Grapegrower & Winemaker - November 2014

NOVEMBER 2014

#bucketwine Experiments with alternative varieties WINERY EVENTS:

They’re not all created equal

BENEFICIAL WASP RESEARCH:

Enter our Adama

Wind breaks & ground cover the keys

front page

WINEMAKERS TAKE NOTE: How to master malolactic fermentation

toon. pomhpo etiti c

Page 35

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November 2014: Issue 610 features

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Kym Anderson: Professor, author and industry supporter

46

Winegrowers welcome new viticulturist: New viticulture development officer for NSW

48

Should the Wine Grapes Industry Act be amended?

Scheduling for Regulated Deficit Irrigation

19

WGGA – The United Grower

44

Vine management

52

Mildew control

55

Fertilisers and nutrition

56

Irrigation

56

80

Filtration, pumps and tanks

87

Packaging and bottling

winemaking

news 5

On the grapevine

6

My view: Suppliers show of strength, WISA’s Matthew Moate

7

Roundtable: Alternative variety lessons It’s all about what will grow best in your backyard

12

Regional roundup: We turn the spotlight to Victoria

14

Movers and shakers

16

Engagement: Not all events are equal

58

As simple as it gets: Making wine with a bucket, a hydrometer and a sieve

64

Young gun: ‘Jess the mess’

66

Ask the AWRI

68

Mastering malolactic fermentation

74

The microbial origins of key wine aromas: Volatile fatty acids and sulfurous compounds

78

Reverse racking and clarification

80

Understanding filterability index: An overview and some new insights

sales & marketing 87

grapegrowing 24

Wind breaks and ground cover the key to beneficial wasps

28

Cabernet fruit maturity and hang time

30

Sauvignon Blanc aromatic profile: the sweet spot from a vineyard perspective

39

Sustainability program on offer to all Australian growers

business & technology 90

39 NOVEMBER 2014

#bucketwine Experiments with alternative varieties Winery events:

They’re not all created equal

Beneficial Wasp research: Wind breaks & ground cover the keys

Enter our Adama

front page

Winemakers take note: How to master malolactic fermentation

to photion. competi

Page 35

The real treasure is in the people

Get the interview process right

19

cover

regulars

Tennille Chalmers and Bart van Olphen surrounded by experiments. Photo courtesy of Sunraysia Daily www.sunraysiadaily.com.au.

5

What’s online

92

Looking back

93

Advertiser index

94

Marketplace classifieds

Full story Page 58.

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In this issue November Publisher and Chief Executive Hartley Higgins Managing EDITOR Elizabeth Bouzoudis EDITOR Nathan Gogoll editor@grapeandwine.com.au Editorial advisory board Dr Jim Fortune, Denis Gastin, Dr Steve Goodman, Dr Terry Lee, Paul van der Lee, Bob Campbell MW, Prof Dennis Taylor and Mary Retallack Editorial Stephanie Timotheou journalist@winetitles.com.au PRODUCTION Simon Miles Advertising Sales Chas Barter sales@grapeandwine.com.au Circulation: Melissa Smithen subs@winetitles.com.au Subscription Prices Australia: 1 year (12 issues) $77.50 (inc. GST) 2 years (24 issues) $145 (inc. GST) New Zealand, Asia & Pacific: 1 year (12 issues) $110 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $210 (AUD) All other countries: 1 year (12 issues) $174.50 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $339 (AUD) Students (Aus only): 1 year (12 issues) $66 (inc. GST) Winetitles Pty. Ltd. 630 Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083 Phone: (08) 8369 9500 Fax: (08) 8369 9501 info@winetitles.com.au www.winebiz.com.au @Grape_and_Wine Printing by Lane Print Group, Adelaide © Contents copyright Winetitles Pty Ltd 2014.

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Print Post Approved PP535806/0019 Articles published in this issue of Grapegrower & Winemaker may also appear in full or as extracts on our website.

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I’VE attended two very different events across the past few weeks. The first was the Outlook conference, set up in a big hotel with lots of important people addressing lots of important things. The second was the Wine Industry Suppliers Association (WISA) awards night, where a handful of businesses were celebrated for doing great things.

Outlook was all about ‘big picture’ thinking and displays of leadership from those in charge. But there’s no escaping the hard times the industry is enduring, so it was tough for the messages to break through, even harder for them to be warmly received.

The WISA awards were all about encouragement and pats on the back for some businesses that truly deserved them. It was sometimes hard to get the message across because the room was in party mode. This was a night of escape from the difficult times of the industry.

At Outlook there was a lot of talk about needing to innovate more, export more, engage better and do the right things for the environment. At the WISA awards the spotlight shone on businesses already achieving in areas of innovation, export, engagement as well as environment and sustainability.

At Outlook the wine didn’t flow until the formalities had finished on the final afternoon (and even then, I

think it only came out because the venue was embarrassed about some PA issues).

At the WISA awards the first thing everybody did was wet their whistle.

As I said, two very different events.

But there was a common denominator.

Warren Randall managed to grab the microphone at both.

At Outlook he was depressed. “I have never seen the industry in a worse state.

If we can’t pull though the surplus, then we have to have a vine pull.”

By the time he took to the stage at the WISA awards he used his experience to offer advice for the way forward. “We had to make changes, we couldn’t stay the way we were. The only way forward for the Australian wine industry is quality and we have to take it to the world aggressively.”

There’s no doubt the difference in Randall’s attitude were a reflection of the two very different moods at the two events. I’m glad I was able to attend both and get things in balance.

Enjoy the read.

Nathan Gogoll Editor Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker editor@grapeandwine.com.au

Contributors Colin Bell has worked with Kristen Brodison, from the WA Department of Agriculture and Food, to study ‘hang time’ and establish the links between preferred sensory choices and grape ripeness.

The report starts on Page 28.

Russell Moss completes his three-part series exploring the fungal and bacterial origins of wine aromas. He looks at the fundamental components to offer insights into better management of vineyards and wineries to attain desirable wine styles..

The final part in this series begins on Page 74.

Simon Nordestgaard, Australian Wine Research Institute senior engineer, has been studying the possibility of ‘reverse racking’ as a new way to achieve clarification without as many tank transfers.

Full report from Page 78.

on the grapevine Industry honour for Riverland legend JOHN Angove, managing director of Angove Family Winemakers, has been awarded Honourary Life Membership of the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA).

Representing the fourth generation of the family-owned winery, John joined Angove Family Winemakers in the 1970s after studying science and economics and working in the Australian Wine Centre in London. He became managing director in 1983 and chairman in 2001.

John’s vision for the business was to become a maker of regional wines of provenance. He oversaw major redevelopment of the Nanya Vineyard, upgrades to the winery including the establishment of the small batch winery within the larger site and a new bottling facility. Vineyard acquisition in McLaren Vale further enhanced the premium stable of vineyards owned by the Angove family.

John has been a key member of the state’s peak body for many years, representing the interests of grapegrowers and wine producers on the SAWIA board. John is an executive councillor of the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) and has been since its inception in 1989. He has

Supermarket dumps exclusive liquor unit

LIFE MEMBER: John Angove has been a stalwart of the South Australian Wine Industry Association.

been chairman of both the Technical and Brandy Committees of the WFA and was also a councillor of the WFA’s predecessor, the Australian Wine and Brandy Producers Association. John has also served as chairman of Riverland Wine Industry Development Council, currently sits on the board of the AWRI and received an Order of Australia for services to the Australian Wine Industry, the Arts and his charity work in 2011.

Wine Australia market program update WINE Australia welcomed 26 international trade and media guests as part of four regional visits across October that showcased the quality, diversity, provenance and personality of the nation’s wine.

As part of its User Pays Activities (UPA) Market Program, the visit saw groups from the UK, Europe, North America and Asia embark on tailored tours to offer guests the opportunity to meet winemakers and taste a range of wines at cellar doors.

Aaron Brasher, regional director for Australia, Asia and emerging markets regional director, said bringing international wine professionals to the country was the best way to tell the

Coles has restructured its liquor division by handing back responsibility for its private label wines to category managers. In the process the company has also scrapped its Exclusive Liquor Brands (ELB) unit, which was only established last year to lead the retailer’s push into private-label wines, reports The Australian.

We need “methadone for WET” Australian wine producers need to be weaned off their addiction to WET Rebates so they can be sufficiently motivated to sell the majority of the wine they produce overseas, according to Bill Moularadellis, Kingston Estate Wines managing director. At last month’s Wine Industry Outlook Conference, Moularadellis said every Australian wine producer has a responsibility to sell 60 per cent of what they produce in international markets, reports The Shout.

Falling dollar gives hope to Hunter winemakers

Australian wine story.

“We know that driving advocacy is most effective when you can give someone a true brand experience and what better way to do that than get our guests in the heart of Australia’s amazing wine regions, meeting the winemakers, tasting the wines and hearing the stories behind these brands first hand,” Brasher said.

“It’s our hope that not only can we influence global perceptions of Australian wine in key export markets but that when they return home they’ll have a love and appreciation for Aussie wine that will encourage them to share that experience within their own networks.”

Hunter Valley winemakers hope the falling Australian Dollar will open opportunities to win back export markets after years of decline. The Hunter has been one of Australia’s worst-affected regions with wine sales going into freefall as the local currency reached parity with the US Dollar, reports the ABC.

viticulture, the family’s focus is on quality rather than quantity. “First, you’ve got to get the wine right,” he said.

“It has to be good value and then the bonus for the consumer is it’s organic.”

According to Sam Statham from Rosnay Organic, it’s easier to grow organic winegrapes in Cowra than any other region across Australia. “Cowra has the ideal climate for organic growing,” Statham said and the take-up of organic practices is slowly on the rise.

Australia’s wine industry portal by Winetitles Australia’s wine industry portal by

A natural way forward ORGANIC wine producers in Cowra believe the region is well-positioned to respond to growing consumer demand for their products.

The O’Dea family has been growing winegrapes in the NSW region for almost 26 years and switched to organic winemaking with the leadership of second-generation viticulturist Jason O’Dea, reports the Cowra Guardian.

He said while organic viticulture is more labour intensive than conventional

what’s online

Tax threat to growers Murray Valley Winegrowers is gearing up to fight taxation arrangements that could wipe out much of the region’s winegrape production. There’s concern a wide-ranging tax review could result in recommendations for changes in the way wine is taxed, reports Winebiz.

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Daily Wine News is a snapshot of wine business, research and marketing content gleaned from international wine media sources, with a focus on Australian news and content. To subscribe visit www.winebiz.com.au/dwn.

my view Suppliers show of strength Sometimes the suppliers tend to be a forgotten pillar of the wine industry. But not under Matthew Moate’s watch as executive officer of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc. Matthew explains the enthusiasm and positive energy his organisation has.

THE ‘awards season’ is truly upon us.

There have been a plethora of medals, gongs, trophies, fellowship inductions and achievement awards announced across the industry these past few months.

From the wine industry supply sector, the eighth annual Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc (WISA) supplier of the year awards was one of these events.

Once again, the event provided an excellent opportunity to recognise excellence in supply and manufacturing within the Australian wine industry and to acknowledge companies that endeavour to provide world-class technical and practical support to wine producers at all levels.

This year, Lallemand Australia was awarded the 2014 WISA supplier of the year award; sponsored by Tarac Technologies. The export award, sponsored by Australia’s Wine Business Magazine, was presented to Seaway Logistics. The innovation award, sponsored by DW Fox Tucker Lawyers, was won by 3M Purification. The environment & sustainability award, sponsored by Banrock Station Wines, was secured by FMR Group. Winegrapes Australia and Seppeltsfield Wines won the newly-created chairman’s industry engagement award.

There were also a number of other high quality and worthy finalists including the Phoenix Society, Wineworks Australia, Hydrosmart, RGB Industries, Randox Food Diagnostics, Winery Technologies and Foote Francis. All of the winners and finalists are companies that grapegrowers and winemakers should be seeking out, as they are all at the top of their fields in providing products and services that will assist in helping our industry achieve sustained profitability.

From a personal perspective, having recently transitioned from the role of WISA chairman to executive officer earlier this year, I was pleased with the success of the event. The growth of this event across the past two years is certainly an encouraging sign. In 2013 we saw an 18 per cent increase in attendees from the previous year and this year we saw a further 30 per cent increase. I wish to also give credit to George Willcox, the former executive officer, as the triumph of this year’s event is only possible following the success of the 2013 event.

6 Grapegrower & Winemaker

AWARDS: Matthew Moate at the WISA supplier of the year awards.

It was great to have representatives from many of the wine industry's national and state peak bodies attend, including AGWA, ASVO, WGGA, WFA, WCA and SAWIA. We were also pleased to have representatives from a number of wineries, state and federal government agencies and Members of Parliament. It is critical that WISA and the wider industry continue to engage and collaborate to ensure we can exploit opportunities that will have a positive impact on our industry as a whole. We must maintain a strong dialogue across the board and WISA is pleased to be at the table representing suppliers. We all have a role to play in the future sustainable profitability of the industry and the supply sector can have a major impact, from the vineyard to the consumer.

The event had a clear focus of not only recognising our worthy finalists and winners, but to also provide a whole of industry, high value networking opportunity and an engaging atmosphere.

We wanted our guests to make connections in a fun gala environment and we’re pleased we succeeded in that goal. Before, during and after the event, our #WISA_SOTY ‘Get Social With Us’ campaign connected us with the wider global wine industry. It was actually a recent address by Tim Wildman at the WCA Royal Adelaide Wine Show luncheon that inspired this campaign, demonstrating how the sharing of ideas can improve outcomes. For the second www.winebiz.com.au

year, the event also played host to a raffle and silent auction that was widely supported by a number of generous companies. The goal was to raise $5,000 for WISA’s official charity partner, The Leukaemia Foundation, with any further funds achieved being retained by WISA to assist us meet the objectives of our association. The generous audience helped us raise $8,800 on the night.

WISA was also pleased the event generated a number of new members further strengthening the voice of WISA to industry. While our events are open to all suppliers we certainly encourage membership with the association to ensure we can deliver our agenda of supplier advocacy, promotion, education and recognition as a strong, organised and relevant organisation.

WISA is focussed on delivering value at our events and this year’s WISA supplier of the year is just the tip of the iceberg. We plan on carrying this momentum forward towards WineTech 2015. WineTech 2015 will be all about providing the best opportunity for visitors and exhibitors to engage.

Participants will enjoy the benefits of finding everything they need from the products and services on display to tangible take home outcomes from our commercially focussed WISA and supplier driven content program.

The recent supplier of the year is a small taste of what you can expect from WineTech.

November 2014 – Issue 610

roundtable

Alternative variety lessons It’s all about what will grow best in your backyard We’ve asked a range of people for their insights into alternative varieties in Australia. Feedback, success stories and even failures have been shared by Brian Freeman from Freeman Vineyards in Hilltops NSW; Kim Chalmers from Chalmers Wines, which has alternative varieties planted in both the Murray Darling and Heathcote regions; and Brett McClen, the Brown Brothers chief viticulturist responsible for vineyards across Victoria and Tasmania.

Which ‘alternative’ varieties are you currently working with?

Brian Freeman (BF): We’ve got Australia’s only plantings of Rondinella and Corvina, both established in 1998. Our Nebbiolo was established in 2009, grafted onto 40-year-old Pinot Noir vines and our Tempranillo in 2000.

All four are planted at Freeman Vineyards, Hilltops NSW. The estate is located on a 560m ridge, 11km from Young.

Kim Chalmers (KC): We only work with alternative varieties.

There are 35 varieties and 70 different clones in our nursery block.

But the key varieties for the Chalmers brand are Vermentino, Greco, Fiano, Nero d’Avola, Aglianico and Sagrantino.

They’re the core, but we are also working with all kinds of interesting varieties and all kinds of interesting wines that haven’t taken off yet, commercially, through our #bucketwine project.

Brett McClen (BM): At Heathcote we planted Carmenere in 2003; Montepulciano and Nero d’Avola in 2004.

In the King Valley, Graciano has been around since the 1920s; Prosecco since 2006; Gamay, Grillo and Gruner Veltliner since 2012; and Albariño 2013. At our Mystic Park vineyard in the Murray Valley, Tarrango was planted in 1980; Cienna in 1996; Dolcetto in 2003 and we have six so-far nameless CSIRO varietals planted in 2010.

Which of these are you most excited about?

BF: All three Northern Italian origin varieties have adapted exceptionally well in a relatively short time to the prevailing cool climate conditions in the Hilltops region and show exciting potential.

These varieties display exceptional flavour development in good seasons and the wines all offer impressive cellaring potential, the legacy of the tannin profiles of each variety.

Nebbiolo has been planted in other Hilltops vineyards, and in time will likely challenge the reputation of the more traditional red varieties from the region.

KC: I love them all, but I think Aglianico is my favourite. It is just a beautiful wine to work with, kind of very specialised, complex and delicate.

We also make our Rosé from Aglianico and I think this year’s is the best we’ve done so far. Greco has just been introduced to the Chalmers range, so I’m pretty excited about that, too.

BM: Prosecco would be our most-successful, current emerging varietal in terms of sales volume, however I think it’s probably on the cusp of no longer being considered ‘alternative’.

We are optimistic about Montepulciano, particularly since winning a trophy with it at the last Sydney Wine Show.

November 2014 – Issue 610

BRIAN FREEMAN With a background of 40-plus years as a research scientist and educator, Dr Brian Freeman has made a big impact on the Australian wine industry. He led key research programs for the NSW Department of Agriculture, was Professor of Wine Science at Charles Sturt University, is a past president of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology, and former member of a various organisations. But In 1999, he established his own sustainable 50-hectare vineyard in the Hilltops, NSW. In 2004 he launched his first wine, made from Australia’s only plantings of Rondinella and Corvina varieties. Alongside the small specialist wine enterprise, Freeman continues to consult.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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newsroundtable I’d plant it at our Banksdale Vineyard in the King Valley.

Of all our sites it’s probably the best match to the climate of Piedmonte, and it is currently being grown and made very well by some local winemakers in the King Valley.

Which variety shouldn’t be classified as ‘alternative’ anymore?

BF: Possibly Viognier because Australia’s original plantings date back to 1980.

KC: If you look at what the Alternative Varieties Wine Show has already moved on, we’ve seen Pinot Grigio and Moscato.

I think there is a fair bit of Tempranillo and Vermentino out there now, I’m not sure if they are quite well-known enough just yet, but they might be the next ones.

BM: I’d like to think Tempranillo has moved far enough into the mainstream to no longer be considered alternative.

And, as mentioned earlier, I think Prosecco is well on track to emerging as a mainstream varietal.

What has been your biggest ‘alternative’ variety failure?

KIM CHALMERS Kim is one of the directors of the Chalmers Wine business and manages everything “from the vine to the wine list”. Her central role in the family wine business, an alternative career from her qualifications in music composition and digital arts, continues the work begun by her parents, Bruce and Jenni, when they began growing wine grapes in the mid-1980s.

Since 2008 Chalmers Wine has established vineyards at Heathcote and Merbein (Murray Darling region). The Merbein property has been established to what the family considers to be the three most promising varieties for the future of warm climate viticulture with the remainder of the property housing a source block containing the entire Chalmers Wine collection of imported varieties.

It’s really starting to hit its straps. We also hold high hopes for a few of the CSIRO varietals we are working with.

Which additional ‘alternative’ varieties would you most like to work with?

BF: Apart from these four red varieties I am interested in Prosecco. We planted a small block four years ago and expect to release the first vintage shortly.

KC: We’re actually importing 11 new varieties at the moment, including the white Falanghina and the red Piedirosso, both from Campagna.

They are already here in Australia, but are going through the quarantine process. We should be able to plant them out next year and build up our source block across the next few years.

BM: Personally I’d love to plant some Nebbiolo. I love the wine, and I suspect it’s probably a variety that requires one to bring their viticultural ‘A-game’.

8 Grapegrower & Winemaker

BF: So far so good.

KC: Probably growing Tempranillo in the Murray Darling was a really hard one, same for Sangivoese to some extent.

Both struggle in the heat to really make great red wine.

We made a couple of nice wines from these but overall it is a struggle to get top quality.

Tempranillo has low acidity in hot climates and the Sangiovese just didn’t have the backbone either. Both amazing and noble varieties of the world – but not growing in the right place at our old Euston vineyard.

It’s so important to match site with variety. We now grow Sangiovese in Heathcote where it is much happier.

We stopped making Tempranillo when we decided to move to a solely Italian focus, but there are some amazing Temps being grown and made in Oz now – in cooler regions.

BM: Probably Sangiovese, and I say that in knowing that many others have done extremely well with this variety.

Unfortunately I think we may have almost been too early in planting Sangiovese. We had the large-berried UC Davis clone which was not particularly conducive to a wine of good body and colour.

We put a significant planting in at Heathcote back in the late 90s and unfortunately it had to be grubbed a few years back as the wine had not established itself to the point of ongoing viability. There is a far greater diversity of improved clonal material available now and it’s great to see such high quality in so many Australian Sangiovese wines.

Maybe we should have another crack at it one day.

How do you benchmark the performance of ‘alternative’ varieties?

BF: Benchmarking is an ongoing process, as is learning more every vintage.

We enter wines in selected shows, taste our wines against both Australian and traditional exemplars and travel to visit winemakers of comparable styles in Italy and Spain.

My daughter Xanthe has undertaken vintages in the Verona region, home of the classic Amarone wines.

KC: The Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show is the most important one.

I’m not a big believer in the points and medals being as big a deal, as the fact the growers and producers really make an effort to get to this show, the ‘family’ gathers together.

People talk to each other and learn from each other.

I guess at the end of the day sales are a level of benchmarking.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

We can all go and make fabulous wine but we have to be able to sell it as well, so while the bottom-line isn’t the only benchmark, it is an important one.

BM: We certainly use traditional benchmarking methods such as comparing our wines with those from other Australian producers as well as international examples, and entering in wine shows.

Probably our biggest tool is our cellar door. Brown Brothers has a very strong history of trying wines out in our cellar door and letting the punters vote with their palates.

This has been our traditional route to market, particularly with alternative varietals.

How have you worked with winemakers to refine what you are doing with ‘alternative’ varieties?

BF: Freeman Secco Rondinella Corvina is a one-off here in Australia. We do however sell Tempranillo grapes to other wineries willing to market their wines under a Hilltops denomination.

KC: We work with our own winemakers, Sandro Mosele at Kooyong and my husband Bart van Olphen, but we also sell about half of what we grow to other producers.

What we are doing out in the vineyards is making sure that every berry we grow is looked after as if it will end up in a bottle of Chalmers wine, then we get the added enjoyment of seeing not only how our wines eventuate but what that same fruit produces at the hands of other passionate and skilled winemakers too.

BM: We seek a lot of guidance with regards to wine-style development.

We also obviously seek the opinion of our winemakers in terms of how the wines stack up against other producers and what aspects of the wine we might seek to improve in the vineyard.

What is your advice for other growers thinking about planting an ‘alternative’ variety?

BF: Travel to the varietal region of origin. Meet the winemakers and viticulturists and taste as many wines of the variety you are intending to grow. Review comparative climate and soil data to ensure comparability. And have patience.

3970Surround_Grapes 2014-10-16T11:18:26+11:00 KC: I believe they should go for it; but as an investment, not because they are chasing something trendy.

BRETT MCCLEN Brett is responsible for the Brown Brothers vineyards, located in a hugely diverse range of locations and climates across Victoria and also Tasmania, as well as the team managing them. After completing a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at La Trobe University in 1996, Brett commenced his career working in irrigated horticulture in the Sunraysia district of Victoria. This involved working in the technical management of large-scale winegrape plantings as well as citrus, almond and avocado orchards. In 2002 Brett moved to Rutherglen in North-east Victoria to manage a group of winegrape vineyards, and this is where he first came into contact with Brown Brothers as a grape supplier. He then leapt at the opportunity to join the company as chief viticulturist in 2007.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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newsroundtable It has to be all about what is going to grow best in your back yard. I like to compare it to rock ‘n’ roll… when it first started out there was just Bill Haley and the Comets and everyone was into them. Then along came The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and people had a choice. But now, there are so many styles of rock ‘n’ roll the choice is endless.

It should be the same for wine and in Australia we should have growers looking more broadly at one of 200 varieties and choosing what they can work with best, rather than making another version of one of the four best-known styles.

The more diversity we have, the more room there is for everyone to thrive.

BM: Think very carefully about varietal selection and do your homework on the variety.

Understand its nuances and viticultural characteristics, for example, the time of bud-burst, ripening time, vigour level, skin thickness and disease susceptibility.

Understand what the climate is like where it has been traditionally grown or where the very best examples of the wine come from.

Pick a variety that suits your climate/topography/soil type. If you plant a variety that is not suited to your site, it could be an unhappy and very expensive experience.

Also, think long-term with it.

Riverland: The tough get going More than 170 Riverland growers and winemakers attended a wine industry forum held in Renmark in mid-October. Senior figures from the six wine companies that purchase the majority of Riverland grapes were each invited speak for up to 10 minutes in response to the questions… ‘how do you see the short term future of the wine industry in the Riverland?’ and ‘what are your expectations for the medium to longer term?’.

The presentations from Simon Williams, Accolade; John Angove, Angove Family Winemakers;, Bill Moularadellis, Kingston Estate Wines ; Brett McKinnon, Pernod Richard; Stuart McNab, Treasury Estate Wines; Andrew Murphy, Yalumba; and Jim Moularadellis, Austwine (bulk wine trader) were followed by a question and answer session moderated by Brian Walsh, the Riverland Wine chair.

According to Riverland Wine, the sentiment among growers was genuinely appreciative of the wine brand representatives speaking willingly and

openly, although the discussions centred around challenges, particularly in the short term. The audience was strictly limited to financial members of the Riverland Wine Industry Fund. Others, including media representatives, were not admitted.

Spring has been a busy season for Riverland Wine, which represents the combination of Riverland Wine Industry Development Council (RWIDC) and the Riverland Winegrape Growers Association (RWGA), with annual general meetings held and the first strategic plan released The results of the RWGA ballot for the four vacancies on the management committee have been announced, with Sheridan Alm, Stuart Andrew and Ashley Ratcliff all reappointed along with former RWGA deputy chair Brett Proud.

The first strategic plan outlines the organisation’s mission: ‘to provide leadership, resources and the coordination necessary to drive a profitable, dynamic and sustainable

Riverland wine industry for the benefit of its members and the community’.

The organisation’s vision statement identifies what it is striving to become: ‘the region that responds to market demand and can adapt quickly and competitively to the changing preferences of global wine consumers’.

The five core themes of the plan are: • Leadership and Engagement; • Research, Development and Extension; • Competitiveness; • Market Growth; and • Profitability “Although there may be a collective sigh of relief that the plan is finally done the real work still lies ahead of us all,” Brian Walsh said.

Sheridan Alm, the RWGA Chair, acknowledged all who had contributed to the plan. “It is the result of input provided through grower breakfast meetings, phone calls, emails and consultations with the broader community over a two year period,” Alm said.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

We turn the spotlight to Victoria From Rutherglen to Geelong, the Pyrenees to Gippsland, it’s full steam ahead pre-vintage for grapegrowers and winemakers across Victoria. Stephanie Timotheou reports.

Top drops found at Royal Melbourne Wine Awards WINE experts from across the globe joined forces in October to taste their way through more than 3000 entries to the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards (RMWA).

Gold medals were handed out across 77 classes with 15 trophies and eight major trophies awarded to the best drops, following rigorous assessment from a panel of judges headed by Tom Carson and international guests Martin Moran MW from Ireland, Warren Gibson from New Zealand and James Suckling from the US (but based in Hong Kong). “The quality of wines submitted this year was outstanding, with a diverse spread of trophies heading out across the country,” Carson said.

Trophies announced included the

James Halliday trophy for best Pinot Noir, awarded to Coldstream Hills’ 2013 Deer Farm Pinot Noir. The award was fitting for Coldstream Hills given it was Halliday who established the Yarra Valley winery in the late 80s.

Two new trophies were also introduced in 2014, including the Victorian trophy for wines of provenance, in recognition of a Victorian winery or producer who has demonstrated consistency of excellence over three vintages, spanning a decade.

This trophy was awarded to Granite Hills Winery for its 2004, 2008 and 2013 Granite Hills Riesling.

This year the RMWA also recognised excellence in the area of viticulture by awarding a growing team with the

Kym Ludvigsen trophy for viticultural excellence. This award recognised team effort between vineyard owners John Funder and Val Diamond; Mario Pagotto, a retired Italian farmer; Steve Sadlier, a wine consultant; and David Bicknell, Oakridge Wines chief executive officer and chief winemaker.

Australia’s best-known wine award, the Jimmy Watson Trophy, went to a South Australian wine, the S.C Pannell Wines 2013 Adelaide Hills Syrah.

Following the awards presentation, wine enthusiasts had the opportunity to taste their way through some of this year’s medal-winning wines at the RMWA Uncorked event held on Friday 24 October.

The Minya and Warrabilla milestones TWO Victorian producers are celebrating milestones this year. The Minya Vineyard and Winery, based in Geelong, is celebrating its 40th birthday and Warrabilla Wines in Rutherglen is raising a glass to its 25th vintage.

Jeff Dans, who established The Minya in 1974 with his wife Sue, said growing vines was a hobby that became a business he found very rewarding. “We began with a farm in Connewarre, 15km south of Geelong, where we had some spare

land available so we decided to try growing vines and The Minya evolved from there,” he said.

Running a small business meant Dans had to take on the roles of chief executive, viticulturist, chef as well as event coordinator and he has seen big changes in the industry across the past 40 years.

While the business has grown, there have been advances in vineyard techniques and technology, and changes to the perception you could “make a fortune”

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out of winegrapes. “Consequently there have been many people entering the industry with the wrong focus and because of this there have been plenty of people who have come and gone,” he said.

“As for changes in the vineyard, most people are now going back to traditional growing methods.”

To celebrate the milestone, The Minya will launch a new release wine in conjunction with one of its upcoming summer concerts.

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP Meanwhile in Rutherglen, Warrabilla Wines has gone from crushing 2.5 tonnes to 200 across the past 25 years. Andrew Smith, the company’s winemaker says Warrabilla doesn’t export and 90 per cent of the sales come from cellar door and mail

order, a “business model to dream of”.

The winery has grown to employ six full-time staff members and Smith says the future looks bright.

“I’m keen to see what the future holds.

Our reserve wines start around 16 per

cent in alcohol and go to 18 per cent for the Parola’s labels; but somehow for a winery that’s doing everything ‘wrong’ according to the wisdom of wine writers, sommeliers and judges, we must be doing something right.”

Victorian Shiraz grabs three trophies BLUE Pyrenees Estate was awarded best wine of show, best red wine of show and best Shiraz of show at the Australian Cool Climate Wine Show (ACCWS) for its 2012 Estate Shiraz in September.

The Blue Pyrenees 2012 Shiraz was sourced entirely from the estate’s vineyard in the foothills of the Pyrenees Ranges which has northern, southern and eastern facing aspects. It also has

three soil types, providing complexity when wines are blended from these micro-climates.

Andrew Koerner, Blue Pyrenees Estate chief executive officer and chief winemaker, said the three awards were great results for a $20 wine.

“Coming off the back of our Midnight Cuvee being crowned inaugural world champion, it demonstrates the

uniqueness of Blue Pyrenees Estate in being able to produce top class red and sparkling wine,” he said. “Are there any others who do this off the same vineyard?”

He said the team was “quite chuffed” to win gold medals for three other red wines from the strong 2012 vintage – its 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Shiraz and the Estate Red Blend.

Dal Zotto Wines celebrates 10 years of Prosecco thing – we had found Prosecco,” Michael family always strived to find a new home DAL Zotto Wines is celebrating 10 years said. for Italian varietals such as Sangiovese since Australia’s first Prosecco wine hit While the foot hills of Conegliano in and Barbera and the time had come to the shelves.

Valdobbiadene have proved the ideal bring Prosecco Down Under, according to Victoria’s King Valley has gained environment for the cultivation of Prosecco, Michael Dal Zotto, one of Otto’s sons and a reputation for growing different it’s in the King Valley where Otto’s passion the company’s chief executive officer and Mediterranean grape varieties and the for Prosecco found full expression. “His winemaker.

Dal Zotto family has a particularly strong careful cultivation has seen him become “We heard of some Prosecco vines connection with Prosecco which originated the first producer of this little-known making their way to Australia,” Michael from the Italian town of Valdobbiadene, variety in Australia and one of few outside said. “After some investigation, we Veneto, where Otto Dal Zotto grew up. of Valdobbiadene,” Michael said. eventually made contact with an older In 2000, Otto planted the first Prosecco Italian man in Adelaide who had imported vines in the King Valley and in 2004, some Prosecco vines many years ago for released the first commercial Prosecco in Grapegrower & Winemaker is on the his own private use.” But with hundreds Australia. hunt for Tasmanian and South Australian of grape varieties available, the Dal Zotto It all began while sitting around the stories to include in upcoming editions. family wanted to be certain it was Prosecco. dinner table enjoying a bottle of Bellussi If you have any interesting stories After acquiring some cuttings, the Prosecco. Otto, reminiscing about his worth sharing, please send them to Yalumba Nursery conducted DNA testing youth in Italy, said to his wife Elena and s.timotheou@winetitles.com.au as soon whether the four plant We look forward to hearing 3 7sons, 5 6 F “I l uwant t e 8to8 x 1 8 5and _ Gmake G W - to1 confirm 2 0 1 3 - 0 3 - or2 not 0 T1 5 :grapevine 5 8 : 2 5 + as 1 1possible. : 0 0 was Prosecco. “When the results came Prosecco just like we used to do back from you. back we were over the moon. It was the real home in Valdobbiadene”. The Dal Zotto

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

13

movers & shakers McWilliam’s back in family’s hands McWILLIAM’S Wines has returned to 100 per cent family ownership with a buyback of shares held by the E&J Gallo Winery.

Jeff McWilliam, the company’s chair, said this was not only a milestone for the company but also for the McWilliam’s family. “We are a proud multi-generational family-owned wine producer and the decision to acquire E&J Gallo Winery’s shareholdings was unanimously supported at the shareholder meeting,” he said. “Great wines are made by people with

passion and in discussions with our people I’m seeing a renewed enthusiasm across our business in response to this news.”

Rob Blackwell, McWilliam’s chief executive officer, said it was an exciting period of development for the company. “In the past two years McWilliam’s has undergone significant capital restructuring to make our business stronger,” he said. “This will enable McWilliam’s to take advantage of opportunities as they arise across the domestic and export markets.”

SA growers bound for France WINE Grape Growers Australia (WGGA) has selected Sam Bowman and Simon Berry to attend the VinitechSifel international wine, fruit and vegetable trade show in Bordeaux, France. Lawrie Stanford, WGGA executive director said “Vinitech very generously accepted both delegates and not just the one originally intended”.

Sam Bowman is a viticulturist and grower liaison officer at Bleasdale Wines in Langhorne Creek, and Simon Berry is an Adelaide Hills winegrape grower. Both are actively involved in industry affairs through associations and technical groups, have strengths in viticulture and are “destined for long careers in the industry” according to Stanford.

“We have chosen two candidates with a blend of

experience and youth, from different regions and with different interests” Stanford said. “The WGGA selection panel is sure international relations between the French and Australian industries will be enhanced by the engaging personalities of the two candidates.”

Bowman is on the Langhorne Creek Grapegrowers’ Committee and is actively participating in a Malbec clonal selection trial in the region. He describes himself as a “relentless promoter of the industry”.

Berry has spent more than 20 years growing grapes and managing winegrape production in different regions across three states. He was chair of the Wine Grape Council of SA for four years and has represented South Australia on the WGGA executive committee since 2010.

Peter Dry claims the Maurice O’Shea award DR PETER Dry was announced as the winner of the 2014 Maurice O’Shea in October, recognising his outstanding contribution to the wine industry.

Dry began his career in 1970 when he took up a research officer position in Loxton with the South Australian Department of Agriculture. After five years, he moved to Roseworthy College as a lecturer in viticulture, biology, plant pathology, microbiology and sensory evaluation.

At Roseworthy in the early 80s, Dry teamed with Dr Richard Smart to develop the first climatic classification for Australian viticultural regions.

The pair recommended a widening of

the range of varieties being planted in Australia.

The success of a number of Italian and Spanish grape varietals in Australia can also be credited to Dry and Smart’s work. When Roseworthy College merged with the University of Adelaide in 1990, Dry’s work began to focus more on research. During this period Dry worked with Dr Brian Loveys from the CSIRO and conducted research that led to the development of partial rootzone drying. Dry was awarded a PhD from the University of Adelaide for this research, and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering recognised this development as one

The Collective opens first European office SYDNEY-BASED drinks design agency The Collective has opened a UK office.

Having worked across the Treasury Wine Estates portfolio with producers including de Bortoli, Heathcote Estate, Taylors, Thomas Wines, Yabby Lake and Yaldara, The Collective will take “fresh thinking” on label design and packaging to the UK. The Collective UK will be headed by managing director Jeremy Chard who comes from a drinks marketing background and will be joined by creative director Anders Schmidt, who is

14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

the former creative director of Intellecta in Stockholm.

Rowena Curlewis, The Collective group managing director, said she was overwhelmed by the feedback at the London Wine Fair, so opening an office in London was almost a fait accompli.

“Our global clients are delighted as we can now extend our services to their brand teams in Europe,” she told Harpers.

“Additionally we can offer new clients in Europe both fresh thinking and a unique combination of extensive design and account management experience.” www.winebiz.com.au

of the most important technological innovations of the 20th Century in Australia.

In 2008 he retired from the University of Adelaide, but not from his work for the grape and wine industry. He has continued to work as a viticultural consultant with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), presenting at countless seminars and workshops.

In 2012 he was inducted as the sixth Fellow of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology, recognising his long career in teaching and research.

The 2014 Maurice O’Shea award is another honour for Dry’s remarkable career and contribution to wine.

Looking for more articles, visit the Grapegrower and Winemaker article archive at: www.winebiz.com.au/gwm November 2014 – Issue 610

nothing but the fruit

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news

Engagement: Not all events are equal Festivals and events offer brand exposure and can boost sales, but do they help recruit loyal consumers?

Stephanie Timotheou spoke wine marketing researcher Teagan Altschwager and canvassed a range of wineries to find out more.

THERE are hundreds, possibly thousands, of winery events and festivals staged across Australia each year, so there was plenty of fodder for Teagan Altschwager and her events project with the University of Adelaide’s wine marketing research team. Altschwager, a PhD candidate with the university’s business school, found while events can successfully draw a crowd, they don’t always result in guests leaving with a lasting memory of a particular wine label.

The study on how effective events are, in terms of boosting sales, analysed various events and Altschwager suggests most fit into one of three categories: • Cognitive – educating attendees about the brand; • Sensory – wine tasting, food matching etc.; or • Relational – offering interaction with winemakers, staff and other attendees.

Altschwager describes a brand-focused event as one which teaches attendees about the wine, whether it’s tasting and learning about different styles or taking part in a ‘make your own blend’ session.

“It’s all very focused on the wine brand itself,” she said. “If you compare that to music events, yes you’re at the winery, probably drinking the wine but the focus is on the music. Customers will remember the experience but may not necessarily remember the winery hosting it.”

While events with a strong brand focus, such as the Heathcote Wine and Food Festival, are more likely to encourage guests to purchase, those more focussed on entertainment or centred on music and art, such as the Coonawarra Vignerons Cup Race Day or A Day on the Green, are less likely to encourage future purchase intentions.

The Heathcote Wine and Food Festival, now in its 13th year, set new attendance records with more than 4500 people visiting the region for this year's event, and Phil Meehan, Heathcote Winegrowers’ Association president, said wine exhibitors all reported strong sales across the weekend.

“Our product boosts the name of Heathcote all around the world and the festival in 2014 has again allowed us to showcase our community to what we believe has been a record crowd,” Meehan said.

Events oriented to entertainment, such as the Coonawarra Vignerons Cup Race Day, which has a strong focus on music, food, entertainment and horse racing, are more about the overall experience rather than the wine. The Vignerons Cup attracts more than 3000 visitors, with up to 700 guests hosted

by Coonawarra Grape and Wine Inc. in a marquee and treated to a day of fun, food, fashion and wine. Altschwager said this type of events is less likely to encourage guests to purchase the specific wine they’re drinking, and instead direct focus to the enjoyment of the event.

Renee Harrison, Coonawarra Grape and Wine Inc. marketing

and events manager, said while the event doesn’t directly boost sales, it’s a great opportunity to encourage distributors, suppliers, the local trade and media to visit the region. “It’s really just an event to show off the region to the people who sell our wines,” Harrison said. “It also encourages and motivates people to meet and communicate with the winemakers, which indirectly helps boost sales.”

Harrison said while guests don’t have the opportunity to purchase wine on the day, they are able to try different wines which they may purchase in future if they enjoyed them at the event.

A Day on the Green is another popular, entertainmentoriented event which presents more than 30 concerts in wine regions across Australia and New Zealand. While this draws thousands of people to wineries, the main focus is not on the wine brand, wine tasting or interaction with the people or the product.

Sirromet Wines in Queensland’s Granite Belt has hosted A Day on the Green concerts since 2006, and stages between three and four concerts each year and crowds of up to 10,000 at each. Stacey Kollrepp, Sirromet direct marketing manager, said despite its focus on entertainment and music, the event has been extremely successful for the winery.

“It’s been great for the winery, not just because of the amount of people coming to the venue, but because of the data we capture from the event,” Kollrepp said.

Sirromet has a database of more than 45,000 people and Kollrepp said a large percentage of this is captured from A Day on the Green.

“We re-market to those people, not just for the day but into the future.”

Kollrepp said this type of event is a large revenue generator and also assists to boost interaction with Sirromet’s social media pages.

“People check themselves in which raises a greater awareness of the winery and in turn, we see a huge spike in consumers post-event,” Killrepp said. “We’re only a 14-year-old winery so it’s been a really great thing for us.” She said the winery also sees a lot of people who come back to re-live the “Sirromet experience” at the cellar door or in the restaurant. “Because we’re only 30 minutes from Brisbane, it’s not a huge effort for people to come back, which is what they realise after coming that first time for a concert.”

A regional festival such as McLaren Vale’s Sea & Vines, which this year attracted more than 25,000 people, can offer all three event categories as wineries tailor individual events to engage customers and boost sales.

“The benefit is in the wide exposure – festivals such as Sea & Vines use extensive communications to encourage people to attend,” Altschwager said. “It’s also an opportunity to create

There will always be the fear of a new customer forgetting a particular wine brand if they’ve been to multiple cellar doors, but if a customer visits your cellar door and actually purchases something, they are physically taking the brand home with them.

16 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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CHEERS: Each year thousands of wine lovers gather at the McLaren Vale Sea & Vines festival. Photo: McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association.

an initial connection with new customers, as region-based festivals tend to attract a wider variety of people, not just highinvolvement wine connoisseurs but also lower involvement consumers who are perhaps new to wine.”

However, despite large crowd numbers, there are some aspects of region-based festivals which limit how effectively an individual winery can create engagement. According to Altschwager, the biggest issue of a regional event is the fact consumers are encouraged to visit multiple cellar doors in several days.

“While this is a great opportunity for them to visit and learn about a number of wineries, there is also the risk of customers forgetting the names of the wineries they went to, or which wines they tried and enjoyed at a particular venue,” she said.

McLaren Vale’s DogRidge Wines has participated in the Sea & Vines for more than five years, but it’s not the only event the winery takes part in. “Other events include in-house tastings at cellar door, the South Australian Living Artists and Adelaide Fringe festivals, the Adelaide Cellar Door Festival and expos such as the Good Food and Wine Show which all provide great exposure for our brand,” said Fred Howard, DogRidge owner and winemaker. “We wouldn’t participate in these events if we were losing money from them – it’s all about brand building and profitability as well as getting to know our customers and building a strong client base.”

Howard said Sea & Vines is an event where people tour the region, try the wines and are more likely to make a return visit based on the good experience they had. He suggests there is a bigger purchase to be made on the return trip. “People come back to DogRidge and remember us and likewise, we see familiar faces from festivals we’ve participated in.”

According to Howard, this year’s event attracted “a few thousand more people” than previous years, demonstrating an

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

increase in the demand for regional festivals. DogRidge teamed up with Sabella Vineyards, as it has in previous years, to host more than 3500 people.

“There was a live band, food available and plenty of wine to go around,” Howard said. “This year the event was at capacity and I think overall Sea & Vines benefitted the region due to the number of people who visited, some who have never even been to McLaren Vale.”

Altschwager said it’s important to offer a special, one-off deal for those attending an event which will motivate patrons. “If a winery is expecting lots of new customers, providing special deals can be really helpful in encouraging that first purchase,” she said.

“There will always be the fear of a new customer forgetting a particular wine brand if they’ve been to multiple cellar doors, but if a customer visits your cellar door and actually purchases something, they are physically taking the brand home with them. Then when they go to open that bottle at a later date, they will be reminded of your brand, your cellar door and your event as a whole.”

She also recommends designing an event to suit the winery’s objective. “If the winery wishes to attract new customers, go with something more fun, entertaining and light-hearted,” she said.

Alternatively if the winery wants to build a stronger connection between its brand and more high-involvement customers, Altschwager recommends organising something more brand-centric which can include wine education, wine and food pairing or an interactive session with the winemakers.

“Most importantly try to get the customer to take the brand home with them, whether they buy a bottle of wine, sign up for email updates or take a winery brochure. Don’t run the risk of being forgotten.”

www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

Your Vineyard Your Voice Sponsored by

The Newsletter of Wine Grape Growers Australia

November 2014

WGGA active in improving grower access to disease control agents WGGA is involved in improving wine grape growers’ access to approved, effective and economical agrichemicals to control pests and diseases. WGGA’s efforts in this area are spearheaded by Executive Committee members and activities include close collaboration with key industry agencies such as WFA, AGWA and AWRI, direct negotiations with importing authorities in key overseas markets, monitoring the activity of Office of Vitiviniculture (OIV) and Codex, and membership of wine industry/government advisory groups such as the Market Access Group (MAG) and Access to Chemicals Advisory Group (ACAG).

This represents a weighty workload, most of which quietly operates in the background and generally goes unnoticed but which can significantly assist vineyard management and financial bottom lines.

WGGA took the initiative in 2011 to co-fund with the WFA and Wine Australia (now AGWA), direct negotiation of Phosphorous acid (PA) MRLs in Canada and China – the two key overseas markets in which the absence of MRLs prevented the use of PA in a most of Australian vineyards. Progress has been regularly reported in past editions of The United Grower and the regular reader will be aware that activities have included the early success in Canada, a delegation to China to kickstart the establishment of MRLs in that country, receiving Chinese authorities in Australia, working through the process the Chinese authorities undertook to position the legislative work in an appropriate government agency in China and finally, engaging a local Chinese agent to represent Australia’s interest in the work of the designated agency. The advice is that the process could take another 12 months to complete meaning that if it is successful, the wine sector can use PA in vineyards, in season 2015-16 Further work on the front of establishing and harmonising MRLs is also being undertaken with AWRI, NuFarm and the WFA

through the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). Codex develops harmonised international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade. Its work establishes safe standards that become international default positions for signatory countries, thereby eliminating the expensive task of negotiations on a country-by-country basis.

Through Executive Committee member Simon Berry, WGGA has taken up membership of a cross-industry advisory group, ACAG, on the behalf of the wine sector. ACAG is asked by the commonwealth to provide advice on their experience in accessing overseas-sourced agrichemicals. The advice assists the commonwealth government to fulfil its undertaking to improve access by farmers to minor use agrichemicals. This work is needed because there are significant barriers to Australia accessing safe chemicals that are readily available to its overseas competitor industries. The reasons for this are varied and include Australia being unattractive to overseas chemical suppliers due to its small, uneconomic size as a market, burdensome over-regulation that stifles innovation, non-acceptance in Australia of co-equivalence of overseas standards and more.

WGGA is also discussing the Dog Book with AWRI. This is the bible for preferred agrichemicals to be used in the production of grapes intended for export wine. The Dog Book prescribes restrictions on the timing and application of chemicals in the vineyard for residues legally allowed in food (in this case, grapes and wine) by governments around the world and in Australia, via the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code. With these standards also intersecting with other issues such as; different residue limits specified in different markets, the effects of residues on fermentation, perception of risk versus the scientific and proven reality; it is important that the grower interests are protected in the guidelines given. WGGA is active in this area.

Level 1, Industry House, National Wine Centre Cnr Botanic and Hackney Roads, Adelaide, SA 5000 Telephone (08) 8133 4400 Fax (08) 8133 4466 Email info@wgga.com.au Website www.wgga.com.au

1

WGGA News

WGGA reflects on ‘balance’ at the 2014 Wine Industry Outlook conference When asked by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia to reflect on the forward implications of the 1.7 million tonne 2014 harvest that was estimated in the WFA Vintage Report (announced at the conference), WGGA focused on two issues. First, what did it mean for supply and demand balance, and second, what were the likely sales prospects of the resulting wine?

The issue of balance was addressed by updating the stocks-tosales ratio (SSR) for the national industry. This was last addressed in The United Grower of November 2012. Updating showed balances had deteriorated in the three years from 2011 to 2013 and although a slightly smaller 2014 harvest would deliver some reprieve, on the balance of declining sales of Australian wine and larger crops in recent years, the SSR (with sales <$1/litre FOB removed – more about this in a moment) was around the levels last seen at the height of the industry’s last big concern about supplyand-demand balances in 2005-06, a full eight years earlier (see accompanying illustration).

Illustration: ‘Balance’ by Stocks-to-Sales Ratio: inventory just ‘better’ or ‘balanced?

It is worth noting that this conclusion is in contrast to the optimism that has been expressed in recent years because of the continuous decline in national inventory from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

Nevertheless, it rose again in 2012-13 (while national inventory is not available for 2013-14). Simple reporting of inventory, while perhaps an indicator of balances worsening or improving, is grossly insufficient for determining ‘balance’. In short, inventory is held to support forward sales and the relationship of inventory to these sales is vital to understanding balance. If held inventory is greater than the sales they are intended to support, supply exceeds demand (or demand under-rates the supply) and vice versa.

Moreover, the illustration suggests that if raw sales numbers compared to inventory, in relation to a ‘comfort zone ‘of between 1.5 to 1.6 years of inventory to a year’s sales were to be read as 'balance', the industry would have been in undersupply for all of 2010 to 2012. Surely no-one believes this. This outcome represents the fact that in practice, inventory is only held against

2

profitable sales and if it has no prospects of being profitable, it should be cleared and not be counted as sales against which inventory is held. Hence, if unprofitable sales are removed from the sales number in the SSR, the SSR will be higher. And thus it is so in the illustration. The unprofitable sales we have insight into, is exports at less than $1/litre fob and this provides a higher SSR and a more realistic measure of ‘balance’.

The statistics report that in the illustration, the gap between the two SSR lines (raw versus adjusted) represents wine exported between $0.50 and $1/litre fob. In other words, if exports can be profitably made at $0.50/litre fob and above – the industry would be in balance. The question that needs to be tested then is whether the limit for profitability is $0.50/litre fob or $1/litre fob. From the illustration, this will determine if the industry currently sits on 1.54 (comfortably in balance) or 1.91 (way out of balance) in 2012-13.

The latter question was explored by a whole-of-value-chain financial analysis using standard industry benchmarks of performance in terms of vineyard yields, source regions, processing costs, margins in the supply chain and so on.

Clearly, these questions go to profitability at the extremes.

Mainstream product in the industry is proprietary-branded wine and in simple terms, the underdemand/oversupply that is talked about in the industry is underdemand/oversupply of proprietarybranded wine. While the 2014 Wine Industry Outlook Conference addressed very well the marketing of these wines (the marketing presentations were outstanding), it did not address the prospects of wine at the margins. These prospects involve alternative routes to market and alternatives to ‘marketing’ per se (rather, other ways to improve market prospects). As illustrated, the prize for finding alternative, profitable routes to market is an industry in balance.

That said, the question of whether it can be profitable still needs to be tested.

Three key scenarios for profitability at the extremes were explored by the means of the whole-of-value-chain financial analysis referred to. First, are $1/litre fob wine exports the benchmark for profitable sales? Second, can exports between $0.50 and $1/litre fob be profitable? Thirdly, is there a profitable domestic outlet for distressed cooler-temperate fruit through the major retailers?

While space in this newsletter does not permit the full exposition of the analysis, it can be found on the WGGA website where the Outlook presentation is posted. In sum, these alternative routes to market require industry benchmarks to be pushed to the limits and still provide only partial reprieve from the existing, grinding lack of profitability for these marginal activities. Of course, this lack of profitability permeates throughout the rest of the value-chain.

Overall, the analysis suggests that capitalizing on the opportunities at the margins does not offer a panacea to oversupply/ underdemand but could alleviate some of the pain if ways could be found to improve the market prospects of wine that works at these margins. In the export sector this could be improved through a weaker AUD (although it will also continue to be subject

WGGA News

to the risk of a stronger AUD) but otherwise the things that could assist are: lifting demand for the product through the national marketing function or innovating through the R&D function to also lift demand or to lower costs.

Underlying the potential of all the above opportunities is the ability of Australian businesses to access the market in the manner suggested. The options are extreme and the structure of the business model counts.

All in all, it is apparent from the analysis that while improvement is possible by adaptation, change and improving market prospects, a rapid, short-term turn-around in the industry is not evident. Any business eroding saleable assets to survive or without access to the resources to make changes to adapt, runs the risk of a forced exit at a later point of time with significantly less to go on with.

In these circumstances staying or leaving needs to be carefully considered.

Two industries in one There is a growing acknowledgement that the Australian wine sector is two industries in one. The two industries are very broadly the commodity sector and the premium sector. The distinction between the two is unfortunately blurred on a business-tobusiness basis but the acknowledgement and institutional responses to this will enable a purposeful approach to dealing with supply-demand imbalances that have for so long dogged the industry as a whole.

Acknowledgement of the two-industry concept recognizes that commodity wine has a legitimate place in the Australia’s wine business landscape. Among the proponents of the two-industry concept, can be rated the staunch advocate of the fine wine sector, Brian Croser, who in a blog (http://blogs.adelaide.edu. au/winefuture/2014/04/08), put it thus “We need one strategy for fine wine and another for branded commodity wine, recognizing the very different strategy for fine wine and another for branded commodity wine, recognizing the very different attributes and markets of each, eliminating the public bad temper between … “ them. Drills it.

While there may be further refining to the definition of the sub-categories (for example premium may in fact be fine wine plus premium and commodity wine, value or branded commodity plus generic bulk), accepting two broad industries in one is a good start. Recognition will represent a maturing of the Australian wine sector.

The European wine industry, the oldest of continuously successful wine industries in the world, accommodates this reality. They deal with the fact that they have a large commodity category at the same time as the finest of fine wine category.

Acceptance of both industries will assist in dealing with supply-demand imbalances

in both categories simply because they are connected. At root, the excess of supply over demand is generated in the premium category and passed onto the commodity category to deal with – see The United Grower, January 2014. As in any economy, effects felt in one part flow through to the all other parts.

As suggested by Brian Croser, the premium and commodity categories are different but the point needs to be made that they are also complementary.

The commodity category is typically high volume, low cost, low margin, low loyalty and accessible to the emerging wine consumer. On the other hand, the premium sector is low volume, high cost, high margin, and appealing to knowledgeable wine consumers who are strongly loyal. At a national industry level commodity wine offers mass appeal, economic scale and a foundation product for building the base of emerging wine consumers from which will come knowledgeable consumers in time. On the other hand, the premium wine category provides iconography, aspiration, loyalty and pull-through from strong, loyal and influential advocates. Together, the two make a complete package.

The task then, is to make both categories successful then the whole will be successful. Following, is a starting list for how this could occur.

The most transformative decisions will be made at the level of individual businesses. Each business must be clear about which category they are operating in and to structure their business model appropriately. For example, small businesses as stand-alone operations, are not equipped for high volume and low cost although size in itself, does not preclude profitability.

Industry institutions need a shift in mindset. The shift will be to embrace the two industry categories and to design programs to support both. A whole-ofvalue-chain mindset will be a good start and this has the potential to flourish in the new AGWA. A whole-of-value-chain approach needs to include in a practical way, all players in the value-chain. This will include retailers, bulk wine brokers, small-lot consolidators, service providers to the industry and the banking community.

The industry-level marketing function needs a broader scope of activity. The current emphasis on ‘telling the story’ is most relevant to the premium category and assumes that the pull-through will solve the problems in the rest of the supply chain. Will it? The range of direct activities and skill sets need to include product innovation, relationships with distributors, commercial practices in the industry and so on.

A broader definition of the RD&E function is required. In addition to the traditional focus on technical research and development of technical skills – a greater involvement is necessary in market research, economic research, research into business models and commercial practices – all of which spell ‘industry development’ rather than just ‘technical development’.

A one-industry approach is a part of the past. Two-industries-in-one seems to be the price of success and industry maturity. The one-industry approach has led to doing more of the same, but harder, to emerge from the problems of the last decade – but it hasn’t worked. A two-industries-in-one approach requires transformative changes to the model and its parts.

3

WGGA News

2014 – it's a wrap The team at WGGA and the Executive Committee wish our members and industry colleagues a happy and safe festive season.

Best wishes for harvest 2015.

Please note that the WGGA office will close at 5 pm on Wednesday 24 December 2014, reopening on Monday 5 January 2015.

Telephone and email enquiries are still welcome and will be responded to as quickly as possible on the office reopening. If a matter is urgent, please call 0417 859 282.

Congratulations to this year’s prize winners in the 2014-15 membership campaign.

• Tim Wray of Willow Lake Vineyard in Victoria is the lucky winner of a $100 Winetitles Bookstore Voucher. Tim has been a General Member of WGGA for the past two years. He is a viticulturist managing a 30 hectare vineyard in the Yarra Valley.

• Ian Scrivener of Hugh Hamilton Wines in South Australia who is now the proud owner of a very stylish WGGA umbrella. Hugh Hamilton Wines has been a General Member of WGGA for the past two years with a 29 hectare vineyard in McLaren Vale.

Congratulations also go to WGGA members Sam Bowman (Langhorne Creek) and Simon Berry (Adelaide Hills) on being successfully selected to attend Vinitech-Sifel as sponsored representatives of WGGA in Bordeaux, France this December. We look forward to them sharing their trip with us all on their return.

A reminder that the WGGA AGM is being held on the morning of Wednesday 12 November 2014 at the North Adelaide Football Club in Prospect, South Australia. Notices have been issued but if you missed them, jump onto the WGGA website for more information.

In the afternoon after the AGM, WGGA will conduct a Grower Seminar “Surviving the Present – Innovate for the Future”. Four guest speakers will examine the reasons to be positive about mid- to long-term prospects in the industry and how to get there.

WGGA Associate Members WGGA proudly acknowledges its associate members: AHA Viticulture Belvino Investments Gaetjens Langley Lallemand Oenology LWJ & BG Pech National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA)

Louisa Rose

Jeff MacDonald

Shane Tremble

Rob Hunt

AWRI Chair

Collaborative Ventures

Woolworths Liquor Group

Agricultural Consultant

"Innovation"

"Business Models"

"Retail Opportunities"

"Winegrape Remuneration"

If you would like to attend either of these events, please contact WGGA on (08) 8133 4400.

WGGA would like to extend its appreciation to all those who have volunteered their time and expertise to assist us over the past year. Special mentions go to Simon Berry (help with agrichemical representation), Linda Bowes (facilitating the Germplasm Management Project ‘above the call of duty’), Richard Hamilton (representation on biosecurity assessments); David Lowe and Prue McMichael (assistance in setting up industry biosecurity

4

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arrangements) and of course, the WGGA Executive Committee members, Observers and Decision Support Network who give their personal time to work for grower interests.

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Wind breaks and ground cover the key to beneficial wasps FARMS with windbreaks with significant areas of ground cover vegetation have been shown to attract wasps that are beneficial to agricultural pest control, according to a new study from the University of Melbourne.

PhD candidate Ian Smith said while researchers have known that shelterbelts or windbreaks provide wind reduction, better quality soil and reduce erosion, it now appears that surrounding ground cover can reduce the numbers of pest insects.

“As long as the leaf litter is low, we found a correlation between greater proportions of ground cover vegetation and an abundance of beneficial wasp species,” Smith said. “Increased grass height also helped.”

Wasps that are beneficial to agriculture are in a different family to the much larger, commonly-known European wasp, and don’t sting. They control other pest species by laying eggs within the pest’s nest or among its larvae, ultimately killing the pest.

“We found flowers in shelterbelts had higher amounts of the wasp Trichogramma which can eliminate the eggs of Light Brown Apple Moth, which is a major pest in Australian vineyards,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith investigated beneficial wasp abundance in 60 sites of linear strips of trees in a diverse range of farm landscapes throughout the Yarra Valley in Victoria.

“Beneficial wasps were more abundant in creek and river vegetation. This indicates that riverbank stabilisation works already undertaken by many farmers bring additional benefits in the form of biological control.”

The study suggests shelterbelts with significant ground cover reduced numbers of pests, which then led to reduced use of pesticides, providing economic benefit to landholders.

Smith, together with Ary Hoffmann and Linda Thomson, researchers from the University of Melbourne Department of Zoology, recently had their study published in the The Royal Entomological Society’s Agricultural and Forest Entomology journal. Their findings indicated that ground cover and floral resources in shelterbelts increases the abundance of beneficial hymenopteran families (the third largest group of all insects, including ants, bees, ichneumons, chalcids, sawflies and wasps).

Their research will add to information that natural enemies can make an important contribution toward controlling a

At a glance: The aim of this University of Melbourne research was to determine whether the vegetation variables, including variation in floral resources and ground cover structure between sites, influence the abundance of different families of Hymenoptera within the vegetation.

The researchers were particularly interested in comparisons across Hymenoptera with different sizes. Previous studies in Yarra Valley have identified several key parasitoids with the potential to benefit agricultural production.

The results of the study suggest that a shelterbelt designed to enhance Hymenoptera abundance might consist of an understory of long grass and a canopy with abundant floral resources.

wide range of agricultural pests. They found Hymenopteran parasitoids are particularly important for the control of major agricultural pests in the families Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), Diptera (flies, mosquitoes and midges) and Hemiptera (bugs, aphids and cicadas). Parasitoids are organisms whose juvenile stages are parasites of a single host individual, eventually sterilising, killing, or even consuming their host.

The importance of parasitoids in pest control has led to research on factors that enhance their abundance. One option is to reduce chemical loading or substitute traditional inputs with chemicals of lower toxicity. Another option is the provision of local resources, such as understory plants and cover crops that provide floral resources and refuge. These approaches have been successful in providing reductions in target pests such as the light brown apple moth Epiphyas postvittana.

For some groups of natural enemies, including parasitoids, abundance within crops can be increased by adjacent noncrop vegetation. The manipulation of noncrop vegetation at a local scale (such as shelterbelts) benefits families of many smaller species, including Trichogrammatidae and Mymaridae (commonly known as fairyflies or fairy wasps), and also

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November 2014 – Issue 610

STUDY AREA: The greater Melbourne area including the Yarra Valley. Black dots represent the location of each of the 60 sampling sites used in the study.

increases the parasitism of sentinel light brown apple moth eggs.

Although these findings point to characteristics of vegetation and wasps that are likely to result in variability in parasitoid responses, few surveys have tested these ideas across an agricultural region. Smith, Hoffmann and Thomson have therefore considered this issue by characterising the diversity of existing vegetation across the Yarra Valley region of Victoria.

The aim of the University of Melbourne research was to determine whether the vegetation variables, including variation in floral resources and ground cover structure between sites, influence the abundance of different families of Hymenoptera within the vegetation. The researchers were particularly interested in comparisons across Hymenoptera with different sizes. Previous studies in Yarra Valley have identified several key parasitoids with the potential to benefit agricultural production.

These families include Braconidae, which includes the natural enemies Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Eriborus epiphyas and Ascogaster spp., Bethylidae, which includes the beneficial genus Goniozus, as well as Trichogrammatidae and Mymaridae, which have previously been noted as important egg parasitoids within the region.

Other Hymenoptera found in these studies include Figitidae and Diapriidae, which do not currently represent parasitoid families of known economic impact in the Yarra Valley.

However because these families can be parasitoids of dipterous pests, they may be providing fortuitous control now and be important in the future because of the risk of invasive fruit flies.

Previous research in the region focusing on vineyards has indicated that woody vegetation increases beneficial Hymenoptera. Nearby crop type can also influence Hymenoptera abundance and woody vegetation sites adjacent to both pasture and vineyards sites were therefore selected to examine the influence of crop type.

The researchers sampled Hymenoptera abundance in woody vegetation adjacent to vineyards and pastoral land to determine numbers of a range of parasitoid families. Characteristics of the vegetation were assessed to determine associations between vegetation variables and parasitoid abundance.

November 2014 – Issue 610

As a result of the size and plant diversity of the study area, the influence of the structure of woody vegetation on parasitoid abundance was studied rather than the influence of specific plant species. The study addressed several questions: • Are remnant or riparian areas of particular importance to parasitoid abundance; • Can the establishment or maintenance of native grasses influence parasitoid abundance; and • Are floral resources in the canopy, understory or other characteristics of the vegetation related to abundance of parasitoids?

Yellow sticky traps were the main sampling method for the present study because flying arthropods are able to disperse far into agricultural fields from population sources, such as perennial vegetation, which can act as a refuge for arthropods in agricultural landscapes. Additionally, yellow sticky traps have been shown to be an effective method of measuring Hymenoptera diversity.

The results indicate the complexity of the vegetation assessed appeared to have no effect on any family of either small or large Hymenoptera. This was similar to the findings of Lassau and Hochuli (2005) where no difference between high complexity and low complexity forest areas for flying Hymenoptera was observed. By contrast, Smith, Hoffmann and Thomson did find that various aspects of understory plants were positively associated with different hymenopteran families; this included grass height and ground vegetation cover associating with Braconidae and Figitidae, respectively, and an increase in the proportion of introduced ground cover associating with Diapriidae and Figitidae.

In practice, this research confirmed weeds are often the most common sources of nectar and pollen of noncrop plants for natural enemies in agricultural systems. Although a positive correlation between the proportion of introduced ground cover and wasp numbers was found, no difference in Hymenoptera associated with native or exotic grasses and shrubs (with the exception of native creeping saltbush Atriplex semibaccata R.Br. Chenopodiaceae) in Australian agricultural areas, whereas previous research in Australian vineyards from a more arid environment found that native grasses were more effective than

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

25

grapegrowing introduced species (oats) in promoting natural enemies.

The study also found that increasing leaf litter depth was associated with a reduced abundance of three of the six families investigated in the present study (Diapriidae, Bethylidae, Figitidae). The reasons for this pattern are unclear.

A Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that native grass was negatively associated with increasing leaf litter depth (r = –0.511, P>0.001); perhaps introduced grasses are more abundant in areas where leaf litter is reduced, resulting in a higher abundance of Hymenoptera, especially the larger taxa. The impact of leaf litter depth and different types of ground cover on wasp numbers needs to be further explored, perhaps through manipulative experiments.

The increase in abundance of several families (Figitidae, Bethylidae and Trichogrammatidae) observed in the present study with riparian vegetation suggests that, when water courses exist, their revegetation should be a priority for enhanced parasitoid abundance. Riparian areas were positively correlated with half of the measured Hymenoptera families, both large and small. This is consistent with previous research showing that natural enemy colonisation was enhanced by riparian habitat.

Remnant areas typically had no influence on Hymenoptera, with the exception of Figitidae, which were less common in these areas. The impact of remnant vegetation observed in the present study is consistent with previous work reporting significantly fewer Figitidae in vineyards adjacent to remnant vegetation compared with those adjacent to shelterbelts. Similarly, adjacent vineyard only influenced one family, Bethylidae, perhaps as a result of vineyards being more amenable to Bethylidae as a result of the lower levels of disturbance. Replanted shelterbelt vegetation supports populations of natural enemies, reinforcing the value of revegetation initiatives.

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We found flowers in shelterbelts had higher amounts of the wasp Trichogramma which can eliminate the eggs of Light Brown Apple Moth, which is a major pest in Australian vineyards.

The lack of a consistent response between floral resources and wasp family abundance was perhaps unexpected and may reflect the fact that the resources available at these sites (at lower levels predominantly from invasive weeds) were also present in adjacent agriculture, or perhaps were not sufficiently abundant to influence populations. The only significant correlation observed was Trichogrammatidae with canopy floral resource score. Canopy flowers were largely produced by native eucalyptus that only flowered over part of the collection period, and the larger wasps may not have benefited from such resources as a result of their enhanced ability to disperse.

Nevertheless, shelterbelts with floral resources may act as a population source of Trichogrammatidae, which may then move into crops. The results also indicate that the abundance of families of similar size is often correlated, supporting the idea that wasps of a similar size respond similarly to the influence of adjacent vegetation, as observed in previous research within the region.

Overall, the findings of the study suggest that features of shelterbelts, such as ground vegetation cover, floral resource abundance and being adjacent to riparian areas, influence hymenopteran numbers, and these could be managed into the future to increase biological control. A shelter belt with longer grass may increase the abundance of large Hymenoptera.

This is in line with previous research reporting that grass is able to increase the abundance of beneficial arthropods in an agricultural setting, although other studies have typically only focused on ground dwelling species. Floral resources could also be manipulated, whereas there appears to be little benefit in altering ground cover to favour local species.

There is encouragement with respect to re-establishing woody vegetation across Australian landscapes, bringing with it opportunities to increase the contribution of natural enemies to agricultural pest control. Modifications to existing shelterbelts require no changes to current crop management, and the stability of these areas compared with crops means that their benefits will be ongoing without ongoing intervention.

The results of the study suggest that a shelterbelt designed to enhance Hymenoptera abundance might consist of an understory of long grass and a canopy with abundant floral resources. Shelterbelts should be planted next to riparian areas where possible, which aligns with the aims of land conservation groups aiming to revegetate and restrict grazing in riparian areas. The researchers said further studies should consider the impact of changes in the abundance of wasp families on pest control in crops.

Looking for more articles, visit the Grapegrower and Winemaker article archive at:

To order your copy: Ph: +618 8369 9509 E: orders@winetitles.com.au Visit: www.winebiz.com.au

www.winebiz.com.au

www.winebiz.com.au/gwm November 2014 – Issue 610

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grapegrowing

RIPE HARVEST: Cabernet grapes (Photo: Colin Bell)

Cabernet fruit maturity and hang time Kristen Brodison, WA Department of Agriculture and Food research and development officer, and Colin Bell, AHA Viticulture viticulturist and director, have studied ‘hang time’ to establish the links between preferred sensory choices and grape ripeness.

THE early harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes can be associated with the production of wines with green related vegetative aromas and flavours. As the ripening of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes progresses, the aromas and flavours evolve from green, unripe related characters to red fruit, black fruit and jam related characters.

A number of important compound classes concurrently alter with the ripeness of grapes. Anthocyanins, tannins and norisoprenoids reach a peak, or threshold, during ripening. In Cabernet Sauvignon, the anthocyanin and tannin concentration in grape skins increases as ripening progresses, whilst the tannin in seeds decreases.

This trend further transfers to the wine with anthocyanins and tannin concentrations generally increasing with the harvest date.

Even though a number of measurements are available to determine the maturity of grapes, the determination of harvest date is more often made by the grape producer and/or winemaker based on the intended use of the grapes, wine style and what is typical for the variety in a given region and year.

The harvest decision encompasses numerous factors that are not based solely on the maturity of the fruit and include seasonal weather conditions, labour and winery schedules, fruit integrity and condition.

Recently, the concept of hang time in relation to the

harvesting of grapes has become a common topic. During hang time the ripening of grapes occurs to achieve desired fruit flavours. Consequently, such practices can lead to high sugar maturities and lower acid in fruit with high alcohol contents in the wine.

The effect of increased hang time on the characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon wine in Australia was investigated with wines ranging from 12 to 15.5 per cent alcohol. Wines produced from riper Cabernet grapes had increased attributes of dark fruits, hotness and viscosity with a corresponding decrease in red fruit and fresh green characters.

It was found that consumers preferred wines higher in alcohol (13% and 15.5%) than those lower in alcohol (12%). In California, researchers investigated the effect of increased hang time (harvest from 21° to 30° Brix) on the sensory characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

Wines produced from grapes at lower sugar maturities contained more sour and vegetative flavours, whilst those produced from high sugar maturities had more hot, bitter and dark fruit flavours.

The wine sensory attributes were found to differ more when wines were produced from grapes harvested lower than 24° Brix, with the optimal sugar maturity found to be at 25° to 26° Brix.

The increased hang time of red wine grapes has also been

EVOUTION: Flavourants of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

28 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Table 1. Harvest and Maturity Data: Cabernet Sauvignon in the Margaret River Region.

Year

Yield (t/ha)

TSS (ºBrix)

TA (g/L)

pH

Harvest date

Table 2. Decrease in yield of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes produced at various sugar maturities above 24o Brix in California.

TSS at Harvest (º Brix)

Yield Reduction From 24º Brix (%)

1994

12.2

22.6

7.59

3.58

28-Apr

25

-2%

2002

11.42

24.6

5

3.65

25-Apr

26

-5%

2013

5.9

25.4

5.1

3.74

2-Apr

27

-9%

2014

7.5

25.8

5.2

3.55

24-Mar

28

-13%

observed in WA. Comparative data from 1994, 2002, 2013 and 2014 demonstrates developments in the cultivation of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit in Margaret River.

A general trend can be observed of increased sugar levels and lower tonnages in the final specifications of the fruit (Table 1).

From 1990 to 2006 the harvest maturity of red varieties in California was found to increase from 21 to 24° Brix.

Concurrently, yield was found to decrease with the increased maturity (Table 2).

In California, the excessive hang time has resulted in financial losses for growers due to decreased yields (berry dehydration), reduction in tonnes per hectare and increased risk of declining fruit quality due to rain and disease infestation.

Subsequently, discussions of payment bonuses for grapes produced at higher sugar maturities in California has occurred.

The trend in Cabernet Sauvignon sugar maturity and extended hang time at harvest has been shown to increase in wine production in both Australia and overseas. The trend is coupled with the increase in flavour, ripeness and maturity of the fruit and results in higher alcohol content of the final wine. Interestingly, the extended hang time of Cabernet grapes can result in decreased fruit yields due to berry dehydration, resulting in decreased returns for some crops.

For more information, contact: Colin Bell P: 61 8 9756 8011 E: colin@ahaviticulture.com.au Kristen Brodison P: 61 8 9780 6189 E: kristen.Brodison@agric.wa.gov.au

References

Bell, C 2014, Growing high quality Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaret River. Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology, Mildura, 25 June.

Bindon, K et al. 2013, Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon 1. Grape and wine chemistry, FoodChem. 138, 1696-1705.

Bindon, K et al. 2014, Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon 2. Wine sensory properties and consumer preference, FoodChem. 154, 90-101.

Bisson, L 2001, In search of optimal grape maturity, Practical Winery & Vineyard, July/ Aug. CAWG (California Association of Winegrape Growers), 2014, The Crush, Vol 41(2).

Goldfarb, A 2008, The longer grapes stay on the vine, the less they cost, Appellationamerica.com Hellman, E 2004, How to judge grape ripeness before harvest, Southwest Regional Vine and Wine Conference. Albuquerque, NM February 27-28.

Heymann, H et al. 2013, Effects of extended grape ripening with or without must and wine alcohol manipulations on Cabernet Sauvignon wine sensory characters, South African Journal of Enology & Viticulture. 34 (1), 86-99.

Mendez, M 2008, Variety Focus: Cabernet Sauvignon, UC Davis Extension May 15 http:// iv.ucdavis.edu/?uid=252&ds=351

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29

grapegrowing

With spring touted to be warmer than normal in many grape growing regions, growers need to focus on Powdery Mildew control.

Refreshing your knowledge on the disease’s life cycle and having a good plan in place are two of the most valuable steps you can take.

You often hear that “prevention is better than a cure”, and with Powdery Mildew in grapes, this couldn’t be more appropriate.

Infected buds carry the disease over from season to season and produce diseased flag shoots, which then facilitate the spread of spores to neighbouring foliage. Cleistothecia are another infection source and are formed from infections late in the previous season.

With moisture and temperatures above 10ºC, cleistothecia release ascospores and become a problem.

Powdery Mildew infection spread is temperature dependent. It’s not uncommon for unprotected (un-sprayed) crops with higher levels of existing infection, which are in warmer inland areas, to have an out-of-control infection within 40 days of budburst. Young developing growth is most the susceptible, especially when strong vegetative growth has favoured dense canopy development.

Relative humidity (RH) is another important contributing factor.

Powdery Mildew can survive humidity levels of 40 per cent RH, although disease spread is boosted substantially when humidity is above 80 per cent RH. Under these favourable conditions new spores can be produced in as little as five to seven days and often a number of lifecycles have occurred before symptoms are even visible.

Monitoring for Powdery Mildew needs to be a routine task.

Concentrate your efforts in areas with a dense canopy and low lying or sheltered areas, which often have higher humidity levels. Begin monitoring at budburst and monitor at least fortnightly from then on.

When considering fungicides, keep the “three T’s” in mind: Type - Sulphur is often a mainstay of the spray program. It has been used for centuries without succumbing to resistance issues and it’s cost effective. When using other chemistry make sure to alternate between different chemical groups. Powdery Mildew can develop resistance if it is exposed to the same chemical repeatedly. Refer to www.croplife.org.au for specific resistance strategies.

Timing – Early season control is very important. If Powdery Mildew infection is detected after berry softening, it’s too late. It is better to use a preventative approach. Also, remember that bunch and berry stems remain susceptible to infection even after berries become resistant.

Technique – adjust spray volume to suit the canopy density and structure and ensure you are getting good coverage inside the canopy.

Vine Talk is compiled by Dave Antrobus, Syngenta Solutions Development Lead dave.antrobus@syngenta.com 0429 133 436 30 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Sauvignon Blanc aromatic profile: the sweet spot from a vineyard perspective In the first of a two part series, researchers Katja Šuklje and Alain Deloire, from Stellenbosch University, have teamed with Klemen Lisjak, from the Central Laboratories of the Institute of Slovenia, to study how light at the fruiting zone affects wine styles.

SAUVIGNON Blanc wines have undisputedly gained worlds’ recognition due to their typicality, unmistakable aromatic profiles easily identifiable by consumers. Regions, climate and cultural practices are largely responsible for the aromatic spectra of Sauvignon Blanc wines varying from tropical fruits to green characteristics. Interestingly, both styles of Sauvignon Blanc wines are almost equally preferred by Australian consumers, with 43% preferring Sauvignon Blanc wines with predominating green attributes and 31% of consumers preferring wines with higher tropical and confectionary aromas (King et al. 2011).

At A glAnce • Removing leaves and laterals only on one side of the canopy is an effective cultural practice to reduce IBMP concentrations in corresponding wines, without altering the speed of grape ripening. The choice of the canopy side from which to remove leaves has to be thought cautiously according to the row orientation and site location (topography and climate) to prevent possible sunburn in warm climatic areas. However, defoliation has to be performed early enough (before veraison) to achieve significant decrease in IBMP concentrations.

• In a warm/hot climate similar can be achieved by increasing light in the bunch zone through the modification of the canopy structure changing the trellising system or using different training systems as Smart Dyson or the sprawling VSP. The sun penetration within the canopy using a sprawling training system (no trellising) allows reducing the cost and is efficient to increase a diffuse light penetration within the canopy and at the bunch level, helping preventing sunburn and berry shrivelling. The vigour of the site and water management should be considered as well.

• Light penetration into the fruiting zone could be also achieved through selective defoliation (removing only lateral shoots and retaining basal adult leaves), however; this would be more time and cost consuming than simultaneous defoliation performed mechanically.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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Figure 1: Consumer expectations of Sauvignon Blanc wines.

Figure 2: Opening the canopy at the fruiting zone before veraison reduces the IBMP accumulation in the berry, which in turns results in lower concentrations of IBMP in grapes and must at harvest (adopted from Roujou de Boubee, 2000).

ORIGIN OF GREENNESS IN SAUVIGNON BLANC WINES Methoxypyrazines (MPs) are compounds primary responsible for green aromas of Sauvignon Blanc wines. The predominant MP found in grapes and wines is 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine (IBMP) which is reminiscent of green pepper, green beans, grassy aromas and possesses olfactory detection threshold as low as 2 ng/L in white wines. For red wines, the detection threshold is reported to be between 10-16 ng/L (Kotseridis et al.

1998; Roujou de Boubee et al. 2000). Additionally, 3-isopropyl2-methoxypyrazine (IPMP) can also be found in grapes and wines, when IBMP levels are high. The IPMP is often associated with aromatic descriptors such as green peas, asparagus and earthy aromas (Parliament and Epstein 1973; Pickering et al. 2007). The detection threshold of IPMP is even lower as reported for IBMP and it is in the range from 1-2 ng/L in white and red wines (Parliament and Epstein 1973; Pickering et al.

2007). The IBMP concentrations in wines are well correlated to those observed in grapes (Ryona et al. 2009) and its levels can vary from non detectable to around 50 ng/L in New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc wines from Wairarapa (Lund et al. 2009). The concentrations found in Australian Sauvignon Blanc wines are reported to be lower, up to 20 ng/L, whereas observed values in South African Sauvignon Blanc wines were similar to those found in New Zealand, up to 44 ng/L (Alberts et al.

2009). Light and temperature plays a central role in decreasing MPs concentration in fruits during grape growth (pre veraison) and ripening. Therefore, appropriate cultural practices can be implemented in the vineyard, preferably pre-veraison, to reduce when necessary IBMP concentrations in the berry (Figure 2).

It has been shown that early bunch exposure to light (before veraison) has a negative effect on the IBMP accumulation in the fruit (Ryona et al. 2008; Scheiner et al. 2010; Šuklje et al.

2012). Furthermore, temperature is also known to have an important influence on grape IBMP concentration and grapes originating from warmer climatic regions tend to have lower IBMP concentrations than grapes grown in cooler climatic areas. Decreasing IBMP and IPMP concentrations in the winery is difficult, however it was shown that juice sedimentation before fermentation, thermovinification and charcoal fining could reduce IBMP concentration in wines, whereas increase in IBMP is usually observed with grape skin contact. IBMP is also stable during bottle ageing and it is not sensitive to oxidation. Besides MPs, C6 compounds and some thiols can also contribute to the greenness of these wines.

FRUITINESS OF SAUVIGNON BLANC WINES Thiols are responsible for typical tropical fruit aromas of Sauvignon Blanc wines, 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and 4-methyl-4-sulfanylpentan-1-on (4MSP) can be found in grapes in non volatile form bound to cysteine and glutathione (Capone

32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Figure 3: Schematic indication of the treatments in the vineyard.

et al. 2011; des Gachons et al. 2002; Tominaga et al. 1998). They are released from their non-odorous precursors during the fermentation, whereas 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3SHA) is formed by esterification from 3SH. The release of thiols during the fermentation is dependent on several factors, such as oxygen, yeast, nutritious status of must and, as recently shown, even organic acids and lipids might play a role. 3SH and 3SHA in Sauvignon Blanc wines are often associated with tropical fruit aromas such as passionfruit, mango, guava, gooseberry and grapefruit, whereas 4MSP is described as having box-tree and passionfruit odours (Coetzee and Du Toit 2012; Roland et al.

2011; Swiegers et al. 2009; Tominaga et al. 1996). The detection threshold of thiols is reported to be very low, 60 ng/L for 3SH, 4 ng/L for 3SHA and 0.8 ng/L for 4MSP in a model wine solution (Dubourdieu et al. 2006).

Esters are also known to contribute towards fruity aromas of Sauvignon Blanc wines. The two main groups of esters contributing significantly towards young white wine fruity aromas are ethyl esters of fatty acids and higher alcohol acetates. Ethyl esters of fatty acids are responsible for tree fruit notes (peach, pear, apricot) whereas higher alcohol acetates are related with tropical fruit odors in white wines. With wine ageing, concentrations of higher alcohol acetates is decreasing whereas concentrations of ethyl esters of fatty acids are stable after initial decline during the first few months (Antalick et al.

2014). In contrast, concentrations of ethyl esters of branched acids are increasing in wines with ageing. The role of ethyl esters of branched acids in white wines has not been elucidated up to date, but it is known that this group of esters is the most odorant group of esters and contributes to fruity aroma.

LIGHT AND SAUVIGNON BLANC We have recently investigated the effect of light and temperature on Sauvignon Blanc grape and wine composition in a temperate vine growing region of South Africa (Šuklje et al. 2014). Light quantity at the bunch zone was modified by defoliation at the height of 40cm above the cordon on the morning (north-eastern) side of the canopy (M-LR). Secondly,

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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Figure 4: Mean hourly temperature evolution measured above the canopy (meso climate) with the logger positioned inside the canopy (canopy) and at the bunch zone (bunch), for the period of monitoring from 19 December 2011 to 11 March 2012.

Figure 5: Effect of defoliation (increased light) performed at the phenological stage of berry pepper corn size at the bunch zone on IBMP concentration during berry ripening.

the effect of light quality was studied by installation of UV light reducing sheets (98 per cent reduction) with retention of visible light for 12 per cent on defoliated vines as described above (LR-UV). The control treatment (C) represented a nonaltered canopy throughout the season, meaning that bunches were in permanently-shaded situation. All the treatments were introduced in the vineyard at the phenological stage of berries peppercorn size. Treatments are shown in Figure 3. In the M-LR and LR-UV treatments, the back part (south-western) of the canopy remained non-defoliated.

For the period of monitoring (19 December 2011 to 11 March 2012), the mesoclimatic temperature measured above the canopy and the temperature measured in the canopy and in the bunch zone, were compared (Figure 4). Canopy temperatures were closer to the temperatures at the bunch zone. However, temperatures in the bunch zone of the exposed treatments increased above the canopy temperature with an increase in solar radiation. Therefore, mesoclimatic temperatures (measured above the canopy in the vineyard) were different from temperatures in the bunch zone, when exposed to direct solar radiation. An important decrease in the bunch-zone temperature in the afternoon was observed due to the movement of the sun on the back shaded part of the canopy and as well due to the cold see breeze coming from the Atlantic Ocean and cooling down bunches from noon onwards.

Early leaf removal in the fruiting zone was efficient to decrease the IBMP concentration in Sauvignon Blanc grapes November 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Issue 610

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To subscribe and for full terms and conditions visit www.winebiz.com.au/gwm Terms & conditions: the competition will consist of 11 prizes. The first prize is a 1 x GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition camera, retail value of $529 inc GST as at 15/9/14. 10 additional finalists will receive an Adama branded RM Williams vest (either the Wilpena or Patterson creek styles) valued at $99 inc GST each (as at 15/9/14) to the size and style specified. In the event the Wilpena Creek and/or Patterson Creek vests cannot be supplied in the sizes requested, alternative RM Williams styles will be supplied with similar values. The competition will be open to all new and existing Australian subscribers to the Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker. The winners must be able to provide an Australian based delivery address for delivery of the prizes. Employees, contractors or family of Winetitles/Ryan Media and Adama Australia Pty Ltd are not eligible to enter the competition. The prizes offered are not redeemable or transferable for cash. The 1st prize winner and finalists will be judged by a Winetitles panel based on photo submissions that depict healthy vines and/or vineyards. The 1st prize winning photo will be featured on the cover of the Grapegrower & Winemaker January 2015 edition. The copyright of the entire photo prior to entry must be held by the entrant or the entrant must have written authority to submit the photograph for the competition. It is the responsibility of the entrant to seek all permissions required for the image to win under the entrantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name, and for the display and publication of the entry. Winetitles reserves the right to request evidence of such authorities or consents.

By entering the competition entrants agree to provide Winetitles with permission to use the images for the competition and other print and online media as required. Entries will be sent to Winetitles Pty Ltd and remain the property of Winetitles Pty Ltd. Competition start date will be the 6th October 2014. Final date for competition entries to be received will be 30th November 2014. For full terms and conditions visit www.winebiz.com.au/Adama-GW-Comp-TCs.

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Figure 7: Correlation between chemical and sensory data for three different treatments in the experiment. M-LR defoliated treatment on the morning side of the canopy, LR-UV defoliated treatment on the morning side of the canopy with the reduction of UV light and C control (100% shaded bunches).

Figure 6: A) Concentrations of 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) in Sauvignon Blanc wines, made from fruit subjected to different light environment. B) Concentrations of 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3SHA) in Sauvignon Blanc wines, made from fruit subjected to different light environment. C) Concentrations of ethyl esters of fatty acids made from fruit subjected to different light environment. D) Concentrations of higher alcohol acetates in Sauvignon Blanc wines, made from fruit subjected to different light environment.

36 Grapegrower & Winemaker

during the ripening period (Figure 5) when comparing defoliated treatment to the control.

Small scale vinifications were performed on grapes from treatments, as described above, and thiols, esters and methoxypyrazines were quantified in resulting wines. Wines were also sensory evaluated by a trained panel of 10 wine evaluators. Significant variation in wine chemical composition was observed. Defoliation, irrespective of the UV light reduction, resulted in significantly lower IBMP concentrations in corresponding wines. As observed previously by Gregan et al.

(2012) no effect of UV light reduction on IBMP concentrations were observed. Contrary, significantly higher 3SH and 3SHA concentrations were measured in wines from M-LR treatment, whereas UV light reduction resulted in significant decrease of both thiols in corresponding wines (Figure 6A, B). Furthermore, defoliation with normal light environment (M-LR) resulted in significantly higher concentration of higher alcohol acetates and ethyl esters of fatty acids compared to the LR-UV treatment (Figure 6C, D), whereas concentration of these esters in C treatment was not altered significantly (Figure 6C, D).

A positive correlation was observed between defoliated treatments (M-LR and LR-UV) and fruity aromas, whereas the C treatment (shaded bunches) was associated with acidity, green pepper, grassy, cooked beans/peas and overall green attributes. Thus, the chemical compound strongly associated with the C treatment was IBMP, with the latter being known to contribute to green aromas of wines (Figure 7). Contrary, M-LR was strongly associated with sensory attributes such as floral, banana lolly and guava and compounds responsible for such nuances, i.e. thiols (3SH, 3SHA) and some esters (Figure 7).

Treatment with the reduction of UV light was associated with the perception of bitterness (Figure 7).

Increased light at the bunch zone achieved with defoliation was shown as successful in decreasing IBMP concentrations in grapes and corresponding wines. Reduction of UV light had a negative effect on wine sensory properties and influenced lower concentrations of varietal thiols, higher alcohol acetates and ethyl esters of fatty acids in corresponding wines. It could be suggested that naturally-high quantities of UV radiation in combination with cool-to-temperate climate could improve Sauvignon Blanc varietal expression by obtaining IBMP concentrations above sensory perception threshold and increasing varietal thiols in wines. Increase in thiols precursors when grapes were exposed to UV radiation was already observed (Kobayashi et al. 2012). Defoliation was also successful in diversifying produced Sauvignon Blanc wine styles. However, this cultural practice has to be reasoned according to the climate (cool-temperate vs warm-hot), to the row orientation and to the labour cost and the production goals.

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November 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Issue 610

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Supporting the wine industry for more than 50 years

REFERENCES:

We didn’t have enough space to list them all, but here’s just a few wine industry events Grapegrower & Winemaker has supported in the past decade.

Antalick, G., M.-C. Perello, and G. de Revel. 2014. Esters in wines: new insight through the establishment of a database of French wines. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture.

Savour Australia Wine Health Conference WFA Wine Industry Outlook Conference Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Winery Engineering Association Annual Conference and Exhibition Australian Environment Conference ICCA Business of Wine Conference Romeo Bragato Charles Sturt University Student Scholarships National Riesling Challenge Great Australian Shiraz Challenge Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show Frankston & South Eastern Wine Show & Amateur International Sweet Wine Challenge Winemaking Competition 2013 Le Concours Des Vins (NSW, VIC) NSW Small Winemakers Show Riverina Wine Show Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland International Wine Show & Mediterranean Challenge Royal Hobart Wine Show Sydney Royal Wine Show Victorian Wines Show

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Subscribe today at www.winebiz.com. au/gwm. Subscription includes access to an online version and access to over 1000 archived articles.

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Alberts, P., M.A. Stander, S.O. Paul, and A. de Villiers. 2009. Survey of 3-Alkyl-2methoxypyrazine content of South African Sauvignon blanc wines using a novel LC− APCI-MS/MS method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57:9347-9355.

Allen, M.S., M.J. Lacey, R.L.N. Harris, and W.V. Brown. 1991. Contribution of methoxypyrazines to Sauvignon blanc wine aroma. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 42:109-112.

Capone, D.L., K.H. Pardon, A.G. Cordente, and D.W. Jeffery. 2011. Identification and quantitation of 3-s-Ccysteinylglycinehexan-1-ol (Cysgly-3-MH) in Sauvignon blanc grape juice by HPLC-MS/MS. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 59:11204-11210.

Coetzee, C., and W.J. Du Toit. 2012. A comprehensive review on Sauvignon blanc aroma with a focus on a certain positive volatile thiols. Food Research International 45:287-298. des Gachons, C.P., T. Tominaga, and D. Dubourdieu. 2002. Localization of S-Cysteine conjugates in the berry: effect of skin contact on aromatic potential of Vitis vinifera L. cv.

Sauvignon blanc must. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 53:144-146.

Dubourdieu, D., T. Tominaga, I. Masneuf, C. Peyrot des Gachons, and M.L. Murat. 2006.

The role of yeasts in grape flavor development during fermentation: the example of Sauvignon blanc. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 57:81-88.

Gregan, S.M., J.J. Wargent, L. Liu, J. Shinkle, R. Hofmann, C. Winefield, M. Trought, and B. Jordan. 2012. Effects of solar ultraviolet radiation and canopy manipulation on the biochemical composition of Sauvignon blanc grapes. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 18:227-238.

King, E.S., P. Osidacz, C. Curtin, S.E.P. Bastian, and I.L. Francis. 2011. Assessing desirable levels of sensory properties in Sauvignon blanc wines – consumer preferences and contribution of key aroma compounds. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 17:169-180.

Kotseridis, Y., A.A. Beloqui, A. Bertrand, and J.P. Doazan. 1998. An analytical method for studying the volatile compounds of Merlot noir clone wines. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 49:44-48.

Lund, C.M., M.K. Thompson, F. Benkwitz, M.W. Wohler, C.M. Triggs, R. Gardner, H. Heymann, and L. Nicolau. 2009. New Zealand Sauvignon blanc distinct flavor characteristics: sensory, chemical, and consumer aspects. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 60:1-12.

Parliament, T.H., and M. Epstein. 1973. Organoleptic properties of some alkyl substituted alkoxy and alkylthiopyrazines. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 21:714-716.

Pickering, G.J., A. Karthik, D. Inglis, M. Sears, and K. Ker. 2007. Determination of orthoand retronasal detection thresholds for 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine in wine. Journal of Food Science 72:S468-S472.

Roland, A., R. Schneider, A. Razungles, and F. Cavelier. 2011. Varietal thiols in wine: discovery, analysis and applications. Chemical Reviews 111:7355-7376.

Roujou de Boubee, D., C. Van Leeuwen, and D. Dubourdieu. 2000. Organoleptic impact of 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine on red Bordeaux and Loire wines. Effect of environmental conditions on concentrations in crapes during ripening. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 48:4830-4834.

Ryona, I., B.S. Pan, D.S. Intrigliolo, A.N. Lakso, and G.L. Sacks. 2008. Effects of cluster light exposure on 3-Isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine accumulation and degradation patterns in red wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Franc). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56:10838-10846.

Ryona, I., B.S. Pan, and G.L. Sacks. 2009. Rapid measurement of 3-alkyl-2methoxypyrazine content of winegrapes to predict levels in resultant wines. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57:8250-8257.

Scheiner, J.J., G.L. Sacks, B. Pan, S. Ennahli, L. Tarlton, A. Wise, S.D. Lerch, and J.E. Vanden Heuvel. 2010. Impact of severity and timing of basal leaf removal on 3-isobutyl2-methoxypyrazine concentrations in red winegrapes. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 61:358-364. Šuklje, K., G. Antalick, Z. Coetzee, L.M. Schmidtke, H. Baša Cesnik, J. Brandt, W.J. du Toit, K. Lisjak, and A. Deloire. 2014. Effect of leaf removal and ultraviolet radiation on the composition and sensory perception of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sauvignon Blanc wine.

Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 20:223-233. Šuklje, K., K. Lisjak, H. Baša Cesnik, L. Janeš, W. Du Toit, Z. Coetzee, A. Vanzo, and A. Deloire. 2012. Classification of grape berries according to diameter and total soluble solids to study the effect of light and temperature on methoxypyrazine, glutathione, and hydroxycinnamate evolution during ripening of Sauvignon blanc (Vitis vinifera L.). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 60:9454-9461.

Swiegers, J.H., R.L. Kievit, T. Siebert, K.A. Lattey, B.R. Bramley, I.L. Francis, E.S. King, and I.S. Pretorius. 2009. The influence of yeast on the aroma of Sauvignon Blanc wine.

Food Microbiology 26:204-211.

Tominaga, T., P. Darriet, and D. Doubourdieu. 1996. Identification of 3-mercaptohexyl acetate in Sauvignon wine, a powerful aromatic compound exhibiting a box-tree odor.

Vitis 35:207-210.

Tominaga, T., C. Peyrot des Gachons, and D. Dubourdieu. 1998. A new type of flavor precursors in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sauvignon blanc: s-cysteine conjugates. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 46:5215-5219. van Wyngaard, E., J. Brand, D. Jacobson, and W.J. du Toit. 2014. Sensory interaction between 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine in dearomatised Sauvignon blanc wine. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 20:178-185.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Sustainability program on offer to all Australian growers THE Sustainable Australia Winegrowing program, developed

by McLaren Vale’s grapegrowing community, is now being offered across the Australian wine industry. In fact, the first grower from outside the McLaren Vale GI has already signed up.

Adelaide Hills grower Simon Berry, who supplies two McLaren Vale wineries, has been observing the program and interacting with growers using it.

“I’m attracted to the grower-friendly style of the program and the focus on site specific continuous improvement,” Berry said. “The benchmarking and regional interaction with other growers creates a positive fraternity for change with measurable results.”

The program has been developed across the past five years, with support from the South Australian government, and has become well-known for its comprehensive nature and long-term vision.

Marc Allgrove, McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association chief executive officer, said sharing the program was an investment in the future of the Australian wine industry.

“Our community has worked hard to develop Australia’s only true sustainability program for wine grapes and now, by opening it up to grape growers around the country, we hope

At A glAnce: The program objectives of Sustainable Australia Winegrowing, McLaren Vale set out to: • Increase the overall sustainability of McLaren Vale; • Increase the overall sustainability of the Australian wine industry; • Promote regional social development and well-being; • Increase grape quality; • Increase growers’ profitability; • Improve vineyards; • Preserve and improve land; • Optimise input use; • Minimise potential negative impacts on the environment; • Achieve sustainable development; • Optimise production for desired grape quality; • Manage resources; and • Meet the requirements of the wineries (fruit specifications).

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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39

grapegrowing

T

he McLaren Vale Sustainable Winegrowing Australia program has its origins in the early 2000s. Since that time, the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association developed a series of viticultural initiatives with the objective to improve viticultural practices, fruit quality and financial viability within the region. These initiatives included seminars and workshops, a growers bulletin (CropWatch) which provides information from nine weather monitoring stations, pest and disease alerts for the region, as well as research trials and information days.

The association also released a Financial Benchmark for McLaren Vale growers in 2005, and a Pest and Disease Code of Conduct in 2006, which was voluntarily endorsed by the growers in 2007. In the same year, the Soil Management, Water Management and Preservation of Biodiversity Codes were also released.

Growth in the program can be attributed to the region’s passionate growers who have made a living, but also work to ensure unique land and resources are protected, natural heritage is preserved, and a vibrant, healthy lifestyle continues to flourish and the region continues to grow as a tourism destination.

40 Grapegrower & Winemaker

that regions across the country will benefit,” Allgrove said.

“Participating growers receive a comprehensive report on their sustainability status and have access to an on-line spray diary that correlates chemical usage with individual blocks which are located by GPS coordinates.”

One of the key people driving the program is Dr Irina Santiago-Brown, who recently had her job title changed from Sustainability Officer to Sustainable Winegrowing Australia Program Manager – to better reflect her workload.

“I started on the sustainability assessment project about three-and-a-half years ago, at that stage McLaren Vale had a great initiative but had not done a lot of data collection. I helped to develop the new methodology which eventually became the online assessment process.

“I think it’s time to share.”

While there is a small cost to participants, Santiago-Brown said the system is basically being shared for free. And it doesn’t matter if your whole region adopts the program, in fact, it would be best from a data collection point of view if individual growers signed up this year and regions adopted the system next year.

“At the moment each grower will receive information showing their status in an Australian-wide context, but to have regional benchmarks we just need more individual growers in each region participating.

“Any grower from any region can become a member. When we have groups together they will be able to look at managing the system within their own region and will be able to look more closely at standards that apply to their area. It just needs management to migrate and host the data, the costs are minimal because the system exists already, it doesn’t need to be re-written.”

Santiago-Brown recently completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide, reviewing sustainability programs around the world, and said her learnings have been applied in the development of Sustainable Australia Winegrowing.

“The system is about helping people to become better growers and allowing them to determine the path they want to follow to achieve that,” she said. “It was conceived to promote continuous improvement of its members through a practical approach and peer-reviewed content.

“Sustainable Australia Winegrowing is about the future; we must ensure that we hand over that for which we are responsible in a manner that ensures future generations can not only continue to enjoy what we enjoy today, but that they can also continue to make a living from it.”

The program assesses sustainability through the triple bottom line approach (environment, economics and social) and focuses on continuous improvement of the grower and the region’s results over time. There are seven assessment areas, each written by grower working groups and peer reviewed by experts on a volunteer basis.

The assessment areas are: • Soil health, nutrition and fertiliser management; • Pest and disease management; • Biodiversity management; • Water management; • Waste management; • Social relations (workers, community and wineries); and • Economic sustainability.

The program is delivered through an online recording platform via a combination of self-assessment and data recording, and is validated by third-party audits of 10 per cent of the participating vineyards, selected at random. Vineyards may also choose to be independently audited by third-party certifiers at their own costs to promote their own business and/ or to increase the credibility of their sustainability claims to their stakeholders.

www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

Dr Irina Santiago-Brown

The program’s online recording tool, www. sustainableaustralia.info, was launched in May 2013 and replaced the former hard copy workbook providing a simpler method for growers to be involved in the program, and offers highly-detailed reports for the individual growers and the region.

The new online system enables growers to record vineyard management practices for each of their individual blocks utilising precise GPS coordinates. An online spray diary has also been included in the system which provides

benchmarks on chemical usage per target, per hectare and per sub-district.

The online system is a very powerful tool both for growers and the region, producing detailed reports including site and regional comparisons. The new online recording tool was developed with funding support from the McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association and the South Australian Government’s Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA).

The program embraces the various needs of different-sized

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

41

grapegrowing

vineyards and places each grower in one of the four levels, based on their individual sustainability performance.

Over the past 10 years, the growers of McLaren Vale have invested more than $2million through the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association to improve viticultural practices, fruit quality and financial viability. This funding has been used to develop local seminars, CropWatch alerts for growers, monitoring weather stations, research trials, the Environmental Management Plan, newsletters such as Growers’ Voice, among other initiatives.

In 2009, the Generational Farming pilot program was launched and compiled the most relevant tools and information available to develop a self-assessment tool for growers to improve their sustainability.

In 2012, Generational Farming was renamed as ‘McLaren Vale Sustainable Winegrowing Australia’ to embrace the triple bottom line philosophy in its name and to allow the program to be more easily found in web search engines. In 2014, the program was re-named again, ‘Sustainable Australia Winegrowing’ so that other regions could adopt the assessment developed by McLaren Vale and adapt its content to reflect the context of their wine growing region in Australia.

“The program will provide Australian growers and regions with meaningful benchmarks which will help increase understanding of regional issues and specific vineyard issues, along with providing pathways for continual development and improvement,” Allgrove said.

“This move to share the program is not about self-promotion or benevolence; rather it is based on a deeply held belief within the McLaren Vale community that sustainability does not work in isolation.”

The costs differ because of existing contributions to the program. Growers from McLaren Vale have been investing in the development of the program since 2009 and also support

42 Grapegrower & Winemaker

the program through levies, so their program fee is $50. Growers from South Australia also have a subsidised program fee because the Government of South Australia has co-sponsored the development of the online system through PIRSA with the understanding that the program should benefit growers from the entire state, the South Australian program fee is $75. For growers located outside of South Australia the program fee is $100.

Santiago-Brown said the whole rationale has been to ensure the system is useful, appropriate and easy to manage.

“I was unsure in the beginning about how people would react, but the one thing we made sure was that it was useful. We know growers are busy, most of them own their own business and we know from research most are working more than 49 hours a week – and many work a lot more hours.

They’re doing everything themselves, but as soon as they could see we had developed a reporting system that was easy to understand they said ‘okay’. And we’ve tried to organise everything around the assessment, to make it as straightforward as possible.

“It is highly beneficial for small growers, and we know that because about 50 per cent of the growers in McLaren Vale are small, between two hectares and 150.”

Allgrove also pointed to ways the program could be extended over time.

“The program is able to be adapted to meet the needs of other agriculture and horticulture industries, so the opportunities for Australian agribusiness are only limited by imagination and commitment,” he said.

“We look forward to supporting growers and regions as they adopt Sustainable Australia Winegrowing to meet their regional needs and, ultimately, to ensure Australia possesses the most comprehensive data set with which to assess and develop its national vineyard.”

www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

grapegrowing

The life of a professor, author and industry supporter Vine Management

Kym Anderson might take an economical approach to most things in his life but when it comes to the wine industry this University of Adelaide professor told Stephanie Timotheou he just can’t help himself.

BEING born and bred in Coonawarra, it seems appropriate the wine industry has been an integral part Kym Anderson’s working life. While a quick glance at his title, Economics Professor with the University of Adelaide, doesn’t explain his background and broad interest in the performance and financial health of the industry, for Anderson it has been a logical extension.

He is happy to admit that “like everyone else my interest increased as the industry boomed in the latter 90s”. And his economist curiosity had him question whether there had been such sudden surges in investment in the past.

Which in 1998 led him to produce a booklet on the industry’s growth and cycles – which proved to be the first of many publications. His research and understanding is so wellregarded he was asked to speak at October’s Wine Industry Outlook Conference. The topic he presented on was one of the more curly questions of the conference: Wine Tax – a help or hindrance?

KICKING GOALS: Professor Kym Anderson’s book titled Which winegrape varieties are grown where? received the International Organisation of Vine and Wine Award for one of the best viticulture books of 2013.

Anderson explained that Australia’s wine tax is higher than almost all major wine-producing countries, only behind New Zealand, and at ‘super premium’ price points (bottle price of $32 or more) the tax rate per glass is also one of the highest of any tax on alcohol in the world.

He warned that changes to a volumetric tax, at the rate that beer is currently taxed, would result in expanding wine production in cool and warm regions, but shrinking production in hot regions.

“This is a ver political issue, but it’s important for the industry to have input,” he said. “There are lots of motivations for updating the tax system; the Henry Review didn’t get it right and there will be taxation pressure from health lobby.”

Anderson, who holds the title of George Gollin professor of economics and is the foundation executive director of the Wine Economics Research Centre, has been affiliated with the University of Adelaide for 30 years.

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44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

A quick scan shows the Grapegrower & Winemaker contributor has a remarkable CV. He was a former research fellow at Australian National University’s (ANU) Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies following undergraduate studies at the University of New England and a part-time masters at the University of Adelaide.

Anderson has also served as a guest professor at the Australian Defence College, ANU, Beijing University, the University of Siena, the University of Sydney, Uppsala University and the World Trade Institute to name a few.

He’s also held many corporate board positions and was a non-executive director of the Grape and Wine Researcher and Development Corporation for five years.

In 2013 Anderson added an international accolade to his list of achievements when he was one of three recipients of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine Award for the best viticulture books.

Funded by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA), Which winegrape varieties are grown where? was an in-depth analysis of the world’s winegrape varieties and grapegrowing nations that account for 99 per cent of global wine production.

“We were delighted the book received that recognition,” he said. “We hope the publicity associated with it will encourage producers and consumers to explore alternative varieties.

“It’s a door stopper at 700 pages, so be aware of that before you push ‘print’ if you’re downloading the e-book version – that version is free, by the way.”

The book was downloaded more than 10,000 times in the first month after its release.

Anderson described the book as a part time labour of love that took more than a year to complete. In addition to revealing the bearing area of each variety in different wine regions, the book provided various indicators of how intensely each region focuses on various varieties.

“It also reveals the world has moved more toward red varieties during the first decade of this century and there have been major changes in the global rankings of varieties.”

The book was a response to a recent decline in the international competitiveness of Australian winegrowers.

“As other wine exporting countries learnt from our success and piggy-backed on the global reputation we built for Shiraz by planting more of that variety, we began showing more interest in alternative varieties,” he said. “This was partly to help differentiate our product, but also a way of insuring against possible global warming.

“In addition to this, data on how many hectares are devoted to each variety here and elsewhere is difficult to find, so we thought it would be a service to the industry to assemble such information.”

Squeezed in between his national and international achievements, Anderson has been, and still is, a committed contributor to Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine (among others).

It is a partnership which began in 1998 when he submitted How long will Australia’s wine boost last? Lessons from history.

This was one of “a dozen or so” articles he wrote for Grapegrower & Winemaker which drew on research rather than opinion pieces.

“Articles for Grapegrower & Winemaker have dealt with issues including how much exchange rate movements have reduced competitiveness of Australian wines (March 2013), the economic contributions and characteristics of Australia’s wine regions (September 2009) and the impact of tax reform on the wine industry (October 1998),” he said.

His research has also been published in several mainstream economics journals.

November 2014 – Issue 610

WINE LOVER: Professor Kym Anderson was raised in SA’s Coonawarra and has always had a strong connection to the wine industry and its people.

“A decade ago we formed the American Association of Wine Economists and launched the Journal of Wine Economics published through Cambridge University Press,” he said.

Anderson is currently co-editor of the Journal and also on the editorial board of international academic publication Journal of International Economic Law. While conditions seem less than rosy in the Australian industry at present, Anderson said “history tells us that adjustments eventually restore profitability”.

“I’m very optimistic about long-term prospects for wine exports to nearby Asia, notwithstanding the high Australian Dollar resulting from our mining and food exports to that booming region,” he said.

“Building markets there won’t be as quick and easy as it was in our traditional English-speaking markets in the UK, US and Canada but at least the region is in our time zone - a real positive for jet-weary marketing executives.”

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45

grapegrowing

Winegrowers welcome new viticulturist It’s a great opportunity to work alongside winegrowers and share my expertise in the field and enhance the sustainability of the NSW wine industry.

I am focused on the practical needs of the industry and will make sure that NSW wine producers have access to all the latest information, technology and innovations.

NSW winegrowers will benefit from the recent appointment of a viticulture development officer, as part of a collaborative extension model between the NSW Government and the state’s wine industry.

Darren Fahey said his first-up goals are to work on skills development and “seeking input from regions on what research areas growers are most interested in”.

His position will oversee the delivery of research programs through the Australian Wine Research Institute and he aims to “take the science and have a look at how it can be best applied and adapted in the vineyard”.

“Sometimes there is a lot of science, but there’s not a lot of outcome for growers. They need practical things that help advance what they are doing.”

Fahey said he has an “entrepreneurial” background, having run his own trucking business for 12 years, but he also has a strong science background through his study of horticulture and viticulture.

He has also previously worked for the NSW DPI on a compost project and has an interest in soil, mulch and climate change.

“It’s a great opportunity to work alongside winegrowers and share my expertise in the field and enhance the sustainability of the NSW wine industry.

"I am focused on the practical needs of the industry and will make sure that NSW wine producers have access to all the latest information, technology and innovations.

46 Grapegrower & Winemaker

NEW ROLE: Darren Fahey is the NSW viticulture development officer.

“I’ll be based a Wagga Wagga, where there’s a bit of a ‘hub’, but it’s a roving role and I get to cover the 14 regions of NSW… “And I’m looking forward to getting involved and engaged. I’m keen to work closely with growers and help them out.

“But what I won’t be doing is turning their water on and off, or pruning for them,” Fahey said (tongue-in-cheek).

Myles Parker, Department of Primary Industries (DPI) horticulture development leader, said Fahey had been appointed to the new role which will deliver expert advice and assistance to NSW winegrowers.

“Darren will coordinate the delivery of the DPI’s Skills and Development program currently being undertaken by the Australian Wine Research Institute,” Parker said.

“He will be working closely with grower associations and groups to determine their priorities and enhance the profitability and sustainability of the State’s wine industry.

“Importantly he will be visiting the www.winebiz.com.au

regions over the coming weeks to meet with growers and develop specially tailored research programs to meet their regional needs.”

Tom Ward, NSW Wine Industry Association president, said winegrowers will benefit from Darren’s unique skills and technical knowledge in the adoption and use of recycled organic materials.

“With more than 10 years’ experience in the wine industry, Darren has a great understanding of the industry, growing regions, winemakers and researchers, and has a well-established network of relationships across the industry,” Mr Ward said.

Mr Fahey said he is looking forward to delivering outcomes across NSW regions and industry as a whole.

“I love the enjoyment that wine brings to people, and the passion that each producer has for their product,” Fahey said.

“I am personally interested in new wine grape varieties and wine styles that could be adopted in NSW.” November 2014 – Issue 610

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Should the Wine Grapes Industry Act be amended?

SINCE 2011, the Wine Grape Council of SA (WGCSA) has been receiving complaints from grapegrowers who have not been paid in full and on time for their winegrapes. A 2012 survey found that 10 per cent of respondents had experienced problems with late or incomplete payments. On average the amount of reported outstanding debt was $20,000.

During October’s Wine Industry Outlook Conference Lawrie Stanford, Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director, also raised this issue.

“Our industry is one of the few that hasn’t sorted out a transparent and measurable approach to payment terms and the risk is being put back on growers when it belongs to wineries,” Stanford said.

The WGCSA is currently seeking opinion from growers on whether growers are keen to see amendments to the Wine Grapes Industry Act, in order to provide greater commercial protection to independent growers.

Specifically the proposed changes suggested by WGCSA set out to:

Our industry is one of the few that hasn’t sorted out a transparent and measurable approach to payment terms and the risk is being put back on growers when it belongs to wineries.

• Increase from one to three years the time available to initiate a prosecution when a winery purchases grapes while still owing money for grapes purchased in previous vintages; and • Give PIRSA specific powers to investigate alleged breaches of the Act. Amendments will be sought if the majority of growers agree and there is bipartisan support from the SA Government and opposition.

In the meantime, if you have not been paid for your grapes on time within South Australia, there are options for recovering late payments.

In SA, payments for grapes are prescribed by the SA Wine Grapes Industry Act – which calls for three payments, the last due by 30 September.

Interest is required to be paid on any late payments. This is a legal obligation, not an option. The interest rate is equivalent to the Commonwealth Bank overdraft rate (9.98% p.a. as of 27 August 2014) plus a premium of 1%, rising to a premium of 5% for debts remaining after 31 December.

The WGCSA website (wgcsa.com.au) has a number of resources including a free publication: A guide to negotiating the sale of winegrapes, example letters of demand, a copy of the Act and the Ministerial Order.

If you are worried that a buyer may not be able to pay, another tool for growers is Creditor Watch (creditorwatch.com. au) – an online service where you can review a company’s credit file to assess their credit risk.

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www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

Vine Sight expands into New Zealand Stephanie Timotheou

Vine Sight’s Tom and Alison Stephens have been removing and re-working vines across Australia for more than five years. In August the business received its first New Zealand contract, opening up a range of opportunities for the business in a new market.

EXPERT help for removing vines is now available across Australia and New Zealand and the services of a business like Vine Sight can make the job less time consuming and actually save a vineyard owner thousands of dollars in the long term.

Vine Sight has spent years establishing a well-respected business in Australia and jumped at the opportunity to take its streamlined operation across the water when it received its first contract with New Zealand’s Duck Creek Wines. “Like many Australian wine businesses, using us to re-work or pull varieties that aren’t producing optimum quality is keeping them in the wine industry,” Tom Stephens, Vine Sight owner and viticulturist said.

Paul Syms, who runs Duck Creek Wines located in Stillwater, North Island, decided to downsize his vineyard so he could focus on managing a smaller area. He discovered Vine Sight through reviews in specialist publications and said he was confident the job would be done properly. “I initially looked for local New Zealand-based companies that could do the work and found none so I searched the web and looked further afield,” Syms said. “Vine Sight was my first and only contact as they were immediately helpful and keen to do the work which they completed in one week.”

Syms’ vineyard was three hectares in total – one hectare was leased and had gone back to its landlord and of the remaining two hectares, Vine Sight removed 80 per cent. While the vines were in pristine condition and produced some of the best red wines in New Zealand, Syms said they were removed because he was working “very hard for nothing” due to the high level of

BIG BUSINESS: Tom Stephens, Vine Sight owner and operator, has officially extended his services to New Zealand.

regulation, the costs and complexity of operating and the strong NZ dollar. “To operate I need to undergo two annual audits which have significant fees,” he said. “I also need to have a manager’s liquor license and the winery requires an off-license.

Again, both of these are expensive, not to mention I need to have a spray license, so it really wasn’t worth keeping the vines.”

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

49

grapegrowing

WIRE WINDING: Vine Sight in the process of winding wire in a New Zealand vineyard to ensure the client is able to easily resell or recycle it.

We continue to focus on meeting more people in wine regions across Australia and New Zealand, working with growers to help their businesses and providing a contracting service that’s cheaper than owners carrying out the work themselves.

For a small business like Duck Creek Wines, Syms said there was “too much expertise across too many fields” for a one man show and he could see things getting worse which was another reason for hiring Vine Sight. “My dream was to make a great red wine and enjoy myself. I still love making the wine but the bureaucracy has taken its toll financially,” he says. “I have therefore decided to reduce production down to a level that will service just the New Zealand market. There are many other wineries, particularly in the Auckland area where wineries tend to be smaller, that have the same concerns as I do.”

To get the job done in the most efficient way possible, Vine Sight exported its specialised equipment but hired local bobcats. “We take all our jobs very seriously and our experience in cost-effective vine removal was carried out as if we were on Australian soil,” Stephens said. “This is the way Vine Sight goes about vineyard removal and re-working that makes the company and its services appealing to clients.”

Aside from having an experienced viticulturist as the business owner, Vine Sight’s procedure, equipment and understanding of the industry was at the forefront of the company. Stephens said

50 Grapegrower & Winemaker

he has the long term goal that with more vineyard removal and re-working, the reputation of the New Zealand wine industry will continue to grow. “We continue to focus on meeting more people in wine regions across Australia and New Zealand, working with growers to help their businesses and providing a contracting service that is cheaper than the business carrying out the work themselves.”

Syms also believed there were opportunities in New Zealand for professional vine removal and said he intended to contact local industry networks and contacts to discover what level of interest there might be.

Meanwhile in Australia, Vine Sight pulled more vines in 2014 than previous years, proving more businesses were resorting to pulling or re-working their vines. “We are busier than we have ever been and have expanded our team and equipment to reflect that,” Stephens said. “People are really looking at their vineyards from a business perspective and while removal comes with a cost, it’s the last cost.”

He said Vine Sight can officially promote a vineyard removal and re-working service in New Zealand and has left equipment in the country for future work.

www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

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DEPARTMENT of Agriculture and Food plant pathologist Andrew Taylor has recently been successful in applying for a PhD study into grapevine downy mildew in WA and is seeking isolates as part of his study.

The work will be conducted through Murdoch University with an Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA, formally GWRDC) scholarship and will investigate the population that exists in WA and its mode of survival over the next three seasons until 2017.

Since its introduction in 1998, downy has sporadically occurred despite the WA climate not being optimum for the disease to spread. Its ability to survive during conditions that are not conducive will be investigated.

The outcomes from this work could potentially result in new management approaches to controlling the disease in conditions specific to WA. In order to do this work, Taylor requires as many downy isolates as possible.

If you have an outbreak of downy that has naturally sporulated or you have been successful with a ‘bag test’ please contact Taylor to have the sample collected. Samples are best preserved in a refrigerator until collection. It does not matter if the disease has been sprayed with a fungicide as long as it has ‘down’ to conduct the appropriate tests.

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Contents: 5 Litres

Conan 10Litre 200mm wide x 150mm high 003/04/2013 FRONT LABEL

FUNGICIDE

POISON

Quality Product Range for Your Vineyard

ACTIVE CONSTITUENT: 750 g/kg KEEPMANCOZEB OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN

READ SAFETY DIRECTIONS BEFORE OPENING OR USING

Yield

®

250 EC CAUTION

Manzate 20kg Australia Bag 350mm wide x 600mm high _ Front Panel _ 11/12/2013

Fungicide

HERBICIDE

ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS: 125 g/L ORYZALIN ACTIVE CONSTITUENT: 720 g/LKEEP CHLOROTHALONIL OUT OF REACH 125 g/L TRIFLURALIN

OF CHILDREN READ SAFETY DIRECTIONS BEFORE OPENING OR USING

100EC UniTox .BO[BUF %' For control of fungus diseases on Almonds, Bananas, Cucurbits, Grapes, ®Ornamentals, Peanuts, Stone Fruits, Tobacco & Vegetables as specified in the Directions for Use table.

IMPORTANT: READ THE ATTACHED BOOKLET BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT. APVMA Approval No: 68458/58398

Contents: 10 Litres

INSECTICIDE

2.5kg Primary (Outer) Pack - FRONT

Pack Size 245 x 380mm

Fungicide ACTIVE CONSTITUENT: 100 g/L ALPHA-CYPERMETHRIN SOLVENT: 704 g/L HYDROCARBON LIQUID

3 UniZeb 750DF 3 Year Shelf-life

3 UniShield 800DF

ACTIVE CONSTITUENT: 750 g/kg MANCOZEB

Zee-Mil

® For the control of certain diseases of field crops, fruit, ornamentals, turf and vegetables as per the Directions for Use.

61504_XXXXX_10L_Leaflet_MPL_Version 1_80 x 440mm actual size_65%A4_90% A3_1/12/2010 APVMA Approval No. 30582/51667

MZB 720 WP

Net Contents: 20 kg

SYSTEMIC AND PROTECTIVE FUNGICIDE

ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS: 640 g/kg MANCOZEB 80 g/kg METALAXYL

Zolo 430 SC D Y ®

UPL Limited

For control of downy mildew and cer tain other foliar diseases as in the Drive, directions for use.

Suite indicated 416, Level 4, 14 Lexington Norwest Park,No: Bella50432/2.5/0106 Vista NSW 2153 APVMABusiness Approval Telephone: (02) 8824 7277 Facsimile: (02) 8814 6469

NET Contents: 2.5 kg Primary pack.

Contains 2 x 1.25 kg measure packs (water soluble packs) which it is illegal to sell separately.

XXXXX_XXXXX_5kg_FRONT Label_MPL_Version 1_338mm wide x 139mm high actual size_80%A4_100% A3_26 /05/2011

BFA & NASSA Approved Input For Organic Production

See our new website for your local contact details or call toll-free

www.uplaustralia.com 1800 610 150

FUNGICIDE ACTIVE CONSTITUENT: 430 g/L TEBUCONAZOLE

Zee-Mil

+

® For the control of various diseases of bananas, peanuts, cereal crops, vegetables and other crops as specified in the DIRECTIONS FOR USE Table.

IMPORTANT: READ THE ATTACHED BOOKLET BEFORE USE APVMA Approval No: 61504/45684

Contents: 10 FUNGICIDE Litres SYSTEMIC

PLUS

ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS: 350 g/kg COPPER (Cu) present as COPPER OXYCHLORIDE, 150 g/kg METALAXYL

UPL

Agribusiness is Our Business ® Registered Trademarks of UPL Australia Limited

OIL SPOT: Downey mildew infection. Photo: James Hook.

Wanted: downy mildew oilspots With the wet start to spring and the early budburst in some areas it means that applications of fungicides to control downy mildew should have occurred or will need to occur soon.

Remember the 10:10:24 rules for primary infection of downy mildew (10 mL of rain, temperature ≥10°C over a 24 hour period). Shoots at 10cm are used as a rule to when vines are susceptible to infection.

Spray program reminder It is also a timely reminder to have your powdery mildew control in place.

Although the vineyard may appear clean at this stage of the season adequate control now will prevent an epidemic occurring in the middle to late part of the season, when control becomes more difficult and spray options are reduced.

Early applications of sulphur can prevent the onset of disease but weather conditions will need to be monitored as rainfall will result in shortening the spray window.

Another disease study currently being conducted is a national AGWA project investigating the important topic of fungicide resistance in downy mildew, powdery mildew and botrytis bunch rot.

If you are finding that, irrespective of a tight spray program, powdery mildew or botrytis still occurs in your vineyard please contact Taylor in regards to sampling for fungicide resistance.

For further information on current grapevine disease projects or sampling of downy mildew Andrew Taylor can be contacted on 61 8 9780 6241.

For control of downy mildew on grapevines, and phytophthora trunk canker and root rot of macadamias

Net Contents: 5 kg

52 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Flute – the sweet sound of success.

PRODUCT REVIEW

FLUTE is a new fungicide with a unique mode of action for the control of powdery mildew in grapes and cucurbits. First registered in Australia in 2013, many growers decided to try out this new product. Rob Elliott, a grapegrower from Cranbrook, Tasmania, used Flute last year and recounts his experience: “The powdery season was a bit earlier than usual, a little kept coming in, early in the season before flowering, and there was a lot of rain, and overcast muggy conditions. But Flute did a good job of controlling powdery,” Elliott said.

He said it compared favourably to other products.

“Usually I use Topaz for powdery mildew control, but I like to try new technologies, softer alternatives, and Flute worked well,” Elliott said.

It controlled the disease, and there were no issues applying it.

“None at all,” he said. “It was just as easy to mix and use as any other powdery product. I tank mixed it with other fungicides and an insecticide and there was no problem.”

Flute is the only product registered in Australia with an active constituent from the U6 mode of action group.

It attacks the powdery mildew life cycle at five stages to provide exceptional control of the disease.

“I know that I need to watch how many sprays I put on of products from the same group and that I need to rotate them around, so it’s great to have Flute in the mix with its distinctive mode of action, to help manage resistance,” Elliott said.

Spore 1st germtube 2nd germtube

Spore formation

Appressoria

®

2nd hyphae haustoria

Flute provides protection at five different stages of the disease lifecycle.

Flute is an effective product with many benefits for managing the build up of resistance and makes for a great addition to the arsenal in the fight against powdery mildew.

“I have had a positive experience with Flute and I’ll use it again next year, for sure,” Elliott said.

DISEASE CONTROL TOOL BOX Pick the right tool for the job Choose OCP products for your organic pest control solution ecocarb® Organic Powdery Mildew Control Works under low temperature conditions. Excellent option for early and late season infections (7 day WHP). Sulphur and Petroleum oil alternative. NOP approved.

ecoprotector® Organic Botrytis Protection Excellent resistance management tank mix. Soft on beneficial insects and unlike some alternatives, has no OH&S issues. NOP Approved.

Trichoderma & Bacillus Bio-inoculant Range Beneficial soil and plant based microbes that are natural enemies of various soil and plant diseases.

SARSil High analysis liquid potassium silicate SARSil hardens the plant against disease infection.

ORGANIC CROP PROTECTANTS PTY LTD 61 Turrella St, Turrella NSW 2205 Australia Telephone: 1800 634 204 www.ocp.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

NSW/WA SA VIC/TAS QLD

www.winebiz.com.au

James Plamen Scott Andrew

0408 025 139 0488 583 333 0488 717 515 0448 016 551

Grapegrower & Winemaker

53

grapegrowing

Key products to tackle mildew this season WHEN it comes to downy and powdery mildew prevention, UPL Australia Limited has the key products.

UPL is part of the global manufacturer and supplier company - UPL Limited, formerly known as United Phosphorus Limited. With the backing of one of the top 10 agrochemical suppliers in the world, UPL offers a broad range to the agrochemical industry, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, grain protectants, seed treatment, rodenticides and post-harvest products.

Let’s take a look at the key fungicides to tackle mildew:

POWDERY MILDEW The problem: Powdery mildew is a common and easily recognisable fungal disease which causes serious damage. The fungus spreads very quickly; it can go from a single infected leaf to an epidemic within three-to-four days. Spores can be released, germinate and cause infection, even when there is no film of water on the plant surface, so long as the relative humidity is fairly high.

Reducing the likelihood of disease outbreak is more effective than trying to control the disease once it is established.

The answers:

UniShield 800DF is an “established market leader” for powdery mildew control, according to Nick Smyth from UPL. “It mixes well and has organic certification which can be important not just for those with certification, but

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Application of Unishield 800DF can commence two weeks after budburst.

In cool climates where early growth of vines is slow, the first spray may be applied later after budburst and the spray interval may be extended. (Note that Unishield 800DF may be combined with a registered copper fungicide for control of both powdery and downy mildew.)

Affix 250SC (Azoxystrobin) is another product that can be used to target both mildews. It can be an important product for use at the start of the season when there has been a heavy carry-over of powdery mildew infection.

Zolo 430SC (Tebuconazole) is another product “well-known and wellunderstood” by growers, according to Smyth. “Both the brand and the chemistry are well known in the market.”

DOWNY MILDEW The problem: Downy mildew is a fungal-like disease that is specific to grapevines which requires particular weather conditions to establish and infect. It can attack all green tissue with functioning stomata, which includes the underside of leaves, shoots and flowers. Downy mildew can be extremely devastating if infections are permitted to establish early especially before flowering.

The answers:

For control, UPL offers a range of products. Conan 720SC (Chlorothalonil)

STOPS Powdery, Downey or Botrytis FAST!

Engineered to react, then bio-degrade.

www.jaegaraustralia.com.au

54 Grapegrower & Winemaker

is one option if conditions favour disease development. Manzate 750DF is a new premium product available from November. Smyth said it will be well-received by growers looking for a solution at the “top end of the market” because it offers a low-foaming and very quick rainfastness. “It offers the best formulation and, like all the products, should be used as a preventative,” Smyth said. Manzate 750DF will complement the established Unizeb 750DF formulation to give more choice for end users.

For those looking for more options, there are two Zeemil products currently available: Zeemil 720WP (Metalaxyl and Mancozeb) and Zeemil Plus (Metalaxyl and Copper). “This is an extremely well-regarded brand and well-known for protection against downy mildew,” Smyth said.

REGN NO: 66320

Phone: 03 9769 1788

www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

Fertilisers & Nutrition

Put the spring back in

PRODUCT REVIEW

ACROSS southern Australia, the cool winter conditions which result in cold and wet soils has put many fruit and vegetable crops under stress. With spring upon us, now is the time to revive crops and help them recover as quickly as possible from the slow growth and reduced productivity of winter.

David Cavallaro, Stoller Australia SA territory manager, said Stoller Australia has a stress program that is specifically designed to help crops recover from stress so they can take full advantage of spring conditions and fulfil their yield potential.

“Stoller’s stress program is designed to minimise stress and maximise growth and is based on three speciality products – Bio-Forge, WL Zinc Chelate and Foli-Zyme,” David said.

Stoller’s Bio-Forge contains a unique combination of key nutrients to give crops the boost they need to recover from stress and initiate new vegetative and root growth. Applying Stoller’s Bio-Forge after stress can help plants to restore normal growth.

Zinc can help crops tolerate environmental stress and it is also critical for the production of auxin, a plant hormone that is essential for growth and development of plants. Use Stoller’s Bio-Forge in combination with Stoller’s WL Zinc Chelate – a highly-efficient and readily-absorbed form of zinc – to help speed recovery from stress and promote healthy growth and development. This phenolic chelate is made using a specific process that is unique to the Stoller range and is designed for peak performance in soil or foliar application.

Follow-up with Stoller’s Foli-Zyme, a complete nutrient mix with Stoller’s co-factors, to maintain recovery from stress, feed new growth and promote healthy tissue development as part of any normal program.

Do you know what your roots will be doing in 14 days’ time?

Fourteen days from now your crop’s roots will probably be dead. The good news is, it is all part of a natural cycle of root regrowth. Roots die off about every 14 days and maintaining a constant cycle of root growth and development is critical to maximising the yield potential of all crops.

Stoller’s RootFeed supplies the critical nutrients that crops need for root growth, including nitrogen, calcium and magnesium. These feed continuous root growth and maintain strong and healthy root systems, even during stressful periods.

It also contains Stoller’s co-factors which are designed to encourage the development of new roots.

HEALTHY: Fine feeder roots are essential to maximising nutrient uptake and growth.

A crop’s root system is effectively its brains. Four of the main hormones that plants need to grow are produced in the roots. Crops need a strong and healthy root system at all times, but it is particularly important during cold weather when nutrient uptake can slow, reducing root and top growth.

Consistent application of Stoller’s RootFeed is important to support new root growth and development. Applied every 7–14 days, it is ideal for injection in micro-irrigation systems.

For more information, contact your Stoller Australia representative on 1800 FERTILISER or info@stoller.com.au.

ARE YOU GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR VINEYARD?

Ask for a ur copy of o e winegrap ! program November 2014 – Issue 610

Stoller has nutrient programs to: • optimise spring growth • eliminate nutrient deficiency symptoms • improve bunch formation and retention • lessen the impact of stress • aid proper ripening • Deliver maximum return for farmers.

CONTACT STOller AUSTrAlIA ON freeCAll 1800 337 845 Or info@stoller.com.au www.winebiz.com.au

Zinc deficiency

Manganese deficiency

Iron deficiency

Magnesium deficiency Grapegrower & Winemaker

55

grapegrowing

Irrigation

Scheduling for Regulated Deficit Irrigation

CREATION of a water deficit between fruitset and veraison to gain the benefits of Regulated Deficit Irrigation becomes easier to achieve with experience. This is because record-keeping, close observation of vines and soil moisture monitoring help to build an understanding of the optimal time to schedule an irrigation.

Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) is primarily about restricting irrigation between fruitset and veraison to control grapevine shoot growth with the aim of influencing grape quality. Limiting water in this way forces the vine to direct more resources from shoot growth to bunch development and permits manipulation of specific aspects of berry development.

For example, RDI is often practiced on red wine varieties such as Shiraz where limiting berry size may be desirable. RDI can also be used just to manage vegetative growth in vigorous vines.

Planning should commence before the irrigation season starts. Consider: • The moisture status of the soil (which will be influenced by the amount of winter and spring rain); • Root volume, which indicates the depth of soil that will need to be dried out. While the term “dried out” is used to describe the status reached before veraison, the soil is not totally dry even at wilting point. There will be some water in the soil but it will not be available for use by the vine because it is held too tightly by the soil particles. It is also important to note that the entire root system does not need to be at this stage before shoots stop growing; • The probable time needed to dry soil out to a particular depth. This will be influenced by the amount of water in the root zone prior to starting RDI, and the infiltration rate plus water holding capacity of the soil type in question. Placement of soil moisture monitoring probes at different depths will indicate not only the available moisture but also the rate of wetting or drying; • The desired grape production results (particularly grape characteristics important to wine quality).

This ‘grape product outcome’ can be regarded as the management goal. In broad terms the way RDI can help to achieve this goal is by slowing vegetative growth and in some situations controlling berry size. Supplying grapevines with a generous water supply throughout the season may promote excessive canopy development—and often very high yields of grapes which may not have the best possible composition.

PLANNING In this example the goal is a medium-price quality grade of Shiraz canopy control that provides an ideal balance of fruit

Regulated Deficit Irrigation limits water supply and forces the vine to direct more resources from shoot growth to bunch development and permits manipulation of specific aspects of berry development and vegetative (shoot and leaf) components. Below (Table 1) is the statement of aims and proposed activities.

IMPLEMENTATION Determining the level of deficit required during the RDI period can be assisted by personal experience and, particularly if just starting out, by a viticultural consultant familiar with local soil types. In addition to monitoring technology, visual observation of stress in vines is important. One technique for testing the impact of a water deficit is to close off or adjust some emitters and compare effects of different levels of severity of moisture deprivation.

The critical level to find when applying RDI is the point at which the vine has significantly slowed growth or is no longer developing shoots (observed by measuring change in internode lengths), but does not impose too much stress on vines.

Some growers develop their own set of visual indicators for finding this point. For example, one Riverland grower maintains a deficit until the last three tendrils are left on a shoot. Soil moisture levels, measured by monitoring probes, are then recorded and these values used to indicate the ‘refill points’ – the critical soil moisture level at which water is reapplied to the vines during the deficit period.

This method works very well in vineyards where soils and vines respond to water application rapidly. In heavier soils the response time of the vine to applied water may be longer resulting in the vine experiencing more deficit than required. In these circumstances where soil moisture monitoring equipment measuring soil tension is used, 200kPa is often a good starting point. The soil moisture value at which water is applied can then be changed if necessary with experience.

Whatever schedule is implemented in a vineyard, plans need to be flexible to take into account seasonal variations such as unexpected rainfall events, or higher than average water use by vines due to high temperatures or high winds.

Table 1. Planning aims and proposed activities Variety

Goal

Quality Specs

Vine

Soil

Activity

Shiraz

Control canopy development and improve wine quality

Characteristics of grapes that result in a bottle price of $15

Shoot length 1.5 – 2m No growth or minimal lateral growth during the RDI period

Sandy loam over medium clay 40mm of Readily Available Water (RAW)

Apply deficit post fruitset Control shoot growth

Table 2. Assessing the outcome of RDI activities Variety

Goal

Quality Specs

Vine

Soil

Activity

Shiraz

Control canopy development and achieve target specification

Produced 8 t/ha, and a grade consistent with wine retailing at $15

Shoot length averaged 1.5m Minimal lateral growth

Sandy loam over medium clay 20mm of Readily Available Water (RAW)

Goal achieved

56 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

MONITORING Keep records of irrigation schedules, vine responses to different irrigation amounts (photographs are an excellent record of vine responses), water use, yields and quality.

ASSESSING THE OUTCOMES (Table 2) An evaluation at the end of the season enables more successful planning for the following irrigation year. Information from wineries regarding fruit quality and end use, as well as irrigation and vine response records, will be valuable.

The statement of aims and proposed activities prepared at the beginning of the season or RDI period should be compared with a statement of results and achievements at the end of the season.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This material is reproduced from a VitiNote published by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). The AWRI would like to acknowledge Peter Dry, the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture (CRCV) and all involved in the VitiNotes series.

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61 2 9482 5663 • ppp@tpg.com.au Now available from our New Zealand agent, Amacron Ph 08 00102253 November 2014 – Issue 610

Know More Control More

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www.prohort.com.au Grapegrower & Winemaker

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winemaking

As simple as it gets Making wine with a bucket, a hydrometer and a sieve There’s a tiny experimental project taking place in a very unassuming part of the Australian wine landscape that has some very influential people very excited. Max Allen, Tony Harper and Dave Brookes are already talking it up and Mark Protheroe, Grossi Restaurant Group head sommelier, is so keen on what is happening he took his team to Mildura to get ‘hands on’.

Until you hear the full explanation, you could be forgiven for thinking it is one of the least marketable, most unsexy wine initiatives you’ve ever heard of. Making wine in buckets from a list of varieties that require a bit of help just to pronounce, let alone recognise. Welcome to the #bucketwine project.

THE Chalmers family has never been afraid of doing things differently. Bruce and Jenni Chalmers began growing grapes in the mid-80s at Euston, near Mildura. Nothing different about that.

But the way they forged ahead with sustainable viticulture techniques certainly stood out, they developed practices that have since been taken up right across Australia’s warm climate irrigated regions.

The desire to try new things resulted in Bruce and Jenni’s vine propagation business, Chalmers Nurseries, importing wide selection of varieties and clones from the year 2000. Their efforts have been a major factor in the diversification across the grapegrowing landscape in Australia.

Bruce, together with Stefano de Pieri and the late Dr Rod Bonfiglioli, also established the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show in 1999 – but that’s a story for another day.

As the family business has evolved, the Euston vineyard and nursery were sold; two new smaller sites were established – one at Heathcote and one at Merbein in the Murray Darling region which is also home to a nursery block and contains the entire Chalmers collection of imported varieties; and the next generation has stepped up.

The vineyard operations are still overseen by Bruce and Jenni, while their eldest daughter Kim now manages the wine business from the “vine to the wine list”. Kim’s husband, winemaker Bart van Olphen, and little sister, Tennille, round out the family team.

And this brings us to the latest ‘different’ project. The small batch #bucketwine project started out as a bit of fun… 40 varieties; different picking times; simple techniques; unusual blends; as well as some varieties which had never been vinified in Australia before.

The very beginning of the #bucketwine project was actually a mid-vintage, cramped hotel-room experiment with basically no equipment, according to van Olphen.

“We had a bucket with a lid and we worked as clean as possible,” he said.

“We made a red and then because Kim is quite adventurous, she suggested we do a skin-contact white. Now I’m quite conservative about winemaking and in my experience making white wine had to be done a certain way, you could say quite a German attitude (even though he’s Dutch). But we made the wine and it looked fresh and it caught me by surprise.

“Kim went out into the trade, the idea caught on and the next vintage we ended up making 30 or 40 different wines.”

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58 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Kim described their vintage accommodation as “rustic”. They were staying at Colbinabbin in Central Victoria, about halfway between Bendigo and Shepparton. “Let’s just say is not the cultural and social centre of Victoria by any means.”

The first experiments were with Negroamaro and Fiano, with fruit sourced from both Heathcote and Mildura vineyards.

“We set ourselves some pretty strict parameters by deciding we were only going to work with the bare essentials,” van Olphen said. “The grapes had to taste good in the vineyard and from there we did the absolute minimum, using just a bucket or a demijohn and the only addition was a tiny bit of sulphur.”

The 2012 results were encouraging, so they decided to continue with just a hydrometer, a bucket, sieve, funnel and a piece of hose for vintage 2013.

“That next year was a more exciting vintage again,” van Olphen said. “The interest spread across Melbourne when Kim visited the trade and the opinions on the project varied from those who just loved the approach to those who were really keen to get exposure to all these different varieties.”

The varieties being used in trials across the first three vintages have included Nosiola, Garganega, Greco, Malvasia, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Schioppettino, Mammolo, Pavana, Picolit and more. According to Max Allen, the resulting wines have been very impressive and he wrote glowingly about them in the Weekend Australia in September 2013.

“These wines are just pure,

November 2014 – Issue 610

SMALL BATCH: Tennille Chalmers and Bart van Olphen among the ferments.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

59

winemaking

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MULTIPLE FERMENTS: The #bucketwine project demijohns in action during vintage.

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60 Grapegrower & Winemaker

We set ourselves some pretty strict parameters by deciding we were only going to work with the bare essentials. The grapes had to taste good in the vineyard and from there we did the absolute minimum, using just a bucket or a demijohn and the only addition was a tiny bit of sulfur. unadulterated fermented grape juice; remember there’s nothing added except a little sulphur at bottling. It’s a thrill to taste the distinctive crunchy pear-like character of the northern Italian Arneis grape – such a contrast to the fabulous, ripe, tongue-coating sunshiney richness of the southern Italian Greco grape, even though the two were grown side-by-side in Merbein,” Allen said.

“It’s a thrill, too, to compare the soft, leathery, violet-scented red Tuscan variety Mammolo with the nervy, citrusand-cardamom spiciness of the red Friulian variety Schioppettino. Bart is almost wide-eyed with the revelation of it all… he’s just been blown away by the fact that these grapes can produce delicious wines in a hot climate without needing any of the usual acid and yeast and enzyme additions employed by most Australian winemakers.”

Allen wasn’t the only fan in the wine www.winebiz.com.au

media, Tony Harper also heaped praise on the wines in the Brisbane Times. “Sitting in a glass in front of me is a wickedly good Pinot Grigio, perhaps the best of its ilk I’ve tasted from Australia and certainly the most interesting. There’s perfume galore, crunchy acid and freshcut pear and red apple. It’s vital, alive, nervy and one of 18 bottles in a set of 24 wines.”

Not only were people talking about the wines, but the wines had grabbed attention without labels and without flowery media releases written by an external PR company. It still had the Chalmers hallmark, dare-to-be-different approach. And believe it or not, the 2014 vintage actually involved a bunch of sommeliers traveling to Mildura to make wine in buckets.

Mark Protheroe, the Grossi Restaurant Group head sommelier, has a longstanding relationship with the Chalmers November 2014 – Issue 610

SENSORIEL® Range

What if the terroir you most desire was the one you were about to create?

34 - Citrus 30 - Peach 28 - Blackcurrant bud 26 - Violet 24 - Lychee 20 - Flint 18 - Melted butter 16 - Hazelnut 14 - Brioche 10 - Roasted 08 - Oak

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winemaking girls, built around a shared love of Italian wine. He often takes his sommelier group on trips away, they’d been to Canberra and Tasmania in the past, but the lure of so many different varieties landed them in Mildura just after a heatwave.

“We had a team of eight, plus a couple of wine-focussed wait staff who were able to walk up and down the rows of the Chalmers experimental vineyard tasting grapes and seeing how some of their personalities are already established, get an understanding of the mostbasic winemaking process and then sit down and talk about it all – without the pressures of restaurant service,” Protheroe said.

“Probably half the team had never been hands-on in a winery before and even for those who had, we’d never experienced such a ‘low-fi’ process. We were hand-cranking the destemmer and pressing by hand with small sieves. It really resulted in the staff having an ownership connection to the products; they saw everything stripped back; and they got to see clean wines can be made, even when the process is as ‘low-fi’ as possible.”

Five different batches made their way back to the Grossi restaurants, “a few interesting little parcels” in their brown 640ml beer bottles with hand-scrawled labels. Protheroe said the customers who buy the wines belong to the “under 30 crowd”, those who are intrigued by the story and wanted to see the outcomes.

“And the feedback has been really good, the wines are really clean and pure.”

There are already plans for a return visit for the 2015 vintage.

There’s no way van Olphen, who studied winemaking in Germany and made wine in the US before landing in McLaren Vale, could have predicted his winemaking career would steer him toward making wine from Italian varieties grown in one of the warmest climates in Australia.

“I worked with Warren Randall and Steve Pannell at Tinlins and I really enjoyed my time there, of course there was lots of commercial stuff but I also got to see what Steve was working on as well,” he said. “I met Kim through a mutual friend. We were at a dinner and we disagreed on a few things, had a lively conversation from the start. She invited me up to the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show and I guess I just kept on visiting Mildura to see Kim. It came to the point where either Kim was going to move to McLaren Vale, or I was going to move to Mildura. For me, the move offered everything I wanted… and it became a full time job.

62 Grapegrower & Winemaker

SAMPLES: Fermenting juice samples of different varieties.

“Seeing the Chalmers nursery block was like being a kid in a candy store.”

The winemaker said he is still surprised with the results that can be achieved with such minimal equipment and “letting your imagination run wild”.

A bucket has some dirty, or at least rustic, connotations but the “cleanliness and purity” of the wines has impressed van Olphen.

“It was a surprise for me, may be because it’s so basic, especially when the whites have been so clean, bright and fresh.

“I had been bound by the standard adjustment of pH to 3.5 but we’re now making wine with no adjustments and I’ve seen there is no ‘golden rule’. We’ve even acidified some parcels with a different variety.

“As a winemaker I know how we approach yield and quality, but what I’ve seen through this project is we haven’t always got that right. If you have a big white crop in Mildura that means the fruit is slower to ripen. I’ve even seen varieties hold onto really high acid in the heat. And this is where more Australian winemakers start to get really interested in what we’re doing.” www.winebiz.com.au

You do wonder if the bigger wineries will be able to get their marketing minds around some of the names, though.

“Negroamaro could be something for larger wineries to look at because the flavour lends itself to be commercially viable. But there are others that I find really interesting but I’m not sure whether they will be too much for consumers.

Other surprises have included the size of the ferment that suits the small-batch process the best. “We’ve actually worked out, because we don’t chill any of the ferments, the ideal container size is 20 litres because it doesn’t get enough heat built up to race away.”

One big benefit of the #bucketwine project has been the increased awareness of varietal characters (of both the vine and the wine). “Now when people ring up and ask about something they know nothing about we can say ‘it tastes like this’ and ‘it responds in the vineyard like this’,” van Olphen said. The winemaker has even been exposed to different ways to taste the results. “What I have found is sommeliers try wine very differently to a winemaker. I tend to look for faults and for what I could have done better, but sommeliers just look at honest flavour profiles. Things that might have been faults in my eyes are points of difference, or even attributes, for others.”

Experiments with clonal trials, different rootstocks, picking dates and making wine from varieties more traditionally known as ‘blenders’ has all been part of the process. “There’s still a lot of research to be done. We’ve probably found that some of those traditional blenders are blenders for a reason. We’re such a young winemaking country and we’ve got so much to catch up on.

“When we had the team from Grossi here, Dave Brooks pointed out how the varieties from the south of Italy just ‘made sense’ here in Mildura. The sommeliers arrived just after a heatwave but those varieties from Italy’s south had healthy leaves, and they were still standing up and thriving.”

There are now plans to expand the planting of more alternatives in Heathcote as well as try even more different approaches in the Murray Darling.

“Kim’s talking to other winemakers about potentially bigger patches of different things and Bill Downie is one example of someone who’s pretty excited.

We’re also looking at establishing Negramaro and Grillo as bush vines in Mildura and seeing how they respond to low irrigation.

“It has all inspired me to do more research and trials and use my background in the testing and experimenting.”

November 2014 – Issue 610

SECURE SECURE SECURE AND AND AND HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY EFFICIENT EFFICIENT EFFICIEN

Wide range Wide range of Wide applications of range applications of applications • Low pH • Low (≥3.1) pH • Low (≥3.1) pH (≥3.1) • High •alcohol High alcohol •(≤16%) High alcohol (≤16%)(≤16%) • Cold •temperature Cold temperature • Cold(≥14°C) temperature (≥14°C)(≥14°C) Fast MLF FastKinetics MLF Fast Kinetics MLF Kinetics • Suitable • Suitable for limiting • Suitable for limiting for limiting wine conditions wine conditions wine conditions • Suitable • Suitable for white, • Suitable for red white, for red white, red and rosé and wines rosé and wines rosé wines

Very late Very consumption late Very consumption late consumption of citric ofacid: citricofacid: citric acid: • Very low • Very production low • Very production low of production of of volatilevolatile acidity volatile acidity acidity Selected Selected

by Institut Selected

by Institut Français

by Institut Français Français de la Vigne et du Vin de la Vigne de la et Vigne du Vin et du Vin • Very low • Very production low • Very production low of diacetyl production of diacetyl of diacetyl

WISA winner

Supplier of the Year LallemandLallemand Australia Lallemand Pty Australia Ltd | 23-25 Pty Australia Ltd Erudina | 23-25 PtyAve, Ltd Erudina |Edwardstown, 23-25 Ave, Erudina Edwardstown, SA Ave, 5039 Edwardstown, Australia SA 5039 Australia SA 5039 Australia

2014

Tel: +61 8 Tel: 8276 +61 1200 8 8276 Tel: | +61 Fax: 1200 +61 8 8276 | 8177 Fax: 1200 +61 1802 | 8177 Fax: | Email: 1802 +61 australiaoffice@lallemand.com 8177 | Email: 1802australiaoffice@lallemand.com | Email: australiaoffice@lallemand.com LallemandLallemand Oenology: Lallemand Oenology: Natural Solutions Oenology: Natural Solutions that Natural add value that Solutions add to the value that world add to the ofvalue winemaking world to of thewinemaking world of winemaking

young gun

‘Jess the mess’ makes waves in the wine biz

JET-SETTER JESS: This year Jessica Clark was awarded the Esther Knewitz Scholarship which gave her the opportunity to travel overseas for three months to complete a vintage at Reh-Kendermann winery in Germany.

Stephanie Timotheou

AT THE age of 24 most of us were still trying to decide what we wanted to achieve in life, but Jessica Clark – known as ‘Jess the mess’ by her colleagues – has it all planned out. Not only does Clark make and drink wine, but she also has a tendency to wear it, hence the nickname.

“I leave work every day covered from

head to toe in wine and grapes and everyone finds it amusing,” she laughed.

“I have this ability to attract all forms of grape matter and I’m referred to as ‘Jess the mess’ because of this.”

Aside from her love for the wine industry, Clark is an avid peanut butter eater, vintage clothing wearer and water

polo player. And as it turns out, she originally studied a double degree in engineering and French at Melbourne University but later realised a masters of oenology at the University of Adelaide was right up her alley.

Despite growing up in Melbourne, Clark spent most her weekends on the

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Within a week of working at Brown Brothers I realised I looked forward to coming to work every day and found myself Googling certain terms I heard the winemakers using. From that moment I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. family farm in Seymour, not far south of the vineyards of Tahbilk and Mitchelton.

Her father shared her strong passion for wine and worked on the board at both Mitchelton and Brown Brothers and always encouraged her career choice as a winemaker.

While she’s only been working directly in the industry for two years, Clark has already managed to complete three vintages working for four different wineries across Australia. Her first vintage was at Brown Brothers in 2012, which helped spark her interest in the industry.

“In fact, I loved it a bit too much and certainly enjoyed it more than my graduate engineering job at the time,” she said.

Clark worked in the Kindergarten, a mini-winery designed as a research and development winemaking facility adjacent to the main Milawa facility, with experimental wines and the Brown Brothers Sparkling Patricia range.

“Within a week of working at Brown Brothers I realised I looked forward to coming to work every day and found myself Googling certain terms I heard the winemakers using. From this moment I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

A year later she completed a vintage at Stonier Wines on Mornington Peninsula which she described as a “difficult vintage” due to the heatwave but was inspired by the people she worked alongside.

“One of the staff members was a boutique winemaker for a label he started with some friends from university,” she said. “I found it inspiring how he started his own wine brand at such a young age which made me realise anything is possible.”

Clark is now a year into her masters of oenology degree and in the first half of 2014 juggled working at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) and the University of Adelaide’s winery at the Waite Campus. If that wasn’t enough, when Clark wasn’t studying or working at the winery, she worked for boutique winemaker Robert Johnson in the Adelaide Hills.

“I met Robert at Crush Festival and November 2014 – Issue 610

told him if he ever needed help he should contact me,” she explained. “He actually did and I ended up working for him for six months.”

The more experience Clark gained, the more promising her career looked and in June it received a significant boost. Clark made headlines across Australia after receiving the 2014 Esther Knewitz Scholarship presented by Bibber International. The scholarship gave Clark the opportunity to extend her winemaking skills by completing a vintage at Reh-Kendermann winery in Germany.

“It was an incredible honour to receive the scholarship,” she said. “Before the trip, I didn’t have much winemaking experience with Riesling and rosé which I learnt about over the past three months.

I also had the chance to meet the Knewitz family who were so incredibly generous and I cannot thank them enough for giving me this amazing opportunity.”

Despite only being at the beginning of her career, Clark has already made big plans and goals for the future.

“I would like to use my engineering background as well as my winemaking to come up with innovative ideas on how to be more sustainable, use water more efficiently, be more cost effective and be safer in the winery,” she said. “I am an asthmatic so working with sulfur is a bit of an issue, but if there was a way to use an alternative preservative that had the same effect I would be keen to try some research.”

Clark described the past few years as an “experience of a lifetime” but said she was motivated by the people around her who couldn’t go unnoticed.

“Everything I have achieved so far has been due to some very important people,” she said. “Aside from loved ones, there have been some very inspiring lecturers who took extra time out of their days to assist me during my studies. I have also been fortunate enough to work for winemakers who I’m sure have had their patience stretched by me, sometimes having to explain things in several ways while I continue to ask a thousand questions and run around in circles. But throughout it all, it’s all been worth the ride and I can’t wait for the next chapter.” www.winebiz.com.au

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ask the

Questions about drink driving CONSUMERS and winemakers often ask questions about how their driving is affected when they drink a glass or two of wine. Why isn’t it safe to drink and drive? Like most countries, Australia has strict laws about drinking alcohol and driving.

Across all states and territories, the legal limit for fully licensed drivers has been set at 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which equates to 0.05g of alcohol in a person’s body for every 100mL of blood. This is the level above which the risk of being involved in a crash increases significantly. When behind the wheel of a vehicle, drivers need total concentration, good coordination, rapid reflexes and the ability to make correct judgments and decisions.

What happens in the brain when you drink?

After one or two 10g standard drinks per hour (or when the BAC is between 0.01 and 0.05) the cerebral cortex of the brain is affected by alcohol. A person in normal health may experience a BAC level

Effects from drinking alcohol on driving

0.02 to 0.05

The cerebral cortex is affected, and the ability to detect and process auditory and visual information may be impaired, as well as eye-hand coordination and ability to carry out diverse tasks. For driving a vehicle, this translates to: • Reduced ability to see or locate moving lights correctly • Reduced ability to judge distances • Increased tendency to take risks • Decreased ability to respond to several stimuli

0.05

Twice as likely to have an accident than before drinking

0.05 to 0.08

The cerebral cortex and forebrain are affected. Perception of movement, ability to visually follow a moving object, capacity for recall and muscle coordination may also be impaired. In addition, reaction time may be increased and mistakes are more likely. For driving a vehicle, this translates to: • Further reduction in ability to judge distances • Impaired sensitivity to red lights • Slower reactions • Shorter concentration span

0.08

Five times more likely to have an accident than before drinking

0.08 to 0.12

The cerebral cortex, forebrain and cerebellum are all affected.

Balance and coordination may be impaired along with auditory and visual attention including colour perception; reaction time and reflexes may be further slowed and behaviour and emotions exaggerated and unstable. For driving a vehicle, this translates to: • Overestimation of abilities • A feeling of euphoria • Reckless driving • Impaired peripheral vision (resulting in accidents due to hitting vehicles while passing) • Impaired perception of obstacles

0.12

Ten times more likely to have an accident than before drinking

0.12 onwards

Gradually more parts of the brain become affected, causing confusion, disorientation and sleepiness. Unconsciousness and memory loss can be experienced. Risk of death increases progressively as BAC increases over 0.30, as breathing slows and becomes increasingly irregular, but death generally only occurs when BAC is over 0.40.

jobs

sense of relaxation, well-being and perhaps a loss of inhibition.

There is usually no loss of coordination, although perception and the processing of visual information may be impaired (Breitmeier et al. 2007).

The literature suggests that cognitive processes are affected and impaired by alcohol at a lower BAC than motor function.

Cognitive processes are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn. Motor function is the muscular activity and movement directly proceeding from mental processes.

Alcohol interferes with the messages from the brain to the muscles, and impairs motor function. Observable cognitive and motor impairment following alcohol consumption generally only occur at 0.03 BAC and above (Moskowitz et al. 2000).

The following table summarises the typical effects that may be observed within a certain blood alcohol concentration range.

Effects are, however, are also influenced by age, gender, genetic, subjective and task factors, which means that the impairment of an individual after drinking alcohol may be unpredictable.

Typical effects on driving that may be observed within a certain BAC range (AWRI publication #1234).

How much wine can I consume before I am over 0.05 BAC? A man’s BAC will generally increase by 0.01 to 0.02 for each 10g standard drink and generally decreases by 0.01 per hour.

The University of Adelaide’s Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) recommends that to remain under the legal limit of 0.05, a man should consume no more than two 10g standard drinks in the first hour and one each hour following.

A woman’s BAC, however, will generally increase by 0.02 to 0.03 for each standard drink and generally decrease by 0.0075 per hour. To remain under the legal limit of 0.05, a woman should consume no more than one 10g standard drink in the first hour and one each hour following. These are conservative estimates designed to minimise the risk of exceeding the legal limit. The consumption of wine with a meal, however, will significantly slow the absorption of alcohol from the gastrointestinal tract.

The maximum BAC recorded will, therefore, be lower than when alcohol is consumed on an empty stomach. In addition, on a full stomach BAC will be recorded for a longer period of time.

The AWRI recommends that wine consumers should not drink and drive. For further information please refer to the following websites: casr.adelaide.edu.au www.atsb.gov.au www.drinkwise.org.au

References

AWRI publication #1234 Stockley, C.S., Saunders, J.B. (2010). The biology of intoxication. In: Fox, A., MacAvoy, M. (eds.) Expressions of Drunkenness (Four Hundred Rabbits). Routledge, New York: 13–52.

Breitmeier D, Seeland-Schulze I, Hecker H, Schneider U. (2007). The influence of blood alcohol concentrations of around 0.03% on neuropsychological functions—a double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation. Addict Biol. 12(2):183-189.

Moskowitz, H. A., Burns, M. M., Fiorentino, D., Smiley, A., Zador, P. (2000). Driver characteristics and impairment at various BACs (Report no. DOT HS 809 075).

Washington, DC: US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

The solution for reliable fermentations SECURE AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT

Wide range of applications • Low pH (≥3.1) • High alcohol (≤16%) • Cold temperature (≥14°C) Fast MLF Kinetics • Suitable for limiting wine conditions • Suitable for white, red and rosé wines Very late consumption of citric acid: • Very low production of volatile acidity • Very low production of diacetyl

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winemaking

Mastering malolactic fermentation Magali Déléris-Bou and Sibylle Krieger-Weber have researched managed nutrition of wine bacteria to minimise the effect of inhibitors for Lallemand in France.

WINE bacteria are characterised as having complex nutritional needs. When must or wine lacks certain nutritional elements, it can have a major impact on malolactic fermentation (MLF). Therefore, it is important to understand the nutritional needs of wine bacteria and to learn about the tools that are available to the winemaker for successful MLF.

BACTERIA HAVE COMPLEX NUTRITIONAL NEEDS In wine, sugars are the primary source of energy for lactic bacteria, playing an essential role in their growth. At the end of alcoholic fermentation, the glucose-fructose concentration is low, but still meets the bacteria’s needs, because the concentration of bacteria is also low. Indeed, most lactic bacteria are capable of utilising other monosaccharides present in the wine (e.g. arabinose, mannose, galactose, xylose, etc.), as well as the polysaccharides and glycosylate compounds. O. oeni has extracellular glycosidase activity. Aroma compounds are released through the action of wine bacteria, and the sugars are consumed.

The main organic acids present in grape must and wine at the end of alcoholic fermentation and transformed by Oenococcus oeni are malic and citric acids. The concentration of malic acid in the must depends on the degree of maturity of the grape

and varies from 0.7 to 8.6 g/L. The main reaction of MLF is the decarboxylation of diacid L-malic acid in wine into monoacid L-lactic acid. In wine, the malolactic system is a mechanism that allows O. oeni to recover energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and to maintain an intracellular pH level favourable for enzyme activities and cell growth.

Malic acid penetrates into the cell in its anionic form to be decarboxylated into lactic acid in the cell’s cytoplasm. The decarboxylation allows the consumption of an intracellular proton and the expulsion of protons by lactate/H+ symporters.

A proton gradient – or ‘proton-motive force’ – from the wine medium towards the cell interior maintains the intracellular pH of the bacteria (about 6.0) and leads to forming energy as ATP. Citric acid, an important component of grape must and wine, has a concentration that varies from 0.1 to 0.7 g/L. The degradation pathway of citric acid by lactic bacteria leads to the formation of three types of compounds: acetic acid, lipids and acetoinic derivatives (acetoin, butanediol and diacetyl). The metabolism of citric acid is also a source of energy for O. oeni.

In general, the consumption of citric acid begins later than malic acid. With the O. oeni species, the effect of the strain is important in terms of the moment of attack of the citrate and the speed of consumption of the citric acid. While certain

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November 2014 – Issue 610

strains that produce high levels of diacetyl begin to consume citric acid from the mid-point of MLF, other strains – of greater interest to winemakers in order to avoid buttery notes – do not start metabolising citric acid until there is no more malic acid left to consume.

METABOLISM OF NITROGEN SOURCES The free amino acids and those from the hydrolysis of peptides are the main sources of nitrogen used by wine bacteria.

Contrary to what happens in yeast, the amino acids necessary for wine bacteria cannot be synthesised from ammonia nitrogen.

Therefore, the amino acids must either come from the medium or be synthesised by the bacteria, via the carboxylic precursor amino acids.

The bacteria’s need for amino acids depends not only on the species but on the strain as well. The identification of the essential amino acids for O. oeni has been the subject of numerous studies. Researchers are also interested in the requirements for Lactobacillus strains. The number of amino acids essential to a strain of L. buchneri and a strain of L. hilgardii is fewer than the number required by two strains of O. oeni: five and eight amino acids are essential to L. buchneri and L. hilgardii respectively, compared to 13 and 16 amino acids essential to the two strains of O. oeni.

In practice, the number of amino acids essential to a strain is important, indicating that in a medium lacking amino acids the Lactobacillus strains, which are usually undesirable, will develop more easily than the O. oeni strains.

Besides free amino acids, peptides can constitute a distinct source of nitrogen. Wine bacteria have both proteolytic activities (protein degradation) and peptidolytic activities (peptide degradation), and they can obtain the amino acids necessary or essential to their growth via peptides.

Peptides appear to be the key nitrogen source for the development of O. oeni. From an energy perspective, the bacteria cells take advantage of peptide consumption. Indeed, it is quite probable that certain peptides are more likely than others to be hydrolysed and transported by the bacteria. These peptides are particularly stimulating because they allow energy to be generated with greater productivity.

In practice, we know that in some varietals, such as

FIGURE 1. Impact of adding a peptide in two different concentrations (5 mg/L and 20 mg/L) on the growth of four strains of Oenococcus oeni bacteria in a Chardonnay white wine (Lallemand R & D)

Chardonnay, it is often more difficult to carry on MLF, even in the absence of inhibitors (e.g., low pH, high molecular SO2). The reason is suspected to be a lack of essential nutrients. Trials have been carried out in the Lallemand R&D laboratory to assess the impact of adding various peptides to a Chardonnay wine.

The results were obtained after adding a peptide considered to be particularly stimulating.

Figure 1 presents the bacteria population seven days after inoculation. Adding this peptide at a rate of 5 mg/L to the Chardonnay white wine has a net stimulating effect on the growth of the four selected strains utilised in the trial.

VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS And MINERAL INFLUENCE Lactic bacteria need several vitamins from the B family, especially pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), biotin (B8), thiamine (B1) and niacin (B3). Although pyridoxine (B6) and riboflavin (B2) are not essential, they may contribute nonetheless to the optimal growth of strains. Pantothenic acid was long considered a special growth factor for O. oeni, and is in numerous culture mediums for the species. It has been shown that the presence of niacin (B3) and pantothenic acid is essential for the growth of four wine bacteria (two O. oeni and two Lactobacillus sp.), and riboflavin was necessary for two Lactobacillus sp. only.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

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winemaking

FIGURE 2. Impact of adding Opti’Malo Plus® bacteria nutrient on malolactic fermentation

FIGURE 3. Study of a nutrient for application on Chardonnay

Pyridoxine (B6) had a stimulating effect on the growth of all four strains.

Certain minerals, including magnesium, manganese, potassium and sodium, are important as they are enzyme cofactors or they intervene in the transport mechanisms. Few studies have taken an interest in the need for minerals of these strains.

Wine bacteria have nutritional requirements as complex as they are varied. Satisfying these requirements contributes to mastering MLF. Consequently, any lack of these activating elements for MLF must be remedied with specific activators, obtained from specific inactivated yeasts, which are natural sources of amino acids, peptides, vitamins and minerals, and are vital to the growth and survival of O. oeni.

STRATEGIES TO ENSURE THE COMPLETION OF MLF Wine is a stressful environment for bacteria, acidity, alcohol, sulphites and temperature (below 18C) are factors that inhibit its growth. In addition, the yeast produces inhibiting factors during alcoholic fermentation, such as SO2, medium-chain fatty acids and peptide inhibitors. The lack of nutrients in the medium is also inhibiting. Certain

70 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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oenological practices, like clarification, eliminate the nutrients and suspended particles favourable to the growth of bacteria. Towards the end of alcoholic fermentation, the level of organic nitrogen varies considerably from one wine to another. Analysis of the level of essential amino acids at the end of alcoholic fermentation and before MLF in wines from diverse varietals (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Chardonnay, Syrah, Tannat and Pinot Noir) and various appellations has previously been studied.

The variations in factors, classified from 1 to 10, on the total level of amino acids vital to the growth of O. oeni.

The completion of MLF was particularly difficult in the wine with the greatest deficiencies.

It is generally accepted that smooth alcoholic fermentation is based on sufficient nutrients for the yeasts. MLF also requires sufficient nutrients for the bacteria, and there are now solutions for smooth and complete MLF. Figure 2 presents the results of a trial carried out on a Cabernet Sauvignon wine, whose analysis (ethanol 14% pH 3.56, total SO2 <25 mg/L, free SO2 5 mg/L) was within the parameters recommended for the Alpha MBR® bacteria.

In the wine inoculated with November 2014 – Issue 610

Figure 5. Duration of malolactic fermentation with three different bacteria strains, with and without the addition of ML Red Boost™ inactivated yeast preparation

FIGURE 4. Bacteria populations at 8 days and 14 days after inoculation with three different bacteria strains, with and wihout the addition of ML Red Boost™ inactivated yeast preparation

the selected bacteria and no added bacteria nutrients, the bacteria population maintained itself for the first seven days after inoculation then began a slow decline. Ten days after inoculation, the death of the bacteria led to the end of malic acid degradation.

However, in the wine with the added MLF activator, the rapid and sustained growth of bacteria was observed after inoculation. Malic acid was completely metabolised after 11 days. This wine was probably lacking at least one element essential to the development Alpha bacteria.

As explained, in the case of white wines, especially those from the Chardonnay varietal, MLF is more difficult to launch.

The effects of inoculating the wine with diverse bacteria strains and adding diverse MLF activators were studied in Chardonnay wines. The results presented in Figure 3 outline the study’s observations.

According to the strain utilised, the length of MLF with no added nutrients will be 28 to 30 days. In this medium, very likely lacking elements essential to the growth of bacteria, adding a complex nutrient high in amino acids, peptides and vitamins will considerably shorten the duration of MLF, whatever the strain. For the Alpha and Beta wine bacteria, the new activator is much more effective than the control nutrient.

In practice, successful MLF is also difficult to attain in concentrated red wines high in polyphenols, which is generally the case with Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra. Much

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winemaking research has been carried out with the aim of exploring the impact of polyphenols on the growth and viability of lactic bacteria, and on the metabolism of malic acid degradation, with sometimes contradictory results. Apparently, polyphenols can have an effect that is sometimes stimulating and sometimes inhibiting on bacteria growth and activity, depending on the bacteria strain, as well as the nature and the concentration of the polyphenols tested.

Several studies have confirmed the stimulating effect of gallic acid on the growth of O. oeni strains and the rate of malic acid degradation. As for hydroxycinnamic acids, it was shown the L. hilgardii and Pediococcus pentosaceus bacteria are strongly inhibited by p-coumaric and caffeic acids. The inhibiting effects of the three hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic, ferulic and p-coumaric) also affect O. oeni bacteria.

Opinions diverge as to the effect of flavonols, which some say are inhibiting and others say are stimulating on the growth and the rate of malic acid degradation. It seems the presence of catechin and epicatechin, in concentrations usually observed in wine, does not have an inhibiting effect on the growth of O. oeni (10 to 200 mg/L). Catechin would even stimulate the growth of O. oeni, with this effect increasing the higher the concentration in the wine.

The condensed tannins would be very toxic, even at very low concentrations, under the levels usually found in wine (0.5 g/L). The simultaneous presence of molecules that activate and inhibit growth, viability and MLF create a balance that usually facilitates the growth of lactic bacteria. In addition, numerous tannins are polymerised with other molecules, which can reduce the toxic effects. Launching MLF will be even more difficult in a wine containing essentially weakly polymerised tannins.

Figures 4 and 5 show the results for a Tannat wine presenting the following characteristics: ethanol 14.6%, pH 3.6, total SO2 <25 mg/L, free SO2 <5 mg/L, total polyphenol index [TPI] 90).

CONCLUSION Although the overall mechanism of malolactic fermentation (MLF) is fairly well known, the specific exploration of the metabolism of Oenococcus oeni began only recently and is now the subject of numerous studies. The belief that L-malic acid is sufficient to meet the energy needs associated with the development of O. oeni is still widespread. However, the truth is otherwise. In fact, lactic bacteria are particularly demanding microorganisms with complex nutritional needs.

The absence of certain nutrients essential to the implantation, growth and metabolism of O. oeni can cause delayed, even failed MLF. Fortunately, there are solutions for this problem.

Nutritional deficiencies and bacteria inhibitors vary from one medium to another. Their negative impact can be limited by adding fermentation activators, the choice of which differs for white and for red wines. We have described several specific nutrients for which different formulations have been optimised to particular applications and requirements. The Opti’ML Blanc® activator, for instance, was designed to stimulate the growth of selected bacteria and thereby shorten the duration of MLF in white wines associated with difficult MLF, which is the case for certain Chardonnay wines. Designed for red wines rich in polyphenols, the ML Red Boost™ activator, which must be added prior to inoculation with selected bacteria, helps encourage the implantation of the selected bacteria.

REFERENCES

Alberto, M. R., M. E. Farías, and M. C. Manca de Nadra. 2001. Effect of gallic acid and catechin on Lactobacillus hilgardii 5w growth and metabolism of organic compounds. J. Agric. Food Chem. 49:4359–4363.

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Alexandre, H., C. Grandvalet, M. Guilloux-Benatier, F. Remize-Barnavon, and R. Tourdot-Maréchal. 2008. Les bactéries lactiques en oenologie. Tec & Doc, Lavoisier Ed., Paris.

Cabanis, J. C., and M. T. Cabanis. 1998. Acides organiques en oenologie : fondements scientifiques et technologiques. Tec & Doc, Lavoisier Ed., Paris.

Campos, F. M., J. A. Couto, and T. A. Hogg. 2003. Influence of phenolic acids on growth and inactivation of Oenococcus oeni and Lactobacillus hilgardii. J. Appl.

Microbiol. 94:167–174.

Cushnie, T. P., and A. J. Lambert. 2005. Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids. Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents. 26:343–356.

Figueiredo, A. R., F. Campos, V. de Freitas, T. Hogg, and J. A. Couto. 2007. Effect of phenolic aldehydes and flavonoids on growth and inactivation of Oenococcus oeni and Lactobacillus hilgardii. Food Microbiol. 25:105–112.

Fourcassié, P., A. Makaga-Kabinda-Massard, A. Belarbi, and A. Maujean. 1992.

Growth, D-glucose utilization and malolactic fermentation by Leuconostoc oenos strains in 18 media deficient in one amino acid. J. Appl. Bacteriol. 73:489–496.

García-Ruiz, A., B. Bartolomé, A. J. Martínez-Rodríguez, E. Pueyo, P. J. MartínÁlvarez, and M. V. Moreno-Arribas. 2009. Potential of phenolic compounds for controlling lactic acid bacteria growth in wine. Food Control. 19:835–841.

Garvie, E. 1967. The growth factor and amino acid requirements of species of the genus Leuconostoc, including Leuconostoc paramesenteroides (sp. nov) and Leuconostoc oenos. J. Gen. Microbiol. 48:439–447.

Grimaldi, A., H. McLean, and V. Jiranek. 2000. Identification and partial characterization of glycosidic activities of commercial strains of the lactic acid bacteria Oenococcus oeni. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 51:362–369.

Guilloux-Benatier, M., H. S. Son, S. Bouhier, and M. Feuillat. 1993. Activités enzymatiques : glycosidases et peptidase chez Leuconostoc oenos au cours de la croissance bactérienne. Influence des macromolécules de levures. Vitis. 32:51–57.

Guilloux-Benatier, M., O. Pageault, A. Man, and M. Feuillat. 2000. Lysis of yeast cells by Oenococcus oeni enzymes. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 25:193–195.

Konings, W. N. 2002. The cell membrane and the struggle for life of lactic acid bacteria. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 82:3–27.

Krieger, S. (uncredited). 2012. Sculpting the Aromatic Profile of Wines through Diacetyl Management. Winemaking Update. Lallemand.

Kunji, E. R., E. J. Smid, R. Plapp, B. Poolman, and W. N. Konings. 1993.

Di-tripeptides and oligopeptides are taken up via distinct transport mechanisms in Lactococcus lactis. J. Bacteriol. 175:2052–2059.

Lombardi, S. J., P. Tremonte, M. Succi, B. Testa, G. Pannella, L. Tipaldi, E. Sorrentino, R. Coppola, and M. Iorizzo. 2012. Effect of phenolic compounds on the growth and l-malic acid metabolism of Oenococcus oeni. Journal of Life Sciences.

6:1225–1231.

MacMahon, H., B. W. Zoeckelein, K. Fungelsang, and Y. Jasinsky. 1999.

Quantification of glycosidase activities in selected yeast and lactic acid bacteria. J. Ind. Micriobiol. Biotechnol. 23:198–203.

Mansfield, A.K., B.W. Zoecklein, and R. Whiton. 2002. Quantification of glycosidase activity in selected strains of Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Oenococcus oeni.

American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 53:303-307.

Radler, F. 1963. Uber dir Milchsaurebakterien des Weins und den biologischen Saureabbau II. Physiologie und Okologie der Bakterien. Vitis. 3:207–236.

Reguant, C., A. Bordons, L. Arola, and N. Rozes. 2000. Influence of phenolic compounds on the physiology of Oenococcus oeni from wine. J. Appl. Microbiol.

88:1065–1071.

Remize, F., Y. Augagneur, M. Guilloux-Benatier, and J. Guzzo. 2005. Effect of nitrogen limitation and nature of the feed upon Oenococcus oeni metabolism and extracellular protein production. J Appl Microbiol. 98:652–661.

Remize, F, A. Gaudin, Y. Kong, J. Guzzo, H. Alexandre, S. Krieger, and M. Guilloux-Benatier. 2006. Oenococcus oeni preference for peptides: qualitative and quantitative analysis of nitrogen assimilation. Arch. Microbiol. 185:459–469.

Renouf, V. 2013. La fermentation malolactique dans les vins: mécanismes et applications pratiques. Tec & Doc, Lavoisier Ed., Paris.

Ritt, J-F., M. Guilloux-Benatier, J. Guzzo, H. Alexandre, and F. Remize. 2008.

Oligopeptide assimilation and transport by Oenococcus oeni. J. Appl. Microbiol.

104:573–580.

Terrade, N., R. Mira de Orduña. 2009. Determination of the essential nutrient requirements of wine-related bacteria from the genera Oenococcus and Lactobacillus. Int. J. of Food Microbiol. 113 (1-2): 8-13.

Vivas, N., A. Lonvaud-Funel, and Y. Glories. 1997. Effect of phenolic acids and anthocyanins on growth, viability and malolactic activity of a lactic acid bacterium.

Food Microbiol. 14:291–300.

Vivas, N., M. Augustin, A. Lonvaud-Funel. 2000. Influence of oak wood and grape tannins on the lactic acid bacterium Oenococcus oeni (Leuconostoc oenos, 8413). J. Sci. Food Agric. 80:1675–1678.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

AROM

FRESH

MAXIMUM AROMA PROTECTION

winemaking

The microbial origins of key wine aromas: Volatile fatty acids and sulfurous compounds This is the final article in a series of three which has covered the fungal and bacterial origins of wine aromas. Author Russell Moss looks at volatile acidity and hydrogen sulfide, which he writes are nearly unanimously classified as wine faults by vintners.

SOME sulfurous compounds can be pleasant, as is the case with grape derived thiols that are intrinsic to the ‘passionfruit’, ‘box wood’, and ‘grapefruit’ aromas of Sauvignon Blanc. However the sulfurous compounds which are purely derived from yeast are not considered valuable to the vintner.

The volatile fatty acids are likely only considered to be contributors of positive aromas by those who produce vinegar.

In wine, the volatile fatty acids are responsible for a major fault when they accumulate beyond their sensory threshold.

VOLATILE FATTY ACIDS

At a glance: Volatile fatty acids in wine: The short and medium-chain fatty acids are the most studied fatty acids in wine and are responsible for what is known as volatile acidity (VA).

VA is a measure of all the steam distillable volatile acids present in wine. These can include acetic, lactic, formic, butyric and propionic acid. Other organic acids, excepting acetic acid, are of little consequence to wine flavour and aroma.

Sulfur compounds in wine: Volatile sulphur compounds, such as thiols, are responsible for the ripe/fruity aromas of Sauvignon Blanc and are formed during fermentation. They can also contribute a ‘box-tree like aroma’ in the same variety. Further, sulphurous compounds at low concentrations may cause a perceived ‘minerality’ in some wines.

The volatile fatty acids found in wine consist primarily

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November 2014 – Issue 610

of short-chain fatty acids (tails of less than 6 carbons) and medium-chain fatty acids (tails with 6-12 carbons). The short and medium-chain fatty acids are the most studied fatty acids in wine and are responsible for what is known as volatile acidity (VA).

VA is a measure of all the steam distillable volatile acids present in wine. These can include acetic, lactic, formic, butyric and propionic acid. Other organic acids, excepting acetic acid, are of little consequence to wine flavour and aroma. Around 90% of all the volatile acidity in wine comes from acetic acid, which, in conjunction with ethyl acetate, possesses a vinegar-like aroma (Pretorious and Lambrechts 2000). Yeast produce acetic acid during fermentation within the range of 100 mg/L to 200 mg/L, depending on the yeast strain and vigour of fermentation (e.g. temperature and juice nutrient status). This usually occurs during the beginning lag phase of fermentation. However, excessive acetic acid production is usually an indicator of microbial spoilage by Acetobacter and Gluconobacter.

Acetic acid from microbial sources is derived through various pathways. One mode is through the degradation of sugars by lactic acid bacteria via the phosphoketolase process (the way in which bacteria can break down residual sugar).

Alternatively, acetic acid can simply be produced as part of the citric acid cycle. Acetobacter and Gluconobacter can oxidise ethanol to acetic acid enzymatically with alcohol dehydrogenase (first oxidised to acetaldehyde then to acetate with aldehyde dehydrogenase).

Acetic acid (e.g. high VA) is a common issue when creating ice wines. Under ice wine conditions, the yeast are under high osmotic stress conditions. In order to adapt to this condition, yeast cells will exude glycerol, which prevents the

movement of water from the yeast cell into the must. Glycerol is formed through a NADH dependent enzymatic reaction. The subsequent conversion of NADH to NAD+ changes the redox balance, which is corrected for by the production of acetic acid, shifting the redox potential back to equilibrium. Thus, this results in excessive levels of acetic acid.

It has been suggested that perhaps the reason for acetic acid production by yeast in normal table wines is due to acetic acid’s role as an intermediate in the formation of acetyl coenzyme A from acetaldehyde. However, a consensus has not been reached concerning the mechanism of the enzymatic formation of acetic acid.

Some suggest that a typical VA of an unspoiled wine is around 200 – 400ppm. There is no given ‘threshold of detection’ for VA. The perception of these compounds can differ between wines, since high levels of sugar and ethanol mask them.

Further, winemakers expect an increase in VA of about 60 – 120 mg/L in barrel-aged wine after one year. This is not necessarily due to microbial spoilage, but rather the degradation of the hemicellulose of the oak barrel itself. Also, phenolic compounds can oxidise over time to form peroxide, which oxidises to acetaldehyde and, after, to acetic acid.

SULFUR COMPOUNDS Sulfur compounds can be pleasant or disagreeable and generally have a low threshold of detection. Volatile sulfur compounds, such as thiols, are responsible for the ripe/ fruity aromas of Sauvignon Blanc and are formed during fermentation. They can also contribute a ‘box-tree like aroma’ in the same variety. Further, sulfurous compounds at low concentrations may cause a perceived ‘minerality’ in some wines. Additionally, Lactobacillus can metabolise methionine,

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75

winemaking There is no given ‘threshold of detection’ for VA. The perception of these compounds can differ between wines, since high levels of sugar and ethanol mask them. which forms volatile sulfur compounds, such as methanethiol, dimethyl disulphide and propionic acid. Oenococcus oeni also metabolises methionine; current research suggests that the most significant by-product is propionic acid, which contributes a chocolate aroma and may be partially responsible for the pleasing and complex aroma profile of malolactic fermentation.

The molecule H2S is the most studied sulfur compound.

Normally considered aversive, H2S can have a pleasing aromatic impact by providing a ‘yeasty’ flavour to wine at low levels.

Higher concentrations of H2S have a ‘rotten egg’ aroma and a very low sensory threshold of 10 – 100 µg/L. In order to synthesise sulfur-containing amino acids, yeast can reduce sulfite to sulfide, which is then enzymatically combined with a nitrogenous compound to form cysteine or methionine.

However, if those nitrogenous compounds are not present, the result is the release of hydrogen sulfide, which freely bypasses the cell wall. Deficiencies in vitamin B5 have also been found to be limiting in juices that produce H2S. This vitamin is important for the formation of Coenzyme A (CoA), which is necessary for the formation of methionine and cysteine.

Without this enzyme, these amino acids cannot form, and the sulfur produces hydrogen sulfide. However, a vitamin deficiency is extremely rare and difficult to test for in a lab.

H2S can also result from: • Reduction of elemental sulfur from spray residues (relatively uncommon); • Presence of other sulfur containing compounds (glutathione); • High or very low juice turbidity (recommended ~0.5% turbid); • Low redox potential of must (e.g. reductively held or tall/ skinny tanks); and • Release of bound sulfurous compounds in yeast lees during lees aging.

The impact of lees on H2S production isn’t always negative though. The mannoproteins of yeast can form disulphide

bridges with sulfur compounds and lessen their aromatic impact.

Excessive SO2 use leads to the formation of H2S by inhibiting acetaldehyde reduction to ethanol. If a deficiency is also present in O-acetylserine and O-acetylhomoserine (precursory compounds necessary for the formation of sulfur containing amino acids), H2S is produced from the enzymatic reduction of sulfite (from SO2). This gives the yeast a sulfur source to produce these amino acids. A high metal ion (e.g. residual coppper from Bordeaux mixture) concentration within the must suppresses cellular respiration, which lowers redox potential and ultimately, elevates H2S levels. If the redox potential of a must is not increased during H2S formation (e.g. aerated must), the H2S can react with other compounds such as ethanol and sulfur containing amino acids to form mercaptans (most notably, methyl mercaptan). However, the details of the mechanism of the formation of mercaptans are currently unknown. These molecules create a pungent, ‘rotten cabbage’ aroma. Mercaptans can be easily oxidised to form a less aromatic disulfide. This misleads winemakers into believing the problem has dissipated, although mercaptans can re-form under reductive bottle conditions. Yeast strains differ widely in their propensity to form H2S and are chosen based on this characteristic.

CONCLUSION Wine is commonly referred to as a ‘complex matrix’. By breaking wine down into its fundamental components, we can begin to understand how to better manage our vineyards and wineries to attain the wine styles that our markets desire. Volatile fatty acids and sulfurous compounds which are purely microbially derived should be avoided. It is crucial to understand how these compounds arise and how winemakers and viticulturists can manage them effectively and efficiently.

For more information, contact: Russell Moss P: 1 803 920 9800 E: russell@vintrepidconsulting.com

REFERENCES

Boulton, R., Singleton, V., Bisson, L., & Kunkee, R. (1996). Principles and Practices of Winemaking. New York City: Springer Science and Business Media inc.

Corison, C., Ough, C., Berg, H., & Nelson, K. (1979). Must acetic acid and ethyl

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November 2014 – Issue 610

acetate as mold and rot indicators in grapes. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 30(2), 130-134.

Erasmus, D., Cliff, M., & van Vuuren, H. (2004). Impact of yeast strain on the production of acetic acid, glycerol and the sensory attributes of icewine. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 55, 371-378.

Giduci, P., & Zaomonelli, C. (1993). Increased production of n-propanol in wine by yeast strains having an impaired ability to form hydrogen sulphide. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 44(1), 123-127.

Goode, J. (2005). The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass. Los Angeles : University of California Press.

Kaiser, K. (2010). Controlling Reductive Wine Aromas. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from Brock University : http://brocku.ca/ccovi/files/uploads/Karl_Kaiser_-_ Controlling_reductive_wine_aromas.pdf Margalit, Y. (2004). Concepts in Wine Chemistry (2nd ed.). (J. Crum, Ed.) San Francisco: The Wine Appreciation Guild.

Pretorious, I., & Lambrechts, M. (2000). Yeast and its importance to wine aroma: a review. South African Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 21 (special issue), 97-129.

Pripis-Nicolau, L., de Revel, G., Bertrand, A., & Lovaud-Funel, A. (2004). Methionine catabolism and production of volatile sulphur compounds by oenococcus oeni.

Journal of Applied Microbiology, 96(5), 1176-1184.

Swiegers, J., Bartowsky, E., Henschke, P., & Pretorius, I. (2005). Yeast and bacterial modulation of wine aroma and flavour. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 11, 139-173.

Tominaga, T., Darriet, P., & Dubourdieu, D. (1996). Identification of 3-mercaptohexyl acetate in Sauvignon wine, a powerful aromatic compound exhibiting box-tree odor. Vitis, 35(4), 207-210.

Tominaga, T., Furrer, A., Henry, R., & Dubourdieu, D. (1998). Identification of new volatile thiols in the aroma of Vitis vinifera L. var. Sauvignon blanc wines. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 13(3), 159-162.

Wang, X., Bohlscheid, J., & Edwards, C. (2003). Fermentative activity and production of volatile compounds by Saccharomyces grown in synthetic grape juice media deficient in assimilable nitrogen and/or pantothenic acid. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 94(3), 349-359.

Whiting, G. (1976). Organic acid metabolism of yeast during fermentation of alcoholic beverages - a review. Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 82, 84-92.

Zoecklein, B., Fugelsang, K., Gump, B., & Nury, F. (1999). Wine Analysis and Production. New York City: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

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winemaking

Reverse racking and clarification Simon Nordestgaard, Australian Wine Research Institute senior engineer, has been studying the possibility of ‘reverse racking’ as a new way to achieve clarification without as many tank transfers.

CLARIFICATION is a major reason for moving juice and wine between tanks at wineries – whether it be racking off lees after a period of static settling, or to pass wine through a centrifuge or filter. Each movement needs a clean tank for the clarified product to go into. Tank cleaning and the movement of wine require labour, water and cleaning chemicals and generate wastewater that needs to be managed. Furthermore, significant quantities of juice/wine can be tied up in lees and undergo major quality downgrades when recovered from lees by the most common method, rotary drum vacuum filtration (RDVF).

The AWRI is working on a new project studying the possibility of ‘reverse racking’ as a new way to achieve clarification without as many tank transfers. In this process the small quantity of lees in tanks is removed from underneath the clear juice or wine so that the bulk may remain in the same tank. In the first phase of the project, lees samples were collected during the 2014 vintage and their flow properties (rheology) were measured to provide insight into their possible behaviour during reverse racking.

Reverse racking lees means that the bulk of the batch of wine can remain in the same tank. As the lees are being reverse racked, in an idealised configuration, they could be immediately clarified using an RDVF alternative that does not degrade the quality of the juice/wine and returned to the top of the same tank (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Idealised reverse racking – immediate clarification of lees and return of recovered wine into the top of the same tank (clarification technologies are illustrative only – those shown may or may not be appropriate)

The removal of sediment from underneath a clear product is already practised in other industries. For example, in beer production, cylindroconical tanks are commonly used for fermentation. After fermentation the conical bottom on these tanks allows the reverse racking of sedimented yeast if desired.

In the wine industry, reverse racking has been used by some wineries when they have cold settled juice lees in tanks with no racking arm, in order to get the lees level down below the racking valve so that normal racking can then be conducted.

The challenge with reverse racking is that there will be some tendency for the clear product above to channel through the lees before all or much of the lees have been removed from the tank. The degree to which this will occur is likely to depend on: • Rheology of the lees – how easily the lees can flow; • Tank design (height, aspect ratio, floor shape and angle, surface finish, outlet sump design etc.); and • Pumping regime (e.g. speed and pulsing).

Unlike the brewing industry, where cylindroconical tanks having bottom cones with floor angles of 55° down from the horizontal are common, large winery tanks typically do not have a conical bottom, just a gentle slope from the back to the front of the tank of the order of 5°. The Australian wine industry has already been through its major expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s and has made a significant investment in tanks.

This project aims to develop a device and protocol for reverse racking of lees that can be used with existing tanks.

As discussed, the rheology of lees is likely to have a large influence on the ability to reverse rack them. One measurable rheological property of lees likely to be important is the yield stress. The yield stress is the minimum stress that needs to be applied to make a structured fluid flow.

When the bottom valve of a tank is opened, the pressure head of liquid in the tank creates local stresses on the lees adjacent to the valve that are larger than their yield stress, which drives them out of the tank. However, further away from the valve, the local stresses applied to the lees will be lower and if the lees have sufficiently high yield stress, they will not move fast enough and the clear liquid above will channel through. This means that lees with very high yield stress values are likely

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Table 1: Rheology of lees samples Lees typea

Yield stressb (Pa)

Apparent viscosityc (mPas)

Volume solidsd

Dry solidse

Gross red

28 (38)

130 (190)

47%

16%

White ferment

<0.5

14

51%

15%

White juice

<0.5 (<0.5)

6 (9)

27%

7%

White juice + bentonite

<0.5

5

31%

10%

Port + bentonite

3

13

60%

4%

Water (for comparison)

0

1

0%

0%

Collected from bottom of settling tanks apart from the gross red lees samples, which were collected from a mixed lees tank (other gross red lees samples that have been collected from the bottom of settling tanks typically showed even higher yield stresses and apparent viscosities). b Vane shear technique – Haake VT550 with FL10 vane, 0.1 rpm, at 20°C (except bracketed results that were measured at 4°C to study the impact of temperature). c Controlled rate – Haake VT550 with NV/NV or MVP/MV2P cup/rotor, 500 s-1 shear rate, at 20°C (except bracketed results that were measured at 4°C to study the impact of temperature). d Spin test – 50 mL, 3,000 x g, 5 minutes. e Drying – ~ 5 g, 70°C, 24 hours (corrected for soluble solids by drying a 0.2 μm filtered sample). a

to be less suited to reverse racking than lees with lower yield stress values.

In 2014 a range of lees samples were collected and analysed and indicative data are presented in Table 1. The overriding observation of this work was that with the exception of gross red lees (red ferment lees after draining/pressing and settling) most lees samples had low yield stress and low apparent viscosity values. Notably, the concentration of solids did not necessarily correspond with the rheology of the lees – for example, the white ferment lees and gross red lees had similar solids concentration but very different yield stress and apparent viscosity. This seems likely to relate to the different nature of the solids and soluble components extracted from red grape skins during fermentation. At this stage only a limited number of white ferment lees samples have been collected; further samples will be obtained shortly to confirm the preliminary results for this lees type.

The rheological results, the yield-stress measurements in particular, suggest that red gross lees are likely to be the most difficult to reverse rack of all winery lees.

There is a further complicating factor in that red gross lees also may contain remnants of oak chips that have passed through draining and pressing operations. This vintage, these oak chips were seen to form a layer on the floor of the tank below the grape and yeast-derived lees. These two layers had very different rheological properties, with the oak chip lees having much higher yield stress than the grape and yeast-derived lees.

These results suggest that residual oak chips are likely to be an obstruction to the successful reverse racking of red gross lees.

Furthermore, they are a hindrance even in removing lees from tanks after normal racking, making the process more timeconsuming and labour-intensive than necessary. Generally the addition of oak chips into many tanks is problematic and techniques such as the preparation of small numbers of tanks with very high oak concentrations, which are then clarified and that wine distributed to tanks requiring oak treatment could be pursued as a more efficient strategy.

Following on from the initial work that has focused on understanding the fundamental properties of lees, next vintage the project will move on to laboratory scale trials of different devices that could be retrofitted to existing winery tanks to facilitate reverse racking.

For more information, contact: Simon Nordestgaard 61 8 8313 6600 simon.nordestgaard@awri.com.au November 2014 – Issue 610

For further information, please contact Kauri NZ Tel: 0800 KAURIWINE NZ Fax: 04 910 7415 Email: winery@kauri.co.nz

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AUS Tel: 1800 127 611 AUS Fax: 1800 127 609 Website: www.kauriwine.com

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GEA Westfalia Separator Australia Pty Ltd

Understanding filterability index: an overview and some new insights Dr Paul Bowyer, BHF Technologies (Blue H2O Filtration) regional manager, Filtration, and Greg Edwards, Vinpac group Pumps & technical manager, offer their insights Tanks into the complex topic of filterability index and how important this information can be when judgements are made on wine impact on membranes during sterile filtration

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ALTHOUGH it is common for wine packaging facilities to measure nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) in order to evaluate wine suitability for particular filtration grades, not all measure filterability index (FI). Part of the reason for this lies in the commonly-held falsity that NTU correlates with FI, but also perhaps because filterability is not a topic currently taught to winemakers in our education system. NTU is a measurement of light scattering in a sample, and so provides an approximation of particulate loading. The measurement of NTU cannot, however, provide an indication of wine colloidal status; hence the situation can arise where a very clean wine with low NTU can still foul filtration media, as was extensively observed for 2011 South Australian reds. Filterability index determination is a direct challenge of the wine to be filtered to the membrane, and so provides an indication of all fouling components in the sample, whether particulate or colloidal. We have published previously on this topic and here provide the most recent developments in our understanding of this rather complex topic.

FI MEASUREMENT The measurement of FI is quite straightforward, nevertheless many laboratories avoid this measurement since, without appropriate methods and equipment, and it can be cumbersome and time consuming for laboratory staff. There are several different methods for determining filterability. Some are quite complex and some are relatively simple. One universal fact is that if the method and equipment used are not simple and easy to work with, this measurement is often neglected and viewed only as an annoyance.

The method that we advocate is perhaps the simplest. A sample is delivered to a membrane disc at a constant 2 bar, with the time recorded to pass 200 and 400mL (or g, in the case of the BHF automated FI unit). A simple calculation provides the filterability index as indicated in equation 1: FI = T400 - 2T200

(1)

Any fouling of the membrane slows the flow of sample, increasing T400, and so when the formula is applied an index is generated. Sometimes a constant of 1.67 is applied but, since it is a constant, it can be omitted. The assay can be performed manually, but it is far easier to use an automated www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

ARDS AW

WISA SU P

OF THE YE AR IER L P

WINNER 2014

winemaking Filterability index measurement is used to detect problem wines, specifically those that will cause unacceptable loading of the final membranes, and represents a way of avoiding both production delays for the packager and elevated filtration costs for the customer. unit. Critically, the membrane discs used for FI determination should be the same as those membranes used at bottling. This is sometimes overlooked, but a comparison of relative membrane performances reveals the importance of this simple point (see below).

The measurement of FI provides an evaluation of the fouling that is likely to occur during bottling, however it is not a replication of the bottling filtration process. Typically, a sterile bottling task will see the wine pass through tight lenticular (depth) onto 0.65um membrane pre-filters onto 0.45um final membranes. There are several permutations of this configuration, but this is the most commonly used. FI measurement does not replicate this process, since no prefiltration is applied before the measurement. Wine destined for sterile filtration must be within specification (e.g. < 1 NTU) before it is accepted, in which case minimal loading should be applied to any of the sequenced filters, yet this is not always the case. FI measurement is used to detect problem wines,

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There are two types of colloids found in wine: associative colloids and macromolecular colloids. Association colloids are aggregates of small molecules, driven to associate through weak intermolecular forces such as van der Waal’s forces, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, and are typically produced by fining processes. Macromolecular colloids are comprised of one major species, such as polysaccharides, proteins, mannoproteins, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) etc.

Generally these compounds possess a molecular charge, and they can be used to stabilise association colloids, an example of which would be the addition of gum arabic to stabilise pigmentation in reds. Colloids can present a problem for filtration in that, unless the colloid is of sufficient size to be observed by NTU, it lies latent and undetected in the wine until it is pushed through a membrane, at which point it can cause fouling. Since filterability measurement employs the membrane filtration process, the true filterability nature of a wine sample can be discerned.

In some cases wines have been ultrafiltered (cross-flow) and pass FI testing, only to fail a retest within a relatively short time period. We speculate that examples of this type demonstrate the impact of associative colloids, which are likely to be disrupted during ultrafiltration through the application of shear forces, enabling a pass during FI measurement, but which then

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specifically those that will cause unacceptable loading of the final membranes, and represents a way of avoiding both production delays for the packager and elevated filtration costs for the customer. These wines are typically found to have low NTU and high FI. We generally advise an FI threshold of 20 sec.

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November 2014 – Issue 610

reassociate in short time to once again provide a mechanism for fouling membranes.

The impact of macromolecular colloids on FI is more straightforward, as FI can be measured pre- and post-addition to determine filterability impact. In some cases a transient elevation of FI can be observed, such as with the application of CMC.

Table 1: FI and FIm data for a 2012 Malbec with different filtration grades applied in sequence. Becopad 580: Nominal 3.0 - 4.0 um; Becopad 450: Nominal 1.0 2.0 um; Becopad 220: Nominal 0.3 - 0.5 um; Becopad 170: Nominal 0.2 - 0.4 um.

FI

FIm

2012 Malbec post Becopad 580/450/170

7.80

7.24

2012 Malbec post Becopad 580/450/220

12.0

34.9

FI AND FIm Occasionally wines are found that pass FI but present a differential pressure increase across the membrane during bottling at a faster than expected rate, so what is going on here?

The basic measurement of FI (Equation 1) gives a filterability snapshot of the wine up to 400mL, but this has a limitation in that it is a small measurement (0 – 400mL) and we are seeking to extrapolate this FI value to the filtration of a large volume of wine with filters of a much greater surface area. We have found that by extending the measurement to 600mL and using three data points, as in Equation 2, to calculate a modified filterability index (FI m), a better understanding of the wine impact on the filtration membrane is possible.

FIm = (T600 – T200) – 2(T400 – T200)

(2)

In many cases, FI and FI m are very similar values, indicating that over time the sample is unlikely to have a deleterious effect on the filtration performance, but on occasion the two values are sufficiently different in magnitude to raise some suspicions.

It may even be that FI represents a pass value (typically < 20), but FI m does not. Since FI m better reflects membrane performance over time, perhaps we should be giving this value proportionately more weight when evaluating the filterability of a sample.

November 2014 – Issue 610

Figure 1: A comparison of the FI plots for the wines from Table 1.

In Table 1 we can see two data sets for the same wine, a 2012 Malbec, which has been filtered through different grades of Becopad. The filtration grades are the same in each case except for the final grade applied, with 170 being tighter than 220 (see data in the caption to Table 1). In this example, the value of the tighter 170 grade as the final filtration stage becomes obvious when one examines the FI and FI m data: with tighter final filtration these values are almost identical, but with a slightly looser grade of final filtration FI m becomes significantly greater than FI, indicating that this wine would load the 0.45um membrane to a much

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winemaking greater extent than the previous wine, and may cause premature blockage.

In conjunction with this, there is a strong advantage in using an automated FI unit, such as the BHF-supplied units at all Vinpac facilities, in terms of ease of use and laboratory time allocation, and also in that a real-time plot of the filterability curve is generated by the software during the measurement.

A sample report is easily generated that can be provided to the customer to help them understand the filterability status of their wine. The filterability plot also allows closer scrutiny of the membrane performance during a filtration run, and this is not evident when using a manual unit since only a single numerical value is obtained, constituting only a pass or fail result. If we examine the plots from the wines used in Table 1, the difference between them becomes immediately obvious (Figure 1). The influence of the tighter filtration applied through the Becopad 170 is clearly evident through both the greater linearity of the plot and the faster flow rate, in addition to the similarity of the FI (7.80) and FI m (7.24) values. The tailing evident in the plot for the wine filtered through Becopad 220 indicates higher membrane loading, which is also reflected in the greater disparity between FI (12.0) and FI m (34.9).

Relative performances of media types Some laboratories not only use different methods for FI analysis, but also different membrane discs, disc sizes (25mm or 47mm) and porosities. For example, some laboratories use cellulose acetate discs in either 0.45um or 0.65um, yet very few wine membranes are made of this material. Some facilities measure FI using nylon membrane discs in either 0.45um or 0.65um, but use polyethersulfone (PES) wine membranes at bottling. There is no specific standard for FI analysis at this

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Table 2: FI and FIm data for RO water passing through nylon and Parkerdomnick hunter PES 0.45 um discs.

RO water

Membrane material

FI

FIm

Test duration (s)

Nylon 0.45 um

4.6

0.6

178

PES 0.45 um

0.0

0.0

59

Figure 2: A comparison of the FI plots for RO water using nylon 0.45 um and a Parker-domnick hunter PES 0.45 um disc. Both membranes generate quite linear plots (in this example) but exhibit different flow rates and FI data.

stage, so it is not possible to transpose data obtained from two different sources.

The main common element in Australia in terms of sterile filtration is that 0.45um final membranes are used, and increasingly PES is gaining prominence over nylon as the material of choice. The differences between the performances of nylon and PES membranes are quite significant, in terms of membrane symmetry, colour binding, FI data obtained, membrane loading capacity and flow rates. To demonstrate this, a sample of RO water was analysed, the data for which are presented in Table 2 and Figure 2. The significantly decreased

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November 2014 – Issue 610

Table 3: FI and FIm data for a 2013 Shiraz analysed using 0.65 um cellulose acetate and 0.45 um Parker-domnick hunter PES discs. Note the large difference in FI and FIm data for the cellulose acetate disc.

2013 Shiraz

Membrane material

FI

FIm

Test duration (s)

Cellulose acetate 0.65 um

4.3

27.2

104

PES 0.45 um

4.7

2.4

131

was the membrane type in the bottling hall filters). The 0.65um cellulose acetate discs, having the greater porosity, allow a greater flow rate than the 0.45um PES discs, and even though the FI data obtained are similar the FI m data are quite different.

The discrepancy is perhaps more obvious in the FI plots depicted in Figure 3.

CONCLUSION There is, as yet, no specific standard for filterability analysis in terms of method applied, membrane disc size and membrane composition. These parameters can influence filterability analysis outcomes, and this should be borne in mind before seeking to draw comparisons between data sets. Our advice is to use 25mm membrane discs for filterability analysis that are identical to the final wine membranes in terms of porosity and composition. In this way filterability information of the greatest value can be used to make judgements regarding wine impact on membranes during sterile filtration.

Figure 3: A comparison of the FI plots for a 2013 Shiraz using a cellulose acetate 0.65 um disc and a Parker-domnick hunter PES 0.45 um disc.

The flux characteristics here are quite different, with the cellulose acetate membrane leading to significant tailing, which in turn elevates FIm.

flow rate of the nylon disc is a result of both the membrane composition and symmetry.

In a similar way, cellulose acetate (or ‘ester’) discs are commonplace in laboratories, and are often used for cell counts on growth media, although their use for generating FI data is debatable given that most wine membranes are either PES or nylon. In Table 3 and Figure 3 we can see data for a wine analysed using 0.65um cellulose acetate discs (as was laboratory practice at the site in question) and PES 0.45um discs (which

November 2014 – Issue 610

For more information, contact: Paul Bowyer P: 61 3 9564 7029 E: paul@blueh2o.com.au

REFERENCES

Bowyer, P. K., Edwards, G. and Eyre, A. (2012) NTU vs wine filterability index – what does it mean for you? The Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, October issue (585), 76-80.

Bowyer, P. K., Edwards, G. and Eyre, A. (2013) Wine filtration and filterability – a review and what’s new. The Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, October issue (599), 74-79.

Bowyer, P. K. (2003) Molecular polarity – it’s behind more than you think, The Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, November issue, 89-91.

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The wine tank insulation specialist INSULATION is one of the most important investments you can make, according to Australian Tank Insulation (ATI). And ATI has the experience and knowledge to guide you through the process and recommend the best insulation solutions for your new or existing tank insulation project.

Andy Davis, D’Arenberg Wines maintenance manager, said the winery has been working with ATI since 2001.

“Thermal insulation has consistently proven it’s the best most economical way to insulate tank farms and that all leads to a lower bottom line, considering the cost of winery refrigeration and heating,” Davis said. He also highlighted the great work of ATI’s Sam Giourgas. “Sam has always provided excellent prompt service and nothing ever seems to be too hard, or out of the question. Sam’s leadership of his highly skilled team has never seen any issues that couldn’t be overcome and the tasks get completed within the agreed time frames with the usual high degree on finish.”

Conrad Speight, Constellation Wines project engineer, said the company has used ATI for Tank Insulation across all of its Australian wineries for more than 10 years.

“We have always been happy with the service, quality of work, product, finish and competitive pricing. We would highly recommend Australian Tank Insulation for any tank insulation project.”

The ATI team is proud of the reputation they have as reliable and trusted specialists for wine tanks, refrigeration, insulation repairs. “Our products are top notch and can be customised to fit any requirement or function on your winery,” Giourgas said.

The quality and reliability of ATI services is important, it begins with the planning of all activities and flows through all subsequent phases of the service. The approach is to “do it right the first time” and there is a commitment to quality and reliable service; value-for-money; a safe operation; efficiency; and customer satisfaction.

ATI has a specifically-designed facility based in Wingfield, South Australia where pre-formed insulation panels and other associated products are designed precisely to suit each client’s application.

Sam has always provided excellent prompt service and nothing ever seems to be too hard, or out of the question.

“At ATI we have the knowledge and expertise you need,” Giourgas said. “We possess technical know-how and are passionate about the wine industry. Our highly skilled staff members have experience in the field for many years which is why we are confident in offering a full guarantee on all of our services, products and workmanship.”

As specialists in their field, the team at ATI has catered to a variety of wineries over the years, from small up-starts to large, established wineries. And even when there’s a very unusual request, there’s a quick and easy solution to be found.

One of the more unusual requests came from D’Arenberg.

“Quite a few years ago I rang Sam with a delicate problem,” Davis said. “The task was to build a round toilet block, free standing, weather proof, divider down the middle, two doors integrated in the radius, sloping roof and all I could give him was the diameter of the tank it would sit on.

“After a few extra questions I was met with ‘I will call you back and within an hour’, the call came through with a price and delivery date no further questions but the statement ‘never done this before, should be fun’. What we ended up with is affectionately-known at D’Arrys as the VB toilet block, due to its resemblance to a can of VB beer. It has been in service for many years, never a complaint from its customers. This was able to be constructed due to ATI’s ability to think outside the square and meet all of the requirements as with all the tasks I have ever sent Sam’s way.

“To recommend a company to your peers, which I get asked to do regularly, means you must be very satisfied with the service, commitment and pricing you receive, ATI meets all these criteria’s and as such I have no hesitation in recommending this company to all who contact me in regards to tank insulation.”

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November 2014 – Issue 610

sales & marketing

The real treasure is in the people THE boss of one of the world’s most advanced wine bottling facilities says there’s nothing better than success based on teamwork. Danni Casey, the Wolf Blass Packaging Centre site Packaging & operations manager, says a competitive nature Bottling helps drive her to look at every process and work out how to improve it.

The state-of-the-art packaging facility, surrounded by vineyard in the Barossa, was built in 2005 at a cost of about $120 million; employs about 200 people; has multiple bottling lines capable of filling 24,000 bottles per hour; labelling lines capable of 26,000 bottles per hour; and a 22,000 pallet storage facility operated by nine robotic cranes.

“We are very, very lucky to have all this technology and it has all been put together so well,” Casey said. But despite the giant scale of the operation, the focus the staff have on ‘continuing improvement’ means even the smallest operations are scrutinised. A change to the way the facility carries out ‘torque tests’ of screwcaps is just one example, the test actually destroys the cap and means both the bottle and cap are destined to be recycled. The test used to be conducted on bottles that had already been filled and sealed, until someone realised they were wasting 16 full bottles of wine every two hours. Now the tests are carried out on empty bottles and thousands of litres of wine are saved each year.

“We have consistently driven our costs per case down,” Casey said. “When I first started here, as a line manager in 2008, the average change-over time on a line from one product to another was 90 minutes. It’s now 35 minutes.

“The whole business has changed as well, we are now bottling wine to order, rather than filling up whole sheds of certain products. We do a lot smaller runs and have more SKUs (stock keeping units).”

The bottling and labelling lines are often presented with new packaging ideas to which require adaptions to be made to both the process and the equipment. Examples include new labels for Wynns, with a wrap-around for The Gabels Cabernet Shiraz; and Pepperjack, with a spiral wrap-around for the Graded Collection.

Matt Sitters, the facility’s packaging capability and development coordinator, said The Gables wraparound label first arrived in August 2012 and it took several hours of trials to get the application perfect. It’s another team exercise with

The whole business has changed as well, we are now bottling wine to order, rather than filling up whole sheds of certain products. We do a lot smaller runs and have more SKUs. everyone from the capability coordinator, line manager, labeller operator and the electrician involved.

“Trials are conducted with the packaging centre key stakeholders and the capability coordinator, then we feed back the results to marketing to make sure they’re comfortable with the results,” Sitters said.

The same process happened more recently with the Pepperjack reds, with blank labels sourced for the trials. The packaging centre gets anywhere between three and 12-weeks’ notice on new projects like these, depending on their complexity, but every now and then there will be bad news for the marketing and design departments.

“Sometimes the capability of the labeller, label design, paper stock and the bottle just don’t work together so one of more of the elements will have to be changed,” Sitters said.

The Pepperjack Graded Collection has turned out to be a

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TEAM LEADER: Danni Casey at the Wolf Blass Packaging Centre.

big success story, earning a design and packaging award at London’s Drinks Business Awards. Rowena Curlewis, from The Collective design agency, said the spiral wrap label was the first of its kind in Australia.

“Our brief was to come up with a solution that was as distinctive as – and complemented – the Pepperjack core tier’s highly recognisable cream label,” Curlewis said. “Our solution was to utilise the angled label but keep it going all the way around and up the bottle. The distinctive Pepperjack label angle and cream brand colour unite the two tiers whilst the detailed foiling and extraordinary label form elevates Graded as a very special offering. This label was not only challenging from a design perspective but the logistics to machine label a bottle like this were enormous. It is by far the largest label ever applied at Treasury Wine Estates or produced by printers.”

Casey says the technology which helps achieves this sort of result is fantastic, but she still rates her team as her biggest asset.

“In terms of making it work, it comes down to the expertise of our people and everyone loves taking on new projects like that. The people here are proud of the products we’re working with,” she said.

“The more you add to the labels, the more complex it gets for the labelling machine. But we work it out pretty quickly; we run our trials on ‘down time’ because we have to adjust to different programs, different stations and different settings.

“It’s a case of getting everything working and then seeing how it all runs at full speed. We pride ourselves in the quality of the job, our target is 99% accuracy and we’ve been above that for three years. If you get the process right, things run smoothly.

But the variation of what we do is interesting and exciting.”

Her model of management has a walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes focus.

“We put a lot into education and skilling our people up, we

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November 2014 – Issue 610

It’s a case of getting everything working and then seeing how it all runs at full speed. We pride ourselves in the quality of the job, our target is 99% accuracy and we’ve been above that for three years. If you get the process right, things run smoothly. see our people as long-term investments. And there’s not a lot of staff turnover here,” she said.

The management team are regularly called on to fill-in at other Treasury sites, which increases their understanding of the business and offers more learning opportunity.

“I’m very passionate about my managers getting to know the range of processes around them, so they have a much better understanding of how they can help – and help the business.”

Casey runs an open management and monitoring program to provide “transparency and accountability”.

“People notice the impact this has, even from the outside.

We even had a group of Japanese distributors come through and say everything here operated just like businesses in Japan, we thought that was the biggest compliment. And all of our achievements belong to everyone here.”

Casey has been the site operations manager for 12 months and says she is just starting to “kick goals” (an appropriate turn of phrase for a diehard Geelong Cats fan).

November 2014 – Issue 610

“The one thing I love doing is solving issues – it’s my passion. But I will always make sure I remember what it’s like to work on the line, the whole idea is to understand what others are dealing with. I like to spend time with people one-on-one to find out what motivates them, but I know you cannot treat everyone the same. Some like a lot of contact with the manager, others want to manage themselves. If you think about it like we’re climbing a mountain together, then I really don’t care how we get to the top, as long as we get there. I like to succeed, but there’s nothing better than succeeding with teamwork.”

Kent Robinson, Treasury’s general manager for winery and packaging operations, explained Casey’s rise through the packaging centre ranks from packaging line manager, to quality assurance manager, to engineering manager and into her current role, responsible three packaging lines and a warehouse operation running 24-hours, five-days-a-week.

“Danni has a strong focus on reducing variation in all processes to drive continuous improvement at the packaging centre. With a relatively flat management structure she encourages her team to work together, to be accountable for their areas of responsibility and ensure that all change is delivered through a structured and sustainable processes. As a result the Wolf Blass Packaging Centre continues to improve on its operational and financial metrics,” Robinson said.

Having come into the wine industry, after 20 years working in optical lens production, Casey said she is lucky to have worked for companies where she was “pushed” to learn more about the principles of great management.

“I moved my family to the Barossa, took a risk, and that has given me a whole new lease on life. The opportunities available for people with determination are endless.”

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business & technology Get the interview process right Tips to make sure you invest in the right candidate for your business YOU’VE advertised the position, flicked through the CVs, and selected a few applicants you’d like to meet for an interview. It’s time for everyone involved to make sure they are prepared. Christian Campanella, Pernod Ricard Winemakers’ global HR director and Lisa Morris, Hays recruitment’s senior regional director for SA, offer their advice on carrying out a good interview. They take a look at both sides of the table.

What is your advice for people interviewing job candidates?

Christian Campanella (CC): My first piece of advice is to view the meeting as a two-way road. If you’re interviewing for a role, you should use this as an opportunity to glean information on the business, for example culture, values, business strategy, performance and so forth. If you are the interviewee, it’s good to show you have researched the role you are applying for and details about the business and the industry – try and find a way to seed questions on these topics. This demonstrates the depth of understanding and commitment of the potential candidate. Also, don’t be shy to ask a question about a new idea or innovation. It’s good to see the creativity of the interviewee coming across in the interview.

Lisa Morris (LM): When interviewing for your next team member, it’s important to take the time to prepare questions that will allow you to determine who the best candidate for the job is. Most interviewers start by asking a few general questions to get more of an idea about the candidate’s background. A specific question often asked is “why do you think you are qualified for this position?”

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It’s really important we find someone with the right cultural fit for our business, someone who supports our ethos and is genuinely passionate about the role they’re applying for.

Qualifications, in this context, mean everything that could make the candidate suitable for the position including educational, employment-related and personal qualifications. Interviews then move on to experience. At this stage of the interview you are looking for details about relevant employment or other experience that relates to your industry, organisation, and the position itself. Then it’s a good idea to ask a series of behavioural interview questions.

Behavioural interview questions attempt to predict future behaviour based on the person’s past behaviour in a similar situation. You can also ask about the candidate’s career objectives or long term aspirations. This shows if the candidate is ambitious and has taken some action

towards realising their ambitions. In some organisations, employers also ask candidates questions designed to test their ability in situations or crises.

Usually these revolve around the mostcommon type of dilemma in the job you are interviewing the candidates for. If you ask the same list of questions to each candidate, it makes the interview fairer, more transparent and it can help organisations reduce the chance of making costly hiring mistakes.

What does a candidate’s body language tell you?

CC: Body language is an important part of the interview. It can say a lot about you. Used with the right language, you can make your message more powerful if it is combined with non-verbal communication. It is also important for the interviewer to remember that body language needs to be put into context.

For example, someone from a Spanish background might act differently to someone from a French background, so this needs to be considered when evaluating the interview. Body language is most effective when you are being a true representation of yourself and push yourself in the right measure – there is no need to be an actor in an interview.

LM: It can indicate if they are nervous or confident.

How do you assess a candidate?

CC: There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Having said that, there are internal procedures that Pernod Ricard Winemakers will go through to recruit for prospective candidates and ensure we bring the right people into the business. As part of this process, we will

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November 2014 – Issue 610

YOUR SEARCH: Find the best fit for your business. Photo Shao-Chun Wang/123rf.com

conduct interviews, personality testing, psychometric testing and sometimes add a creativity component. For graduates, we also hold an assessment day so they are able to gain an understanding of the culture. It’s really important we find someone with the right cultural fit for our business, someone who supports our ethos and is genuinely passionate about the role they’re applying for.

LM: Through behavioural interview questions. These often being with, ‘tell me about a time when…’ or ‘describe an occasion when…’. Employers ask behavioural questions to establish various core competencies relevant to the role such as teamwork, creativity and innovation, decision-making ability, business awareness or conflict resolution.

What qualities do you look for in a potential employee?

CC: Technical skills are a crucial part of a role, but are not the only factors we consider during the interview process – it’s about the full package. We are looking for people who are genuine, convivial and passionate with an entrepreneurial spirit. We look to bring people into our business who can demonstrate they want to invest in our business the same way they are looking for us to invest in their growth and future career in the wine industry.

LM: It depends on the job. Along with the necessary technical skills and experience required for the particular role we are recruiting, we also make sure November 2014 – Issue 610

the candidate is the right cultural fit for the business that is hiring.

How can a candidate ‘nail’ their interview?

CC: Interviews can be nerve-racking but it’s really important you use this as an opportunity to give your interviewer an insight into your personality. This will help your interviewer get an understanding of your character, drive, motivations and passion which are all incredibly important in the recruitment process. It’s also important to show an interest in the business or industry you’re looking to move into. This won’t be written in the job specification but interviewers are looking for you to go above and beyond what you have been provided with to showcase your ability and desire to fulfil the role and stand out from the crowd. You only have one opportunity to make a positive and lasting impression on your interviewer so make sure you put your best foot forward.

If you don’t, someone else will.

LM: Be prepared. Preparation is critical to job interview success, so it pays to do your homework. You should research the organisation concerned by visiting their website and consulting social media. This helps you gain a better understanding of their business and how your experience and skills match. It’s also important to look professional, act professionally and dress professionally for your job interview. As a rule, you should expect the environment to be www.winebiz.com.au

conservative and corporate, so dress conservatively rather than casually or radically.

What mistakes should candidates try to avoid making during an interview?

CC: The ultimate no-no, in my opinion, is being unprepared. Not only do you come across like you have a lack of understanding about the company, but it also shows a real lack of motivation and passion for the role. Another thing to keep in mind is your appearance, always make sure you are appropriately dressed and don’t look unprofessional or unsuitable for the role. Finally, and this one might seem like a no brainer, but simple etiquette should also be considered. For example, make sure you are not late, don’t use unsuitable language and don’t insult colleagues, ex-employees or people in the industry.

LM: We asked employers for their opinion on what deters them from a candidate in a job interview and the top 10 they came up with were: Poor verbal communication skills; not answering the question asked; not researching the company or role before the interview; leaving a mobile phone on; inability to provide solid examples of previous experience; exaggerating experience or skills; focusing on the negative rather than the positive in situations or experiences; inability to answer technical questions; arriving late; and not displaying an interest in the role.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

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calendar

looking back

Australia & New Zealand

We step back in time to see what was happening through the pages of Grapegrower and Winemaker this month 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

November

November 1984 Murray Valley winegrape growers have expressed concern at reports of pending imports of cheap European wine. They fear significant shipments about to land in Australia will have a crippling effect on medium and small Australian wineries.

Murray Valley Wine Grape Growers’ Council chairman David Gordon telexed Federal Minister for Primary Industry John Kerin, calling for protective action against the imports.

November 1994 The Riverland crushed 198,734 tonnes of grapes during the 1994 vintage, 13 per cent above the previous five years’ average of 176,227 tonnes but well short of the winery-preferred demand of 226,361 tonnes, according to a report released by the Riverland Grape Industry Committee (RGIC). The 12th annual Riverland Winegrape Utilisation and Pricing Survey summarises the 1994 vintage intake and the projected requirements to 1999 of wineries that source grapes from the Riverland region.

RGIC chairman Graeme Thornton said the survey indicated 83 per cent of the grapes used were purchased from Riverland grapegrowers at an average price of $357 per tonne.

November 2004 Australia has welcomed a new association. After the successful formation of the Glenrowan Wine Region, grapegrowers in the area have formed a new association to share ideas and help promote the region. Founding members include Margaret Judd, Kathryn and Peter Dundan, Gerry Mahoney, Michael and Nancy Reid, Peter and Maureen Long, Geoff and Lynn Bath, Marion and Tony Rak, Joshua Mahoney and Paul Dahlenburg. With several emerging and long-standing enterprises, the Glenrowan Vignerons Association now provides a forum for the industry to work together to deliver future benefits to the region.

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15-16 Brown Brothers 28th Wine & Food Festival Milawa, VIC. www.brownbrothers.com.au

19 Wine Communicator Awards 2014 Sydney, NSW. www.winecommunicators.com.au

15-16 Budburst - Macedon Ranges Wine and Food Festival. Macedon Ranges Wine Region, VIC. www.budburst.com

21-23 Margaret River Gourmet Escape Margaret River, WA. www. margaretrivergourmetescape.com.au

15-21 (JD) HOBART 2014 Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania, Royal Hobart Wine Show. Glenorchy, TAS. www. hobartshowground.com.au

22 Jazz at the Swigmore Hall Stanthorpe, QLD. www. robertchannonwines.com

15-16 La Dolce Vita Wine and Food Festival. King Valley, VIC. www.winesofthekingvalley.com.au 15-16 Pyrenees Petanque Club Avoca Triples Tournament Avoca, VIC. www.avoca.vic.au 16 Malmsbury Village Wine & Food Fayre Malmsbury, VIC. www.malmsburyvillagefayre.org.au 16 Toast Martinborough Wine, Food & Music Festival Martinborough, NZ. www.toastmartinborough.co.nz 18 AWRI Adapting to Difficult Vintages Workshop – Avoca. Avoca, VIC. www.awri.com.au/industry_support/ courses-seminars-workshops/events 19 AWRI - Adapting to Difficult Vintages Workshop – Bendigo Maiden Gully, VIC. www.awri.com.au 19 AWRI Grape and Wine Roadshow Bendigo Workshop Yarra Glen, VIC. www.awri.com.au/ industry_support/courses-seminarsworkshops/events

24 A Taste of French Terroirs (Sydney) Sydney, NSW. www.french-australianchamber-createsend.com 25-26 (JD) Adelaide Hills Regional Wine Show Adelaide Hills, SA. www.adelaidehillswine.com.au 25 A Taste of French Terroirs (Melbourne) Melbourne, VIC. www.french-australianchamber.createsend.com 25-26 (JD) The 2014 Vintage Cellars Margaret River Wine Show Margaret River, WA. www.margaretriverwine.org.au 27 A Taste of French Terroirs (Auckland) Auckland, NZ. www.facci.com.au/sopexa 27 Australian Packaging Awards Melbourne, VIC. www.pca.org.au 27 Le Concours des Vins de Victoria Melbourne, VIC. www.facci.com.au/leconcoursdesvins 27 2014 NSW Tourism Awards Sydney, NSW. www.nswtourismawards.com.au 29 The Donnybrook Wine & Food Festival Donnybrook, WA. www.donnybrookfoodandwinefest.com.au

International November 15-17 The 13th Interwine China 2014 Guangzhou, China. www.wineinternationalltd.com

20-23 Gourmet Food & Wine Expo. Toronto, Canada. www.foodandwineexpo.ca

16-24 San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival California, USA. www.sandiegowineclassic.com

21-23 Russian Wine Fair Moscow, Russia. www.wine-fest.ru

19-21 Effervescents du Monde 2014 Dijon, France. www.effervescents-du-monde.com

JD = judging date CD = closing date

For a comprehensive list of events, visit www.winebiz.com.au/calendar www.winebiz.com.au

November 2014 – Issue 610

FIND YOUR SUPPLIER QUICKLY WITH OUR November 2014 Advertiser List Supplier 3M Purification Adama Australia Agnova

Page 81

Supplier Laffort Australia

19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 34 9, 13

Lallemand Australia

Page 73 63, 65, 67

Ledgard

49 17

AJL8 Enterprises

54

Manheim Auctions

AMSL Scientific

68

MEP Instruments

70

Aust & International Agri Exchange

94

Mr. Nozzle

48

Australian Tank Insulation

84

Nutri-Tech Solutions

33 94

Australian Tartaric Products

71

Oblomov Trading Co

Barrel Finance & Logistics

76

Organic Crop Protectants

53

BASF

37

Pacific Laboratory Products

60

Bayer CropScience

43

Pastro Custom Ag

48

Bibber International

94

Pellenc Australia

15

Braud Australia

11

Plastic Precise Parts

57

Bruce Gilbert Vine Grafting

94

Portavin Melbourne

88

Cadus Tonnellerie

61

Pro Hort

57

Cambridge & Co

29

Rapidfil

58, 94

Cosme Australia

84

Roxset

69

Crown Sheet Metal (NZ)

86

Ryset (Aust)

29

Della Toffola Pacific

96

Spagnolo Engineering

12

Dow Agro

Spray Nozzle Engineering

82

Dupont

39,41 27

Stoller Australia

55

FDPI Spares & Maintenance

74

Streamline Cartons

94 59

Fineweld Stainless Steel

87

Suber Lefort Group

Fischer Australis

45

Syngenta Australia

2

Flavourtech

75

Taylors Engineering (NZ)

83

FMR Group

51

United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL)

52

Galli Estate

94

Vine Industry Nursery Association

94

GEA Westfalia Separator Australia

80

Vine Sight

94

Graphic Language Design

87

Vinetech

31

Groguard Australia

47

Vinewright

94

Hydralada (NZ)

95

Viniquip

89

85

Vintessential Laboratories

78

Winefile

90

Whitlands Engineering

24

JMA Engineering Kauri Australia

68,77,79

AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND GRAPEGROWER & WINEMAKER *Australia's largest circulation wine industry trade magazine celebrating more than 50 years of publication. *Now available online to all subscribers. *All Marketplace adverts also appear on Winebiz Classifieds * For advertising enquiries please call Chas Barter on 08 8369 9513, c.barter@winetitles.com.au

Winebiz Calendar

Australia’s most comprehensive list of wine industry related local and international events and courses – available online FREE! Search for conferences, trade shows, competitions, courses, festivals & Australian & international wine shows.

www.winebiz.com.au/calendar November 2014 – Issue 610

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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Marketplace WINE PRESS SERVICING

Quality Grapevines Paul Wright PO Box 180 Mt Pleasant South Australia 5235 Ph 08 8568 2385 www.vinewright.com.au

• Preventative maintenance & breakdown repairs for all makes and models.

• 24/7 coverage during vintage • Large inventory of spare parts.

• Membrane replacement.

• PLC upgrades and design improvements.

Electrical & mechanical expertise.

03 9455 3339 • www.rapidfil.com.au

The popular WINE EXPERIENCE INTERNATIONAL Program enables young people, from many countries, who are wishing to gain an opportunity to acquire additional practical experience towards their Career objectives.

These qualified young people are seeking a period of about three months work and are available for the 2015 Vintage.

We can supply your international employees with the correct procedures to obtain their visas and advise telephone numbers.

For further information contact:PO Box 3093 KEW, Victoria 3101 Ph (03) 9818 2395 – FAX (03) 9818 7255 Email: auintagx@bigpond.com Web: www.agriculturalexchange.com

All advertisements also appear on www.winebiz.com.au/classifieds/

t Vin

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VINEYARD REMOVAL / RE-WORKING • Providing professional services in Vineyard Removal with rates per Ha.

ARE YOU STILL REQUIRING CELLAR HANDS for the 2015 VINTAGE?

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Qualified vintage staff?

• Tom & his team have gained a high reputation in all regions Australia Wide.

• Pulling vines is the sole business for Vine Sight.

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BIRD NETTING • Permanent canopy or throw over net • Fully UV stabilised • Cable, wire and all canopy supplies in stock

OBLOMOV TRADING CO. PO Box 207, Rozelle, NSW 2039 Phone (02) 9555 4987 Fax (02) 9810 1130 e-mail: sales@otcobirdnet.com.au

Visit our website at: www.otcobirdnet.com.au

VINE GRAFTING Bruce Gilbert 0428 233 544 Brian Phillips 0417 131 764 fax 03 5025 2321

brucethegrafter@gmail.com www.brucethegrafter.com

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Wine Grapes For Sale – Harvest 2015

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www.bibber.com.au 94 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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Details upon request Contact Office: 03 9747 1444 e: vineyard@galliestate.com.au

www.galliestate.com.au November 2014 – Issue 610

POWERFUL. 95% reduction processing time* 83% reduction in power consumption* 23% reduction in wine losses* 21% reduction in labour requirements* *Roget, W. Benchmarking a continuous tartrate stabilisation system. Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker (585): p. 106; 2012.

With over 40 years of innovation and technology in winemaking solutions, our inline on-demand continuous tartaric stabilisation and filtration systems are providing significant savings across the board. Ask us how.

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