Grape Grower & Wine Maker November 2022

Specialists in the Process

Viniquip are proud to represent and be associated with these brands

Depalletising, Carton Packing, Palletising Brewing, Distilling, Canning

Processing of Fruits and Vegetables

Linear and Rotary Labelling solutions

Medium to High-Speed Rotary Labellers

Filling and Capping Systems

Hans Mick Editor

Welcometo November! As spring proceeds, there’s at least a bounce in the step of cellar door sales with visitors returning after the end of lockdown travel restrictions. We feature cellar doors and DTC sales in this issue of the Grapegrower & Winemaker with some of the more innovative sales techniques used to overcome pandemic restrictions now finding a longer-lasting place at front of house. Read more in journalist Harrison Davies’ report starting on page 84.

In the vineyard, growers and viticulturists are again tasked with nurturing vines and nascent fruit through a period that requires careful navigation, especially with a number of regions experiencing wetter than usual conditions which can lead to increased pest and disease pressures. We asked three of our leading viticulturists to share their techniques for managing post-flowering vines (page 16). Staying in the vineyard, writer Mark Smith provides a detailed review of new technology that’s being successfully trialled at Best’s Wines in Victoria’s Grampians (page 22). We also present insights into red blotch virus by presenting an article, published initially in the wake of the disease’s appearance in California, but containing valuable lessons for Australia’s producers. It seems likely that the damage caused at that time to American producers won’t be repeated here, but there are, nonetheless, some valuable lessons to be learnt from the US industry’s experiences. Read more from page 30. On a lighter note, we meet this month’s Young Gun, Clare Valley viticulturist and Nuffield Scholarship winner Alexander Copper (page 40).

Heading into the winery, Sonya Logan explores options for improving refrigeration efficiencies, an especially timely topic with energy costs on the rise (page 57). We also look into the state of contract winemaking in Australia, as storage facilities reach capacity and all that engenders for the wider grape and wine sectors (page 66). Strategies for microbial control of barrels are also examined (page 70), while we learn more about Tasmania’s Meadowbank Pinot Noir in Behind the Top Drops (page 73). We dig deep into the past to understand the future applications of ancient winemaking methods – these aren’t as dusty as they may seem (page 78). In our Business & Technology section, we hear from Alison Appleby, a speaker at the 2022 PACKWINE Forum & Expo, who gives an outline of the 2025 National Packaging Targets and Australia’s current packaging landscape (page 82).

We share highlights from the recent Wine Industry IMPACT Conference held in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo (page 90).

Enjoy the read!

Alison Appleby:

the

INDUSTRY SINCE 1963

Publisher and Chief Executive: Hartley Higgins

General Manager: Robyn Haworth

Editor: Hans Mick h.mick@winetitles.com.au

Associate Editor: Sonya Logan s.logan@winetitles.com.au

Editorial Advisory Board Denis Gastin, Dr Steve Goodman, Dr Terry Lee, Paul van der Lee, Bob Campbell MW, Prof Dennis Taylor, Mary Retallack and Corrina Wright

Editorial: Harrison Davies h.davies@winetitles.com.au

Advertising Sales: Louise Reid sales@grapeandwine.com.au

Production Sudapa Rattanonda Creative Services Sudapa Rattanonda

Circulation: subs@winetitles.com.au

Winetitles Media

85 085

Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083 Phone: (08) 8369 9500 Fax: (08) 8369 9501 info@winetitles.com.au www.winetitles.com.au

what’s ONLINE

NZ’ winery launches ‘pioneering’ anti-fraud device

Canterbury winery Pyramid Valley Vineyards has collaborated with forensic sciences company Oritain to develop a pioneering verification of origin tool – a first for the wine industry. Launching in tandem with the release of Pyramid Valley’s 2020 Botanicals Collection range, each la bel will carry a unique QR code that traces a wine’s origin back to the soil.

Source: Inside FMCG

A bottle of Penfolds sold for $150,000

A bottle of the first vintage of Pen folds Grange went under the ham mer for over $150,000 at an exclusive Langton’s live auction in Sydney. “It’s a fantastic result, and shows a really vibrant, strong fine wine market here in Australia,” said Langton’s gener al manager Tamara Grischy. “This particular Penfolds Grange 1951 was in excellent condition and is still in its original cap, which is very rare.”

Source: Drinks Trade

Kiwi nominated to head International Organisation of Vine and Wine

Dr John Barker has been nominated as a candidate for the role of Direc tor General of the OIV. With more than 24 years of experience in the industry, he has extensive knowledge of the global wine sector, and a deep commitment to its longterm sustainability.

Source: Scoop

Daily Wine News is a snapshot of wine business, research and marketing content gleaned from local and international wine media sources, with a focus on Australian news and content.

In this issue

“More humidity significantly increases pest and disease pressure impacting on yields and late season Botrytis infection and bunch rots. Significant rain events can also impact berries directly causing splitting (loss of yield and increased risk of bunch rots) but may also increase yields by creating large and engorged berries.”

– Ben Rose, page 16

“In addition, microbial biofilms are capable of forming, and indeed flourishing, on the oak surfaces. Pseudomycelia formation by Brettanomyces can assist an organism’s ability to penetrate the pores of the oak at a deeper level.”

– Paul Le Lacheur, page 70

“The quicker and more effectively employers can facilitate a gradual return to the workplace, working with the treating medical doctor and rehabilitation providers to identify suitable tasks, the better it is for both the employee and the business.”

– Brian Smedley, page 92

“One thing I love about our wines, is a freshness and vibrancy that we have and but also love fruit driven characteristics of a lot of our wine. There’s a lot of varieties that are grown in so many different areas throughout Australia and I love that each variety really showcases the regions they come from and also the stamp of the winemaker.”

– Trina Smith, page 94

Australian Grape & Wine announces new CEO

LeeMcLean will be the next chief executive officer of Australian Grape & Wine (AGW), the representative body of the Australian wine industry.

McLean has been the general manager of government relations and external affairs for AGW since 2018. His appointment follows an extensive international search over the first quarter of the current financial year for a suitable candidate.

“Lee has demonstrated the past achievements and the vision that is required to take Australian Grape & Wine to the next level of evolution,” said John Hart, chair of AGW.

Prior to arriving at AGW, McLean had an extensive background in the public service in both the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Agriculture.

“Given the challenges the Australian wine industry currently faces, the Board has set Australian Grape & Wine the mandate to be the most inclusive and effective advocacy body it can be. It is our belief that Lee McLean is the best CEO to drive that outcome for the industry,” Hart said.

“It is a great honour to be appointed as CEO of Australian Grape & Wine

and I look forward to working with Australia’s world-leading grape growers and winemakers to help drive a positive agenda for the sector in the years to come,” said McLean.

“As an early priority, I am keen to listen carefully to our members, understand the challenges and opportunities, and

MEET THE FISCHER FLEX1 FLEX2 WEEDING SYSTEM &

make sure our team is focusing on the issues that matter most to grape and wine businesses.”

Hart said AGW was looking forward to McLean assuming the CEO role in the near term to ensure an effective transition from current CEO Tony Battaglene.

Incoming AGW chief executive Lee McLean

AWRI Board announces two appointments, including next chair

TheAustralian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) Board has today announced the appointment of two directors, Prof Kiaran Kirk and Sarah Courtney, effective from 1 November.

These two directors were appointed through a new process put in place following changes to the AWRI constitution in 2022. A nominations committee, chaired by former director Dr John Harvey, conducted a rigorous and independent recruitment process, which recommended the appointment of Prof. Kirk and Courtney to the Board. This recommendation was accepted at the most recent Board meeting on 20 September.

The Board also resolved that Prof Kirk will take on the role of chair from 1 January 2023, following the conclusion of current chair Louisa Rose’s term on 31 December 2022. Prof Kirk and Rose will work closely together between now and the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

In announcing the appointments, AWRI chair Louisa Rose said she was delighted that the new processes had resulted in two such excellent appointments to the Board.

“Kiaran has been a valued member of the Board since 2017. His deep connections to the Australian wine industry combined with his exceptional research and research administration experience make him uniquely suited to the role of chair,” she said.

“Ms Courtney brings an outstanding record of skills and achievements in finance, engineering, viticulture, governance and government, all of which will contribute greatly to the ongoing success of the AWRI.”

Prof Kirk commented that he was looking forward to taking up the role of chair.

“The AWRI is a unique research organisation, with a talented and

dedicated team working for the benefit of the Australian grape and wine industry. It will be an honour to serve as its 16th Chair,” he said.

“I’d like to acknowledge the exceptional leadership Louisa has provided to the Board, and in the wine industry more broadly, over the past eight years. She leaves big shoes to fill.”

Prof Kirk has served on the AWRI Board since 2017. Based in Canberra, he is Dean of the College of Science at the Australian National University and chair of the Board at Clonakilla Wines. Prof Kirk has published extensively in the field of biochemistry and has more than 25 years’ experience in the Australian research and education sector.

Courtney was the member for Bass (Tasmania) between March 2014 and February 2022. She held a range of ministerial portfolios in the Tasmanian Government between March 2018 and February 2022, including serving as Minister for Primary Industries and Water.

She holds degrees in commerce, chemical engineering and viticulture and worked

in the finance sector prior to her career in politics. Courtney is also the founder, owner and director of Fish Hook Wines, a boutique Pinot Noir vineyard in the Tamar Valley.

Prof Kiaran Kirk and Louisa Rose. Photo: AWRI

Sarah Courtney

Constellation pours investment toward premiumisation

US-based

drinks giant Constellation Brands has announced that it has reached an agreement with The Wine Group to divest a portion of its mainstream and premium wine portfolio, including New Zealand brands Crafters Union and Monkey Bay.

This decision builds on the company’s efforts to establish a higher-end wine and spirits portfolio.

Constellation divested the majority of its popular and mainstream wine and spirits portfolio in 2021 and is focused on competing predominantly in premium and fine wine and craft spirits segments, while continuing to invest in the growth of its remaining strategic mainstream wine and spirits assets.

“A key driver of our success has been our relentless focus on consumer preferences, including long-term consumer-led premiumisation trends, and remaining agile in our approach to stay ahead of evolving marketplace dynamics,” said Robert Hanson, EVP and President, wine and spirits division.

“Over the past three years, we reshaped ourselves into a higher-end wine and spirits division with intentional, strategic mainstream plays and are moving our business towards becoming a leading global premium/fine wine and craft spirits portfolio.

“This transaction will enable us to focus and shift our portfolio towards the higher end, positioning ourselves to continue delivering industry-leading growth and shareholder value with the right portfolio for our ambitions.

“In turn, The Wine Group is acquiring great brands that complement its current strategy of continuing to build a premium wine portfolio.”

Constellation’s remaining wine and spirits portfolio contains a more focused set of brands aligned with consumer preferences, spanning mainstream, premium, fine wine and craft spirits segments, including Kim Crawford in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay.

Kim Crawford winery

Viticulture doyen Peter Hayes AM wins prestigious Legend of the Vine Award

PeterHayes was named the SA Legend of the Vine in front of many of his wine industry associates and colleagues at the WCA Royal Adelaide Wine and Spirits Show Trophy Winners Lunch last month.

The prestigious award recognises Hayes’ outstanding contribution to the industry.

His diverse career spans over 30 years and includes lasting contributions to education and training, R&D investment and management, viticultural operations, and industry advocacy and development.

He was recognised as a Fellow of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology and has been a council member of the Australian Wine Research Institute, President of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), and chair of McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association.

National WCA executive officer Andrew

Stark said of the announcement, “We are honoured to be able to recognise one of the great contributors to our wine community in Peter Hayes. Peter has been a tireless builder and advocate, contributing to the success of many wine businesses over the years, as well as the sector as a whole.”

Hayes is the eighth person to be awarded Legend of the Vine status in SA, joining a prestigious national list that includes Brian Croser AO, Pam Dunsford, Tony Love, Brian Walsh, d’Arry Osborne, Bill Hardy, and Patrick Iland.

The Legend of the Vine Award was first introduced in New South Wales in 2014, and extends across Victoria and South Australia with annual awards issued in each of these states. The WCA Board and state chapters select the nominees from each state, with the final winner determined by the WCA National Board.

Royal Adelaide Wine Show winners announced Boutique

producers have taken home many of the gongs at South Australia’s annual wine show, while the spirits industry also shared in the honours.

A small Clare Valley winery, established less than 20 years ago, has claimed one of the most prestigious trophies at this year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show, announced at the Adelaide Showground in October.

Naked Run Wines won the Gramp, Hardy, Hill Smith Prize for National White Wine of Provenance for the 2022, 2015 and 2012 vintages of The First Riesling, made from single vineyard fruit grown at Sevenhill.

The Max Schubert AM Trophy for Most Outstanding Red Wine in Show was won by another boutique producer, Sutton Grange Winery from Central Victoria, for their Sutton Grange Estate Syrah 2019. They also won the Best Shiraz and Best Shiraz 2019 and Older trophies.

The 2022 Royal Adelaide Wine Show attracted 2,588 entries from 350 exhibitors.

A total of 1,273 medals were awarded, including 129 gold, with the McLaren

Vale wine region topping the medal tally with 145.

Chair of Judges Peter James (PJ) Charteris said there was a strong set of results across many classes.

“The 22 Rieslings and Semillons were nothing short of exceptional, with balance, purity and varietal expression leading the way,” he said.

“Chardonnay continues to deliver with complexity and stylistic focus, making this class very strong as well as very enjoyable to judge.

“On the red side of the ledger, Shiraz, Pinot and Grenache are the leading lights. On top of this, the Grenache blends show the depth of this area and a window into a possible warmer future.”

The Red Wine of Provenance trophy was won by wine industry legend, Hardy’s, for the 2020, 2014 and 2008 vintages of their Eileen Hardy Shiraz.

The George Fairbrother Memorial Trophy for Most Outstanding White Wine in Show was won by Penfolds for their Penfolds Bin A Chardonnay 2021. They also took home the Governor’s Trophy

for Best South Australian White Wine in Show and Best Chardonnay in Show.

Hentley Farm won the Governor’s Trophy for Best South Australian Red Wine in Show with their The Stray Grenache Shiraz 2021, as well as the Best Other Red Blend in Show title.

The Champion Spirit of Show trophy was won by Prohibition Liquor Co for their Juniperus Gin.

The chair of the Wine Show committee, Greg Follett, also announced the new Royal Adelaide Wine Show Bursary, which honours the contributions of wine industry educator and researcher, Philip Laffer AM, to the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of SA.

The one-year, $5,000 bursary will support a student undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate studies in viticulture or oenology at an Australian university.

Entries for the inaugural bursary close on November 28 and will be awarded on December 9.

Legend of the Vine Peter Hayes AM. Photo: John Kruger

Wine Industry Heavy Vehicles Project consultation almost complete

Theconsultation phase of the Wine Industry Heavy Vehicles Project to develop a heavy vehicles Chain of Responsibility Code of Practice for the Australian wine industry is nearing an end, with stakeholder sessions scheduled to continue this month in New South Wales with the final sessions to then occur in Victoria..

This project, being led by the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) in partnership with Australian Grape & Wine (AGW), aims to improve road safety by assisting the industry in meeting their Chain of Responsibility obligations under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

This includes ensuring that goods are not overloaded, that they are secured properly and that drivers are not encouraged or pressured to speed or drive while fatigued

During the consultation phase so far, stakeholder sessions have been held in 13 wine regions across South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania, with more than 150 registered participants offering feedback, including wine producers, grapegrowers,

transporters and vineyard contractors.

Feedback from all sessions will be considered in the drafting of the new Registered Industry Code of Practice for the Australian wine industry in cooperation with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR).

Once the Code of Practice is finalised, an educational program will be conducted across Australian wine regions and online, to educate parties in the wine supply chain about the code and how it can be practically implemented in their respective businesses.

Project manager Henrik Wallgren, from SAWIA, said the stakeholder sessions held around Australia have been valuable for understanding the challenges, good practices and the diversity and regional differences of Australian wine regions.

“Across Australian wine regions there are different grapes being picked, different bins and trucks being used, and different distances being travelled, which all contribute different challenges,” Wallgren said.

“Holding sessions across the country in large and small regions has enabled

us to get a deeper understanding of the diversity of the industry and challenges being faced in relation to how the industry relies on heavy vehicle transportation.

“The Code of Practice must be comprehensive, practical and flexible to provide effective guidance to all members of the Australian grape and wine supply chain.”

Wallgren said the stakeholder sessions had been well supported by regions so far.

“Then, when the code is ready, we’ll return to regions in 2025 to help members of the wine supply chain to understand the code, to ensure the safe transportation of grapes, by-products and finished wine on public roads, so that we better manage our Chain of Responsibility obligations,” he said.

This project is funded as part of Round 5 of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, supported by the Federal Government.

Cold Ridge. Photo courtesy of Riverland Wines. Photo by Italo Vardaro

The world of wine and beverage technology meets at SIMEI

From 15-18 November, delegates from 36 countries gather in Milan, Italy for the 29th edition on sustainability

Morethan 400 exhibitors, delegations from 36 foreign countries and about 25,000 trade visitors expected from all over the world.

These are the numbers for the 29th edition of SIMEI, the International Wine and Bottling Machinery Exhibition held by the Italian Wine Union (UIV) that will be bringing all the best of innovation applied to the wine and beverage supply chain to the Fiera Milano exhibition centre from 15-18 November.

A world leader in wine technology, after the forced stop due to the pandemic, SIMEI once again will attract Italian and international trade visitors with four days dedicated to the most interesting solutions for wine, liquid food, oil, beer and spirits.

Green business models and processes will in play the leading role in the 2022 edition, which focuses on the ecological, social and economic development of the sector, starting from the events calendar.

On Tuesday 15 November, the Sustainable Wine Roundtable will be presenting a report on the technological solutions

vital to make wine production truly sustainable, and then the next discussion will move on to discuss the potential of a ‘Global Reference Standard’ for the world of wine.

Also, on Wednesday 16 November, the Unione Italiana Vini, Assobibe, Assobirra and Mineracqua will be taking stock of energy self-sufficiency in liquid food, with an overview of Italian best practices, while the UIV’s ‘sustainability cafés’ will be holding daily ‘sustainability pills’ with different guests each time.

On the award front, the Innovation Challenge returns, the competition for technological innovation in the sector.

For the first time, the ‘Technology Innovation Award SIMEI 2022’ and the ‘New Technology SIMEI 2022’ will be accompanied by the ‘Green Innovation Award SIMEI 2022’.

This will recognise the most effective and promising solutions in the field of climate mitigation, the circular economy or water and energy consumption, as provided for by EU regulation 2020/852 of 18 June 2020.

Photo: SIMEI

Wine production in France this year should reach 44.6 million hectolitres, 18% above last year’s frost-ravaged output, the farm ministry said in October as harvesting started early due to dry summer conditions drawing to a close. This was above the ministry’s forecast of 44.0 million hectolitres a month earlier and 4% above the five-year average. The harvest in the Champagne region ended about 12 days earlier than its 10-year average, with total output expected to almost double from last year due to favourable weather conditions, reported Yahoo! Finance.

In his latest remarks, China’s ambassador in Canberra, Xiao Chan, has expressed frustration over how long it is taking to repair China-Australia relations, appealing for the Australian Government to use quiet diplomacy on sensitive human rights issues such as China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the Taiwan independence movement. SBS reported that Xiao said one way to accelerate progress on the relationship would be for Australia to avoid talking publicly about China’s policiesand instead raise the concerns privately.

Napa lawsuit plants seeds of doubt

What does the verb “to plant” actually mean? The answer may be decided in a California courtroom, with huge implications for the future of Napa Valley. Wine-Searcher reported that a successful high-end winemaker filed an interesting lawsuit against Napa County last week, claiming that it doesn’t have the right to stop him from installing a vineyard on a hillside because he didn’t move any earth to do it.

Finland could very well see its very own vineyards in the coming years, depending on if it is able to tackle EU regulations. Currently, wine made from grapes grown in Finland cannot be labelled as “wine” because it is not a wine producing country under EU regulations. Instead, the bottle label can say “mild alcoholic beverage produced from grapes by fermentation”. A report from broadcaster YLE said climate change has lengthened the growing season and raised the average temperature in Finland, prompting more vineyards to grow winegrapes.

Staged in early September after the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions, ProWine Singapore has become the only major sourcing platform for south-east Asian countries and will be held from now on as an annual event instead of biennial trade fair. Vino Joy News reported that this year’s four-day fair ended on a high note, bringing together 230 exhibitors from 27 countries and regions to meet with 8,500 visitors from around the world, representing almost a 20% increase in visitors compared to the last edition held in 2018.

Canned wine is seeing slow but steady growth in South Africa, but winemakers championing alternative formats are focusing on quality in order to convert domestic consumers. Alternative formats possess a short history in South Africa’s winelands. Trizanne Barnard, founder of Trizanne Signature Wines, told the Drinks Business the country’s producers were “still in the starting block” when it comes to canned wines and alternative formats.

Can the Nordic alcohol monopolies turn the drinks world green?

Sweden’s Systembolaget, Finland’s Alko, Norway’s Vinmonopolet, Iceland’s Vínbúðin and the Faroe Islands’ Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins have collectively announced a plan to become beverage business leaders in sustainable development. Meininger’s reported that the specific target is for 2030 CO₂ emissions to be half their 2019 levels. This will involve actions at every stage of the production, packaging and distribution processes and will involve consumers as well as industry professionals.

French wine output to rise 18% after early harvest

China’s ambassador appeals for ‘quiet diplomacy’

EU naming regulations block Finnish domestic “wines”

ProWine Singapore to be held annually on strong success

Winemakers focus on quality in breaking into canned wine

grapegrowing

Postflowering vineyard management

A time of vigilance in the vineyard Managing post-flowering vines

For this special roundtable discussion, journalist Harrison Davies spoke to a trio of prolific viticulturists from across Australia to ask how they approach vine management in spring after the vines have begun to flower.

What is the first job to get done after the vines start flowering?

Rose: Walk through the vineyard and monitor for pests and disease. Specifically look for light brown apple moth (LBAM) eggs/larvae on leaves and within the inflorescences/ bunches and apply control measures if numbers warrant control. LBAM is, in my opinion, the biggest contributor to a disaster later in the season. Any signs of downy mildew on leaves (hopefully not the inflorescences/ bunches as at this stage it may be too late) as uncontrolled downy mildew will spread within 24 hours and can also wipe out flowering and your crop.

Mader: Firstly, regular monitoring for all fungal diseases and strategies to implement the relevant management strategies for Botrytis and light brown apple moth in tight bunched varieties must be employed. Monitoring grapevine and frosted scale ‘crawler’ populations as these would be either hatched or hatching should be done soon after that. Petiole collection to assess vine nutrient status is also important early in the season.

Watson: Wire lifting, irrigation if the soils are drying significantly and flowering sprays. Wet conditions over the flowering period can contribute to greater Botrytis levels after veraison, therefore it is critical that Botryicides are

Amanda Mader

The ‘Vine Scout’ has had a hand in some of the Barossa and Eden Valley’s most ambitious viticultural projects. She provides viticultural technical support to assist local South Australian small- to medium-sized vineyards/wine businesses and Chinese stakeholders.

Ben Rose

The principle consultant of the Yarra Valley-based Performance Viticulture, Ben Rose has a wealth of experience in the vineyard. Since starting the business in 1998, he now has many clients, whose vineyards range from 2ha to 100ha in size, in Australia, Spain, France and Georgia.

Daniel Watson

A stint with Craggy Range in New Zealand was followed by a move to Tasmania to head up the vineyard at Devil’s Corner. Now vineyard manager at Devil’s Corner, Watson has extensive experience growing premium grapes in cooler climates.

applied at the early and/or late flowering stage to reduce disease pressure. Petiole sampling at flowering will help guide any nutritional issues and early attention to deficiencies is important to ensure the canopy can reach its full height.

What concerns does a La Niña year pose post flower?

Rose: More humidity significantly increases pest and disease pressure impacting on yields and late season Botrytis infection and bunch rots. Significant rain events can also impact berries directly causing splitting (loss of yield and increased risk of bunch rots) but may also increase yields by creating large and engorged berries. More cloud cover allows less direct sunlight on canopies, reduces UV light and increases the risk of powdery mildew. It also increases lateral growth and the length of the ripening period, potentially pushing the later stages of ripening into more ‘marginal’ territory.

Mader: La Niña can cause several headaches for growers in the spring, including things like Botrytis, downy mildew, powdery mildew and sooty mould in areas of the vineyard where scale populations are prevalent.

Watson: Cool, wet conditions that can occur in a La Niña season can significantly

impact vine growth and development post flowering. A lengthy flowering and fruit set period typically result in flower caps sticking and retarding berry development and causing scarring of the berry surface which is a potential site for Botrytis infection. Careful attention to disease control in these challenging conditions is therefore critical in the post flowering period. In a wet season the vines do not always experience the desired level of water stress post flower, therefore shoot growth can occur unchecked up to and beyond veraison. If this occurs, it is important to maintain an open canopy that receives adequate sunlight to avoid leaves acting as ‘sinks’ rather than as net exporters of assimilates. The degree of desired sunlight exposure will, of course, vary between varieties and desired wine styles and this must be considered carefully before interventions occur.

What pressure is put on vines in your region at this point in the season?

Rose: Disease pressure directly due to weather conditions, as mentioned above increases. In addition lateral growth occurs and additional soil moisture may increase shoot length, creating a larger/denser canopy, and prolonging vegetative growth over grape ripening. More shading further exacerbates pest and disease issues, shades grapes and delays ripening.

Mader: The pressure on vines depends on the region, as each region presents its own set of conditions and challenges. In the Barossa Valley, growers can expect to face fungal disease pressure – things like powdery mildew, downy mildew. In the Eden Valley, which is a bit cooler, growers can expect to work around things like Botrytis in addition to mildew.

Cool, wet conditions that can occur in a La Niña season can significantly impact vine growth and development post flowering. – Daniel Watson

LBAM is the greatest concern to the developing berries due to the increase in potential for Botrytis infection, however grapevine moth grubs can completely decimate the canopy of grapevines prior to harvest.

Ben Rose

growing

Watson: If the pre flower period is cool and windy, shoot growth can be adversely affected resulting in short, stunted shoots approaching flowering. This can result in the vine proceeding through the critical flowering and fruit set period with a less than ideal leaf area which can result in the shoots actively competing with the inflorescences during the critical flowering period which can disrupt flowering and fruit set. Depending on the capacity of the site this has the potential to negatively impact on the number of berries that successfully set and the eventual crop loading. If the canopy fails to develop further in the post flower period, there can be an imbalance between crop and leaf area resulting in potential negative impacts on fruit quality and required costly interventions such as fruit thinning.

What pests are of the greatest concern to the vines?

Rose: LBAM is the greatest concern to the developing berries due to the increase in potential for Botrytis infection, however grapevine moth grubs can completely decimate the canopy of grapevines prior to harvest, thus preventing any further ripening of the grapes. These later season infestations also cause issues for winemakers with high grub load in the grapes.

Mader: Grapevine and frosted scale are of concern to growers in both the Barossa and the Eden Valley. Eden Valley also has the extra challenge of light brown apple moth.

Watson: We have found snails have become a major pest in the East Coast region of Tasmania over the last three seasons due to the prolonged wet La Niña weather pattern. Snails devour leaves and inflorescences and can devigour the vine to such an extent that the vine fails to recover in the post flowering period. A thorough understanding of the snail life cycle and early control is critical to reduce snail numbers before they reach economically damaging levels.

What advice would you give to budding viticulturists post flower?

Rose: Wear a pathway though the vineyard with every footstep you take! My philosophy is the best thing to have in the vineyard is your footsteps! Don’t get disheartened if things don’t go your way this year; there is always next year. And

make sure you talk to somebody if you’re feeling ‘stuck in the mud’.

Mader: Monitor on a regular basis, at least every 8-14 days, for pests and fungal disease to assist in your integrated pest and disease management approach. Growers should ensure they have ample relevant agrochemicals in stock as there is a shortage, as well as making sure their foliar spray equipment is properly calibrated for thorough foliage coverage prior to each application. I would also assess vine foliage agrochemical spray coverage by placing test papers inside and outside the canopy as well as in the highest point and lowers point of the canopy. A pole with test papers is the way to go. If in doubt, seek advice from your agronomist/viticulturist. There is a wealth of viticultural resources out there, e.g. Crop Watch, industry newsletters, links and webinars. The AWRI has a range of viticulture webinars that are previously recorded and available to watch in the months ahead.

Watson: In a cool region it is important that the vine is in balance post flower and any canopy interventions such as leaf removal or crop thinning are done earlier rather than later. Providing the canopy is close to or at full development post flowering, mild water stress can be useful particularly in red varietals to maintain berry size and slow lateral growth. In well drained soils this may be possible, if soils are heavy or regular rainfall occurs post flowering then encouraging mild water stress may be difficult. In this case, canopy interventions may need to be increased to maintain an open canopy and encourage the vine to enter a fruit development stage rather than a shoot and lateral growth stage. Maintaining an open, well aerated bunch zone is important to ensure the canopy dries quickly after rain. Excessive lateral growth can reduce spray coverage into the inner canopy and bunch zone and shaded conditions can result in

delayed sugar accumulation, elevated acids at harvest and reduced colour in red varietals.

What predictions can you make about the coming vintage at this point in the cycle?

Rose: No vintage is ever the same and this will be no exception. Expect the unexpected, know the unknowns and enjoy the ride. Vintage will be here soon enough.

Mader: Similar to the last vintage, if not higher yielding, as the bunch numbers are currently there. Climatic events from veraison onwards will play a huge role regarding bunch weight. Later harvest as bud burst was delayed and it is predicted that climatic conditions will be wetter and cooler. Fungal disease pressure could be high right up until harvest. Have a strategy already in place to mitigate risk whether it is chemical, biological, mechanical or cultural and or a combination of these.

Watson: Medium to long-term predictions are difficult, but if the La Niña conditions persist into January and February then disease pressure will be amplified requiring greater vigilance in the vineyard. Cool, wet seasons typically are associated with lower yields as flowering and fruit set can be negatively impacted therefore early planning to ensure the winery has enough fruit is important. For wineries with vineyards, more fruit may need to be sourced externally and the earlier these discussions occur with growers the better to enable in season vineyard interventions to occur in a timely manner. As disease pressure will likely be elevated requiring potentially more regular sprays and re-application following rainfall, early planning to ensure you have the required stock of product on hand is vital. With rising freight costs and shortages of some products it is critical that growers have supply of product locked in for the season. It is the challenging seasons that truly test how well the vineyard is managed and there is no room for complacency!

Growers should ensure they have ample relevant agrochemicals in stock as there is a shortage, as well as making sure their foliar spray equipment is properly calibrated for thorough foliage coverage prior to each application.

Amanda Mader

Technology keeping Best’s a step ahead

Earlier this year, writer Mark Smith visited Best’s Wines in Victoria’s Grampians to learn firsthand about what’s reportedly the first-use in Australia of some new and advanced vineyard equipment. The adoption of this tecnhnology has resulted in cost savings as well as further benefits for the vineyard environment.

‘innovative’ and ‘forward-looking’ are not usually the kinds of words you’d expect to sit comfortably alongside ‘fifthgeneration wine producer’ and ‘custodian of a 150-year-old vineyard.’

Dynamic,’

But Ben Thomson isn’t your average vineyard manager and contract grape harvester. He’s also managing director of Best’s Wines in the Grampians region of Victoria.

“I’m a really strong believer in the future of this place,” Thomson says.

“Great Western is among the smallest and most under-rated of Victoria’s wine subregions. It’s almost been forgotten until recent times. I’m really determined to showcase its strengths.”

Having owned Best’s since 1920, his family has never been one to simply bask in the reflected glory of earlier successes, Thomson adds. Indeed, it isn’t even content with just moving with the times.

“We want Best’s to be at the pointy end of the industry,” he insists.

“That means being forward-looking and innovative. The industry as a whole has got to do what broad acre agriculture has done over recent decades — become early adopters of new technology.

“Australian viticulture has been resting on its laurels for far too long. We haven’t done anything different and exciting for years. Sure, there are risks associated with new ways of doing things, but where

there’s risk there’s also reward. New technology will allow us to get better at growing premium fruit and make better quality wines. Small producers can’t survive by doing anything else.”

Thomson speaks from experience. In addition to managing Best’s, he owns and operates Stressless Harvesting. The company is a busy vineyard contractor that picks parcels of premium wine grapes each vintage across a handful of phylloxera-free regions in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

He says vineyard management — especially pruning, canopy management and harvesting — has become particularly time sensitive given the changing climate, modern winery requirements, and industry trends in precision viticulture. That noted, demands for skilled labour and the costs of putting workers on the ground often pose significant challenges for small or remote vineyards.

Great Western is 225 km north-west of Melbourne.

Stressless Harvesting’s Ben Thomson

directing vintage traffic flow. Photo: Wine Australia

That means being forward-looking and innovative. The industry as a whole has got to do what broad acre agriculture has done over recent decades — become early adopters of new technology.

Ben Thomson

When Thomson established Stressless Harvesting back in 1998, it was smallscale and hands-on, with conventional secateurs the tool of choice. Today, its core business is tied to meticulously planned operation of a fleet of 10 mechanical harvesters. Each was designed and manufactured in France by Braud New Holland.

A veteran of more than 40 vintages, Thomson says they are a far-cry from first-generation harvesters that entered the industry in the 1970s and 1980s. Modern technology is now capable of doing much of what was traditionally done by hand, only faster, and without compromising fruit quality or valuable vineyard infrastructure.

Lowering harvest costs

Harvesting costs per hectare can be much less than those achieved with manual labour. The downside is capital investment required for mechanisation is often difficult to justify.

Thomson’s client vineyards include all three sites around Great Western owned by Best’s. They span 153ha of productive vines.

The Thomson family’s 22ha Concongella Vineyard includes the celebrated 1.2ha Nursery Block, a haphazard mix of heritage plantings, dating back to 1866. Seven of its vines possess DNA that is truly unique to them. Unidentified and unrelated vinifera selections, each appears to be the last of their kind anywhere on the planet.

Extreme age and fragile vine architecture makes Nursery Block vines ready candidates for hand-picking. Elsewhere on the historic property, Shiraz and Riesling planted in the 1960s and 1970s are machine harvested without issue.

Braud is Thomson’s preferred manufacturer for good reason. Its engineers are demonstrably supportive of his proactive approach to technology. The French company and its Australian

Opti-Grape whole berries 99%-free from MOG. Photo: Wine Australia

Vineyard workers, Best’s Nursery Block, circa 1860s. Photo: Best’s Wines

Ben Thomson

distributors have developed good working relationships with Stressless Harvesting. At times, that’s enabled significant adaptations to be made to Braud machines in order to improve their performance under Australian conditions.

When the French company was able to demonstrate genuine quality increments with the introduction of new, on-board de-stemmer technology almost a decade ago, Thomson purchased the first two machines imported into Australia.

The advent of Braud’s Opti-Grape system saw Thomson travel to Europe for the 2014 vintage in order to assess operation of the new innovation. The Stressless boss liked what he saw. He placed an order for two Braud 9090X harvesters, equipped with Opti-Grape and sidearm conveyors to enable harvesting and unloading on the go.

Once again, Thomson’s acquisitions were the first of their kind to be employed on Australian vineyards.

Subsequent performance testing of similar 9090X technology under carefully controlled and audited conditions

prompted the manufacturer to claim market leadership, with the ‘highestproductivity grape harvester ever.’

A demonstration conducted in the Riverland in March 2018 showed the machine could harvest 198 tonnes of destemmed grapes over an eight-hour period. Matter other than grapes (MOG) was calculated at barely one percent of the total pick.¹

Thomson’s experiences confirm similar high-quality yields, largely due to OptiGrape’s system of MOG removal.

“Leaves, botrytised-fruit and other rubbish get blown over the side, leaving only clean berries and juice to drop into the bins. It’s ideal for late-picked stuff when you’ve got a lot of petioles and leaves floating about. You’re always trying to keep them out of your juice to avoid bitterness in resulting wines. This system works really well.

It’s what our clients want. Having the capacity for de-stemming also saves time and money back at the winery because there’s no need for the process to take place there.

New Smart-Apply vineyard sprayer employs LIDAR sensor technology.

Photo: Mark Smith

Cab with a view - aboard Braud New Holland 9090X

Photo: New Holland Agriculture

Stressless Harvesting managing director Ben Thomson ponders his next vintage move. Photo: Wine Australia

“Opti-Grape uses a turbine to blow a controlled air current across the intake to the 4000L on-board storage bins,” he explains.

“It’s what our clients want. Having the capacity for de-stemming also saves time and money back at the winery because there’s no need for the process to take place there. We’re able to tip into receival bins and direct grapes straight to a fermenter. “We’re leaving stalks out in the vineyard, rather than bringing them into the winery and having to clean up and cart them away later. Winery throughput is smoother and quicker, requires a bit less labour and there are savings on equipment, power and recurrent costs like maintenance.”

Long-term familiarity with Braud technology, coupled with a fair bit of head-scratching, have enabled Thomson to work in partnership with Queensland company Precision Technology² to develop an auto-steer package for his harvesters.

“There can be a bit of an issue surrounding

driver fatigue with mechanical harvesting, and while auto-steer has been available from other manufacturers for quite a while they haven’t offered what I wanted,” Thomson says.

“I wanted better accuracy in machine travel; less effort in trying to keep it tracking straighter as it moves along the rows. The system we’ve developed uses GPS receivers attached to the harvester. These communicate with larger regional GPS (RTK) systems to map the angle of the harvesting machine and calculate how straight it is travelling.

“If the vine row goes off the standard A-B line, the system beeps a warning signal for the operator to take their hands off the wheel and allow an auto-corrector to kick in. That pulls the harvester left or right as required, giving the driver 15-20 seconds to see what’s going on nearby in the vineyard environment.

“A lot of older vineyards are not that straight, especially once you start going uphill. The set-up we’ve developed works really well on those sites.”

Thomson’s own experiences³ with precision viticulture haven’t been restricted to improving the accuracy of harvester auto-steer. Somehow, he’s found headspace to ponder the vexed issue of vineyard spray application — how it can be managed more accurately and efficiently, using less water and chemical.

New technology Thomson purchased in 2021 is smart by name and by nature. The Smart-Apply Intelligent Spray Control System is a density-based spray application system that utilises cutting-edge sensor and digital technologies. Developed in the USA, it can be retro-fitted to most air blast sprayers used in orchards and vineyards.

Best’s Wines managing director Ben Thomson with new Hamill Shiraz release Photo: Best’s Wines

growing

“Unlike conventional sprayers, this system uses LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor technology to detect the specific architecture of vine canopies,” Thomson explains.

“As the sprayer moves through the vineyard, it sends out a stream of laser beams that are reflected back to their source. The sensor-derived data allows an on-board computer to create a 3-D digital representation of each vine in its row. The height, width, spacing and canopy density of each plant are detected and assessed in real-time. Spray nozzles are then activated independently to deliver carefully targeted chemical

application with the rate and direction required.”

Reduced spray consumption

Research and field tests in the USA indicate the technology offers effective crop protection with up to 73 per cent reduction in spray consumption.⁴

The current 2022-2023 season will provide Thomson with his first chance of using the technology through an entire vinegrowing cycle.

“I think we’ve only scratched the surface with what this technology offers,” he notes.

“My ultimate goal is to be able to use it

in vine fertigation. Instead of fertilizing uniformly through drippers, I’d like to be able to use a spreader and apply fertiliser at rates that match each vine’s unique growing environment and various stages of phenological development. Using the technology in combination with an autonomous tractor could be a game changer.”

Stop Press: Best’s 2021 Foudre Ferment Riesling was named Wine of the Year in the 2023 Halliday Wine Companion (Hardie Grant).

Left: Bearing fruit - 1866 Shiraz vine, Best’s Nursery Block. Photo: Visit Victoria

Right: Braud New Holland 9090X performance test support team, 2018. Photo: New Holland Agriculture

Mark Pengilly (pictured)

Orange Vineyards, Tamburlaine Organic Wines, NSW)

grapegrowing

For the first time, red blotch virus was detected recently in winegrape collections in Australia. It is believed the virus could have been present at these sites for some time, while there is no evidence of it spreading. Red blotch virus was originally discovered in California in 2008 and it is spread there by a ‘vector’, a leafhopper in the case of the United States. It’s thought that there is currently no equivalent in Australia and producers are being told there is, therefore, no cause for panic.

To provide background on the factors leading to the detection and spread of red blotch virus in California, we present an article originally published by Wine Business Monthly in the US back in 2013. Written by Dr James A. Stamp and Dr Alan Wei in the aftermath of the virus’ devastating spread, this assesses the causes, risks and effects on winegrape production at the time. While it’s hoped the Australian industry can now avert a similar harmful impact, there are still valuable insights to be gleaned from the lessons learnt by California’s viticulture sector. (Note that all dates referenced are in the context of the original article).

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

grape growing

Grapevine red blotch-associated virus found in grapevine nursery stock and established vineyards

By Dr James A. StampA and Dr. Alan WeiB

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

Grapevine red blotch-associated virus found in grapevine nursery stock and established vineyards

grape growing The Impact of Grapevine

James A. Stamp, Ph.D. and Alan Wei, Ph.D.

O V e R T he pas T se V e R al years vines have turned red in the fall for no obvious reason. This phenomenon has been observed in single vines dotted throughout vineyards in apparently random fashion, in small contiguous groups of vines and in whole vineyard blocks where vines have developed symptoms resembling those associated with grapevine leafroll disease in mid- to late-October through November. Detailed studies of affected vines have failed to provide satisfactory answers as to the cause of the foliar reddening. Affected red varieties develop symptoms that closely resemble those associated with grapevine leafroll virus (see p h OTO 1, 2 ) as do white varieties where foliar symptoms include leaf curling and chlorosis.

The foliage of virus-free red varieties should not turn red in the fall but pass through a series of yellows and browns typical of the senescence of many deciduous species. Typically, investigation of the fall reddening of red varietals would involve the following methodology:

a. Evaluation of graft unions: imperfect graft unions will cause vine stress.

b. Evaluation of physical soundness of vines: above or underground trunk/root damage can induce foliar reddening—especially in the fall. Field budding tape, gophers and voles can potentially girdle the vine.

c. Evaluation of root systems: J-rooted vines may turn red under stress.

Overthe past several years vines have turned red in the fall for no obvious reason. This phenomenon has been observed in single vines dotted throughout vineyards in apparently random fashion, in small contiguous groups of vines and in whole vineyard blocks where vines have developed symptoms resembling those associated with grapevine leafroll disease in mid- to late-October through November. Detailed studies of affected vines have failed to provide satisfactory answers as to the cause of the foliar reddening. Affected red varieties develop symptoms that closely resemble those associated with grapevine leafroll virus (see Photo 1, 2) as do white varieties where foliar symptoms include leaf curling and chlorosis.

d. Evaluation of viral status of vines: presence of leafroll viruses and other pathogens.

The foliage of virus-free red varieties should not turn red in the fall but pass through a series of yellows and browns typical of the senescence of many deciduous species. Typically, investigation of the fall reddening of red varietals would involve the following methodology:

Grapevine red blotch-associated virus found and established vineyards

Dr. James A. Stamp is a Sebastopol, California scientist who specializes in the critical evaluation of vineyard performance issues and grapevine nursery plant material quality and propagation. He has more than 25 years of experience in West Coast viticulture and established Stamp Associates after founding Novavine grapevine nursery, working in the plant biotech industry and completing a post-doctorate at UC Davis. Stamp Associates advises growers and winemakers in the U.S. and overseas in the establishment and management of high quality, pathogen-tested vineyards. Contact him at james@jamesstamp.net

Dr. Alan Wei is the owner and general manager of Agri-Analysis LLC, located in West Sacramento. He has over 25 years industry experience in developing new detection technologies ranging from high sensitivity microbial detection, high throughput screening and in-field methods. He is currently the principal investigator of a USDA-funded project to develop rapid and robust detection methods for grapevine pathogens. Agri-Anlysis is a laboratory that tests for red blotch and other grapevine viruses to help growers protect their investments. Contact Dr. Wei at apwei@agri-analysis.com

a. Evaluation of graft unions: imperfect graft unions will cause vine stress.

A. Dr James A. Stamp is a Sebastopol, California scientist who specialises in the critical evaluation of vineyard performance issues and grapevine nursery plant material quality and propagation. He has decades of experience in West Coast viticulture and established Stamp Associates after founding Novavine grapevine nursery, working in the plant biotech industry and completing a post-doctorate at UC Davis. Stamp Associates advises growers and winemakers in the US and overseas in the establishment and management of high quality, pathogen-tested vineyards.

James A. Stamp, Ph.D. and Alan Wei, Ph.D.

e. Evaluation of fungal pathogen status: examination of root and trunk tissues for evidence of pathogen activity. This is usually a last resort as all grapevines carry at least some load of pathogenic and saprophytic fungal species.

f. Evaluation of nematode status.

b. Evaluation of physical soundness of vines: above or underground trunk/ root damage can induce foliar reddening—especially in the fall. Field budding tape, gophers and voles can potentially girdle the vine.

O V e R T he pas T se V e R al years vines have turned red in the fall for obvious reason. This phenomenon has been observed in single vines dotted throughout vineyards in apparently random fashion, in small contiguous groups of vines and in whole vineyard blocks where vines have developed symptoms resembling those associated with grapevine leafroll disease mid- to late-October through November. Detailed studies of affected vines have failed to provide satisfactory answers as to the cause of the foliar reddening. Affected red varieties develop symptoms that closely resemble those associated with grapevine leafroll virus (see p h OTO 1, 2 ) as do white varieties where foliar symptoms include leaf curling and chlorosis.

The foliage of virus-free red varieties should not turn red in the fall but pass through a series of yellows and browns typical of the senescence many deciduous species. Typically, investigation of the fall reddening of red varietals would involve the following methodology:

a. Evaluation of graft unions: imperfect graft unions will cause vine stress.

Given that field investigations frequently fail to determine any impact from the above factors, growers and scientists alike have been at a loss to deter mine the cause of this reddening foliage. The discovery of additional viruses in the past four years, specifically Rupestris Stem Pitting associated Virus (RSPaV) Syrah strain3 and Grapevine Syrah Virus-11, has failed to resolve this issue with no evidence found to suggest that there is a causal relation ship between the presence of these viruses and any type of vine decline or particular set of symptoms in either white or red varietals7

c. Evaluation of root systems: J-rooted vines may turn red under stress.

B. Dr Alan Wei is the owner and general manager of Agri-Analysis LLC, located in West Sacramento. He has many decades of industry experience in developing new detection technologies ranging from high sensitivity microbial detection, high throughput screening and in-field methods. He has been the principal investigator of a project to develop rapid and robust detection methods for grapevine pathogens. Agri-Anlysis is a laboratory that tests for red blotch and other grapevine viruses to help growers protect their investments.

b. Evaluation of physical soundness of vines: above or underground trunk/root damage can induce foliar reddening—especially in the fall.

Field budding tape, gophers and voles can potentially girdle the vine.

c. Evaluation of root systems: J-rooted vines may turn red under stress.

d. Evaluation of viral status of vines: presence of leafroll viruses and other pathogens.

THIS REPRINT IS MADE WITH PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER

d. Evaluation of viral status of vines: presence of leafroll viruses and other pathogens.

e. Evaluation of fungal pathogen status: examination of root and trunk tissues for evidence of pathogen activity. This is usually a last resort as all grapevines carry at least some load of pathogenic and saprophytic fungal species.

f. Evaluation of nematode status.

Given that field investigations frequently fail to determine any impact from the above factors, growers and scientists alike have been at a loss to determine the cause of this reddening foliage. The discovery of additional viruses in the past four years, specifically Rupestris Stem Pitting associated Virus (RSPaV) Syrah strain³ and Grapevine Syrah Virus-1¹, has failed to resolve this issue with no evidence found to suggest that there is a causal relationship between the presence of these viruses and any type of vine decline or particular set of symptoms in either white or red varietals⁷.

Identification of Grapevine Red Blotch-associated virus in grapevine plants

For years, Mike Anderson, a UC Davis research associate, has been aware of growers that expressed frustration when vines showing leafroll disease returned negative RT-PCR results for known leafroll-associated viruses. In 2007, Jason Benz and Anderson began to categorise unexplained disease symptoms at the UC Davis Oakville Station in Napa Valley. One of the categories was termed Red Blotch. Leaves of vines in the Red Blotch category had irregular blotchy red leaves with red veins. Red Blotch vines were especially concerning because the fruit appeared to have lower sugar content than vines appearing healthy.

In 2008, Anderson was asked to cover viticultural responsibilities at the Napa County Cooperative Extension office and began receiving numerous calls from growers expressing concern about an unidentifiable “red leaf” disease. In spring 2009, Anderson asked USDAARS plant pathologists at Davis to visit vineyards displaying symptoms of the disease he was referring to as Red Blotch. Using Next Generation Sequencing technology to determine whether known or unknown virus species were involved

in symptom development in Napa County Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, USDA and UC Davis scientists discovered what is now referred to as Grapevine Red Blotch-associated Virus (GRBaV)¹². The DNA sequence of the virus was determined and primers developed that would allow rapid PCR screening of plant materials for GRBaV.

The sequence of the virus and its discovery in grapevines showing Red Blotch disease was first presented at the 17th Congress of the International Council for the Study of Virus and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine (ICVG) in October 2012 by two groups: one comprising of the USDA and UCD scientists¹² and the other by Drs Keith Perry and Mark Fuchs of Cornell University⁴. The genome of the virus suggests that it may be related to geminiviruses. Unlike many of the known grapevine viruses, the geminivirus is a DNA virus potentially vectored by leafhoppers and whiteflies. We emphasise “potentially” because the RBaV vectors are not yet identified. The virus has a relatively small genome of 3,206 nucleotides in size, which is about 15 per cent of the RNA genome of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus-3.

GRBaV is the second DNA virus found in grapevines; the first one was called the grapevine vein-clearing virus, and was found in the Midwest regions of United States¹¹. Recently, a virus isolate, called Grapevine geminivirus, was reported by a Canadian research group⁵. Thus far, the gene sequences of three isolates reported from New York, California and Canada are believed to be almost identical. Using the sequence information in public domain, commercial diagnostic laboratories have developed a test for detecting the presence of GRBaV in grapevine plant materials. Immediately after ICVG, Agri-Analysis issued newsletters to inform its customers

of this important discovery and its potential impact⁹ ¹⁰. Growers responded overwhelmingly to this news. Working closely with leading researchers in Davis and Cornell, Agri-Analysis was the first laboratory to have applied these new knowledge and discoveries to develop tests for detecting the presence of GRBaV in grapevine plant materials, including rootstocks and bud woods.

Work undertaken by the USDA and UCD scientists suggested that there was a strong correlation between the presence of GRBaV, foliar symptoms (red leafing), reduced Brix and change of flavour in ripe fruit: in the vast majority of tested vines, plants with foliar symptoms were infected by the virus; plants without foliar symptoms were not infected by GRBaV.

Symptoms associated with GRBaV

Reddening of foliage and reduced Brix at harvest time

1. In the following discussion, it is important to note that where foliar symptoms of Red Blotch disease have been correlated with the presence of GRBaV, sampled vines have tested negative for all other economically important viruses.

2. As noted earlier, foliar reddening appears very similar to symptoms associated with leafroll disease, especially as symptoms become more pronounced in November. In early- to mid-October 2012, vines exhibiting symptoms associated with GRBaV were lightly coloured pink-red in a blotchy fashion and a distinguishing feature was that unlike leafroll disease (where the veins remain green), the underside of the veins turned a light pink/red colour (photo 3, 4).

3. However, as the season progressed, affected vines began to look more like they were infected with GLRaV.

4. Preliminary observations made by the USDA-ARS and UCD researchers have indicated that symptomatic grapevines that tested positive for GRBaV recorded 3 to 5 Brix units lower than the asymptomatic grapevines in which the virus was not detected.

5. Data collected by a prominent grower in northern Napa Valley is presented in Table 1 (Photo 5). This grower planted 420A rootstock in spring 2009 and field grafted to Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 04 in spring 2010.

d. All vines tested negative for several leafroll strains, Syrah Virus-1, Grapevine Vitivirus B, Fanleaf virus and Xylella fastidiosa (the bacterium associated with Pierce’s disease).

e. In all, this Northern California grower tested 25 vines with symptoms in two different blocks; all were positive for GRBaV. Ten vines without symptoms all tested negative. He observed a perfect correlation between symptoms, presence of virus and delayed fruit ripening in both blocks.

The Importance of Koch’s postulates

Sidebar 1 Koch’s postulates

The key requirements of Koch’s postulates include:

1) The microorganism must be isolated from a diseased host and grown in pure culture.

2) The cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy host.

3) The microorganism must be re-isolated from the inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as being identical to the original specific causative agent.

symptoms associated with GRBaV

Symptoms were first observed in a few vines in fall 2011 but by November 2012, 80% of vines in this block of 12,000 exhibited Red Blotch leaf symptoms. Data presented in Table 1 indicate:

a. Five adjacent symptomatic GRBaVinfected vines possessed an average Brix of 21.90.

1. In the following discussion, it is important to note that where foliar symptoms of Red Blotch disease have been correlated with the presence of GRBaV, sampled vines have tested negative for all other economically important viruses.

b. Five adjacent non-symptomatic GRBaVnegative vines possessed an average Brix of 27.80.

c. Titratable acidity was significantly increased in the GRBaV-positive vines while pH was moderately reduced.

Over 100 years ago, Robert Koch introduced his ideas about how to prove a causal relationship between a microorganism and a disease (sIdebar 1). Koch’s postulates have played an important role in microbiology, yet they have major limitations. For example, viral diseases were not yet discovered when Koch formulated his postulates. In the case of grapevine viruses, most of them cannot be propagated outside of the grapevine phloem environment and are not mechanically transmissible. Even for the widely studied grape-vine leafroll viruses, Koch’s postulates have not yet been met as of today.

2. As noted earlier, foliar reddening appears very similar to symptoms associated with leafroll disease, especially as symptoms become more pronounced in November. In early- to mid-October 2012, vines exhibiting symptoms associated with GRBaV were lightly colored pink-red in a blotchy fashion and a distinguishing feature was that unlike leafroll disease (where

the veins remain green), the underside of the veins turned a light pink/red color (p h OTO 3, 4 ).

3. However, as the season progressed, affected vines began to look more like they were infected with GLRaV.

4. Preliminary observations made by the USDA-ARS and UCD researchers have indicated that symptomatic grapevines that tested positive for GRBaV recorded 3 to 5 Brix units lower than the asymptomatic grapevines in which the virus was not detected.

5. Data collected by a prominent grower in northern Napa Valley is presented in Ta B le 1 (p h OTO 5 ). This grower planted 420A rootstock in spring 2009 and field grafted to Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 04 in spring 2010.

GFLV Xf RSPSyrah

CS04/420A

5 vines with/without symptoms all testing negative (neg) or positive (POS) for GRBaV

Sample Date: 10/19/2012

Rootstock planted in 2009 and field grafted in 2010 Symptoms first observed in November 2010 GLRaV: Grapevine leafroll associated viruses SyV-1: Grapevine Syrah virus-1 GVB: Grapevine Vitivirus B (causative agent of Corky Bark Disease) GFLV: Grapevine fanleaf virus Xf: Xylella fastidiosa (causative bacteria associated with Pierce’s Disease) RSP-Syrah: Rupestris Stem Pitting-Syrah virus

See photo

ReddenInG Of fOlIaGe and Reduced BRIx aT haRVesT TIMe

p h OTO 3. Reddened veins on underside of CS4/420A leaf with GRBaV

p h OTO 4. CS4/420A leaf with GRBaV

p h OTO 5. Vineyard block subject of data presented in Table 1

MOdeRn KOch’s pOsTulaTes #3: cORRelaTIOn Of sequence

cOpY nuMBeR WITh seVeRITY Of dIsease

More recently, modern nucleic acid-based microbial detection methods such as PCR and DNA sequencing have revealed previously uncharacterised, fastidious or uncultivated, microbial pathogens that resist the application of Koch’s original postulates, but they also provide new approaches for proving disease causation. In particular, the increasing reliance on sequence-based methods for microbial identification requires a reassessment of the original postulates and the rationale that guided Koch and later revisionists. Fredricks and Relman² of Stanford University suggested a revised set of Koch’s postulates for the 21st

MOdeRn KOch’s pOsTulaTes #3: cORRelaTIOn Of sequence cOpY nuMBeR WITh seVeRITY Of dIsease

century that encompasses seven criteria. We believe the following experimental evidence provides support that GRBaV is the causal agent for the Red Blotch disease under the modern version of Koch’s postulates.

Samples from Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 07/VR039-16 vines showing varied severity of foliar symptoms were analyzed by conventional PCR and the intensity of the “PCR band” was recorded, what represents the relative amount of viral genetic materials in plant tissue. The samples were taken from vines with green leaves (no PCR band), speckled red leaves (weak to medium band) and completely red leaves (intense PCR band). Mysore Sudarshana8 tested these samples by quantitative PCR in order to determine the viral DNA copy numbers in each one. Results below suggest that the virus sequence copy number strongly correlates with the severity of the disease symptoms observed in the vines (see sI de B a R 2 ).

Samples from Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 07/VR039-16 vines showing varied severity of foliar symptoms were analyzed by conventional PCR and the intensity of the “PCR band” was recorded, what represents the relative amount of viral genetic materials in plant tissue. The samples were taken from vines with green leaves (no PCR band), speckled red leaves (weak to medium band) and completely red leaves (intense PCR band). Mysore Sudarshana8 tested these samples by quantitative PCR in order to determine the viral DNA copy numbers in each one. Results below suggest that the virus sequence copy number strongly correlates with the severity of the disease symptoms observed in the vines (see sI de B a R 2 ).

to medium band) and completely red leaves (intense Sudarshana8 tested these samples by quantitative PCR the viral DNA copy numbers in each one. Results virus sequence copy number strongly correlates with disease symptoms observed in the vines (see sI de B

of the “PCR band” was recorded, what represents the relative amount of viral genetic materials in plant tissue. The samples were taken from vines with green leaves (no PCR band), speckled

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

sI de B a R 2. Relationship between GRBaV DNA severity of symptoms in CS7/VR039-16 vines (Samples same date October 2012)

Modern Koch’s postulates #3: correlation of sequence copy number with severity of disease

sI de B a R 2. Relationship between GRBaV DNA copy number and severity of symptoms in CS7/VR039-16 vines (Samples collected on same date October 2012)

Samples from Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 07/VR039-16 vines showing varied severity of foliar symptoms were analysed by conventional PCR and the intensity

Sample #1 Green foliage No gel band was seen by conventional PCR. No copy number identified by quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR).

Sample #1 Green No gel band was seen PCR. No copy number quantitative real-time (qRT-PCR).

samples by quantitative PCR in order to determine the viral DNA copy numbers in each one. Results below suggest that the virus sequence copy number strongly correlates with the severity of the disease symptoms observed in the vines (see Sidebar 2).

Positive: RSP and qRT-PCR copy #: 0

Sample #2 Blotchy Weak-to-intermediate observed with conventional

sI de B a R 2. Relationship between GRBaV DNA copy number and severity of symptoms in CS7/VR039-16 vines (Samples collected on same date October 2012)

Sample #1 Green foliage

No gel band was seen by conventional PCR. No copy number identified by quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR).

Positive: RSP and RSP-SY qRT-PCR copy #: 0

No gel band was seen by conventional PCR. No copy number identified by quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR).

Positive: RSP and RSP-SY qRT-PCR copy #: 0

Sample #2 Blotchy red foliage Weak-to-intermediate gel band was observed with conventional PCR.

Positive: GRBaV

Positive: RSP and RSP-SY qRT-PCR copy #: 0

Sample #2 Blotchy red foliage

Weak-to-intermediate gel band was observed with conventional PCR.

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #: 200+/-

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #: 200+/-

Sample #3 complete Strong gel band was conventional PCR

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #:

Weak-to-intermediate gel band was observed with conventional PCR.

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #: 200+/-

qRT-PCR copy #: 200+/-

Sample #3 complete red foliage Strong gel band was observed on conventional PCR

Sample #3 complete red foliage Strong gel band was observed on conventional PCR

Sample #3 Complete red foliage

Strong gel band was observed on conventional PCR.

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #: 80,000+/-

Positive: GRBaV

qRT-PCR copy #: 80,000+/-

MOdeRn KOch’s pOsTulaTes #1 and #6: paThOGen nucleIc acId shOuld Be pResenT In MOsT cases Of The dIsease

Since October 2012, Agri-Analysis has analyzed well for GRBaV. The presence of target GRBaV nucleotide consistently detected in diseased tissues by PCR GRBaV has been found in samples from Napa, Sonoma, Luis Obispo, Monterey, Mendocino and Santa Barbara and Maryland. Infected grape varieties include not only Zinfandel, Mouvedre, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot, but also white Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Rootstocks nated (Ta B le 3 ). The virus appears to be widely spread other wine growing regions in the U.S.

Positive: GRBaV qRT-PCR copy #: 80,000+/-

MOdeRn KOch’s pOsTulaTes #1 and #6: paThOGen nucleIc acId shOuld Be pResenT In MOsT cases Of The dIsease

• Strong vapour and translaminar activity

• Apply to E-L 31 for grapes grown for export wine

• Unique mode of action to control resistant strains

Since October 2012, Agri-Analysis has analyzed well over 4,000 samples for GRBaV. The presence of target GRBaV nucleotide sequences has been consistently detected in diseased tissues by PCR and DNA sequencing. GRBaV has been found in samples from Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Mendocino and Santa Barbara as well as in Virginia and Maryland. Infected grape varieties include not only reds, such as Merlot, Zinfandel, Mouvedre, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot, but also white varieties, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Rootstocks are also contami nated (Ta B le 3 ). The virus appears to be widely spread in California and other wine growing regions in the U.S.

Since October 2012, Agri-Analysis has analyzed well over 4,000 samples for GRBaV. The presence of target GRBaV nucleotide sequences has been consistently detected in diseased tissues by PCR and DNA sequencing. GRBaV has been found in samples from Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Mendocino and Santa Barbara as well as in Virginia and Maryland. Infected grape varieties include not only reds, such as Merlot, Zinfandel, Mouvedre, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot, but also white varieties, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Rootstocks are also contami nated (Ta B le 3 ). The virus appears to be widely spread in California and other wine growing regions in the U.S.

• Strong vapour and translaminar activity

• Apply to E-L 31 for grapes grown for export wine

Innovation. Quality. Solutions.

• Good residual control

Flute followed by Kusabi for optimal powdery mildew control

The Perfect Crossover

Sidebar 2. Relationship between GRBaV DNA copy number and severity of symptoms in CS7/VR039-16 vines (Samples collected on same date October 2012)

Sample #1 Green foliage

Sample #2 Blotchy red foliage

MOdeRn KOch’s pOsTulaTes #1 and #6: pa acId shOuld Be pResenT In MOsT cases O

growing

Modern Koch’s postulates #1 and #6: pathogen nucleic acid should be present in most cases of the disease

virus appears to be widely spread in California and other wine growing regions in the US.

The GRBaV sequence is very reproducible in different laboratories. To confirm observations, Agri-Analysis sent eight samples (seven GRBaV positive and one negative) from a prominent Napa vineyard to the laboratory of Drs Keith Perry and Marc Fuchs at Cornell University where they were able to reproduce detection results exactly, using primers from Cornell (see Sidebar 3).

GRBaV in nursery production lots and CDFAcertified increase blocks

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

Since October 2012, Agri-Analysis has analysed well over 4,000 samples for GRBaV. The presence of target GRBaV nucleotide sequences has been consistently detected in diseased tissues by PCR and DNA sequencing. GRBaV has been found in samples from Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Mendocino and Santa Barbara as well as in Virginia and Maryland. Infected grape varieties include not only reds, such as Merlot, Zinfandel, Mouvedre, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot, but also white varieties, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Rootstocks are also contaminated (Table 3 ). The

Ta B le 2.

Incidence of GRBaV and GLRaV in 2013 season nursery production lots propagated in 2012

Rootstock Scion Product

Virus detected GRBaV GLRaV-3

420A A RTG POS nt

Riparia Gloire A RTG neg nt

1616C A RTG neg nt

3309C A blk1 RTG neg nt

3309C A blk2 RTG neg nt

3309C F RTG neg neg

1616C A MB09 E DBG POS nt

1616C F PV400 F DBG neg POS

1616C F CH17 F DBG neg neg

3309C F PN91 F DBG neg neg

420A A ZIN XX DBG POS nt

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

420A C ZIN XX DBG neg nt

420A C DURIF D DBG neg nt

Ta B le 2.

420A C MB09 E DBG POS nt

420A C CS33 A DBG POS nt

Incidence of GRBaV and GLRaV in 2013 season nursery production lots propagated in 2012

420A F ME18 F DBG neg neg

Rootstock Scion Product

420A F PN90 F DBG neg POS

Virus detected GRBaV GLRaV-3

420A F PN943 F DBG neg POS

420A A RTG POS nt

Riparia Gloire A PN667 A DBG neg nt

Riparia Gloire A RTG neg nt

Riparia Gloire F SEM02 DBG neg POS

1616C A RTG neg nt

VR 039-16 A SB01 A DBG POS nt

3309C A blk1 RTG neg nt

VR 039-16 A CS07 B DBG POS nt

3309C A blk2 RTG neg nt

VR 039-16 C CF214 DBG POS neg

3309C F RTG neg neg

1616C A MB09 E DBG POS nt

Product: RTG: dormant rootings. DBG: dormant bench grafts

POS: positive for virus. neg: negative for virus A-F: Individual nurseries

1616C F PV400 F DBG neg POS

All materials CDFA certified except XX private selections

1616C F CH17 F DBG neg neg

XX: private selections nt: not tested

3309C F PN91 F DBG neg neg

420A A ZIN XX DBG POS nt

420A C ZIN XX DBG neg nt

sI de B a R 3.

Reproducibility of GRBaV results using primers from different sources

Samples from a Napa Vineyard

PCR using Cornell Primers

PCR using UCD Primers

PCR Agri-Anal. Primers DNA Sequencing Results

With the availability of an efficient and accurate diagnostic procedure for the detection of GRBaV, and with the late fall 2012 observation of symptoms in production lots and increase blocks that might previously have been considered to be nutritional or leafroll associated, several 2013 dormant product nursery production lots and several increase block sources for green 2013 and dormant 2014 pending orders were tested for GRBaV in October/November 2012. New GLRaV-3 infections were detected in increase blocks at some nurseries in fall 2012 and so production lots from these nurseries were tested for GLRaV-3 and GRBaV.

Chardonnay POS POS POS

Dormant vine production lots destined for planting in spring 2013

Pinot noir POS POS POS

Cabernet Sauvignon POS POS POS

Malbec POS POS POS

Petit Verdot POS POS POS

Cabernet franc POS POS POS

All amplified sequences were found to be identical to the published sequence of GRBaV isolate JRT 456 found in New York.

White Riesling POS POS POS

Merlot NEG NEG NEG

GRBaV in nursery production lots and cdfa-certified Increase Blocks

Dormant vines destined for planting in spring 2013 were grafted in spring 2012, callused for approximately four weeks in warm, humid conditions (to encourage vascular connection at the graft union and root initiation) and then planted in nursery row conditions at approximately 17,000 vines per acre (see Table 2). 2013 dormant product production lots were inspected at the time of grafting (to ensure correct rootstock and scion materials were used) and then again in late July and early October 2012. It is rare to observe disease or stress symptoms in July (unless graft unions are significantly imperfect), but not unusual to see symptoms of disease in known diseased stock in early October (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon ENTAV 337 is known to be contaminated with GLRaV-2 and when this is

sI de B a R 3.

Reproducibility of GRBaV results using primers from different sources

Samples from a Napa Vineyard

PCR using Cornell Primers

PCR using UCD Primers

PCR Agri-Anal. Primers DNA Sequencing Results

With the availability of an efficient and accurate diagnostic procedure for the detection of GRBaV, and with the late fall 2012 observation of symptoms in production lots and increase blocks that might previously have been considered to be nutritional or leafroll associated, several 2013 dormant product nursery production lots and several increase block sources for green 2013 and dormant 2014 pending orders were tested for GRBaV in October/ November 2012. New GLRaV-3 infections were detected in increase blocks at some nurseries in fall 2012 and so production lots from these nurseries were tested for GLRaV-3 and GRBaV.

Chardonnay POS POS POS

dORManT VIne pROducTIOn lOTs

Pinot noir POS POS POS

desTIned fOR planTInG In spRInG 2013

Cabernet

Sauvignon POS POS POS

Malbec POS POS POS

Petit Verdot POS POS POS

Cabernet franc POS POS POS

All amplified sequences were found to be identical to the published sequence of GRBaV isolate JRT 456 found in New York.

White Riesling POS POS POS

Merlot NEG NEG NEG

Dormant vines destined for planting in spring 2013 were grafted in spring 2012, callused for approximately four weeks in warm, humid conditions (to encourage vascular connection at the graft union and root initiation) and then planted in nursery row conditions at approximately 17,000 vines per acre (see Ta B le 2 ). 2013 dormant product production lots were inspected at the time of grafting (to ensure correct rootstock and scion materials were used) and then again in late July and early October 2012. It is rare to observe disease or stress symptoms in July (unless graft unions are significantly imperfect), but not unusual to see symptoms of disease in known diseased stock in early October (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon ENTAV 337 is known to be contaminated with GLRaV-2 and when this is grown in the production field symptoms of leafroll disease can be observed in early fall).

GRBaV in nursery production lots and cdfa-certified Increase Blocks

Analysis of comparative data from production lots under cultivation in October and November 2012 revealed the following:

p h OTO 6.

Certified Malbec 09/420A production vines GRBaV positive (Table 2)

Ta B le 3. Incidence of GRBaV and GLRaV in CDFA certified nursery Increase Blocks

Clone/Rootstock from nurseries A-G Production vines/IB Virus detected GRBaV GLRaV-3

420A A Production POS nt

420A C IB neg neg 1616C A Production neg nt

1616C C IB neg neg 3309C A IB neg nt

3309C F Production neg neg 5C A IB POS nt

Riparia Gloire A Production neg nt

VR 039-16 A IB POS nt

Certified

VR 039-16 C IB neg neg

CS ENTAV 15 F IB POS neg

CS ENTAV 15 G IB POS nt

CS ENTAV 169 F IB neg POS

CS ENTAV 169 G IB POS neg

CS ENTAV 338 G IB POS neg

CS ENTAV 412 G IB POS neg

CS31 F IB neg POS

CS33 A IB POS nt

MB06 A IB neg nt

ME ENTAV 181 G IB POS neg

PV02 A IB POS nt

IB: increase block Production: vines tested in production POS: positive for virus. neg: negative for virus nt: not tested A-G: Individual nurseries All materials CDFA certified

grown in the production field symptoms of leafroll disease can be observed in early fall).

Analysis of comparative data from production lots under cultivation in October and November 2012 revealed the following:

2. Red foliage was minimally apparent in production lots when examined in late September 2012. It was clear, however, that symptoms became progressively more severe when blocks were re-examined in mid-October and early November 2012.

1. Northern California produced vines were far more likely to be contaminated with GRBaV than southern California vines (Photo 6).

a. Fifty percent (seven of 14) of northern California production lots were contaminated with GRBaV.

3. Rootstock and grafted lots were both contaminated with GRBaV. Comparison of data from grafted and non-grafted vines of identical and different origins indicated that contamination was introduced from the rootstock in some cases and scion in others.

b. Only one of nine southern California production lots was contaminated with GRBaV.

4. Forty-four percent (four of nine) of sampled production lots tested positive for GLRaV-3. These vines were derived from rootstock and scion increase blocks that had previously tested negative for GLRaV-3 (and all other economically important viruses) on several occasions and had exhibited no symptoms of virus contamination when blocks were examined in the fall (p h OTO 7 ).

2. Red foliage was minimally apparent in production lots when examined in late September 2012. It was clear, however, that symptoms became progressively more severe when blocks were re-examined in mid-October and early November 2012.

3. Rootstock and grafted lots were both contaminated with GRBaV. Comparison of data from grafted and nongrafted vines of identical and different origins indicated that contamination was introduced from the rootstock in some cases and scion in others.

4. Forty-four percent (four of nine) of sampled production lots tested positive for GLRaV-3. These vines were derived from rootstock and scion increase blocks that had previously tested negative for GLRaV-3 (and all other economically important viruses) on several occasions and had exhibited no symptoms of virus contamination when blocks were examined in the fall (Photo 7).

2. Red foliage was minimally apparent in production lots when examined in late September 2012. It was clear, however, that symptoms became progressively more severe when blocks were re-examined in mid-October and early November 2012.

3. Rootstock and grafted lots were both contaminated with GRBaV. Comparison of data from grafted and non-grafted vines of identical and different origins indicated that contamination was introduced from the rootstock in some cases and scion in others.

Contamination of increase blocks with GRBaV and GlRaV-3

p h OTO 7.

Best practice calls for regular virus testing of increase blocks and late season examination for symptoms associated with

Certified PN90/420A production vines GLRaV-3 positive (Table 2)

4. Forty-four percent (four of nine) of sampled production lots tested positive for GLRaV-3. These vines were derived from rootstock and scion increase blocks that had previously tested negative for GLRaV-3 (and all other economically important viruses) on several occasions and had exhibited no symptoms of virus contamination when blocks were examined in the fall (p h OTO 7 ).

cO WIT

Best practice calls for regular virus testing of increase blocks and late season examination for symptoms associated with stress and disease. This process is usually undertaken in October and November. The following observa tions were noted when increase blocks were examined in fall 2012. (see Ta

4. GLRaV-3 was found in two increase blocks (Cabernet Sauvignon ENTAV 169 and Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 31) in vines that showed symptoms of leafroll (p h OTO 1 ). On previous occasions, these blocks had both tested negative for GLRaV-3 and showed no symptoms of leafroll.

grapegrowing

stress and disease. This process is usually undertaken in October and November. The following observations were noted when increase blocks were examined in fall 2012. (see Table 3).

1. Both rootstock and scion increase blocks from northern California nurseries were far more likely to be contaminated with GRBaV than those from southern California nurseries.

2. GRBaV was found in a wide range of scion selections (Photo 8, 9, Photo 10).

3. GRBaV was only detected in one southern increase block: Cabernet Sauvignon ENTAV 15 (Photo 11).

4. GLRaV-3 was found in two increase blocks (Cabernet Sauvignon ENTAV 169 and Cabernet Sauvignon FPS 31) in vines that showed symptoms of leafroll (Photo 1). On previous occasions, these blocks had both tested negative for GLRaV-3 and showed no symptoms of leafroll.

Possible routes of Infection of vines by GRBaV

Clearly, specific rootstock and scion CDFA-certified increase blocks are infected with GRBaV. Observations from evaluation of nursery increase blocks, production lots and established vineyards suggest that the following

routes might be involved in the spread of the virus:

1. The proposed biology of the thoughtto-be geminivirus-related GRBaV suggests that the virus might be vectored by leafhoppers and aphids.

2. Observed vine-to-vine, in-row spread of the disease in increase blocks would support infection by pruning. However, observations indicate that vines are also contaminated in an apparently random manner – with single vine contaminations occurring away from existing infected vines.

3. Development of disease symptoms in previously asymptomatic blocks suggests that the virus may be transmitted on farming equipment or by other human activity.

4. The spread of symptoms in blocks seems to be quite rapid. Blocks that were previously absent all symptoms of disease in 2010 possessed a few symptomatic vines in 2011, but this number more than tripled by 2012.

Industry reaction to the identification of GRBaV

Although it is not scientifically proven that GRBaV is the causative agent of Red Blotch disease of grapevines, the discovery of this new virus with

seemingly very strong correlation between its presence, foliar reddening and reduced sugars is both enlightening and frustrating. If GRBaV is proven to be the cause of Red Blotch disease, this will provide closure to the concerns of many growers who have experienced this phenomenon but had no real leads as to its cause. In the short term, this will prove very challenging to nurseries that are undoubtedly in the process of determining how to handle tens of thousands of vines infected with this virus. For the growers, however, discovery of GRBaV provides the opportunity to evaluate difficult blocks and to step back and determine whether they should plant material infected with the virus. The overwhelming reaction of growers informed about this emerging disease is that they would prefer to hold off on planting or select different, perhaps less exotic, but clean materials. As noted earlier, GRBaV-free rootstock and scion materials can be found. Growers in the know are scrambling to test rootstock, scion blocks and grafted vines and are looking for alternatives as necessary. In many cases growers do not have the luxury of deferring planting and so scarce planting materials are under even greater demand during this current planting cycle boom. Given the evidence available to date, it seems likely that

The Impact of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

Routes of

of Vines by GRBaV

p h OTO 9.

CS33 increase block vine positive for GRBaV adjacent to vine in photo 8 (CS33 increase block vine negative for GRBaV)

p h OTO 10. CS412 increase block vine positive for GRBaV (Table 3)

p h OTO 8. CS33 increase block vine negative for GRBaV adjacent to vine in photo 9 (CS33 increase block vine positive for GRBaV)

GRBaV has affected vines for many years. Symptom development is obvious in red varieties but more difficult to spot in white-fruited clones. Symptoms observed in Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc closely resemble those associated with leafroll disease. Noting that at least one important nursery source of VR 039-16 was infected with GRBaV may be relevant to the decline of some recently planted Chardonnay vineyards grafted to this rootstock. Vines failed to establish properly, looking sickly with curled and chlorotic foliage.

Conclusions

Although the discovery of this putative disease may be a relief for many, it is also a nightmare for growers and especially nurseries who are faced with potential rejection of vines contaminated with a virus that is not recognised by the CDFA nursery certification program. It is imperative that funding be generated to support the research work of USDA, ARS and UC Davis scientists. Characterisation of the virus and potential variants, establishment of Koch’s Postulates and study of the biology and transmission of the virus are essential if we are to understand how to control and ultimately overcome this seemingly significant challenge. The upcoming availability of new Protocol 2010 rootstock and scion materials might provide the best opportunity to source clean vines in the near future. These plants are the cleanest grapevine stock to be released from FPS and UC Davis, and there are great expectations for the quality of these materials designed to replace often 10- to 20-year-old increase blocks known to contain a wide range of economically important viruses, crown gall and fungal pathogens⁶.

“The UC Davis Russell Ranch Foundation Vineyard contains grapevine selections from the Classic Foundation Vineyard that were qualified for planting under the new ‘Protocol 2010’ standard, as well as new varieties and clones processed and tested through FPS. These plants came out of meristem tissue culture and were extensively tested free from all known harmful viruses,” said Dr. Deborah Golino, director of FPS. Golino noted, however, “since GRBaV was not discovered and reported until October of 2012, Protocol 2010 was unable to include GRBaV for testing. Efforts are under way to test and screen materials from Russell ranch for GRBaV. More testing results

are expected from FPS in the next the few months.” Anecdotally, Agri-Analysis recently tested three Protocol 2010 derived samples from Russell Ranch submitted by a nursery. They were negative for GRBaV. Proper handling of these new materials or indeed GRBaV negative stock must be carefully considered. It is understood that nurseries should place new Protocol 2010 increase blocks in isolated locations to prevent infection of the blocks from external influences. It is likely that nurseries will place a premium on such materials and that the cost of vines will increase. However, if Protocol 2010 cuttings are generated in isolated vineyards, shouldn’t they be handled, propagated and finished in facilities and growing fields dedicated specifically to these plant materials? Similarly, if a grower goes to the trouble to select GRBaV-free materials, it would be far preferable for these materials to be handled, propagated and finished in different facilities and growing fields than the GRBaV-infected stock.

Ultimately, it is timely to consider the very nature of grapevine propagation and improvement in California and beyond our borders. Existing propagation methods are quite backward in comparison with the techniques used in other crop species. For example, all potato “seed” used in North America is annually derived from tissue cultured, virus-tested stock. Virus pathogens are so important in this industry that there are no accepted alternatives to sourcing potato seed from virus-tested tissue culture clones every year.

Perhaps it is time to reconsider the pioneering experiment of Agritope, Inc., an Oregon-based biotechnology company challenged with producing the cleanest, most physically perfect grafted grapevine stock in the early 1990s. All materials were produced from tissue culture and grown and propagated in clean greenhouse environments. Increase block vines were also maintained in clean greenhouses and finished product only left the facilities when ready for delivery. Growers complained that they couldn’t find the graft unions.

References

1 Al Rwahnih M, Daubert S, Golino D, Rowhani A. 2009. Deep sequencing analysis of RNAs from a grapevine showing Syrah decline symptoms reveals

a multiple virus infection that includes a novel virus. Virology; 387(2): 395-401.

2 Fredericks DN, Relman DA. 1996. Sequence-based identification of microbial pathogens: a reconsideration of Koch’s postulates. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.; 9(1):18-33.

3 Lima MF, Alkowni R, Uyemoto JK, Golino D, Osman F, Rowhani A. 2006. Molecular analysis of a California strain of Rupestris stem pitting-associated virus isolated from declining Syrah grapevines. Arch Virol. 151(9): 1889-94.

4 Krenz B, Thompson JR, Fuchs M, Perry KL. 2012. Complete genome sequence of a new circular DNA virus from grapevine. J Virol. 86(14): 7715.

5 Rott ME and Belton M, 2012. http://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/JX559642.1

6 Stamp, JA. 2010. Health status of California grapevine planting material. Wine Business Monthly, August 2010.

7 Stamp, JA. 2012. Recent Progress in Understanding of Virus Pathogens that Affect Grapevines. Wine Business Monthly, June 2012.

8 Sudarshana, M, 2012. “Grapevine Red Blotch Disease” http://cemonterey.ucanr. edu/files/157151.pdf

9 Wei, A, 2012. Grapevine Red Blotch Virus, http://www.agri-analysis.com/ UserFiles/Form/redblotch_v2.pdf, November 2012

10 Wei, A, 2013. Koch’s Postulates for Grapevine Red Blotch Virus – http:// www.agri-analysis.com/UserFiles/Form/ redblotch_koch.pdf, January 2013

11 Zhang Y, Singh K, Kaur R, Qiu W., 2011. Association of a novel DNA virus with the grapevine vein-clearing and vine decline syndrome. Phytopathology;101(9):1081-90.

12 Al Rwahnih, M, Dave, A, Anderson, M, Uyemoto, JK and Sudarshana, MR. 2012. Association of circular DNA virus in grapevines affected by Red Blotch disease in California. Proceedings 17th ICVG, Davis, CA, 104-105

This article has been republished with the permission of US Wine Business Monthly and Drs James A. Stamp and Alan Wei with the aim of educating the Australian winegrape sector about red blotch virus.

Alexander Copper A scholar in the vineyard

In recent years there’s been a growing fascination in the wine industry with the idea of low intervention alternative varieties. Spearheading this charge has been Alexander Copper, a Clare Valley based viticulturist who has been studying the viability of growing vines without water. Harrison Davies spoke with him about his work to date and what’s to come next.

YOUNG GUN

AlexanderCopper is getting ready for a tour of Europe. Chasing his dreams of cultivating low intervention grapes in Australia, Copper has recently been awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to supercharge his studies.

The Clare Valley based viticulturist has spent his career investigating the viability of eastern European and Mediterranean winegrape varieties that grow in waterscarce environments.

Following the completion of his PHD, in which he delved into the ins and outs of drought tolerant grape varieties, Copper is looking to further his research with

the scholarship.

The Nuffield Scholarship is presented to agricultural, horticultural and viticultural researchers who specialise in any field concerning production.

Copper received $30,000 that will now go toward his travels and research and he said he was flattered to have received the recognition.

“I’m hugely grateful for the fantastic opportunity – I’ve actually applied for the scholarship a couple of times,” he said.

“The first time was in 2017, just before

I started my PhD and I probably wasn’t fully aware of what it entailed and the scope of what’s involved. I didn’t end up getting it.

“The following year Martin Gransden from Orange got through with quite a similar project going to Greece and Armenia and Georgia.

“So after he did his tour, I was really keen to apply again after I finished my PhD and not necessarily replicate what he’d done, but try and go to different areas and look at similar themes.”

Copper sees alternative varieties as part

Alexander Copper aims to plant 1000 propogated Cypriot vines in his vineyard next year. Photo: Phuong Thuy Nguyen

of Australia’s future in wine, and this love for alternative varieties has guided his research.

The wine bug

Copper’s journey with wine began in the Eden Valley around 20 years ago.

During his degree in Oenology, he met with a visiting lecturer from Germany and decided to pursue the research side of grapegrowing following conversations with him.

Copper said that his goal, ever since his early studies, was to be able to grow grapes without water.

“My goal was to dry grow a vineyard; they were doing some work in Germany with breeding different varieties,” Copper said.

“I got interested in the research side of things then and ended up going to Germany in 2012 and spent a vintage at that institute and learned a bit about different German varieties.

“I came back and decided I was going to move to Tasmania.”

Living in the Barossa had helped to sow the seeds of interest in alternative varieties, where amongst the vines of Shiraz and cabernet, he thought there was a better way.

Copper said he didn’t want to be a contrarian, but that it didn’t make sense that the Australian wine industry was so Shiraz-centric.

“I was just interested in exploring the ‘other’ for a long time. We’ve been told by the French that there are 15 varieties and that’s it, but there’s a whole world of varieties out there,” he said.

His research eventually lead him to Cyprus, where he began to find grapes growing in conditions that were very similar to those in Australia.

Most notably, he first found a white variety that thrived in the hot Cypriot sun called Xinisteri.

“That was a white variety that would

always ripen at the end of harvest in the first couple of years,” Copper said.

“After about the third year, I realised that there was something going on in this really hot, dry climate, that this white variety was able to ripen up all through summer and be the last one to be harvested.

“That got me interested in hot climate varieties, and in particular the ones from Cyprus, and I came back to Australia and looked to try and import some. Along the way, I decided to turn it into a PhD and study project.”

Copper said that he thought alternative varieties would have a bigger future in Australia because they simply grow better in the climate, especially in a changing climate.

“I think there’s always going to be a place for the traditional varieties of Shiraz and Cabernet and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, they’re always going to be there,” he said.

That got me interested in hot climate varieties, and in particular the ones from Cyprus, and I came back to Australia and looked to try and import some. Along the way, I decided to turn it into a PhD and study project.

Alexander Copper

Alexander Copper is propagating Cypriot varieties in Australia. Photo: Phuong Thuy Nguyen

“But as we’ve been experiencing with climate change, we’re not always going to be able to grow them in the areas we have been growing them.

“It’s not just me, there are a lot of lots of growers messing around with varieties from Italy and Spain and Georgia.

“I think, for the moment, it’s always going to be a bit niche. But it’s definitely going to grow into the future, particularly if you want to grow grapes in places like the Riverland or the Riverina.

“Without irrigation, you’re not going to grow much at all anyway. But if we didn’t have varieties that use less of that irrigation, then that’s only going to be a benefit to the businesses there.”

Copper said he was looking forward to returning to Cyprus to continue his research and to expand his studies to neighbouring parts of Europe.

“[I’m] definitely getting back to Cyprus. The two varieties I looked at were two of about 14 indigenous Cypriot varieties, which have great potential.

“I would like to see one which, since starting my research, has seen a lot more growers turning to their indigenous varieties; I just want to see how they’re going with those varieties.

“I’m also looking to Greece, and in particular Crete.

“I think Crete has a very similar environment and climate to Cyprus and South Australia and they’ve got another 20 odd indigenous varieties that grow amazingly well there as well.

“And then one place I’ve never been to which I’m really keen to get to is Turkey; there are some really interesting things coming out of Turkey in terms of rare indigenous varieties.”

Coming back home

Copper’s experiments with the Cypriot varieties have already begun in his vineyard, located in Auburn in the Clare Valley. He said that he was aiming to cultivate a whole vineyard worth of Australian-grown vines so that he could begin learning how the grapes react to Australian conditions and how they work in an Australian wine setting.

After receiving cuttings from Europe, he is now working alongside other growers to create enough material to work from.

“I bought a piece of land in Clare Valley, in Auburn. And we’re propagating the material up at the moment,” he said.

“When you import something, you basically you get one vine.

We just want to do some trials, hopefully in conjunction with Adelaide Uni, where we’re just comparing the two regions and looking at different levels of irrigation, how the varieties performing those regions without irrigation.

Alexander Copper

I think, for the moment, it’s always going to be a bit niche. But it’s definitely going to grow into the future, particularly if you want to grow grapes in places like the Riverland or the Riverina.

Alexander Copper

Once it’s gone through quarantine, that’s all they give you. From that one vine, you have to propagate out to roughly 2000 vines per hectare and we’re up to about 700 vines at the moment.

“I’m hoping to have enough to plant at least 1000 next year and I’m working with an industry partner as well in the Barossa. He’s going to plant 1000.

“We just want to do some trials, hopefully in conjunction with Adelaide Uni, where we’re just comparing the two regions and looking at different levels of irrigation, how the varieties are performing in those regions without irrigation.”

Copper has had to work around challenges with weather in the initial years of his research, namely the increased precipitation provided by the La Niña weather patterns over the past year.

It goes without saying that it’s hard to learn about dry growing vines when there is much higher than average rainfall.

“When we did it last year, in 2021, when we were doing the pots of experiments at the uni, we did have trouble with it not being hot enough,” Copper said.

“It was a combined heat/drought study. So having them in pots, we were still able to expose them to different levels of water, which gave us an idea of how they performed, but we definitely didn’t have the heat that we had in Cyprus.

“We tried to replicate that in Australia; being a La Niña year [it] wasn’t perfect, but it still gave us an insight.

“It’s not about me just making these varieties for research, it’s about the long term, giving back to the industry and getting these varieties out into different parts of Australia and seeing how they perform.

“It will take a few years, but it’s definitely on the cards of what we want to do for the wine industry.”

Tony Sprays his Vines and Trees with KENDON HIGH K

Tony is a multi-award-winning grape and olive grower based in Melbourne.

Tony believes spraying with KENDON HIGH K helps set the fruit.

The result is bigger fruit, more sugar, a better yield, and fruit that’s ready to pick two to four weeks earlier.

Maximise your harvest with help from your mate in the BIG BLUE DRUM.

KENDON HIGH K is a high potash liquid foliar fertilizer with chelated trace elements, boosting the performance of fruit, vegetables, ornamentals, and fodder crops, including turf.

For chemicals that work, switch to Kendon in the BIG BLUE DRUM.

Insecticides, Fungicides, Wetting Agents, Surfactants, Plant Growth Regulators, Herbicides, Disinfectants, Foliar Fertilisers

Dual insecticide becomes a valuable rotation partner against grapevine scale and long tailed mealybug

AsAustralian agriculture enters a third La Niña season, grapegrowers are raising concern over the impact of increasing populations of grapevine scale (Parthenolecanium persicae) and long tailed mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus).

Both insect species feed directly on the vine sap, excreting a honeydew substrate that supports the growth of sooty mould, a wine taint that downgrades fruit value.

This has put a strong focus on the need for targeted insecticide programs against scale and mealybug resulting in increasing adoption of Trivor insecticide from ADAMA Australia.

Trivor combines acetamiprid for rapid knockdown and pyriproxyfen’s residual control, two highly effective active ingredients that are becoming recognised as a valuable rotation partner in programs and importantly will reduce the impact on beneficial insects compared to broader spectrum chemistry.

Trivor can be applied up to E-L 31 (berries pea size) growth stage in domestic wine production and up to the start of flowering (E-L19) for export wine, to coincide with late spring and early summer juvenile crawler emergence.

“Trivor has had a positive impact in the winegrape industry by providing a highly effective product that has been specifically developed to target vulnerability in the scale and mealybug life cycle whilst maintaining minimal disturbance to offtarget populations,” said Daniel Polson, ADAMA Australia’s market development manager for horticulture.

“It directly addresses two commercial pests in scale and mealybug that when in high numbers not only reduce fruit quality but adversely affect long-term vineyard health through reduced photosynthetic capability and ongoing vascular damage.’

“It is gathering strong support for its quickacting control combined with residual cessation of juvenile scale feeding.”

Trivor can be successfully incorporated into integrated pest management programs and, with close monitoring of target applications, it can be highly effective against scenarios of multiple life-stage infestations.

For further information, growers and advisers can contact their local ADAMA representative or visit ADAMA.com

Trivor® Beauty that’s more than skin deep.

is the flexible option for the control of key insect pests in wine and table grapes.

‘Batmobile Terminator’ comes to the rescue of growers

A

Forthe crop season in 2018, Riverpines Vineyard lost virtually all 80 acres of grapes to fruit bats.

Thinking initially that the culprits were birds in the daytime, the discovery that fruit bats and wild pigs were actually responsible resulted in a mobilisation to save the remaining 15 acres of Chambourcin. Patrolling tirelessly with spotlights from 10:00pm to midnight and again 2.00am to 4:00am in the morning for four weeks saved only 1.5t of a usual 50t grape crop – the area was just too big and fruit bats too many.

A solution had to be ‘engineered’ – the solar powered, fully programmable Batmobile Terminator™ was created and it outperformed all expectations.

For the crop season in 2019 three Batmobile Terminators entered the fray – nary a fruit bat entered where these were used, and in the later ripening, heavily-pressured Chambourcin variety there was plenty of fruit bat aerial activity with aborted attempts

to enter the grapevine areas, but negligible grape loss or damage. The programmed laser and spotlights of the Batmobile sent the fruit bats fleeing – audibly ‘complaining’ while gathering in surrounding trees.

Fruit bat control

Each fruit Batmobile Terminator™ has two 63800LM (per light) laser spotlights with a range of 1.97kms, two 9 inch 1.3km 11870LM spotlights and two bar lights that blink like a laser to interfere with bat night vision.

Each half of the lights can be programmed to flash with different sequences and to flash in variable sequence to the other to create randomness and occasional full illumination. Flash sequences can vary from 0.1 second to minutes depending on vermin being deterred.

Deterring birds in the daytime

The Batmobile Terminator has a variable siren that can be scheduled or activated with motion detectors, and especially during heavy bird pressure periods near crop ripening, the array of lights can be activated to operate 24 hours a day and can also be activated by the dual motion detectors.

The Batmobile has a programmable switch and photoelectric cell to ensure control of noise at night.

Night roosting cockies

Focusing a randomly programmed light on the cockatoo roosting trees will immediately move the cockies on. Even

that have roosted in the same trees for years and have been moved on ‘fruitlessly’ for many days, or years, will be

The Batmobile Terminator is available for sale lease. For more information on the Batmobile Terminator, email:batmobile@genie2go.com or phone: 0429980959

Batmobile lowered for moving – system is hinged and strut assisted

Switch to solid Botrytis protection With

Botrytis in grapes, flowering can be where the trouble starts. Damp conditions during flowering, or tissue damage from light brown apple moth or wind, can result in latent infections that express later in the season. Grapegrowers in high-risk Botrytis areas routinely spray for Botrytis at 80 per cent capfall (E-L 25) and again at pre-bunch closure (E-L 29). But where the risk of Botrytis is lower, growers often adopt a ‘single shot’ strategy.

Syngenta Viticulture Portfolio Lead, Scott Mathew says SWITCH® fungicide has been the cornerstone of many Botrytis programs in Australian viticulture for well over 20 years.

“Many growers are seeing the benefits of including SWITCH® fungicide in their program, especially given recent experiences with some late summer rainfall events,” said Mathew.

“If growers are opting to apply just one spray at a key growth stage like 80% cap fall, then fungicide efficacy is even more important and that is why SWTICH® is the number 1 Botrytis fungicide in the market.”

SWITCH® fungicide (Group 9 and Group 12 fungicide) is the only Botryticide in the market that combines two modes of action, attacks multiple stages of fungal growth and offers local systemic and protectant activity.

“The fludioxonil component is a protectant that stays on the outside of the leaf or berry and prevents Botrytis spores from germinating and penetrating.”

“The cyprodinil component penetrates the leaf and berry tissue. If Botrytis has been able to penetrate past the fludioxonil, the cyprodinil component is there to finish it off and control the disease”.

“This combination of two active ingredients with different modes of action makes SWITCH® fungicide a great choice to manage resistance development in Australia viticulture,” said Mathew.

The wide application window of SWITCH® fungicide gives growers a choice of application timings, depending on their Botrytis risk.

“Growers can use it at either of the key timings – 80% capfall, or if they’re not

using it there, they can use it at E-L 29 on export wine grapes.”

Nigel Squire, Horticulture and Viticulture Account Manager SA for Nutrien Ag Solutions, highlighted the benefits of the dual activity groups in SWITCH® fungicide for industry.

“We’ve got some resistance issues in the wine industry, particularly around Group 9s. In a rotational sense it is good to be able to use SWITCH®,” said Squire.

“The dual activity groups in SWITCH® gives us the ability to come in with a Group 9 which is still good chemistry in some situations, but also put Group 12 in there allowing us to effectively extend the life of the product.”

Squire also pointed out the flexibility of application timing for SWITCH® fungicide compared to other Botrytis fungicides.

“We’re able to use SWITCH® slightly later in the season than some of the other Botrytis chemicals,” said Squire.

The benefits of SWITCH® fungicide flow on to the winemaking process as well. SWITCH® fungicide is proven to lower the levels of laccase in the winemaking process. The fermentation process is not

affected by the application of SWITCH® fungicide, and there are no taints or other impacts following its use. SWITCH® fungicide has also been shown to increase the levels of anthocyanin measured at the start of fermentation (Chambre d ’Agriculture de la Gironde).

With two unique active ingredients with two different modes of action, SWITCH® fungicide offers specialist protection against Botrytis in grapes and a valuable tool for resistance management. This makes it a standout in the market compared to other products that only have one active ingredient.

SWITCH® fungicide is rainfast within two hours and provides lasting locally systemic and protectant activity against Botrytis, even under high temperatures or wet conditions.

SWITCH® fungicide also has a great IPM profile and is safe to bees and soil organisms when used as directed.

More information about SWITCH® fungicide can be found online: www. syngenta.com.au/switch.

®Registered trademark of a Syngenta Group company

SWITCH® fungicide is available in two easy to use pack sizes to suit any size vineyard.

WHY SWITCH

?

As market leader for over twenty years, SWITCH ® fungicide remains the trusted choice among growers who value reliability. So why has SWITCH ® been popular for so long?

• SWITCH ® can be used in grapes, strawberries, leafy vegetables, onions,

beans, peas and capsicums

• SWITCH ® controls some diseases caused by botrytis, sclerotinia, anthracnose, aspergillus and phoma spp.

• SWITCH ® is the gold standard fungicide used for decades in grapes

• SWITCH ® is great value for money

• SWITCH ® is backed by Syngenta’s technical team and strong supply chains

Soil Management

Soil management with lime

Soil pH can affect the availability of nutrients to vine roots. In this AWRI fact sheet, the management of soil pH through the use the practice of liming is examined and explored through its use in an Australian context.

Correction of soil pH with lime

Lime can be applied to ameliorate acidic soil conditions in many circumstances. The best time to apply lime is prior to vineyard establishment when it can be mixed into the soil by cultivation along the vine row.

Lime applied to the soil surface can take a long time for the benefits to take effect.

In established vineyards where surface application is generally the only option, it is best to try and cultivate soil close to the vine root zone or use some other form of incorporation if possible. When applying lime consider the following:

• Investigate all the liming products available. Neutralising value and cartage and spreading costs need to be assessed to select an effective, economic product. Lime particles should be <2mm, the finer the better;

• Do not over-apply lime. It is better to use smaller amounts of lime more often until a target pH is reached;

• Liming an acidic soil may result in a decrease in the availability of manganese and zinc (and possibly copper and iron). It may be necessary to apply foliar sprays of these nutrients if deficiency occurs;

• Clay soils will require more lime than sandy soils to achieve the same correction

in pH levels. Lime is available in various pure forms and mixtures:

• Calcium carbonate. This is available as ground limestone, agricultural lime and shell lime. It is the cheapest but least reactive form of lime. The premium grades are more finely ground. If particle size is more than 2 mm it is of little value because of its low rate of dissolution;

• Calcium hydroxide. This is available as slaked or hydrated lime. It is more reactive than calcium carbonate, but relatively expensive for agricultural use;

• Calcium oxide. This is sold as burnt lime or quicklime, and is the most reactive form of lime. It heats and swells

grapegrowing

on absorbing moisture so must be stored dry. All forms of lime will eventually revert to calcium carbonate (agricultural lime) in the soil.

Strategies for pre-planting/young vines

Measuring pH at different depths in the soil and knowing which subsoil materials (such as acidic clays, soft or hard limestone) are present will help to predict the behaviour of the soil and thus the impact on growing vines.

Soil pH is best adjusted prior to planting, as this is the only time the soil beneath the vines can be accessed. The application rate will vary according to the soil type and the neutralising value of the lime source.

When considering amelioration of acidic soils with lime, some factors to consider include:

• Soils with pH values significantly less than 5 should be treated;

• The amount of lime required will vary from soil to soil;

• More lime is required to raise pH in clays than in sandy soils;

• Depending on soil texture, up to 5 tonnes/ha of lime may be needed to raise the pH of the top 15cm of a soil by one pH unit;

• Subsoil acidity is more expensive and difficult to ameliorate, requiring slotting or deep ripping to place the lime where it is required.

Strategies for mature vines

Careful monitoring of the soil under drippers is recommended. In low-flow irrigation situations, the vine roots are concentrated around irrigation outlets in the vine row.

In high rainfall areas, root activity will not be as confined. Vines affected by soil acidity will grow less vigorously and yield less than unaffected vines.

It can be difficult to treat soil acidity in existing vineyards as the soil around established vines is very difficult to mix or cultivate since traditional cultivation of the root area could cause considerable damage or plant death.

Trellis structures also make it difficult to use machinery.

Common amelioration practices include the surface application of lime along the vine row, followed by incorporation of lime into the soil of the mid row using different types of tillage implements.

It is generally advisable to apply the lime in the autumn to allow winter rainfall to wash it into the profile.

Soil sampling should not be carried out until the following autumn when the free lime has had a chance to react.

Management of acidification

There are a number of viticultural practices that can be used to prevent the development or exacerbation of soil acidification in the upper portions of the soil profile. If deeper layers are acidified, the problem may be expensive to rectify or in some cases irreversible.

Management practices to avoid acidification include:

• Avoid over application of fertiliser. Apply the correct amount of fertiliser for the vine size and crop load. Correct amounts can be determined using petiole analysis and can be modified with ongoing monitoring and analysis;

• Reduce the amount of fertiliser applied in a single dose. This involves spreading applications over a number of irrigations if fertigation is used, or a number of weeks/months if a solid granular form is used;

• Apply nitrogen to correspond with periods of vine demand so that maximum uptake will occur and maximum benefit will be obtained;

• Apply nitrogen late in an irrigation cycle so that it is retained in the soil near the roots, thus optimising uptake by the vine;

• Using less acidifying nitrogen sources, e.g. calcium nitrate;

• Maximise irrigation efficiency to avoid leaching and increasing nutrient retention near the vine roots.

The use of some forms of fertiliser (particular nitrogen fertilisers) may lead to acidification of the soil. The acidifying effect of some commonly used fertilisers and the amount of lime required to neutralise the acidifying effect are shown in Table 1.

The requirement for lime can vary with soil texture. Soil tests should be used to determine an appropriate rate of lime. As a rough guide, the following table

shows the approximate amount of lime required to raise soil pH by 1 pH unit.

Lime Products

Lime is available in various pure forms and mixtures:

• Calcium carbonate. This is available as ground limestone, agricultural lime and shell lime. It is the cheapest but least reactive form of lime. The premium grades are more fi nely ground. If particle size is more than 2 mm it is of little value because of its low rate of dissolution.

• Calcium hydroxide. This is available as slaked or hydrated lime. It is more reactive than calcium carbonate, but rather expensive for agricultural use.

• Calcium oxide. This is sold as burnt lime or quicklime, and is the most reactive form of lime. It heats and swells on absorbing moisture so must be stored dry.

To determine the most suitable lime product consider:

• The economic value of the neutralising power of the lime. This can be determined by dividing the neutralising value (see table below) by the cost per tonne.

• Cartage costs - burnt agricultural lime is more expensive than ordinary lime, but if it has to be carted some distance, it may be cheaper to buy less of the more strongly neutralising burnt lime.

All forms of lime will eventually revert to calcium carbonate (agricultural lime) in the soil.

Acknowledgement

The Australian Wine Research Institute would like to acknowledge:

• Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture (CRCV) and all involved in the VitiNotes series (1996 – 2006)

particularly L. Chvyl and C. Williams.

• Mardi L. Longbottom for the update of this document.

Further information Training

For regional specific training in grapevine nutrition management, the AWRI is running Research to

Practice: Managing grapevine nutrition in a changing environment.

Contact Marcel Essling: rtp@awri.com. au for more information.

Useful references

Nicholas, P. 2004. Soil, irrigation and nutrition. Adelaide: Winetitles.

Table 1 Some nitrogen sources, their N content and the amount of lime required to neutralise their acidifying effect on soils.

Source: Glendinning (2000)

* Amount of pure calcium carbonate (CaCO3) required to either neutralise the acidforming reactions of 1kg N or the amount of CaCO3 required to equal the acidreducing effects of 1kg N

• Most of the acid-forming effects are due to the activities of soil bacteria during nitrification.

Table 2 Lime requirements for soils of different textures^

^ Approximations for a soil layer about 15-20 cm deep

Articles about grapevine nutrition and viticulture in general are available to the Australian wine industry through the Australian Wine Research Institute library. Visit http://www.awri.com.au/ information_services/jfml/ for details.

Product or service information is provided to inform the viticulture sector about available resources and should not be interpreted as an endorsement

Sustainability

ask the Vineyard nitrogen management in a urea-limited world

Many food and agricultural sectors are currently dealing with reduced availability and/or increased cost of nitrogen-based fertilisers and additives. Australia imports 90% of its nitrogen-based chemicals from India, Morocco and China. Reduced worldwide production of these chemicals due to natural gas being redirected for energy needs has resulted in major export nations such as China and Russia placing restrictions on exports of urea to control prices in their own domestic markets. This has increased prices on the international market by a factor of three to four since December 2019 (e.g. the price of urea has increased from ~AU$300 to more than $1,200/metric tonne) (Index Mundi, May 2022). In this article, AWRI Senior Viticulturist Robyn Dixon and Senior Oenologist Geoff Cowey address some of the options for managing vineyard nitrogen levels in a urea-limited world.

What are the requirements for nitrogen in vineyards?

Nitrogen plays a major role in all grapevine processes and a significant amount is essential for vine growth and metabolic functions. Nitrogen and other nutrients are removed from the vineyard each year in harvested fruit; for example, one tonne of fruit removes about 2 kg of nitrogen. Nitrogen can also be lost from the soil via leaching, erosion, conversion to ammonia gas, and temporary immobilisation through the addition of organic material with a high C:N ratio. Nitrogen can also be lost through the removal of pruning material. However, in Australia, unless diseased wood needs to be removed, prunings are usually mulched or mowed and retained in the vineyard.

Annual urea loss from a vineyard is approximately 75 kg per hectare. The nitrogen losses are dependent on many factors such as vine yield and rootstock, soil temperature, soil structure and texture, soil drainage and irrigation management. In cool regions, typical supplementation rates used are around 20 kg of nitrogen per hectare, while in warmer regions approximately 50-60 kg of nitrogen per hectare is a good starting point.

What happens to the vine if nitrogen is limited?

Nitrogen forms part of the chlorophyll in plants, which uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to produce sugars and also gives leaves their green colour. Nitrogen deficiency

causes leaf yellowing (chlorosis) and reduces the photosynthetic capacity of the vine. Nitrogen also plays a key role in inflorescence initiation and development as well as berry growth. Nitrogen deficiency in grapevines can reduce vine vigour, reduce yields and also have a significant impact on the composition of grape berries, delaying sugar accumulation, the development of flavour precursors and the accumulation of nitrogenous compounds (amino acids and ammonium). Nitrogenous compounds present in must play a critical role in the fermentation process and the final wine composition.

How can you make the most of your nitrogen in the vineyard?

If fertiliser supply remains constrained, then limiting nitrogen removal from the vineyard will be important, as will incorporating alternative sources of nitrogen such as compost and nitrogen fixing cover crops. In some vineyards, a leguminous cover crop grown over winter may provide sufficient nitrogen.

If fertiliser is required, making sure fertiliser applications are effective and targeted is key to improving nitrogen use efficiency. Fertiliser type, timing of application and application method are all important factors to consider. Nitrogen fertilisers can be spread over the whole vineyard, banded under vine or in the mid-row for cover crops, or they can be applied as a foliar spray or dissolved in the irrigation water (fertigation).

When should I apply nitrogen fertiliser?

The application of a mobile nutrient like nitrogen to the soil should follow periods of active root growth. This occurs around four to six weeks post-bud burst and post-harvest. Timing the application of nitrogen to periods of active root growth will increase uptake and reduce losses from leaching. Applying nitrogen too early in the season is futile as there is little to no root growth and vines are still using nitrogen stored from the previous season.

Nitrogen applications between fruit set and veraison can enhance amino acid concentration in berries, while post-harvest applications can increase nitrogen storage in the woody tissues over winter and enhance early shoot growth and yields in the following season.

How should I apply nitrogen fertiliser?

The accessibility of nitrogen by vines relies on the presence of sufficient soil water. Solid fertiliser applications made to the soil surface need to be incorporated into the soil by irrigation, rain or tillage. Since nitrogen is highly mobile in water, careful management of irrigation is important to ensure the timing and volume of irrigation applications are not causing nitrogen leaching.

Fertigation offers better control of nitrogen applications, allowing for the application of smaller amounts of nitrogen applied at regular intervals. Bacteria, slime and algae often thrive in irrigation systems, and it may be necessary to clean irrigation lines periodically. The water management

section of the AWRI website provides information on best-practice irrigation monitoring and maintenance.

Foliar applications of nitrogen can be used to supplement an appropriate seasonal soil fertiliser program; however, only low biuret urea should be applied to foliage to avoid damage to foliage. Foliar application is generally better suited to micronutrient supply as it is difficult to supply sufficient quantities of macronutrients via this method. Rainfall after application may also affect the longevity of any application on the leaves.

Can winery nitrogen supplementation replace vineyard fertilisation?

Tian et al. (2022) compared nitrogen fertiliser in the vineyard (none, foliar or soil application) with nitrogen supplementation only in the winery for Chardonnay grapes across several years. Soil fertilisation affected canopy growth

and yield, and increased nitrogen in fruit, whereas foliar application saw no changes to the vine and only modest increases in fruit nitrogen. While similar nitrogen additions in the winery resulted in similar fermentation kinetics to vineyard soil nitrogen fertilisation, they did not produce wines with the same positive sensory characteristics. Thus, both vineyard and winery nitrogen supplementation are likely to be required for healthy vines and for the production of quality fruit and wine. What is happening to address the nitrogen shortage?

Construction of a domestic urea production site in WA is planned for 2023. In the meantime, producers are advised to work closely with suppliers, allow longer lead times for supply of chemicals, budget accordingly and consider options provided above for making the most of nitrogen in the vineyard.

For further information contact the AWRI helpdesk on (08) 8313 6600 or helpdesk@ awri.com.au

References and further reading

Index Mundi commodity price indices: https://www.indexmundi.com/ commodities/?commodity=dap-fertilize r&months=60&currency=aud

Proffitt, T., Campbell-Clause, J. 2012. Managing grapevine nutrition and vineyard soil health. Available from: https://winewa.asn.au/wp-content/ uploads/2020/04/Grapevine_Nutrition_ LR_2.pdf

Tian, T., Ruppel, M., Osborne, J., Tomasino, E., Schreiner, R.P. 2022. Fertilize or supplement: The impact of nitrogen on vine productivity and wine sensory properties in Chardonnay. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 73: 156-169.

Innovative, sustainable and efficient soil health solutions

Specialising

in the supply of quality plant nutrition and biostimulant products to the primary industry, De Sangosse Australia has a shared vision that agriculture should be innovative, sustainable, and efficient. This is achieved by developing a portfolio of solutions to improve the soil health, crop quality, and yield by focusing on products for the whole life cycle of the plant.

Agronutrition, a fully owned subsidiary of De Sangosse SAS, designs, manufactures and markets a range of innovative plant nutrition solutions that provides appropriate and precise nutrition from planting through to harvest in both conventional and organic operations. Currently featuring six key products with NASAA certification, De Sangosse offers a broad range of high performing agriculture solutions to assist all crops through all growth stages.

Backed by high quality R&D, Agronutrition’s soil biotechnologies laboratory has identified over 350 strains of bacteria and fungi for their individual properties and benefit to crops. Developed from two strains of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Amylis is an innovative solution that activates the life of the soil, benefiting the bacteria population and crop through the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.

Continuing their innovation, Connectis is composed of mycorrhizal spores and can attach itself to crop roots to help them assimilate nutrients and water in larger quantities, increasing root growth and biomass production. The last of the biofertilisers is Baseos, containing living bacteria that solubilises phosphorous present in the soil.

Following the biofertiliser range are three remaining key products that make up the organic range. Actigreen enhances the photosynthetic activity and the efficiency of water use by increasing stomatal conductance. Under stressful conditions, the use of Actigreen can assist with the prevention of damage through these challenging times.

Borozinc simultaneously supplies both boron and zinc concentrated in a stable, soft and soluble form. Applications of Borozinc early in the season improves fruit set and harvest quality, whilst a post-harvest application locks in potential for early success next season.

Algonia K is the complete plant booster to improve quality and yield. Containing seaweed extracts, Algonia K assimilates nutrition through both foliar and fertigation. Applications of Algonia K assist the synthesis and transfer of sugars during the ripening stages prior to harvest.

Pumped for reducing refrigeration energy costs

Following the recent warning by one of Australia’s biggest energy companies that retail electricity prices may increase by more than 35 per cent next year, there’s no better time for wineries to take another look at whether their refrigeration systems are running as efficiently as they could be. For those that haven’t done so already, retrofitting variable speeds drives on the pumps that circulate coolant around the winery would be a good place to start, writes Sonya Logan.

It was rather a ‘gulp’ moment when Alinta Energy chief executive Jeff Dimery recently told the Australian Financial Review’s Energy and Climate Summit that company modelling for energy prices indicated tariffs would go up a minimum 35 per cent next year based on current market prices.

There’s nothing like a warning of this magnitude to have you take another look at your energy consumption. And given around half the electricity consumed by wineries stems from the use of refrigeration systems at various stages of the winemaking process, it makes sense to run another fine-toothed comb over them to see if further efficiency gains can be found.

One area that wineries may not have considered yet is the benefit of retrofitting a variable speed drive (VSD) to the pump that reticulates secondary refrigerants, such as brine and glycol, to winery tanks. VSDs, also known by their more modern incarnation as variable frequency drives, have been around for a while now and any new winery refrigeration system installed in the last couple of decades would almost certainly incorporate them on compressors, fans and pumps. Some wineries would have taken advantage of VSDs when upgrading refrigeration units while others will have done so as part of an energy audit and had them retrofitted to their existing systems.

Pumps

A skid-mounted, glycol heat recovery system consisting of primary and secondary pumps all incorporating variable speed drives. Photo: Oomiak

Pumps that circulate secondary refrigerants such as brine and glycol tend to be rather large and therefore big drawers of power. As single or fixed speed pumps, they are usually sized to meet the greatest demand. This isn’t an efficient use of energy in situations where the demand on the pump is lower than the peak, such as when cooling just one or two tanks out of a much larger tank farm. It is estimated that fixed speed brine and glycol pumps can use around 5% and 10%, respectively, of the combined energy required to run a winery refrigeration plant.

A VSD will adjust the flow or pressure of these pumps to meet the actual demand – from the extreme, such as during the height of vintage, through to lower periods of demand. Even a small reduction in the speed of a pump will lead to a relatively large reduction in power and result in significant energy savings. It is estimated a VSD can deliver a 50% reduction in annual pump energy and a return on investment in a couple of years.

“Pumps are often dismissed as a major energy use in a winery, but they often go all the time,” notes refrigeration engineer Les Clements from Clements Refrigeration. “In the bad old days, wineries would just throttle the discharge flow from a pump or open up a bypass valve to reduce brine flow and let the pump run at 100% capacity. But these days with the advent of VSDs and pressure control you can run them at a minimum energy consumption to service just a small duty in the winery. If tanks are set up properly and have temperature control, you can even cycle the pumps off unless they’re absolutely necessary.”

“By having a variable speed drive on your pump, in theory you will halve the annual cost, if not more, of running the pump. You will also reduce a percentage of that same equivalent load on the refrigeration system.”

Mark Holden

A skid-mounted, PLC controlled glycol and chilled water refrigeration system with variable speed drives fitted to all pumps. Photo: Oomiak

FOR ALL YOUR PUMP REQUIREMENTS

VOGELSANG LOBE PUMP

The Vogelsang

Available options:

Stainless steel body, with

80oC.

ALFA LAVAL CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

LIVERANI FLEXIBLE IMPELLER PUMPS

The Liverani Flexible Impeller Pumps are selfpriming with consistent even flow rates They are ideal for filling, dosing and filtration.

The pumps can operate in both forward and reverse, allowing for versatility around the cellar.

Available options:

• Single and three phase power

• Cable and radio remote

• Run dry protection

• Variable Speed

• Bypass

Sizing from 1,300lph to 36,000lph available.

Refrigeration plant

Clements said the incorporation of VSDs into a winery refrigeration system would “head the list” if making recommendations for improving its energy efficiency.

1-2 year payback

“The savings are virtually instant. With a VSD you get a payback in two or three years easily,” he confirms.

Echoing Clements remarks, Mark Holden, who is responsible for business development and strategy at industrial refrigeration specialist Oomiak, says if wineries have a dollar to spend on improving the efficiency of their refrigeration systems, VSDs should be the first thing they invest in. And fitting them to the pumps used to reticulate secondary refrigerants around the winery is a good a place to start.

“The energy consumed by a pump is driven by the pressure that’s required to push a liquid through the line. The pressure is determined by a combination

of the static pressure of the pipework and the sheer volume of the solution being pumped,” Holden explains. “If you’ve got a pump feeding 10 tanks, but you only need one tank running, then you’re having to use nearly all of this energy to get the pressure to run that one tank for cooling.

“A variable speed drive backs that pump off so you’re only delivering the quantity of brine or glycol that matches the demand for that one single tank. Therefore, you significantly reduce your low load demand.”

“Let’s say you’re running a 10 kilowatt pump,” Holden continues. “To cool that one tank, you need 10 kilowatts of – 6 –

Brine tank

W ine tank 1 W ine tank 2 W ine tank 3

Cold brine to winery

W arm ed brine from winer y

Brine to refrigeration plant

Brine from refrigeration plant

Jack eted wine tank s or other oper ations requir ing cooling

Figure 2. Simplified brine reticulation system

A simplified brine reticulation system. Source: Improving Winery Refrigeration

Selected Winery Pump suppliers in Australia and New Zealand

Allflo Pumps & Equipment

Telephone: Freecall:1800 333 424 (Aust only) Website: www.allflo.com.au

ame Pump Specialists

Telephone: (08) 8234 2090 Website: www.amepumps.com.au

Applied Pump Engineering (Pump Doctor)

Telephone: (03) 9796 5001 Website: www.pumpdoctor.com.au

Arvinoil Telephone: 0414 933 012 Website: www.arvinoil.com

B.R. Reeve Engineering

Telephone: (03) 9699 7355 Website: www.reevegroup.com.au

Bucher Vaslin

Telephone: 0427 655 800 Website: www.buchervaslin.com

Corporate Machinery Brokers Telephone: 0428 832 423, (08) 84310430 Website: www.machineryshowroom.net

Costante Imports

Telephone: (03) 9484 7948 Website: www.costanteimports.com.au

Crown Sheetmetal

Telephone: +64 3 577 6310 Website: www.crownsheetmetal.co.nz

Danfoss (Australia)

Telephone: 1300 328 008 Website: www.danfoss.com/pacific

Della Toffola Pacific (DT Pacific) Telephone: (03) 9487 1140 Website: www.dtpacific.com

Dixon Asia Pacific Telephone: (08) 8202 6000 Website: www.dixonvalve.com.au

Dynapumps

Telephone: (08) 9424 2000 Website: www.dynapumps.com.au

Fabro-Weld

Telephone: 08 85632390

Fineweld Stainless Steel

Telephone: (03) 9775 0339 Website: www.fineweld.com.au

Global Pumps

Telephone: 1300 145 622 (Aust only), (08) 8275 8000 Website: www.globalpumps.com.au

Grapeworks

Telephone: (03) 9555 5500 Website: www.grapeworks.com.au

HD Process NZ Telephone: +64 9 580 2520 Website: www.hdprocess.co.nz

Hydro Innovations

Telephone: (02) 9898 1800 Website: www.hydroinnovations.com.au

Ibex Australia

Telephone: (03) 8318 4000, 1300 854 520 Website: www.ibexaustralia.com.au

Juclas Pacific Telephone: 0410 790 315 Website: www.vason.com

NETZSCH Australia

Telephone: (07) 3488 8183 Website: www.netzsch.com.au

NOV Australia

Telephone: Freecall: 1800 333 138 (Aust only) Website: www.nov.com/industrial

Pentair Southern Cross Telephone: (03) 9709 5800 Website: www.pentair.com

PERA Oenoprocess

Telephone: 0497 999 973 Website: www.perapellenc.com

Rapidfil Telephone: (03) 9455 3339 Website: www.rapidfil.com.au

Ridgelea Telephone: (08) 8326 8521 Website: www.ridgelea.com.au

Stainless Engineering & Maintenance (SEAM)

Telephone: (08) 8564 3344, 0403 134 750 Website: www.stainlessengineering.net.au

SWAT Winery and Vineyard Supplies Telephone: (08) 9755 5766 Website: www.swat.net.au

Tanium Telephone: (03) 9555 5500 Website: www.tanium.com.au

Tapflo Oceania Telephone: 1800 303 633 Website: www.tapflo.com.au

Tekmate Telephone: 0439 810 644 Website: www.tekmate.com.au

Viniquip International Telephone: +64 6 879 7799, 1800 209 370 (freecall Australia only) Website: www.viniquip.co.nz

Vitis & Winemakers Telephone: (03) 9487 1160 Website: www.vitiswinemakers.com

Wine & Beverage Systems Telephone: +64 3 548 6553 Website: www.wbsystems.co.nz

Wine energy Telephone: 0439 021 913 Website: www.wineenergy.com

Winequip Telephone: 1300 882 850, (03) 9462 4777 Website: www.winequip.com.au

electricity. On top of that you have to build in a factor for the inefficiency of the motor, which might be 10% of those 10 kilowatts. So that’s 11 kilowatts of heat that is put into the refrigeration system that then has to be removed by the refrigeration system. So, you pay for it twice. That’s why the benefit of improving the performance of a pump is almost twofold. That’s why the opportunity is so great and reasonably easy to address for things like pumps as well as fans and a few other components.”

Holden says retrofitting a VSD to a pump that moves refrigerant to a winery was a simple process. Pumps are usually sized to achieve a worst-case scenario, such as all tanks running with a full load during vintage. A pressure transducer is fitted to the line delivering the glycol to the tanks which sets the pressure needed to feed all tanks evenly. Automation is added to control and manage the speed of the pump to deliver that pressure.

“When the pressure increases above the target pressure of the pump as demand drops, the VSD will slow the pump. As it slows, it consumes less electricity. But what we’re doing is making sure we still maintain the flow rate of glycol into the tanks that are operating. We have consistent cooling performance, but reduced the pump’s electrical energy input, and reduced the subsequent load on the refrigeration plant.

Halve annual cost

“By having a variable speed drive on your pump, in theory you will halve the annual cost, if not more, of running the pump. You will also reduce a percentage of that same equivalent load on the refrigeration system.

“This is something that can return a 30% to 50% return on investment per year, year on year. You have to go a long way to get that level of interest on your money.”

Holden says VSDs deliver additional benefits beyond improving the efficiency of pumping and driving down energy costs.

“It means you can have a much smoother temperature profile because you’re delivering glycol or brine at a constant pressure or flow rate, regardless of how many tanks you’re running. So, the cooling performance is consistent, you don’t over cool and you’re not getting spikes and drops in the temperature of the product being cooled. That can lead to improved quality of product which is certainly another tool for winemakers to work with.

“With respect to the refrigeration plant, because we’re not constantly adding big spikes to the load and having the compressors unnecessarily cycling all the way up to maximum load, only to turn off again five minutes later, this results in savings by trimming your maximum demand tariff, but also stabilises the amount of cooling equipment you might need to run during a particular period. Stops and starts are hard on machinery in terms of wear and tear and unnecessarily increase your maintenance costs. Variable speed drives gradually increase and decrease the speed of the pump which, in turn, lessens the mechanical and electrical stress on your refrigeration system,” Holden explains.

That’s why you can trust the Sentia™ hand-held wine analyzer to reliably measure:

• free SO2

• malic acid

Test results in minutes, wherever and whenever you need them.

For more information, call 03 9555 5500 or sentia@grapeworks.com.au

The power of a lab in the palm of your hand.

As world leaders in biosensor technology, our reputation is built on precision.

One pump that ‘does it all’

“I was very impressed with the operation when I saw it at 10 minutes by Tractor and I knew that I had to have one. The multifacility of the pump really amazed me,” Flanders explained.

What operation do you use it in the cellar for?

when I am filtering and bottling. Plus, the cordless remote makes life in cellar much easier.”

PMH

Vinicole is a global leader in helical lobe smart pump for the wine industry, with more than 400 lobe pumps sold this year alone around the world and since 2016 in Australia.

The Oenopompe, is distinct due the six helical shaped rubber impellers and adopted worldwide: Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy and here in Australia. Clonakilla, Paringa Estates and others are using the pump every day.

How to explain it?

We asked winemaker Barney Flanders from Garagiste Winery on the Mornington Peninsula why he has chosen this pump since 2018?

“Many processes: transferring juices, filling barrels, transferring wine, inline with filtration and connected to my bottling line,” Flanders said.

Indeed, thanks to its unique six helical shaped lobes, the Oenopompe has an O2 pick-up between 3-5 times less than conventional pumps, which is advantageous for many uses.

What are the key advantages of the Oenopompe?

“The pressure sensors are my favourite as even if a valve is closed, the pump will stop, saving hoses and equipment,” said Flanders.

“Also, I can set the pressure the pump will operate to, so I don’t block filters

Thanks to the remote, only one person is required to operate the pump. With an LCD screen on it, the user can see the speed, direction and operation and adjust accordingly. With a flowmeter in combination with 6” touchscreen on the pump, the operator can program automatic batches with precision of 99.7% accuracy.

PMH Vinicole offers the best warranty in the market; up to five years, with a tailored low cost preventive maintenance plan. Spare parts are readily available in Australia through their distributors, Vinvicta in Victoria and Tasmania, or SWAT in Western Australia. Being responsive for service is a key point for this innovative company.

Further information can found online: www.pmh-vinicole.fr/en

Contract Winemaking

Contract winemakers reaching capacity

Fighting a battle with the red wine glut

As the wider wine industry battles challenges like staffing and wine storage, contract winemaking services have been hit with a larger than usual stockpile of grapes and wine. Harrison Davies writes about how the contract winemaking sector is contending with more wine than it knows what to do with and fewer hands to handle it.

Contractwinemaking services are offered across the country by wine businesses large and small.

For some it’s a way of incorporating somewhat of a ‘side hustle’ to the business whilst for others it’s their bread and butter.

As with most other facets of the wine industry, contract winemakers have seen an uptick in work due to a shrunken, post-COVID workforce as well as a glut of red wine.

This demand is a blessing and a curse for contract winemakers, who now have more work than ever but can also only produce so much.

The glut of red wine has meant that contract winemakers are also struggling to provide storage for all the wine that is

being made at their facilities.

A lack of wine storage has been an issue for most of the year and began cropping up amid shipping woes and supply chain blockages at the start of the year.

A report released by Wine Australia detailed the delays and showed how the big vintages seen in 2021 were contributing to a lack of space in 2022 (see Figure 1 on page 68).

For the report, they spoke with Mads Aaboe, regional director of Hillebrand Oceania, about how delays in Southern California and China were affecting producers in Australia.

“The ports of Oakland, Long Beach, Seattle and Vancouver all have their individual challenges with congestions

and backlogs. In addition to this, there will be numerous blank sailings for vessels into the port of Oakland from February to May, which is traditionally the main port for imports of Australian wine,” Aaboe said.

“Depending on the specific situation there might be additional trucking costs, wharf/depot storage and container detention. It all depends on if containers are gated into the port or sitting in storage in a holding yard.”

The impacts of these delays meant that wine that was supposed to go to export at the start of the year had to stay in storage at the start of Vintage 2022 and now wine from the most recent vintage has fewer places to be kept.

Image courtesy Project Wine

Project Wine is located in Langhorne Creek, less than an hour from McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and less than two hours from the Barossa Valley and Limestone Coast.

Modern winery established in 2001 Storage tanks ranging from 1,500 to 138,000 litres Insulated barrel storage

5-50 tonne red ferment capacity Consultant winemaking Laboratory, providing a range of analytical services Branding and distribution services

Tasting rooms

winemaking

“Delays at overseas bottling plants are also occurring, due to the erratic vessel schedules which delay or accumulate vessel arrivals. This puts pressure on the bottling plants to accommodate sometimes large waves of containers, which in turn causes containers to attract wharf/yard storage and container detention costs as they await a slot for unloading,” Aaboe said.

New demands

Project Wine is a contract winemaking service based in Langhorne Creek.

Senior winemaker Peter Pollard said there had been enquiries from many growers who previously had only grown grapes but were not interested in making their own wine with their surpluses of red varieties.

“There have been many enquiries from growers who have previously just sold their grapes, about the prospects of processing surplus reds and speculating on the bulk market,” he said.

“I have no doubt there will be more enquiries in coming vintages, particularly from growers with red grape surpluses. Some of these enquiries may present new opportunities, but only if the fruit and

subsequent wine made is high quality and the resultant wine is priced sensibly for sale.

“Certain regions will have more currency in the bulk market than others and these may be worth consideration to speculate

from a bulk wine perspective.

“But generally given the current market conditions, unless all your tanks are empty, there will be no point filling up a winery with surplus red that may take an extended period of time to move.

“This only perpetuates the red wine oversupply, while potentially giving the industry a false impression on the size of the challenge.

He said with more enquiries coming in, the challenge of providing enough space for red wine could become a more pressing issue as the industry moves slowly into vintage 2023.

“Contract processing space will generally be tight heading into vintage 2023, although this does depend upon the type of processing required.

“This is based around most producers requiring grapes to be processed to a finished wine, with ongoing storage requirements.”

Delays at overseas bottling plants are also occurring, due to the erratic vessel schedules which delay or accumulate vessel arrivals. This puts pressure on the bottling plants to accommodate sometimes large waves of containers

Mads Aaboe

Image courtesy Project Wine

Volume (million litres) of 2017 and 2021 vintages shipped in months following vintage.

Source – Wine Australia

Here come the ultrasonics

Barrel sanitation: the second priority in oenology

This treatment saves water, extends the life of the barrel and embraces the advantages of using a more ‘natural’ cleaning agent.

Some of the best barrel sanitation treatments can also offer energy and cost savings.

Winemaker and writer Paul Le Lacheur takes a close look at strategies for the microbial control of barrels.

Anew

study identifies oak products as the greatest single cost element in wine production, after the cost of grapes (Corsey 2006). So why do we pay it so relatively little attention? The answer lies in the old adage “great wine is made in the vineyard”. That’s terrific: it’s a given!

Fruit quality is of prime importance… but that vineyard fruit quality effort is all useless if your subsequent wine is spoilt by a Brettanomyces yeast-borne infection from barrel contamination.

The latest in barrel sanitation seems to come in the form of sonic (high frequency) treatment. Ultrasonics are used effectively to remove tartrate deposition and eradicate (or at least control) Brettanomyces. Both dead and living microbial cells and spores have been shown to migrate into the pores of the oak, therefore treatments capable of removal at depth under the surface are preferred.

In addition, microbial biofilms are capable of forming, and indeed flourishing,

on the oak surfaces. Pseudomycelia formation by Brettanomyces can assist an organism’s ability to penetrate the pores of the oak at a deeper level.

One of the most elegant solutions is high pressure ultrasound (HPU). This is delivered via a sonotrobe which is inserted through the barrel bung hole. The barrel is filled with water at approximately 60⁰C and sonotrobe contact time can be as little as 5-13 minutes. Tartrate removal and destruction of spoilage micro-organisms occur simultaneously. Another distinct advantage of HPU treatments is in energy savings, winemakers can follow the high frequency sound application with a simple water cleaning step using filtered water which can be reused up to 100 times.

Extending barrel life

One study (Bates et al. 2009) found ultrasonic treatment has cost advantages because of the less invasive nature of application. The lead author of this study commented further on it before the

release of the results (2001): “In terms of how long ultrasonics can extend barrel life, I’d say conservatively two to three years”. Ultrasonic sanitation is relatively inert and therefore reduces overall oak costs owing to this extended barrel life feature. HPU operates at around 1,000 psi (6,900 kPa) at the recommended 60⁰C, with contact times depending on the heaviness of tartrate deposition and the condition of the barrel itself.

HPU not only removes tartrate deposits, but kills all (100%) viable Breattanomyces cells on the oak surface and up to a depth of 4mm (Yap et al. 2008). Yet another advantage of ultrasound energy is that it does not affect the internal structure of oak (down to a depth of 8mm), as determined by computer x-ray tomography.

Ultrasonic sanitation also delivers benefits by reducing Brettanomyces to ‘tolerable’ levels to a depth of 6mm, depending on barrel size and the amount of wine contact. Some winemakers prefer

PITCH

winemaking

not to totally eliminate Brettanomyces in any event, observing a ‘complexing’ aromatic effect on the wine at low levels. Complete tartrate elimination is a claim made without fear of aroma destruction. This is particularly important in the sensory dimension described as ‘toasted’ or ‘subtly nutty’.

While ultrasonics are currently the treatment of choice for Brettanomyces control, other microbial infections are well controlled simply by hot water treatments. Application of hot water at around 80⁰C for a minimum of 20 minutes has proven effective in removing acetic acid bacteria. This treatment is particularly popular in sweet white wine production. This is due to the (potentially) much higher levels of acetobacter formed during the fermentation and aging of this category of wine.

Yet another tried and tested treatment is high pressure steam vapour. It destroys all bacteria, leaving the barrel dry and

immediately usable. Steam vapour kills Brettanomyes, but is also effective against lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillis and Pedicoccus. Sensory identification of the presence of these two bacteria is the recognition of a ‘sour milk’ character in the wine. This treatment saves water, extends the life of the barrel and embraces the advantages of using a more ‘natural’ cleaning agent. In recent research on barrel sanitation (Barata et al. 2013), steam was successful in removing yeast

from the cleaned internal surface of a barrel. However, none of the treatments tested by the AWRI (e.g. high pressure hot water, ozone, SO2 or SO2 dissolved in water), were able to guarantee total deactivation of yeast cells in wood grooves or staves up to 8mm in depth. The AWRI confirms high pressure steam vapour and/or hot water treatment at 85⁰C are effective measures. In contrast, some research (Edwards and Cartwright 2019) indicates there is difficulty in maintaining water temperature at the required temperature (above 80⁰C) for 25 minutes.

Microbiological control of barrels (especially against Brettanomyces) is possible and the best treatments all seem to confirm the advantages of energy and cost savings.

Some winemakers prefer not to totally eliminate Brettanomyces in any event, observing a ‘complexing’ aromatic effect on the wine at low levels.

Behind the Top Drops

Meadowbank Pinot Noir

Owned by the Ellis family, Tasmania’s Meadowbank vineyard is a source of fruit for a range of Tasmanian wine brands, House of Arras and Bay of Fires among them. While the majority of the Derwent Valley vineyard’s production is lapped up by those brands, Meadowbank produces its own wines, with the label revived in 2015 when winemaker Peter Dredge came onboard as a partner and winemaker. One of those wines is the Meadowbank Pinot Noir. Peter, better known as Dredgy, combined with Meadowbank founder and vigneron Gerald Ellis and his daughter and current brand torch bearer Mardi to answer a few questions about the wine put by Sonya Logan

Briefly tell us the Meadowbank story?

Meadowbank has been our home and farm since 1976. In the earliest of days we were told you couldn’t really grow grapes in Tasmania because it was too cold, and that we would be better off putting lucerne in for our sheep. A bit of intuitive defiance got out of hand though, and we have added roughly 10 hectares a decade from the mid-1970s to the point where we now sit at around 50ha. There is the capacity (and demand!) for more, and something for us to look at as a family.

Our first varieties were typical of the time — Riesling, Shiraz and….don’t laugh… Cabernet Sauvignon. In the 1980s we added Pinot and Chardonnay — obviously far more suited to our climate we now know — and beyond that, Pinot Meunier, Gamay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. We have reduced some plantings (there is no more Cabernet, for instance), and we are always looking at new varieties and/or clones. While Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will remain core, and we think cooler-climate Shiraz has an elegance worth pursuing and Chenin Blanc might be an interesting one to explore in the future, neither of which we currently grow. Who knows? That’s the challenge and fun of it.

As far as the business is concerned, we own as a family the farm, vineyard and growing operation, and then sell fruit to ourselves as a separate business that our winemaker, Peter Dredge, is also a partner in.

All Meadowbank wines are made from estate-owned fruit?

Yes, all Meadowbank wines are made from grapes we grow ourselves. We are predominantly a grower, with around 50ha of vineyard hidden away up in the Derwent Valley. From this we select parcels of fruit that we like for making our various wines, including the Meadowbank Pinot Noir. These are typically older-vine material.

Just the one estate-owned vineyard then?

Yes, that’s correct. The one farm and vineyard keeps us busy enough thanks! We did build a restaurant and cellar door, along with a smaller ‘show’ vineyard in the Coal Valley in the late ‘90s, although sold that to Frogmore Creek in 2010 to concentrate on the farm and expand the vineyard operation back here in the Derwent Valley.

Second generation custodian of Meadowbank Mardi Ellis with winemaker and wine business partner Peter Dredge.

The Ellis and Dredge families (from left) Gerald Ellis, Mardi Ellis, Alex Deane, Sue Ellis, Peter Dredge and Ella Nicolson and children.

Is the vineyard still the source of fruit for many other wine labels?

Yes. We have been very lucky to work with a number of very good winemakers (and people) over the years, providing fruit for labels other than Meadowbank: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier for Ed Carr at House of Arras, several different varieties for Penny Jones and the Bay of Fires team, Shiraz for Nick Glaetzer, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for Dawson & James, fruit for Peter Dredge’s own DrEdge label, etcetera.

I believe organic management of the vineyard was explored at some stage?

Yes, in the 1990s, initially trying steam to control under-vine weed growth. The machine we were able to hire was very bulky and too wide to fit down our rows so we had to abandon that. We then purchased an under-vine cultivator. Our soils are sandy loam podzols and we felt too much damage was done to vine surface roots, so again we had to recalibrate. At the same time we were only using organically acceptable sprays.

Squeeze Every Last Drop of Wine from Your Lees.

KSS provides tubular membrane filtration systems with a high solids tolerance to boost product yields.

Learn more at kochseparation.com

This process took four years and although production decreased significantly in the first two years we eventually reverted to traditional methods due to the buildup of under-vine weeds at the time. We haven’t lost faith in organics though and for the last few years have not used herbicides, instead using a more sophisticated under-vine mower. We are now taking a more cautious and gradual approach to achieve organic status in the not too distant future. In the meantime, we continue to practice ‘sympathetic agriculture’.

Lees-COR™ Lees Filtration

The Meadowbank vineyard comprises around 50ha of vines in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, including 24.5ha planted to a wide range of Pinot Noir clones. Most of the fruit for the Meadowbank label is from the MV6 clone selected from blocks that have consistently produced the best fruit over time.

Onto the Meadowbank Pinot Noir, when was the first one made and when was it released?

Pinot was first planted at Meadowbank in 1987 to clones 2051 (D5V12). The first Pinot was released in 1993 — given that our nearest viticultural neighbour was 50km we were on a steep learning curve! The first Meadowbank Pinot Noir with Peter Dredge as partner and winemaker was 2016.

Tell us about the vines from those earlier releases?

Our relative isolation meant that clonal choice was guesswork. We chose a relatively close planting regime for those times — 2.1m wide rows and 1.5m between vines with VSP trellising — to keep it simple. All plantings were on own roots. Soils are sandy loams over clay and sandstone. Planting continued through the ‘90s moving onto slightly better soils.

How have the sources of fruit for the wine evolved since then?

Pinot seemed to enjoy being at Meadowbank so plantings continued in the late ‘80s. We discovered the clone MV6 which became the mainstay and seemed to produce fruit of exceptional quality.

Due to the early success of the 1993 Pinot, further plantings were undertaken using MV6 clone and trials of other clones.

By the mid ‘90s we had approaches from Ed Carr from the then Hardy Wine Company (now Accolade) to grow fruit for its sparkling wine range and further plantings were made and continued. By that time we had access to a wide range of clones and planted 114, 115, 386, 777, 667 and so on. Now the older blocks are used for the Meadowbank label and the balance sold.

Meadowbank now has 24.5ha planted to a wide range of Pinot clones. Most of the fruit for the Meadowbank label is from the MV6 clone selected from blocks that have consistently produced the best fruit over time. These are generally the older blocks though with newer clones being planted we are always trialling new areas. Give us another 100 years or so and we will have really worked out what clones and blocks consistently make the best wine!

Do the same vines in the vineyard usually provide the fruit for the wine or can that change from year to year?

For the most part, the same vines. There is some discretion there for the winemaker to play with based on the season, but fruit mostly comes from the older Pinot Block MV6. This may or may not change over time as we continue to watch and learn.

Describe how the vines used to make the wine are managed: Given Meadowbank’s background (grazing property) we try and keep things as simple as possible. The soils are not very fertile so the vines seem to be naturally in balance meaning very little is done in the way of shoot trimming. Generally, we only do one vine trimming pass on the more vigorous blocks and some leaf plucking. Compost has been used on the vineyard for the last eight years, avoiding the need for inorganic fertilisers. Having said that, the move to avoid herbicides has resulted in a slight decrease in vigour as the vines rebalance with the under-vine competition.

Any plans to change the fruit source?

At this stage we are very happy with what we have. We are considering further expansion of the vineyard and are keen to see how different clones might perform.

In the last four years we have gradually replaced some Sauvignon Blanc blocks with more Pinot Noir.

What is the average yield from the vines?

The average yield from our Pinot Noir vines seems to sit comfortably around the 6t/ha. There is definitely a clonal difference in yields with MV6 being the shiest. We have had some good results from 777 from a yield and quality perspective. We are looking forward to seeing what happens with the 667 we have planted once the vines get a bit of age.

What was the intention behind the 2016 Pinot Noir – the first made under Peter Dredge’s guiding hand?

The intention was to explore. Of course, we want to do the best we can and allow the wine to reflect season and place in any given year, but it takes a first step to start that journey. We wanted to see what we could do.

Describe the current winemaking process that brings the wine to fruition?

Multiple passes over a week or two at picking brings a fresh acid line early. More mature flavours and rachis for whole cluster selection comes later. Together, these build complexity into the single vineyard wine. Natural (or wild) ferment and no fining agents illustrates clearly the impact of seasonal variation. Great for vertical tastings. Bottling occurs closer to nine months on lees as opposed to 18 months — bright and fresh.

Have the winemaking inputs changed over the years?

Meadowbank Pinot Noir had a hiatus from 2010 to 2016 with the sale of the Coal Valley Vineyard to focus on the original Meadowbank vineyard in the upper Derwent Valley, so there’s some change by way of fruit resource, although this hasn’t changed since 2016. The first Meadowbank wines (Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet from 1980) were bottled under cork, and continued to be so until screwcap became the preference in 2002. This continues to be the case. Ideally, our Pinot Noir spends six months in bottle minimum before release. The wine has been released later and also earlier than this, such is the nature of business at times.

Any further changes planned?

Some newly planted (2015) Pinot Noir, comprising clones MV6, 667 and Abel, are on partly volcanic soil whereas the original plantings (1987) are on loose sand and or sandstone on coffee rock. This may be included in the blend or as a variation in its own right in the not too distant future.

How has the wine style evolved over the years?

Picking times have been earlier based on climatic and stylistic factors. I would suggest the amount of new French oak has declined over the years to more clearly focus on the vineyard traits of the wine.

Biggest challenge in making this wine?

Sadly, bushfire and smoke. The vineyard is planted next to a neighbouring national park as you head to the central highlands of Tasmania. Smoke has had a mild to devastating impact in the last decade with the entire vineyard crop written off in 2012 to a localised bushfire, and then the choice not to bottle our flagship Pinot Noir in 2019 due to larger bushfires in the south-west of the Tasmanian Wilderness

World Heritage Area that impacted much of Tasmania. Such events, of course, are a huge challenge.

Any years that it hasn’t been made?

We didn’t make a Meadowbank-labelled Pinot Noir between 2010-2015 as we were solely focussed on growing through this time. We also chose not to make a Pinot Noir in 2019 in consideration of potential smoke taint risk from a significant bushfire to our west that year. While marginal, it was a choice we felt was appropriate.

What’s the recommended retail price of the Meadowbank Pinot Noir, approximately how much is produced each year and where is it sold

The 2021 Meadowbank Pinot Noir retails for $60. We only produce around 350 cases. We work with our friends at Bibendum Wine Company for distribution on the mainland. They do a great job maintaining relations with our on-premise and off-premise/retail partners. In Tasmania it is a very close community, and we are fortunate to work with trade while calling many of them friends at the same time. We also have a mix of options to connect with people directly, including our Long Lunch Experiences, unique events like The Meadowbank Open, and our wine club, ‘The Defiance’.

Most notable accolades?

In recent times, probably the trophy for best Pinot Noir at the Royal Sydney Wine Show a few years ago.

Best vintages?

2016 picked up a swag of awards, but in-house we would probably say ’17 and ’21. The marketing team will always say <insert current vintage here>!

Premium equipment and consumables for V23.

All your Vintage requirements in one place. Nally bins, vats, fittings, oak alternatives and oenological products. Plus grape presses, pumps and turn key bottling equipment and machinery.

03 9555 5500 or info@grapeworks.com.au

Gerald Ellis (centre) with daughter and second generation custodian of Meadowbank Mardi Ellis and winemaker and wine business partner Peter Dredge.

Ancient Wine

Finding the future in the past

Uncorked

While technology is racing forward at a rate faster than the industry has seen before, many winemakers are looking to reduce their impact on the environment and create wines using fewer resources and in ways that are more natural. Harrison Davies explores how winemakers can learn from ancient techniques to create a more sustainable future.

Winemaking

is an ancient art.

In 2017, the oldest evidence of winemaking was discovered by archaeologists on a site in rural Georgia, where they found 8,000 year old pots with images of grapevines.

Patrick McGovern is the scientific director of the biomolecular archaeology project for cuisine, fermented beverages and health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia and published a report of his findings. His report concluded that the earliest known evidence of winemaking occurred in Georgia, in the South Caucasus region.

“The chemical findings are corroborated by climatic and environmental reconstruction, together with archaeobotanical evidence, including grape pollen, starch, and epidermal remains associated with a jar of similar type and date,” McGovern wrote.

“As a medicine, social lubricant, mindaltering substance, and highly valued commodity, wine became the focus

of religious cults, pharmacopoeias, cuisines, economies and society in the ancient Near East. This wine culture subsequently spread around the globe.”

But why is this important to us now?

Wine technology has come a long way since the days of leaving grapes in jars, or qvevri, and now allows producers to use technology and chemicals to work around pesky things like acid, pests and temperature.

These new techniques and technologies have downsides, however, being expensive to run, creating a lot of waste and impacting the environment that producers want pristine for their grapes.

As a result, many producers are lowering their impact on their wines and in doing so, looking to the past.

In looking to the past, producers are left with two strategies they can employ to create lower-intervention, or LoFi, styles of wine: grapes that grow well in their climate, and winemaking that doesn’t require as much electricity.

Ancient world and new world

Part of the reason its worth considering ancient winemaking techniques in an Australian context is the similarity between the groing conditions.

Ancient winemakers did not have the same access to pesticides and irrigation that modern producers do, and so they had to grow their vines with what was available to them.

Manager of Industry Policy at Wine Australia, Anna Hooper, spent several years studying ancient winemaking techniques and has travelled to Georgia to investigate evidence of ancient winemaking.

She said the similarities between Georgia and Australia were significant.

“The climate in Georgia is quite varied due to its topography and variations in elevation. On the Eastern side are well known regions of Kartili and Khakheti where they have warm to hot summers and cold winters,” she said.

Georgian qvevri. Photo tomasz przechlewski

Like Australia, there are a range of soil types. The main similarity is its warm growing season and relatively low rainfall.

Anna Hooper

“These regions have a dry continental climate whereas on the western side the moderating effects from the Black Sea have some influence.

“According to mean July/January temperature, it’s more like inland Australia.

“Like Australia, there are a range of soil types. The main similarity is its warm growing season and relatively low rainfall.

“It was a very dry season when I was there and from what I understand, dealing with climate extremes is not uncommon there.”

Hooper explained that winemaking in Georgia today provided quite the contrast between big, industrial facilities and small, backyard winemaking operations using traditional techniques.

“When I went to Georgia back in 2016, I was surprised by the diversity of wine styles being produced and the contrast between the modern state of the art facilities and those making a very small amount of what they call ‘family wine’,” she said.

“Traditional winemaking is still commonplace, with the very small-scale backyard garage style establishments where wines are made very manually with little intervention and stored in Qvevris buried underground for climate control.”

Improve your nutrition strategy with Martin Vialatte®.

With over 100 years of expertise in oenological innovation, Martin Vialatte® has the product range to support your nutrition strategy. Contact us about improving ferments, safety and organoleptic balance using this extensive range of rehydration, complex and organic nutrients.

Contact our Oenological Specialist on 03 9555 5500 or info@grapeworks.com.au

Buried kvevris at Mukado Wines in Georgia.

LoFi wines, sometimes called natural wines (although this can also refer to a variety of other styles with minimal intervention and without chemicals), have found a cult following within Australia in recent years.

A recent survey about winery equipment conducted by Winetitles found that many wine producers across Australia were particularly interested in winemaking tools that could help them make wines using lower intervention techniques.

Producers showed their interest in such equipment as amphorae and manual crushers as ways to express different characters in their wine as well as to create a smaller environmental footprint.

“I would like to acquire a terracotta amphora, to add some complexity to our Perth Hills Shiraz ferments. Currently I use a fibreglass vat, which gives a clean but slightly characterless product,” one respondent said.

“I’m looking to source some Italian-made amphorae to bring some of our wines back to earth and innovate by going back to the future. We must diversify to evolve and survive in today’s tough conditions,” said another.

What about grapes?

Climatic conditions in Georgia allowed for low intervention winemaking thousands of years ago, and similar growing conditions suggest that grape varieties that have been grown for thousands of years could work in an Australian context.

“Viticulturally, the Georgian varieties that did well seemed pretty tough and well

Ancient wine over time

6,000 BC

earliest proven history of winemaking located in the south Caucus region of Georgia and sites in modern day Iran.

4,500 BC

Sites with the oldest evidence of wine production in Europe are in Greece and in the far East in Shandong Province – complete with fossilised grape seeds and skins.

200 AD Romans began with wood cooperage and the use of barrels

adapted to the harsh environment. Some possess viticultural qualities such as thick skins, high acid, disease tolerance and drought tolerance that could work well in Australia’s climate,” Hooper said.

““There are over 500 varieties grown in Georgia, including many of the traditional varieties that we all know well.

“Rkatsiteli is the most common white variety and makes very good skin contact whites. It’s not dissimilar to Chardonnay in its structure and fairly neutral aromas. It lends itself well to skin contact during ferment which brings out dried fruit characters.

“In terms of reds, Saperavi is pretty common over there and like in Australia, it can make pretty exceptional fuller, richer reds with amazing tannin structure.”

Saperavi has been adopted by many Australian wine producers due to the fact that it is tolerant to our warm climates.

400 Advances in wine technology slow due to the practice of winemaking being restricted to monastic religious orders in Europe.

15th and 16th centuries

Spanish conquistadors planted Vitis vinifera varieties in Mexico and South America, in the mid 1600s, vines were planted and wine made by the first Dutch settlers in South Africa, followed by plantings in California.

Winemaker Lado Uzunashvili standing among his vines in Georgia

Old Qvevri

Winemakers have pointed to it, along with other eastern European and Mediterranean varieties, as something that can dry grow in Australia in warm climates.

Andy Coppard is a LoFi winemaker based in McLaren Vale and has been working with Saperavi due to its tolerance to heat.

“What attracted me to it was that I thought that it could actually add some texture to the overall diversity of the wines that are made under my brand,” he explained.

“We work with this farming organically and biodynamically; sustainability is very important to us, and McLaren Vale is a warm, drier climate. Varieties like Saperavi obviously work pretty well in our climate too.

“I’ve realised Saperavi from Georgia is a little bit different. But it certainly handles a warmer, drier conditions and McLaren very well.”

Coppard said the industry should take a much more serious look at varieties that grow better in an Australian context rather than the same French varieties that had powered the industry for decades.

“It’s not an early ripening variety or anything like that. For us, coping without fertiliser, irrigation, etc. is one thing that any variety, whether it be whites or reds, that actually holds its acid as things start to heat up, is of critical importance,” he explained.

“We’re used to varieties like Shiraz where in a hotter, drier year, it would not be uncommon to add two, three, sometimes even four grams of tartaric acid in the crusher when the fruit comes in because the acidity obviously is dropped out of it quite quickly prior to reaching optimum maturity.

“Whereas with varieties like Saperavi, I’m almost waiting for the acid to drive out of it. I’ve got a good flavour when I’m tasting the berries in the vineyard. But I’m almost waiting for the acid to actually drop out of it a little bit before I can pick it.

“It handles those warmer, drier conditions so well that fresh acidity is still actually quite bright despite being in a warmer, drier climate.

“You can add acid obviously. And that’s obviously perfectly legal and perfectly acceptable. But I don’t think you ever quite have the same balance and the final wine.

“I really want the fruit to be the star of the show and keep the winemaking fingerprint to a bare minimum.”

1630s

In the 1630s, the first glass wine bottles for storage are recognised as having been made by ‘alchemist’ and food writer Sir Kenelm Digby at Newnhamon-Severn in Gloucestershire, England.

1700s

The development of wine production methods began to accelerate in the 18th century and led to the appearance of vintage, age-worthy wines.

1750s

The first cork production facility was started in Spain.

19th century

winegrape vines first introduced to Australia and New Zealand.

It handles those warmer, drier conditions so well that fresh acidity is still actually quite bright despite being in a warmer, drier climate.”

Andy Coppard

Lino Ramble Saperavi

Sustainable packaging and the wine industry

We’re

working towards a circular economy in Australia,” said Alison Appleby, explaining that, traditionally, packaging materials have simply moved from a state of raw material through to the end point of disposal. “Now we’re looking to keep those materials in production for use and recycling to avoid that end of life disposal.”

The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is charged by government to lead the delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets which were set in 2018 supported by all levels of government and industry.

The targets are:

• 100 per cent of packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable;

• 70% of plastic packaging recycled or composted;

• An average of 50% recycled content across all packaging; and

• Phasing out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging.

When looking into the packaging landscape, Appleby said the latest available data from 2019-20 shows there are “some losses in the system”.

“In 2019-20, we had 6.3m tonnes of packaging material placed on the market. Of that, 14% was not recyclable by design, which left 5.4m tonnes of packaging that was recyclable.

“But of that, 24% was not collected. This could be for any numbers of reasons –perhaps the material didn’t have correct disposal labelling so consumers may not have been aware that it was recyclable, so it wasn’t entered into the recycling stream.

“Of the 3.9m tonnes of packaging material that was collected for recycling, 3.4m tonnes was recycled and there was an 8% loss of material in the process.

She said that Australia is actually doing “quite well” when it comes to meeting the targets.

“Eighty-six per cent of packaging in the Australian supply chain in 2019-20 was designed to be reusable or recyclable if possible.

In 2019-20, we had 6.3m tonnes of packaging material placed on the market. Of that, 14% was not recyclable by design, which left 5.4m tonnes of packaging that was

“Of the 70% target, we’re at 16% [so] there’s still a bit of work to do here, but there’s a lot of investment happening in the industry at the moment to support plastic packaging recovery.

“Of the 50% average recycled content target, we’re at 39%. When the targets were originally set in 2018 it was a 30% target which we achieved in 2020 and so we revised the target at that time.

“For the phase out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging, we’re in the development phase [...] There are a number of Australian states and territories with their own single-use plastic bands that are coming into effect.”

Appleby said that looking deeper into the recycled content targets, there are material specific targets. For plastic, that’s 20%; for PET specifically, it’s 30%, and for HDPE it’s 20%.

“For paper packaging we’re looking for an average of 60% recycled content, for metal, 35% and for glass, 50%”

Making sustainable packaging decisions

She explained that there a number of ways to make packaging more sustainable.

“A great example, specifically for the wine industry, is that APCO has a number of organisations and businesses in the wine industry supply chain that are part of our membership base.

“In mid-2018 APCO partnered with Endeavour Drinks Group to test out a value chain collaboration to address some of these challenges being faced by the wine

industry and to explore opportunities to improve packaging sustainability as an industry.

Appleby said the model was tested, eventually bringing together stakeholders including wineries that were exploring packaging sustainability.

“The expanded discussion beyond this looked at both [the] primary supply chain and also considered value chain disciplines beyond the point of packaging disposal, into collection, sorting, reprocessing and recycling; as well as the supply chain across different materials used within the industry as a whole.

“Together the group identified a number of opportunities for improvement and opportunities to test, and the results of the collaboration merged quite rapidly.

“Having collaborated and created a set of industry-specific guidelines, they created their own specific guidelines which were complementary to APCO’s sustainable packaging guidelines […] and the group committed to collaborate on a range of challenges that they identified from their initial meeting.”

The group, known since 2019 as the Wine Industry Sustainable Packaging Alliance (WISPA), has continued to meet since and has aligned with the Green Industry South Australia and South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA).

In her presentation, Appleby also discussed the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, a central part of the co-regulatory framework. These are 10 principles to assist APCO members to achieve optimal outcomes to collectively work to meet the 2025 Targets. The guidelines also include a detailed ‘Implementation Guide’ to help members gain “maximum value” from them.

More information can be found online at www.apco.org.au or by email: apco@ apco.org.au

APCO is a co-regulatory not-for-profit which is leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia.

Alison Appleby, member services manager at the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) was one of the speakers at the 2022 PACKWINE Forum & Expo. In her presentation she discussed the 2025 National Packaging Targets and Australia’s current packaging landscape.

2022 Wine Packaging Virtual Forum, Expo & Design Awards

ON NOW

Browse virtual stalls of trusted industry suppliers to find out how they can help to improve your productivity and business growth Discover new tech and sustainable product options Meet the teams behind innovative local suppliers who support your industry

An unmissable line-up of expert industry speakers share their knowledge and experience on the theme of Adapting Packaging to the 21st Century: Innovation and Sustainability

View the entire field of striking entries that capture the Australian and New Zealand wine industry at its creative best. Find out which packaging designs are among the year’s best by visiting the Design Awards presentation.

Presented by in association with

Patron Sponsor

Cellar Doors Sales

Re-opening the doors Welcoming guests back to front of house following pandemic closures

Cellar doors took the brunt of COVID lockdowns, limiting their operations by limiting people from visiting. While many businesses made the most of what business they could muster, corks were popped once restrictions were lifted and visitor capacity was not so strict. Harrison Davies asked operators In Australia and New Zealand about how their cellar doors have rebounded since.

Manypeople throughout the wine industry never want to hear the words ‘COVID lockdown’ ever again.

Businesses across the country were forced to contend with rules that prevented customers from entering their buildings for nearly two years, whether the rules were strict or lenient.

Cellar doors faced the brunt of these challenges more than any other part of the wine industry, as it was simply not permitted for consumers to walk through the doors for most of the pandemic.

Businesses in Victoria, and particularly in regions adjacent to Melbourne, faced the longest lockdown in the world, over 260 straight days, where no visitations were allowed.

Other states, like South Australia and New South Wales, imposed more lenient restrictions on cellar doors, allowing a limited number of people to enter any particular venue.

With different rules everywhere, the state of cellar doors was left somewhat in shambles.

Now, with pandemic restrictions in the rear-view mirror, cellar doors are finally experiencing a change in the wind.

While the pre-pandemic status quo might be finding its way back to our shores, the lessons learned from the past two-plus years are still fresh.

New rules and new visitors

Rules were different for everyone across the industry based on what state they were based in.

During the pandemic, several states closed their borders and became open to just local, intrastate visitors.

One such winery was Knappstein in the Clare Valley in South Australia.

The state’s wine regions were open only

to South Australians until the end of 2021, and throughout the pandemic had capacity limits in hospitality venues, usually around one person per 2m².

This was a particular challenge for Knappstein, who had just completed a shiny new renovation of their Clare cellar door.

Knappstein cellar door manager Tania Matz said it was frustrating to have such a pleasant, large space that couldn’t be used to its full potential.

“We’ve increased the footprint for our tasting area. So we’ve gone from being able to host, pre COVID, maybe 10 in our

Knappstein cellar door manager Tania Matz

Knappstein cellar door

tiny little cellar door, to now, without the restrictions, we can accommodate 60-80 people downstairs in different formats,” she said.

In Western Australia, Margaret River had to contend with similar challenges, with the state stringently locking out the rest of the country well into 2022.

WA operators did not, however, have to work around any additional restrictions and they saw a boom in local visitations.

Margaret River Wine Association CEO Amanda Whiteland said some producers have since experienced their busiest months ever after the border re-opened early in 2022.

“The mix has been changing,” she said.

“So obviously with the closed border, it was very much a West Australian market.

“We’ve seen the interstate and international visitors coming back, which has been great, but I think it’s still building up.

“I did have a producer tell me they’re having their busiest month ever this month.”

WA wine tourism is now being powered by out-of-state and, particularly, overseas visitors.

Their strong visitation is being bolstered by a still-strengthened intrastate visitation rate.

Monthly staff favourite from the

2022 DYLAN

Known as a total goofball out of hours, Dylan is 100 per cent focused while on the job. He enjoys practicing his reception skills by occasionally barking at nothing. Has excellent timekeeping, ensuring everyone takes their breaks by relentlessly demanding a game of fetch at 10.30, 12.00 and 3.00 on the dot. Dylan will help move winery hoses with the same level of vigour and enthusiasm that he shows for the vacuum cleaner at home. He will gladly receive butt rubs to promote overall workplace well-being and is such a good boy.

General overseer

Knappstein cellar door manager Tania Matz

Tania Matz

“We’ve just had a lot of international and interstates coming back and we’ve had really strong support from the domestic market,” she continued.

“I think [WA visitors] are still coming. I don’t think its increasing though. We’ve just had the international interest rate added on top.”

Meanwhile in Victoria, visitors have only just begun filtering back through the doors once again. Even after the tight restrictions that prevented visitors from coming at all were lifted, lesser restrictions still prevented cellar doors from operating at full capacity for several months, although these too were gradually removed.

Zonzo Estate in the Yarra Valley made wine production a much bigger part of its business as a result of the pandemic, but the role its cellar door has now changed again since visitors started to return.

Director Rod Micallef said his team was excited to get customers in once again, albeit the move from strict rules to none had been a bit jarring.

“In Victoria, we had staggered opening and we had restrictions. So we chose not to open the cellar door at first,” he said.

“In our cellar door building, we were only allowed, say, 20 odd people and it was better business to book restaurant seatings, because they are our guaranteed income, instead of just staying in waiting for someone to come in and do a tasting and perhaps buy wine; so we thought we’d take the sales on set menus before.

“Once the cellar door opened, then we were allowed to do tastings and masks were not mandatory and all that stuff.

He said they had found the situation difficult as staff had only been able to remove their masks in the last couple of months.

Old dogs and new tricks

Lessons were leaned from the years living with COVID-19 restrictions, as cellar doors were forced to change the ways they offered their services.

Zonzo was forced to change its model completely, but the changes made during that period have now led to a longerlasting new approach for running the cellar door.

Due to the staggered opening hours, Zonzo began adapting its tastings to a virtual reality (VR) format, where all bottles have QR codes that link to a video walking consumers through the tasting.

This technology has been brought into the cellar door and Micallef said its use has been a success.

“This is something that we’ve dreamt of many, many years ago; we were talking about doing virtual reality wine,” he said.

It’s also generated more sales; one thing we’ve noticed with our seated tastings is that people have gone to more of our premium selection rather than our regional selection.

“COVID sort of worked in a way for QR codes because everyone was used to using them and so it became second nature for people to scan one of those.

“We have created a series of online videos that cover all our tastings.

“There is now a QR code on the back of all our bottles so [customers] can choose to buy tasting and they get their flight of glasses, and then they can choose to do that at a table and watch the tasting on a video from the phone.

“So you choose your wines, we give you [your wines], you watch the tasting on your phone, then you can choose to buy online there and then, you can have it delivered home or to your table.”

Elsewhere, many cellar doors had begun to experiment with seated tastings prior to COVID. Seated tastings entered their moment in vogue during COVID, as they were one way

COVID sort of worked in a way for QR codes because everyone was used to using them and so it became second nature for people to scan one of those.

Rod Micallef

The Zonzo cellar door in the Yarra Valley

that allowed visitors to sample wineries’ ranges.

Knappstein had been experimenting with seated tastings prior to the restrictions, but have now made them a priority.

“We’ve continued to offer the seated tastings, because we’ve found that our staff are engaging more with the guests that we have in cellar door when they are seated,” said Matz.

“It’s also generated more sales; one thing we’ve noticed with our seated tastings is that people have gone to more of our premium selection rather than our regional selection.

“We’ve noticed more sales; the sales of our premium wines have increased just because of the way we’re delivering the tastings.”

Many hands and still plenty of work

While cellar doors are again seeing a good reception from visitors, the challenge of securing the required labour still hangs like a cloud over the successes that many are experiencing.

The labour shortage has hit the hospitality industry particularly hard, and cellar door managers have said the situation is particularly challenging.

“We’ve got labour shortages in [Margaret River], as do probably the whole country, and we’re not running at full capacity,” Whiteland said.

“Within the capacity of the labour shortages, it’s school holidays here at the moment, and it’s definitely busy.”

Micallef mirrored Whiteland’s comments.

“What we found now is, even though we get people on board, their skill and level of knowledge is not where we want it to be,” he said.

“That’s where the digital form of that cellar door tasting has really come into play where we’re not depending on staff that just started to try and sell products or deal correct tastings

“It used to be that you interview people and choose the best candidate. Now it’s like [if] someone applied, give them a job over email.”

While the first stages of the recovery may have been swift, the lingering effects of pandemic restrictions may remain a factor for cellar door operators for some time to come.

We’ve seen the interstate and international visitors coming back, which has been great, but I think it’s still building up.

Amanda Whiteland

The Zonzo cellar door in the Yarra Valley

Speakers share business know-how at 2022 IMPACT Conference

Last month, journalist Harrison Davies attended the 2022 Wine Industry Impact Conference held in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo. Over the event’s two days, around 140 delegates heard from a range of speakers focusing on the way forward for the wine sector amidst ongoing challenges.

TheWine Industry Impact Conference returned in 2022, with this year’s event taking place in Bendigo in central Victoria and providing an opportunity for wine business operators to come together and discuss ways to ‘future proof their businesses’ as well as to take a broader look at the industry at large.

The conference boiled largely down to two major topics: sales at home and sales abroad.

Around 140 delegates descended on Bendigo to attend presentations and workshops featuring more than 30 speakers from around Australia and abroad.

The challenges resulting from the closure of the China market, supply chain disruptions and the changing demographics of the wine consumer market loomed large over the conference.

The first day of the conference featured a baker’s dozen of speakers and was hosted by MC and wine writer Jeremy Oliver.

Michael Whitehead, head of agribusiness at ANZ, opened the conference with an outlook on the state of Australian wine exports.

While the outlook was grim from the onset, he provided a positive outlook in his closing remarks.

“Chardonnay and Prosecco are leading the industry in value growth, both domestically and in exports,” he said.

New Zealand winemaker and owner of Waiheke Island label Destiny Bay, Sean Spratt, gave a presentation that explored how wine businesses could “exploit their unfair advantages.”

He explained how his winery was inspired by pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart to find a way to make its wines unique and find a corner of the market for them to succeed.

“If you can’t be the first of your kind, find something that you can be the first in,” he said.

WISA Executive Officer Shirley Fraser

Former Lush Cosmetics Australia director Peta Granger

Several speakers continued on with the value of the US market, including Matt Fowles, vigneron at Fowles Wines. He emphasised the importance of introducing one’s label to the US market in person.

Incoming Australian Grape & Wine CEO Lee McLean gave his first presentation since the announcement of his new role.

Additonally, Enolytics CEO Cathy Huyghe explored narratives and what should not be considered when looking to sell an Australian wine in the US market.

“There isn’t a narrative about Australian wine because no two Australian wines are the same and this is also true for the American wine drinker,” she said.

Several speakers also looked at embracing younger consumers and explored ways to entice millennials and Gen Z towards wine.

New trends

Angas Hughson, founder and publisher of Winepilot, explored how new packaging formats, as well as healthier options like no and low alcohol wines, were influencing the market and how these trends were built upon a new

fascination and focus on health.

Meanwhile, Polly Hammond, founder and CEO of the 5forests marketing agency, helped attendees understand their misunderstandings of generational demographics: targeted “generational marketing is bulls**t,” she exclaimed.

The next day had delegates plunged deep into workshops exploring the three key topics of sales, marketing and technology and how those themes become interconnected.

Finding ways to create connections with consumers through experiences and forging relationships with export distributors and on-premise suppliers were workshop topics of particular interest for delegates.

The conference closed with a speech from keynote speaker Peta Granger, the former director of Lush Cosmetics Australia.

Directing her presentation to wine industry operators, Granger shared her wealth of experience in guiding a company through shifts in the market and in responding to wider societal changes.

“Everyone in the company should have a hand in how the company is run,” she said.

“At Lush, all our marketing team would have a few days on the floor of one of our stores when they started.

“We would also ask our casual staff about things like uniform and how the brand should present itself at Christmas, and these strategies led to massive successes for the company.”

Tracie Young of Silver Spoon Wines

Destiny Bay owner Sean Spratt, Brown Family Wine Group CEO Dean Carrol, Fowles Wine CEO Matt Fowles, and Robin Shaw

MC and wine writer Jeremy Oliver

SAWIA launches updated Wine Industry Job Dictionary

Workplace injuries can result in trauma for the employee, lost productivity for the business and higher ReturnToWorkSA premium rates for employers which impact the average rate payable by the wine industry.

To help improve return to work outcomes, the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) has created an updated Wine Industry Job Dictionary, to assist wine industry employers facilitate a more effective return to work for an employee after a workplace injury.

Job Dictionaries are a tool for identifying suitable duties that can be performed while an injured employee recovers from their injury. They include a job/ task breakdown and guidance on the physical demands required for each task, injury risks and how each task can be performed safely.

The new Wine Industry Job Dictionary covers cellar hand, vineyard hand, winemaker, grower liaison, grounds keeper, bottling operator, laboratory technician, forklift operator/warehouse, maintenance worker, cellar door sales assistant, salesperson, restaurant/events and administration roles. It includes photos and videos to assist businesses and workers to understand the physical requirements of roles.

The Job Dictionary roles were progressively released from early last month on SAWIA’s new work health and safety platform WineSafety: https:// winesafety.com.au/job-dictionary/.

SAWIA chief executive Brian Smedley said common wine industry injuries included trauma to muscles and tendons, trauma to joints and ligaments, and lacerations, cuts and abrasions.

“The quicker and more effectively employers can facilitate a gradual return to the workplace, working with the treating medical doctor and rehabilitation providers to identify suitable tasks, the better it is for both the employee and the business,” Smedley said.

Supporting injured workers

“Importantly, from an employee perspective, being supported to return to the workplace after a workplace injury enables the employee to feel valued, motivated and connected to the workplace – important factors in maintaining good mental health.”

Smedley said the costs associated with workplace injuries directly impacted the ReturnToWorkSA (RTWSA) premiums payable by employers.

“A more effective return to work will also assist in containing costs, which will benefit both individual employers and the industry overall,” he said.

The Government of South Australia is supportive of initiatives helping to create safer work environments.

“The enhanced, updated Wine Industry Job Dictionary is a resource that should help ensure workers are supported in their return to work after injury, and also deliver cost savings and improved productivity for wine businesses,” said Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Clare Scriven.

To assist with adoption of the new resource, SAWIA ran two Job Dictionary webinars last month.

The updated Job Dictionary follows the recent launch of a new Wine Industry Safety Induction Course which are both hosted on SAWIA’s work health and safety platform WineSafety: www. winesafety.com.au.

Development and delivery of this activity is one part of the South Australian Wine Industry Development Program as administered by SAWIA, which the association says is only made possible due to the support and funding provided by the South Australian Government through the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA).

A more effective return to work will also assist in containing costs, which will benefit both individual employers and the industry overall.

Brian Smedley

Thank you to all our advertisers in this

Adama Australia Pty Ltd www.adama.com 44

Agnova Technologies Pty Ltd www.agnova.com.au 35

Antonio Carraro Oceanic Pty Ltd www.antoniocarraro.it/au 23

Aussie Wine Group www.aussiewinegroup.com.au 29

Batmobile batmobile@genie2go.com.au 45

Bayer www.bayer.com.au 51

BioGuano www.bioguano.com.au 53

Braud Australia www.braud.com.au 25

Della Toffola Pacific www.dtpacific.com Back Cover

De Sangosse Australia Ltd www.desangosse.com.au 56

Fendt www.fendt.com/au 33

Fermentis www.fermentis.com 71

Fischer Australia www.fischeraustralis.com.au 9

GH Parts www.ghparts.com.au 96

Grapeworks www.grapeworks.com.au 62,75,77,79

Kauri Australia www.kauriwine.com 11

Kendon Chemicals See ad page 43

Koch Seperation Solutions kochseperation.com 74

Landini Central www.landinicentral.com.au 19

Nufarm nufarm.com.au/tbb 31

Nutrien nutrienagsolutions.com.au/insurance 21

Omnia Specialities www.omnia.com.au 49

Pellenc www.pellenc.com.au 17

Plastic Precise Parts ppp@tpg.com.au 96

PMH Wquipment (Vinicole) www.pmh-vinicole.fr 64

Project Wine www.projectwine.com.au 67

Rapidfil www.rapidfil.com.au 69,97

Syngenta www.syngenta.com.au 47

Tapflo Oceanic www.tapflo.com.au 61

Viniquip www.viniquip.com 2,3

Winequip www.winequip.com.au 59

TRINA SMITH

How did you get your start in wine?

I was studying accounting tax and I discovered the errors of my ways pretty quickly. A friend and I did a wine appreciation course and I absolutely loved it. I thought this seems like a good industry to get into and that’s what I did. I applied for the winemaking oenology degree and went from there.

What is the best thing about working in the wine sector?

I love making wine. I love that as much as I despair it, each vintage is different. I love seeing people enjoy our wine. I think it’s just it’s a great industry to be in and everyone’s really inclusive and helpful.

What have been some of the highlights of your career in wine?

I’ve been lucky enough to travel around the world. I’ve done a vintage at Bollinger, helping out with the vintage in Sonoma. I’ve been nominated for the Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year award a couple of years ago. There’s been many highlights and also just the number of wines that are out there that people enjoy.

How have you been able to explore winemaking throughout your career and across different regions?

When I finished university, travelling was the first thing I did. I travelled overseas to Sonoma, South Africa and then to Italy. I’ve done vintages in numerous regions around Australia and obviously working for Pernod Ricard we source a number of regions throughout Australia as well. So I feel like I’ve been to a lot of different places and discovered a lot of different wines.

What are some characteristics of Australian wine that help it stand out from other countries?

One thing I love about our wines, is a freshness and vibrancy that we have and but also love fruit driven characteristics of a lot of our wine. There’s a lot of varieties that are grown in so many different areas throughout Australia and I love that each variety really showcases the regions they come from and also the stamp of the winemaker.

What are some of the challenges involved with being a part of the winemaking industry?

I know there’s been lots of rain happening for quite some time. You’re always woindering; “ how’s this going to impact the vintage and you’re already thinking ahead of what you need to do, how it’s going to affect the fruit. If it’s going to affect the fruit, what you need to do in case things go awry. Mother Nature, she’s a cruel beast sometimes.

What place does sparkling wine have in the Australian wine industry?

It’s one of those styles that are growing in terms of both value and also demand or growth. So I think it has a great spot is genuine industry at the moment.

Location: Tasmania

Sparkling winemaker, Pernod Ricard Winemakers

There is always something in there about new technology, whether it be from a winemaking point of view or viticulture point of view.

Trina Smith on the Grapegrower & Winemaker

Event dates may be subject to change or cancellation. Please refer to event websites for updated information. Travel restrictions may also apply.

Australia and New Zealand

2 November 2022 Geelong Wine Show, Provenance Wines, Fyansford, VIC www.geelongwineshow.com.au

7-11 November 2022 The Tradies Canberra and Region Wine Show, Canberra, ACT www.rncas.org.au/rws.html

11-13 November 2022 Ballarat Wine Show, Ballarat, VIC www.ballaratshow.org.au/attractions-events/wine-show

18 November 2022 Macedon Budburst Festival 2022, Various wineries, cellar doors and venues across the Macedon Ranges region www.macedonrangeswineandfoodfest.com.au/

20 November 2022 Toast Martinborough, Martinborough, New Zealand www.toastmartinborough.co.nz

20 November 2022 Eltham Wine Show – 53rd, Veneto Club, Bulleen, VIC www.amateurwine.org.au/wine-show

23-24 November 2022 Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Wine Show, Mornington Peninsula, VIC www.mpwine.com.au

28-29 November 2022 Yarra Valley Wine Show, Levantine Hill Estate, Cold stream, VIC www.wineyarravalley.com.au

International

8-9 November 2022 Harvest Challenge 2022, www.winecompetitions.com/harvest-challenge

11-12 November 2022

California Wine Festival – Huntington Beach, Huntington Beach, California, US www.californiawinefestival.com/

14-16 November 2022 2022 Sustainable Ag Expo, San Luis Obispo, California, USA www.sustainableagexpo.org/

15-18 November 2022 SIMEI, Fiera Milano, Milan, Italyw www.simei.it

1 December 2022 2022 WIN Expo, Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California, US http://www.wineindustryexpo.com/

See more on the Wine Industry Directory Events calendar at winetitles.com.au/wide

looking back

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 2012

Live-streaming your events can turn your brand website into a virtual cellar door

Many modern wine consumers are culturally competent and technologically savvy, independently forming and supporting virtual communities/blog sites and net based special interest groups. Emerging and strongly supported forms of e-based consumer networking have been found to reach, engage, educate and influence buyers adverse to the forms of traditional mass media advertising and promotion.

November 2002

Shiraz shrivel update

Shiraz is one of Australia’s most widely-planted red winegrape varieties and is still increasing in popularity. Its importance as a leading exportable wine is due to its quality characteristics. Unfortunately, the Shiraz cultivar is subject to weight loss during the later stages of fruit ripening. This is the first of many short summaries on the ‘Shiraz berry shrivel’ project being undertaken at the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre.

November 1992

A busy time for the wine industry

For the last month the wine industry has seen an almost endless procession of workshops and seminars culminating eight Triennial Technical Conference in Melbourne. The conference was extremely well attended with over 1000 delegates and exhibitors. Representation of Grape and Wine Research and Development

Corporation-supported work was very good, with a large number of papers and posters presented, relating to corporation supported projects.

Did you know that your digital subscription to the Grapegrower & Winemaker allows access to archived digital copies of the magazine dating all the way back to 2005?

To download the back issues visit: winetitles.com.au/gwm

Over

The 2022 Directory provides the

wine and grape

professionals, products and services across Australia and New Zealand at your fingertips.

Search the Directory for winery profiles, locate

and consultants in your area, or identify potential new customers.

The Buyers’ Guide makes it easy to find the suppliers and service providers to assist your business solutions.

THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND WINE INDUSTRY