A first visit to the Ebenezer block on a wet morning, and a warm welcome to the project to Anthony Scholz. Chateau Tanunda is letting us take a portion of their precious allocation of Anthony’s fruit (thanks Stuey), and there’s not much of it this year, after the spring frosts. Veraison is a bit behind the other blocks further south, and things look good generally, although there are a few split berries. But overall, the rain will be a positive, and there’s no more forecast. Estimated harvest date is 15 March.
A huge change in three weeks! Veraison has well and truly happened: Greenock, Nuriootpa, Krondorf and Lyndoch.
The Lyndoch block has had a good soaking, and the lovely red soil has risen like a soufflé! Enough moisture to sustain these old vines through what is about their 90th vintage – it’s shaping to be a beauty!
Recent fire activity around Sampson Flat in the Adelaide Hills and Moyston in Western Victoria has affected grape-producing areas. This eBulletin provides information and resources on managing fire-damaged vines and assessing the risk of smoke taint.
Managing fire-damaged grapevines When fires reach vineyards, they can cause significant damage to both vines and vineyard infrastructure. Immediate recommendations for managing fire-damaged vineyards are:
Re-establish irrigation infrastructure and water vines as soon as possible.
Conduct a rigorous audit of the damage within two weeks of the fire event – using the approach outlined in this article: . This approach will provide information to help with future vineyard management decisions and may assist with any insurance assessments. In cases of serious damage, some destructive vine testing, to assess trunk cross-sectional damage, may be necessary.
Assessing and managing potential smoke taint riskIf a vineyard has not been burnt but has been exposed to smoke there is a chance that vines and grapes may be affected by smoke. It’s important to remember that the sensitivity of wine-grape varieties to smoke uptake depends on the grapevine growth stage. In general, the smoke uptake potential is low through flowering up to the point when the berries are pea size. At this stage, the potential becomes variable (low to medium risk of smoke uptake) and remains variable through the onset of veraison up to three days post veraison. From seven days post-veraison, most wine grape varieties are highly sensitive to smoke taint.If a vineyard has been exposed to smoke sometime after the point when the berries are pea size, it is advisable to assess grapes for smoke taint. This is best achieved by conducting a small-lot ferment and subjecting the resultant wine to sensory assessment and chemical analysis to gauge the potential risk of any smoke taint that might arise from the smoke exposure. Small lot ferments can be conducted at any time from 8-9 Baume to harvest, but it is preferable to conduct them 2-3 weeks prior to harvest to give sufficient time for analyses to be completed and data available before the key harvest decision.
If sensory analysis of the small-lot ferment wine indicates smoke taint then it may not be necessary to conduct further chemical testing, but if the mini-ferment appears clean, analysis should still be conducted to assess the risk of ‘bound’ precursor compounds. More details on the analyses available from AWRI Commercial Services can be found in this FAQ document.
Adelaide Hills smoke taint Q&A sessionA Q&A session for growers and winemakers with concerns about smoke taint in the Adelaide Hills will be held on Tuesday 20th January.Venue: Bird In Hand Winery, Pfeiffer Road, Woodside
Time and Date: Tuesday 20th January, 8:45am – 11:00am
To register please RSVP via email at info@adelaidehillswine.com.au
This event is free of charge to attend.
The AWRI’s website provides links to a range of resources on smoke taint.
For support in dealing with fire-damaged vineyards or in assessing smoke taint risk, please contact AWRI winemaking services team on 08 8313 6600 or winemaking@awri.com.au.
We welcome Chris Rogers from St Hallett to the project, and thank him and Toby Barlow for access to fruit from some of Graham Koch’s fabulous 1920s vines. I last worked with Chris 25 years ago! That was at Mountadam, during my Roseworthy vintage.
The December 2014 issue of Technical Review is now available online. Articles and abstracts can be viewed individually, or the full issue can be downloaded. For copyright reasons, access is available only to Australian winemakers and grapegrowers who pay the Wine Grapes or Grape Research levies. The new online 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.
Low Molecular Weight Procyanidins from Grape Seeds Enhance the Impact of 5-Fluorouracil Chemotherapy on Caco-2 Human Colon Cancer Cells
Ask the AWRI: export focus on residual metals
It’s time to check your refrigeration plant
O2: how closures beat terroir
Clarifying the mechanism of protein haze formation in white wines
Glycoconjugates of volatile phenols and smoke related off-flavours in wine
Current literature – oenology
Sanitation – the pros and the cons of the good and the bad in barrels
Periodic aeration of red wine compared to microoxygenation at production scale
Glutathione protection of white wine aromas
Dealing with compromised fruit in the winery
New wine tanks provide efficiencies: automation and design innovations help save space and resources
STAVIGOM: Cold stabilisation with cellulose gums
Oxygen – another tool for the winemaker’s kit bag
Are Australian wine consumers willing to pay for the expert service of wine retailers?
Protecting your wine: stop counterfeiters from selling cheap imitations of your premium brand
Wine as an experience good: price versus enjoyment in blind tastings of expensive and inexpensive wines
Strategic implications of the relationship between price and willingness to pay: evidence from a wine-tasting experiment
Current literature – viticulture
Influence of leaf canopy height on the occurrence of berry shrivel
Cover crop water use in relation to vineyard floor management practices
The impact of climatic conditions on berry maturation: Influence of yield, canopy surface area and climate on berry sugar enrichment and its consequence on winemaking choices
The art of grafting grapevines (What to do and how to do it)
Leaf morphological characteristics and stilbene production differently affect downy mildew resistance of Vitis vinifera varieties grown in Italy
New standard in vine planting material is a big step forward
Varieties and clones – what’s hot and what’s not for planting
Grapevine bud fertility and number of berries per bunch are determined by water and nitrogen stress around flowering in the previous year
Australian winemakers can now use with confidence the protease enzyme mixture known as Proctase to ensure haze-free wine. An application to Food Standards Australian New Zealand (FSANZ) has just been approved, confirming that the enzymes are allowed for use in Australian winemaking for wines sold domestically or exported to New Zealand.
Hail damage
Hailstorms have hit several grapegrowing regions in Victoria and NSW during November and December. Damage in the Murray Darling region has been estimated at up to $6 million, with approximately 20,000 tonnes of fruit lost. Losses in NSW have yet to be calculated.
While the damage caused by hail can be severe and devastating, there are important actions and decisions to be taken in the wake of a hail event. The AWRI helpdesk team has developed a new fact sheet to provide guidance on how to assess and manage vines that have been damaged by hail.
Restricted spring growth
A number of vineyards across south-eastern Australia have displayed symptoms of poor shoot growth and poor yield development during the spring period. Such symptoms are typically described as restricted spring growth (RSG). While RSG has a number of possible causes and a range of symptoms, monitoring and management of affected vines is extremely important. A new AWRI fact sheet provides more information on this condition with advice on both causes and management.
Growers affected by either of these issues can contact the AWRI helpdesk at viticulture@awri.com.au or 08 8313 6600 for confidential advice and assistance.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the AWRI in 1955, we are making a one-off batch of wine in the 2015 vintage: a Barossa Shiraz.
This exciting and fun project aims to put the AWRI’s wine science into action to make a high quality wine with longevity. Indeed, we are already thinking about what we might do in 15 years time to commemorate our 75th anniversary, and hope, with nature on our side, to have a wine we can proudly serve to mark that auspicious occasion.
And what about in 2055 to mark our century? Certainly we’d hope that some of the wine will still be around, and will be more than a mere curiosity at 40 years of age.
This blog will tell the story of the 60th anniversary wine – from the grapes that are growing right now through harvest, winemaking, packaging and beyond to when the wine is analysed and most importantly tasted. The wine will be a blend of six sub-regions – Ebenezer, Greenock, Krondorf, Lyndoch, Marananga and Nuriootpa in equal proportions, and all from old vines.
This project is only possible because of the unique place the AWRI has as the industry’s own research institute; sourcing suitable grapes to make an ultra-premium Barossa Shiraz would not be easy without the help of many industry friends and collaborators in the Barossa Valley. The generosity shown by many people already, in allowing us to buy 500kg batches of some of their most cherished Shiraz grapes has been humbling. The cherry on top of the icing for this project was to source fruit from vines with an average age of 60 years. In fact, with the fruit we’ve already been promised that will be easily achieved.
Thanks are extended to all those involved so far, particularly people who have pledged fruit. It has been a pleasure to meet with the passionate growers and winemakers who love the idea of this project, and who with obvious pride in what they do so well and a sense of fun have been eager to ensure that we obtain the fruit we need – despite the devastating recent frost which has drastically reduced the crop in some areas.
There are also those from large companies and small, who have already given freely of their time providing advice; preparing barrel samples; discussing oak with preparedness to supply us with the second and third-fill barrels we will need; and drawing mud-maps with which a novice has at least some chance of navigating the labyrinth of back roads to find those precious old vine blocks.
This is a great industry, which the AWRI is proud to be part of.
The AWRI and ASVO are members of AWITC Inc. and are at the early stages of planning for the next conference and trade exhibition to be held in Adelaide 23-28 July 2016. As part of the planning process a survey has been developed to gain input from industry personnel on the topics they are most interested to see included in the 2016 conference program.
The AWRI Library has recently expanded into eBooks and developed a purpose-built collection for the Australian grape and wine sector. Access to this collection is available via the AWRI Library homepage to all Australian grape and wine producers that pay the grape research levy, the wine export charge or the wine grapes levy. AWRI website login details are required. If you’re not already a member, sign up for an account here. If you’ve lost your password, click here to retrieve it.
With an emphasis on current and practical resources, the collection currently holds 32 titles with topics including winemaking, marketing, vineyard management, pest control and more. These titles are available to read within an internet browser, but eBooks can also be borrowed and downloaded to a computer, mobile phone or tablet/iPad. A guide to using the collection is available from the AWRI website here.
On Tuesday, 2 December the AWRI is hosting an instructional webinar on how to use the collection. Attendees will see a live demonstration and be provided with an easy step-by-step tutorial on accessing the collection, searching for eBooks and downloading titles to both computers and mobile devices. Register here to attend.
For those already comfortable with eBooks, the collection can be accessed immediately via the Library homepage.
