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.

New workshop launching in November

This month the AWRI is launching a new ‘Improving quality and reducing costs’ roadshow workshop. This workshop provides information to help grapegrowers and winemakers operate more efficiently and profitably when facing financial or natural resource constraints. It will focus on techniques that improve processes and reduce costs, while maintaining or improving grape and wine quality. After launching in Clare and McLaren Vale in November 2016, the workshop will roll out across Australia following vintage 2017.

The workshop is divided into two sessions: one focusing on viticulture and one on winemaking.

The viticulture session begins with a regional overview of electricity, fuel, water, agrochemical spray and other resources used in the region for the current year, sourced from Entwine and other data. This is followed by topics including stretching water further, optimising vineyard yield without affecting quality and the latest vineyard tools to better manage vineyard variation.

The winemaking session reviews key issues faced by the region over the last year based on queries received by the AWRI helpdesk, the past season’s weather and its impacts on current wine composition. This is followed by two interactive presentations– one focused on wine quality analysis and one on winemaking processes.

The Clare Valley workshop is on Tuesday 22 November at the Rising Sun Hotel in Auburn. Visit the event page to view the program and register to attend.

The McLaren Vale workshop is on Tuesday 29 November at the McLaren Vale & Fleurieu Visitor Information Centre. Visit the event page to view the program and register to attend.

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

Online Ferment Simulator coming soon

The Ferment Simulator is a repository for all ferment-related data, including 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 assist with 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 will be available soon as a free module on the WineCloud. For more information and to be alerted when the app is released, visit the Ferment Simulator webpage.

Grape samples needed for smoke taint background study

Survey update

The AWRI would like to thank all of the respondents who took the time to complete the Vineyard and Winery Practices Survey. The survey closed at the end of September, having received around 670 responses. Congratulations are extended to Sheena High of Native Point Wines in Tasmania who won the lucky draw prize of a trip to the Vinitech-Sifel vineyard and winery equipment exhibition in Bordeaux at the end of November. The AWRI would also like to thank Sandra Trew of Promosalons and Vinitech-Sifel for sponsoring this prize. Next steps for the survey project involve aggregation of the data and consultation with industry personnel to add context to the information gathered. A report will be distributed next year.

Functional and luxury foods report and luxury workshops

In 2015, Primary Industries and Regions SA commissioned a study of functional and luxury foods. The goal of this study was to provide the SA State Government and the SA food industry with a roadmap of where food and beverage value chains could switch to higher value-added products and services, sought after in both key Asian export markets and domestically. The key findings of the research project (across a wide range of food and beverages) were captured in a summary report. The SA Government approached the AWRI to collate the findings from the project that are most relevant to the wine industry. These are now available in a report on the AWRI website.
The AWRI is also presenting two workshops on luxury business strategy and design thinking in mid-November. Visit the AWRI events calendar to register or contact Gregoire Patacq on 08 8313 6600 or gregoire.patacq@awri.com.au.

AWRI staff achievements

AWRI Research Scientist Dr Dimitra Capone has been announced as one of three finalists in the ‘Researcher of the Year’ category of the Australian Women in Wine Awards. This is the first year there has been a researcher category, and the AWRI community is delighted that one of our own researchers is in contention. Dimi’s research in recent years has focused on understanding the origin of eucalyptus characters in Australian red wines and investigating compounds responsible for tropical aromas and flavours in wine. The winners of the Australian Women in Wine Awards will be announced on 15 November.

In late September, AWRI Managing Director Dr Dan Johnson was awarded a grant from the SA Industry Leaders Fund (ILF) to participate in the Advanced Management Leadership Program at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK. The Industry Leaders Fund is a specialised networking group made up of grant recipients who have operated successful South Australian businesses and achieved excellent results in the ILF leadership test which is based on the same principles as the test applied to Rhodes Scholars. ILF scholars have studied at, or have committed to study at, one of the world’s leading business schools.

Entwine logo now available for members

New online tool to identify best rootstocks

WINEHEALTH 2017 dates announced

Conference organisers have announced that the next WINEHEALTH conference will be held in Logroño (La Rioja), Spain from 16-18 February 2017. More details about the conference program and how to register are available from the conference website: http://winehealth2017.com/.

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:

1847 Barrett-Connor, E., de Gaetano, G., Djoussé, L., Ellison R.C., Estruch, R., Finkel, H., Goldfinger, T., Keil, U., Lanzmann-Pettithory, D., Mattivi, F., Skovenborg, E., Stockley, C., Svilaas, A., Teissedre, P-L., Thelle, D.S. Correspondence: Comments on moderate alcohol consumption and mortality. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 77 (5): 834-836; 2016.

1848 Hixson, J.L., Jacobs, J.L., Wilkes, E.N., Smith, P.A. A survey of the variation in grape marc condensed tannin composition and concentration, and analysis of key compositional factors. J. Agric. Food Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03126; 2016.

1849 Bindon, K. A., Li, S., Kassara, S., Smith, P.A. The retention of proanthocyanidin in wine-like solution is conferred by a dynamic interaction between soluble and insoluble grape cell wall components. J. Agric. Food Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b02900; 2016.

1850 Bekker, M.Z., Smith, M.E., Smith, P.A., Wilkes, E.N. Formation of hydrogen sulfide in wine: interactions between copper and sulfur dioxide. Molecules 21 (1214): 1-17; 2016.

1851 Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Smith, P. A. Surface modification influencing adsorption of red wine constituents: The role of functional groups. Appl. Surf. Sci. 386: 14-23; 2016.

1852 Christo, S. N., Bachhuka, A., Diener, K. R., Mierczynska, A., Hayball, J. D., Vasilev, K. The role of surface nanotopography and chemistry on primary neutrophil and macrophage cellular responses. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 5 (8): 956-965; 2016.

1853 Ramiasa-MacGregor, M., Mierczynska, A., Sedev, R., Vasilev, K. Tuning and predicting the wetting of nanoengineered material surface Nanoscale 8 (8): 4635-4642; 2016.

1854 Mierczynski, P., Mierczynska, A., Maniukiewicz, W., Maniecki, T. P., Vasilev, K. MWCNTs as a catalyst in oxy-steam reforming of methanol. RSC Adv. 6 (84): 81408-81413; 2016.

1855 Mierczynski, P., Vasilev, K., Mierczynska, A., Ciesielski, R., Maniukiewicz, W., Rogowski, J., Szynkowska, I. M., Trifonov, A. Y., Dubkov, S. V., Gromov, D., Maniecki, T. P. The effect of gold on modern bimetallic Au-Cu/MWCNT catalysts for oxy-steam reforming of methanol. Catal. Sci. Technol. 6 (12): 4168-4183; 2016.

1856 Delalat, B., Mierczynska, A., Ghaemi, S. R., Vasilev, K., Voelcker, N. H. Materials displaying neural growth factor gradients and applications in neural differentiation of embryoid body cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 25 (18): 2737-2744; 2015.

1857 Ramiasa, M. N., Cavallaro, A. A., Mierczynska, A., Hayball, J. D., Vasilev, K. Plasma polymerised polyoxazoline thin films for biomedical applications. Chem. Comm. 51 (20): 4279-4282; 2015.

1858 Zenoni, S., Fasoli, M., Guzzo, F., Dal Santo, S., Amato, A., Anesi, A., Commisso, M., Herderich, M., Ceoldo, S., Avesani, L., Pezzotti, M., Battista Tornielli, G. Disclosing the molecular basis of the postharvest life of berry in different grapevine genotypes. Plant Physiol. DOI:10.1104/pp.16.00865; 2016.

1859 Longbottom, M. ASVO prepares for November Awards night following ‘one of the best conferences ever’. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (5): p. 10; 2016.

1860 Cordente, T., Solomon, M., Godden, P., Curtin, C., Johnson, D. A rose by any other name: novel wine yeast that impart floral aromas. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (5): 39-40; 2016.

1861 Dry, P. Fiano. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (5): p. 59; 2016.

1862 Holdstock, M. Ask the AWRI: Calcium and its predictable presence. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (632): 68-69; 2016.

1863 Coulter, A., Cowey, G., Petrie, P., Essling, M., Holdstock, M., Stockley, C., Simos, C., Johnson, D. Vintage 2016 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (4): 43-45; 2016.

1864 Wilkes, E. AWRI research: Honest wine. WBM (September/October): 32-34; 2016.

1865 Parker, M., Black, C., Pearson, W., Barker, A., Francis, L., Herderich, M. I Glicosidi contribuiscono al rilascio di aroma in bocca. OICCE Times 68 (17): 15-18; 2016.

1866 Geffroy, O., Siebert, T., Silvano, A., Herderich, M. Impact of winemaking techniques on classical enological parameters and Rotundone in red wine at the laboratory scale. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. doi: 10.5344/ajev.2016.16060; 2016.

1867 Dry, P. Kerner. Wine Vitic. J. 31 (4): p. 59; 2016.

1868 Essling, M. Ask the AWRI: Re-entry periods after vineyard sprays. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (633): p. 54; 2016.

1869 Caravia, L., Collins, C., Petrie, P.R., Tyerman, S.D. Application of shade treatments during Shiraz berry ripening to reduce the impact of high temperature.
Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 22 (3): 422-437; 2016.

1870 Phogat, V., Skewes, M.A., McCarthy, M.G., Cox, J.W., Šimůnek, J., Petrie, P.R. Evaluation of crop coefficients, water productivity, and water balance components for wine grapes irrigated at different deficit levels by a sub-surface drip. Agr. Water Manag. 180 (Part A): 22-34; 2017.

1871 Stamatopoulos, P., Brohan, E., Prevost, C., Siebert, T.E., Herderich, M., Darriet, P. Influence of chirality of lactones on the perception of some typical fruity notes through perceptual interaction phenomena in Bordeaux dessert wines. J. Agric. Food Chem. 64 (43): 8160-8167; 2016.

1872 Varela, C. The impact of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the production of alcoholic beverages. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. doi: 10.1007/s00253-016-7941-6; 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.