J. Aroma precursors in grapes and wine: flavor release during wine production and consumption. J. Agric. Food Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b05255; 2017.

1895 Hunter, A., Dayalan, S., De Souza, D., Power, B., Lorrimar, R., Szabo, T., Nguyen, T., O’Callaghan, S., Hack, J., Pyke, J., Nahid, A., Barrero, R., Roessner, U., Likic, V., Tull, D., Bacic, A., McConville, M., Bellgard, M. MASTR-MS: a web-based collaborative laboratory information management system (LIMS) for metabolomics. Metabolomics 13(2): 1-9; 2017.

1896 Petrie, P. Ask the AWRI: Assessing and managing disease levels close to harvest. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (637): 32-33; 2017.

1897 Nordestgaard, S. Pre-fermentation heating of red grapes: a useful tool to manage compressed vintages? Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (637): 54-58; 2017.

1898 Stockley, C.S. Taylor, A.W., Montgomerie, A., Dal Grande, E. Changes in wine consumption are influenced most by health: results from a population survey of South Australians in 2013. Int. J. Wine Res. 9: 13-22; 2017.

1899 Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Smith, P.A. Adsorption of wine constituents on functionalized surfaces. Molecules 21(10):1394; 2016.

Acknowledgement

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

Happy New (Events) Year!

Ferment Simulator now available

The AWRI has just launched an online version of its Ferment Simulator. This free app, hosted on the AWRI’s WineCloud platform, brings the power of the algorithms from the original Excel-based Ferment Simulator into a new online format designed for ease of use on both desktops and mobile devices.

Ready to go for vintage 2017, the new Ferment Simulator can be used to store all ferment-related data. This includes baume and temperature readings, juice analysis, actions like pump-overs and additions, and any other analysis performed on the tank. The data collected feeds the algorithms which predict ferment endpoints and identify stuck or sluggish ferments to aid early intervention.

Powerful What-If and What-Now modes allow modelling of corrective actions before going out to the tank. A digital archive of ferment data also allows users to search back through their ferment history, view old ferments and compare performance. The Ferment Simulator is available free for Australian wine producers – for more information and to register for an account, visit the Ferment Simulator webpage.

Understanding regional spray practices

Findings from the project will be disseminated through the new AWRI workshop ‘Improving quality and reducing costs’, with a presentation of spray data from the relevant region included in each workshop.

Prior to each workshop, local input will be sought to provide context to the spray data in terms of the varieties planted and disease pressure experienced in that region. Case studies for growers will also be developed as the project progresses. For more information, contact the AWRI helpdesk on helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Two yeast reviews published

Late in 2016 two review articles on wine yeast were published by AWRI scientists. The first, titled ‘Yeasts found in vineyards and wineries’ and published in the journal Yeast, summarises the wide range of yeasts isolated from vineyards, wineries and ferments by scientists across the world. The second, titled ‘The impact of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the production of alcoholic beverages’ explores research on the effects of non-Saccharomyces yeasts on the composition and sensory characteristics of wine and other beverages. It also looks at future opportunities involving interactions between yeast species and ways to express regional characters in alcoholic beverages. To request a copy of either of these two review articles, please contact the AWRI Information Services team on infoservices@awri.com.au.

Grapes needed for smoke taint background study

The smoke taint baseline study is collecting data on the natural ‘background levels’ of smoke taint compounds that are present in grapes that have not been exposed to smoke. Improved smoke taint analysis interpretations will enable winemakers to make better decisions about whether to accept/reject grapes that might have been exposed to smoke.

If you can collect samples, the AWRI will send you sample bags, cable ties and labels, as well as information about shipment and possible quarantine requirements. All sample transport costs will be covered. To volunteer to provide samples or for any further information, please contact helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Regional sample drop-off locations sought

AWRI Commercial Services is seeking to establish drop-off locations in regions across Australia. Grape and wine producers will be able to leave samples at these locations to be couriered to the AWRI laboratories. The goal of this service is not to compete with local providers of analytical services, but instead to provide easier access to services not available locally, such as smoke taint analysis and other advanced analytical techniques. The Hunter Valley is likely to be the first region to host one of these drop-off locations.

It is expected that sample login and payment would be carried out by the customer through the AWRI’s web-based login service and would not require any input from the drop-off location provider. For more information or to express interest, please contact Dr Eric Wilkes (eric.wilkes@awri.com.au) or 08 8313 6600.

Introducing Showrunner

The AWRI’s Advanced Wine Assessment Course last year introduced electronic scoring – a move that was positively received by participants and allowed the course to run more smoothly and efficiently. The in-house scoring software has now been expanded into a new system, known as Showrunner, that can manage all aspects of running a wine show – including online entries, electronic scoring and instant results. Showrunner was successfully used at the recent Hunter Valley and Orange wine shows and is available for other shows to use in 2017.

Key features of the system include: the ability for exhibitors to enter wines across multiple shows, instant availability of results, capturing of both scores and comments from judges and the ability to calculate trophy winners. Showrunner is constantly being updated and improved based on user feedback, to ensure it will suit a wide range of wine shows across Australia. To find out more about Showrunner, contact Con Simos or Francesca Blefari on 08 8 313 6600 or events@awri.com.au.

What’s new in eBooks?

Six new eBooks have recently been added to the AWRI’s collection, with topics covering the China wine market, winery design and architecture, Burgundy, Bordeaux and biodynamic wine. To review the latest titles, visit the AWRI website and select from one of the two available eBook platforms. For further information on using the collection, please consult the online guides or contact the AWRI information services team.

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

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

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

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

1873 Varela, C., Borneman, A.R. Yeasts found in wineries and vineyards. Yeast doi: 10.1002/yea.3219; 2016.

1874 Hixson, J.L., Hayasaka, Y., Curtin, C.D., Sefton, M.A., Taylor, D.K. Hydroxycinnamoyl glucose and tartrate esters and their role in the formation of Ethylphenols in wine. J. Agric. Food Chem. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b04074; 2016.

1875 Kontoudakis, N., Smith, M., Guo, A., Smith, P.A., Scollary, G.R., Wilkes, E.N., Clark, A.C. The impact of wine components on fractionation of Cu and Fe in model wine systems: Macromolecules, phenolic and sulfur compounds. Food Res. Int. doi: 10.1016/J.foodres.2016.11.017; 2016.

1876 Stockley, C. Ask the AWRI: Wine consumption and brain health. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (634): p. 82; 2016.

1877 Taylor, A.W., Shi, Z., Dal Grande, E., Stockley, C. The relationship between alcohol consumption and other risk factors assessed using an ongoing population-based surveillance system. AIMS Public Health 3 (4): 985-1002; 2016.

1878 Longbottom, M. ASVO acknowledges industry excellence and exemplary contributions. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (6): 10-11; 2016.

1879 Wilkes, E. Is it the closure or the wine? Wine Vitic. J. 31 (6): 22, 24-25; 2016.

1880 Bekker, M.Z., Smith, P.A., Wilkes, E.N., Johnson, D. Wine pH, copper and ‘reductive’ aromas in wines. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (6): 36-38; 2016.

1881 Stockley, C., Triggs, R. Wine labelling regulations reviewed – health-related and compositional claims, geographical indications and traditional expressions. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (6): 63-65; 2016.

1882 Pardo-Garcia, A.I., Wilkinson, K.L., Culbert, J.A., Lloyd, N.D.R., Alonso, G.L., Salinias, M.R. Accumulation of guaiacol glyconjugates in fruit, leaves and shoots of Vitis vinifera cv. Monastrell following foliar applications of guaiacol or oak extract to grapevines. Food Chem. 217: 782-789; 2017.

Acknowledgement

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