Grapegrower & Winemaker - April 2016

APRIL 2016

BERRY SHRIVEL Understanding the physiology

PRUNING

Don’t start without planning

COPPER &

WINEMAKING

Careful management required

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contents features COVER

APRIL 2016

Irrigation Australia Conference 31

BERRY SHRIVEL Understanding the physiology

Training & Trellising

40

PRUNING

Pruning

48

While vintage has been winding down in some regions, there has still been plenty of action in vineyards and wineries in the later-ripening areas.

This picking crew was snapped in Langhorne Creek.

Don’t start without planning

COPPER &

WINEMAKING

Careful management required

news

grapegrowing

On the grapevine .....................................6

Why do grape berries shrivel? ................23

From the editor .........................................7 Exciting, probably. Profitable, maybe.

Exploring the grape-water relations to answer that question

23

My View: Rachael Sweeney ......................8 The Wine Victoria executive officer, reports on the importance of the recently formed Victorian Wine Ministerial Advisory Committee

Movers & shakers ...................................10 Regional Roundup: NSW ......................... 12 Milestones in Mudgee; digital marketing success; big changes at the Sydney Royal Wine Show; and more

The Vinerobot project .............................29 Helping growers accurately estimate yield

Nigel Blieschke’s ‘Future Leaders Diary’ ...14 Stepping up to a leadership opportunity

People & Places: ProWein 2016 ...............16

High accuracy rootling transplants ...........43 The machinery that can deliver precise results

Don't start pruning without planning........48 48

16

Make good economic decisions this pruning season

regulars 6

What’s online

72 Calendar

18 R&D at Work

73 Industry profile

66 Ask the AWRI

74 Marketplace classifieds

4 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

April 2016: Issue 625 winemaking Impacts of copper on fermentation and wine quality .................................. 52 Winemakers shouldn’t assume there are no problems using copper

Yes indeed pard’ner – they do make wine in Texas .................. 55

Innovations in fast, energy-efficient tartrate stabilisation .............................. 58 Three household names receive wine industry ‘life membership’ ..................... 62 62

Greg Howell reports from the Texas Wine Grape Growers Association annual conference

55

Young Gun: Zac Caudo ......................... 64 Wine-inspired lifestyle

sales & marketing The Reincarnation of Rosé .......................67 Peter McAtamney looks at the rapid rise in Rosé popularity in the domestic market

67

business & technology The consumer around the corner ........... 70 In a few short years today’s teenagers will be potential wine consumers, but will they find your wine when they search the shelves?

70

Social media stack up: ...........................68 Pros and cons of the ‘big five’

PUBLISHER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE Hartley Higgins

PRODUCTION Simon Miles

MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth Bouzoudis

CIRCULATION: Melissa Smithen subs@winetitles.com.au

EDITOR Nathan Gogoll editor@grapeandwine.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 Emilie Reynolds journalist@winetitles.com.au ADVERTISING SALES Maria Stephenson sales@grapeandwine.com.au April 2016 – Issue 627

WINETITLES MEDIA ABN 85 085 551 980 630 Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083 Phone: (08) 8369 9500 Fax: (08) 8369 9501 info@winetitles.com.au www.winetitles.com.au @Grape_and_Wine Printing by Lane Print Group, Adelaide © Contents copyright Winetitles Media 2014.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

5

on the grapevine what’s ONLINE Organic and biodynamic issues Organic grapegrowers and winemakers are upset at the abuse of the words ‘organic’ and ‘biodynamic’ when it comes to sales and marketing.

A group of Western Australian winemakers has approached the state’s wine industry association with its concerns and asked if anything can be done to stop it, reports Good Food.

Marlborough grape spill risk Police are urging heavy machinery drivers and the motoring public to follow the road rules and avoid grape spills this harvest. Senior constable Paul McKenzie spoke at the Wine Marlborough preharvest information day and revealed there had been a significant reduction in the number of spills last vintage, reports Stuff.

Wine brand’s sporting connection raises eyebrows A surprising sponsorship deal has lined up a New Zealand wine brand against the All Blacks.

Accolade Wines recently announced Mud House would sponsor the British and Irish Lions rugby team on next year’s tour of New Zealand, reports Wine Searcher.

The world is over ‘big’ Australian wines Neil McGuigan, Australian Vintage CEO and chief winemaker, said he has noticed a clear trend by international buyers away from high alcohol Australian wine.

“There’s no doubt that the buyers are looking for more balance in Australian wine. No buyer has said they want the alcohol higher, not one person – so thank god we are over that,” reports The Shout.

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

6 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Casella to launch UK division CASELLA FAMILY BRANDS has announced plans to establish a European subsidiary to be based in Cambridgeshire, England (100km north of London).

Casella Family Brands Europe Limited will initially manage Yellow Tail wine in Great Britain with long-term plans to expand to the European market.

Simon Lawson, the company’s Europe general manager, said the focus was to achieve ongoing growth of Yellow Tail in Europe and the new entity was a core part of the business’ strategy to achieve this via its proximity to key markets.

“Yellow Tail wine is currently the third biggest Australian wine brand and

the fastest growing top 20 wine brand,” Lawson said.

“Our vision is to leverage this position of strength and continue to drive growth within our portfolio for the benefit of our customers, suppliers and employees.”

“We are working hard to meet the timeframe of May 1 but we must ensure that all process and procedures are in place before we commence trading, and we are aware there are certain factors that may cause this to be delayed.”

The Yellow Tail wines being sold throughout Europe are already shipped in bulk to Italy where they are bottled ‘in-market’.

Winemakers welcome ‘effects test’ GOVERNMENT-PROPOSED changes to the Competition and Consumer Act (CCA) aimed at encouraging healthy competition in the market have been given the tick of approval by The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA).

Paul Evans, outgoing WFA chief executive, said the changes included adopting an ‘effects test’ to strengthen competition law and protect businesses against those with the power to misuse their market dominance.

It proposes to improve the collective bargaining regime under competition law to provide more flexibility and increased information for small businesses to help improve their bargaining position while encouraging state, territory and local governments to review their competitive

neutrality guidelines.

“Currently The CCA has a ‘purpose’ test whereby misuse of market power is proved only if it can be demonstrated that the purpose of an entity’s actions was to exercise undue market power.”

Evans said WFA advocated a move from the ‘purpose’ test to an ‘effects test’.

“This is to ensure behaviours by those with substantial market power that has, or is likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in the market will be within the proposed new provisions of the CCA.” The changes could also include reviewing the anti-competitive impact of regulations, including standards and licensing, freeing up trading restrictions that apply to many businesses.

Adelaide officially a 'great wine city' AN INTERNATIONAL association of wine cities across the world has announced Adelaide as its newest member last month.

As part of the exclusive Great Wine Capitals Network, Adelaide joins the likes of Bilbao, Rioja; Bordeaux; Cape Town, Cape Winelands; Mainz, Rheinhessen; Mendoza; Porto and Valparaiso, Casablanca Valley.

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said South Australia excels in producing premium wine and providing exceptional wine tourism.

“Being a member of the Great Wine Capitals will ensure these industries continue to grow.”

The Great Wine Capitals network aims to heighten the wine experience for everyone who visits its regions and cities, www.winetitles.com.au

and to support their members themselves to make the most of their extraordinary culture, heritage and geography.

Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker, said becoming a Great Wine Capital made perfect sense for Adelaide.

“It’s very exciting and timely to witness Adelaide joining such a well-respected global wine network,” Gago said. “I believe our South Australian wine and food industries and culture will benefit greatly from the opportunities this will create - now and into the future.”

Juan María Sáenz de Buruaga, Great Wine Capitals president, said Adelaide’s commitment to producing quality wine, supporting wine tourism and promoting education and research would “be a great contribution to the continued success of the network.”

April 2016 – Issue 627

from the editor

Nathan Gogoll Editor

Exciting, probably. Profitable, maybe.

“TO PARAPHRASE our Prime Minister, we do live in very exciting times in the wine industry,” John Angove said recently.

“Exciting if you enjoy risk and challenge. Not so exciting if you are looking for profit and return on equity.”

Angove was speaking at his induction as a ‘life member of the Australian wine industry’ at an intimate event hosted by the Winemaker’s Federation of Australia.

People like John Angove – along with Wolf Blass and Colin Campbell, who were also inducted into the life member category – have been involved in the wine and viticulture industry for long enough to be able to recall both ‘halcyon days’ and the dark times.

They remain significant figures in the industry because they’ve enjoyed more success than failure, but let’s not forget they have each seen and survived tough times. Except for Blass, that is. He happily declares he never made a mistake in his wine industry career…

“Everything that I’ve made I think has been correct,” Blass said.

The Blass bravado is still as strong as it has ever been. But his heart is in the right place. Although he does things differently to Angove and Campbell, the one thing these three have in common is a willingness to give something back.

Wherever you look across the industry there are all sorts of examples of perseverance and emergence. There are wineries with five or more generations of history to draw on; there are businesses born as the modern Australian wine industry evolved rapidly from a fortified winemaking base in the 1970s; there were successful times for businesses who rode international success in the 1990s; and there have been businesses established in the past 10-15 years who have potentially managed more risks and challenges than those founded in older eras.

But what sets Angove, Blass and Campbell apart has been their willingness to work outside of their own business for the broader industry (you can read more April 2016 – Issue 627

about their achievements from Page 62).

I reckon there’s something else Angove, Blass and Campbell have in common… while all three have strong convictions, they are not afraid of change.

Blass proudly boasts he helped turn Australia from a beer swilling colonial outpost to a contemporary wine quaffing nation (I’m paraphrasing, but not embellishing much) when he began making ‘Pearl’ wines (Perlwein) – as did Colin Gramp and Guenter Prass.

Could there ever be another revolution in the Australian wine industry like that? Who knows? Blass has confidence the current industry mentors will be able to guide the future generations.

“We have been smart, we have been innovative, we have created things differently,” Blass said.

He wants to see the young winemakers move around the industry to gain broad experience, but also wants them to develop a competitive streak to strive to do things better than their peers.

One thing he’s worried about is the ability of big Australian wine companies to market their brands and products.

“They have not become innovative enough to penetrate into a very competitive global industry. It is not our winemaking, it’s the total disaster of our marketing people today who do not know how to handle the problems… the only way they can bloody believe they can succeed is by discounting.”

Angove’s attitude for the future of the industry had some common ground with Blass. “I will do what I can as we watch younger and smarter people get involved in the industry,” Angove said. “Let’s give them a go and I hope they can learn from the mistakes we’ve made and not make them all over again.”

Angove said that when he started his involvement in industry bodies, back in 1988, “the Australian Wine and Brandy Producers Association was in a pretty difficult spot”.

“There was also the Australian Wine Forum and there were the cooperatives. www.winetitles.com.au

The three bodies had their own voice; their own representation to Canberra; and to the media. As we well know that divided approach doesn’t work.

“I can only stress how important unity is and how absolutely vital it is to keep that unity. We are a very unified industry, but we’ve got to make sure we keep it and strengthen it as best we can.”

But what comes next? Could the biggest innovation for the industry actually be a joint grapegrowers and winemakers representative body? Could the wine industry suppliers be factored in?

I think the time is right for a single grapegrower and winemaker representative body to become a reality.

I also think the end of the WET Rebate is drawing closer and would think it will be phased out and replaced with an incentive scheme that supports sustainable and profitable winery businesses. And while we are making a few small tweaks, I reckon it would be good to start planning for the future transition of Wine Australia into an industry-operated organisation, rather than a statutory body of the Federal Government.

Some disclosure: I was at the Magill Estate Restaurant on Wednesday 23 March when Angove, Blass and Campbell were inducted as ‘life members of the Australian wine industry’. The formalities interrupted a six-course menu matched with wine and I was a guest of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia.

I also need to point out I’ve recently taken over a position on the committee of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc. I’m going to fill Elizabeth Bouzoudis’ seat as she has resigned from her role as general manager of the Grapegrower & Winemaker parent company Winetitles Media. We wish Liz all the best in her own small business venture.

Enjoy the read Grapegrower & Winemaker

7

my view Victoria's wine and viticulture voice Rachael Sweeney, the Wine Victoria executive officer, reports on the importance of the recently formed Victorian Wine Ministerial Advisory Committee.

WE ARE A GRAPE-TO-GLASS industry here in Victoria. We cover the better part of the state with 800 wineries located in 21 wine regions. We are also big contributors to economic growth – each year our industry contributes $1.5 billion to Victoria’s bottom line.

We employ 3000 Victorians in grape growing and winemaking, and 12,000 more in the supporting roles that give the industry it’s shine at the cellar door, hospitality and sales.

It is no secret though that despite our contribution to the state that things have not been easy in the wine industry – falling exports and oversupply means that in Victoria, at least 70 per cent of the industry is not making a profit.

Understanding the impact of the wine industry and the current state of industry stress is why the Victorian Government put our industry front and centre in their election pitch committing $1 million in industry support.

The additional part of this commitment was to create a Victorian Wine Ministerial Advisory Committee (Wine MAC) – aimed at giving Jaala Pulford, our new Minister for Agriculture – strategic insight into the Victorian wine industry for better policy and program planning.

It is worth noting that the wine industry was the only industry in Victoria to receive this commitment in the last election, back in 2014.

The Andrews Government have honoured their commitments, and the $1 million in funding is just about to come online and will support the wine industry by boosting cellar door visits, growing exports, creating jobs and promoting regional tourism.

A Victorian Wine Strategy is being created to identify the ways in which government can partner with industry to grow tourism and exports.

The Wine MAC has formed and industry now has a clear voice and seat at the policy table with a team of experts appointed: • Damien Sheehan as the chair of Wine Victoria (Mt Langi Ghiran, Grampians); • Chris Dent representing the Murray Valley Wine Growers Inc.; • Angie Bradbury (Wine Victoria board member, Dig+Fish); • Natalie Pizzini (Pizzini Wines, King Valley); • Kim Chalmers (Chalmers Wine Pty Ltd, Murray Darling/ Heathcote); • Leigh Devine (Timmering Wines, Heathcote); • John Harris (Mitchell Harris Wines, Pyrenees); • Katherine Brown (Brown Brothers, North East Victoria); • Neil Burgess (Glenelg Shire Council, which includes the Henty wine region); • Mark Krstic (Australian Wine Research Institute, Victorian Node); • Nikki Palun (Octtava Wines Pty Ltd, Yarra Valley/Mornington Peninsula/Heathcote); and • Michael Dal Zotto (Dal Zotto Wines, King Valley).

The Wine MAC presents an exciting opportunity for the wine industry in Victoria. We have both current and future leaders working in partnership with the Government on determining our future.

Key issues such as barriers to increasing existing exports, retail power and wine and food tourism is now a focus for both industry and government.

8 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The Victorian Government recognises wine is one of Victoria’s most valuable food exports and sees that raising the profile of Victoria’s premium wine offering is in the interest of both industry and government.

According to the Wine Australia Export Report December 2015, the value of Australian wine exports overall jumped 14 per cent to $2.1 billion in 2015, reaching its highest value since October 2007. The value of Victorian wine exports in 2015 increased by 19.3 per cent, with an 11.3 per cent increase in volume for bottled exports.

Tourism Victoria estimates that regional tourism has the potential to contribute $7 billion to the state economy by 2020.

Increasing the perception of Victoria’s quality regional food and wine experiences is a key performance indicator to reach this target.

Wine tourism is key to promoting ‘Brand Victoria’. Tourism Australia’s new ‘Restaurant Australia’ campaign highlights this; it is based on research findings that access to ‘good food and wine’ is one of the top three reasons for choosing a holiday destination. Wine tourism provides an opportunity to capitalise on both domestic and international market opportunities.

These indicators are a good sign that Victoria is creating a world demand for the quality of premium wine products across our regions.

With the Wine MAC in place to provide guidance on developing industry strategy, and the related $1 million election commitment, the Victorian Government will be able to invest in the best solutions to increase the economic and cultural contributions of the Victorian wine industry.

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

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movers & shakers Penfolds named ‘world’s most admired wine brand’

Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago at Magill Estate.

PENFOLDS was recognised as the ‘world’s most admired wine brand’ by Drinks International when the results of an annual poll were released in March.

Almost 200 international industry experts including buyers, sommeliers, wine writers, Masters of Wine, industry experts and wine critics took part in the poll which pits wine brands from all global regions, styles and qualities against each other.

Peter Gago, Penfolds chief winemaker, said the team at Penfolds were “chuffed” with the global recognition.

“From those working in our vineyards and wineries, on our bottling lines, back-of-house in logistics, procurement and marketing, to our talented sales teams around the world who are at the coal-face selling our whites, reds and fortifieds,” Gago said.

“After 172 years in the wine business we’re still hungry, still excited and still eager to make better wine and champion new followers.”

Drinks International’s acknowledgement builds on Penfolds’ evolving global recognition, including the ‘winery of the year’ award presented to Penfolds for the 25th year in a row by Wine & Spirits magazine in late 2015 – a world first.

Last year Penfolds also received the outstanding honour for 1971 Grange, which was named the world’s best wine from the 1970s by FINE magazine.

Penfolds jumped into the top spot from third place on last year’s list and fifth place in 2014.

Other Australian and New Zealand wineries to feature on the ‘most admired’ list included Villa Maria (number eight on the list, down four spots from 2015), Oyster Bay (13, up 13 places), Cloudy Bay (16, down two places), Yalumba (19, up five places), Brown Brothers (28, a list re-entry), Jacob’s Creek (33, down eight places), Wolf Blass (39, a list re-entry), Lindeman’s (42, down six places) and Hardys (44, a list re-entry).

After falling 20 places from 2014 to 2015, McGuigan dropped off the top-50 list, while Yellow Tail fell outside the top-50 after placing at 22 a year ago.

Angela Slade resigns from Wine Australia ANGELA SLADE, Wine Australia’s head of market- Americas, announced her resignation in March after more than four years with the organisation.

Andreas Clark, Wine Australia chief executive officer, thanked Slade for her strong commitment to Australian wine and her leadership of Wine Australia’s Americas team over more than four years.

“Angela has been Wine Australia’s Head of Market – Americas since August 2011 and has worked assiduously to improve perceptions of Australia’s fine wine offering,” Clark said.

“Pleasingly, Angela and the team’s hard work is starting to pay off. The tide is turning for Australian wine in the United

States, Australia’s largest export market, with the value of exports increasing by four per cent in the last year and growth particularly strong in wines above $10 per litre, which grew in value by 16 per cent.

“I would like to thank Angela for her dedication and hard work. We wish her all the best for her future career and we are delighted that, whatever path she follows, we know that in Angela we have a strong friend of Australian wine.”

Clark said Slade was moving on from Wine Australia to pursue other opportunities in the wine sector and would be finishing up on 30 June with the recruitment for a new head of market – Americas commencing shortly.

New CEO at Nugan Estate NUGAN ESTATE has announced the appointment of John Freeman as chief executive officer as the company looks to the future with a five-year plan.

Since its expansion into the wine industry in 2001, the Nugan family has grown to be one of Australia’s top exporters and plan to spend the next five years investing their brands nationally and around the world with the help of Freeman.

Freeman said he was energised by the new opportunity and was also looking forward to working with the Nugan family.

“It is a great honour to have been appointed CEO of Nugan Estate. The Australian wine industry continues to have great opportunities in established and new markets around the world, and Nugan Estate is extremely well positioned to capitalise on these opportunities,” he said.

10 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“I look forward to working closely with the Nugan family and the team to further develop the long-standing relationships the company enjoys with key customers and suppliers, and to pursue growth in existing and new markets.

“I’d like to thank the family for placing their trust in me and look forward to many years of growth and prosperity together.”

Michelle Nugan, matriarch of the Nugan family, said she believed in the Australian wine industry and its reinvention at higher price points around the world would be the key to success.

“As a family we are focussed on building our brand and people,” she said. “While we have established a strong footprint, we believe the next five years will be a period of growth for family businesses such as ours who are responsive to consumer

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

needs, quality focussed and who invest in their brands, people and the Australian wine industry.”

Michelle Nugan said Freeman was an “exceptional” business leader and the family was very excited for him to move into the role of CEO. “John led Oyster Bay in Australia and international strategic markets for the past 10 years,” she said. “He was responsible for Oyster Bay’s growth to number one selling wine and number six brand in Australia nearly tripling revenue while maintaining profitability in spite of oversupply of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the past five years.

“Prior to joining the wine industry John worked extensively in financial services, developing a strong understanding of the financial levers to drive sustainable profitable growth.

“John is a long-term player and brings to Nugan Estate a great passion for leadership, business development and professionalism. We see John as the long-term leader of Nugan Estate, enabling our good business and our great people to evolve and grow into an even better business. This is going to be a very exciting new chapter for our company, our brand and our people.”

New winemaker at Coonawarra’s Penley Estate

Expert Market Analysis and Vineyard Innovation

KATE GOODMAN joined Penley Estate as their new winemaker last month, bringing more than 24 years of experience to the role.

With a long history as part of the Yarra Valley wine community, Goodman has most-recently worked on her own project, Goodman Wines, and previously held positions at Punt Road as well as Seppelt Great Western and Wirra Wirra.

Goodman said while the Yarra Valley was best known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, she has always enjoyed working with Cabernet.

“I’m excited about the 2014 blends we are already working on, and I hope we can showcase the quality and longevity of this great Cabernet region,” she said.

A well established and respected winemaker, Goodman’s own brand has been rated as a five-star winery and has featured in Halliday Wine Companion’s ‘top 10 new wineries’.

Ang Tolley, Penley Estate chair and co-founder, said she was thrilled to attract someone with Goodman’s talent and experience to the Penley group.

“We have great expectations and hopes of producing some new and exciting wines that reflect and capture the region of Coonawarra and the nuances of Penley history,” Tolley said.

• 2016 vintage outcomes: price and supply analysis • Varietal demand breakdown: what’s hot, what’s not • Expert panel: innovating for vineyard profitability • Insights: next generation machinery

Wolf Blass baseball sponsorship

Have you invented a new practice, modified equipment or developed a technical advance to improve your vineyard production or solve a vineyard problem? Then you have a chance to win $2,000 and the 2016 PIRSA Vinnovation Award trophy.

WOLF BLASS WINES has become the first official wine supplier of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan – a sport that attracted a crowd of more than 24 million to live baseball matches throughout the 2015 season.

This multi-platform partnership will allow Wolf Blass Wines to showcase its extensive portfolio to baseball fans in Japan across the season, award ceremonies and fan events as well as through links to in-store retail promotions.

“As one of the most highly awarded wine brands in the world, a relentless pursuit of quality is at the core of the Wolf Blass winemaking philosophy,” said Chris Hatcher, Wolf Blass Chief Winemaker.

“This competitive spirit is something that our founder Wolfgang Blass himself is a strong believer of, and something we’re thrilled to share with NPB fans across Japan.”

April 2016 – Issue 627

Adelaide Oval, Friday June 17, 2016

Registration and program: sawggs.com.au

2016 PIRSA Vinnovation Award Promoting Vineyard Innovation

The PIRSA Vinnovation Award is now open for entries, with finalists receiving free registration to the SA Winegrape Growers’ Summit where the winner will be announced. Share your ideas!

Details: wgcsa.com.au

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

11

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

What’s making news in NSW Milestones have been celebrated in Mudgee and the Hunter Valley; a digital marketing initiative has been hailed a “massive success”; and the Sydney Royal Wine Show has announced some big changes.

Mudgee winery celebrates 40 years ROBERT STEIN WINES’ celebrated its 40th anniversary with the release of two new wines, the 2014 Robert Stein ‘Reserve’ Chardonnay and the 2015 Robert Stein Semillon.

The Mudgee winery has stayed true to the region’s long history with Chardonnay, as the new ‘Reserve’ Chardonnay was made from vines that comprise Robert Stein’s original Chardonnay vineyard, planted in 1976.

Winemaker Jacob Stein said the winery have been making Chardonnay for close to 30 years.

“It is a variety that is well suited to the various climes of Australia,” Stein said. “In Mudgee we aim for a modern style with citrus and stone fruit notes complemented by a creamy texture and good acidity.”

Winemaker Jacob Stein showcased a new Chardonnay and Semillon to celebrate Robert Stein Wines’ 40th anniversary.

Stein said the optimal growing conditions of 2014 resulted in a “cracking vintage”.

“We fermented the Chardonnay

juice with natural yeasts in French oak hogsheads, 50 per cent of which were new,” he said. “A small component underwent malolactic fermentation for added complexity and softness.

“The wine was then matured for nine months with varying levels of lees contact.”

The 2015 Robert Stein Semillon follows Stein’s winemaking philosophy of creating modern styles of these classic varieties. The 2015 vintage Semillon was crushed and de-stemmed into the press.

“Mudgee Semillons are approachable upon release with the lemony acid well balanced with the intense flavours and mineral drive. This is a wine that will grow and evolve in the bottle over the next decade, no doubt tasting beautifully for our 50th.”

Pepper Tree: John Davis reflects on 25 years THIS YEAR MARKS the 25th anniversary of the Hunter Valley’s Pepper Tree Wines. Previously owned by the Fairfax family, the renowned Hunter Valley winery was purchased by John Davis in 2002. Looking back on the past 14 years with the winery, Davis said he was attracted to buy Pepper Tree because of its great reputation for wine quality and innovation.

“Wine awards had included the Jimmy Watson Trophy in 2001 and ‘world’s best Merlot’ award at the London International Wine Show in 1999,” Davis said. “But more important than the awards were the relationships Pepper Tree was building with its customers and the dedication of its staff to providing a great wine tourism experience in the Hunter Valley.”

Davis, who was an oil exploration geologist prior to purchasing Pepper Tree, said his past career allowed him to make headway in the wine industry.

“With the benefit of my geological experience from a previous career, our family had been patiently developing significant vineyards from the early nineties and by 2002 had developed over 400 acres of premium vineyards in traditional areas like the Hunter Valley and Coonawarra as well as exciting frontier areas like Orange and Wrattonbully,” he said.

12 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Davis said he had planned to base a new wine company on the vineyards but when the chance to purchase Pepper Tree presented itself in 2002 the attraction was irresistible.

“Pepper Tree was the perfect vehicle to marry up with our vineyards,” he said.

“I consider we were very fortunate from the start to not only buy a wonderful winery asset but also to acquire key staff who were passionate and motivated.

“Fourteen years later Sandra Brown and Stephanie King are still with us and more important than ever. Others have since left but have remained great friends of the company. It is a great credit to Sandra that she has been able to pass on her cultural values to many of our younger staff members whose morale and work enjoyment is constantly complimented by our customers.”

Davis said Pepper Tree’s vineyard and winery assets coupled with motivated sales and marketing staff have been important in attracting some high profile winemaking staff.

“Jim Chatto joined us in 2007 and made a significant impact on refining existing wine styles, adding new wine styles and contributing generally to Pepper Trees’ credibility and reputation. Jim has since moved on to other challenges including chairmanship of the National Wine Show www.winetitles.com.au

but continues as a valued consultant to Pepper Tree.

“His successors Scott Comyns and Gwyn Olsen have continued the company’s high winemaking standards producing more show successes than ever before.”

Davis said Pepper Tree’s success was evident by its strong relationship with customers. “Since 2002 our wine club membership has more than doubled to almost 4000 members while our mailing list base has increased 15-fold to over 15,000. We are very proud of this achievement as it demonstrates not only the approval of our wines but also our staff who serve them.”

Since 2002 Pepper Tree has won almost 1,000 medals in wine shows including 136 gold medals and 40 trophies. These have included best red wine’ at the Hunter Show in two of the past three years and ‘most successful exhibitor’ of the Limestone Coast Show in 2014 and ‘champion wine of show’ in 2015.

“We have been awarded wine of the year in various varietal categories in national wine magazines seven times and in the past seven years have achieved 70 five star ratings for our wines in the Halliday Wine Companion,” Davis said.

“Perhaps the most satisfying award to me personally came at last years’ April 2016 – Issue 627

Limestone Coast Wine Show where our 2013 Block 21A Cabernet Sauvignon won four trophies including ‘champion wine of show’.”

Davis said the award-winning wine was made from a block on Wrattonbully vineyard where the vines grow in limestone rock.

“We have been nurturing this block

for many years while the vines struggled to grow and we are delighted to finally see the benefits in the wine,” he said.

“This win was particularly significant considering we were up against the biggest companies in the country as well as other high quality boutique producers from the more-established Coonawarra.”

Davis said Pepper Tree had constantly

been upgrading vineyards as new varieties and clones become available with many exciting new wines to be released in the future.

“I congratulate all our staff and winemakers on our first 25 years and I hope that all our customers will join us at our celebratory events throughout the year,” Davis said.

‘Come Play’ campaign declared a huge success THE HUNTER VALLEY Wine & Tourism Association’s (HVWTA) digital marketing campaign Come Play came to an end recently with the organisation already deeming it a “massive success”.

Running through summer, the campaign aimed to drive the ‘short break’ family market to the Hunter Valley and educate them on the wide range of choices for family activities during the summer period.

George Souris, HVWTA chairman, said he was extremely happy with the results achieved.

“The digital results were fantastic, but what’s more impressive is the actual revenue by stay for accommodation and tours, which increased year upon year by an impressive 18 per cent during the campaign period.”

Souris said Singleton Council, who supported this campaign, also received 10.1 per cent increase in traffic to their website throughout the Summer Campaign period, compared to the same period the previous year.

The 100% digital campaign used video to promote the message ‘Come Play’

and captured an array of child friendly activities as seen through the eyes of young children.

“The video was viewed in excess of 70,000 times across our digital channels and reached an additional 165,000 people through our paid Facebook amplification alone,” Souris said.

The campaign targeted Sydney, Newcastle, Port Stephens and the Greater Hunter Region audiences with a mix of tactical display advertisements, seeded video, social media and database targeting.

Sydney Royal Wine Show changes THE SYDNEY ROYAL Wine Show announced two major changes this year which have excited both judges and entrants of the event. KPMG have been named as a new major sponsor, while the show will be held in July for the first time ever.

Samantha Connew, chair of Judges, said she was not only thrilled about the new sponsor but was encouraged by the show’s demand and expected to see entries reach capacity.

“For the first time, we’re judging

wine at Sydney Royal in July, which is very exciting,” Connew said. “We’re attracting new exhibitors and varieties due to the season change, and we’re again anticipating a full list of entries in 2016.

“Rosé and sparking red are two trending varieties, so we’ll expect to taste many of them in addition to fortified wines, which remain a strong area of the Australian wine industry.

“The Wine Show will again be accompanied by a panel of expert judges, including famed Canadian judge,

Michelle Bouffard, who will bring top quality international experience for 2016,” Connew said.

Lyndey Milan, chair of KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show, said he was delighted to bring KPMG on board, matching its class and reputation with the Show.

“KPMG is a world-wide brand, and were thrilled to have partnered with a company that has so much prestige.

We’re looking forward to growing the relationship with them in 2016 and beyond.”

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

13

Stepping up to a leadership opportunity In the final instalment of his ‘Future Leaders Diary’ Nigel Blieschke takes a look back at how the conclusion of the program coincided with a new leadership opportunity.

FIRSTLY, I HAVE TO CONFESS this article is a little late as it was meant to appear in the November edition.

But at the time I was a little preoccupied. I had just made the decision to resign from my job of seven years with Peter Lehmann Wines and take up the newly-created role of head viticulturist at Torbreck vintners.

This was an incredibly hard decision for me to make as I was departing Peter Lehmann Wines at a pivotal moment in the brand’s history and I was leaving a job and a company I loved. It was with a heavy heart that I tendered my resignation in early November, but I knew the time was right to take the next step and challenge myself to take on a leadership role.

Looking back, it was a hectic period for both me and my family as we had been planning an overseas holiday for the previous 18 months and we departed for Europe in the first week of December.

My original article was going to focus on the final two sessions of the Future Leaders program, but I found it really hard to focus on writing with so much happening.

Now that I have had a chance to settle into my new job I think it is timely to finish my series on the Future Leaders opportunity and discuss what I have taken out of the course and how it has (and will continue to) influence my leadership style.

As I reflect back on the Future Leaders experience it is clear to me that when I applied, I was at a point in my career where I was looking to take on more of a leadership role.

I have been extremely fortunate to work for some great companies during my career including Yalumba and Peter Lehmann/Casella Family Brands as well as also Penfolds/ Southcorp, Pernod Richard and BRL Hardy.

At each of these companies I have learned many valuable lessons regarding leadership – so when I was approached by Torbreck to take on the role of head viticulturist I was very excited.

The job offered me the opportunity to put what I had learned throughout my career so far – and across Future Leaders program – into practice.

The opportunity to work for a smaller company was very attractive after spending the past 20 years as a viticulturist with larger companies, where often decisions are made by upper management and you have little or no say in the direction.

As Torbreck’s viticulturist I report directly to the general manager and the company’s board and my role is to lead the viticulture/vineyard management programs as well as to work closely with the company’s winemakers.

One of the key challenges of the new role is to balance the needs of the vineyard and winemaking teams with the objectives of the board.

A key learning for me from the Future Leaders program has been the importance of effective communication in leadership – as without open lines of communication there is a real risk of mistrust, misunderstandings and conflict.

In my position I am very mindful of keeping everyone up-todate with what is happening and when.

Obviously different people require different information so it is also important to have a general understanding of individual

14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The 2015 Future Leaders, from the Jason Amos ‘selfie album’ (Nigel Blieschke is on the far right).

personalities and to employ different communication styles depending on the type of person you are dealing with.

For instance, I employ a very different communication style when meeting with the general manager than when I am dealing with my vineyard staff.

So far I haven’t had to deal with conflict in the work place but feel I am far better prepared for this situation having participated in the Future Leaders program and will be very mindful of things like body language, both my own and others; the personalities involved; and also to be aware of how other people perceive the situation rather than just assuming that they see it how I see it.

Hopefully by taking these things into consideration the conflict can be resolved quickly and with the minimum of fuss.

When I think about how to sum up the Future Leaders experience, I would have to say it has been one of the highlights of my career for a number of reasons.

The Future Leaders program has given me the confidence to take my career to a higher level and I feel that I have many new tools to be an effective leader both at a work place level but also at broader industry levels.

Another highlight of the course was getting to know the other Future Leaders, who have each inspired me in different ways. I know they will be great friends and mentors into the future.

Throughout the course we were continually challenged to learn and the calibre of the speakers put together by the Australian Rural Leadership program and Wine Australia was impressive.

Having access to these people is invaluable in building leadership knowledge and as each of the Future Leaders participants came from different regions and sectors this knowledge then flows back to a diverse range of businesses throughout the Australia wine industry.

I would highly recommend the course to anyone interested in developing their career in the Australian wine industry and would like to thank Wine Australia for the opportunity.

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

16/

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WINERY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT = SUSTAINABILITY • Energy efficiency & solar power generation • Understanding the new “Health & Safety at Work” act • Water usage & savings • Refrigeration design & efficiency • Alternative hot water generation • Oak reclamation & alternative oak maturation application • Asset improvement & optimisation

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people & places

e to at tend ged to find tim Gemtree mana m fro n ow Br Mike g vintage.

ProWein durin

Italian journalis t and wine critic Aldo Fiordelli (rig Lindner from La ht) with James ngmeil Wines.

Australian fine wine attracts high interest at ProWein 2016 AUSTRALIAN WINE EXHIBITORS have hailed ProWein 2016 a success after three days of consistently high traffic at the Wine Australia stand, reflecting a growing interest in Australian wine by the international wine community.

Considered the world’s leading wine fair, ProWein, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, attracted more than 55,000 trade visitors from around the world.

Neil Hadley, Wakefield Wines general manager of exports, said the Wine Australia stand was busier than most.

“We’ve had visitors from Brazil to China as well as from Europe, which reflects the importance of ProWein as a world show and an opportunity to reengage with the Australian wine story.”

The Wine Australia stand included more than 500 wines from 79 Australian wine brands hailing from 21 regions, while across the whole fair there were more than 100 Australian wine brands exhibiting to arguably the world’s most influential wine trade guest list.

Carlo Pizzini, representing Pizzini Wines.

16 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

SA Winegrape Growers Summit arrives early in 2016 THE DEMAND OUTLOOK for winegrapes leading into the 2017 season will be a major focus of the third Winegrape Growers Summit in South Australia, to be held on Friday 17 June this year.

Peter Hackworth, Wine Grape Council of South Australia executive officer, said the summit would be a month earlier this year, giving growers more time to take on board the information they gain from the summit prior to the 2017 season.

“Apart from a look at the state of the industry, demand outlook and vineyard intelligence will be two key topics of the day,” Hackworth said.

“We are also delighted to announce that Professor Ross Garnaut will be a keynote speaker along with the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (Horticulture), Senator Anne Ruston.”

Professor Garnaut is a leading economist who has argued for urgent reform, for higher productivity, lower interest rates and a lower dollar if Australia is to recover from the mining boom slowdown. In October he was appointed chairman of Adelaide-based Zen Technologies which reflects his interest in addressing climate change and providing solutions to enable local communities to access off-grid electricity.

“Professor Garnaut brings great experience in key wine industry issues,

It’s about helping growers make informed decisions for how they manage their vineyards as they prepare for the 2017 season. trade with Asia, changing climate and increasingly prohibitive power charges, while Senator Ruston is a highlysuccessful horticulturist, a passionate advocate for the wine industry and never backward in challenging the industry,” Hackworth said.

The 2016 PIRSA Vinnovation Award, which recognises a change in practice or a technical breakthrough with the potential to increase vineyard profitability, will be announced at the summit. The award winner will receive a trophy and $2000 cash.

There is no restriction to what might be recognised as an innovation: it could be a machinery modification; change in viticultural practice; or a new way of doing business. The 2015 Vinnovation Award went to Bill and Phil Longbottom,

REGISTER NOW 2016 VARIETAL SHOWCASE – DURIF Join us at the NSW DPI Varietal Showcase – Durif under the spotlight event.

In collaboration with the NSW Wine Industry Association and the Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board this workshop brings together the latest research and practical experiences from leading Durif researchers, producers and winemakers from Australia and South Africa.

With a tutored tasting conducted by Nick Bulleid MW, this is a great opportunity for grape growers, viticulturists, winemakers and cellar door staff to experience, taste and reflect on modern day Durif wine.

April 2016 – Issue 627

www.winetitles.com.au

from Padthaway, who developed a dualaxle bin trailer with inbuilt scale.

Applications are open until 15 May, more information and the application process is online at www.sawggs.com.au.

The summit will come just after the federal budget with tax reform and water policy major issues of importance to winegrape growers, as they recover from a decade of really tough times.

The summit will see the first release of pricing and supply data from the 2016 vintage and detailed analysis of the outlook of winegrapes by variety from an expert panel of wholesalers, winery representatives and retailers.

“It’s about helping growers make informed decisions for how they manage their vineyards as they prepare for the 2017 season,” Hackworth said.

The summit is now in its third year, attracting more than 200 growers and others from the wine industry to its central location at Adelaide Oval.

It is sponsored by Wine Australia, Peats Soils, Longfellows Insurance Brokers, APAL Laboratories and Winetitles Classifieds.

A detailed program is available on the summit’s website, www.sawggs.com.au For more information call (08) 8351 4378; follow the summit updates on Facebook (2016 Wine Grape Growers Summit) and Twitter @winegrapessa

When: 11 May 2016 Where: TAFE NSW Riverina Institute, Riverina Wine and Food Technology Centre, Griffith Cost: $77 per person [includes morning tea, lunch and wine tasting].

For registrations and payments please call WGMB on 02 6962 3944 or email board@wgmb.net.au.

For further enquires contact Darren Fahey on 0457 842 874 or email darren.fahey@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

17

news $42million to increase glass bottle capacity ORORA LIMITED will invest $42million in additional glass bottle forming lines to increase the output from its glass facility in Gawler, South Australia, by 60 million bottles per year.

The expansion will create 25 new jobs and deliver significant flow-on benefits to local suppliers of materials and services. A further $10-15 million investment in an automated warehouse is also under consideration.

“Orora’s Glass business is experiencing increased demand within the wine segment driven by the repatriation of wine currently bottled offshore for bottling in Australia, and the positive impact of the lower Australian dollar on customer volumes – both domestically and export,” said Nigel Garrard, Orora’s managing director and CEO. “The Glass business is already in an oversold position, and this investment will further enhance Orora’s ability to service

the increased demand from its customers.

“This represents the largest single capital investment in the future growth of our business to date, and we are delighted to be making this investment in South Australia.”

Garrard said support from the South Australian Government had been important to the development and he looked forward to delivering significant long term benefits to Orora customers.

More than 80 people will be involved in the construction period and progressive commissioning of the new glass forming lines. Once fully operational in the first half of 2017, it is expected that 25 new jobs will be required to support the increased glass production.

“This investment further highlights Orora’s promise to be an innovative and customer-led provider of total packaging solutions,” Garrard said.

Fenarimol (Rubigan SC) stocks to be used up THE REGISTRATION for the powdery mildew active constituent Fenarimol (DuPont product Rubigan SC) has not been renewed. As such, growers have until 30 June 2016 to use up any stock they have of this agrochemical. After this date, leftover stock will need to be disposed of.

Some growers may wish to use up their stock of Rubigan SC by conducting a post-harvest application to control powdery mildew. When considering this option, growers should be aware

of the CropLife Australia resistance management restrictions on the Group 3 fungicides.

These state: • DO NOT apply more than two consecutive sprays of a Group 3 fungicide; • DO NOT apply more than three Group 3 sprays per season; and • DO NOT use Group 3 fungicides curatively.

If disposal of unused stock is required, growers can register with ChemClear at

chemclear.com.au or by calling toll free on 1800 008 182.

Local Environment Protection Agencies may also be able to advise on other disposal mechanisms.

A list of alternative chemicals for the control of powdery mildew can be found on page 8 in the ‘Dog Book’ – accessible in several different formats on the AWRI website.

For more information, please contact Marcel Essling on 08 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au

Penny’s Hill wins ‘best Australian red’ at Mundus Vini MCLAREN VALE PRODUCER Penny’s Hill took out three major awards at the Mundus Vini international wine competition in Neustadt, Germany recently.

Penny’s Hill 2014 Footprint Shiraz won the top ranking ‘grand gold’ award and was named ‘best Australian red wine’, while Penny’s Hill 2014 Edwards Road Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2014 Skeleton Key Shiraz each took out gold medals in strong fields of international competitors.

More than 5,000 wines from 149 different winegrowing regions of the world were tasted and evaluated by a jury of 160 wine experts. Of the 5,000 wines entered only 39 ‘grand gold’ medals were awarded across the entire competition.

Most notably, 2014 was the first vintage at Penny’s Hill for head winemaker, Alexia Roberts.

“To be awarded the ‘best Australian red wine’ of show is truly rewarding and we are thrilled to receive this accolade in a category with so many other strong Australian wines,” Roberts said. “It marks the release of the 2014 Penny’s Hill reds and we are excited to get these wines into the market.”

Mundus Vini was first held in 2001, and is now considered one of the most significant wine competitions in the world.

Members of the judging panel include leading international oenologists, top sommeliers, wine merchants, wine journalists and scientists from all over the world.

Winemakers' Federation rejects FARE’s tax bid THE WINEMAKERS’ FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA has again rejected the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s (FARE’s) call to increase wine taxes.

Paul Evans, who concluded his duties at Federation chief executive in early April, said FARE’s claims come around like a broken record and are based on incomplete analysis on the impact of a tax hike on regional communities.

“Not only is Australian wine heavily taxed already when compared to our global competitors, in fact we are among

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

the highest taxed in the world today,” Evans said.

“The reason why wine is taxed differently and preferentially to other alcohol types is clear cut.

“Wine is different when it comes to our socio-economic input into regional Australia, employment footprint, contribution to export earnings, profitability and access to capital compared to the vastly different brewing and spirits industries and it’s only fair that alcohol tax arrangements reflect this.

“The Federation believes wine must www.winetitles.com.au

continue to be taxed within the existing WET legislative framework and that any future changes to wine tax arrangements are done so within this framework and not shifted to an excise-based approach as is the case for beer and spirits. The Federation does not advocate how the WET should be calculated.

“Speculative reports in the meantime such as those pushed again and again by FARE, need to be seen for what they are – headline grabbers that will hurt the local industry and will continue to be ignored by governments.”

April 2016 – Issue 627

Wine Australia for Australian Wine

Australian Wine Flavours Card launched Helping Chinese consumers understand and enjoy Australian wine has become easier with the launch of the Australian Wine Flavours Card.

‘The Australian Wine Flavours Card helps wine businesses identify descriptors for Australian wine that are easily understood by Chinese wine customers’, said Ms Duncan.

The Australian Wine Flavours Card, ‘For example, if an Australian winemaker produced by Wine Australia, is based was to describe a Cabernet as having on research by the University of South hints of blackberry preserve, the Australia linking an Australian wine Australian Wine descriptor with an Flavours Card ‘The Australian Wine equivalent taste shows that a Flavours Card helps identified by Chinese Chinese customer wine businesses identify consumers. would more easily descriptors for Australian Wine Australia Global identify this flavour wine that are easily Knowledge Manager as dried Chinese understood by Chinese wine Anne Duncan said hawthorn. The customers’ the Wine Australiawinemaker could funded research then suggest this aimed to identify the terms that Chinese to the customer on tasting their wine to customers themselves use when facilitate better engagement with the describing Australian wine. wine.’

The recent Wine Australia Export Report showed that the value of Australian wine exports to China grew 66 per cent to $370 million in the 12 months to December 2015.

China continues to be a market of growth for Australian wine and Chinese customers are important for Australian wine businesses looking to increase their exports.

To register your interest for a copy of the Australian Wine Flavours Card visit www.research.wineaustralia.com For more information about the research behind the Australian Wine Flavours Card, including final project report, visit www.research.wineaustralia.com and search ‘Chinese Lexicon’.

‘Currently, wine is predominantly described using Australian sensory terms that may lack meaning for Chinese customers. The research helped to bridge this gap by asking regular drinkers of imported wine in China to describe Australian wine during blind tastings.

The same wines were also described by an Australian tasting panel using common Australian wine terms and the descriptions were then linked.’

It is the linking of these equivalent terms identified by the Chinese consumers that have been adapted into The Australian Wine Flavours Card, a one-page tool that Australian wineries can use at their cellar door through to a shop or restaurant floor.

April 2016 | www.research.wineaustralia.com

www.research.wineaustralia.com | April 2016

Trials highlight the value of oxygen Detailed research to help enhance fermentation

And instead of using rotary fermenters we are using static vertical fermenters.’

Trying different options has been central to the research process – different fermenters, different levels of oxygen treatment and different ways of introducing it.

One of the main findings to date is that when using oxygen to create specific wine styles the amount of oxygen is important, but not when it is added.

‘We thought adding oxygen late in the process might cause negative stylistic attributes, but that doesn’t seem to be the case’, Simon said. ‘But timing is critical when using oxygen to enhance fermentation. You have to be within a certain window for maximum benefit.’

Image credit: Eric Wilkes

Use oxygen with confidence. That simple message, underpinned by some detailed research, could have a significant impact on the way Australian winemakers go about their work – at least the researchers hope so.

A four-year project at the AWRI, funded

by Wine Australia, is highlighting the potential for oxygen to be used safely and efficiently to manipulate wine style or enhance the fermentation process.

Enhancing fermentation is of particular interest to winemakers who are facing the pressure of compressed vintages and looking for ways to complete ferments reliably in a fixed period of time.

As the third year of the project begins, the researchers are so impressed by what they are finding that they are enthusiastically spreading the word.

‘Oxygen is commonly used in Europe but in Australia we tend to get nervous; the textbook says to protect your wines from oxygen’, said project leader Dr Martin Day. ‘We are trying to convince people that they can use oxygen stylistically or for efficiencies. We firmly believe that adding oxygen very early on in the winemaking process has the most impact.’

Much of what Dr Day and colleagues Dr Simon Schmidt and Dr Paul Smith are currently talking about actually goes back to a 2012 study that preceded the current project. It showed that putting oxygen into a red ferment at an early

April 2016 | www.research.wineaustralia.com

stage (from the day after inoculation) has a significant effect on wine quality by, for example, softening tannins and removing sulfurous odours.

The results have been widely publicised and were also presented to students, but the real proof is in the glass. One Friday in February, the researchers tested their wines four years on.

The ultimate aim of the project is to create a tool kit to guide winemakers in how and when to use oxygen to achieve different results. ‘We’d like to be able to provide some boundaries; to say that if you go outside these limits we don’t know, but within these limits you have a licence to play around.’

Strangely, given the impact oxygen can have on wine, not much research has been done in this area internationally.

Martin has found only a handful of papers over the past 20 years that actually carry research through to the sensory stage.

‘With one of the treatments we used back in 2012 we really tried to push it over the edge, to see if we could find a limit to how much oxygen could be added’, Part of the reason may be that it is a Paul said. ‘I really thought we would challenging area. The sensors that make have killed it, but it was still holding it possible to measure oxygen levels in together well while the other wines that a liquid have not been didn’t see oxygen around for long, and were horrendous ‘Timing is critical when even with this new – astringent, with using oxygen to enhance that rotten egg fermentation. You have to be technology it can be exacting work. character. within a certain window for

maximum ‘These wines are the most dramatic range of styles that I’ve seen in 13 years of trials. To take one batch of fruit and turn it into four such starkly diverse types of wines just by using oxygen is amazing.’

The researchers are revisiting red wine in the current vintage.

‘The project has been very structured’, Simon said. ‘The first year was the early processing stage, looking at pressing and tank transfers; the second was looking at in-ferment oxygen addition; and this year we are moving back to reds again but in a different style.

benefit.’

The AWRI team has worked closely with a number of wine companies, particularly Oxford Landing, which has run several trials of its own.

‘Several industry players have been doing their own work, so empirically we have learned from them and then we have brought some scientific assessment to the things they were observing’, Paul said.

‘So I think we’ve been able to explain the reasons behind the effects they were seeing. We’ve closed the loop.’

Lean production shows its value New workshops to commence soon Wine Australia’s commitment to help wineries reduce waste and improve resource efficiency is gaining traction and producing results.

Five workshops held in 3 regions between August and November last year generated 42 individual projects to demonstrate how the concept of ‘lean production’ can be used to address a diverse range of practical problems around winery processes and procedures.

Feedback from the 31 companies involved was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. In fact, all respondents to a survey found the session useful or very useful, with a number commenting that they would be able to immediately implement what they had learned back in their winery.

Solutions to individual problems were as simple as finding A second round of ‘Lean production is designed a better way to workshops begins to improve a business’s organise and store in May, and Wine equipment to save bottom line but it is not just Australia will also time and frustration, a cost-cutting exercise; it is host a session at and as complex as a new way of thinking about the Australian Wine developing a full existing operations.’

Industry Technical process map of juice Conference (AWITC) flow, from crush to ferment, to identify in Adelaide in July looking at more opportunities to increase efficiency. advanced applications of lean production.

‘The first workshops were about introducing wineries to the concept and its potential, and that’s what we’ll be doing again from May’, said Wine Australia R&D Program Manager Adrian Loschiavo. ‘In July, we’ll mainly be working with companies that are already engaged with lean production and want to take things to the next level.’

Lean production is about getting your systems right. It is a way of doing things to identify and help eliminate hidden, nonessential activities and production steps.

‘Lean production is designed to improve a business’s bottom line but it is not just a cost-cutting exercise; it is a new way of thinking about existing operations’, Adrian said.

‘It can be implemented quickly and relatively cheaply once you know how and the beauty is that you don’t need to develop a whole lot of technical knowledge. You just need the knowledge to identify and eliminate wasteful activities.’

How lean production can help your winery These are just some of the problems raised at the workshops which were subsequently addressed by the relevant winery.

• How do I keep track and prioritise the improvement projects we want to tackle?

• How can I track additives taken from the store and know when stock is about to run out?

Wine Australia released The Lean Guide – a primer on lean production for the Australian wine industry in 2014 then last year worked with the SA Wine Industry Association and the SA Government (via its agency Zero Waste SA) on a two-part pilot study to assess the practicalities of wineries incorporating lean production into their practices and the likely benefits.

To register interest in the upcoming workshops visit http://research.wineaustralia.com/ extension-adoption/lean-productionworkshops/.

To book for the first workshop, in the Barossa Valley on Tuesday 3 May, go to www.trybooking.com/jdms.

• Will a colour coding and labelling system assist in our storage room?

The results were compelling, leading to the first round of workshops that in turn highlighted the flexibility of the lean production approach.

The AWITC workshop (W36) will be held from 9am–12pm on Wednesday 27 July.

Details are available at www.awitc.com.au.

• Is our grape receival and crushing process the most effective way of doing things?

• How can wasted time and increased frustration be minimised when caused by missing tools and equipment?

www.research.wineaustralia.com | April 2016

Researcher in Focus: Dr Jake Dunlevy Taking a scientific view of vineyards

Wine Australia-funded project looking at a novel genetic approach to keeping salt out of vines – and therefore wine.

A younger Jake Dunlevy would have been staggered to learn that he’d eventually make a career in viticultural research.

As a teenager, he grew to hate the very concept of anything to do with grapevines after too many holiday hours spent weeding the family vineyard in Willunga, near McLaren Vale.

However, a degree in biotechnology led to Honours work then a PhD on wine flavour at the CSIRO, and now he’s making a name for himself doing research on rootstock and vine genetics.

Earlier in March in Canberra, the now 32-year-old Dr Dunlevy won the Viticulture and Oenology section of the 2016 Science and Innovation Awards, which are run by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and sponsored by Wine Australia.

The award will allow him to add a new component to his current four-year,

we’ve got a few candidate genes that we want to look at.’

With CSIRO colleagues, Jake is using new DNA sequencing and analytical technologies to undertake an association mapping study, which is a detailed genetic survey of different grapevine species and varieties, to identify genes responsible for chloride exclusion.

The key to the project is access to the plant accelerator on the Waite Campus in Adelaide. This is essentially a hightech greenhouse in which plants sit on conveyer belts, allowing them to be moved daily so their growth and other parameters such as water usage and salt concentration can be measured precisely.

‘There’s two aspects to the salt problem – the sodium and the chloride – and their uptake and movement within the vine is controlled by different mechanisms and therefore different genes’, he said.

‘You get a really accurate tool for screening for salt tolerance, whereas out in the vineyard there’s a lot of variability’, Jake said. ‘We’re the first ones to use the accelerator with grapevines’.

‘The sodium story has been pretty well characterised in other plants over the last decade so we’ve had some key target genes that we wanted to look at as we think they are the same genes responsible in grapevines.

The work has been so successful that he had already decided to up the ante in the third year of the project and test a broad range of different varieties selected from the CSIRO’s extensive germplasm collection in Mildura.

‘But the chloride uptake is a bit of an enigma; no-one’s been really able to narrow down the genes in any plant. We think it’s probably controlled by more than one gene, which makes it harder because when you have a population the trait doesn’t segregate into excluders and accumulators.

‘The genetic information lasts forever; it’s not going to change, so even though we screened these plants for sodium and chloride exclusion there’s other groups here working on phylloxera resistance or nematode resistance or potassium uptake – all sorts of things’, Jake said.

‘Just having that genetic Armed with the resource, they’ll be able to ‘We’ve got good additional funding utilise it for the traits they data to show that from his recent award are looking at as well. It and we’ve got he will now be able doesn’t just help me; it helps to extend things even markers now that we other groups in the future.’ think we’ll be able to further, looking at use for breeding and the genetics of these to select between the sodium excluders varieties as well as measuring their salt and sodium accumulators. So that’s all tolerance. And that will have benefits for quite clear cut and going as we predicted. many other researchers as well.

‘There’s a gradient of differences between them, which makes it harder to tease apart. But we are making progress and

‘Just having that genetic resource, they’ll be able to utilise it for the traits they are looking at as well. It doesn’t just help me; it helps other groups in the future.’

Final reports now available AWR 1305

Identifying wine relevant genetic markers in wine bacteria to isolate robust MLF strains

CSP 0902

Enhanced varieties and clones to meet the challenges of climate change and deliver lower alcohol wines

UA 1401

Incubator initiative: Wine Industry RD&E: developing partner co-creation capabilities

For more information and to access final reports, visit www.research.wineaustralia.com/completed_projects

Wine Australia for Australian April 2016 | www.research.wineaustralia.com Wine

Wine Australia Industry House cnr Botanic & Hackney Roads Adelaide SA 5000 | PO Box 2733 Kent Town SA 5071 T: 08 8228 2000 | F: 08 8228 2066 | E: research@wineaustralia.com | W: www.research.wineaustralia.com

grapegrowing Why do grape berries shrivel?

Exploring the grape-water relations to answer that question As grapegrowers take some time to reflect on the 2016 vintage, this article from Mark Greenspan in the US provides some insight into how and why grapes shrivel toward the end of the ripening process. Greenspan stresses that water balance in the developing berry is very important and he urges growers to save grapes from shrivelling.

A RECENT PAPER AUTHORED by Yun Zhang and Markus Keller got me thinking about the good old days of my viticultural career when I was a Master’s student working on water flux into and out of the grape berry during development. Realising that I haven’t really touched on it for my viticulture columns, I thought I would re-visit some of that material.

And considering that the recent paper I refer to was on berry transpiration, there is a practical side of this discussion that pertains to berry shrivel at the end of the growing season.

Harkening back to my days as a graduate student, I published two papers on my research, each of which discussed similar experimentation, but one was conducted in a controlled environment and the other in a commercial vineyard.

While I published a few other papers with others, my printed academic career was largely found within these works. I escaped academia into industry as I was completing my PhD so that work was never published beyond my dissertation. Too bad – it was cool stuff, too.

MEASURING BERRY WATER FLOWS IN THE OLD DAYS We used sensitive displacement transducers to continuously measure tiny berry diameter changes while manipulating the soil moisture with periodic imposed droughts. Using some mathematics and standard curves, we calculated the volume from the diameter.

We found that there was a dramatic difference in the way the berries responded before and after veraison, and that change was abrupt, seemingly occurring from one day to the next. When we applied water deficits to the vines before veraison, the berries shrunk. Under severe stress, they had visible shrivel during the

April 2016 – Issue 627

daytime (or artificial daytime) and rehydrated during the night.

But, after veraison, berries did not contract the way they did even just prior to berry softening. They seemed to resist the water stress better after veraison than before veraison. And while it was dramatic when we did these experiments in a controlled environment, we saw the same thing out in the vineyard.

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

23

grapegrowing Berries resisted contraction after veraison under the same or more severe water stress, as measured by leaf water potential using the pressure chamber.

We did some other experiments where we tried to separate out the various components of water flow into and out of the grape berry. There are essentially three ways water moves into and out of a grape berry: through the xylem portion of the vascular system, through the phloem portion of the vascular system and through transpiration of water through the berry skin.

We found that, prior to veraison, water moved into the berry largely through the xylem vessels. The phloem was not really moving any water at that time.

Water that flowed in dissipated through berry transpiration (i.e. water vapour escaping through the skin of the berry). Some water would be retained as the berry enlarged, but most of the water that went into the berry left the berry through transpiration.

But under severe water stress, water could flow backward from the berry into the parent vine. So, if xylem inflow rate was reduced to an amount less than that rate that was being transpired by the berry, the berry would contract. The berry would contract dramatically more if the xylem flow was reversed, because that means water was leaving the fruit by two pathways and was not being replenished.

Now, after veraison, this all changes. The phloem provides the majority of water inflow to the berry, while the xylem barely moves any water at all.

Initially, based on our measurements and photomicrographs made by other researchers, we hypothesized that the xylem became dysfunctional at veraison, which made the berry resistant to water deficit stress after veraison.

The hypothesis fit our observations and made a nice story.

We were pretty excited that berries resisted dehydration during ripening. But subsequent research by Markus Keller, Mark

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24 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Matthews and many other researchers showed that the xylem actually remained intact after veraison and was able to convey water to and from the grape berry. But the phloem was feeding water to the berry so the xylem was mostly not needed.

THE XYLEM AND THE PHLOEM: THEY WORK DIFFERENTLY Phloem works very differently than xylem. Without going into a course in anatomy and physiology of the grapevine (if you want to do that, read Keller’s book The Science of Grapevines: Anatomy and Physiology), the xylem moves water when the upper part of the vine transpires water and the transpired water needs to be replaced.

So, water is sucked through the xylem all the way through the vine. The phloem works very differently. Like the xylem, the phloem is bi-directional, but the flow is mainly sourced at the leaves. Solutes from photosynthesis are actively loaded into the phloem cells, which are active cells, unlike the xylem, which are not.

When the solutes are loaded into the cells, osmotic potential forces extracellular water into the cells. This creates pressure at the source end. On the other side of the chain, which is the fruit for this discussion, sugars in the phloem are unloaded into the berry’s apopolast (extracellular space).

Removing the solutes forces water out of phloem cells at the distal (or sink) end of the chain. The loading at the source and unloading at the sink create a differential pressure (or water potential) that moves phloem ‘sap’ from one part of the plant to the other.

Sugar loading in the fruit starts at veraison, so this process causes the phloem to provide the majority of the water to the fruit. But the berry continues to transpire largely as it did before veraison (but slightly differently, per the recent paper).

So, the changes in the sensitivity to water stress after veraison that we saw almost 25 years ago were due to a different pathway feeding the fruit with water. Phloem flow is dependent on the loading of solutes at the leaf end. While photosynthesis will decline under water-stressed conditions, it will not decline, especially in the short term, under water stress. However, it can and will decline under persistent water stress.

That said, xylem flow is essentially directly affected by water status. So, the sensitivity of the developing berry to water stress is greater before veraison because it is fed by the xylem; but after veraison it is less sensitive because the phloem flow is less sensitive.

BERRY TRANSPIRATION Grape berries transpire a lot of water. The amount depends largely on the surface area of the fruit, and the percentage depends on the surface area relative to the volume of the fruit. In the Cabernet berries we measured back in the day, we estimated about 150mm3 per berry per day before veraison and about 100mm3 per berry per day after veraison. That equates to about 0.15 g and 0.10 g of water per day lost in each berry preand postveraison, respectively.

The grape berry has no functional stomata after about two weeks following fruit set. While there are some lenticels (lignified and non-controlled pores), most transpiration occurs through the berry skin, which itself is covered in tiny plates of excreted wax. The skin and the wax platelets significantly reduce the ability of the berry to transpire water.

This is good because we really don’t want that much water escaping our valuable fruit. In their recent paper, Zhang and Keller looked at the berry transpiration rates and found that the transpiration rate increases at veraison and declines going into ripeness. That makes sense. Veraison follows lag phase: A time where the berry remains relatively the same size.

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

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grapegrowing

When ripening starts, the berry expands again, causing wax platelets to separate from each other slightly, thereby reducing its resistance to transpiration. As the berry matures, it softens and begins to contract, and the wax platelets may become more tightly packed. That last part is my assumption, by the way, not the authors’ necessarily.

Zhang and Keller found that the transpiration rate from the berry was directly and linearly correlated with vapour pressure deficit (VPD) – the evaporative power of the air (a function of both temperature and humidity). That isn’t too surprising since VPD has a direct influence over evaporation, as well as transpiration through leaves, all else being equal.

WHAT ABOUT LATE-SEASON BERRY SHRIVEL? If phloem inflow is less sensitive to water deficit stress, should we worry about late season water stress? Well, yes, but I suggest we need to worry more about hanging fruit too long and the weather.

Water stress does influence photosynthesis, and it can also influence phloem flows because the water that pushes the phloem sap comes from the apoplast, which is directly connected to the water status (water potential, to be more specific) of the vine as a whole.

Stomatal closure and/or other reasons why the photosynthetic rate declines will also reduce the source of solutes to be loaded into the phloem. The connection between vine water status and berry water inflow is less direct than it is prior to veraison, but there still is a connection. And though it is less sensitive, it can take longer to recover after water status is restored through irrigation.

And because the phloem inflow is not as directly coupled to vine water status, there is not a really good reason why

irrigation should be stopped (if the vineyard is irrigated at all) heading into harvest time. Compromising the phloem inflow to the berries via water stress makes the fruit more sensitive to periodic heat waves, which increase VPD and thereby increase the berry transpiration rate.

Finally, there comes a point during fruit ripening where the phloem slows down its inflow to the fruit, the reason for which is not completely clear.

Whether it is due to an accumulation of sugar in the fruit beyond which it can be unloaded from the phloem or simply due to a reduction in phloem connectivity to the fruit, the berry simply cannot accumulate any more sugar, and therefore sap flow to the berry slows down.

Yet, even though Zhang and Keller show that the transpiration rate slows as the berry approaches ripeness, berry transpiration continues nonetheless. Eventually, and regardless of vine water status, the berry water loss will exceed berry water inflow.

So, the berry will shrivel no matter what we do if we hang the fruit long enough. Hence, if wineries want to hang fruit for an extended period of time, they need to allow growers to irrigate up to harvest. Manipulation of flavour development occurs well before this stage (prior to and during veraison, more likely), so the more likely occurrence of water cut-off near harvest is berry shrivel.

Does that make sense? Water balance of the developing berry is a very important part of the overall developmental process.

All of us, including winemakers, should strive to understand the physiology and how it changes throughout the growing season. Save the berries! Don’t let them shrivel.

References

Zhang, Y. and M. Keller. 2015 Grape berry transpiration is determined by vapour pressure deficit, cuticular conductance and berry size. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 66:454-462.

Greenspan, M., K. Shackel and M. Matthews. 1994. Developmental changes in the diurnal water budget of the grape berry exposed to water deficits. Plant, Cell and Environment. 17: 811-820.

Greenspan, M., H. Schultz and M. Matthews. 1996. Field evaluation of water transport in grape berries during water deficits. Physiologia Plantarum. 97: 55-62.

Keller, M. 2010. The Science of Grapevines: Anatomy and Physiology. Academic Press, Burlington, MA. (This is the first edition. There is a second edition out now.)

About the author: Dr Mark Greenspan has more than a quarter century of scientific viticulture research and viticultural field experience.

He specialises in irrigation and nutrition management, yield and canopy management, vineyard climate and microclimate, vineyard design and vineyard technology. He is the founder of Advanced Viticulture, Inc. based in Windsor, California (www. advancedvit.com).

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April 2016 – Issue 627

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Not on our grapevines, thanks PHYLLOXERA, a small insect that packs a big punch, is a threat to our valuable wine industry and NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is aiming to help Orange region winegrape growers keep their vineyards clear of the pest.

A free DPI phylloxera workshop will be held at the Orange Agricultural Institute Training Centre on Monday April 18 as part of a series of workshops in major NSW winegrowing regions.

DPI industry liaison officer, Bev Zurbo, said the workshop will focus on how to keep vineyards phylloxera-free.

“Phylloxera is a soil-borne pest which feeds on vine roots and we advise a ‘Come clean – Go clean’ approach to stop its spread by infested vines, soil and machinery,” Ms Zurbo said.

“Industry plays a significant role in keeping the wine growing areas of NSW free of phylloxera and these workshops are designed to raise grower awareness of the pest, how it spreads, and its effects on production, market access,

testing, associated costs and potential impacts on rural communities.”

Ms Zurbo said the situation is complex with the pest present in parts of Victoria and NSW since the late 1880s.

“Market access conditions have been set between states and within states, so effective legislation coupled with responsible actions from winegrape growers, industry and the community is helping to protect winegrowing areas,” she said.

“NSW produces some of the best wine in the world and phylloxera is not wanted here.

“If an outbreak were to occur, the removal of old established vines, planting new resistant vines, testing costs and market access issues would impact on infested and neighbouring vineyards and the whole community.

“Education is a valuable tool – in the past, phylloxera outbreaks have most likely occurred due to infested material inadvertently brought in by someone

NSW Department of Primary Industries biosecurity staff are working with local vignerons to keep vineyards free from phylloxera. DPI industry liaison offer Bev Zurbo said giving growers information about what to look out for helps increase awareness and gives growers the tools to protect their enterprises.

who was unaware of the risks, rather than someone breaking the rules.

“These workshops aim to help raise awareness and reinforce the ‘Come clean – Go clean’ message to better protect the industry.”

Precision Viticulture factsheet released WHILE MANY GROWERS have only just finished vintage, before they know it, they’ll be getting ready for next season.

Viticulturists who may be considering their precision viticulture (PV) requirements for such now have access to a FREE Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) PV factsheet. It covers the importance of why precision viticulture is essential, a guide to getting started and what to measure.

“It is designed to assist vineyard managers to easily identify which tools and technologies will have a place in their vineyards and to use the technology to address agronomic challenges, particularly irrigation and encourage informed management,” said Dr Nicole Dimos, SPAA Executive Officer.

The factsheet is a product after a successful two year-long project facilitated by SPAA Society of Precision Agriculture Australia through a project grant from the Natural Resources South East through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program where a Precision Viticulture group was supported.

The group was formed in the Coonawarra Wine region with the aim to increase the adoption of precision viticulture

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28 Grapegrower & Winemaker

by grape growers and better understand how to manage variability in their vineyards.

The project hosted two workshops, supported vineyard demonstrations in the region, and produced a factsheet.

Topics covered included at the workshops that were filled with both theory and practical information taught farmers the tools associated with EM 38 mapping, remote and proximal sensing and weather and canopy monitoring to name a few.

According to Dr Dimos, the project offered participants in the groups the opportunity to become familiar with PV technologies in a ‘hands on’ learning environment.

This helped to ensure that growers were “best informed about PV, we developed a simple guide for improved soil water management”.

“We hope this guide brings confidence to the industry and that SPAA is seen an important conduit for the industry to learn how farm innovations play an important role in their businesses and to get them thinking about the possibilities available to them,” Dimos said.

For more information visit www.spaa.com.au

1300 558 361 www.tuckaway.com.au www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

The VineRobot project aims to help growers accurately estimate yield THE VINEROBOT PROJECT, aimed at developing an autonomous robot that measures key parameters of the vineyard in real time to facilitate winemaking decisions, faces its final phase with various improvements in sensors, data processing and maps’ generation. The sensor system of VineRobot continues with new features. Since the beginning of 2016, the consortium has been analysing data taken in 2015 to verify the correct operation of the sensors.

The goal in the near future is to validate completely the sensors, install them on the robot and create the final maps.

Then, the consortium will work in the processing of collected data and the transfer of maps to the electronic devices of the end-user.

At present, the robot mechanics and navigation capabilities are the most advanced in the project, because VineRobot moves autonomously among the vines with the ability to keep a constant distance between the sensors and the plants, which is essential for generating precise maps. In this section, over the next months, in addition to enhancing turning skills and the security features of the robot, the consortium will build a new chassis that will improve the external appearance of VineRobot. The project officially ends in November 2016, when it is expected to start the commercialisation phase of the VineRobot.

A EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM VineRobot is a research Consortium of 5 SME and 3 RTD European organizations that develops an autonomous robot that will measure vineyard parameters on-the-go in a non-invasive way to help winemaking decisions. The robot is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that will be able to provide reliable, fast and objective information on the state of the vineyards to growers. VineRobot will analyse parameters like nitrogen content in leaves and grape composition. In future, the final users may receive updated information concerning their vineyard status through their mobile devices (smartphone, tablet, computer).

April 2016 – Issue 627

THE BENEFITS “Traditionally, European vineyards have not been driven by technology. Since ancient Romans, the human eye has been the only ‘sensor’ that has steered vineyard management providing a subjective evaluation on yield, vegetative growth and plant status,” said Javier Tardáguila, from the Universidad de La Rioja, coordinator of the project.

One of the main historical goals sought by the wine and viticulture industry has been the accurate and objective estimation of grape yield: it is precision agriculture.

The use of VineRobot to monitor vineyard physiological parameters and grape composition as a precision viticulture project has many advantages over simple hand-held devices for manual sampling and over unmanned aerial vehicles.

VineRobot may provide key information regarding vineyard parameters much faster than manual (hand-held) solutions and at higher resolution, in a more flexible manner and with lower costs than aerial scouting technology carried out by drones or planes.

For more information visit www.vinerobot.eu

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

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CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

Big future for irrigation Conference and exhibition set to focus on technology and precision WATER IS A VALUED COMMODITY in Australia given the major role agriculture plays in our economy. As global and domestic demand for food and other agricultural products increases, there is pressure for growers and irrigation professionals to understand and manage their irrigation storage and distribution systems with greater precision. They not only have to look at potential irrigation developments but also turn to technology to better manage crop production using existing irrigation systems.

The 2016 Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition provides you with the latest products, techniques, services and knowledge that are required to support these crucial decisions. Whether you are involved with irrigation for agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, landscaping, parks, golf course or other associated areas, no other event covers the entire irrigation value chain.

Duane Findley, Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL) chief executive officer, said the conference is set to return to Melbourne after eight years and there has been a groundswell of anticipation across the irrigation industry.

“With the theme ‘Irrigation – for prosperity and wellbeing’ this is the only conference in Australia dedicated to advancing the entire irrigation value chain. We have an outstanding line

Philip Glyde, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority CEO, has been announced as a keynote speaker.

up of local and international speakers who will share their expertise on irrigation in Australia and across the world,” Findley said.

“The conference and exhibition make it easy to source new irrigation solutions and experience new technology. I am sure it will challenge your current way of thinking.”

01

April 2016 – Issue 627

John Elliott, Australian businessman, former Liberal Party president and former Carlton Football Club president, has been announced as a keynote speaker.

www.winetitles.com.au

STUDY TOUR

Grapegrower & Winemaker

31

irrigation

CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

The 3NV nozzle system by Nelson Australia will be on display.

MORE KEY NOTE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED A growing list of speakers has been steadily revealed, with the most recent announcement that John Elliott, Australian businessman, former Liberal Party president and former Carlton Football Club president, will present in the opening session on day one of the conference.

“Water management and agribusiness are Australia’s future growth sectors and I have a strong interest and wide experience in both of these key issues,” Elliott said.

Elliott has a well-documented interest in politics, having been a member of the Liberal Party for more than 30 years and becoming federal president of the party late in 1987.

More recently, he became involved in commodity trading – iron ore, coal and agricultural products and now provides corporate advisory services.

Another opening day keynote address will be delivered by Andrew Curtis, IrrigationNZ chief executive, who has led a number of industry developments in New Zealand across the past six years.

Curtis said water quality had declined over the past two decades in some of New Zealand’s intensively farmed lowland areas, leading to questions about increased irrigation development in the country.

“There’s a debate now about whether economic gain co-exist with environmental imperatives. My presentation will explain how solutions are being found, including innovative ways of working with local communities,” Curtis said.

“We are also finding solutions by setting environmental limits, redesigning what was once solely irrigation water supply infrastructure, in combination with widespread uptake of SMART Irrigation practice.

“But key questions are can irrigators afford such an investment, and should they bear it alone.”

Day two of the conference will be opened by Phillip Glyde, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority chief executive officer. Recently appointed to this role, Glyde was previously the deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources since November 2006.

In that role he was responsible for agriculture, fisheries and forestry. Glyde has previously had responsibility for international trade and market access, export certification services and the department’s research division, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The Federal Government recently commented that water is the most valuable resource in the 21st century and its importance to agriculture, the next major pillar in Australian economic growth and prosperity, could not be clearer. The Government, having recently added a further $12.5 million into irrigation infrastructure upgrades for the Murray-Darling Basin as well as $120 million for projects in Tasmania. With all this news it seems appropriate Anne Ruston, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, will open the conference.

Other keynote speakers include: • Graham Hawke, Bureau of Meteorology, head of the Environment and Research Division; • Peter Duggin, Renmark Irrigation Trust presiding member; and • Peter Verwey, Sustaining The Basin: Irrigated Farm Modernisation, NSW Department of Primary Industries project officer.

‘OUT OF THE BOX’ SOLUTIONS The largest display of irrigation products and technology in Australasia, will showcase ‘out of the box’ solutions to all those who attend. With product launches happening across the show floor, see this and more. Register free for this all encompassing exhibition today.

The conference program has been announced and registrations are now open. Register as a conference delegate or trade visitor to be part of the 4000+ industry professionals who will gather together this May to get a glimpse of the future of irrigation. Earlybird rates apply for conference tickets purchased before 1 April 2016.

The already fully-allocated exhibition will be a huge display of irrigation products, technologies and solutions for all irrigation professionals and associated industries. More than 130 exhibitors will showcase a range of 250-plus new products and 450-plus brands. The exhibition is being run concurrently with AgriTech, a new forum focused on high-end agriculture, including robotics, automation, RFID and precision agriculture.

Event Dates: 24 – 26 May 2016 Venue: The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre While there are various options for attending the conference, registration to the trade exhibition is free. For more information visit www.irrigationaustralia.com.au

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

LET’S RETURN

WATER

CLEANER THAN WHEN WE

BORROWED IT.

Let’s deliver the technology to help ensure that the water we renew and return to nature is even more suitable for whoever needs it next. This is Xylem’s commitment. It’s what drives our Wedeco and Sanitaire brands‘ chemical-free and energy-efficient biological treatment processes. It’s also at the heart of YSI and WTW’s field, online and lab testing. Clean water is a big responsibility, and we’re solving it. Learn more at Xyleminc.com.

xyleminc.com © 2016 Xylem Inc. Wedeco, Leopold, Sanitaire, WTW and YSI are trademarks of Xylem Inc. or one of its subsidiaries.

irrigation

CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

The future of irrigation in Australia Irrigation currently accounts for about 70% of water use in Australia and irrigated agriculture generates 50% of all agricultural profit, from just 0.5% of farmed land. In this article Mac Kirby, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) dives into the future of Australian agricultural irrigation.

IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE is supported by sophisticated water management arrangements that have undergone substantial reform in recent years to make water a valuable and traded commodity. With growing global and domestic demand for food and fibre, the future prospects for irrigation in Australia should be strong, yet it faces several challenges.

Irrigation in Australia is concentrated in the Murray–Darling Basin, where over two-thirds of Australia’s irrigation water use occurs, even though the Basin produces only six per cent of national runoff.

In future, less water could be available for use because of a return of some water to restore environmental values, and because of lower river flows as a result of climate change, bushfires, and changing land use.

Irrigated agriculture will need to respond to these challenges by increasing production efficiency (as was evidenced by some industries during the millennium drought), and through opportunities to improve water-use efficiency.

Alternatively, there will be calls to expand irrigation elsewhere, such as in northern Australia, but these developments will involve far broader considerations than the availability of water.

FUTURE PROSPECTS There are strong economic prospects for irrigation. Growing global populations and a growing standard of living will increase demand for food and fibre over the coming decades. Demand for the expansion of irrigation is likely to strengthen given the appeal of its high productivity and profitability. Australia produces enough food and fibre to support more than its own population, exporting 60% of its agricultural production.

Australia’s population is forecast to grow to about 35 million people by 2056 and food demanded by this population can be supplied at current production levels.

World prices of major commodities (grains, meat, and dairy) are projected to rise in coming years, with a continued growth in demand and will, all other things being equal, lead to the continued profitability of Australian irrigated farming. Although the growth

34 Grapegrower & Winemaker

in demand and increasing prices are generally favourable for irrigated agriculture, the dairy industry expects that price volatility will be a greater challenge than climate change or access to irrigation water. The wine industry has experienced low prices for some years, and a shift from premium to bulk wines. The outlook is for continuing low wine prices. Thus, although sustained water access is important to irrigators, price and other terms of trade are crucial to profitability. The irrigation industry has adapted to these pressures and so remains competitive in the global market.

NEW IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENTS With good prospects for irrigated agriculture but declining water use in the Murray–Darling Basin, there will be strong interest in developing other irrigation areas. Irrigation is increasing in Tasmania, where there are plans to develop an additional 120 GL/year from the current 636 GL/year, which is modest in scale compared with the Murray– Darling Basin. It is often speculated that there could be dramatic increases in irrigation, both in northern Australia and basins of the east coast of Australia, but a comprehensive assessment of www.winetitles.com.au

opportunities and costs is yet to be undertaken. Possibilities include large schemes to dam coastal rivers and transfer water over the divide into the Murray-Darling Basin or other westernflowing rivers. Such schemes may be technically feasible, but are not economic at present.

IMPROVING ON-FARM EFFICIENCY A number of improvements to on-farm efficiency have been beneficial in recent years and could be further developed and adopted to meet future reductions in water availability. They focus on producing more crop from less water, or more profit from the water used, by considering the whole farm enterprise and measures that improve crop quality, not just crop production.

The measures include new crop varieties, the use of deficit irrigation, irrigation flow monitoring, more even watering by laser levelling of fields, better irrigation scheduling, lining of farm channels to reduce seepage losses, and converting irrigation systems from gravity systems to sprinkler or drip irrigation. Savings may be significant, but costly, and are not always profitable.

Water is typically a small input cost on a April 2016 – Issue 627

farm and some of the measures increase other costs such as energy and capital.

As an example, improvements from new cotton varieties that are more drought tolerant have in some cases doubled water use efficiency from one to two bales of cotton per megalitre. Better soil management, irrigation scheduling, and on-farm design further enable more of the applied water to be used by the crop.

For grapes, the development of new rootstocks, and research around partial root-zone drying and deficit irrigation (applying less water than the crop demands), have lowered water applications by 30–50%. These have reduced yields but improved the quality (colour, tannins, etc.) and raised the price.

For annual crops such as rice, maize and wheat, irrigators can integrate dryland farming techniques into new farming systems to optimise planting and better choose when to irrigate with limited water. Strategies such as retaining crop residues in the Riverina (previously uncommon) and spreading available water further by irrigating winter cereal crops, which require less water than rice, have shown potential

to increase whole-of-farm water use efficiency.

The IrriSATSMS system is an example of how new technology and services can improve irrigation water use efficiency.

IrriSATSMS combines satellite data on crop development with local weather data and delivers daily information to farmers on crop water requirement via their mobile phones. This approach aims to provide growers with a user-friendly daily irrigation water management service and a benchmarking and auditing mechanism for growers and water providers through the reporting back of the amount of water applied and crop produced.

Climate change may influence crop water use efficiency, as well as threatening water availability in southern Australia. Increases in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 may promote crop growth and water use efficiency, but this effect is strongly variety dependent. For example, under a projected 2050 climate (higher CO2, higher temperature and lower rainfall), yield increases of 1–10% could be achieved by changing varieties.

Decreases in grain yields of 2.2% were predicted in early maturing varieties.

Supplemental irrigation at key times

through the growing season may mitigate the impact of climate change, although this requires further investigation.

CONCLUSION There are thus many prospects for continuing to improve the productivity and profitability of irrigated agriculture, along with prospects for new irrigation developments. These prospects may outweigh some of the threats to irrigation from a drying climate, return of water to the environment, and growing urban water demand, but that will depend on the local circumstances and adaptability of each region. In some areas, irrigated agricultural will grow while it will reduce in others. The challenge is in making those transitions in a way that is cost effective, socially acceptable, and without further negative impacts on the environment. Improved productivity is also needed to meet the increasing demand for food and fibre from growing domestic and global populations.

Reproduced from Chapter 8 of ‘Water Science and Solutions for Australia’, with permission from CSIRO Publishing. http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/18/ pid/6557.htm

Pure Water makes pure sense in winemaking

The treatment of water for use in any production process is costly and it makes sense to ensure you are using the most efficient method of handling and treatment for your needs.

Whether it’s a reuse/recycling system, general wash-down, disinfection and

sanitisation of barrels or bottles, or softening and treatment of ground water, Continental Water has the products and the expertise to provide the best solution.

Drop by Stand 256 at Irrigation Australia for a chat, give us a call or drop us an email.

www.continentalwater.com.au | 1300 166 253 | sales@continentalwater.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

35

irrigation

CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

Planning to attend AUSTRALASIA’S LEADING irrigation event; Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition, will take place between May 24-26 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Register now to be among more than 3500 trade visitors and 300-plus conference delegates who will gather to get a glimpse of the future of irrigation. Everything you need to know, including access to the conference program, is now available online at www.irrigationaustralia.com.au.

FREE EXHIBITION The exhibition is a great opportunity for visitors to view the latest innovations, emerging technologies and products that are available in the irrigation industry.

Visitors to the exhibition will include irrigation water suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, resellers, contractors, local councils, government (state and federal), installers, specifiers and designers and those interested in current and emerging irrigation solutions.

The exhibition is free to attend and includes some of the countries top suppliers and runs in conjunction with the three day 2016 Irrigation Australia Conference.

Three full days of workshops will be held in the exhibition area to showcase irrigation products and services. This area is open to all who visit the exhibition. These workshops will provide a great opportunity for visitors and conference delegates to have a hands-on look at equipment, and learn about the industry services in an interactive environment.

CONFERENCE Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL) delivers the only conference in Australia solely dedicated to advancing and promoting the entire irrigation industry value chain, presenting issues relating to, or impacting on, irrigation in Australia and across the world.

The conference will feature separate streams covering irrigation, agriculture, horticultural and open space presented by international and Australian industry leaders and authorities.

The program will provide valuable time in the exhibition to meet and network with industry colleagues, manufacturers and suppliers. An exciting evening social program will include networking drinks and industry Gala Dinner on Tuesday 24 May and technical tours will be presented on day three of the conference program.

SOCIAL PROGRAM The Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition social program is a great way to continue the networking away from the conference and show floor.

Welcome Reception: An opportunity to network and meet your fellow industry professionals at our Welcome Reception. Enjoy a selection of drinks and canapé’s at the Melbourne Convention Centre while enjoying views across the Yarra River.

Date: Monday 23 May, 6-8pm Venue: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

Irrigation Australia Limited Gala Dinner and Awards: Being held at the exclusive Showtime Events Centre located at South Wharf, the Irrigation Australia Annual Gala Dinner

36 Grapegrower & Winemaker

and Awards evening will be a night of fine food, drinks, entertainment and industry celebration at this iconic location.

Tickets must be purchased for this event.

Date: Tuesday 24 May Time: 7 – 11.30pm Venue: Showtime Events Centre (South Wharf)

Happy Hour on the show floor: Unwind with your industry peers and have a drink on us at the Happy Hour Networking drinks, open to conference delegates, trade visitors and all exhibitors on the show floor. Then continue the networking away from the show floor at the Irrigation Australia Limited Gala Dinner and Awards Presentation.

Date & Time: Tuesday 24 May, 4-5pm Venue: Exhibition Show Floor

STUDY TOUR The conference study tour group will visit the facilities at the Werribee Waste Water Treatment Plant, market gardening area of Werribee South and Werribee Open Plains Zoo.

POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP Water Essentials: Introducing Fundamentals of Water Science, Technology and Governance (1-Day Post Conference Workshop) run byInternational Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management.

Course Content: This will be a one-day workshop, held in association with the Irrigation Australia International Conference.

From the water cycle through to privatisation and water law, this single day primer course will provide attendees with an overview of the current technical, environmental, legislative, economic and social issues associated with Australian water resources management. This is a course for new entrants to the water industry or for current staff working in water-interested organisations.

AGRITECH Alongside the Irrigation Australia International Exhibition, AgriTech will showcase the latest innovations in the agricultural sector through knowledge transfer of what technologies are available and how they can assist farmers and growers in achieving more with less resources.

The new and innovative forum for high end agricultural technology, will make it’s debut in Melbourne between 24 – 26 May 2016.

AgriTech will showcase solutions for the agricultural sector including: • Robotics; • Automation; • RFID; • Precision Agriculture; • RTK Navigation; • Drones and UAVs; • Sensors – Crop, Soil, Air; • Automated Vehicles; • Swath Control Systems; • Biotechnology/Bio-security; • Closed Ecological Systems; and • Vertical Farms.

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

Increased water demand and price predicted for the southern Murray-Darling Basin A RECENT study into the future state of play for irrigated industries in the southern Murray-Darling Basin has found that there is likely to be a substantial increase in water demand and price across the next five years.

The study, funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and conducted by leading water market advisory specialists Aither, projects significant increases in water demand and price driven by the rapid expansion of agricultural industries including cotton and nuts.

(Aither is an Australian economics and public policy advisory firm with deep expertise in water management, infrastructure and utility industries, the environment and natural resources.)

Modelling indicates that water allocation prices could increase over the next five years by around 10 per cent in low allocation years and seven per cent in moderate and high allocation years, simply as a result of projected demand changes.

If this scenario eventuated, water use could decrease by around 10 per cent for dairy, and 15 per cent for both rice and grapes. These projections are informed by industry views gathered through broad consultation, noting the extent to which these results are realised will depend in part on how investors respond to the recent fall in almond prices.

The study highlights the importance of these demand side pressures in contributing to the increasing price of water allocations in recent years. It does not consider supply side drivers or social or environmental impacts.

“While increased demand for water by irrigated industries is occurring alongside lower rainfall and a reallocation of water to the environment, the impact of this demand is significant in its own right,” said Will Fargher, Aither director.

Fargher said that while the trends identified in the study present some challenges in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, irrigation industries have shown to be adaptable and resilient, including in response to periods of low water allocations.

“Water markets have contributed to resilience by allowing for the reallocation of water in response to changing demand, and will be essential in enabling industries to respond to new opportunities,” Fargher said.

Released as part of a series of reports from RIRDC’s National Rural Issues program, the report aims to inform decision making and policy debate by Government and industry on issues of national significance.

Craig Burns, RIRDC’s Managing Director, said the study will provide policy makers with current and independent analysis and forecasting that will help inform their decisions.

“The southern Murray-Darling Basin is Australia’s largest and highest value irrigation area and its continued success depends on an enormous number of private and public decisions,” Burns said.

“The importance of this study is that it brings together qualitative and quantitative evidence to identify key trends across the southern Murray-Darling Basin, the likely implications for water markets, and the overall consequences April 2016 – Issue 627

for industries. In doing so, policy and decision makers will now be better placed to plan for irrigated agriculture.”

The importance of this report is that it brings together qualitative and quantitative evidence held by stakeholders across the sMDB to identify key current and future trends for individual industries and regions; explores the aggregate implications of these trends for water markets; and examines the overall consequences for individual industries and regions.

This project was funded from RIRDC Core Funds which are provided by the Australian Government. This report is an addition to RIRDC’s diverse range of over 2000 research publications and it forms part of our National Rural Issues R&D program, which aims to inform and improve the policy debate by Government and industry on national rural issues in Australia.

The full report, titled ‘Contemporary Trends and Drivers of Irrigation in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin’ can be downloaded for free from rirdc.infoservices.com.au (search for the report title, or item number 16007).

PENTAIR HAVE JUST LIFTED THE BAR. TWICE. For generations we’ve been one of Australasia’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of fluid solutions, industrial valves, pumps, and hygienic product systems. But we still constantly look at new ways to deliver even more to our loyal customer base.

This focus on continuous improvement has paid off once again, with the launch of not one, but two great initiatives for the Australasian marketplace.

The Pentair Centre of Excellence has recently commenced operation and is already delivering improved support, service and product

offerings to our customers all over the region across the full range of Südmo, Hovap and Keystone products.

The Pentair Project Hub has been developed for clients who require a bespoke design solution.

The Project Hub team can plan and execute specifically to a business’ operation and needs.

So when it comes to hygienic solutions, if your business demands the best in expertise, innovation and technology.

Contact Robin Noorland Sales Manager Pacific email robin.noorland@pentair.com or phone +64 21 289 9966

SÜDMO • HOVAP • KEYSTONE

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

37

irrigation

CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

Exhibitors

EXHIBITION CAFE AND SEATING AREA

70 2

Company Name

Stall No.

5ELEM Acquadragon Irrigation Advanced Industrial Products Amiad Water Systems Antelco AquaBoostAG Aquatic Informatics Inc. Auston Pumps Aytok Filtration Baccara Geva Australia Bauer GmbH Australia Pty Ltd Bermad Water Technologies Brown Brothers Engineers Australia Bureau of Meteorology Cadman Power Equipment Caprari Pumps Australia Challenger Valves adn Actuators CHT Australia & PWS Clearpond Coletanche Bituminous Geomembrane Comdain Infrastructure Continental Water Systems Pty Ltd Crusader Hose CUMMINS Dama Manufacturing Davey Water Products Dura Plastic Products, Inc Dwyer Instruments Elysee Irrigation Emflow Valves Energy Power Systems Australia Felsom - EXA Pumps SRGL FHS - Polysmart Finsbury Pump Systems Franklin Electric Franklin Solar Fuzhou Foison Irrigation Equipment Co.Ltd Goldtec Control Systems Goodwin Submersible Pumps Australia Groundwater Imaging Grundfos Pumps GuangDong RuiRong Pump Industry Hatz Diesel Australia HeBei Plentirain Agri Equipment Sales Co. Ltd Holman Industries HR Products Hunter Industries Hydrawise HydroPlan International Water and Irrigation Iplex Pipelines Irrigation Australia Limited Irrigation Components Australia Irrigear Stores IRRILAND S.R.L. JOHNSON Screens JSG Industrial Systems KOMAX FZC Kubota Tractor Australia Land F/X

620 548 345 543 252 304 621 701 602 552 531 419 704 555 427 114 533 554 228 354 418 256 521 243 705 110 229 355 711 305 702 622 710 551 221 607 624 553 426 123 529 313 323 357 118 337 615 401 558 603 213 106 535 245 557 351 623 303 712 249

38 Grapegrower & Winemaker

704

705

707

710

709

711

712

713

621

623

625

620

622

624

714

701 603 607

611

615

619

602

558 505 553

521

533

504 503

520

513

537

541

545

557 548

552

547

551

529 555

516 531

519

535

539

543

554

502

430

403 402

419 407

411

413

423

425

427

415 418

422

424

426

401 305

359 313 321

304 303

428

COFFEE STATION

345 337

358 349

319

323

327

331

353 357

NEW PRODUCT SHOWCASE

311

MEETING ROOM 2

MEETING ROOM 1

351 347

335

350

302

355 354

205

229

213

253

257

252

256

237

221 203

249 248

245

204 224

211

247

251

255

246

250

254

122

124

126

128

121

123

125

127

228 243

202

102

10 6

110

114

118

AGRITECH SEMINAR AREA

120

ENTRY TO WORKSHOPS

Lindsay International Lowara Pumps MAIT Industries Maric Flow Control MEA Microjet Australia Monkey Media NaanDanJain Nelson Australia Netafim Australia New Ag International Norma Group OBSERVANT Orange Pumps Outdoor Design Source Outpost Central Ltd Parkland Australia Pty Ltd Paterson Pumps Penske Power Systems Pentair PHILMAC Pierce Corporation Plasson Australia Plastica Alfa SRL Power Flex Cables Prowater Nationwide Puretec Group Queensland Irrigation Services Pty Ltd Rain Bird Reece Irrigation Reinke Australia www.winetitles.com.au

415 513 545 253 248 707 503 428 211 407 504 539 402 520 403 302 124 430 349 311 319 541 709 505 203 422 120 347 327 321 423

Rivulis Irrigation Sentek Technologies Shakti Pumps Pty Ltd Siemens Limited SIGNAL Smart Water Sterling Pumps Sub Motors Australia Terra Trencher Australia Think Water T-L Irrigation TOIP TORO Triangle Waterquip Unidata/NIWA Valmont Irrigation australia Victorian Farmers Federation VINIDEX Welling & Crossley P.L. Welling & Crossley P.L. Wenzhou Yading Electric Co Ltd Wilo Pumps Australia

619 519 516 547 359 714 611 713 122 204 502 205 224 331 246 335 254 237 411 413 424 537

Winnow Group

202

WISA Irrigation Solutions Pty Ltd Xylem Analytics Yanmar/JCB YuYao Lumao Sprinkler Manufacturing Co Ltd Yuyao Master Irigation Gardening Equipment Co. Ltd Zhejiang DoYin Pump Industry Zhejiang Hoda Electric Co. Ltd

257 121 102 425 358 353 350

April 2016 – Issue 627

Key exhibitors its residential, commercial, agricultural or industrial, we have a solution to the provision of water to whatever quality you need. Whether it’s a residential system under the IBC brand, a turnkey system delivered to your site or a purpose-specific systems designed and constructed for your particular requirements. We make your water use the most efficient and costeffective possible.

THE 2016 IRRIGATION Australia Exhibition will be held from May 24-26 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. The exhibition is a great opportunity for visitors to view the latest innovations, emerging technologies and products that are available in the irrigation industry.

Visitors to the exhibition will include irrigation water suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, resellers, contractors, government (local, state, federal), installers, specifiers and designers as well as those interested in current and emerging irrigation solutions.

The exhibition is free to attend and includes some of the countries top suppliers and runs in conjunction with the three day 2016 Irrigation Australia Conference.

A number of exhibitors relevant to the wine and viticulture industry will be participating, including:

Seventy percent of the world’s fresh water is used for agriculture. Pentair ensures it is used wisely. Pentair’s pumps, spray tips, controls, and accessories protect crops and efficiently direct water where it’s needed. Pentair’s products help farm equipment manufacturers and growers meet increasing demands for efficient use of water and other resources, enabling them to reduce downtime and improve productivity and profits.

CONTINENTAL WATER

MEA

Continental Water has over 25 years’ experience working with Australian water and water conditions. Whether

MEA brings soil moisture monitoring, renewable energy and plant science technologies to your business, with a

PENTAIR

view to turning art into science. Across more than 25 years, MEA has worked in every sector of the agricultural industry designing and manufacturing environmental monitoring systems.

And MEA turns data into information – information you can use to minimise cost and time spent on guesswork or re-work.

Our objective is to deploy systems that maximise your efficiency, crop yields and profit.

XYLEM Xylem has been servicing Australia for over 40 years with a national network of sales, rental and service. As a leader in product innovation and system engineering technology, we create value for our customers by offering the complete product, design, installation and service packages We have a versatile product range that expands across all the markets, with the capability of providing the right solution in pumping, mixing, water disinfection, filtration and aeration. Xylem products can be found worldwide, transporting liquid in hundreds of different operations.

Straight from the soil to you Our new Plexus wireless network puts the most accurate, up to date soil moisture data in the palm of your hand.

Plexus allows you to create a large network of sensors, sending soil moisture readings direct to your computer or smart phone.

With data available 24/7, Plexus helps you replace guess work with certainty.

To find out more about how we can help you grow smarter call us on 08 8332 9044 or visit mea.com.au.

ME20526_130x185_PlexusMag_FA.indd 1 April 2016 – Issue 627

www.winetitles.com.au

18/04/2013 3:01:42 PM39 Grapegrower & Winemaker

grapegrowing

Training & Trellising

Robust, flexible and long-term post options ACROSS THE PAST FIVE YEARS Ocloc products have revolutionised the way vineyards deal with trellis maintenance.

Ocloc, by Ocvitti Pty Ltd, has simplified the process of trellis maintenance together with creating significant savings compared to traditional post replacement.

It takes only a few minutes to install an Ocloc compared to the drama of customary wooden post replacement. Using Ocloc X has transformed the process to a simpler, cheaper and more environmentally sustainable long term fix and is a robust repair system that extends the life of the infrastructure and allows for better harvesting, extending post life indefinitely.

“Ocloc has saved us upward of $20 per post. Using Ocloc is a no brainer,” said Travis Coombe, from Henschke Wines Eden Valley.

“We have fitted more than 11,000 units over the past five years. ‘Ocloc’ is a great product well executed,” said Warren Randall Seppeltsfield Barossa / Coonawarra & Ian McMillan Tinlins Vineyards Mclaren Vale.

Another product that prolongs post life, the Ocloc M is a system to fix metal vine stakes. These vine stakes are costly to remove and replace but inexpensive to fix with the Ocloc M. High rates of post breakages and the huge piles of toxic wooden refuse posts led the Ocvitti team to construct a more robust, flexible, long term and environmentally friendly trellis post. Across the past four years they have researched the best of existing designs from Australia and overseas including grower’s input to developing Ocloc A. Ocloc A can be used for general replacement or ‘greenfield’ developments and is made of a recyclable, high grade structural steel with the foremost Galfan anti-corrosion coating to increase post life in our harsh viticultural environments.

Richard Leask, from Leask Agri in McLaren Vale SA, said he had looked at all posts in the market place… “round ones with plastic clips, big heavy droppers that wreck the harvester rods and wood that is unsustainable and irresponsible to use”.

“Ocloc A is, by far, the best post in the market, easier and cheaper than wooden posts to install, they prune well mechanically, pick really well and have a much longer lifespan than anything else out there, in fact, we have been using all the Ocloc products for many years and they ‘just work’ with the added bonus of cutting our trellis maintenance costs in half.”

At Kirribilly Vineyards in the Clare Valley, Dick Bryksy said Ocloc had been a revolution.

“I manage 14 vineyards encompassing over 600ha and trellis maintenance has been a bugbear up until Ocloc A came along.

40 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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April 2016 – Issue 627

We have trialled every post, stake and/or dropper available over many years and found that they all have their faults whether they are too weak or rust quickly.

“We have found the wire tags break off, lift wires won’t go in or stay in slots, some posts are just too expensive to install when the clips are in the equation that then break, replacing clips ad hoc is expensive plus inserting screws etc. which end up breaking off and puncturing tractor tyres. Ocloc A ticks all the boxes, robust, sustainable, easy to install by hand or machine in all our country, rock or clay plus they are inexpensive, have no need for retrofitting of clips and are flexible yet strong. We have used the other Ocloc products, namely Ocloc X and M, which complement the Ocloc A as a robust, economical and long term fix for vine stakes and posts.”

Most grapegrowers have recognised the need for change and are re-thinking post types with the general consensus being the move to steel is preferred.

Prior to Ocloc A there wasn’t a simple post available that growers could ‘set and forget’, rather than being labour intensive with additional clips or too weak for the application.

Ocloc A comes with rounded wire slots at 150mm or 75mm spacing’s, allowing for infinite wire positioning, is made from 2mm high-tensile steel, encased within a premium Galfan coating, that has proven to be exceptionally resilient across all applications.

Ocloc A is a durable, sustainable and uncomplicated trellis post that will out-perform any other post available ‘hands down’.

Ocloc products are proudly owned, designed and produced in Australia by viticulturists for viticulture.

For more information visit www.ocloc.com.au

Strength

Ocloc A ticks all the boxes, robust, sustainable, easy to install by hand or machine in all our country, rock or clay plus they are inexpensive, have no need for retrofitting of clips and are flexible yet strong.

Your Vineyards Future Galfan coating for long term durability superior corrosion resistance 5% Aluminium, 94.5%, Zinc, .05% rare metals. High tensile steel, 2mm thick.

Durability

Jim Zerella wines: “Ocloc A is a progressive approach with Galfan coating to out last any other trellis post on the market. ‘Soft’ wire holes feature as great design and forward thinking.” Vineyard Ryan Rd McLaren Vale

Dick Bryksy, Kirribilly Viticulture: “Ocloc A has hit the mark, very strong, easy to install and shift wires, a great product.” Vineyard Clare Valley • Unique profile specifically designed to enhance strength and rigidity.

• 95mm post width to alleviate vine crowding.

• Rounded wire holes to stop wire deterioration

• Wires attached without clips or staples • 150 mm or 75 mm wire hole spacing’s.

• Angled wire slots for wire retention and easy VSP shifts

• Ocloc A available in TWS or VSP • Alleviates the need for outmoded treated wooden posts and associated chemical contaminants.

• Designed and made in Australia

Nigel Catt M: 0418 832 967 E: ncatt@radoux.com.au Brian O’Malley M: 0424 112 120 E: brianomalley@tpg.com.au Go online or call either Brian or Nigel about your vineyard trellis needs. www.ocloc.com.au Facebook: Ocloc trellis post April 2016 – Issue 627

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

41

grapegrowing Supplier update

®

TIRED OF BROKEN POSTS? Broken vineyard posts after harvest, awaiting disposal – you have a real problem!!!

With millions of intermediary vineyard posts damaged in Australia and New Zealand each year, ECO TRELLIS® has a solution that will save you both time and money.

BENEFITS OF ECO TRELLIS INTERMEDIARY POSTS

®

Recyclable: No stock piling of damage posts Environmentally friendly: No chemical leaching Structural strength: High tensile galvanised steel which means fewer breakages Pre-punched hole positions: Simple to adjust the tucking / fruiting wires Bulge: Provides structural strength with a ground retention flange and patented footing if required Rolled end: No cap required and will not tear or rip net protection/safe to handle Patented clip range: Colour coded for ease of use Ease of installation and handling: Saves on labour costs Longer product life cycle: More durable than wooden vineyard posts

For further information:

ecotrellis.com

ENQUIRIES AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND PHONE + 64 4 576 1800

42 Grapegrower & Winemaker

EMAIL ecotrellis@nztubemills.co.nz

Future proof your vineyard with ECO TRELLIS ECO TRELLIS offers a complete vineyard trellising solution using posts, clips and strainers as relevant to site location.

NZ Tube Mills product development engineers have worked closely with the Australasian wine industry since 2009 to develop Eco Trellis steel posts and wire clips. Research and new product development is on-going and recent developments include: • Intensive testing of steel posts in vineyards that are exposed to high wind and extreme weather conditions; • The launch of a patented colour coded clip range to make the viticulturists and vineyard workers more efficient in the field; and • The introduction of a brand new Eco Trellis plug which has been designed specifically to fill any un-used prepunched holes on the Eco Trellis posts. (They are easily removed if you want to change the position of irrigation or cordon wires and do not protrude or interfere with mechanical pruning or harvesting equipment.)

With millions of intermediary vineyard posts damaged in Australasia each year, Eco Trellis is also ideal for replacement of broken wooden posts. Viticulturists and vineyard managers using Eco Trellis intermediary posts report that they replace significantly less than timber alternatives each year.

In October 2015, Eco Trellis won two prestigious categories at the ninth annual Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA) awards. These awards were the ‘environment & sustainability’ award and the ‘innovation’ award. NZ Tube Mills is the only New Zealand based company to be acknowledged at these awards.

The judges said that the Eco Trellis story is a great example for suppliers, where an innovative idea managed to turn around the fortunes of a factory servicing a declining automotive industry, to one that now produces a highly desirable, exceptional product. The environmental benefits of this technology are evident in its recyclability and in providing an alternative to CCA treated posts that can leach chemicals from the timber causing damage to the soil.

Eco Trellis is supplying their vineyard posts and working with leaders in the Australasian wine industry. Their newest Australian client is Barossa Valley Estates for their new vineyard development in 2017. Other companies using Eco Trellis in their vineyards include Constellation Wines, Treasury Wine Estates, Pernod Ricard, Hill-Smith Family Vineyards/ Yalumba Group, Henschke , Villa Maria Estate Wines and Ara Wines. Eco Trellis is also growing in popularity with organic winegrowers on both sides of the Tasman.

Eco Trellis is constantly evolving and being enhanced through working closely with the viticulture and wine industry. Still a relatively new product it is adding value to wine businesses in Australasia and has an exciting future.

For more information, visit Eco Trellis at the Australian Wine Industry Trade Exhibition, in Adelaide from July 24 to 28, or visit ecotrellis.com

www.winetitles.com.au

April 2016 – Issue 627

High accuracy rootling transplants Spatial uniformity is a pre-requisite to being able to manage a modern vineyard. In this article Aldo Calcante and Roberto Oberti, from the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Milan, examine innovative equipment that can optimise the work in terms of precision as well as save time and labour costs.

ONE OF THE MOST DELICATE and onerous operations, needing time as well as a high-level of technical and practical skill, is undoubtedly the planning stage of the vineyard, followed by the planting of rootlings.

The resulting spatial regularity, while pleasing from an aesthetic point of view, guarantees the vineyard is set up to for subsequent mechanised operations between the vine rows and once the canopy develops, for mechanised pruning and harvesting.

To date, the methods used for planting rootlings basically depend on the number of plants involved.

In the case of small vineyards, or for replacing rootlings that haven’t taken root, a manual fork is usually used: a pole with two prongs where the rootling is inserted at root height and driven upright into the prepared soil.

Naturally this operation entails a very limited operational

capacity, (60-100 plants/hour per worker, Planeta et al., 2001), where the percentage of plants taking root varies from 80 to 100%.

The use of machines that initially facilitated the work, then actual planting machines, had a great surge at the start of the 1980s, thanks to the growing availability of laser tracker systems. In view of the excellent planting regularity, these machines can achieve a much higher working capacity than manual planting (more than 800 plants per hour).

In any case, regardless of the method used, planting accuracy must concern the longitudinal and transverse alignment between the plants and between the rows and, to do this, the first task to be completed is to track and stake the perimeter points of the plot and the start of each row.

This is done either with mapping tools, or by using GPS tools and GIS software.

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43

grapegrowing The first case requires the presence of qualified labour for long enough to carry out the complex planting.

In the second case, the alignment of the vineyard is carried out automatically once the perimeter and the planting layout is known (Sartori, 2004).

This leads to both a reduction in the working time and the possibility to use planting machines that can use the digital data of the project in order to entirely automate the planting operation.

THE PLANTING MACHINE In general, a rootling planting machine is a machine made up of a supporting frame with seats for the operators and plantcarrying trays fixed to it, as well as the transplant unit and the control devices to achieve an equal distance between the rows and between vines in a row.

From a mechanical point of view, the models available on the market have different types of transplant unit. There are currently three basic types (Mazzetto and Calcante, 2009): Disc distributor It is composed of a variable number of equidistant grippers mounted radially on a horizontal axis rotor.

The distributor is fed by means of a chain conveyor where the operators place the small plants. The opening of the grippers, with the subsequent release of the rootling into the furrow opened by a plough, is regulated by a shaped profile, whose position determines the point to release the rootling.

The plant is placed upright due to the combined action of the soil (which fills the furrow as it slides down) and two idler wheels lying on the surface converging at the centre of the furrow. A ridging machine, which can be adjusted according to the slope and type of soil, closes the furrow.

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44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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April 2016 – Issue 627

Chain distributor It is made up of a chain that rotates in the opposite direction to the forward movement, to which the equidistant grippers are fixed. The plant is set upright in the furrow opened by a plough and kept open by two idler wheels that compress the soil. After the rootling has been released, two discs replace the dirt.

Distributor with pneumatic piston It is made up of two half-moon spades that dig into the soil and make a hole where the rootling is to be set.

The plant is slipped into the hole and a disk ridging system compresses the soil around the root system. In the meantime, the two spades are lifted by a pneumatic piston and repositioned to make the next hole.

In order to obtain an equal distance when planting the rootlings in the rows and between the rows, the transplanters are fitted with control devices that act on the transplanter unit and the frame respectively.

In particular, there are: a) A row alignment system, with the dual purpose of guaranteeing the rectilinear alignment of the rootlings in the row, as well as an equal distance between the rows (according to the planting project); and b) A synchronisation system that regulates the movement of the rootling distributor in order to guarantee an equal distance between the plants in a row.

ROW ALIGNMENT SYSTEM From a purely mechanical point of view, both the alignment of the rootlings and the equal distance between rows depend on the transverse movement of the transplanter frame combined with its translation in the working phase.

A hydraulic piston starts the transverse movement and an oil-pressure pump is activated by the power take-off of the tractor. A second piston, usually controlled by a two-axis inclinometer (which measures angles of slope), keeps the transplanter in a horizontal position.

The automation of the process is ensured by using laser systems or GPS. In fact, the mechanical transplanters may be equipped with either a device that receives a laser signal from a transmitter positioned alongside the row adjacent to the one where the transplanter is advancing, or with a high-accuracy Differential GPS system (usually in dual frequency).

In both cases, the systems generate signals that, acting on the hydraulic device of the machine, control and maintain the ‘target’ position of the frame through lateral translations, equal to accidental route deviations determined by driving the tractor.

stake. The lower pulley, which the wire winds around only once, controls a hydraulic motor that determines the rotation speed of the parts connected to the distributor, by means of a combined chain-gear transmission.

This speed, which depends on the planting density of the area to be planted (distance between rows), can be regulated by selecting the correct return pinion gears.

Another hydraulic motor, connected to the axis of the top pulley, provides a moderate feedback to keep the wire taut, and allows the quick rewinding of the wire at the end of each row.

Both of the hydraulic motors are controlled by a single pump that is activated by the power take-off.

The wire synchroniser has the advantage of aligning the rotation speed of the distributor with that of the advancement speed of the machine. However, there are two significant drawbacks: it needs a person at the start of the row to hook up and unhook the wire and, even worse, in cases of tillage along the dominant field slope (given that the wire does not follow the slope of the ground), the distance (d) between plants is usually different from the plan).

Furthermore, the need to rewind the wire at the end of each row and subsequently fix the end of the wire at the start of the row to be planted, means losing time and a consequent reduction in the work rate of the transplanting equipment.

From an operational point of view, transplanters that use a wire synchroniser and either a laser or Differential GPS to align the row, achieve a continuous distribution, since the ratio between the advancement speed and the peripheral speed of the parts that control the distributors is constant. In this case, the advancement speed may even vary greatly during transplanting without affecting the final result.

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SYNCHRONISATION SYSTEM The purpose of the synchronisation system is to guarantee an equal distance between the plants in the row. This is achieved by maintaining a constant ratio between the tractor working speed and, respectively: a) The peripheral speed of the two types of distributor, A and B; and b) The alternate movement of the pneumatic piston in type C. The operating principle, based on a mechanism that uses a steel wire, is similar for the three cases mentioned, though with some functional differences.

For the disc distributor, undoubtedly the most common type of distributor in the wine sector, the synchronisation system is made up of two overlapping pulleys whose motion is determined by the unwinding of a steel wire with one end fixed to the ground at the beginning of each row with a metal April 2016 – Issue 627

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45

grapegrowing HIGH-ACCURACY SYSTEMS To solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, this year there are transplanters on the market (especially with a disc distributor) with synchronisation systems managed by independent electric or hydraulic motors, and the planting point of the rootlings is calculated by a high-accuracy Differential GPS receiver positioned directly on the transplanter machine (Mazzetto and Calcante, 2011).

In detail, in current models of transplanters, the alignment system foresees a pair of dual-frequency GPS receivers with RTK differential correction: the first serves as a master positioned on the edge of the field, and the second works as a rover on board the machine. The GPS antenna is fixed to a special support directly on the transplanter. In this way it is possible to obtain centimetre-precision planting, through the almost total automation of the operation.

The transmission of differential correction messages requires a pair of radio modems, one near the master station and the other on board the tractor. Special inclinometers compensate the position of the antenna, transversely and longitudinally, if the vineyards are sloping.

The wire synchronisation system is replaced by a motor (electric or hydraulic), fitted to the frame and connected to the disc distributor, by means of chain transmission. In the tractor cab there is an on-board computer made up of a control unit that controls both the transplanter actuator and the motor connected to the distributor, stopping the movement in correspondence to the planting position of the rootling.

Such a system may not require the preliminary tracking of the plot, given that, in some commercial models (e.g. ARVATEC Arvaplant, developed in collaboration with the University of Milan), it is sufficient to set the distance of the plants in the

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row, the distance between rows, and the start and end point of the first row.

The software installed on the on-board computer, automatically tracks the field and calculates the laying position of each rootling. It is also possible, in more complex cases, to do the preliminary tracking with mapping tools: in this case, it is necessary to make a digital prescription map afterwards, with GIS software, which allows the system on board the transplanter to correctly position the plants according to the plan.

Similar high-accuracy transplanting equipment also has important operational advantages compared to traditional machinery: firstly, it overcomes problems of equal distance in the row in cases of planting along the dominant field slope, given that the GPS, in fact, calculates the planting point as a projection on a flat surface. Furthermore, the work capacity increases, being no longer necessary to move the laser source or to dedicate time to positioning the metal stake and rewinding the steel wire on the special pulley at the end of the planting of each single row. If the working speed is the same, all of this translates into an increase of about 20% in the operational capacity to the advantage of high-accuracy transplanting machinery.

Furthermore, for the latter transplanting equipment, labour can be reduced by at least one unit, because it is no longer necessary to have personnel on the land to manage the laser and steel cables.

In order to calculate these aspects from an economic point of view, and considering a 20% higher mechanisation cost for high-accuracy transplanting equipment than traditional machinery, it can be observed that for fewer than 30 hectares planted/year (corresponding to about 110 working hours/ year) the unit cost per rootling is lower with high-accuracy transplanting equipment. The higher mechanisation costs, therefore, are compensated by the higher work capacity that can be obtained from the machine and by the lower labour requirement in correspondence to relatively modest planted surface areas. All of this guarantees a planting accuracy within a centimetre in the row and between rows, regardless of the orography of the land.

References

Mazzetto F., Calcante A., 2009. Development and first tests of an automatic system for commercial vine cutting transplanters based on DGPS-RTK technology. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 1: 1-8.

Mazzetto F., Calcante A., 2011. Highly automated vine cutting transplanter based on DGNSS-RTK technology integrated with hydraulic devices. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 79: 20–29

CALL O NOW T UT FIND O MORE!

Planeta A., Catania P., Pipitone F., 2001. Il trapianto meccanizzato delle barbatelle nei vigneti allevati a controspalliera. Rivista di Ingegneria Agraria, 32(2): 72-78.

Sartori L., 2004. Impianti del vigneto con il GPS. L’informatore Agrario, 60(8): 91-95.

Riverland Nurseries Pty Ltd Michael & Ria Szewczuk

Michael: 0408 839 840 • mszewczuk@bigpond.com 46 Grapegrower & Winemaker

This article has been made available in cooperation between Corriere Vinicolo and Grapegrower & Winemaker magazines.

Corriere Vinicolo (corrierevinicolo.com), edited since 1928 by Unione Italiana Vini, is the most authoritative magazine of the Italian wine industry.

Established in Milan in 1895, Unione Italiana Vini is the historical association of Italian wine firms: its core business, further to a lobbying activity, is focused on high quality services to the wine industry: analysis laboratories, supply chain checkup, SIMEI exhibition, sustainability program Tergeo.

Articles shared between the two publications focus on technical and economic issues, in order to give each readership a broader vision both on Italy and Australia/New Zealand.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

0800 774 629

*the science of growing

N U T R I O L O G Y *

DR PAUL PETRIE has been researching the potential benefits of delayed pruning for several years. Since first hearing the idea put forward as a potential frost management strategy, Petrie has been keen to explore the potential benefits for the wine and viticulture industry.

“The initial concept was based on the observation that vintage is arriving earlier and becoming more and more compressed,” Petrie said. “I think I first started to really think about it after a presentation on frost management at the Tech Conference six years ago. The idea put forward was that by pruning after budburst you end up with a spur at the bottom of the cane.

“There was some nervousness about what impact this would have on the fruit ripening, but I thought it could be a big plus for delayed maturity.”

Through projects funded by Wine Australia, Petrie was able to conduct trials in the Barossa vineyards of his former employer, Treasury Wine Estates. Trial work compared dormant pruning, as per normal vineyard practice, with pruning at budburst and after the first shoots had reached about 5cm in length. The results suggested the latest pruning dates were actually delaying fruit maturity and harvest dates by two weeks.

“If delayed pruning was used on some blocks it could potentially spread harvest out, which would have flow-on effects for transport and ferment space in the winery,” Petrie said. “Changes to fruit quality were neutral or favourable.”

These days Petrie has a role as Viticultural Scientist, which is a joint position between the SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), and has continued to focus on delayed pruning.

“We are seeing regions become more aggregated and this could be something to help spread the load,” Petrie said. “I think it could be applied anywhere a winery has been struggling with a mismatch of too much fruit arriving for the ferment space available,” Petrie said. “And I think it is an opportunity to explore, regardless of scale. It might not be a solution for everyone, but it is another tool in the toolbox.

How much delayed pruning could be implemented by vineyard owners and managers will depend on logistics.

“With delayed pruning, the timing is critical,” Petrie said.

“You only have a couple of days as the window of opportunity, so there will be a natural limit to what can be achieved.”

One benefit for vineyard operations is the removal of the need to carry out pre-pruning, “you can leave the vines completely untouched”. On the other hand, the technique could potentially see a cross-over between the end of the pruning season and the first spray applications.

“If you are still trying to prune at the same time as you need to apply your first fungicide spray, then there are logistical issues – but nothing that can’t be worked around with some planning,” Petrie said.

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*the science of growing N U T R I O L O G Y *

*the science of growing

Grapegrower & Winemaker

47

3/10/15 11:27

energising viticulture

Don't start pruning without planning Sam Bowman wants grapegrowers to make good economic decisions this pruning season.

Before you start, you should be doing more than just sharpening your blades.

requirements to the best of your ability every year.

At the end of the day, your vineyard is a business and each hectare should be contributing. You need to be critical, sometimes ruthless, with blocks that are under performing – rather than optimistic.

LOVE IT or hate it, winter pruning is one of the most integral periods on any viticultural calendar. The decisions we make in the winter months can affect not only the crop for the following season but also the financial viability of the business.

Whether you prune mechanically or by hand, the same questions should be asked by each grower before setting off into the cold.

RENOVATION

PRUNING TO PRICE POINT Working as a grower liaison for various wine companies, and working with growers who sell fruit to the corporates, I often see quality aspirations are out of sync with the reality of the grape price that will be achieved.

Before you start pruning, I recommend you look at the previous grape cheques to get a realistic view of income per tonne. You should look at your running costs and determine your breakeven tonnes on a per-block basis.

If your maximum contracted cropping level per hectare doesn’t exceed your breakeven point then you are going to need to discuss this with the purchaser of your grapes. I see too many growers who are dazzled by the dangling A-grade carrot but are consistently awarded B or C-grade pricing… after they have spent

Energising viticulture with Sam Bowman

A-grade money and grown to A-grade specifications.

If this is the case, prune to the cropping levels outlined in your grape sale agreement and maximize your price per hectare. As we know in viticulture, not every block is going to produce fruit of the highest standard. If your fruit serves a purpose for a particular wine company and the vineyard is economically viable, then you should strive to meet those

Working with vineyards across South Australia and Victoria, I’ve seen the incidence and impact of trunk disease is alarming. But it has been great to see many regions take a proactive approach and create long-term plans for how to mitigate the effects of disease.

Before you start pruning, it is a good idea to think about your long-term planning and the prevalence of Eutypa in your vineyard.

For young vineyards: • Avoid pruning in wet weather; • Paint or spray pruning wounds with a registered product; and • Monitor the vineyard in spring for any early warning signs.

As with most pest and disease management, prevention is better than a cure.

For more mature vineyards expressing high levels of the disease, remedial surgery will be your best approach.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

This involves cutting the vine back below the point of infection, removal and burning of the wood to decrease the spore load, and re-training a watershoot back to the cordon.

If your vineyard has a high incidence of Eutypa, your crop-per-vine will be out of balance which will ultimately lead to a decline in productivity.

As the exercise is time-consuming and costly, it is best to attack the project in sections. Focus on the highest value parcels first, taking an area out of production that you can manage in terms of crop loss and labour requirements.

Undertaking a renovation is just as labour intensive as grafting or the training of a young vineyard so this needs to be kept in mind when deciding the size of the project.

Sadly, some vineyards are beyond the point of remedy and will need to be removed. If the infrastructure is in good condition, removal and replanting could be the best option.

The longer you leave heavily-infected blocks in the ground, the more you increase the risk of spreading spores throughout your own vineyard, as well as your neighbours, so being proactive rather than reactive will solve issues down the track.

VARIETAL MIX Something I talk about with growers regularly is whether or not the varietal mix for their vineyard is the right one.

Before pruning it is a great idea to assess the viability of each variety in your vineyard.

If you find you have a variety that has become increasingly hard to sell, or you

If your maximum contracted cropping level per hectare doesn’t exceed your breakeven point then you are going to need to discuss this with the purchaser of your grapes. have a variety that just doesn’t deliver the returns, it may be time to look at top working to something different.

When selecting the right varietal mix for your vineyard it is important to consider your growing conditions first and foremost.

With our changing climate, we need to look at every option available to us, not just our core French varietals.

We are privileged in Australia to have access to a vast catalogue of Italian and Spanish varieties and no restrictions of where they can be grown. White varieties like Fiano and Vermentino grow well in warm climates, are thick skinned to mitigate disease pressure and are consistent croppers.

For reds, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Nero d’Avola are all hardy varieties very well suited to our warmer climates. With a trend emerging for the popularity of all things alternate, these varieties should not be overlooked.

The second consideration should always be market demand. Speak with other growers and talk with the winemakers and GLO’s to see where the market is heading.

If you are heavily planted to a variety that is becoming increasingly hard to sell, spreading the varietal risk can help

prevent being stuck with large parcels without a home at the end of the season.

If your infrastructure is in good condition, your vines are virus-free but your variety isn’t working in the market, grafting is your most cost-effective option with the best payback period. Making these decisions before the prune puts you a season ahead of running a viable and successful vineyard business.

SUMMING UP The most successful growers I work with all have one thing in common.

They are proactive. They recognise the market trends, communicate with their customers and ask questions.

There are always ways to improve, whether it is a tweak in management techniques to improve productivity, or a change in variety to increase profitability – little changes can make a big difference.

Don’t be afraid to find a unique point of difference, or even stand out in your region. In the words of grower and allround good bloke Ashley Ratcliff “be the purple cow” instead of just another brown cow in a whole heard of brown.

Making decisions at the right time and identifying your weak links could be the difference between thriving and just surviving.

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grapegrowing

Sensory attributes of Barossa Shiraz 2015 in response to warming and pruning date Martin Moran, Paul Petrie and Victor Sadras, from the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) – based at the Waite Campus in Adelaide, have been testing delayed pruning as a tool to counteract the impacts of warming climates.

BAROSSA SHIRAZ illustrates a wine identity that underpins both the history and the future of the Australian wine industry.

Warming trends challenge this identity in the long-term, but some effects of warming, combined with other factors, are already evident.

One of them is compressed harvests. Wineries lack the harvesting and crushing capacity to deal with a narrowing harvest window, leading to fruit becoming overripe and a reduction in quality.

The expansion of processing facilities places more strain on a capital intensive industry.

Another effect of warming that is evident here and now is the disruption of the balance between sugar, colour and flavour in ripening grapes, leading to high alcohol wines and potential loss of regional character.

This project is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and Wine Australia through the ‘filling the research gap’ program, and led by SARDI’s scientist Victor Sadras with the collaboration of Martin Moran and Paul Petrie.

Rola Engineering

Setting A new StAndArd in MechAnicAl Pruning

AT A GLANCE Delayed pruning seeks to: 1. Spread maturity, hence decompressing harvest; and 2. Shift berry development into cooler conditions, hence preserving the balance between sugar and flavour and regional wine styles.

The aim is to test delayed pruning as a tool to counteract warming effects.

Delayed pruning seeks to: 1. Spread maturity, hence decompressing harvest; and 2. Shift berry development into cooler conditions, hence preserving the balance between sugar and flavour and regional wine styles.

We established two Shiraz trials in the Barossa. At the first site (Nuriootpa), we used open-top heating chambers to increase vineyard temperature and evaluate the extent to which delayed pruning can cancel warming effects.

At the second site (Marananga), we used large scale trials to explore the feasibility of this practice in commercial vineyards.

In the wine tasting workshop held at the Peter Lehmann Winery in October 2015, two pairs of 2015 wines were compared. One pair comprised of wines from winter-pruned vines grown at either ambient or elevated temperature.

The other pair included wines from vines pruned during winter with vines pruned in spring at the two-to-three leaf stage. This fruit came from a commercial vineyard in the Marananga subregion of the Barossa Valley where the spread of nominal maturity (15° Baume) between winter and spring pruning in 2015 was nine days.

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At Nuriootpa, harvest was targeted at 14° Baume. The harvest was on February 6 for heated vines and February 9 for vines under ambient conditions.

There was no difference in yield between the ambient and heated treatments. At Marananga, harvest was targeted at 15° Baume; however dry and warm conditions hastened the ripening, so the mean Baume of the treatments at harvest was about 16.5° Baume.

Winter pruned vines had a higher Baume at harvest despite being harvested nine days earlier than the late pruning treatment. We diluted the must to 15° Baume prior fermentation for consistency across treatments and to avoid stuck ferments. Late pruning increased yield by approximately 33% compared to winter pruning.

Small batch wines were made for each field replicate for both trials. About 25-30 kg of fruit were crushed and destemmed, and then fermented in 75 litre open top bins.

After one week, the wine was basket-pressed and transferred into 10 litre demijohns.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

When malolactic fermentation was completed the wine was racked off from gross lees, pH adjusted to ~3.65 and sulphured, it was cold stabilised at 2°C for two weeks prior bottling.

A panel of 30 people (mainly from experienced winemakers) were given pairs of wines and asked to select the wine with a greater intensity for each of a range of pre-defined characters.

The wine was only assessed in a single tasting and it is important to note that the tastings involved only a single replicate of each wine.

A nonparametric one sample analysis was performed to discern for wine trait intensity amongst pair of samples.

WINE SENSORY PROFILES Wines made from heated vines showed less colour, more earthy aromas, and a more intense fruity after taste and were overall the less preferred by the panel.

Wines made from winter-pruned vines were sweeter

Figure 1. Difference in sensory traits of Shiraz wine in response to vineyard temperature. Positive values mean more intense character in ambient temperature and negative values more intense in heated vines.

Colour symbols are: purple = colour, light green = aroma, red = palate, blue = taste, dark green = mouthfeel, dark-cyan = after taste and yellow star = preferred wine. Statistical significance is illustrated with * (slightly significant, P<0.1), ** (significant, P<0.05) and *** (very significant, P<0.01).

April 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Issue 627

Wines made from heated vines showed less colour, more earthy aromas, and a more intense fruity after taste. and less acidic and astringent than the wines made from late pruning vines. There was a slight preference from the panellist towards the wines made from late pruned vines.

These results are illustrative of the effects of warming and late-pruning, but were obtained with a single sample and therefore need to be interpreted cautiously.

We are currently assessing the wines with a sensory panel under proper statistical framework that reflects the experimental design of the field trials.

Figure 2. Effect of pruning time on sensory attributes of Barossa Shiraz.

Positive values mean more intense character in winter pruning and negative values more intense in late pruning. Colour symbols are: purple = colour, light green = aroma, red = palate, blue = taste, dark green = mouthfeel, dark-cyan = after taste and yellow star = preferred wine.

Statistical significance is illustrated with * (slightly significant, P<0.1), ** (significant, P<0.05) and *** (very significant, P<0.01).

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The little known impact of copper on alcoholic fermentation and the quality of wine Winemakers seem to assume there are no problems using copper in the winemaking process, perhaps forgetting it is, after all, a heavy metal. Christophe Morge, the SOFRALAB Research & Development director, investigates.

THE SAFETY of the consumer takes precedence over all other issues. In wine, just as throughout the entire agricultural food sector, the competent authorities limit the presence of molecules which can be dangerous for the consumer (RCE 1881/2006).

As a result, the legal concentration of heavy metals is constantly being reduced.

The European Union has just lowered the maximum legal content of lead in wine from 0.2 to 0.15 mg/L. Other recommendations limit still further the presence of heavy metals in wine: treatment of vines with sodium arsenite is now banned, brass has disappeared from wineries and has been replaced by stainless steel.

However, certain vine treatments, such as the use of copper-based derivatives, are difficult to replace. (Abrahao et al, 1985; Galet 1999 ; Park et al 2000).

During winemaking the problem is far more complex.

Regulations require the winemaker to make analyses on finished wines to verify that the concentration of heavy metals in their wines is lower than 1mg/L. In fact, however, the concentration found is usually much lower than the maximum authorized value, and is between 0 and 0.2 mg/L (COFRAC analyses conducted by the SOFRALAB network of laboratories).

Winemakers therefore think that there is no problem with copper. Unfortunately this is not true.

The purpose of this publication is to show that a high percentage of musts have a copper content greater than 1 mg/L,

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and that this has a negative effect on vinification.

Copper, a recognised antiseptic, has more or less toxic effects on yeasts (Ruzic 2000, Cavalieri et al, 2000).

We will show here that oenological yeasts can have different reactions, and introduce the notion of “strain dependant toxic effect”.

These toxic effects can subsequently lead to complications in fermentation, even causing blockage of alcoholic fermentation.

We will now show that heavy metals can harm the organoleptic quality of wines, and that a method exists to prevent this.

Indeed, in musts which have a high concentration of copper, the elimination of copper through an innovative winemaking supplement makes it possible to achieve the optimum aromatic potential of wines, and also considerably limits oxidation reactions.

EVALUATION OF THE COPPER CONCENTRATION IN MUSTS A total of 400 musts from the various regions in France producing red, rosé and white wines were analysed in a network of partner laboratories using the flame spectrometer atomic absorption method.

The results are shown in Graph No. 1. They indicate that 38% of the samples analysed have a copper concentration higher than 1 mg/l, the value considered as being the maximum authorised threshold for the sale of wines.

Our various experiments on this subject lead us to say that copper begins to have a negative impact on the organoleptic

qualities of the wine as from 0.5 mg/l.

When we add a fraction ranging from 0.5 to 0.99 mg/l, nearly 80% of the samples analysed present a risk of harm to organoleptic qualities.

These results will have to be confirmed in other vintages, but this study already shows that the initial copper concentration in musts is much higher than most winemakers think.

It should be noted that after the alcoholic fermentation of all these musts the copper concentration was lower than 0.5 mg/L, which confirms the natural impact of fermentation on the elimination of copper.

IMPACT OF COPPER ON THE METABOLISM OF YEASTS To show the toxicity of copper on yeasts we tested the sensitivity of 12 strains of commercial yeasts on solid nutritive media, enriched with copper in 3 different concentrations (8, 12 and 16 mg/L of copper) corresponding to 50, 75 and 100 µmol of CuSO4,5 H20.

The 12 yeasts were rehydrated with sterile physiological water, and then dilutions were carried out to seed the Petri dishes.

This operation was conducted in triplicate. The results of the enumeration of the 12 yeast strains in the sample nutritive media and in those containing copper are shown in Table 1.

This work enables us to observe that a concentration lower than 50 µmol/L CuSO4,5(H20) does not significantly affect the viability of the yeasts tested, and conversely, a concentration of 100 µmol/L

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Graphic No.1: Percentage of samples per range of copper concentrations found in the musts.

CuSO4,5(H20) is lethal for all the yeasts tested.

In addition, we note that all the strains show different sensitivities, and we can now introduce the concept of “dependent strain sensitivity”.

This concept allows us to classify yeasts in 3 groups: sensitive yeasts No. 8 and No. 12 where the concentration at 75 µmol/L CuSO4,5(H20) is lethal, medium sensitivity yeasts No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10 where the concentration at 75 µmol/L CuSO4,5(H20) has a negative impact on the populations, and finally the resistant yeasts No. 6, No. 7 and No. 11 where the dose of 75 µmol/L CuSO4,5(H20) does not affect the population.

Copper concentrations tested in this trial are rare in practice, but nevertheless are not nonexistent.

Indeed, we observed during this vintage that some cases of non-generation of alcohol fermentation were due to musts with a copper concentration higher than 16 mg/L.

IMPACT OF COPPER ON THE ORGANOLEPTIC QUALITIES OF WINES We then set up a micro-winemaking test with copper-sensitive yeast (No. 8) and resistant yeast (No. 6) on a white Sauvignon must naturally containing 1 mg/L of copper.

The yeasting was done to attain a population of 106 yeasts/mL, and a complex nutriment was added to the dose of 20 g/hL. We treated part of the must with 30 g/hL of a winemaking supplement specifically developed to optimise thiols formulated partially with a chelating polymer of heavy metals (noted DTH), the other volume being vinified as a control sample.

We monitored the alcoholic fermentation of the two yeasts and had the concentration of volatile thiols analysed in the vinified April 2016 – Issue 627

wine with yeast No. 8, known for its capacity to reveal the great quantities of volatile thiols from the aromatic precursors of the must.

These results are shown in Graph No. 2.

First of all the results indicate that the DTH methods lead to an alcoholic fermentation of better quality.

Indeed, adding this supplement shortens the latency phase significantly.

The impact is even greater for coppersensitive yeast since the DTH method terminates the alcoholic fermentation 48 hours earlier than the control sample.

When examining the results of aroma analysis, we find that the wines produced with the DTH method show concentrations in volatile thiols much higher than the control samples.

This increase is very significant, in particular the quantity of 3 MH in the wines treated is doubled compared with the non-treated control samples.

These results are even more interesting when we are well above the perception threshold of 3 molecules of volatile thiols analysed 4MMP, 3 MH and A3MH which are respectively 0.8 ng/L, 60 ng/L and 4 ng/L. The negative impact of copper on the aromatic compounds of volatile thiol type of Sauvignon were confirmed by other tests, and we observed that this effect became notable as soon as the concentration of copper in the musts exceeded 0.5 mg/L. A second test was conducted on 1.8 hL of Petit Manseng must naturally containing 0.82 mg/L. This must was divided into two equal volumes, one of which was treated with 30 g/hL of a winemaking supplement specifically developed to increase the aromatic intensity of wines and to limit oxidation phenomena, formulated partially with a chelating polymer of heavy metal (note DAR). www.winetitles.com.au

The musts were then supplemented with a complex nutriment with a dose of 20 g/hL before being yeasted.

During this test we also noted a longer latency time of about 24 hours in the control sample method compared to the DAR method.

These results are not presented here.

The results show that the treatment of must with the winemaking supplement have enabled the production of a wine which is less rich in polyphenols (DO280), and above all less rich in quinones (DO320) than the control sample wine.

On the other hand, we note that to obtain an equivalent free SO2 in both methods, a total SO2 concentration of 155 mg/l is necessary for the control sample wine, whereas 118 mg/L of total SO2 is sufficient for the DAR method.

MECHANISMS OF THE ACTION OF COPPER AND THE ADVANTAGES OF AN ELIMINATION TREATMENT Through this study we find that the presence of copper can explain a certain number of problems that the winemaker encounters during winemaking.

If the concentration in copper is relatively low after alcoholic fermentation, it can be high on the must and be responsible for problems in fermentation, or loss of quality.

Historically, heavy metals such as copper and iron were eliminated from wine to avoid problems of breakage once the wine was bottled.

But copper has other effects which are less well known.

It is able, for example, to combine into S-H groupings of aromas of volatile thiols, thus causing their precipitation and loss of aromatic intensity in wine.

This is what we observe in Sauvignon Blanc. We might conclude that the copper present in the initial must caused the precipitation of the volatile thiols as soon as they appeared during alcoholic fermentation.

The DTH winemaking supplement, of which one of the properties is to fix the copper, has largely limited the thiol-copper combination, which has enabled the initial aromatic pool of the wine to be conserved and to be expressed in large quantities of 4MMP, 3MH and A3MH. This supplement also has the capacity to protect aromas for the long term, thanks to the protection that it provides as concerns oxidation.

Copper is also an oxidation catalyser.

Indeed, its presence is necessary for the action of the polypheoloxydase enzyme, which transforms phenol acids into quinones.

The greater the concentration of copper, the more the wines will be sensitive Grapegrower & Winemaker

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winemaking to oxidation. In addition, the quinones formed have the capacity to combine with the free SO2, thus rendering it ineffective in protecting wine from oxidation.

In this case, it is necessary to use a much larger quantity of total SO2 to protect wine quality.

In the wine from Petit Manseng, the DAR winemaking supplement, which has the ability to fix copper, has made it possible to limit oxidation reactions.

Indeed, the DO320, which represents the concentration of quinones, is present in a smaller quantity than in the control sample wine.

We also note that the total SO2 quantity necessary to obtain a correct quantity of SO2 is greater for the control sample wine than for the wine treated with DAR. These oxidation phenomena have a negative impact on the colour of the wine as well as on the aromas which come from very sensitive molecules.

The DAR supplement makes it possible to preserve aromatic freshness and the initial colour of the white wine from Petit Manseng.

Since 2003, Oenofrance has developed the Diwine® range, new winemaking supplements to limit the concentration of heavy metals in wines and to improve the organoleptic quality of red, white and rosé wines.

This range easily replaces the previous techniques which used potassium ferricyanide to eliminate copper and iron in white wines, or calcium phytate to eliminate iron in red wines.

This range is a new tool to preserve the organoleptic qualities of wines, even when heavy metals are present.

Graph No. 2: monitoring of fermentation of a Sauvignon Blanc must with a copper concentration of 1 mg/L with and without addition of a winemaking supplement.

CONCLUSION This problem with copper is one of the issues in modern oenology.

It requires research on the optimisation of wine quality through the control of all the inputs as well as the exterior parameters.

Proper management of heavy metals in wines can really improve the fermentation of wines and their quality in terms of colloidal stability, colour or optimisation of aroma production.

This article provides good information on how it is important to know the raw materials intended for winemaking.

Classical physico-chemical analyses of musts are nowadays very widely practiced (AT, pH, sugar...).

We carry out more and more an analysis of nitrogen to provide better adjustment for the nutrition of yeasts.

It is also interesting to analyse heavy metals in must in order to

anticipate problems which could arise during winemaking, and when necessary to apply treatments in case of excessively high concentrations.

REFERENCES:

Abrahao E. Effect of fungicides in the control of the grapevine anthracnose. PesquisaAgropecuariaBrasileira, Agronomia 20 (7) 783-786, 1985.

Galet P. Précis de pathologie viticole, 3ème édition, 1999.

Ruzic, N. Effect of copper and lead on the fermentation of grape juice. LozarstvoiVinarstvo. Bulgaria, 48 (2) 57-59, 2000.

Park S., Kwon O., Choi C., Kim C. Comparative influence of flavonoids on the toxicity of copper to “Alternaria alternate. Journal of Phytopathology, Germany, 148, 597-599, 2000 Cavalieri, D.,Townsend, J. P.,Hartl, D. L. Manifold anomalies in gene expression in a vineyard isolate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed by DNA microarray analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. USA, 97 (22) 12369-12374, 2000

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April 2016 – Issue 627

Yes indeed pard’ner - they do make wine in Texas Greg Howell, from Vintessential Laboratories, attended the recent Texas Wine Grape Growers Association (TWGGA) annual conference as a guest speaker and was pleased to discover that yes indeed; they do make wine in Texas. In this article, Howell highlights some facts, figures and impressions of winemaking in Texas that may be of interest across the Australian and New Zealand wine industry.

GRAPES WERE FIRST PLANTED and wine made in what is now current day Texas in the mid-1600s near El Paso.

These plantings occurred about 100 years before grapes were grown in California. With an influx of European settlers in the 1800s, more vines were planted in south and central Texas.

In fact the oldest Texan winery that is still in operation, Val Verde in Del Rio, was started in 1883.

As in other parts of the USA, Prohibition in the early 1900s put a mighty dent in wine production and it didn’t really take off again in Texas until the 1970s.

Since then there has been a mini boom in plantings and winery development.

In 2005 there were 113 Texan wineries; across the next eight years the number of wineries had grown to 286.

And from what I heard at the conference, there are still many more being built at the moment.

BIGGER THAN TEXAS To give you an idea of the size of Texas and its wine industry, consider the following: • It has an area of about 700,000 square kilometres, so is bigger in size than France; • It is the second most populous US State with more than 27 million citizens (behind California with 39 million, but above Australia’s total population of 24 million); • Today Texas is the fifth largest grape growing state in the USA; • It is the fourth largest wine consuming state; and • The second most popular state to retire to, after Florida.

GRAPE VARIETIES Many varieties of Vitis vinifera grapevines are grown and it seems that Texan winemakers are still working on which

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winemaking

Big hats on Dan Humphries (a Bison Rancher), Les Constable (a nuclear physicist who grows grapes) and Alphonse Dotson (a former Pro-Football player who now grows grapes and makes wine).

varieties are most appropriate to their huge state.

However, it appears that most of the Texas wine areas are suited to varieties from the warmer areas of Europe such as Southern France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

The white varietals grown include Rousanne, Viognier and Vermentino; some of the reds grown are Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah.

Many other varieties are grown and it looks that still lots of experimentation in growing and winemaking are occurring.

There is a comprehensive list of varieties grown in Texas on the TWGGA website.

REGIONS There are a number of wine regions throughout Texas, although those in the central and south areas are the most popular. Due to its huge size, there are a number of climatic zones and the Texas I remember (from all the cowboy movies I watched as a kid) is only a small part of the State and found mainly in the south west.

The popular misconception of Texas as a barren desert is just that – a misconception. Apparently most of those old movies I watched were made in either Southern California or Arizona.

The Texas Hill Country in the central region is the most popular for wineries and consists of some amazing karst hill features, with soils overlaying limestone in many areas.

The Hill Country is the largest recognised viticultural area (American Viticultural Area - AVA) in Texas and the second biggest AVA in the USA. It is made up of many hills and canyons with elevations ranging from around 100 meters to over 700 meters.

The Hill Country includes the cities of Austin and San Antonio which are an easy drive to the verdant hills and multitude of wineries.

Those cities have a combined population of several million folks with many of them having a keen interest in Texan wine, so it’s easy to see how the wineries and cellar doors of the Hill Country are doing so well.

The Texas High Plains AVA in the north west of the state is the second largest growing area in Texas.

This is a big area above 1000 meters altitude, with low rainfall and cool evenings and so a very good growing area.

TWGGA CONFERENCE I attended the 40th annual conference and trade show of the Texan Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA). Yes you read that correctly – the 40th annual show!

56 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Greg Howell with Stephen Baxter of the Fiesta Winery and Vineyard, based in the Texas Hill Country.

As you’d expect for a trade show, the usual type of folk were there – everything from barrels, yeasts, capsules, bottles, test kits (yes, even Vintessential Kits) – you name it and they were there. For a relatively small show, the visitor numbers were high, in fact the team I was working with from Enartis USA said they were busier at the Texas show than at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium held in January in Sacramento.

If you are interested in what went on at the conference you can have a look at the official website at www.txwines.org, which has a number of the presentations given and a roundup of the presenters.

The TWGGA members seem to be a close knit bunch and are very proud of the number of Texan wines that have lately been winning top awards in wine shows both in the USA and overseas. Varieties awarded include Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier and Chardonnay.

TEXANS

Where the Texan myth does hold up is the people themselves.

I have never seen so many big hats, boots and belt buckles. And the growers and winemakers I met are as passionate as any I have met around the world, and they are extremely friendly to boot. They have come from all walks of life (nuclear physicist, professional grid iron player etc.) to have a go at making the best wine they can.

I can highly recommend a visit to this great State, so next time y’all are in the USA, try to get past California and on a plane to the Lone Star State.

CONCLUSION The Texan wine industry, though small, is thriving and growing rapidly. There is still a lot of experimentation with different grape varieties going on in Texas and some very good wines are being made. Texans are proud of their wine industry and very happy to share their products with visitors. I can highly recommend a visit there to see what is going on in the Lone Star State.

Acknowledgment: My thanks to Debbie Reynolds, Executive Director of TWGGA, for the provision of facts, figures and photos.

About the author: Greg Howell founded Vintessential Laboratories in 1995.

More articles on related topics are available on the Vintessential website at www.vintessential.com.au/resources/articles/.

Greg can be contacted by email on greg@vintessential.com.au.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

Copper at the right time is more beneficial for wine CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY (CSU) research is giving winemakers new insight into how timing the use of copper can work more effectively to remove an unpleasant smell that’s sometimes created during fermentation.

Dr Andrew Clark, CSU senior lecturer in wine chemistry, said “during the fermentation process, sometimes a tiny amount of hydrogen sulphide, or rotten egg gas, can be produced”.

“The unpleasant smell can be removed by winemakers adding very small amounts of copper to bind with the hydrogen sulfide and remove the smell. The new compound, copper sulfide, is then removed from the wine.”

The research at the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) at CSU in Wagga, funded by Wine Australia, found: • Copper added early in the production process, when protein from the grapes is still present, is more easily removed; • Copper added late in the production process doesn’t bind as effectively and it is harder to remove; • If significant copper sulfide is left in the wine, the copper and hydrogen sulfide are not inert and copper can still be active in catalysing less desirable reactions; and • Adding copper just before bottling ‘just in case’ is counterproductive.

Clark said the research is providing winemakers with valuable information about the most effective time to add copper if it is needed.

The researchers, including Clark and PhD student Paris Grant-Preece from CSU, Natalie Cleghorn, a former CSU student who works for Yalumba, and Professor Geoff Scollary from The University of Melbourne, have been recognised for their work.

Their research paper, ‘Copper(II) addition to white wines containing hydrogen sulfide: residual copper concentration and activity’, was named the Australian Society for Viticulture and Oenology’s Oenology Research Paper of the Year for 2015.

“This project is a good example of how the wine sector and Charles Sturt University can work together in addressing an industry issue,” Clark said.

Further research about metals in wine is being conducted at CSU, in collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute.

For further information, please contact Kauri AUS Tel: 1800 127 611 AUS Fax: 1800 127 609 Email: winery@kauri.co.nz April 2016 – Issue 627

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winemaking

Innovations in fast, energy-efficient tartrate stabilisation Tartrate stabilisation is one of those processes that tends to be time consuming, uses significant amounts of energy and costs the winery money. In this article Ian Jeffery, a retired wine industry consulting engineer, discusses two established tartrate stabilisation methods and two proposed innovative methods. All four are aimed at reducing the time taken and cost of tartrate stabilisation while maintaining or improving wine quality.

THE BURONGA DESIGN

DELLA TOFFOLA POLARCRYO

THIS IS PROBABLY originally a French design introduced into a number of French wineries more than two decades ago.

It appears to have been first used in Australia at Buronga Hill in the early 1990s and soon after at Orlando Wines, Rowland Flat. It has also been installed in New Zealand wineries.

The Rowland Flat design reduced the time taken to cold stabilise from six days to three-and-a-half days, and reduced the energy demand/refrigeration load by 60 per cent.

The project payback was 18 months.

In this design, wine at 15°C wine to be cold stabilised is first cooled to 3°C by being passed through a plate heat exchanger against –3°C cold stabilised wine.

Then it is passed through two high pressure ammonia to wine plate heat exchangers that further cool it from 3°C to –3°C before being pumped to a tank where it is seeded with tartrate crystals and held at –3°C for three days before being filtered.

A second established design is the Della Toffola PolarCryo.

This design includes a plate heat exchanger; scraped surface cooler; crystalliser; filter; and refrigeration system.

When tested it achieved a 95% reduction in stabilisation time and 83% reduction in energy use (Roget, W. Benchmarking a continuous tartrate stabilisation system, Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker (585), p 106, 2012.).

It is a high-quality manufactured first class design.

Australian and New Zealand wineries that have installed PolarCyro units have praised its performance (for quality, time saving and reduced energy use).

A drawback may be its initial capital cost.

When the Wine and Viticulture Journal investigated the PolarCryo trials at Dorrien in early 2013, Julie Montgomery the Dorrien operations manager said:

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April 2016 – Issue 627

“This is the closest thing I’ve seen that achieves the same results as the traditional method, and does so a lot faster and more efficiently. That’s because it’s basically the same process as traditional cold stabilisation; it just happens more quickly.

And, the impact on the wine is the same as the traditional system too, which is good because some other alternative can alter the wine”.

Della Toffola claims the ‘Polar’ system has been proven to: • Reduce processing time by up to 95%; • Reduce power consumption by up to 83%; • Reduce wine losses by up to 23%; and • Reduce labour requirements by up to 21%.

FLUIDISED BED COLUMN COLD STABILISER This unit has not progressed beyond a laboratory test rig.

However it has the potential to be a major breakthrough in winemaking and the ‘next generation’ tartrate stabilisation design.

This design uses a vertical column of large tartrate crystals through which un-stabilised wine and a fluidising gas is passed, combined with two plate heat exchangers (i.e. the wine to wine and wine to ammonia plate heat exchangers of the French/Buronga design.)

In 1996 Robert Bolan, from UC Davis, published a significant research paper Development of a Fluidized-Bed Crystallizer for Wine Treatment.

In 2008 David Hirzel published Development of a Fluidized Bed for Crystallizing K Bitartrate from Wine.

In 2008 David Hirzel and Professor Roger Boulton (UC Davis) developed a laboratory test rig and proved the concept has significant potential.

They stated “the fluidised bed was able to reduce the

It’s basically the same process as traditional cold stabilisation; it just happens more quickly. And, the impact on the wine is the same as the traditional system too.” conductivity of the wine by 640μS/cm and traditional cold stabilisation only reduced conductivity by 270μS/cm”.

And they also noted that “runs lasting up to 93 hours were performed with little noticeable settling of the bed or degradation of performance”.

Professor Boulton predicts that tartrate stabilisation of many wines would be achieved by fluidising bed stabilisation of half to a third of a wine followed by gentle layering and blending back with the un-stabilised portion.

If Professor Boulton’s prediction is true, what is the potential for improved wine quality reduced wine loss, reduced energy use, time and labour saving tartrate stabilising using a fluidised bed stabilisation column.

This design needs further research and developed to confirm it will achieve high quality fast tartrate stabilisation and greatly reduced energy use at a ‘reasonable’ initial capital outlay.

FLUIDISED BED COLD STABILISER – SOME DETAILS Some points from Professor Boulton’s presentation Chemical Engineering of Sustainable Winemaking (Melbourne University, December 2013)

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winemaking The Fluidized Bed: • Needs KHTa crystal supply of 500/600um; • Essentially no energy requirement, 95% heat recovery; • Able to use conductivity test for full-scale control set point; • Able to return the stabilised wine to its original tank, avoiding water use and tank cleaning; • Tartrate is recoverable, free of DE; and • Bed Temperature can be -2, 0, +5 or +10°C. The design uses a gas distribution plate at the bottom of a vertical column filled with 500 to 600um tartrate crystals.

A mixture of wine and inert gas is passed through the distribution plate, which is designed to: • Prevent any backflow of tartrate crystals into the wine/ gas mix; • Evenly distribute the wine through the bed of tartrate crystals; and • Ensure the ‘proper’ fluidisation of the tartrate crystals.

The final design would have a constant flow of wine through the column coupled to a ‘floating’ variable controlled gas flow (i.e. as the tartrate crystals in the column capture and remove tartrate from the wine and grow in size the gas flow will be varied to maintain them in a fluidised suspension).

Research indicates that: • The wine exiting the column will be tartrate stable and not need filtration etc. to remove tartrate crystal ‘uncaptured’ by the fluidised bed crystals; • The wine exiting the column can be layered back into the

‘original tank’ of un-stabilised wine (i.e. the un-stabilised wine is pumped out of the bottom of the tank while stabilised wine is layered back into the wine at the top of the tank); • Minimum mixing of ‘unstable’ and ‘stable’ will occur; and • This will save water and tank cleaning.

Over time the fluidised bed 500-600um tartrate crystals will grow reducing the columns output. Eventually the fluidised bed will have to be emptied and recharged.

Using a hydro-cyclone (or cross flow filter etc.) and a small crusher the crystals can be cleaned or crushed.

And a new charge of 500-600um crystals prepared for use.

Economics and experience is likely to lead to wineries installing more than one fluidised column.

CMC (CARBOXYMETHYCELLULOSES) TARTRATE STABILISATION A fourth method of tartrate stabilisation that should be considered for some wines is treating the wine with CMC (Carboxymethylcelluloses). CMC is a crystallisation inhibitor.

When added to wine it prevents (or reduces) tartrate crystals from forming or growing.

The advantages of using CMC’s, for wines suited to CMC stabilisation, include, no impact on the acid balance of the wine, relatively inexpensive to purchase and quick, inexpensive and easy to use.

It also requires low energy and low labour inputs (just addition and mixing).

However CMC stabilisation must be approached with care as it is the wrong approach to tartrate stabilisation of many wines.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

CMC’s, a relative newcomer to wine tartrate stabilisation, appear to give good short to medium stability to appropriately treated wines but are not recommended for red wines because of possible colour dropout and are also ineffective for calcium tartrate stabilisation.

Significant information on CMC and tartrate stabilisation is given in You’ve got to be a hot shot to hit the moving target of cold stability, Eric Wilkes, Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, January 2014, and on the AWRI website.)

“CMC’s, a relative newcomer to wine tartrate stabilisation, appear to give good short to medium stability to appropriately treated wines but are not recommended for red wines because of possible colour dropout and are also ineffective for calcium tartrate stabilisation,” Wilkes said.

“Significantly high tartrate loading can overcome the crystallisation inhibitor’s ability to block crystal growth, rendering it essentially ineffective other than possibly slowing the process of tartrate formation.”

The determination of current and potential tartrate stability, when and when not to use CMC’s (and the associated laboratory testing to assist you in making the right decision) and the right CMC to use has been previously discussed (see References 1, 5 and 8).

Winemakers’ thinking on the use of CMC’s appears to vary dramatically from winemaker to winemaker.

At a 2014 New Zealand workshop on innovative new winemaking technology a leading winemaker spoke in praise of CMC tartrate stabilisation.

The use of CMC was a “lay down misere” according to this winemaker, who had spent five years on trials and research and reported the first wines to trial the new technology were still stable after five years.

(Author notes: This winery has probably selected the CMC they use with some care and also carefully selected the wines they CMC stabilised using well planned and rigorous laboratory testing. Their reward has been a quick, easy and inexpensive way to tartrate stabilise a number of their wines)

CONCLUSION The future most economic strategy for producing tartrate stabilised wine that meets market demands without wine quality compromise may be a combination of Fluidised Bed Cold Stabilisation and CMC (Carboxymethylcelluloses) Stabilisation.

Winemakers using traditional cold stabilisation should consider installing the “Buronga Design” as stage one in upgrading their wineries tartrate stabilisation. (This will halve the time to KHT stabilise and reduce cold stabilisation energy use by two thirds.)

Stage two, in the future, would be the installation of a fluidised bed column when this innovation is commercially available.

REFERENCES

“You’ve got to be a hot shot to hit the moving target of cold stability”, Eric Wilkes, The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker “Evaluation of Tartrate Stabilisation Technologies for Wine Industry”, Lin Lin Low, University of Adelaide, 2007 “Benchmarking a continuous tartrate stabilisation system”, Roget, W., The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker (585) p 106 2012 “Designing Wineries for Sustainable Practices”, Roger Boulton, International Conference – EcoSostenibleWine 2008 “CMC: a new potassium Bitartrate stabilisation tool”, Paul Bowyer, Claire Gouty, Virginie Moine, Rodney Marsh, Tony Battaglene, The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker (558) 2010 “The Chemistry of Wine Stabilisation and Treatments”, Volume 2, (RibereauGayon, Glories, Maujean and Bubourdieu, published by WILEY. “New Technologies for tartrate stabilisation – Field testing of nanofiltration”, Dr Chris Colby, University of Adelaide, 2007 “Cold Stability, CMC’s and other crystallization inhibitors”, Dr Eric Wilkes, AWRI COMMERCIAL SERVICES “INNOVATIONS IN FAST ENERGY EFFICIENT TARTRATE STABILISATION OF WINE”, I. Jeffery, Winery Engineering Association Workshop, Hastings, New Zealand, 2014 “Chemical Engineering of Sustainable Winemaking”, Roger Boulton, Melbourne University, December 2013

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winemaking

Three household names receive wine industry ‘life membership’

Colin Campbell, Wolf BLass, John Angove and Philip Laffer

JOHN ANGOVE, Wolf Blass and Colin Campbell have been named ‘life members of the Australian wine industry’ in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions to the industry.

The awards, administered by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA), were presented during an event at the Magill Estate Restaurant in March.

Tony D’Aloisio, WFA president, said while the trio has helped to create a vibrant, modern wine and viticulture industry and helped to draw attention to Australian wine around the world.

“This coveted ‘life member’ award recognises outstanding leadership and contribution to the nation’s wine industry over and above an individual’s careers achievements,” D’Aloisio said.

“In the case of John, Colin and Wolf – they have given in spades.”

John Angove has worked in the Angove Family Winemakers business since the 1970s. He has served various industry representative bodies and is proud that his family has been directly involved in these organisations for 43 years. Angove has already been recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia “I look at this award with some degree of self-consciousness

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– I’ve just done what I’ve done because I’ve enjoyed doing it and I have got a lot out of my industry involvement,” Angove said.

“It goes back a long, long way – I took over the seat my dad left vacant in 1988 and he had been serving on the Australian Wine and Brandy Producers Association for I think 15 years. Here we are in 2016 and my daughter Victoria is an alternate for the medium size winemakers committee for the current federation.”

Wolf Blass arrived in Australia in 1961 and soon became Australia’s first freelance wine consultant. His Bilyara business began with the 1966 vintage and Wolf Blass International was established in 1973. Blass is also a Member of the Order of Australia.

“I came to this country at the right time,” Blass said, describing a time when Australia began to shift away from a beer drinking culture through the introduction to table wine styles.

He is a famous self-promoter and didn’t disappoint when receiving this latest award.

“I have had passion, I have done it my way, I have made very few mistakes – everything that I’ve made I think has been correct,” Blass said.

He also promised to continue to keep promoting Australian

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April 2016 – Issue 627

wines and spoke of his plans for an industry museum and gallery he plans to open in the Adelaide Hills.

Colin Campbell, a fourth-generation family winemaker, has been a passionate supporter of both his home region of Rutherglen and the broader Australian wine and viticulture industry.

Campbell said he was proud of the relationships he has with his fellow life members, including Philip Laffer – a recipient of this award in 2014 – and the ability of the whole industry to work together to address important issues.

“My life in the wine industry has been typically full of challenges, as wine in Australia is not constrained by boundaries or climate and we are assisted by the Aussie spirit of innovation,” Campbell said.

He remains committed to representing the industry and serving the WFA Board.

“I will continue to advocate for the Winemakers’ Federation because I believe in it so strongly”.

Since 1992 individuals who have made a particularly significant contribution to the Australian wine and brandy industry have been recognised by their election to the College of Patrons (if their career has included a period of service on an industry body) or awarding them Life Membership of the Australian Wine Industry.

As well as recognising achievement, the college also allows us to retain and make available for the benefit of the industry the accumulated experience and counsel of eminent industry members after their retirement.

Existing members annually nominate and consider possible candidates for investiture.

Patrons and the year of their appointment Mr Ian Mackley AM (1992) Mr John Pendrigh AM (1992) Mr Richard Haselgrove AM (1993) Mr Don McWilliam AM (1994) Mr d’Arry Osborn OAM (1994) Mr Karl Seppelt AO (1997) Mr Peter Wall AM (1999) Mr Tony Smith (2001) Mr Brian Croser AO (2002) Mr Peter Barnes (2005) Dr Terry Lee OAM (2007) Former Patrons (The late) Mr Bob Hardy (1992) (The late) Mr Tom Angove AM (1993) (The late) Mr Len Evans AO OBE (1995) Life Members and the year of their appointment Mr Colin Gramp AM (2003) Br John May SJ (2004) Mr Bill Chambers OAM (2005) Former Life Members (The late) Dr Ray Beckwith OAM (2003) (The late) Mr Guenter Prass AM (2004) (The late) Mr Graham Wiltshire OAM (2005)

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young gun

Zac Caudo: Wine-inspired lifestyle Nestled between South Australia’s Waikerie and Morgan sits a beautiful cellar door right on the edge of the Murray River. It’s only been open for a few years, but Caudo Vineyard has cemented itself as one of the most popular and progressive wine businesses in the Riverland. The winery’s philosophy of ‘wine inspired by a lifestyle’ has been driven by Zac Caudo who now manages the family business in between water skiing, wakeboarding and fishing. Emilie Reynolds reports.

ALTHOUGH ZAC CAUDO has only been working in the wine industry for seven years, he has been surrounded by it for most of his life. His parents Joe and Christine Caudo purchased a property on the Murray River in the mid-1980s when the family still lived in Perth.

“My parents planted a vineyard where we had water skiing holidays,” Caudo said. “The lifestyle I enjoyed on the Murray River led me to this next step in my career.”

In 2009, Caudo moved to the area and took the reins of the company as manager.

From there, he transformed the business

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I think by linking a lifestyle you live to the wine it will help to relax the stigma and simply allow people to enjoy the wine. from a bulk supplier of wine grapes to producer of its own Caudo brand of award-winning wines and a tourism destination for thousands of visitors. www.winetitles.com.au

“We decided to change from contract grapes to bulk wines because in contract grapes you are at the mercy of big wineries, whereas with bulk wine you instantly open yourself to export trade and consumers,” he said.

Caudo, an avid water skier and wakeboarder, said he has been inspired by the lifestyle of the river from day one.

“It’s all about lifestyle inspired wines with a focus on the history of the property and community,” he said. “We have such a beautiful location on the Murray River and the environment it gives life too. If you have ever been to the Murray River April 2016 – Issue 627

If you have ever been to the Murray River for a camping holiday, I am sure you would agree that every morning here you pinch yourself, just so you know you’re not dreaming. for a camping holiday, I am sure you would agree that every morning here you pinch yourself, just so you know you’re not dreaming.”

Caudo said his aim was to bottle that feeling of happiness within his wines.

“We want to try and capture that with all of our beverages, one for every occasion,” he said. “We are a young brand with a long history and, still learning and fine tuning our brand philosophy.

No need to be rigid out here, don’t be too serious, just go with the flow and take it all in.”

With a relaxed frame of mind, Caudo has taken a series of risks which have all seriously paid off for the business.

In 2014, the winery launched a range of white and red sangria with loud packaging and a fierce marketing campaign. Caudo said he initially began experimenting with different products because he wanted a way to entice visitors to the winery on hot summer days.

“On a 46 plus degree day a lot of people don’t like drinking wine so we created our own beer, the Hogwash Bend Lager in the middle of last year and then we also made a Desert’s Edge apple cider,” he said.

“We started mixing our Shiraz with ice and different fruits and it started going well. Then I started mucking around with some unique blends of fruit and spirits and I started to strip the tannin from the wine, it gives it a much more refreshing characteristic.”

The finished product, simply called Sangria The Red and Sangria The White, exploded in popularity and kick-started Caudo towards his goal of breaking down a few barriers between wine producers and their consumers.

“I would like to change the way wine is

perceived by, what I think is, the majority of people,” he said. “I think the wine industry tends to be quite intimidating.”

Caudo said he encouraged customers to just enjoy the wine, without worrying too much about the vintage, variety or region.

“Don’t get me wrong this is very important, how else would you begin to know what you like or what different areas offer,” he explained. “But I think by linking a lifestyle you live to the wine it will help to relax the stigma and simply allow people to enjoy the wine.”

Caudo’s successful campaigning of not only his brand of wines, but also the Riverland as a whole, caught the attention of the Rabobank Australia Leadership Awards last year. He took out the 2015 Rabobank Emerging Leader Award and was credited as “a passionate advocate for the Riverland” by Rabobank Australia and New Zealand Group managing director Thos Gieskes.

Gieskes said the leadership Caudo had shown at just 29 years of age was “extraordinary”.

“It will be exciting to watch him continue to develop his leadership skills as he positively influences not only his community and the wine industry, but the wider agricultural sector,” Gieskes said.

Caudo credited the award as his biggest achievement so far and attributed the success to his parents, who he said have given him the flexibility to continually evolve, learn and find new ways of doing things.

“We haven’t spent a lot of money on advertising, but we get traction by being savvy on social media and being advocates of the Riverland, which

includes a regular blog on all that is happening in the region to not only encourage people to visit our cellar door but the wider region,” he said.

Caudo said although expanding the business has been his biggest challenge so far, hard work combined with a great team effort paved the way for success.

“The leap from simply selling grapes to selling everything from bulk wine to our own brand in both retail and wholesale was really challenging,” he said. “We are essentially four brand new businesses all in one. You can imagine the SKU’s have gone through the roof so managing stock is a big issue. Luckily we have an amazing team that has formed around us making the transition not so challenging.”

These days Caudo said he keeps busy with a number of different roles through the week.

“We have a very versatile operation,” he said. “Usually vineyard management at the start of the week. This will also include looking at citrus and now almonds and avocados. The citrus accounts for approximately 25 per cent of business. Mid-week usually results in a trip to Adelaide to visit customers and have meetings with sales reps and at end of the week I’m back up to Waikerie to get ready for the weekend at the Cellar Door. All this with interspersed festivals, functions and overseas trips.”

For most people it would be tough to wear so many hats at work and still find time to get out and enjoy the river, but luckily Caudo works at the nation’s only cellar door that can be accessed by boat.

“I’ll water ski most days,” he said. “I’m an advocate not of ¬selling the wine, but selling the lifestyle and the tourism.”

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ask the Health and nutrition labelling The AWRI helpdesk regularly receives questions about health and nutrition labelling for wine and wine products. Broadly the questions can be divided into the areas of alcohol, allergens, preservatives and health and nutrition statements, which all fall under the auspices of the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code (www.foodstandards.gov.au). Some of the most common questions are outlined below.

HOW DO I EXPRESS ALCOHOL CONTENT? An alcohol statement is mandatory in foods containing more than 1.15% alcohol by volume. The statement must be expressed as X% alcohol by volume either numerically or in words. The tolerance for the labelling of wine and sparkling wine is +/-1.5% while fortified wine must be within a tolerance of +/-0.5%. An alcoholic beverage which contains more than 1.15% alcohol must not be represented as a low alcohol beverage.

WHICH ALLERGENS DO I NEED TO LABEL FOR? The following legal additives and processing aids for wine and wine products are listed as allergenic substances under Standard 1.2.3 of the Food Standards Code. As such, a statement to the effect that the substance is in the product, or has been used in its manufacture must be included on labels: • Added sulfites in concentrations of 10 mg/kg or more (preservative); • Casein and potassium caseinate (fining agent); • Egg white (fining agent) and lysozyme (additive); and • Milk and evaporated milk (fining agent).

For added sulfites in concentrations of 10 mg/kg or more, allergens labelling requirements are met by the statement ‘contains sulfites’, without necessarily having to name the actual sulfites used. Alternatively, code numbers can be used if they are listed in Standard 1.3.1. The following examples are considered acceptable for the other allergens: • Produced with egg/milk; • Contains/produced with egg/milk product; • Produced with egg/milk. Traces may remain; and • Produced with egg/milk products. Traces may remain.

Words such as ‘casein’ or ‘lysozyme’ on their own are not considered appropriate for use on labels as few consumers would know what they are without clarification. Links to further information about allergens can be found on the Wine Allergen Portal page of the AWRI website (www.awri.com.au).

DO I NEED TO LABEL FOR PRESERVATIVES? Even if no sulfur dioxide has been added during winemaking, care must be taken in claiming that the wine is ‘sulfur or preservative free’, as sulfur dioxide is produced by yeast. The words ‘preservative free’ should only be claimed if there are no

quantifiable levels of sulfur dioxide in the wine. An alternative statement would be that no sulfites have been added.

HOW DO I CALCULATE STANDARD DRINKS? According to Standard 2.7.1 of the Food Standards Code, a standard drink is the amount of beverage which contains 10 grams of ethanol, measured at 20°C. The label statement should be worded ‘Contains approximately X standard drinks’. Alternatively, the approved standard drinks logo may be used. A standard drinks calculator is accessible from the Winemaking Calculators page on the AWRI website. Alternatively, the AWRI Winemaking Calculator app is available for free download from the Apple App store or Google Play.

AM I PERMITTED TO MAKE HEALTH AND NUTRITION STATEMENTS? Health claims and nutrition content claims, other than nutrition content claims about energy content or carbohydrate content, are prohibited on beverages that contain more than 1.15% alcohol by volume. The requirements for nutritional information panels are provided in Standard 1.2.8.

The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA), however, strongly recommends that all Australian winemakers include a voluntary pregnancy warning on labels of wine sold in Australia.

Further information about the pregnancy logo can be found in the resources section of the WFA website (www.wfa.org.au).

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR CLEANSKINS? Regarding cleanskins, within Australia unlabelled bottles cannot be sold at retail to the public, but unbroken cartons can be sold if the mandatory information appears on the carton in an acceptable form.

Mandatory warning declarations including allergens, however, must appear on every bottle.

OTHER ADVICE AND INFORMATION Additional advice and information on labelling can be found in Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s Labelling of Alcoholic Beverages User Guide and Wine Australia’s Compliance Guide.

Questions can also be submitted to the AWRI helpdesk via phone 08 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au.

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sales & marketing McAtamney’s market report

The Reincarnation of Rosé Peter McAtamney, from Wine Business Solutions, takes a look at the rapid rise in Rosé popularity in the domestic market.

AS FAR AS a popular wine idea in Australia, Rosé has been with us a long time. I recall, for example, returning from a year off traveling in 2004 to be greeted by non-industry friends who were dismayed by its sudden popularity. A dozen years ago Australian Rosé was a very different product. Not Matuse, but not Rose as we now know it today, either.

Then there was the ‘Rosé Revolution’ which, although very colourful and full of promise at the time, fizzled out around three years ago. As with the ‘Summer of Riesling’ and other wine community driven movements, sustaining momentum gets difficult after a time. Someone needs to be paid at some point.

Now, just in the past 12 months, Rosé has taken off in the local market in a way never before seen. According to our Wine On-Premise Australia 2016 research, listings of Rosé were up a massive 42% across the past year and now account for 7% of all listings.

Only Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling have more.

You could see this coming from a long way out. In 2013, when I visited Vinexpo you could see that virtually all Rosé in France was one colour. Further, French winemakers had figured out how to stop that colour degenerating. Ageless beauty realised. Well almost.

(On a side note… Australians don’t do Vinexpo anymore as a result of dispute dating back to 2003 – but we probably should, even if just to look).

Provencal Rosé can now be recognised all over the world by its fabulous pale pink. When you combine texture, structure, finesse and of course, that wonderful colour, you have a wine style that is perfectly suited to warm climates like Australia’s. For example, I once had a plate of char grilled sardines and ratatouille at a place called La Bouillabaisse in the South of France and even that couldn’t put a dent in the local pink drink.

Whilst the current Rosé boom in Australia is being led by Provence, as with all fast-growing import categories, there are a lot of Australian businesses benefiting.

South Australia has been onto the opportunity presented by modern style, quality dry Rosé for some time. Perhaps the best example has been the Longview Boatshed Rose 2014 which won the Trophy at Sydney. Rosé made from Nebbiolo clearly holds great promise. It has a different look, a different mouthfeel and a different set of aromatic characteristics altogether to Provencal Rosé but is equally delicious. Therein lies the opportunity both domestically and in export markets.

It’s Victoria however, who have really awakened to the potential of premium Rosé during the last year. NSW, as is so often the case, is missing the opportunity.

There is good money in it too. The average bottle of Rosé on a wine list in Australia now costs just under $50.

No longer a place to hide viticulture and winemaking mistakes, only wine that are managed as well as

anything else you make is likely to succeed. With patience, attention to detail and a determination to create a unique Australian style, Rosé can easily triple the sales it had just a year or so ago.

It has done so in France in the past 10 years.

There is good money in it too. The average bottle of Rosé on a wine list in Australia now costs just under $50.

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sales & marketing

Social media stack up: Pros and cons of the ‘big five’ Dr Rebecca Dolan from The University of Auckland Business School has examined the pros and cons of the main social media account options and given an example of one wine businesses that standouts on each account. There are valuable insights for those who manage wine accounts.

SOCIAL MEDIA has undoubtedly become an essential tool for businesses to communicate to the masses.

However, many companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon with no real plan, often leading to mixed results.

So how do you make the most of your social media presence?

The key is in what platforms you choose to adopt. Each social media tool offers advantages and drawbacks.

In this article we investigate five of the most popular social media tools being used by wine brands.

Nailed it: Bird in Hand Winery, Adelaide Hills, South Australia www.facebook.com/birdinhandwinery With more than 55,000 fans, Bird In Hand has been successful in building a large fan base. The winery effectively generates engagement with fans through excellent content creation with a mix of posts including local region imagery, event information and product tasting details.

BLOGS Pros: Blogs add emotion and provide an engaging element to a website. Blogs are widely known for their ability to build brand awareness, and can be integrated into other social media platforms. Additionally, Facebook posts and Twitter streams can be embedded into the blog. Blogs give us a chance to weave a more meaningful and detailed brand story.

Cons: Writing a blog is not as simple as developing a few sentences for a status update. A good blog requires planning, drafting and effective writing skills to capture the audience.

Nailed it: Turkey Flat Vineyards, Barossa Valley, South Australia www.turkeyflat.com.au/blog This blog is regularly updated with varying content. The content ranges from details about the wine, entertaining videos, excellent high quality images, tasting notes and reviews, and recipes. Last year, Turkey Flat even integrated a ‘2015 Vintage Diary’ which detailed the vintage process.

TWITTER Pros: Programs such as ‘Tweetdeck’ have enhanced the ability to monitor and schedule tweets. Twitter allows for a little more privacy since followers can tweet you directly without others seeing it. It’s also a great way to respond to customer complaints or questions. Promoted tweets blend in well to the timeline, making them look less like advertising.

Cons: Keep in mind factors such as the need to retweet or reply quickly. With tweets limited to only 140 characters, it doesn’t give much room to get your message across. Further, Twitter does not allow you to target groups of followers with messages in the way that Facebook does.

Nailed it: Wirra Wirra Vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia twitter.com/wirrawirrawines Wirra Wirra are doing fantastic work not only creating content on Twitter, but joining in with related discussions and conversations through their retweets and fast replies.

This conversational and interactive approach will only strengthen their reach and engagement.

FACEBOOK Pros: Facebook allows access your page data through Facebook Insights, which means managers can view weekly reports detailing metrics about the page’s performance. You can customise tabs to link to other platforms, such as an online wine store. It is also a great platform for running competitions and promoting events. The paid advertising options allow hyper-targeting to reach the right consumer.

Cons: Facebook’s organic reach of posts is low, often under 5%, meaning your posts are unlikely to reach most of

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your fans. Facebook necessitates interaction with fans, so you need the personnel to engage on the network. Further, paid advertising can be expensive for smaller businesses with tighter budgets.

INSTAGRAM Pros: Instagram is intuitive and easy to use, allowing for a lot of creativity while still providing a good structure for beginners. Instagram photos and videos are easily linked to other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The use of hashtags can enhance the reach of Instagram updates.

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April 2016 – Issue 627

Hashtags can also be used to track conversations, similar to Twitter.

Cons: If you don’t have the talent for photos, Instagram probably isn’t the right platform for you. Sharing photos must be done from mobile devices and there isn’t much space to describe your company outside of pictures.

Nailed it:

Cons: Customers may be a little sceptical about receiving snaps from businesses as it is still seen as a personal space.

The whole appeal of Snapchat is that the content doesn’t last.

It’s fleeting nature give rise to concern as to whether content that lasts less than 10 seconds can really build brand awareness.

Nailed it: Vinomofo, Online Wine Retailer @vinomofo

Whistler Wines, Barossa Valley, South Australia Account: whistlerwines The use of both images and videos has been done extremely well, and the managers do an excellent job ensuring the content varies evenly between events, product details, winemaking processes and local scenery.

Vinomofo offer ‘Snapchat only’ deals for their customers as an alternative to daily emails.

They are also using Snapchat to give authentic insights into the culture of the brand, whilst sharing product related details such as tasting images, notes and cellaring tips.

SUMMING UP

SNAPCHAT Pros: Snapchat offers exclusive one-on-one connections with customers allowing engagement on a personal level.

Snapchat also warrants the attention of customers – because customers know that the once a picture or video is opened, it won’t be able to be viewed again. This almost subconsciously conditions users to pay close attention to the snap when they receive it.

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Social media is an evolving space that is hard to master.

Before signing up to a new platform, it is important to analyse your marketing strategy.

This will help determine if the platform can complement the organisation’s strategy.

It will also help determine whether the organisation has the resources to manage and build lasting customer relationships via the platform.

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business & technology

The consumer around the corner In a few short years today’s teenagers will be potential wine consumers, but will they find your wine when they search the shelves? Luis Osorio, Wine Intelligence senior research analyst, investigates how this will impact the US market.

RESEARCHERS are often accused of telling you about yesterday’s weather rather than forecasting what is coming tomorrow.

In fairness, many of the tools they have at their disposal – sales data, consumer recalled consumption, and so on – are all backward looking.

Only a few, such as planned purchase intentions, peer into the future.

However within the limitations of such data, it is possible to be a bit smarter about constructing a picture of the world around the corner.

This is the challenge Wine Intelligence set when delivering a recent report, Future Wine Consumers in the US Market.

Designed to be the first of a new series of reports about future trends in key

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markets, it is intended to help the reader understand some of the macro trends which will shape the US wine market ten years from now, and to assist the generation of hypotheses as to what these consumers will be demanding by then.

Currently, the number of regular wine drinkers in the US stands at 93 million, or 40% of the adult population, but the Wine Intelligence projection estimates this figure will rise to 109 million, or 44% of all adults, by 2025.

Much has already been said about the importance of the ‘millennial’ generation of young drinkers, but this report goes further in examining the potential significance of the so-called ‘next-generation’ – born in 1995 or after – on the wine category. www.winetitles.com.au

Part of the puzzle of the future rests with a generation of Americans who are not even drinking yet (at least not legally): the ‘post-millennial’ cohort born between 1995 and 2004, who will turn 21 within the next decade.

There has been much contention over what name to give this generation (within the office, never mind in the world at large), so our rather literal compromise name for them is… ‘next-gens’.

These youngsters, the oldest of whom are about to reach legal drinking age in the US, are likely to play an increasingly important role over the next 10 years, with the report estimating that by 2025 there could already be around 22.7 million ‘next-gen’ regular wine drinkers.

While this generation shares the April 2016 – Issue 627

ambitious and tech-savvy spirit of their ‘millennial’ counterparts, early signs show that they are likely to be more entrepreneurial and money-driven, and less adventurous.

However, with 57% of the ‘next-gens’ surveyed saying that they were keen to learn more about wine once they become old enough to drink, and with these drinkers predicted to make up 21% of the total regular wine drinkers in the US by 2025, there are clearly opportunities for the wine industry to engage these ultraconnected youngsters.

For the report, Wine Intelligence conducted extensive primary research with this group to reach a deeper understanding of what they are looking for out of life (and wine), and the results are fascinating in the way they outline the shape of their future consumption habits.

Our data suggests that the world view and attitude of many ‘next-gens’ is being shaped by two dominant forces: the economic uncertainties of post-financial crisis America, and the expectation of accelerating consumer-oriented technological development.

The net of these influences appears to be that ‘next-gens’ are significantly less adventurous and come-what-may

With 57% of the ‘next-gens’ surveyed saying that they were keen to learn more about wine once they become old enough to drink, and with these drinkers predicted to make up 21% of the total regular wine drinkers in the US by 2025, there are clearly opportunities for the wine industry to engage. than their older counterparts: 60% would rather have a cool product than a cool experience, compared to 44% of ‘millennials’.

They are more money-conscious and more quality-orientated than ‘millennials’, and when it comes to technology, they are easily bored if snazzy innovation doesn’t arrive on a regular basis.

Fully integrated with social media, they seek advice amongst friends and other peers’ reviews as opposed to believing what they read on companies’ websites.

They engage with brands as long as brands are responsible in a social and environmental way – but their natural instinct is to be sceptical of any corporate claims.

‘Next-gens’ are also extremely

individualistic; they speak more often about starting their own business, and keener to own cars and homes (unlike ‘millennials’, for whom car ownership is so last century).

As far as wine is concerned, the industry will be relieved to know that the majority of ‘next-gens’ say they would like to know more about it once they come of legal drinking age.

Of course ‘next-gens’ won’t be the only thing affecting the US wine market.

And Wine Intelligence has also researched the future value and volume of all other generations, paying particular attention to the importance and role of the Hispanic population and future threats to wine consumption.

More research from Wine Intelligence is available at www.wineintelligence.com.

Bottling Line Solutions Bottle National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550

April 2016 – Issue 627

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calendar

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.

1986 Over the past 20 years, 44 varieties and clones of grapevine rootstocks have been introduced into South Australia.

These rootstocks have the potential to confer nematode and phylloxera resistance, tolerance to limey, acid and saline soils and even to drought. The SA Department of Agriculture through its ‘vine improvement program’ has undertaken the responsibility for testing these rootstocks under the wide range of environmental and soil conditions in South Australia.

1996 At 75 years of age, Murray Tyrrell, third-generation winemaker at Tyrrell’s Vineyards is not fazed by the tyranny of distance if it means spreading the good word about wine and the industry he loves. The veteran of the Australian wine industry regularly travels far and wide for speaking engagements. For example, last month Tyrrell headed to Lanai Island, Hawaii, for the world conference of Small Luxury Hotels.

2006 Former McGuigan Simeon chief Brian McGuigan says he is sick and tired of being the “meat in the sandwich” and has defended his stance over a joint-venture proposal he had put to some growers in the Murray Valley area. McGuigan, now a director, said his company had ”achieved successful sales deals around the globe” in a bid to deliver markets for more wine with the result that a joint venture proposal was made to growers.

Australia & New Zealand April 15 2016 Lowe Wine School Mudgee, NSW. www.lowewine.com.au/events

30 April-1 May Bickley Harvest Festival Bickley Valley, WA. www.bickleyharvestfestival.com

17 Shiraz Heaven Heathcote Wine Lunch Balaclava, VIC. www.weteachme.com

30 April-1 May Grampians Grape Escape - The Food & Wine Festival Halls Gap, VIC. www.grampiansgrapeescape.com.au

22 (CD) 2016 International Cool Climate Wine Show Mornington, VIC. www.coolclimatewineshow.org.au 26-27 (JD) Langhorne Creek Wine Show Langhorne Creek, SA. www.langhornecreek.com

30 April-1 May Kellybrook Cider Festival Wonga Park, VIC. www.kellybrookwinery.com.au

May 1-31 Aussie Wine Month 2016 Australia Wide. www.wineaustralia.com 1 Bendigo Winegrowers Festival Bengido, VIC. www.bendigowine.org.au 1-8 Tasting Australia Adelaide, SA. www.tastingaustralia.com.au 5-7 Agfest Field Days Carrick, TAS. www.agfest.com.au

6 (CD) 2016 Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland International Wine Show Toowoomba, QLD. www.rasq.com.au 7 Campbells Bobbie Burns Dinner Rutherglen, VIC. www.campbellswines.com.au 7 Mornington Peninsula Winery Walk Red Hill, VIC. www.mpva.com.au 13-15 2016 Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend Clare Valley, SA. www.clarevalley.com.au

International April 15-17 Salon des Vins à Mâcon Macon, France. www.concours-salons-vins-macon.com

26-28 VINORUS VINOTECH Krasnodar, Russia. www.vinorus.ru

17-18 The Real Wine Fair London, UK. www.therealwinefair.com

May 3-5 The London International Wine Fair London, UK. www.londonwinefair.com

5-7 SIAL China/SIAL Wine World Shanghai, China. www.wineinternationalltd.com

JD = judging date CD= closing date For a comprehensive list of events, visit www.winetitles.com.au/calendar

Winetitles Calendar Australia’s most comprehensive wine industry related local and international events and courses – available online!

Search for conferences, trade shows, competitions, courses, festivals & Australian & international wine shows.

www.winetitles.com.au/calendar 72 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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April 2016 – Issue 627

industry profile Brooke Howell

Yalumba Wine Company Viticulturist/Technical Manager

Location: Barossa/Eden Valley, Riverland & Limestone Coast Size: 270Ha across eight sites Tell us about your current role: I am involved in managing trial work across our South Australian company owned vineyards, encompassing the Barossa, Riverland and Limestone Coast.

Our main trial work revolves around our organic and biodynamic vineyards, several projects with an aim to adapt to climate change as well as management of our new varieties and clones in conjunction with the Yalumba Nursery.

Being relatively new to the industry (having grown up on a sheep and cropping property on the Eyre Peninsula) there is still plenty to learn from my peers.

My overall goal is to become a leader within the industry to help other people (especially young women) succeed in the industry.

Can you tell us more about your career in the industry so far?

I completed a Bachelor of Science (Viticulture) at the University of Adelaide followed by a year of Honours prior to commencing my job here at Yalumba, where I have been for the past five years as Viticulturist/Technical Officer, and more recently Technical Manager for our viticulture department. During my time at university I completed my placement at Gemtree vineyards in McLaren Vale where I quickly learnt the complexities of managing a vineyard with several different varieties.

What part of your job do you find most rewarding?

I really enjoy the diversity of my job – each season presents different challenges – be it rain, frost, drought or heatwaves which keeps me on my toes in terms of micro-managing each individual block.

I also get to obtain experience across a range of viticultural regions.

Vintage is an exciting time of year as I really get a sense of satisfaction from harvesting the fruit that you have tried to grow all year to the best of your ability.

I have been fortunate enough to participate in the Barossa Next Crop program – a leadership program for people in viticulture in our region. This is a fantastic program, supported by the Barossa Grape and Wine Association which really helped me develop my leadership skills and broaden my networks.

being able to grow outstanding quality fruit in an ever changing climate is a huge challenge, especially with a lack of water security.

Another challenge is finding the right technology so we can reduce labour costs. There have been so many advances in technology within the industry but we still have a way to go.

Are you confident about the future of the wine industry?

Where do you go for support on these issues?

I think research and development is essential to ensuring the future of the wine industry. In Tony Robbins’ words “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve gotten”.

In other words, how will you know if you can do it better without research?

Yalumba have recently invested in a new development on the Barossa Valley floor, planting 100 acres to Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon using a recyclable trellis system. A lot of time and effort was put into researching what materials would work best for our site. Maintaining environmental sustainability will be the way of the future to ensure that our industry is in good stead for the next generation.

I am lucky, at Yalumba there are lots of people in all departments with decades of experience that I can talk to about any issues. Being involved in the Barossa Viticulture Technical Group, I have a good network of people I can talk to about industry related issues and I think as a region we are fairly good at communicating about how we can all improve to ensure the future of our businesses.

What are you most proud of?

What are the current challenges you are facing?

I am proud that I have been recognised as a young leader in the organic field nationally. At Yalumba we have really only been experimenting with organics for the past five years so to be recognised not only in viticulture but across all agricultural fields is really humbling.

Being a young woman in a male dominated industry can be tough at times, but Yalumba are an extremely supportive business and we need to encourage more of the next generation to be involved in viticulture.

I think from an industry perspective,

April 2016 – Issue 627

www.winetitles.com.au

How important is the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine a source of information?

I enjoy reading the Grapegrower & Winemaker because it is easy to relate to the real people in the industry. With all the doom and gloom in the media, it’s always nice to read a good news story about someone’s success. Sometimes we can get caught up in our own little world so it is great to be able to read about what other people in different regions are doing to address the issues they are facing. It makes it feel much more like a team effort- that we are all moving toward a common goal.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

73

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April 2016 – Issue 627

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