Grapegrower & Winemaker - May 2016

MAY 2016

Vineyard machinery survey Innovations for vegan-friendly wine

Short and Sweet: 2016 Aussie vintage report

Don’t give your plants too much to drink.

The trick to making money from growing anything is to sell the end result for as much as possible while spending as little as possible in the process.

of water and nutrients to every plant every day. Leaving you free to concentrate on all the other problems in your life, of which I’m sure there are many.

Managing the amount of liquid you use every day is therefore quite important. Because even though rain is free, it hardly ever turns up when you want it to and doesn’t deliver your plants their daily dose of fertilisers. Then if you irrigate, you have a whole new set of problems and the last thing you want to be doing is giving your plants too much to drink.

The secret lies within the HydroPC and D5000 drippers. Each designed to deliver the optimum amount of water and nutrients while minimising the risk of clogging and automatically compensating for different pressures at every point along the line.

Luckily, Rivulis have addressed these issues with their HydroPC and D5000 drip irrigation systems.

The benefit of all this is that you no longer have to stay up at night worrying about your plants dying of thirst or drinking to excess.

Rivulis irrigation systems are designed to deliver just the right amount

And there’s a lot to be said about a good night’s sleep.

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contents features MAY 2016

48 56

Vineyard machinery survey

Pruning Training & Trellising

Short and Sweet:

2016 Aussie vintage report

COVER There have been plenty of winemakers boasting about the colour of this year’s red ferments. This photo was captured at the Tscharke winery at Marananga.

Photo courtesy of the Barossa Grape and Wine Association.

Innovations for vegan-friendly wine

news

grapegrowing

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

29

From the editor .........................................7 Choose language people will understand

Movers & shakers .....................................8 Regional Roundup: SA ............................10 The wine community is celebrating global accolades, innovative new technology and a couple of important leadership changes.

Sidewood’s powerful investment .............. 12

Vineyard machinery and equipment survey report .........................29

Plea to keep the WET core principles .......13

Vineyard owners plan to tighten their belts

Australian vintage report: Short and sweet ....................................14 Grapegrowers and winemakers have been pleasantly surprised by the 2016 season.

Top 10 tips for post-harvest activity .........34 Clover Hill wins 2016 Tasmanian ‘vineyard of the year’ .............................37 The balancing act: Sweetness and acid ....38

14

Quantifying the advancement and compression of vintage ...........................40 The battle against Eutypa ........................48 Wrapping arms could be a stressful option for grapevines .................56

regulars 6 What’s online 25 WGGA:

88 Calendar

The Australian Grower

46 Ask the AWRI 4 Grapegrower & Winemaker

89 Industry profile 90 Marketplace classifieds

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

May 2016: Issue 628 winemaking Innovation for vegan wines ....................62 In this article Philippe Poinsaut reports on the latest innovations in vegan-friendly fining agents

A practical guide to blending ..................67

Bec Duffy claims Tasmania’s ‘rural women’s award’ ............................78 78

Wine regions and whisky .......................70 70

sales & marketing People and places: .................................80 Who likes which sparkling and why? ...... 74 Tips to help move your wine from the winery to the shelves ................75

The country comes to the city

Treasury to back regions for sales pitch ..82 Misha’s Vineyard: 10th vintage milestone ............................83

Lucky break for Melbourne students................................. 76

Is ‘brand Australia’ dead?....................84

76

Canada market analysis: Best of both worlds .................................86

PUBLISHER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE Hartley Higgins

PRODUCTION Simon Miles

GENERAL MANAGER Peter Muscet

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 May 2016 – Issue 628

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.

All Rights Reserved.

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

Cover price $8.25 (inc. GST) www.winetitles.com.au

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

5

on the grapevine what’s ONLINE ‘Must-read’ for retailers The Australian Liquor Stores Association (ALSA) and IRI held a joint networking event in Sydney recently to present the findings of the inaugural 2016 Australian Retail Liquor - State of the Industry Report, following its launch in Canberra last month. Building on from last year’s Australian Retail Liquor Market Insights report published by ALSA, the State of the Industry Report provides details on the overall size, health and trends within Australia’s liquor retailing industry, reports The Shout.

Bulk exporters abusing WET: Neil McGuigan The abuse of the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate by bulk wine traders must be addressed by the Federal Government, according to Australian Vintage CEO Neil McGuigan. The eligibility of New Zealand wine producers has attracted much of the air time in discussions over the WET rebate, but McGuigan told drinks bulletin this is something of an “emotional” issue, in terms of what it actually costs the Federal Government, reports Drinks Bulletin.

Vineyard values in the doldrums Small and medium-sized wine grape growers face the prospect of another bleak post-harvest selling season with vineyard values still in the doldrums. Between the end of the harvest and the pruning of the vines is when many growers weigh up whether to go round another year or sell out. While the lower dollar has helped big wine companies like Treasury Wine Estates report bumper profits, the price of wine grapes has remained flat, reports the Australian Financial Review.

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

China’s largest online alcohol retailer visits WA THE CHAIRMAN of China’s largest online drinks retailers has said the future of Australian wine in China was looking “rosy” at a recent visit to Margaret River winery Watershed Premium Wines.

Hao Hongfeng, head of Jiuxian.com, visited the winery to discuss a direct purchase agreement and said he intended to sign at least 10 import deals in Western Australia alone.

“Australian wine is very popular among Chinese consumers and the prospects are rosy,” Hao said. “I hope the visit will enhance our mutual understanding. We have well-established channels, while you have high-quality wine. Our cooperation will provide firstclass wine services to global consumers.”

According to TripAdvisor, Perth is

the ninth most popular destination for Chinese tourists in Australia. However, they have been increasingly interested in Margaret River due to its growing reputation as a food and wine destination.

TripAdvisor China chief of staff Leo Lin recently told the Sydney Morning Herald that the Chinese outbound tourism market was not only growing fast, but consumers were becoming more affluent, independent and sophisticated in their preferences.

“There has been a rise of interest in discovering, drinking and producing wine in China in recent years so with Margaret River being the closest wine region to China, it is not surprising there is so much interest in Margaret River as a travel destination,” he said.

Food and wine sectors join forces WINE AUSTRALIA, Dairy Australia and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) have joined forces to promote Australia’s strengths across food and agriculture as part of Australia Week in China.

The three national agricultural bodies painted a consistent, modern picture of Australian fine food and wine during the week long promotion.

According to a statement from Wine Australia, the three organisations were keen to work closely together in targeting Australia’s largest market for food and agricultural exports.

Andreas Clark, Wine Australia chief executive officer, said the collaboration represented the best of Australian produce, “As the food and wine culture in China continues to evolve, through

this collaborative effort we will share the stories of Australia’s pure natural environments, our talented and passionate producers, and share our fine food and wine offering,” Clark said.

“We want China’s sophisticated food and wine consumers to equate products of Australian provenance with the highest quality.”

Dairy Australia, MLA and Wine Australia jointly attended a number of events in major Chinese as part of the promotion, drawing an enthusiastic response from the new wave of cosmopolitan, sophisticated Chinese consumers.

They had a unified presence at the premium product showcase that featured barbecue demonstrations by an on site chef, cheese tastings and wine tastings.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Congratulations on a first class magazine, the March edition which I have just completed reading.

Of particular interest were your ‘Senate inquiry reflects a fractured industry’ and ‘Innovation in action’ (your very interview with a very frank and honest Paul Baggio). I find myself virtually 100% in agreement with both the sentiments and facts presented by these two articles.

Paul’s statement the “nature of working in silo’s has been the biggest restraint to faster adoption to technology and growth in Australia” struck a cord.

Many winemakers and decision makers in our industry appear to be studiously www.winetitles.com.au

avoiding adopting innovation.

Innovations could lift our growth and ensure wine quality environmental and economic sustainability.

There are also innovations from Aust ralia n winer y equipment manufacturers, some currently in the market place, some in the pipeline, some in the future.

Also many thanks for publishing my articles on winery solar power generation and energy storage and the Jameson Cell.

Yours sincerely Ian Jeffery, Nuriootpa

May 2016 – Issue 628

from the editor

Nathan Gogoll Editor

Choose language people will understand EVERY INDUSTRY has its own jargon, but I reckon the wine and viticulture industry takes it to a whole new level.

Because our industry covers everything from managing soil to designing labels we’ve got jargon for all sorts of things.

Some of the terms getting about are actually really fancy pants stuff… aperitif, battonage, clos, jeroboam, sommelier, puncheon, xylem etc.

Lots of these have French or scientific etymology and because they are not broadly used outside of the industry, when they do pop into contact with regular consumers I bet they leave quite a few scratching their heads.

How many people looking at a Chardonnay back label would actually understand the meaning of this example… ‘this wine was matured Sur Lie in aged French barriques and regular battonage helped to develop the autolytic characters’. (This is meant to be an extreme fictional example, and any similarity to any actual back labels, past or present, is purely coincidental) Other industry jargon, specific to wine and viticulture, seems to send out mixed signals through its literal meaning… bin, flight, hogshead, racking, vine material etc.

For every winery that chooses to talk about its ‘bin wines’, I guarantee there would be potential consumers who think ‘that sounds like rubbish’.

When a winemaker says ‘we racked our wine’, somebody who has not studied the winemaking process thinks about cruel medieval torture. Within the industry, inoculating a fermenter is run-of-themill. Outside the industry, inoculation relates to preventable diseases and vaccination.

Meanwhile, other bits and pieces of wine and viticulture jargon sound more straight-to-the-point… bung hole, cap, late-harvest, mid-row, punt, stickies, wine wanker etc.

To me, this sort of jargon is more acceptable. It is what it says it is. And this May 2016 – Issue 628

is the only sort of jargon you should the industry should ever use in the presence of consumers.

In my mind, the worst jargon comes in the form of acronyms… FOB, IBU, MLF, MOG, SKUs, VSP, WET etc.

Every now and again one of these seems to become a word in its own right. Sometimes this works – MOG is a good example. But for every acronym that works there is at least a dozen that doesn’t. Just consider for a moment… if you were to analyse which of your SKUs were aligned to receive the WET Rebate, you’re actually contemplating the most dry topic in the industry at the moment, ironically.

Plenty of others pop up, but not many of them enter the vernacular. Nor should they.

I’ve heard people say ‘woofa’ and ‘wooga’ when what they really meant was Winemaker’s Federation of Australia and Wine Grape Growers Australia. If you are one of these people, please change your wicked ways, immediately.

I’ve also noticed there are companies trying to add to the lexicon. I really don’t like the fairly recent ‘premiumisation’, but it certainly gets a good run when you read through media releases or annual reports from Australia’s largest wine companies. Actually, I think ‘popular premium’ might be worse.

And I need to call out Treasury Wine Estates for inventing jargon. When it needed to explain it would close wineries and production sites as well as cut jobs it cobbled three words together… “supply chain optimisation”.

I’m not sure closing a winery is technically ‘optimising’ it. I reckon ‘supply chain changes that save the company money’ would have been a less optimised way to explain it.

I challenge you to think about all the industry jargon you are using, and try to spot examples where you might be confusing people with it… and then find a better way to word it. www.winetitles.com.au

In other news…

You might remember in my April column I mentioned that Liz Bouzoudis was moving on from her role as the general manager of our parent company, Winetitles Media. Well, this month I can introduce you to our new GM, Peter Muscet (pictured above).

(I also forgot to mention Liz hasn’t completely abandoned us, she has taken a seat on the Winetitles Advisory Board and will continue her involvement with the company which has so far spanned more than 10 years) Peter joins us with a broad range of publishing, media and marketing experience, which has included senior roles with then Rural Press (now Fairfax) in regional newspapers and digital media.

Peter has run his own custom publishing and media representation business which has combined his love of wine and extensive media experience with wine promotion, and contact with wineries, distributors and major wine events in Australia and overseas.

In 2010 Peter launched Australian Wine Showcase Magazine aimed at showcasing Australian wine to the world, which will continue to be published as a separate entity.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

7

movers & shakers Brown Brothers announces purchase of Innocent Bystander FAMILY-OWNED BROWN BROTHERS announced in April it had entered an agreement to purchase the Innocent Bystander brand from Giant Steps.

Based in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Innocent Bystander has grown in popularity since its inception in 2004.

As part of the acquisition, Brown Brothers will purchase the old “White Rabbit” brewery site next door which will become the cellar door home of Innocent Bystander.

Ross Brown, executive director at Brown Brothers, said the family was delighted to have the opportunity to welcome such a fantastic name into their portfolio of brands.

“We have great respect for the way the Innocent Bystander team have built the consumer connection with the brand and see a terrific platform to grow the brand further both domestically and abroad,” Brown said.

Dean Carroll, Brown Brothers chief executive officer, said Brown Brothers had been investigating growth opportunities

to enhance its leadership position within the Australian wine market.

“At the heart of our exploration was the desire for strong premium brands with an innovative approach and a connection to the consumer,” he said.

“Brown Brothers sees great synergies in the premium positioning of the Innocent Bystander brand with its focus on growth grape varieties that enhance our own category leadership position in Moscato, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir and Prosecco.”

Phil Sexton, who was behind the creation of Innocent Bystander, said the brand has become a unique, strong and exciting brand with huge potential given the right resources.

“Innocent Bystander has given us the opportunity to develop and nurture our single vineyard wines over many years,” he said. “As a family owned business, Brown Brothers recognise the hard work and commitment that has been invested into the brand so far, and is looking forward to taking Innocent Bystander to

the next level whist keeping the brand fiercely independent.”

Suzanne Tyzack, Giant Steps general manager, said the time was right to pass on the baton to a company who could maximise Innocent Bystander’s potential.

“Our Innocent Bystander brand has grown quickly in markets across the world to a point where, to be honest, we have struggled to keep up,” Tyzack said.

“Family owned and fiercely independent, like us, Brown Brothers will bring the skills, resources and care to the brand that it deserves. We are proud to pass the baton.”

Tyzack said Brown Brothers and Giant Steps were working closely together through the transaction.

“We will be assisting them to develop a new dedicated Innocent Bystander Cellar Door across our carpark in Healesville at the old White Rabbit brewery site which they will be acquiring,” she said. “In the meantime, we will continue to sell, taste and promote Innocent Bystander wines at our Giant Steps winery and cellar door.”

Woman’s Hall of Fame, placing her among some of Australia’s most influential women of the past decade.

‘HerBusiness’, formerly The Australian Businesswoman’s Network, has been recognising and profiling Australia’s leading female entrepreneurs for the past eighteen years.

Hooper’s accolade placed her alongside some of Australia’s most influential female minds of the past decade.

Running Cape Jaffa Wines with her husband Derek, Hooper said her passion for winemaking combines her love of conservation, sustainability and a great surf.

“More recently I came third out of three women in the local Easter Surf Competition,” Hooper said.

“It’s nice to do well, but for me it’s just as much about approaching things

with gusto and giving everything my absolute best shot, without worrying too much about failure nor looking back with regrets.”

The Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame aims to tell the story behind the making of its inductees hoping to inspire and encourage other women to follow their dreams.

“There is a great deal of very clever women in Australia (not only my industry) and I’m very proud and a little humbled to even be thought of in the same class as them,” Hooper said.

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by great women and a team of very hard working male and female colleagues some of whom have come to Cape Jaffa from far and wide.

“Having access to that kind of global knowledge is a blessing not lost on me.”

Hooper’s hall of fame

Anna Hooper has been placed among some of Australia’s most influential women after her recent induction into the Australian Business Woman’s Hall of Fame.

CAPE JAFFA WINES head winemaker Anna Hooper has recently been inducted into the 2016 Australian Business

Levantine Hill Estate appoints new sales manager YARRA VALLEY WINERY Levantine Hill Estate has appointed Ben Shillito as its sales manager as the wine company looks to expand the emerging brand’s presence across Australia and help launch a program for international sales.

Shillito was previously the national sales and marketing manager for Adelaide Hills’ winery Bird in Hand and said it was a great opportunity to

8 Grapegrower & Winemaker

join Levantine Hill Estate at a time when it is poised for a significant expansion phase.

“What attracted me to Levantine Hill is its philosophy of pursuing quality without regard to effort, time or cost,” Shillito said. “The wines at Levantine Hill Estate are of exceptional quality and the timing is right to launch the brand internationally.” www.winetitles.com.au

Samantha Jreissati, managing director, said she was pleased to welcome Shillito to the team.

“We look forward to him guiding the sales for Levantine Hill with his experience in wholesale, direct and export wine sales,” Jreissati said.

Got a news tip for us?

Email: journalist@winetitles.com.au May 2016 – Issue 628

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Regional Roundup: South Australia While the festival season may be over for South Australia, the wine community has continued celebrating with global accolades, innovative new technology and a couple of important leadership changes.

Vinehealth Australia announces leadership changes VINEHEALTH AUSTRALIA has appointed a new chief executive officer and elected a new presiding member.

New chief executive officer Inca Pearce has been acting in the role since February and has extensive experience across the wine and viticulture sectors, including 17 years in senior roles at Pernod Ricard Winemakers.

Taking over from Alan Nankivell who left in February, Pearce will be overseeing the implementation of the agency’s fiveyear strategic plan.

Her appointment follows a national search and coincides with the election of Marc Allgrove as Vinehealth Australia’s new presiding member to replace Ben Gibson who was heading overseas.

Allgrove, a partner at Evans + Ayers, has over 20 years’ experience in the Australian wine industry, representing

small and large producers, and holding roles with several industry associations.

He was appointed to the Vinehealth Australia board in 2013 and his industry and commercial experience have contributed significantly to the development of the strategic plan.

Allgrove said Pearce brought a considerable depth of experience to the role and would continue to ensure Vinehealth Australia succeeded in delivering a professional and robust biosecurity program for the future.

“Vinehealth Australia has a long history of keeping the South Australian wine industry safe from pests and diseases and it’s important that we strive to ensure this continues through developing, advocating and leading a national approach to biosecurity,” he said.

Pearce joined Vinehealth Australia in late 2014 as manager of projects and communications.

She was a viticulturist at Pernod Ricard Winemakers and progressed to senior roles across the supply chain focused on process improvements, new product development and ensuring brand integrity.

“With the roll-out of our five-year strategic plan this is an important period for Vinehealth Australia and how we support growers and the broader wine industry,” Pearce said.

“I’m looking forward to working with growers and transforming the way in which biosecurity and vine health knowledge and services are delivered to them and industry.”

For more information visit: www.vinehealth.com.au

Barossa winery turns futuristic

Barossa Valley winery Seppeltsfield Estate have teamed up with local company Schwerpunkt to bring visitors a virtual reality experience.

SEPPELTSFIELD ESTATE has ventured into the realm of virtual reality technology in an Australian first for the promotion of wine tourism.

The 165-year-old Barossa Valley wine estate has teamed up with Adelaide company Schwerpunkt to produce a virtual tour of the winery, which can be

accessed via both high-end and entrylevel virtual reality glasses such as Google’s Cardboard product.

The tour can also be viewed without the glasses, and can be accessed via a QR code which will be featured on Seppeltsfield wine bottles.

Chad Elson, Seppeltsfield sales and marketing manager, said the early adoption of virtual reality technology was a competitive advantage in the lucrative Asian markets, particularly China.

“We’ve already tested it there as a means of introducing Seppeltsfield to distributors and customers,” Elson said.

“It’s a language barrier breaker reinforcing our heritage and environmental beauty visually seems to resonate much stronger than text or spoken word.”

China has embraced virtual reality technology, with over 400,000 headsets

reportedly being sold each month.

While early users of virtual reality have largely been the ‘gamers’ consumer segment Henning Kolvekorn, Schwerpunkt’s founder, was adamant the technology was moving to the mainstream.

“The likes of Audi, Coca-Cola and The New York Times are all using virtual reality for visual marketing,” Klovekorn said.

“We are extremely proud to have partnered with Seppeltsfield as the first wine business in Australia and one of very few in the world to be promoting themselves with the technology.”

Seppeltsfield also planned to send the technology to China as part of a state government tourism mission - the virtual reality tour at hand to assist in pitches to in-bound tourism agents, airline partners and media.

Adelaide officially named ‘great wine capital’ 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,

10 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Casablanca Valley. In an announcement of Adelaide’s acceptance of membership, South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said South Australia excels in producing premium wine and providing exceptional wine tourism.

“These industries are crucial for our economic growth and creating jobs in our regions,” he said. “Being a member of www.winetitles.com.au

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, and to support their members themselves to make the most of their extraordinary culture, heritage and geographical virtue”.

May 2016 – Issue 628

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news

Sidewood’s powerful investment ADELAIDE HILLS WINERY Sidewood Estate announced a partnership with one of South Australia’s preeminent sporting teams for the 2016 AFL season.

Sidewood wines will be served at functions for the Port Adelaide Football Club throughout the season both at the Alberton club rooms and Adelaide Oval on game days.

Owen Inglis, Sidewood Estate owner, said his goal was to expand the winery’s reach to increase brand awareness, primarily on a local level but with national exposure as well where possible.

“We considered many options and realised this partnership with Port Adelaide is perfect for Sidewood,” Inglis said. “The opportunities it affords us through networking and branding on game days as well as reaching a huge online audience each week are perfectly aligned with where we are at right now.”

Inglis said he believed the new partnership would be of mutual benefit.

“Port Adelaide has a rich history dating way back to 1870. They are dynamic and their growth and success since joining the AFL in 1997 is to be admired. We feel their ethos and energy has a real synergy with Sidewood - a relatively young wine brand that is also growing and succeeding at a rapid pace.”

David Koch, Port Adelaide chairman, said the club was proud to welcome Sidewood Estate as its official wine partner.

“It is great to partner with a local South Australian winery who is ambitious and shares our energy and passion for success,” Koch said. “Like Port Adelaide, Sidewood Estate has experienced some tremendous growth over the last few years, winning some prestigious awards along the way. We are delighted to welcome Sidewood as the newest member of the Port Adelaide family and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Meanwhile, Sidewood Estate has been physically expanding through a $3.5million building project.

Ashwood Estate, trading as Sidewood Estate has commenced expansion of its winery business in the Adelaide Hills affording it the ability to increase its cider and wine production capabilities whilst also creating new job opportunities and affording benefits to other Hills wine makers Sidewood’s Nairne winery, purchased in 2014 is currently undergoing a $3.5m expansion, with financial support from the SA Government Regional

12 Grapegrower & Winemaker

AT A GLANCE Sidewood - from Hong Kong to the Adelaide Hills In the early 2000s Sidewood’s Owen and Cassandra Inglis were living in Hong Kong operating the world’s largest manufacturer of lap-top computer cases and in the top five Asian manufacturers of high end hand bags, accessories and luggage.

But their expertise and passion for wine, both being qualified sommeliers and collectors of fine wine, plus Owen’s love of horses and the Adelaide Hills saw the family purchase 300 acres at Oakbank in 2004. The property had 80 acres under vine and plenty of room for Owen’s horses.

A further 50 acres were planted in 2005 with fruit at the time being sold to major wineries.

By 2008, the Inglis family decided the lure of the Adelaide Hills was too strong. They sold their Hong Kong operation, moved their family to Adelaide and began to expand the business and brand identity.

Port Adelaide Football Club chairman David ‘Kochie’ Koch with Sidewood Estate owner Owen Inglis.

Development Fund grant of more than $850,000.

This development will increase the vintage production capability from 500 to 2000 tonnes and includes the installation of new bottling and canning facilities.

The fully-automated bottling line is expected to have a capacity of more than 400,000 bottles of wine and cider per year.

Inglis said demand for Sidewood Estate wines locally, nationally and internationally in recent years had driven the expansion. The increased manufacturing capacity will also offer other producers another local processing option.

“The expanded production capabilities of the winery will allow us to grow volumes for our own use and also process fruit for growers in the region where there is a shortage of capacity,” Inglis said.

“This facility will provide highly attractive new options for small wineries www.winetitles.com.au

and local fruit growers looking for a commercially viable way to value-add processing to their business and expand into new market segments with increased local manufacturing opportunities available to them.”

The new canning line will offer a new packaging option for both Sidewood and local producers and improve export competitiveness as a cheaper alternative to bottling. The provision of canning locally is new to the Adelaide Hills region, and will allow the areas boutique cider producers and fruit growers to develop and market their own businesses in new markets and categories.

“We are grateful for the funding support which will also allow us to become the only South Australian cider producer with the complete process under one roof – the ability to mill, crush, ferment, keg, can and bottle,” Inglis said.

The Sidewood winery project is expected to be completed in December 2017.

May 2016 – Issue 628

Plea to keep the WET core principles IN MID APRIL Wines of WA, the state’s peak industry representative body, appealed to the Federal Government to maintain the core principles of the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET).

The state body made a public statement to the back widely-supported industry position and respond to speculation about WET Rebate reforms that apparently will be “well designed and sustainable”.

Wines of WA, the nine fine wine regions of Western Australia and individual industry participants were part of an extensive consultative process instigated in 2013 by the national body Winemakers Federation of Australia.

This resulted in a pre-budget submission in May 2015 that proposed integrity measures to return the rebate to its original policy intent, specifically the “recognition of the substantial financial hardship faced by small rural and regional wineries and aimed to support the viability and consequent capacity to generate employment wealth in local communities”.

Wines of WA again reinforced the core principles with respect to WET reform: 1. The WET rebate has been instrumental in delivering long term benefits to the wine industry and tourism in regional Australia.

2. Any reforms that tighten eligibility must continue to deliver on original policy intent; to support small wine producers in rural and regional Australia.

3. The total available rebate is maintained and as a rebate not as a grant.

4. We support an Industry/Government collaboration in growing the export demand funded from the WFA integrity measure savings.

5. The Government should continue to monitor the use of the rebate to ensure it meets its original policy intent.

The Margaret River Wine Association also released a similar statement, with the region declaring it fully supported the state body’s position and pointing out

the Western Australian wine industry is substantially comprised of small to medium sized wine businesses.

“Collectively small to medium sized wine businesses would find it extremely difficult to compete on a fair and equitable basis should the Federal Government choose to ignore the overwhelming support provided to the WET rebate reform core principles widely endorsed by the Australian wine industry,” said a statement from the Margaret River Wine Association.

“All small to medium sized wine businesses in Australia will be impacted regardless of their physical location be it Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania or Victoria. Margaret River joins with Wines of Western Australia and its fellow fine wine regions in calling for the core principles for WET rebate to be adhered to by the Federal Government.”

For more information about the Wines of WA position, visit: www.winewa.asn.au

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May 2016 – Issue 628

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

13

vintage 2016

Short and sweet Grapegrowers and winemakers have been pleasantly surprised by a short and sweet 2016 vintage.

Across Australia, most harvests began at the end of January and were wrapped up before Easter, with some wineries claiming to have experienced their earliest start to vintage in history.

Emilie Reynolds has compiled this year’s vintage report.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Overall it’s been not quite a perfect vintage but it’s pretty close.

MOUNT LOFTY RANGES Adelaide Hills A warm dry spring resulted in yet another early start to vine growth in the Adelaide Hills Richard Hamilton, Adelaide Hills Technical Committee chair, said cold conditions in August and September delayed budburst slightly. However, despite these conditions the earliest flowering Chardonnay occurred and was recorded for the third season in a row while there were signs of Cabernet Sauvignon flowering in late October for the first time.

“In response to the continuing dry conditions the majority of growers began irrigating early to ensure good canopy growth,” Hamilton said. “Good set conditions, combined with excellent flower development, resulted in average to above average crops across the region.”

Hamilton said December was the hottest on record for Lenswood, and for Woodside it was the equal-eighth hottest month on record before rain hit the region in late January.

“Continuing cool conditions resulted in a long vintage,” he said. “Vintage 2016 will be remembered for grape and wine quality as well as a feeling of relief as the hot and dry conditions experienced earlier in the season did not persist.”

Clare Valley Harvest started in February for Clare Valley this year, with Wine Grape Growers Association Chairman Troy van Dulken predicting a very good season, especially for Shiraz.

“The heat we’ve had finished the Shiraz fruit off nicely …

I’m really happy with the quality of the Shiraz that’s coming into the winery at the moment and I think that’s across the valley,” he said. “It’s one of those rare years where we’re getting a few extra tonnes of fruit and the quality is pretty solid as well.”

Van Dulken said the Riesling yield was also slightly above average and was of “good solid quality” without being an outstanding year such as 2002.

“There’s good flavours there and good acid as well so at this stage we’re quite happy with the Riesling.

“Overall it’s been not quite a perfect vintage but it’s pretty close.”

Barossa and Eden Valley The 2016 Barossa Valley vintage was shaping to be a stand out with strong indications of very high quality and yields generally

14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

above the five-year average, according to Nicki Robins, Barossa Grape & Wine Association viticultural development officer.

Picking dates were similar to last year in the Barossa Valley, with harvests kicking off in early February throughout the region.

After a couple of tense moments early on Robins said temperatures eased allowing develop in optimal conditions.

“The 2015/16 growing season yielded a warm, dry spring, with good conditions for flowering and fruit-set,” Robins said.

“This was followed by a hot December where canopies began to struggle, but Barossa growers managed the conditions well with best practice viticulture such as close attention to soil moisture monitoring, under-vine mulches, and sunscreens.

“A fortuitous 1.5 inches of rain fell from 21 January, followed by generally mild conditions throughout late January/ February.

This saw phenology keep up with sugar levels in Shiraz - lots of brown, crunchy seeds early, yielding rich, ripe tannins – and early flavour development.”

Chardonnay yields have been reported to be 10- 20 per cent above estimates, with fruit showing excellent quality, while Semillon yield appears to be down.

As at 8 April, winemakers reported dense colour, and rich, vibrant flavours in Barossa Shiraz and Grenache appears to be another strong player.

“Yields reported for Barossa’s ‘hero’ variety Shiraz have generally been between average to 10-20 per cent or more above the five year average, but still likely to be below the 10 year average,” Robins said. “Eden Valley has also reported good yields and quality in Riesling, Viognier and Chardonnay, with harvest of Eden Valley Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon only just wrapping up.”

FLEURIEU Langhorne Creek The Langhorne Creek wine region enjoyed a lively 2016 vintage, with the crush showing magnificent fresh fruit flavours, intense colour and Cabernet Sauvignon an exciting stand out for the region, according to Lian Jaensch, Langhorne Creek Grape and Wine Incorporated executive officer.

“Consistent with the past few years, the grape harvest for 2016 kicked off in Langhorne at the very end of January and start of February with fruit for sparkling base,” she said. “Fruit for whites followed through to late February with reds hitting their stride at the start of March. With the bulk of vintage over

by Easter in late March, the beautiful mild end to the season saw fruit still coming in post-Easter during the first weeks of April.”

Jaensch said it was a challenging irrigation season with regular, but only light winter rainfall pre-empting a dry latewinter, spring and early summer period.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Attention Grapegrowers & Winemakers WIN A TRIP TO VINITECH-SIFEL IN BORDEAUX, FRANCE

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Prize includes economy class return ticket to Bordeaux and 4 nights’ accommodation.

To be eligible to enter you must be a current Grapegrower & Winemaker subscriber and be employed as a grape grower or winemaker or own a vineyard or winery.

To enter and for full terms and conditions visit http://bit.ly/1U3DIKU and tell us in 100 words or less what vineyard or winery equipment you would like to see improved and why.

vintage 2016

2012 was a dream year … and this vintage may well eclipse 2012.

“However, the warm dry spring provided superb conditions for flowering and fruit set which was reflected in the good yields across the district, especially welcome in Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards after the low yield in this variety the previous year.

“Summer brought cooler weather and some welcome rain at an ideal time. The reliable cooling ‘Lake breezes’ provided a long cool ripening period and controlled the disease risk from the late season rainfall. In fact Langhorne Creek celebrated significantly cooler nights than other central regions, and unusually parts of the Adelaide Hills wine region harvested red grapes before Langhorne Creek looked like starting.”

Jaensch said the mild conditions were ideal for early flavour and phenolic ripeness at lower Baume’s, leading to a generally steady harvest pattern. Early flavour-ripeness, coupled with the ideal weather, provided the opportunity to pick to style without the risk of over-ripe characters.

“Reminiscent of the 2012 vintage, winemakers are pleased with the good strong fruit characters described as ‘fleshy, aromatic, fruitful, with amazing colour and strong tannins in the reds’,” she said. “Some reportedly slow ferments, likely due to reduced vine nutrient uptake during the dry spring, were assisted by the lower alcohol levels ensuring sound completion.

“The early tannin extraction also had the desirable effect that red ferments did not have to be worked very hard with minimal pumping over and no excess handling for good tannin structure.”

Jaensch said the even fruit set and berry development led to excellent vine balance, and fruit qualities certainly worth celebrating.

“The star variety this season is Cabernet Sauvignon with early wine quality putting smiles on the faces of growers and winemakers alike,” she said.

McLaren Vale The 2016 vintage has been heralded by grapegrowers and winemakers as ‘one of the greatest vintages in McLaren Vale’s history’.

Richard Angove, Angove Wines chief winemaker and managing director, has confirmed the predicted quality.

“2016 may well go down as one of the great vintages in recent memory,” Angove said. “Vines were well balanced, crop levels were good, colour and flavour fantastic. Shiraz parcels look exceptional with vibrancy and vivid colour, Grenache is showing amazing perfume and finesse.”

Warm days and cool nights throughout vintage provided the ideal environment for the later parts of the ripening period, with Kay Brothers Winemaker Duncan Kennedy attributing the region’s mild weather conditions to flavour development.

“Mild weather during the final ripening period provided ideal conditions for full flavour development, and the wines are highly aromatic with gentle acidity and moderate alcohol levels,” Kennedy said.

With higher than average yields across the region’s vineyards, Fox Creek senior winemaker Scott Zrna observed a purity of fruit, translating to elegant tannins.

“Early indications are a great quality vintage even with the slightly higher than average cropping levels, the 2016 wines already exhibit purity of fruit flavours with a beautiful line of fine elegant tannin,” Zrna said.

16 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The 2016 vintage saw McLaren Vale’s wine industry feeling confident and eager with the region’s reputation for producing premium full bodied red wines continuing with increasing quantities of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.

Jennifer Lynch, McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association general manager, said she was looking forward to the wines made from this vintage.

“It’s an exciting time for our region.”

LIMESTONE COAST Coonawarra Coonawarra’s vintage was early this year, with a warmer October advancing the whole season, according to Allen Jenkins, Coonawarra Grape and Wine Incorporated president.

“Flowering, veraison and harvest dates were all a couple of weeks early,” he said. “Despite the early season, the time taken for berry development and ripening were in line with normal, allowing adequate time for fruit to develop tannins and complexity.”

Jenkins said winter rains have been reducing over recent seasons in Coonawarra and as a result, the end of winter rainfall levels were below average, but adequate for soil profiles pre budburst “The growing season was very dry, delivering only half the normal rainfall,” he said. “November temperatures were warm which was ideal, as there were good flower numbers, and consequently grape numbers per bunch were above average, and of even maturity. Yields were an increase on some previous years, but not excessive when managed appropriately.

Jenkins said a cold ‘Bonney Upwelling’ at the coast moderated temperatures from January onwards. “February and March temperatures were mild, and the cold nights and warm days delivered an extended ripening period, and very promising fruit across all varieties.”

Jenkins said winemakers were reporting that whites had good natural acidities and were showing a lot of freshness and tang, with fine fruit flavours.

“The reds all have outstanding colour and tannins facilitated by a very even veraison, small berry size, and milder ripening conditions later in vintage,” he said. “The cooler finish allowed longer hang time contributing to rich medium bodied Cabernet and Shiraz wines with good fruit definition.”

Jenkins said all in all Coonawarra experienced another “very good vintage in a good run of vintages since 2012”.

LOWER MURRAY Riverland Quality over quantity was the case in the Riverland this year, with yields down by approximately 30,000 tonnes.

Chris Byrne, Riverland Wine executive officer, said he expected average yields with a total crop of about 425,000 tonnes.

“It remains to be seen. Once the reds come in it will be whether or not they’ve got the yield in them,” he said. “But the quality is excellent according to winemakers.”

Byrne said Riverland grape prices were about the same as last year and remained “very unsatisfactory” for growers.

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

AWITC & Trade Exhibition – it’s where the industry meets to measure, mix, ferment, and blend ideas and solutions.

24 – 28 July 2016 | Adelaide Convention Centre Meet with industry experts at Australia’s leading wine trade exhibition (25 –27 July), which showcases leading suppliers that offer a broad array of niche solutions. Speak directly with suppliers and find solutions for increased productivity and product innovation. Stay abreast of key issues facing the industry today at the technical conference (24 – 28 July).

The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference and the WFA Outlook Conference are scheduled together for the first time, providing a comprehensive education program of plenary sessions, workshops and posters for grapegrowers, winemakers and management. Network with your peers between sessions on the exhibition floor, and celebrate at the Maurice O’Shea Award Dinner (25 July).

Entry for the trade exhibition is free. Register at www.awite.com.au Organised by:

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info@fairevents.com.au

Presented by:

vintage 2016 NEW SOUTH WALES For the first time in a decade, average prices for the major red varieties all dropped below $300/tonne”

HUNTER

BIG RIVERS Riverina The Riverina region experienced good winter rainfall and a relatively mild spring according to Kristy Bartrop, Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board industry development officer.

Multiple heat waves were experienced throughout December and January while the last week in January was unusually wet with up to 70mm recorded in some areas.

Bartrop said February returned to warm dry conditions which enabled harvest to continue at full pace with vintage complete by early March.

“The January rain event caused for some disease pressure in white varieties that were ready for harvest,” she said. “This disease caused for a number of vineyards to be rejected or fruit downgraded.”

Bartrop said some operators were unlucky to be hit by a follow-up hail storm that managed to damage a small part of our region, while others contended with botrytis risks with an unusually humid late-January.

“This year looks to be approximately 305,000 tonnes even though 2015 saw over 500Ha of vineyard removed from production in the region,” she said. “The low returns for vineyard operators unfortunately continues to be a concern with many vineyard operators contemplating alternatives for their farming future as water prices and costs of production increase.”

Murray Darling and Swan Hill Harvesting of Chardonnay for sparkling wine in early January signalled the start of vintage for the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill regions, fractionally earlier than usual.

“By the end of the month, Chardonnay was fully ripe and ready for processing for table wine,” said Mike Stone, Murray Valley Winegrowers Inc. executive officer.

Stone said the major red varieties tended to ripen around the same time in February, with wineries having to work furiously to handle intake.

“Essentially, the 2016 vintage in the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill regions was all over by Easter,” Stone said. “Winemakers have reported that quality overall was very good, particularly so for the major red varieties.”

Stone said hot weather in the lead-up to harvest had caused some concern, but rain in January had freshened-up the vines.

“There was minimal disease,” he said.

While production and price data for the 2016 vintage wouldn’t be finalised for the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill regions until mid to late June, Stone expected production to be down marginally on last year’s 381,000 tonnes.

“Based on reports received during the season, average prices should be up slightly on 2015 when, for the first time in a decade, average prices for the major red varieties all dropped below $300/tonne, and the most prevalent variety, Chardonnay, fetched an average price of $223/tonne,” he said.

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

While Stone anticipated slightly higher returns, he said generally prices were “again disappointing”, particularly given much-improved export sales.

“As a consequence, the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill regions expect to see more growers’ give-up on the industry this year, following the exodus of around 50 growers in 2014-15.”

After a turbulent start to harvest with consistently wet weather, Hunter vignerons wrapped up their annual pick at the beginning of March.

Andrew Margan, Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association vice president, said it had not been smooth sailing for all vineyards, but he was confident of a good result.

“The vineyards that were either affected by the hail or more affected by the rain, some of them failed completely,” he said.

“But those vines that hung in there through that rain, the red wine in particular is outstanding.”

After one of the hottest summers on record, Margan said it had been a year of challenges.

“It got to 42 degrees Celsius and that really made things spike in terms of sugar levels so we were pretty busy getting things off,” he said.

CENTRAL RANGES Mudgee New South Wales’ Mudgee wine region had one of the best vintages in recent memory, with harvest beginning around a week earlier than average.

“All white varieties were picked at optimum ripeness, with good acid balance and excellent flavour profile. Aromatic whites such as Riesling have been the standouts,” said Robert Stein Winemaker, Jacob Stein.

“Red varieties were harvested a week earlier than usual, with many of the usually later ripening vineyards experiencing much earlier ripening making the winery logistics challenging.

“However the quality of all red varieties is excellent, with some parcels of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and alternative varieties being the stars.”

Jacob Stein (right) and (left) Andrew Stein handpicking Shiraz.

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

IS YOUR RIESLING UP TO THE CHALLENGE?

It was the earliest and hottest season on record!

The January rainfall of 175mm was a blessing, topping up dry soils and keeping vine canopies healthy and active. During the harvest period of February to April only 16mm was recorded, registering one of the driest harvests on record.

This dry spell decreased disease pressure during harvest and allowed vignerons to minimise their intervention with the vineyard during ripening.

“A number of isolated vineyards around the region received some hail and wind damage, however this was the exception,” Stein said. “The general outlook is very positive with the wines looking fantastic.”

Stein said Mudgee has been experiencing exciting times.

“The region is vibrant with a lively group of young winemakers experimenting and innovating,” he said. “There’s a range of new restaurants devising new dishes and utilising local produce, and there is a constant flow of visitors rediscovering the region.”

Cowra Margaret Wallington of Wallington Wines said vines in Cowra were well set up for a good harvest after intermittent summer rain, with plenty of warmth to dry them quickly.

“We have had a busy time as usual over vintage 2016,” Wallington said. “As usual everything was handpicked, so early morning starts before the heat set in. We had a great team with Bim who works here full time, Simon from Sydney who is studying wine science and has been here for a few vintages now, two great woofers from Sydney Della and Greta, and Michael and Therese who are locals who have worked for me in the vineyard pruning and picking for more than 15 years.”

Wallington said there was always plenty of socialising during the harvest season, and this year was no exception.

“We had a great harvest blessing celebration with foot stomping of some grapes, which coloured up a lot of people’s feet!”

17

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The 17th Canberra International Riesling Challenge attracts wines from Riesling producing countries around the world.

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Orange The Orange wine region reported early budburst and warm weather until November when colder temperatures struck. Rain throughout the season meant growers had to keep on top of canopy management and sprays.

In February the region saw beautiful ripening weather and superb fruit coming off the vines.

Whites had good acidity and the warm finish has allowed full ripeness - Pinot Gris and Chardonnay have been highlights for Orange.

Reds had great colour due to the high UV during the season and the region widely reported excellent batches of Shiraz, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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New England The 2016 vintage promises to be one of the best in recent times in the New England region, according to Mark Kirkby from Topper’s Mountain Wines.

“Best vintage since establishment in 2000, better even than the cracker 2009 vintage at the end of the Millennium Drought,” Kirkby said.

“Whites were a week to 10 days early and reds were about the same when compared to recent vintages,” he said. “In the May 2016 – Issue 628

Friday 14 October 2016

KEY DATES ENTRIES OPEN 1 JUNE www.rieslingchallenge.com ENTRIES CLOSE 31 JULY | JUDGING 11-13 OCTOBER WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT THE AWARDS PRESENTATION

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ON 14 OCTOBER 2016 Grapegrower & Winemaker

19

vintage 2016 mid-2000s we were finishing our reds in late April or early May while this vintage was over on 4 April.”

Kirkby said this year’s harvest provided the best Gewurztraminer and Nebbiolo fruit he had ever picked, while other varieties including Pinotage, Tannat, Petit Manseng, Tempranillo and Barbera were not far behind.

“Baumes up a little bit but flavour concentration generally and colour in reds is fantastic” he said.

In the north, Lynton Rhodes from Kurrajong Downs said 2016 has been their best vintage in more than 10 years.

“We’ve had whites about on time and the reds have been a week to 10 days late,” he said.

Further south at Merilba Estate near Uralla, Shaun Cassidy said his team finished vintage five weeks early.

“Whites were on the riper side of flavour spectrum, in a good way,” he said. “Reds have great colour, acidity and good flavour profile with tonnage down a little but overall we are very happy.”

Overall, Kirkby said it had been a vintage of two halves.

“It was very wet with hail, storms and showers up until the end of January then very dry for late ripening and vintage,” he said.

SOUTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES Canberra District Winemakers in Canberra have tipped 2016 as one of the earliest vintages ever, with Ken Helm of Helms Wine calling it the “earliest and hottest season on record”.

Despite an interesting year, with early heat, a prolonged dry spell, hail and late rains, the quality of grapes across the Canberra District looked very good.

“It looked like equalling the great 2015 and 2013 vintages in production of quality wines,” Helm said of the 2016 vintage. “It shows the depth of the quality from Canberra can be realised across a range of climate conditions.”

The 2016 vintage saw an increase yield in high quality fruit which was caused by a good season and the increased plantings in the region, Helm said.

“Demand for particularly Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet from local and wineries from other regions outstripped demand.”

Helm said Canberra’s cracking harvest had set the region up to break a few records this year.

“Rieslings are looking very good with the first to be bottled at the end of April – the earliest bottling on record,” he said. “They will be available to the consumer by mid-May.” Helm said 2016 was a hot growing season, hot harvest and a hot time for winemakers, but rates with the best in 40 years and proved that the Canberra District could produce quality fruit across a range of climatic conditions.

“After one of the coldest winters in 15 years October was dry and the hottest on record,” Helm said. “Early November saw heavy rain and a light frost at the end with light damage recorded across the region.”

Helm said flowering started in mid-November which was also the earliest on record while December and January brought warm weather with good rains from storms.

“There was some hail caused no damage,” he said. “Vineyards looked a picture with heavy crops.”

Helm said February hot with harvest starting mid-month making it the earliest in 40 years.

“Harvest in some cases in 35 to 40 degrees and with pickers stopping work due to the heat,” he said. “The winery refrigeration worked overtime.”

Cool autumn started at the end of March but for some wineries they had already finished vintage. “Like 2015 the varieties all ripened close together with some harvesting Riesling and reds in the same week,” Helm said. “Yields are up on 2015 across most varieties especially Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“The heat caused many headaches for winemakers, many picking the whites in the cool mornings or cooling the fruit and must.”

Helm said Riesling showed ripe fruit flavours balanced with moderate acid levels and low pH. “Rieslings are expected to be as good as 2015 and Cabernet sauvignon and Shiraz better,” he said.

QUEENSLAND Granite Belt Adam Chapman, Sirromet Wines chief winemaker, said it was smooth sailing from the beginning in the Granite Belt wine region this vintage.

“We started off the growing season with some nice cool weather in spring to allow the shoots to grow slowly and with balance and uniformity,” he said. “Light rain falls were recorded and just added to the growing season without any issues of rot, downy, or powdery.

“Night temps were 14°C and daytime were 27°C, so all were in a great start to the growing season. “Canes were all lime green in colour and leaves at least 15 per cane length, fruit volume was approximately one to two bunches per canes and the average tonnage per acre was two tonnes.”

Chapman said Sirromet kicked off the vintage on 21 January with Chardonnay for sparkling base and then a week later with Pinot Noir.

“Both base wines were in great condition and steely acidity and tight flavours for good sparkling bases,” he said. “A few weeks later we started with the Verdelho which was ripe, clean, good acidity and nice backbone, and green in colour. One week

20 Grapegrower & Winemaker

later we began picking the base for unwooded Chardonnay which presented with peaches, nectarines, fig and honeydew melon aromas, good acidity, clean fruit and no rain.”

Chapman said after a short wait in the ripening stage, they began to pick Pinot Gris which was rich, ripe and clean with honeysuckle, pear and nashi fruit.

“A nice slight pinkish tinge in this year’s fruit without carbon fining to enhance the fruit flavours more,” he said.

“Three weeks later the wooded Chardonnay was harvested.

Over two weeks into batches for full wild barrel fermentation within four different blocks and batches.”

Chapman said Nebbiolo came next for Rose production.

“It was floral, pretty with white strawberries and hints of musk, dry at this stage, but early bottle and release.

Shiraz, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon in that order of intake were next for Sirromet, with Chapman happily exclaiming that all his reds escaped the rains.

“Loads of colours, rich ripe flavours with juicy mid palate richness,” he said. “At this stage we finished pressing the last tank on the 6 April, and did just over a total of 550 tonnes of 100 per cent clean, great varietal fruit.”

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

WESTERN AUSTRALIA GREATER PERTH

SOUTH WEST AUSTRALIA

Swan District

Geographe

Vintage officially started in early January for many of the wineries in the Swan Valley, easily one of the earliest starts to wine harvest in the region over the past 20 years and quite possibly one of the earliest harvests in the country.

The region had a very dry winter with the lowest rainfall in over 15 years. Warm Spring temperatures got the vines moving early and spring growth was fantastic. Temperatures in October were up an average of five degrees Celsius overall.

John Griffiths, President of the Swan Valley and Regional Winemakers Association and Faber Vineyard Winemaker said all of the grapes were early this year.

“Starting our harvest on 2 January with Chardonnay and Verdelho is the earliest wine harvest I have seen in my 23 vintages in the Swan Valley.”

Duncan Harris from Harris Organic Wine said higher temperatures and lower rain has meant the vineyards in the Swan Valley grew at tremendous rates with good fruit set allowing for early ripening of this year’s vintage.

“This is the earliest vintage I can remember during my time in the Valley!” Harris said.

Sittella said they were looking forward to making more Swan Valley flavour packed wines in the 2016 vintage.

Colby Quirk, Sittella senior winemaker said the 2016 vintage was one of the earliest on record in WA. “With the weather conditions in the last week of winter being more like spring, we were off to an early bud burst and growing season leading to our earliest Sparkling base pick on 2 January.

It is all positive with great flavour development.”

Kim Horton, Willow Bridge senior winemaker, said a strong El Niño influence created a warm beginning to the 2016 vintage in the Geographe region.

“October temperatures generally across the state measured record high average temperatures in many of the grape growing regions. The repercussions have been good with a nice even flowering, providing consistency of fruit through the blocks, however there were some concerns of a much earlier start to vintage than normal,” Horton said.

“The 2015 year finished with above average temperatures to start December, and not surprisingly 2015 was declared the second hottest year for WA on record.

“Roll on to January, and to witness the bushfire to the north of us was devastating, and then to see record rains in the south west within 10 days meant a reassessment of where we were at.”

Pippa Neilsen, Vineyard 28 owner, was “scarily close” to the devastating Waroona fire which hit the Georgraphe wine region in January.

On 6 February, Vineyard 28 were able to reopen their cellar door as the area surrounding began to recover. Neilsen said the harvested grapes would be assessed for smoke damage.

“Lots of testing will been done on all the grapes regarding possible smoke issues,” Neilsen said. “There is no ‘one’ simple test for this matter, it is subject to many factors, e.g. what stage the grapes were at, their variety, how long they were under smoke and many more factors.”

Neilsen said they would only be making wine from grapes they were 100 per cent confident about. “Our fruit at the

Starting our harvest on 2 January with Chardonnay and Verdelho is the earliest wine harvest I have seen in my 23 vintages in the Swan Valley.

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21

vintage 2016 Wildwater Vineyard in Harvey was not exposed at all to smoke, and nor was the additional Sauvignon Blanc for our Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend,” she said.

Margaret River Compared to last year volume has increased in Margaret River with winemakers pleased with the quality to date.

Virginia Willcock, Vasse Felix winemaker, said she began harvesting Chardonnay and also small quantities of Sauvignon Blanc at the end of January, which she said was “unusual”.

“But the sugars and the pH is starting to come up,” she said.

“And the flavours are fantastic, so you’ve just got to pick it.”

Willcock said the January rainfall arrived with enough time for issues to clear up before harvest began.

“The reds were only just starting to change colour, so it was a beautiful little drink while they were undergoing an intense change,” she said. “The whites, it will probably dilute some a little bit and it did put a bit of disease pressure on but the beauty was the following weather dried everything out, sun came out and disease pressure was taken off.”

Willcock said she expected fruit quality to result in “quite a high acid year”, which would create “quite crisp wines”.

Viticulturist Bruce Pearse said the preceding harvest were challenging with inclement weather, including rainfall and humidity, resulting in some botrytis and additional risk management that includes removal of disease affected fruit and spraying to protect.

“Fortunately the weather returned to warm and windy following the rainfall which helped dry out canopies and the fruit and allowed natural limitation of the spread of disease,” he said. “Most of us worked nights to take advantage of the much cooler temperatures that have followed quite hot days.

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22 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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“We know that these fluctuations between daytime heat and night time cool are influential in providing evenness of ripening within bunches and then a relief period for the vine.

The result of this diurnal temperature phenomena caused by the proximity to the Indian and southern Oceans and the influence of the sea breeze is intense fruit flavour with increased natural acidity, attributes that occur naturally in our amazing Margaret River Region.”

Pearse said the fruit quality this year looks very good.

“The more understanding about quality factors as a result of plant responses to environmental conditions the more we understand that “mild stress” on the vines, at certain times through the growing season, can vastly improve the potential for outstanding wine quality production,” he said.

GREAT SOUTHERN Mount Barker A dry finish to winter followed by a wet summer provided some difficulty with pest and disease pressure in the Mount Barker region, according to Kim Tyrer from Galafrey Wines.

“Since 2007 we have had so many dry summers I think we all forgot how wet the Great Southern can be,” Tyrer said. “Those with experience and a good up to date viticulture program were able to overcome these difficulties and produce a solid vintage of fine fruit. Again Riesling and Shiraz were stellar performers and continue to prove why they are the best known for their strengths in the great southern.”

Tyrer said it has been one of the earliest vintage starts to date.

“Vintage started with their Muller (12 Baume) on 20 February,” she said. “Usually the Muller comes off with the Chardonnay but the Chardonnay was nowhere near ready which was unusual.”

Tyrer said the vineyard then received the start of vintage rain with a quick 20mm dumped in 15 minutes.

“However, no damage from the rain meant business as usual and we picked our Riesling (11.5 Baume) on 26 February,” she said. “Again a stellar performer proving this variety deserves to be here! We doubled our tonnage this year as well.”

Tyrer said Chardonnay ripened (13 Baume) and was ready to pick on 18 March. Followed by handpicking our Pinot (13.5 Baume) on 20 March.

“This year was the first year we used nets in the vineyard,” she said. “We covered our young Shiraz blocks with them.

Ironically the young Shiraz is over 20 years old. The bird pressure this year was huge with no blossom on the trees to feed them and continuous rain through the months.”

Tyrer said more rain came through during the Easter weekend and the daily temperature dropped dramatically.

“Early April saw the rest of our reds coming off,” she said.

“The Shiraz was first on 8 April. Another stellar performer, with tonnage on target and the numbers at tank almost perfect.

“We were meant to pick our Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot the following Monday but saw another 50 mm of rain instead and cancelling the pick until 13 April.”

Tyrer said the fruit was looking good despite the rain but “that’s the beauty of a Dry Grown Vineyard”.

Tyrer said with little to no surface roots, there was a slow pick up of the water from recent down pour allowing her to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon and retain good fruit flavour.

“To give you an idea of how much rain we have had, this area has the approximately yearly rainfall of 600-700mm. In recent drier years that rainfall has been approximately 500mm. This year so far we have received approximately 300 mm of rain mostly during vintage! A testing but solid vintage.”

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

VICTORIA “The quality across the board is encouraging at this stage, there is significant flavour and concentration across all he wines. The Pinot Noir especially performed well and there are many promising wine in the local cellars.”

Highlights of the vintage included some incredibly fragrant and intense reds with beautiful colours, as well as some lovely whites with generous fruit flavours.

All fruit was well and truly off before Easter - a record.

WESTERN VICTORIA Grampians Grampians was a sprint this year, according to Manon Houg from Mount Langi Ghiran and Grampians Wine spokesperson.

“It started in the second week of February for those with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay,” Houg said. “Followed by a quick visit to our Pinot Noir blocks, then we raced into the Riesling, which just has outstanding character and finesse and great acidity.”

Houg said the region raced through the Shiraz picking and “suddenly it was March”.

“The Shiraz is the most potent I have seen for years,” Houg said. “Elegant spices and ripe black currents and some black olive characters, without excessive alcohols.

Houg said the February harvest was” just straight forward with no disease issues”.

“Our Cabernet has some of the richest fruit I have seen from this area since 1998,” Houg said.

“The crop was down more than last year but all fruit was well and truly off before Easter- a record.”

PORT PHILLIP

CENTRAL VICTORIA Heathcote Phil Meehan from Meehan Vineyard said due to warm weather, Heathcote experienced an exceptionally longer growing period this year.

“Together with a very dry summer it has produced some very powerful flavours,” he said. “Most growers have reported smaller bunches and smaller berries, explaining the lower tonnage.

“To summarise, the 2016 Vintage was a little earlier, lower yielding and significantly higher quality of fruit.”

NORTH EAST VICTORIA Rutherglen Vintage in Rutherglen this year was very fast paced, with picking beginning much earlier than usual, according to Natalie Ajay, Rutherglen Wine and Tourism executive officer.

Yarra Valley Yarra Valley experienced near ideal ripening conditions this year, which fuelled optimism for very high quality results according to Wine Yarra Valley CEO, Richard Howden.

“The new reality is that everything in the Yarra happens a bit earlier than it used to,” Howden said. “Dave Bicknell, from Oakridge Wines, estimates that they are picking about half a week earlier than last year, which was itself an early harvest.”

Howden said spring was warm and dry.

“October was especially so, with new records being set,” he said. “A few very warm days in late December and early January moved things along quite quickly, with colour change in the Pinot starting in the second week of January.

“Since then, the weather has moderated, providing gentle ripening conditions ideal for high quality wine.”

Howden said vineyard managers were especially delighted by weather conditions with Stuart Proud from Thousand Candles highlighting the above average rainfall in January as a key factor in keeping vines refreshed and healthy.

“There has also been plenty of sunshine, balanced with cooler nights, fuelling optimism for very high quality results,” he said.

Mornington Peninsula Tom Carson, Yabby Lake Vineyard winemaker and general manager, said an exceptionally dry and warmer than average spring led into an early and consistently dry and warm summer for Mornington Peninsula.

“The vintage at Yabby Lake started 11 days earlier than we have ever picked before, amazing when you think about that,” Carson said. “The vintage proceeded rapidly in the February warmth and with yields at above average, wineries filled quickly.

May 2016 – Issue 628

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

23

vintage 2016

Harvest underway at All Saints Estate in Rutherglen.

“We saw most wineries in the region picking in late January and early February, with the majority of grapes all into the wineries by end of March!”

Ajay said the whites and reds ripened in very close succession, making for a frantic couple of weeks to collect some of the best grapes the region has seen in recent years.

“Many wineries commented that they’re seeing extremely bright colours in the reds, beautifully fragranced whites, and now that fermentation and racking is underway in the wineries, lots of very excited winemakers commenting on rich and structured flavours,” Ajay said. “Although it was one of the busiest and quickest vintages in recent memory, there are a lot of very happy vignerons looking forward to sharing their creations with customers over the coming years. Watch this space!”

Malcolm Campbell from Campbells Wines also commented that Rutherglen’s vintage had been extraordinary this year.

“We commenced with excellent rains in late winter and early spring, which set the season up perfectly and the vines loved it,” Campbell said. “Crop levels were good and vine vigour was above average. This, of course, meant a bit more shoot and bunch thinning on some varieties needed to be carried out later to ensure optimal yields.”

Campbell said the weather remained relatively dry with

only a few showers and storms but timely watering which supplemented the early rainfall.

“A burst of very warm weather just prior to Christmas posed problems if watering was not kept up,” he said. “Then through January, pleasant, average temperatures and little rain enable veraison to take place in its usual fashion and fruit to progress ahead of average growth and ripening.”

Campbell said some early white grapes were harvested in the region in January which was approximately two to three weeks ahead of what was considered ‘normal’.

“Despite these patterns, or maybe because of them, fruit has magnificent flavours and colours,” he said. “The whites from Riesling to Roussanne are looking excellent and the reds are just full of flavour and colour. Fortifieds have yet to come in, but on the vine they look and taste good.

In all, we believe the 2016 vintage will be one to look out for across the board.”

Rowly Milhinch from Scion Vineyard and Winery said overall 2016 has been a terrific vintage, with white, red and sweet grape varieties all looking great.

“My highlight from the season has been rising to the challenge of picking and hand-processing 34 tonnes of grapes in our tiny space,” he said. “We made it, and now with only two ferments yet to complete, we can start to breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to seeing the 2016 wines take shape.”

TASMANIA Although at the time of print, the harvest was still underway in Tasmania, David Sanderson, Wine Tasmania’s industry development and extension officer, reported an early start to the vintage this year.

“Vintage, like the rest of the season, was early by around two to three weeks,” Sanderson said.

He also reported a larger crop because of favourable weather conditions.

“Due to good fruitfulness and near-perfect weather for fruit set we have seen heavier than average yields across Tasmania’s growing regions. The canopies have also been in great condition giving excellent fruit-to-leaf ratios.”

Sanderson said at this stage, winemakers have expressed excitement about the quality of the grape harvest.

24 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“Slightly reduced acidity due to warmer than average nights has not really been a problem as the acidity in Tasmanian musts has always been very high,” he said.

“It’s looking like an early finish - canopies have held up, warm weather and lower than average rainfall are helping Tasmanian vineyards finish up earlier than usual.”

Sanderson finished by expressing his hopes for the next vintage as well.

“There was great weather at the time of bud inflorescence initiation, great canopies through the season and those canopies hanging on for weeks past harvest set up Tassie vineyards for a potential cracker next vintage as well as this one!”

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

May 2016

What’s in a name?

Welcome to the new version of The United Grower. The modern Australian wine grape producer is much more than a grower. They must be a businessperson, a plant pathologist, a mechanic, a marketer, and often a water trader; as well as having an appreciation of the end product.

Everything we do in our vineyards is influenced by wine markets, either domestically or internationally. We succeed as growers when a consumer enjoys a glass or two of the wine made from our fruit, and, wants to buy another.

The new name The Australian Winegrower projects a professional description of the vital first step in producing fine Australian wine, and celebrate the skills and commitment that the finest growers rely on and continually demonstrate.

WELCOME TO THE CREASE I must extend my personal thanks to the positive response from so many quarters since taking up the role of Executive Director.

There seems a genuine desire to rebuild the Australian wine industry back to and beyond its former glory. This is heartening.

There is no sugar-coating the fact that the wine industry in many of our regions across the country are facing unprecedented challenges, but we should remain optimistic that this innovative and resilient industry can succeed.

Thanks to both Lawrie Stanford and Vic Patrick for their service to WGGA during such trying times in the industry. Many challenges have been addressed during their tenure, and there is no doubting their commitment to the welfare of Australian wine growers.

CHANGE IN TEAM LINE-UPS Both WGGA and WFA have had big changes and more are in the wind. In this issue you will see an update from Tony Battaglene about further work being done in this area. There is a strong case for change in the way that industry structures work.

It would be fair to say that the existing bodies were formed during boom times in the industry, and a leaner, more efficient approach is required if we are to deliver good value to growers, and the industry as a whole. It is helpful while looking forward at what can be done to help rebuild the fortunes of winegrowers, that we should reflect on how things went so pear-shaped in the first place.

PAST GLORIES I clearly remember my role as a vineyard manager during the heyday of the latter part of last century, planting 40 ha lots each year before searching for a wine company that might be interested in contracting the fruit.

This was basically a formality then, for a vineyard that had a good reputation and during such buoyant times of high demand for wine grapes. The fruit prices were sound and it was easy to make solid profits; perhaps too easy. Everything was easy then. It was easy being a grower liaison officer for a wine company. Who wouldn’t roll out a welcome mat to someone offering ten-year contracts for their fruit at great prices?

Marketing was easy, with global markets crying out for Australia’s ‘fruit forward’ wines, and with many of Australia’s most sought after brands being allocated to distributors, rather than sales managers needing to wear out shoe leather and banging on endless doors, trying to generate interest.

Unfortunately many of us fell into the trap that this easy time was ‘normal’.

How wrong we were.

As the storm clouds gathered, in the form of less favorable exchange rates, a global financial crisis, consolidation among the retail sector both domestically and internationally, margins for wine sales declined. This in turn flowed through to growers with lower fruit prices, and the profitability of both winemakers and growers declined.

As a primary producer, one of the few controls at your disposal is to manipulate output, so the downturn in price led many growers to try to increase yields in order to offset lower returns per tonne.

As grape prices continued to fall, the disparity between highest and lowest prices reduced, meaning that there was less quality premium on offer. In a purely business sense, the case for trying to grow ‘exceptional’ fruit, especially if that entailed limiting yields, made no sense at all. The greatest business return available to many growers was to produce the most fruit that they could, as long as the quality was acceptable to the buyer.

Long term contracts to purchase fruit became less common; replaced with an increasing tendency to ‘spot purchase’ fruit on an annual basis. Many growers, facing the prospect of

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WGGA News

either selling at unsustainable prices or seeing fruit left unsold, chose to take on more risk and make their own wine. For some, availability of rebate reduced the business risk in taking up this option. Some wine companies imposed production limits on the amount of fruit that could be delivered under a contract; some in the name of preserving quality, others primarily to control the amount of fruit delivered.

In removing a possible yield upside, and in the absence of quality – linked price premium, these yield caps become defacto yield targets. Failing to achieve this cap meant that the maximum possible business return would be missed. This would typically be followed by an awkward conversation with the bank manager. There was strong incentive to grow at least this amount of fruit. Any surplus not accepted due to exceeding the cap, could be sold on the open market.

Many winemakers responded in similar fashion, with large processing facilities focusing on achieving a critical throughput to amortize the majority of fixed costs across the maximum amount of production. Thus, there has been a market for the high level of production that growers have been producing in an attempt to remain viable.

This model carries with it considerable risk, and will only work if the purchase price of the fruit is sufficiently low to guarantee a sale of the resulting wine. This practice has in turn preserved the production of ‘fair-to-average quality’ wine that is in excess of profitable demand levels, thus prolonging and exacerbating the supply and demand imbalance, and the resulting lack of profitability that has been affecting all within the industry.

Sadly, the collaboration and cooperative business dealings that characterized the working relationship between growers and winemakers during the boom years was replaced by a fight to preserve a margin within their own particular sector. Both growers and winemakers were concentrating more on retaining a margin of a dwindling overall return, rather than building value of the product as a whole. Trust and transparency of business relationships suffered as a result.

In summary, many growers and winemakers have reacted to the drop in wine and fruit value in a manner that has prevented a rapid recovery.

‘STICKINESS’ IN CHANGE TO SUPPLY AND DEMAND There has been much discussion about the need for ‘adjustment’; and whether it should be reduction in supply, boosting demand, or a mixture of both. There is much confusion about the ‘failure’ of winegrowers to leave the industry if they are not making money. It is often not well understood by some that wine grapes are a perennial plant, and that it is not possible to simply ‘walk away’ from a vineyard on a temporary basis. The phrase ‘a little bit pregnant’ comes to mind.

Growers are often able to offset vineyard losses with off-farm income. In many cases a spouse, or even both partners may work another job to effectively subsidise a loss-making vineyard business.

For many growers the prospect of selling out at such a low point in the market would mean cashing in their chips while still in the red; as in many cases selling the vineyard (if that is possible) may not cover current debts.

For many small to medium-sized producers, it is a matter of ‘hanging in there’, hoping for a turn-around in the fortunes of the industry as a whole so that they can finally leave without excessive debt, and with dignity.

POOR PRICE SIGNALS The decision whether or not to choose to continue or to exit is made more complex with the announcement of the wine grape price being so late in the season. The timing of these announcements, as specified in the Wine Industry Code of Conduct, is December 15 for inland regions and January 15 for others. These dates of notification were finally settled after protracted negotiation, with the best of intent to provide growers with some security of knowing the price before harvest.

While the intent was for this date to be treated as the latest time at which prices would be known, it has been treated as the earliest date at which prices are known. This timing is too late for growers to make well-informed business decisions when they would have typically spent over two thirds of their annual production costs by this time.

The effect is that the late knowledge of price is leading many growers who might otherwise exit the industry being fully committed to growing grapes for that season. Many, operating perhaps with misplaced hope, committed to producing in the recent seasons hoping that higher water prices would lead, somehow, to increases in the value of wine grapes.

There was some precedent for this, with prices in the inland regions increasingly slightly during the millennium drought.

In the most recent vintage, prices did not show widespread recovery, and therefore many growers committed to producing for another season in vain.

SIGNS OF CHANGE Different business models from the common arrangement described above are emerging. Some wine companies effectively communicate with growers about production methods where growers can be confident of achieving a return.

‘Value chain’ type arrangements are becoming more common, where growers, wine makers, and often marketing companies combine and all share a margin and share the risk in a joint venture. This is markedly different from the traditional grape purchasing arrangement, in that all parties collaborate to evenly share risk and share profit.

FACING UP At the time of writing this article, the Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board had written to its growers urging them to strongly consider their options for coming seasons, in light of recent discussions with local wine companies failing to offer any clear signs of optimism.

Hard-nosed economists muse that well-intentioned measures such as interest rate subsidies and other farming assistance, while fantastic at a personal level, can often encourage producers to continue in the industry when their long term sustainability is questionable, and hard-nosed logic would suggest that the best option is to exit.

Riverland Wine, another regional industry body, has for some time been urging growers to ‘know their numbers’ and make decisions about their future with a strong business focus rather than basing future directions on emotional or lifestyle decisions.

There are many sticking points to adjustment to supply, and continued resistance at an individual enterprise level would mean that the net oversupply of wine grape production is maintained.

This brings us to the role of advocacy bodies. The combined impacts of a GFC, retailer consolidation, and a high Australian dollar are beyond the influence of industry advocacy bodies.

2

THE ROLE OF PEAK BODIES

WGGA News

Andrew Weeks

There is an old saying about only concerning yourself with issues that you can change, and not concerning yourself with those that you can’t. It would be arrogant for any advocacy body to assume that it could over-ride the influences of supply and demand imbalance in world wine markets and exchange rate pressure. These factors are not within WGGA’s control.

There is a growing range of industry models currently in play.

Many growers are taking to making their own wine, either in the search for greater margin, or in response to the loss of the security of a contract with a wine producer for the sale of the fruit. There is still considerable vineyard ownership among some of the larger wine producers.

What should be within the control of advocacy bodies is influence over the development of industry policy. The wine industry needs a clear voice that is identifiably speaking on behalf of and with the authority of the wine industry. In failing to do this, we have not only given governments an excuse not to act; we have presented them with the only real course being a ‘brave’ decision, in the Yes, Minister sense. It is clear that in policy as well as politics, “disunity is death”.

Vineyard owners have a strong interest in biosecurity for the winegrowing industry. All affected parties need to have input, but and contribute to addressing challenges and solving problems.

Trying to achieve a consensus position in an industry sense has been made more unlikely given the Lord of the Flies scenario currently playing out; with the current extreme circumstances leading to an ‘everyone for themselves’ footing.

When businesses are profitable it is easy to exhibit stewardship, to deliver and expect trust from a business relationship; to share profit and to adopt a ‘rising tide will float all boats’ philosophy.

It is much harder to try to do it during the most challenging times in recent memory.

It will be impossible for full recovery to profitability without an increase in ‘whole of industry’ focus around industry board tables and vineyards.

The current responsibilities for WGGA are grower advocacy, biosecurity (as signatories to the emergency pest and plant response deed), ensuring that grower priorities for research and development are understood, and acting for growers on the code of conduct and dispute resolution. That is the current focus, and it states on the WGGA website that it is the ‘voice of the independent grower’.

Most of the challenges that the industry currently faces are common to both growers and winemakers. Failure to increase demand and to generate profits in wine markets will flow through wine companies and impact upon growers in the form of lower grape prices.

A zealous anti-alcohol lobby intent on treating all alcohol the same, and wishing to ‘tax it out of existence’ affects us all.

There has been general industry alignment recently in regard to tax policy, with most of the opinion being of the view that the current situation is not working.

Unfortunately, the differences between conflicting views are often publicised more than the points of agreement.

Maintaining our focus on the similarities that unite us offers a way forward. The constant, public airing of differences within our industry has stymied progress toward recovery, and risks portraying the Australian wine community in a poor light in overseas markets.

THE WAY FORWARD WGGA is committed to positive and constructive change.

Important first steps are: • My appointment as Executive Director;

THE HARD QUESTIONS

• Joanne Andrew now in the role of independent Chair; and

What roles should WGGA fulfill in future on behalf of the nation’s winegrowers?

• New Executive Committee members, all focused and committed to rebuilding profitability across the wine community.

The wine community can no longer be simply divided into ‘winemakers’ and ‘growers’. This industry is incredibly diverse and is changing.

There is also a strong commitment to engaging closely with state and regional bodies across the country, to see how the national grower body is currently seen, whether it is generating

3

WGGA News

value for growers, to seek opinion in how the current roles and responsibilities are being fulfilled and it can be done so more effectively.

While it is early days, two common themes are emerging: • It is important that the industry has the ability to speak with a strong, united voice at the national level; and • It is vital that a national grower advocacy organisation exists that can speak on behalf of the nation’s winegrowers.

These priorities may seem incompatible; on the one hand extolling the virtues of collaboration and on the other stressing the need for a strong grower voice when it is required. Meeting these two objectives should be possible and a realistic goal, and is part of the challenge of addressing the immediate needs of the wine community.

and income remains constant, is that WGGA will not exist after twelve to eighteen months at the most.

There is, of course, the possibility of a stay of execution by ‘cutting the cloth’, or limiting expense to match the available income. However, there MUST be a critical capacity that would be able to provide a base level of service to winegrowers.

There is little point in the organisation merely ‘existing’; it must be achieving outcomes on behalf of contributors or it does not deserve to exist.

It is therefore a top priority for the national grower organisation to explore where it can find efficiencies in operation, how it might be able to increase the resources at its disposal, and how it can become more relevant and valuable to the industry as a whole. Failure to do so will mean that over six thousand winegrowers across the nation will be disenfranchised.

It is vital that the roles and responsibilities of WGGA as the national grower body are well understood and valued. It is essential that the focus of WGGA is directed where Australian winegrowers want it to.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that this does not happen and that this important Australian industry can survive and thrive in future.

However, the available funding for WGGA has been decreasing over recent years, and the present level of income is lower than the level of expenditure. The unavoidable outcome, if spending

Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director

Andrew Weeks

WGGA Updates BIOSECURITY As mentioned above, biosecurity is one of the most important responsibilities that WGGA addresses on behalf of the wine industry. There have been two main projects under way, namely managing the biosecurity responsibilities on a daily basis, and finding a sustainable funding model to address these commitments on behalf of the nation’s vineyard owners.

Funding for these two projects has previously been forthcoming from different industry groups across the nation, and was gratefully received.

The daily management of biosecurity responsibilities is being managed by the AWRI. Before progressing further with finding a suitable long term funding

model for biosecurity responsibilities, there will be a meeting of the different responsible bodies to make sure that the most cost-effective and efficient outcome can be achieved for Australian growers. Watch this space.

WGGA MEMBERSHIP UPDATE WGGA will soon be advertising for membership renewals. It is vital that WGGA retains the support of winegrowers nationally for it to be able to work on your behalf. More information will be issued through the regular e-alerts and on the WGGA website.

PROMOSALONS TRIP TO FRANCE As has been the case in recent years, Vititech-Sifel is again generously offering the chance for a WGGA member to travel to France and attend the annual international trade fair at Bordeaux.

This is a premier international trade show and focuses on exhibiting innovations in wine and horticulture industries, wine business, with a strong international focus. The scale and quality of the exhibition has to be seen to be believed, and it is a fantastic experience. Further details will be lodged on the WGGA website and through future communications.

WGGA Associate Members

WGGA proudly acknowledges its associate members: • AHA Viticulture

• Lallemand Oenology

• Vine Sight

• Belvino Investments

• Omnia Specialties Australia

• Vitibit

• Broke Fordwich Wine Tourism Association

• Performance Viticulture

• Withnell and Co Solicitors

• River Murray Training

• Woodshield

• Gaetjens Langley

4

• SCE Energy Solutions

grapegrowing Vineyard machinery and equipment survey report Nathan Gogoll reports THE RESULTS of the 2016 Grapegrower & Winemaker ‘vineyard machinery and equipment survey’ suggest vineyard owners plan to tighten their belts in the next 12 months. It also revealed an the industry is heavily reliant on contractors.

The responses to our survey suggest grapegrowers and vineyard managers are approaching the 2016-17 financial year cautiously, with almost 60 per cent indicating they do not plan to make any significant machinery or equipment purchases.

This represents a reduced pattern of spending from the past year, when more than half of the grapegrowers we surveyed indicated they had been investing in machinery and equipment.

In fact, of the growers who had purchased machinery in the past 12 months, 61 per cent indicated they had spent more than $50,000. And the main motivation for spending was to replace old or worn equipment (more than 43 per cent of responses), while a quarter of those surveyed indicated they had made machinery upgrades based on an increased workload.

Of those who hadn’t made significant purchases, the majority indicated their current equipment was still in sound working condition.

WHAT MOTIVATED SPENDING? Of the grapegrowers and vineyard managers that were spending money on machinery and equipment in the past 12 months, more than 85 per cent spent more than $10,000.

• • • • •

The top five areas of expenditure in the past 12 months were: Training and trellising supplies and equipment; Tractors; Irrigation equipment; Spray equipment; and Vineyard vehicles (including utes, four-wheel motorcycles/ ATVs, trucks etc.).

If you bought new equipment, what was main motivation for your purchase?

• Replacing old or worn equipment • Accessing new and improved technology • Upgrading equipment based on increased workload • Different equipment required due to changing work practices • Favourable price or finance offer • Income tax offset When analysing the responses we did find twice as many growers cited budget restrictions as a reason for not making purchases compared to those who said access to new and improved technology was the main motivation for purchases.

Almost 30 per cent of grapegrowers indicated they had not purchased new equipment in the past 12 months due to budget restrictions. While more than 15 per cent made purchases in order to access new and improved technology.

Despite the launch of Federal Government tax incentives for primary producers in the current financial year, only one of our survey participants selected this as a motivation for making a purchase in the past 12 months.

We also asked grapegrowers about other influences on their decision making. The responses indicated that recommendations from colleagues and neighbours were most important; followed by information available online; and trade show attendance.

Have you purchased machinery/equipment for the vineyard in the past 12 months?

Do you expect to make any significant vineyard machinery/equipment purchases in the next 12 months?

May 2016 – Issue 628

Have you purchased machinery/equipment for the vineyard in the past 12 months?

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

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grapegrowing

FUTURE SPENDING EXPECTATIONS The indications from grapegrowers about what machinery and equipment they plan to spend money on and how much they plan to spend in the next 12 months presents a bit of a riddle. While 60 per cent said they were not planning to make significant purchases, the remainder seemed to suggest they would spend more than they did in the past year.

The top five areas of planned expenditure for the next 12 months are: • Irrigation equipment; • Tractors; • Training and trellising supplies and equipment; • Vineyard vehicles (including utes, four-wheel motorcycles/ ATVs, trucks etc.); and • Spray equipment.

Almost 95 per cent of those who expect to make significant purchases indicated they would spend more than $10,000 in the coming year.

And, by way of comparison, in the past 12 months 45 percent of those surveyed indicated they spent between $50,000 and $250,000; but 65 per cent indicated they planned to spend between $50,000 and $250,000 in the coming 12 months.

Interestingly, the item that saw the biggest jump from actual spend in the past year to intended spend in the coming year was ‘mulch/compost application’. More than three times as many grapegrowers indicated they would spend money in this area in the next 12 months compared to the previous.

This survey also asked about brand loyalty. The responses indicated the majority of grapegrowers have some level of brand loyalty (55 per cent). Exactly one third indicated they weren’t

30 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“particularly” loyal, while just eight per cent of those surveyed indicated they didn’t feel loyal to certain brands of machinery and equipment at all. An additional three per cent said they liked to experiment with different brands.

We asked those who felt some brand loyalty to tell us why they felt this way – and vast majority of responses selected ‘trust in performance and reliability’. This response was the strongest of the entire survey, selected by almost 90 per cent of growers.

The second ranked reason for loyalty was ‘price/value’ at six per cent.

Editor’s note: Perhaps the timing of our survey may have something to do with this riddle. We ran the survey from early March until early April. We know some growers had finished harvesting grapes by the time they completed our survey (some may have even received their first grape payments), while others would have still been waiting for their fruit to ripen.

CONTRACTOR & SERVICING COSTS We asked growers for feedback on the costs of servicing/ repair of vineyard equipment across the past 12 months. Almost half (47 per cent) indicated these costs had stayed the same compared to the previous year; 40 per cent said they had spent more; while 13 per cent indicated they had cut spending in this area.

Less than 15 per cent of those who completed the survey indicated they had cut their contractor budget (more than 85 per cent said they had maintained or increased spending on contractor services in the past 12 months).

We also asked how satisfied grapegrowers were with the support service options in their region. There was a strong indication of general satisfaction in this area.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

grapegrowing

Specific positive feedback on support service options included: “Plenty of experienced people available.”

“Quite a high standard with specialised service agents nearby.”

“Standard support services – a lot of choices within a 100km radius.”

“Private small mechanics servicing area really well.”

“I have excellent support from FMR/ERO and from my local mobile mechanic.”

“There are lots of options and there seems to be people who are good at the job across the board. Prices are very expensive, so it’s lucky we don’t have to travel far for our servicing.”

However, it was clear that grapegrowers in smaller and more isolated regions did have some challenges:

What do you intend to buy?

32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“Good support is available but it’s over an hour away for the closest and around two hours for others.”

“Excessive travel costs due to remote location.”

“Distance from a major city proves to be a difficulty.”

“Limited due to isolation of region.”

“We are a long way from the repairers, so expensive travel and long wait times.”

Interestingly, despite tough economic conditions for grapegrowers and vineyard managers, when we asked about whether equipment was being shared between colleagues/ neighbours the result was a clear ‘no’. Only a third of respondents currently shared equipment and when we asked whether it might be an option in the future, more than half said ‘no’.

The responses painted a very clear picture about the importance of vineyard contractors, with more than three quarters of those completing the survey indicating they relied on contract services.

Unsurprisingly, pruning and harvesting were the two most biggest vineyard jobs that growers sought contractor support for.

When we asked about the level of spending on contractor services half of the respondents said they had spent the same amount in the past year compared to the year before; almost a third said they spent more; and 15 per cent indicated they reduced their spending.

Were you happy with the support service options within your region? www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

The reasons for increased spending included: “Rehabilitating some old vines.”

“Change in practice – moved from machine to hand harvest.”

“Re-trellising for new contract requirements.”

“Larger area hand picked (compared) to previous years.”

“Labour rates increasing.”

“A wet season so more fungiciding, herbiciding and slashing.”

There were some positive signs among these responses: “Picked more.”

“We have purchased more vineyards and are doing some redevelopment work.”

“Had less time to do it myself, and higher yields allowed for additional contractor work.”

And some sarcasm: “Making so much more money I thought I should share it.”

already knew... there is huge diversity in the expenditure budget available to grapegrowers across Australia. While some are in a position to invest in new machinery, many others are not. Based on those who responded, there are many more in the second category.

It will be interesting to repeat this survey in the future to track any changes.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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Top 10 tips for post-harvest activity HARVEST IS DONE, so it’s time to sit back and think about… the next harvest. Dr Mike McCarthy, a Principal Scientist with the South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI), a division of Primary Industries and Regions SA, said many growers are good at considering the immediate needs of their vines and soil, but sometimes fall down on things associated with spending money, whether that is maintenance or long-term planning.

These are Mike’s ‘top 10 tips’ for post-harvest activity.

1. POST-HARVEST NUTRITION This is the number one priority as the vines are pretty run down after a long, hot summer and nutrients have been lost through leaching.

It’s important to build up nutrient reserves in vines before they go into dormancy. The easiest way to do this is to inject the fertiliser into the drip system. Urea, calcium nitrate or monoammonium phosphate (MAP) are often used.

2. VINEYARD FLOOR MANAGEMENT You also need to be thinking about how you are going to manage the vineyard floor leading into winter – are you going to put on mulch or an early season knockdown to control weeds on the under-vine bank?

Will you plant an annual cover crop, sow a sward or put the sheep into the mid row?

3. POST-HARVEST IRRIGATION Growers who have already finished harvest, such as those in the Riverland and Hunter Valley, have quite a long period before dormancy so, if you’ve got water to spare, you should consider some post-harvest irrigation before dormancy to keep the foliage healthy for as long as possible and build up the vines’ reserves.

4. SOIL SALINITY MONITORING This one is only for vineyards irrigating water of marginal quality, but if that’s you and you have any concerns, now is the time to be doing a bit of soil sampling because salinity levels are now at their peak before winter rain.

Salinity is an increasingly important issue for growers and when you do things is the key.

5. MITE CONTROL An increase in rust mite symptoms has been reported vineyards over the recent season. Take the time to map the worst affected sections of you block, so you know where to monitor in spring.

6. IRRIGATION SYSTEM UPGRADES This is an easy one to let slip, because next spring seems a long time away. Review your irrigation maintenance and consider any upgrades that may make your work easier and ultimately more productive. For example, do you need additional irrigation shifts to better manage irrigation during the inevitable heatwaves?

7. TRELLIS REPAIRS In a similar vein, what repairs need to be done to your trellis now that the machine harvester’s gone over it? The earlier you can order posts the better; they don’t arrive overnight. Get them in the ground before budburst.

34 Grapegrower & Winemaker

8. ASSESS YOUR CANOPY Once you’ve finished harvest and you know your production in terms of tonnes per hectare, look at your block – in particular the canopy you’ve developed.

Was there too much crop for the canopy or excessive canopy for the crop? That will give you some leads in terms of whether you need to adjust your pruning regime in the coming winter.

9. EUTYPA DIEBACK CONTROL In regions where it’s an issue, identify which blocks you will be reworking for Eutypa dieback control and determine what approach you will take.

10. VINEYARD ECONOMICS And finally, think about whether you need to make some hard decisions in relation to uneconomic blocks. Why waste money pruning and preparing what you really should be mothballing or redeveloping? The take home message really is ‘just because you did it last year and the year before doesn’t mean you should necessarily do the same this year’.

Now is the time to start planning some changes.

These tips were written by Michael McCarthy (SARDI) for Wine Australia. Wine Australia supports a competitive wine sector by investing in research, development and extension (RD&E), growing global demand and protecting the reputation of Australian wine.

Thanks to Michael Downer from Murdoch Hill, in the Adelaide Hills, for the stunning photo.

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

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grapegrowing

Summit will arm growers for decision making WITH THE 2016 wine grape harvest done and dusted in South Australia, anecdotal reports from across the state suggest the crush was larger than 2015 with Chardonnay, in particular, up significantly.

The Winegrape Growers Council of SA understands quality is very good across the board; due to a dry spring and summer, good acid and flavour as well as low disease pressure.

At the time when harvesters are greased and prepped for winter storage and vines are given their post-harvest care, what is on growers’ minds for the year ahead? What impact will the high quality 2016 crop have on inventories; will it create opportunities for more profitable wine sales; or will the old (and failed) model of discounting prevail?

Is it time that growers look to replace unprofitable varieties or pull them out and diversify into another crop? Water is another big issue; how should growers prepare for potential shortfalls or restrictions on public and private water sources. It’s a complex environment to pull all these factors together before the pruners are sharpened and gangs organised.

“We expect to see an increasing number of winegrape growers coming to the annual SA Wine Grape Growers Summit in June; to become better informed and in turn better prepared for the next growing season,” said Simon Berry, the chair of the SA Wine Grape Growers Council.

Now in its third year, the Summit organisers expect more than 250 industry people will attend the one-day event which this year will focus on the market outlook for grapes and new ideas for building vineyard profitability.

“There is a renewed sense of confidence starting to build,” Berry said. “We’ve spent the last decade focusing on the negatives and you could easily get the impression that sections of wine production are completely price lead.

“Many growers have been actively making changes to their vineyards and relationships, improving their business opportunities and the Summit will assist these people to profitably adapt.”

In its first two years the Summit has established a reputation for its detailed analysis of market conditions and promoting ideas. The varietal ‘call of the card’ is an example which sees a panel dissect the top 10 varieties, how they went in 2016 and the signs for 2017 and beyond.

“It’s not just the statistics,” Berry said. “On the panel we have highly experienced people from all parts of the supply chain; from the consumer perspective Shane Tremble of Woolworths Liquor Group; Jim Moularadellis from leading bulk wine broker AustWine; Peter Taylor, Treasury Wine Estates director of wine production; Paula Edwards from Winegrapes Australia; Peter Bailey from Wine Australia; and our own expert analyst in Sandy Hathaway.”

The PIRSA Vinnovation Awards will also be announced at the Summit. Established in 2015, these awards highlight and reward growers who have implemented original and practical ideas for improving productivity and profitability. Vinnovation Award applications are open until May 15 and more information is available from the SA Wine Grape Growers Council website, www.wgcsa.com.au.

“We already have five very good entries this year but we’d like to get more. While only one can win the $2000 first prize

36 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Many growers have been actively making changes to their vineyards and relationships, improving their business opportunities and the Summit will assist these people to profitably adapt. it’s the sharing of ideas that is the best thing about the awards from my perspective, it makes me think about what I’m doing,” Berry said.

The theme of sharing ideas is also a feature of two other sessions; ‘Vineyard Intelligence’ and ‘Water Intelligence’.

The vineyard session will bring together leading growers to discussing strategies for commercial improvement including optimising the price for grapes, canopy management, varietal and clonal selection and addressing labour shortages and costs.

Simon Berry says with his wife Cecelia they made many changes to their vineyard in the last few years such as removing varieties that are making a loss and adding new ones.

“I’m going to be really interested to learn from the panel members’ experiences and ideas for the business in the year ahead,” Berry said.

With all of SA’s wine regions in a ‘one in 20-year’ low rainfall pattern, the water session will be of particular interest to growers that rely on water from the River Murray and/or from SA Water.

“We’ll get the broker’ perspective from Tom Rooney of Waterfind, Will Fargher is an expert analyst and then we’ll have a panel of irrigators sharing how they intend to address a season that is likely to see higher temporary transfer water prices and reduced allocations/availability,” Berry said.

Sponsors this year’s summit include Winetitles Classifieds (www.winetitlesclassifieds.com.au), Longfellows Insurance Brokers, Peats Vineyard Soil Improvement, APAL Laboratories and Wine Australia.

The SA Winegrape Growers Summit will be held at the Adelaide Oval on Friday 17 June.

All the details and booking information can be found at www.sawggs.com.au or by calling 8351 4378.

www.winetitles.com.au

May 2016 – Issue 628

Clover Hill wins 2016 Tasmanian ‘vineyard of the year’ BOUTIQUE WINERY Clover Hill’s Tea Tree Vineyard in the Coal River Valley north of Hobart, has won the prestigious 2016 Tasmanian ‘vineyard of the year’ award.

The win is an impressive result for Clover Hill and its viticulturist Alex Van Driel, who manages both the Tea Tree Vineyard and the winery’s main vineyard at Lebrina in the state’s north east, producing high quality grapes for the Clover Hill label.

The annual competition is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania (RAST) to promote excellence in viticulture management, recognising that the process of creating great wines begins long before they hit the glass.

The judging panel were particularly impressed with Clover Hill’s ability to overcome a string of recent environmental challenges including unusually dry weather this year.

“Clover Hill’s Alex van Driel has brought the vineyard through several

challenges to one that is producing increasing yields of premium quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for sparkling wine,” the judging panel said. “While the extremely dry season presented problems with restricted irrigation water, Alex has carefully managed an irrigation program to deliver fruit of the high standard required for Clover Hill.”

Adam Torpy, chief executive officer of Clover Hill’s owner Goelet Wines, said the award was a great honour for the business.

“Clover Hill pioneered sparkling wine in Tasmania 30 years ago so it’s fantastic to receive this official recognition from our industry peers,” he said. “Our Tea Tree Vineyard was established less than six years ago to meet the growing demand for the production of our Clover Hill label, which until recently was produced from a single location in Pipers River.

The award is a real credit to Alex and his team who have managed to achieve fantastic yields from these vines in a relatively short period of time.”

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May 2016 – Issue 628

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Our Tea Tree Vineyard was established less than six years ago to meet the growing demand for the production of our Clover Hill label.

2016 looks set to be an exciting year for Clover Hill with plans to open a new cellar door at the Lebrina site later in the year. The stunning new cellar door has been designed by Tasmanian architecture and engineering firm 6ty° and construction is set to begin in June.

“Clover Hill remains deeply committed to wine and wine tourism in Tasmania,” Torpy said. “We’ve spent the past three decades proudly producing some of the state’s best wines and look forward to doing so for many more years to come.”

STUDY TOUR

Grapegrower & Winemaker

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The balancing act:

Sweetness and acid

Adrian Englefield and Darren Fahey from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

MUDGEE AND HUNTER vignerons will hear the first results from an industrydriven NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) trial to investigate how vineyard management can help maintain the balance of freshness and fruit character in the districts’ red wines.

Free industry updates from the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, an alliance between DPI, Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the NSW Wine Industry Association were held in the Australian Rural Education Centre, Mudgee, and at Tuscany Wine Estate Resort, Pokolbin, in April.

Darren Fahey, DPI viticultural development officer, said the trials were a response to findings that grapes received at local wineries had higher pH and titratable acid (TA) levels than expected.

“Industry was concerned that these higher than desirable pH levels combined with high TA levels in grape berries presented challenges for wineries,” Fahey said.

“The issue is not an isolated one with many Australian vineyards now experiencing warmer and shorter

38 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The issue is not an isolated one with many Australian vineyards now experiencing warmer and shorter vintages, which can lead to pH and TA imbalances which may affect the freshness and fruit character of regional wines. vintages, which can lead to pH and TA imbalances which may affect the freshness and fruit character of regional wines.

“DPI trails in Mudgee on merlot and shiraz vines have investigated several treatments to gauge impacts on grape pH and TA in the vineyard.” www.winetitles.com.au

Fahey said the trials aims to help industry understand how to better retain natural acid, so smaller acid additions can be made in the winery without increasing the palate hardness sometimes experienced in highly acidic wines.

“Irrigation and canopy management are known to impact on pH and TA levels - we assessed the effects of foliar nutrients, including magnesium and potassium at different rates, and explored the role composted mulch could play in managing levels,” he said.

With the two-year trial in its first season, DPI viticulture leader and CSU Associate Professor, Gregory Dunn, will outline current knowledge of the combined effect of environment and management on pH and TA in wine grapes.

While pH and TA may be manipulated in the vineyard it is in the winemaking process that the final adjustments to balance wines are made.

University of Melbourne Associate Professor Geoff Scollary delivered the latest information on steps winemakers can undertake to optimise wine quality.

May 2016 – Issue 628

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grapegrowing

Quantifying the advancement and compression of vintage Paul Petrie, AWRI and SARDI viticulture scientist, and Victor Sadras, SARDI principal crop ecophysiologist, have shown fruit maturity in Australia advanced between half a day – and as much as three days – across a range of regions from 1993 to 2006.

SHIFTING PHENOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT is the most conspicuous biological effect of recent warming, with advanced maturity of grapevines being reported for Europe, North America and Australia (Duchêne and Schneider 2005, Petrie and Sadras 2008, Wolfe et al. 2005).

Figure 1. The advancement in the date at which 12 Baume was reached for vineyards in McLaren Vale. Chardonnay – blue diamonds (r2=0.58); Cabernet Sauvignon – red squares (r2=0.83); Shiraz – green triangles (r2=0.84).

Figure 2. The proportion of the Shiraz blocks in the Barossa and Eden Valleys that reached 12 Baume on a given date in 1998 (red - right line) and 2013 (blue - left line).

40 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Between 1993 and 2006, maturity of grapevines in Australia advanced between 0.5 and 3.0 days per year across a range of regions (Petrie and Sadras 2008).

Warmer temperatures and an advancement in maturity can affect fruit quality and wine style, often causing ‘unbalanced fruit’ where high sugar levels are reached before optimum colour (and potentially flavour) development has been achieved (Sadras and Moran 2012).

Associated with the advancement in maturity have been anecdotal reports of compression of the harvest period, with different varieties grown in the same region now reaching optimal maturity at similar dates and a narrower period during which a single variety matures (Coulter et al. 2015).

Given the capital-intensive nature of the wine industry (processing capacity is used at most for 8–12 weeks per year), climatic trends that compress harvests have the potential to affect financial viability.

Considerable investment would be required to increase processing capacity (for example red fermenter space) to allow production to be completed over a shorter time period.

To date the anecdotal reports of more compressed vintages have been difficult to validate and quantify.

However, the analysis of commercial maturity data, dating from 1995 to 2014, from a major Australian wine company offered the opportunity to investigate these reports further.

The sugar accumulation of individual blocks (based either on grower-reported values or samples delivered to the winery laboratory for maturity analysis) across a region was tracked and the day of the year when each block reached 12 Baume was interpolated from the maturity samples collected immediately below and above this level.

Basing maturity assessment on Baume rather than harvest date gives a more accurate assessment of the impact of climate on fruit maturity, as it is independent of human decisions that can be influenced by other factors such as target wine style or winery capacity.

The analysis showed a continuation of a trend first reported

by Petrie and Sadras (2008).

For example, the average date that Chardonnay in McLaren Vale reached 12 Baume has advanced at 1.3 days per year and McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon has advanced at 1.9 days per year (Figure 1).

Analysis of a longer data sequence highlighted not only the advancement in maturity, but also that in many regions the later ripening varieties (i.e. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon) were advancing in maturity at a faster rate than the earlier ripening varieties such as Chardonnay.

This means that the time window between the maturity of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon has narrowed.

In the early 1990s the range in dates between when the average maturity of these two varieties reached 12 Baume in McLaren Vale was just over 20 days; it is now averaging closer to five days and Shiraz also needs to be processed during this

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May 2016 – Issue 628

period (Figure 1). Note that while McLaren Vale was used in this example, a similar trend was observed across many Australian regions.

Individual varieties are also reaching maturity over a shorter period within one region.

The technique described above to determine the date when a block reaches 12 Baume was also used to calculate the proportion of blocks for a specific variety within a region that had reached 12 Baume.

For example, the Shiraz blocks across the Barossa region (both Barossa and Eden Valley) reached maturity over a 30-day period in the late 1990s and this reduced to a 15-day window by the mid-2010s (Figure 2).

Once again this increases pressure on vineyard and winery infrastructure. While Figure 2 shows the extremes of the time series (1998–2013), the shortening of the vintage period has occurred gradually over time.

This analysis does not allow separation of the effects of warming, other environmental factors and changes in management practices.

However there have not been step changes in management during the study period.

While reduced yield is often suggested as a driver of earlier fruit maturity (e.g. Pearce and Coombe 2004), no consistent yield trends were observed across the regions included in this study.

Regardless of the causes, the advancement in maturity and compression of the window of peak maturity illustrate the challenges faced by wineries to process fruit over a shorter and more intense period.

POSE S I D O T R MICALS REGISRTUE ED CHE LECTION T N A W N COL

OF YOU 2015 OCT/NOV THE DURING

Acknowledgements This article was first published in Issue No. 220 of the AWRI Technical Review, February 2016.

The research was supported by Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body Wine Australia and by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, through the ‘Filling the Research Gap’ program. The maturity data were kindly provided by Treasury Wine Estates.

References Coulter, A., Cowey G., Petrie P., Essling M., Holdstock M., Stockley C., Simos C., Johnson D. (2015) Vintage 2015 – observations from the AWRI helpdesk. Wine Vitic. J. 30, 38–40.

Duchêne, E., Schneider C. (2005) Grapevine and climate changes: a glance at the situation in Alsace. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 25, 93–99.

Pearce, I., Coombe B. (2004) Grapevine phenology. Viticulture: Volume 1 – Resources, Eds. P.R. Dry and B.G. Coombe (Winetitles: Adelaide, South Australia) pp. 150–166.

Petrie, P.R., Sadras V.O. (2008) Advancement of grapevine maturity in Australia between 1993 and 2006: Putative causes, magnitude of trends and viticultural consequences. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 14, 33–45.

Sadras, V., Moran M. (2012) Elevated temperature decouples anthocyanins and sugars in berries of Shiraz and Cabernet Franc. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 18, 115–122.

Wolfe, D.W., Schartz M.D., Lakso A.N., Otsuki Y., Pool R.M., Shaulis N.J. (2005) Climate change and shifts in spring phenology of three horticultural woody perennials in northeastern USA. Int. J. Biometerol. 49, 303–309.

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The importance of agriculture in the 21st century is tremendous and the agricultural industry has the potential to underpin the Australian economy. Digital agriculture in the form of precision farming, big data, sensor technology and drones present potential for productivity gains. On farm innovation is thriving and Australian researchers and farmers are experimenting with data-driven applications to reduce costs and optimise land and water use.

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WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE AT AGRITECH Precision mapping and imagery: Aerial Image Works specialises in aerial surveys, mapping and asset/pipeline inspections using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also known as drones. Coverage includes all land types including mining, exploration, agricultural, construction and environmental areas. Aerial Image Works’ team can export data captured in a variety of formats ready for use in the clients’ preferred GIS software. Staff can also provide additional data processing services such as point cloud classification, vegetation identification, NDVI, slope analysis and watershed analysis to name a few.

Moving weather based scheduling into the future: IrriSAT is a weather-based irrigation scheduling and crop benchmarking tool that uses remote sensing to provide site specific crop management information across large scales at relatively low cost. IrriSAT combines two sources of information; on-ground weather station networks and satellite imagery. It calculates the crop coefficient (Kc) from a linear relationship with satellite derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Daily crop water use is determined by simply multiplying Kc and daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) observations from a nearby weather station.

Big data analytics for intelligent farming: The Intelligent Environmental Knowledgebase (i-EKbase) is a Farm Health Monitoring System that provides automated analysis and predictions to support farm management by integrating public and commercial data sources, applying big data analytics, predictive modeling, and a visual overlay of analysis upon Google Maps. The innovation in this idea is the incorporation of scalable analytics and customisable predictive modeling into the system as new applications or as partners arises. The purpose of the analytics is to present high resolution visual information to farmers in a manner that can be interpreted and acted upon.

Free AgriTech breakfast and free registration: AgriTech runs from 24 – 26 May at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Co-located event alongside 2016 Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition).

A free Breakfast will be held at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday 25 May, 8-9am.

For more information and to register, visit: www.agritech.com.au May 2016 – Issue 628

Prolonging glyphosate use in vineyards Across Australia, weeds resistant to herbicides are popping up everywhere.

With our changing farming systems, glyphosate is ‘at risk’ with a significant number of resistant populations now appearing along roadside verges, under fence lines, in irrigation channels, orchards, driveways, railway lines, around buildings, in vegetable gardens and even on airstrips.

According to the Glyphosate Sustainability Working Group, factors that increase the risk of developing herbicide resistance in vineyards are: • Continual reliance on glyphosate for weed control under vines; • Not enough use of alternative herbicide modes of action including residual herbicides; • Lack of non-herbicide weed control methods such as mowing, mulching, tillage or grazing; • Allowing weed control escapees to set seed; • Entering spring with high weed numbers; • Poor vineyard hygiene (contaminated machinery, vehicles and livestock coming onto the property) leading to movement of herbicide resistant weed seed; • Lack of competition from inter-row cover crops; and • Poor application technique leading to sub-lethal rates of herbicide at the ends of rows (poor control = more weeds).

In the coming months, a golden opportunity will present itself in the form of the herbicide double-knock. Used extensively in broadacre farming, the doubleknock technique utilises two different herbicide modes of action. Generally, it involves applying glyphosate followed by either GRAMOXONE® or SPRAY. SEED® five to ten days later. It can be a very useful tool, when done correctly.

In theory, if any weeds survive, or are resistant to the first glyphosate application, they will be controlled by the second herbicide application, or ‘double-knock’.

In 2003, former Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) researcher, Paul Neve, and Art Diggle from the Department of Agriculture and Food of Western Australia, built a computer model to determine the probability of glyphosate resistance evolving to a range of knock-down strategies. History has shown their model to be quite accurate. The model predicted that after 12 years of continuous glyphosate use, the probability of resistance begins to increase and glyphosate resistant ryegrass would start to escalate if glyphosate was overrelied on.

Paul and Art also modelled some alternative strategies such as rotating between glyphosate and paraquat, which reduced the probability of glyphosate resistance evolving, however the double-knock technique emerged as a clear winner.

The herbicide double-knock is very effective at controlling large, hard-tokill weeds, including those that may remain from uncontrolled summer germinations.

When applying a double-knock, use high water rates for the GRAMOXONE or SPRAY.SEED products to achieve effective herbicide weed coverage.

Growers should use a robust glyphosate rate every time it is sprayed and double-knock with a robust rate of paraquat or SPRAY.SEED.

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

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grapegrowing

Insurance and your vineyard Steven McInerney, from MGA Insurance Brokers, tackles some common questions grapegrowers have about insurance issues.

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Q: How often should a grapegrower seek advice on the level of machinery insurance coverage?

Steven McInerney: I would recommend that the grower sit down with their broker at least once a year to review and adjust values to represent current market value (no sense in being over insured), but taking into account that under a full comprehensive cover a lot of insurers offer a ‘new for old’ cover for vehicles up to two years old.

Q: How does insurance for trellising systems work?

Does it relate to fence insurance? Is it possible to insure for broken vineyard posts?

SM: Trellising can be insured on most farm policies under the fencing section although it must be specified as such and the appropriate sum insured (per km) provided, as well as an accurate account of how many kilometres of trellising there are.

Q: Should grapegrowers adjust their insurance based on the age of the machinery they are using?

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44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

SM: As mentioned above, machinery is generally covered for market value based on the age and condition of the machine.

The exception to this is when the item is covered for full comprehensive cover and the new for old, up to two years is provided, in these circumstances it is recommended that level of cover stays at the new price.

Q: Can you explain quad bike insurance?

SM: Quad bikes can have different levels of cover chosen: • Third Party Property Damage: • Fire and theft only; and • Comprehensive cover.

With any bike that goes on the road there should be comprehensive cover on it. Which not only pays when the bike is damaged but most importantly, covers the liability for damage done to a third parties property.

Some companies have their farm motor vehicles covered on a ‘farm motor’ policy, separate to the main ‘farm insurance’ policy but others incorporate this under the one policy. The main thing to know is that a ‘fire and theft’ cover does not cover the liability on a vehicle. If it’s classified as a road registerable vehicle, it must have its own insurance cover to get liability cover (either TPPD ‘Third Party Property Damage’ cover or full comprehensive).

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Q: Why do some wineries ask grapegrowers to have high levels of indemnity (for their employees visiting the grower’s property)?

SM: They ask for this to ensure that if something happens to their employees, on a grower’s property, and the property owner is deemed negligent, then there is cover for any legal action taken.

Q: Is it possible to have levels of insurance in case of mechanical break-downs during peak seasons (a harvester during vintage, for example)?

SM: No, currently there is no insurance cover available on farm policies for breakdown of machinery. Claims are only for accidents, theft etc.

Q: What advice would you give growers and vineyard managers for checking the insurance cover of the contractors they use?

SM: Sight and keep a copy on file of a certificate of currency, which should show that the policy is current and for an adequate amount. Note that $5million cover is now thought to be too low and a minimum of $10million cover is recommended.

Also check that the insured occupation covers whatever the contractor is being asked to do for you.

Q: If there are other areas grapegrowers regularly inquire about, specific to machinery and contractors?

SM: All policies are different, with some only providing fire cover under their machinery section, requiring you to insure theft separately and they probably won’t provide any accidental damage cover.

May 2016 – Issue 628

There is a tendency for price shopping, when budgets are squeezed – but be warned, you get what you pay for and the saving of a couple hundred dollars could end up costing thousands in the event of an unpaid claim.

Others, such as the Millennium policy provided via MGA Insurance brokers (exclusively) offers machinery cover for fire, theft & accidental damage – up to $25,000. If higher levels of ‘accidental damage’ cover is required, due to being financed or the value is more than $25,000, then a comprehensive cover might be more suitable.

Q. Should grapegrowers treat machinery insurance as a fixed or variable cost of doing business?

It is an ongoing cost (yearly renewal) but the premiums do fluctuate year on year.

There is a tendency for price shopping, when budgets are squeezed – but be warned, you get what you pay for and the saving of a couple hundred dollars could end up costing thousands in the event of an unpaid claim. Always know what your being quoted, compare apples for apples.

And note, this is very hard for the lay person to do as all insurance policies are different, that’s why using a broker is so important. They do the comparisons for you, explain the covers – what’s needed, what’s not so important, why you need it etc.

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ask the

Grazing sheep in vineyards IT IS BECOMING MORE COMMON to see sheep grazing in Australian vineyards between late autumn and spring. This article addresses the most common questions asked by vineyard owners about this practice.

Q. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF GRAZING SHEEP IN A VINEYARD?

Q. WHAT SAVINGS CAN BE EXPECTED IN TERMS OF OPERATING COSTS AND GHG EMISSIONS?

Australian vineyards are generally highly mechanised, relying on heavy machinery for a variety of operations such as pruning, slashing, trimming, spraying and harvesting.

The use of such machinery comes with a significant cost both in terms of fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Grazing sheep in a vineyard is one way to reduce the need for slashing and spraying to control undervine growth, with additional benefits as a result of lower fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

In some cases, the owners of the sheep may also pay vineyard owners for providing pasture for their sheep, providing an additional source of income.

The savings achieved will vary depending on vineyard size and management practices but in most cases vineyard managers could expect to avoid one slashing and one herbicide pass.

This will result in lower chemical and fuel use, fewer labour hours and reduced maintenance and depreciation costs.

Some labour is required to manage the sheep and these costs should be taken into account. A recent case study at a 500ha vineyard showed total annual savings of around $22,000.

GHG savings would come from lower fuel use due to reduced passes through the vineyard; however these savings could be partially offset if the sheep need to be transported to the vineyard.

Q. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO GRAZE SHEEP IN THE VINEYARD AND HOW MANY SHOULD THERE BE?

Q. IS ANY INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED?

In Australia, sheep are usually grazed in vineyards between the completion harvest and budburst.

Sheep are generally not used during the growing season because they eat the grapevine leaves that are required for photosynthesis and to protect the fruit from sunburn.

In cooler regions sheep can be used for leaf plucking between fruit set and the start of veraison.

The number of sheep suitable to graze in a vineyard will depend on the amount and growth rate of the ‘pasture’ available, how long they will be grazed for and the type of sheep.

The owner of the sheep will be able to provide advice and there is also a Stocking Rate Calculator available on the Meat and Livestock Australia (www.mla.com.au) website to help with this calculation.

46 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Additional fencing may be needed to ensure the sheep can be contained within the block, while still allowing access to the vineyard for winter jobs such as pruning.

Sheep will graze preferentially, so it is more effective to keep them in small sections of vineyard at high stocking rates until all plants have been eaten.

This gives good weed control and has been shown to work well on hard to kill weeds like marshmallow (Malva parviflora) in the Adelaide Hills. Access to water is another requirement and may require investment.

Q. DO AGROCHEMICAL RESIDUES NEED TO BE CONSIDERED? Sheep can consume agrochemical residues from grapevine leaves or from the mid-row and under-vine growth.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Agrochemical product labels provide rules about grazing animals on the vineyard floor or feeding crop residues to livestock. There are a number of products where the labels state that stock should not be grazed in the vineyard or foliage cut for stock food if the chemical has been applied during the season.

For other products, there may be a withholding period before stock can be grazed or a defined interval between removal of the sheep from the vineyard and their slaughter for consumption.

Before making the decision to run sheep in a vineyard, it’s very important to consider all of the agrochemicals that have been used in that vineyard and abide by all label requirements.

Q. WILL THE SHEEP CAUSE DAMAGE IN THE VINEYARD? Sheep are not known to damage vineyard irrigation

May 2016 – Issue 628

infrastructure but could damage soil structure through compaction in a waterlogged vineyard.

Sheep will show little interest in dormant vines but might affect yield if they are not removed before budburst.

Q. CAN ANY OTHER TYPES OF ANIMALS BE USED IN VINEYARDS? Birds including chickens, guinea fowl, and geese have been used in vineyards to assist with snail or insect control.

Pests like garden weevil that are otherwise difficult to control have been successfully managed without the need for insecticides by using guinea fowl.

For more information contact the AWRI helpdesk via 08 8313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

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grapegrowing

Pruning

The battle against Eutypa

WITH THE INCIDENCE of the trunk disease Eutypa dieback increasing as vines age, both grower concerns as well as reports of the disease have been escalating.

Heightened awareness of the disease has also led to more growers using early-prevention strategies, well before the symptoms occur.

Growers’ understanding about managing Eutypa and other trunk diseases was given a major boost last month ahead of this year’s pruning season, with a round of workshops at Langhorne Creek (Bleasdale), Adelaide Hills (Nepenthe) and McLaren Vale (Stump Hill) in South Australia, and Mornington Peninsula (Moorooduc estate), the Northeast (Brown Bros Milawa) and

Western region (Seppelts Great Western) in Victoria.

Backed by industry sponsors, Wine Australia regional R&D programs, regional grower and wine-tourism associations and AWRI, growers were provided with updated information, regional trial results and hands-on practical demonstrations.

At Bleasdale and Nepenthe, growers brushed up on the latest in pruning for both vine structure and health, including dealing with Eutypa.

With viticulturists Sam Bowman and Richard Hamilton they looked at pruning and reworking decisions; best-practice pruning; spraying and preventative options for trunk disease; and alternative methods for improved yield and vine balance,

EARLY symptoms of Eutypa lata on affected Shiraz vines in September 2015 were photographed by DJ’S Growers Services viticultural agronomist James Hook, McLaren Vale, who says Eutypa is present in many Australian vineyards of all ages. He described Eutypa as the ‘submarine’ of diseases, growing slowly, undetected in the wood and producing foliar symptoms several years after the initial infection.

48 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2016 – Issue 628

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grapegrowing EUTYPA 101 Eutypa is believed to be causing considerable ongoing economic loss to the Australian wine industry and, unless checked, threatens the long-term sustainability of many vineyards.

Controlling Eutypa requires a combination of removing all infected wood tissue by remedial surgery and preventing entry of Eutypa lata into vines by protecting pruning wounds.

Large numbers of Eutypa spores are liberated from dead infected wood into the air following 2mm of rain or more, and are spread by rain or wind – with overseas work suggesting they can travel up to 50 kilometres downwind.

Fungal spores enter the vine through wounds. The fungus colonises wood tissue, causing dieback of cordons; spindly, stunted green shoots; leaf distortion; poor fruit set and uneven berry ripening – eventually killing the vine if not controlled.

Symptoms are most obvious in spring in vines that are 8 years old or more. On older vines Eutypa causes elongated areas of dead wood around old pruning wounds. with field walks taken through re-modelled vineyards.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN Viticulturist at Bleasdale and consultant to other growers Sam Bowman said the prevalence of trunk disease in the Australian wine industry was alarming, and like all other vineyard diseases required preventative measures to be managed effectively and efficiently.

“Taking a practical approach in each vineyard is your best weapon against the progression of trunk disease,” Bowman said. “In young vineyards, spray with a registered product as soon as practical after pruning.

“Avoid pruning in wet weather to reduce the risk of spores coming into contact with fresh wounds, and monitor in spring for early warning signs.”

He said vineyards expressing moderate levels of the disease should be renovated with remedial surgery.

“This involves cutting the trunk back below the point of

infection, and training up a water shoot to establish a new cordon,” Bowman said.

“The process is costly and time-consuming, so dedicate your time to manageable sections each season. Removing and burning the infected wood is essential to eradicating the spore load in the vineyard.”

He stressed that managing trunk diseases was an ongoing, long-term process, and just as important as vineyard yearly spray programmes.

“Like all pest and disease management, prevention is better than cure, so create a plan and follow it through each year to ensure the viability and health of your vineyard.”

SARDI RESEARCH UPDATE SARDI researchers Mark Sosnowski and Matthew Ayres gave growers further insight into the practical management of Eutypa dieback from trials in the region, then participated in vineyard walks with growers – examining approaches to managing old blocks, and demonstrating Eutypa disease symptoms and remedial control methods.

Earlier studies by SARDI researchers, with funding from Wine Australia, developed guidelines for spraying fungicides to defend freshly-pruned vines against Eutypa.

An important outcome was the registration by Crop Care of their vineyard fungicide Emblem for spray application to control Eutypa, ahead of the 2015 pruning season.

It immediately provided growers with their first costeffective alternative to the laborious hand-painting of treatment onto pruning wounds, which was a significant step forward.

Sosnowski said the registration of Emblem for Eutypa in late 2014 “made it significantly cheaper and faster for growers to protect pruned vines and to better manage the disease”.

He said industry research had continued, looking at the susceptibility of pruning wounds to both Eutypa and Botryosphaeria dieback at different times of the pruning season – to help the industry to make informed decisions on the optimal time to protect wounds.

Sosnowski said continuing research was showing that Emblem can also control Botryosphaeria dieback pathogens.

“Current research is evaluating the application timing of fungicide, including Emblem, with preliminary results

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Control Eutypa lata with

Gelseal

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Registered for Eutypa dieback of grapevines.

New economic Spray On formulation Gelseal is specifically formulated to provide excellent Eutypa control in a convenient spray on formulation.

Applied as a “post pruning� spray, Gelseal has the fire power to deal with Eutypa invasion in modern grapevine pruning operations.

Recovery of Eutypa lata from grapevine canes 70

% Control

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Inoculated control

Gelseal (30mL/100L)

Table 1: Recovery of Eutypa lata grapevine canes treated with Gelseal when inoculated on day of pruning.

Extracted from: Mark Sosnowski (SARDI), July 2014

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grapegrowing to Eutypa was greatest in first two weeks following pruning, with no apparent difference across the pruning season.

“Spore-trapping studies are also showing that spore dispersal is related to rainfall periods, and is occurring in all seasons.”

He said that as vines age, growers are reporting more incidence of Eutypa and their concerns are escalating.

“But their awareness has certainly been raised and they are adopting early-prevention strategies, well before symptoms occur. We encourage growers to take early action, protecting vines from Eutypa after pruning from the first year of planting,” Sosnowski said.

He said the Bureau of Meteorology’s prediction of a wetterthan-average late autumn/early winter (April-June) in most of southern Australia’s winegrowing regions was likely to have an impact on Eutypa infection.

“Rainfall is directly related to spore dispersal and infection, so a wetter season will mean greater likelihood of infection.”

EMBLEM FOR EUTYPA

EARLY symptoms of Eutypa lata on affected Shiraz vines in September 2015, photographed by DJ’S Growers Services viticultural agronomist James Hook, McLaren Vale.

indicating some curative and preventative properties – which could widen the window of opportunity for application time,” Sosnowski said.

“A repeat trial is being conducted this year to confirm those results and lead to recommendations.”

He told growers recent studies had shown wound susceptibility

Crop Care national innovation manager Andre Sabeeney said a number of vineyards had estimated they would save more than half their application and treatment costs by spraying Emblem to control Eutypa, including a reduction of up to 80 per cent in labour cost.

He advised that Emblem be applied at 100ml per 100 litres of water as a dormant treatment to grapevines, within 24 hours of pruning.

“Application should be made with nozzles directed at pruning wounds, and in sufficient water volume for thorough coverage of the cuts,” Sabeeney said.

The same rate of Emblem is registered for pre-budburst suppression of phomopsis cane and leaf blight, with one application of Emblem one-to-four weeks before budburst, after pruning dormant spurs and canes.

Sabeeney said the Group 29 fungicide Emblem was regarded as low-risk for developing fungicide resistance, and was soft on beneficial insects when used as directed.

“The Emblem re-entry period also allows workers to return to the vineyard for pruning and training vines and for disease scouting as soon as the spray has dried,” Sabeeney said.

“This reduced re-entry applies only to Emblem fungicide, and not to other registered fluazinam products.”

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52 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Product Update

New spray-on Eutypa control Recovery of Eutypa lata from grapevine canes % Control

FOLLOWING THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS of Omnia’s Greenseal product for the control of Eutypa lata, Omnia has further developed and registered a new, economic spray-on formulation – Gelseal.

Both of these products now assist in providing better Eutypa lata protection for all sizes of pruning wounds, Greenseal for the larger pruned canes and Gelseal for the smaller and harder to manage vines.

Dr Teferi Belyaneh, Omnia’s technical specialist, reports Gelseal is specifically formulated to provide excellent Eutypa control in a convenient spray on formulation that ensures better coverage of the pruned canes and control of the fungus.

Eutypa lata, also known as ‘dead arm disease’, is a very destructive disease of grapevines, resulting in yield decline and quality deterioration if left untreated.

Spores of Eutypa lata invade the vine via pruning wounds and colonise wood tissue and causes dieback of cordons, stunting of green shoots, leaf yellowing and distortion, poor fruit set, loss in production and eventual death of the vine.

Dr Mark Sosnowski (from SARDI) has been involved in industry research, exploring various alternatives for managing Eutypa. Dr Sosnowski conducted vineyard trials in the Barossa Valley (South Australia), to evaluate Gelseal for control of Eutypa dieback. These results showed Gelseal

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Inoculated control

Gelseal (30mL/100L)

Table: Recovery of Eutypa lata grapevine canes treated with Gelseal when inoculated on the day of pruning. Extracted from: Mark Sosnowski (SARDI), July 2014.

Dr Teferi Belyaneh, Omnia’s technical specialist, reports Gelseal is specifically formulated to provide excellent Eutypa control in a convenient spray on formulation. significantly reduced the recovery of Eutypa lata (see graph) in pruned canes.

It is recommended that at least 30mL/100L of Gelseal be applied for effective control of Eutypa dieback, and should be applied only during the dormant winter period on fresh pruning wounds. Preferably, use a low drift nozzle setup and consider a recapture and recirculating sprayer.

Application should be made the same day as pruning and under conditions allowing sufficient drying time. After the treated areas have dried, worker re-entry can be allowed. Only one spray per season is sufficient.

For more information on combating this crippling disease contact Omnia’s Specialist Agronomist in your area.

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grapegrowing

Product Update

Next generation electronic pruner BACK IN 1984 Frenchman Daniel Delmas, from Infaco, developed the world’s first electronic pruner and called it Electrocoup. This tool revolutionised pruning in the viticulture industry worldwide.

In April, Delmas unveiled the ‘eight generation’ model – the Electrocoup 3015. The latest model took five years of intensive research and development and drew on 32 years of experience during which time Infaco had manufactured more than 250,000 tools.

The ELECTRCOUP 3015 promises to be the most sophisticated, powerful and fastest electronic pruner available.

THE DESIGN The 3015 model is a significant evolution from the current 3010 design. While looking superficially similar, beneath the covers lie major advancements in the design, motor and circuitry, powered by the most modern battery technology.

Changes to the motor and the gearing have meant the 3015 model is both shorter and narrower than its predecessor. The inner body (which comes with a lifetime guarantee) is now made up of a new heavy duty aluminium based alloy which makes the unit much lighter, adding to

54 Grapegrower & Winemaker

the ergonomic dexterity of the handpiece. Not only is the 3015 model easier to hold and position, it is significantly faster and more powerful making this tool the ultimate workhorse.

The 3015 retains the concept of interchanging cutting heads, with minor changes that have reduced the weight of all sizes, increased blade openings and made changing between heads easier and quicker.

Infaco has eliminated the control box and has incorporated its functions as an in-built feature of the hand piece, thus making it a single-cable connection between the handpiece and the battery.

But the biggest change is in the design of the battery. Infaco has partnered with one of the world’s leading technology specialists to design a new and advanced Li-Ion battery making it much lighter and smaller than any of its kind. In fact it’s so small that, it looks very similar to current model smart phones, only a little thicker, and can easily be slipped into the user’s pocket.

Additional accessories come with integrated electronics, making the device easy to use. Implementation of a ‘Plug & Play’ technique has allowed for the Electrocoup3015’s to be used with peripheral accessories such as the www.winetitles.com.au

extension pole or safety glove without having to recalibrate or use additional cables.

PERFORMANCE Apart from distinguishing design features from its predecessors, the Electrocoup3015’s are expected to function as high performance tools.

With increased speed and precision, the new model is believed to be 30% more powerful than its previous version.

The new brushless motor technology implemented, potentially increases the reliability of the unit and makes it less susceptible to faults.

Infaco has taken its time to go ahead and implement its new battery technology.

The new 120Wh Li-Ion battery comes with a battery life of nine hours (from full charge) and is expected to last for 1000 cycles per life of the battery.

More features of the battery include a ‘super charge’ function (where 90% of the battery charges in one hour and takes an extra half an hour to evenly distribute the charge to its full capacity) and winter mode (which puts the battery to sleep during the off-season period).

Beyond that, the battery is also capable of powering the new range of Powercoup PW2 multifunction tools.

May 2016 – Issue 628

grapegrowing

Training & Trellising

Wrapping arms could be a stressful option for grapevines

A University of Adelaide study has set out to discover whether wrapping arms onto cordon wires causes significant stress to plant. In this article the researchers (Luciano Caravia, Cassandra Collins, Jana Shepherd and Stephen Tyerman) present some initial findings. This article was first published in the Wine & Viticulture Journal and is used here with permission.

SOME VITICULTURAL PROCEDURES may impose a stress on vine function even though they may solve a particular structural or logistic problem for cultivation and harvesting.

Vines subjected to a particular de-vigorating stress may become more vulnerable to other stresses, including pests and disease.

Caravia et al. (2015c) presented the hypothesis that wrapping arms onto the cordon wire may cause a significant stress by constricting the vasculature of the cordon. This may restrict the normal flow of water and nutrients through the cordon.

Trunk disease infection can remain unexpressed for years.

Moreover, as reviewed in Caravia et al. (2015c), the transit from a symptomless trunk disease infection to an active infection seems to be dependent on water stress. Based on our hypothesis, water stress will be exacerbated by arms constriction because of wrapping the cordon shoot onto the cordon wire. Therefore, one obvious feature of this continuous stress might be reduction in total growth (expressed as LAI or pruning mass decline) in wrapped cordons during the first years which might precede a future arm collapse.

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The wrapping of canes onto the cordon wire to establish a permanent cordon has been a traditional practice for vine establishment in Australia for many years. The benefit of this approach is that wrapping a cane produces a self-supported arm without the need for securing ties, and is only required to be done once when the arms are established.

In contrast, in Chilean viticulture where labour is less expensive, the cordon arms are positioned along the wire and held in place with securing ties. Canes are secured at three positions along each arm and two foliar wires in three possible positions are required to ensure the shoots grow vertically, and to avoid rolling of the canopy. After the arms are strong enough to support themselves, a transition to a sprawling canopy is possible.

Interestingly, wrapping (i.e. spiralling the cane above and below the wire) has been adopted in the past five years in Chile as a way to decrease operational costs. Although wrapping has been perceived as a harmless practice, it could be responsible for a permanent stress that disturbs the water conductivity of the cordon. This could compromise growth of distal shoots and may influence the vine’s ability to adapt to water and heat stress. In September 2014 (before budburst) an experimental trial was established to investigate the impact of cane-wrapping to establish a cordon compared to positioning a cane along the wire and securing with ties. Here data is presented from the first season of a longer-term trial to investigate this relationship.

EXPERIMENTAL SITE AND DESIGN A commercial Shiraz vineyard in the Barossa Valley was made available to establish the experimental field trial. Shiraz vines clone Kalimna 3C, grafted to Richter 110 were trained to a VSP trellis, with north-south row orientation. Vines were planted in 2013, at 2m spacing between vines and 3.35m spacing between rows. Standard irrigation and viticulture practices typical for the region were applied (46.9mm of irrigation distributed from October to February were applied).

Before budburst of season 2014-2015 (15 September 2014) two groups of five rows were not wrapped (NW) and the canes were tied to the wire using rubber ties. Another group of two sets of five rows were set as controls (wrapped, W), where canes were wrapped around the cordon wire. Each row comprised 75 vines.

A frost event during spring (30 days after the treatments started, 30 DAT) damaged 70% of the shoots (the shoots were on average 30cm at that time). Ten days after the frost the trial was split in two groups, managed for frost and not managed.

In the managed portion all of the suckers on the trunk were eliminated, and all the shoots that were undamaged during the frost event were severely tipped above the last bunch, in order to decrease their dominance and to promote even growth. Each group (managed and non–managed) comprised of one set of five rows of control (wrapped) and five rows of treated vines (nonwrapped). Thereafter the measurements were performed on vines managed for frost.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Wrapped (a) and non-wrapped (b) vines before pruning. Arrows indicate the three sections in which the arm was partitioned. Central area around the trunk 0.4m, intermediate portion (next 0.2m at each side) and distal portion of the cordon. The insertion (c) shows the arm transversal area ATA measurement, which were done at each arrow point (0.15-0.5-0.7m from the trunk).

MEASUREMENTS Arm Transversal Area (ATA) (cm2) was determined at three distances along the cordon starting at the trunk. This measurement was performed twice, 68 and 207 days after the treatment was applied (68 and 207 DAT). At 68 DAT the measurement was done on one arm per vine (0.15, 0.35 and 0.6m from the trunk, trunk=0) and at 207 DAT the measurement was done on both arms (0.15, 0.5 and 0.7m from the trunk, trunk=0).

The measurement was done with a flexible tape measure at the above mentioned points across the arm. The reduction in ATA from proximal to distal was calculated as percentage (100% x (distal-proximal)/proximal).

Two weeks before harvest berries were randomly collected from nine vines in total, as three vines from three rows per treatment. The samples were collected separately from each arm section (150 from centre, middle and distal). Sub-samples were used to determine fresh berry mass, berry water content and total soluble solid concentration (TSS, °brix).

At harvest, 10 vines per row were hand harvested and bunch number and total yield recorded. Three vines per row were selected from this group and 200 berries were randomly collected from each. From this sample, fresh berry mass, berry water content and TSS were obtained (100-50-50 berries respectively) as in Caravia et al. (2015a).

Midday stem water potential was recorded twice at 68 and 147 DAT over nine vines per treatment from three positions across the cordon (central, intermediate and distal as explained below). Pruning mass was recorded at 215 DAT (15 April 2015).

Here the measurement was split into three portions: the central area around the trunk approximately 40cm (20cm at each side of the trunk), then the intermediate portion which was the next 20cm at each arm and the distal portion of the cordon, which varied in length, but was on average 0.3m at each side. The measurement was recorded on 30 vines per treatment in the frost managed block.

Non-structural carbohydrate status (carbohydrate reserves) was measured from wood (top trunk and distal portions of the arm) samples during winter (21 July 2015) by enzymatic assay following the methods outlined in Edwards et al. (2010) based on a colorimetric assay.

RESULTS The ATA decreased from the proximal part of the cordon near the trunk (0.15m) to the distal portion of the arm in both treatments, and at both time measurements. The ATA decreased from 1.65cm2 (at 0.15m from the trunk) to 0.46cm2 at the distal portion of the arm (0.6m from the trunk) in the control (wrapped) and from 1.58 to 0.82cm2 in the distal portion of the

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57

grapegrowing non-wrapped vines at 68 DAT. Therefore, the reduction in ATA from trunk proximal portions to the distal portion of the arm was significantly lower in non-wrapped than wrapped vines (46% and 72.5%, respectively). The differences in the reduction in ATA observed in November were corroborated in the second measurement at 207 DAT; wrapped arms had ATA reduced by 51.5% while this reduction in the non-wrapped vines was 37.4%.

The midday stem water potential was recorded at 68 DAT and showed no differences between the treatments. The water potential slightly decreased from proximal to distal portion of the cordon (-0.73 to -0.78 MPa). Two weeks before harvest the water potentials indicated a severe water stress (less than -1.5MPa). No differences were observed between the treatments, or different cordon portions (0.15, 0.3 and 0.7m).

Some yellow leaves, defoliation and uneven ripening were observed in all the vines regardless the treatment.

No differences between treatments were found in the berry assessment performed two weeks before commercial harvest.

However, the values recorded showed large variation, which could be related to the water stress imposed at ripening.

The berry assessment at harvest showed that the nonwrapped vines had lower TSS (25°brix compared to 29°brix in control), fresh berry mass, and berry water content significantly higher. However, no significant differences were observed in total bunch number per vine, yield per vine or average bunch mass. Although, the trend was to higher values in non-wrapped than in wrapped.

Pruning mass was significantly higher in the non-wrapped vines for the distal region of the cordon. No significant differences in pruning mass were observed in the central and middle portion of the arm. As expected for the first season of the trial, no differences were observed in shoot number per vine. The average mass per shoot in non-wrapped vines was significantly higher only when the whole vine was analysed but not at each individual cordon section (central, middle or distal).

No differences were found in starch, or soluble sugars or total carbohydrate reserves in the trunk. Although, there was a trend for higher starch concentration in trunks on non-wrapped vines (103.5 compared with 89.46mg g-1 in NW and W, respectively).

Soluble sugar was significantly higher in distal portions of the arm in non-wrapped vines (84.5 compared with 75.4mg g-1 in NW and W, respectively). However, no differences were observed in starch or total carbohydrate reserve concentration on a dry weight basis.

DISCUSSION The first season of this trial had two additional stressful conditions; a frost event in spring and a severe water stress

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during ripening. Both treatments were exposed equivalently to these external factors, which indeed, helped us to test which cordon establishment procedure coped better under these conditions.

The pruning mass was around 20% higher in the nonwrapped vines, suggesting a more favourable condition for growth. These values are comparable to a 20-25% decrease in pruning mass observed after severe water stress in Malbec vines (Dayer et al. 2013). Moreover, the ATA was significantly higher in the distal portion of non-wrapped vines, which matched to a higher pruning mass from this portion of the arm. This is in agreement with the expected decrease in growth (leaf area) as the sapwood cross sectional area is reduced assuming a constant Huber Value (HV) (Tyree and Ewers 1991). The same reduction in arm growth was observed, while in the sprawl canopy (non-wrapped vine) the arm growth is more constant across the cordon.

Based on visual observation, it is highly likely that phloem vasculature was also constricted by the cordon wire. Phloem interruption can be observed in old cordons as the wire goes inside the arm or in severely twisted arms. In this regard, vegetative growth was negatively affected in vines that were girdled at veraison during winter crop cycle (Li et al. 2015).

During the dormancy period there were some trends in carbohydrate reserves that also suggested less stress in nonwrapped vines. For instance, significantly higher concentrations of soluble sugar were observed at the distal portion of the arm in non-wrapped vines and there was also a trend (though not significant) that higher trunk starch concentration occurred in non-wrapped vines. However, as suggested by De Bei et al.

(2011), differences in total NSC in response to water stress are more likely to be evident after harvest. Moreover, trunk starch peaked between harvest and leaf fall and had minimum values at dormancy, while soluble sugar peaked at dormancy (Holzapfel and Smith 2012).

A decrease in trunk starch have been attributed to increasing water stress (De Bei et al. 2011, Dayer et al. 2013, Pellegrino et al. 2014). Although, no effect of water stress on trunk starch was observed by (Holzapfel and Smith 2012). Therefore, it is possible that wrapping arms, then phloem disruption, might cause also a reduction on trunk NSC as well as water stress does. Thus, a decrease in carbohydrate reserve might have a long-term effect impacting the growth in futures seasons (Bennett et al. 2005).

The lack of significant differences in yield at harvest could be due to the severe water stress masking any impact from wrapping. Interestingly, the lower TSS, higher fresh berry mass and water content in the non-wrapped treatment may indicate some effect on fruit water relations from wrapping. Similar results in TSS, fresh berry mass and berry water content have been obtained in response to overhead shade treatment in Shiraz vines exposed to less heat and water stress (Caravia et al. 2015b).

The alternative procedure for cordon establishment suggested here where the canes are tied above the wire (without wrapping) and uses foliar wires during the establishment seasons to keep the canopy growing vertical and to avoid canopy roll, involves potentially a more expensive management strategy.

However, the cost of tying the arms must be cheaper than wrapping since it is a faster process. The non-wrapped tied arm may prevent the physical stress that could induce a wound response and restrict the normal flow of water and nutrients along the cordon.

Consequently, the vine may grow more vigorously compared with the situation where a sustained constriction is imposed by traditional wrapping. This would implicate a change in management due to potentially greater vigour. Such as, foliar wires movement, vine trimming, pruning and so on. On

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May 2016 – Issue 628

the other hand, assuming that the wrapped vines may need replanting or top work after 20 years, which is not an uncommon practice in the Barossa, it would be expected that from year 11 until year 20 the yield and quality would progressively decline and a negative impact on the management cost in the wrapped vineyard can be expected. For instance, harvest cost when part of the cordon is dead will be inefficient. Although, these results need to be confirmed in future seasons, with more sites and varieties, the results from this first season open a new consideration to Australian viticulture management.

In a warming climate it would be expected that a ‘wrapping stress’ may exacerbate potentially unavoidable water stress. As part of the next step of this research water conductivity along cordon arm sections and xylem (vessel) morphological responses to wrapping need to be assessed. Examination of susceptibility to trunk diseases (Eutypa lata and Botryosphaerea lutea) will be another target assessment of this research.

CONCLUSION Wrapping arms restricted arm growth during the first season of the trial: the arm transversal area decreased significantly less in non-wrapped vines with distance from the trunk.

The pruning mass was around 20% higher in non-wrapped vines with higher pruning mass occurring at the distal portion of the arm.

At harvest berry assessment suggested non-wrapped vines were exposed to less water stress.

Trunk starch and soluble sugar at distal portion of the cordon were higher in non-wrapped vines.

These finding are important because they corroborated the hypothesis that wrapping vines has a restricted growth effect on

distal portion of the arms and is worthy of further investigation.

References

Bennett, J.; Jarvis, P.; Creasy, G.L. and Trought, M.C. (2005) Influence of defoliation on overwintering carbohydrate reserves, return bloom, and yield of mature Chardonnay grapevines. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 56(4):386-393.

Caravia, L.; Collins, C.; Petrie, P. and Tyerman, S. (2015b) Application of shade treatments during Shiraz berry ripening to reduce the impacts of heatwaves. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 15-088.

Caravia, L.; Collins, C.; Shepherd, J. and Tyerman, S. (2015c) Trunk diseases: Wrapping arms for cordon establishment: Is it a stressful practice for grapevines? Wine & Viticulture Journal 30(1):48-51.

Caravia, L.; Collins, C. and Tyerman, S. (2015a) Electrical impedance of berries correlates with decreasing cell vitality during ripening in Shiraz. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 21(3):430–438.

Dayer, S.; Prieto, J.A.; Galat, E. and Perez Peña, J. (2013) Carbohydrate reserve status of Malbec grapevines after several years of regulated deficit irrigation and crop load regulation. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 19(3):422-430.

De Bei, R.; Fuentes, S.; Sullivan, W.; Pech, J.; Edwards, E.; McCarthy, M. and Steve, T. (2011) 29 August-2 September 2011, Carbohydrate dynamics of Chardonnay grapevines affected by irrigation reduction and recovering regimes. In: Novello, V., Bovio, and Cavalletto, S., ed. Proceedings of the 17th international symposium giesco, Asti-Alba (CN), Italy; (Le Progres Agricole et Viticole- Maison des Agricullteurs Lattes: Montpellier, France. 267-269.

Edwards, E.J.; Downie, A.F. and Clingeleffer, P.R. (2011) A simple microplate assay to quantify nonstructural carbohydrates of grapevine tissues. Am. J. Enol. Vitic 62(1):133137.

Holzapfel, B.P. and Smith, J.P. (2012) Developmental stage and climatic factors impact more on carbohydrate reserve dynamics of Shiraz than cultural practice. Am. J. Enol.

Vitic March 2012.11071.

Li, K.-T.; Chang, J.-C.; Wang, L.-L.; Liu, Y.-T. and Lee, C.-L. (2015) Girdling improved berry coloration in summer but suppressed return growth in the following spring in ‘Kyoho’ grapevines cultivated in the subtropical double cropping system. VITIS-Journal of Grapevine Research 54(2):59-63.

Pellegrino, A.; Clingeleffer, P.; Cooley, N. and Walker, R. (2014) Management practices impact vine carbohydrate status to a greater extent than vine productivity. Frontiers in Plant Science, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00283.

Tyree, M.T. and Ewers, F.W. (1991) The hydraulic architecture of trees and other woody plants. New Phytol. 119:345-360.

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Look after your drip systems Gert Engelbrecht, a viticultural consultant based in South Africa has compiled some useful practical advice for maintaining drip irrigation systems.

SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS is one of the biggest advantages of drip irrigation.

The design of drip irrigation is aimed at minimising water loss as a result of evaporation and/or runoff. In terms of system effectiveness (the efficiency with which water is delivered to the irrigation system from the irrigation dam or tap point on the farm’s border, to the point where it lands on the soil) drip irrigation performs the best with 90%, followed by micro sprinklers with 80% system effectiveness.

Correct maintenance of the system is very important to ensure that the effectiveness remains consistently high, so that all grapevines receive sufficient water for maximum yields and quality. The great advantage of drip system effectiveness is therefore lost if maintenance is not correct. Basic maintenance actions for drip systems may include rinsing of lines, monitoring of effectiveness, basic maintenance and chemical treatment.

RINSING OF DRIP AND MAIN LINES Rinsing of drip lines is considered the basis of maintenance and should be undertaken regularly. Flow speed is very important and should be at least 0.5 m/ second for effective rinsing of drip lines.

The TuckawayTM Staple May 2016 – Issue 628

An easy way to determine flow speed is to see how long it takes to fill a 1 litre container. Twelve seconds or less are sufficient for 16 mm and 17 mm lines and eight seconds or less suffice for 20 mm lines.

Rinse taps on main and sublines are a prerequisite for a good irrigation system.

These enable the producer/worker to rinse these pipes only, especially if a pipe has burst, to ensure that sand does not get into the drip lines.

MONITORING It is important to monitor the pressure regularly at the end of the furthest drip line. A basic pressure gauge may be used.

The pressure should correspond to that of the design specification of the system.

The flow rate of the drip emitters can also be tested by using a measuring cylinder (Photo 4). Measure the water that drips into the cylinder over a period of 30 seconds for example and convert this to litres/hour.

BASIC MAINTENANCE It is very important to walk through irrigation blocks during irrigation to look for burst pipes and leaks so that these may be addressed immediately. Basic system components to be kept amongst supplies include different types of joints,

as well as extra drip lines. It is important that the drip to be used in the joint should distribute the correct amount, for example 2.3 litres/hour or 4 litres/hour.

Do not hit blocked drips or squeeze them with a pair of pliers. This may damage the pipe as well as the drip.

CHEMICAL TREATMENT Chemical treatment of drips takes place if there is a blockage problem that cannot be sorted out by means of normal maintenance. Always try to apply the application directly to the drip lines and not to the main lines. The dirt coating that is dislodged from the main lines will be rinsed through to the drip lines and the blockage will become even worse. Products that are used mostly for this purpose are hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. The nature of the problem will determine the product (or combination), as well as the amount, to be used. Contact your irrigation expert for a correct recommendation in this regard.

Acknowledgement: This article was first published by WineLand, ‘the voice of the South African wine industry’ and is used here with permission.

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

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winemaking Innovation for vegan wines In this article Philippe Poinsaut reports on the latest innovations in vegan-friendly fining agents, on behalf of Martin Vialatte (a SOFRALAB brand, offering tailored enological products).

THE ORIGINS OF VEGANISM Veganism is a doctrine according to which humans should live without exploiting animals.

It is a movement that began in the United Kingdom around 70 years ago, initiated by Donald Watson and inspired by several great thinkers like Voltaire and De Vinci.

It consists of refusing to exploit animals in any way. More drastic than vegetarians, who do not eat meat, and dietary vegans who do not eat any animal products, ethical vegans refuse to eat or use any products that have caused suffering to an animal.

Reliable data on vegan populations is rare. However, statistics estimate that the population of vegans in the USA (the largest in the world) has doubled since 2009 and is close to 2.5%.

And wine does not escape that rule.

Above and beyond the allergenic potential of some animal proteins like casein, albumin and isinglass, some wine drinkers lead a vegan lifestyle.

They aim to eliminate the use of any animals in winegrowing and wine-making.

Aware of this evolution in consumer trends, the company Martin Vialatte has been working on the development of nonanimal fining agents for over 15 years.

Indeed, in 1997, the outbreak of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was already calling the use of these products into question.

The development of these new fining agents is clearly in keeping with the vegan philosophy of some consumers.

The first efforts to replace gelatine as a fining agent by plantbased proteins were made in 1997.

At that time, around 15 proteins from various plant origins were sampled (rice, wheat, corn, soya, lupin, potato, pea etc.) then tested in laboratories to determine their affinities for polyphenols and their influence on the organoleptic characteristics of wines.

Some were discarded due to risks relating to GMOs or

Many vegan logos can now be found on bottles of wine.

allergens, while others were judged to be ineffective.

At the end of the laboratory testing process and the 3 years of industrial testing in wine cellars, pea proteins were selected.

Martin Vialatte also referred the project to the OIV, so that in 2005 the fining of musts and wines with pea proteins was adopted as a new oenological practice.

The ProVgreen range today brings together 4 specialities composed uniquely of pea proteins: ProVgreen Pure must for the clarification of musts, ProVgreen Pure Wine for the fining of wines, ProVgreen Flot for the clarification of musts by floatation and ProVgreen L170, a liquid version of pea proteins for the clarification and fining of musts and wines.

DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVE FINING AGENTS Aware of this evolution in consumer trends, the company Martin Vialatte has been working on the development of nonanimal fining agents for over 15 years. Indeed, in 1997, the outbreak of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was already calling the use of these products into question.

The first efforts to replace gelatine as a fining agent by plantbased proteins were made in 1997. At that time, around 15 proteins from various plant origins were sampled (rice, wheat, corn, soya, lupin, potato, pea etc.) then tested.

Figure 1: Representation of vegetarians across the world Legend: Green: 10% and above. Yellow: between 5 and 9.9%. Orange: between 3 and 4.9%. Red: less than 3%

62 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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winemaking

Figure 5: organoleptic profiles of control wine and treated wines

improved taste or both, several points emerged.

In terms of technological effects, plant proteins: • Are used with musts and wines at equivalent doses as animal proteins, i.e. gelatine, of between 2 and 25 g/hL; • Clarify with equivalent clarification kinetics; • Allows a weak turbidity to be obtained at the time of racking; • In most cases give a weak percentage of lees; • Eliminate astringent tannins from red wines; • Do not impede tartaric stabilisation or protein stabilisation; and • Improve or maintain the filterability obtained with the reference treatment.

In terms of basic analyses, plant proteins: • Do not modify the values of basic analyses; and • Respect the colour intensity/hue of wines.

In terms of organoleptic tests, plant proteins: • Do not, in most cases, demonstrate significant differences in taste compared to animal-based fining products (nonsignificant triangle taste test with a limit of 5%); and • Improve the taste of wines

Figure 2 - Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of condensed precipitated tannins after fining (PP = plant protein)

Figure No. 3: Effect of different taille must treatments on DO280 and DO320 of corresponding wines.

Some were discarded due to risks relating to GMOs or allergens, while others were judged to be ineffective. At the end of the laboratory testing process and the three years of industrial testing in wine cellars, pea proteins were selected.

Martin Vialatte also referred the project to the OIV, so that in 2005 the fining of musts and wines with pea proteins was adopted as a new oenological practice. The ProVgreen range today brings together 4 specialities composed uniquely of pea proteins: ProVgreen Pure must for the clarification of musts, ProVgreen Pure Wine for the fining of wines, ProVgreen Flot for the clarification of musts by floatation and ProVgreen L170, a liquid version of pea proteins for the clarification and fining of musts and wines.

Figure 4: Effect of different must treatments on DO420 and DO520 of wines.

Research carried out in collaboration with the IPV-INRA in Montpellier (France) as part of a thesis project also investigated the chemical structure of tannins eliminated by fining using plant proteins in comparison with previously established results with gelatins.

Figure 2 presents the results of the quantitative and qualitative study into tannins eliminated during the fining of a Merlot wine with 10 g/hL of plant protein and gelatine.

With regard to the quality of tannins eliminated, PP 3 precipitates highly polymerised tannins (average level of polymerisation of 10.5) and approximates the rates obtained with gelatin (11.5).

As with gelatins, galloylated units are selectively precipitated by plant proteins. Plant proteins react like gelatins.

Tannins with high average levels of polymerisation and which are strongly galloylated are selectively eliminated.

CASEIN-BASED PRODUCTS

SUMMARY OF TESTING RESULTS For each test, the researchers paid particular attention to the clarification kinetics, final turbidity, percentage of lees formed, traditional chemical analyses and optical densities at 420, 520, 620 and 280 nm, protein stability, filterability and the organoleptic characteristics of the treated wines.

All the results show that in most tests, plant proteins have an equivalent, or even superior action to the animal-based proteins used as reference. With regard to the reference fining agents and according to the fining objectives pursued, i.e. clarification,

64 Grapegrower & Winemaker

ACTIONS OF PLANT PROTEINS ON PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS IN WINES

In 2008, the R&D department at Martin Vialatte initiated the replacement of products made using casein, albumin from egg and isinglass with formulations based on plant proteins.

In addition to being unsuitable for vegan wines, these animal products are also potentially allergenic for consumers.

Products containing casein are highly effective, in particular for treating white and rosé musts for oxidation.

The aim of the tests carried out was to develop a suitable non-casein, non-allergenic formulation that meets the following needs:

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May 2016 – Issue 628

• Combating oxidation; • Eliminating herbaceous character and bitterness; and • Restoring the freshness and fruity character of musts and wines treated.

During the tests, the following parameters were observed: • Absorbance at 280 nm to estimate the quantity of polyphenols eliminated: the more the DO 280 drops after fining, the more effective the fining is; • Absorbance at 320 nm to estimate the quantity of oxidation precursors: the weaker the DO 320, the more protected the wine is against risk of oxidation; • Absorbance at 420 nm and 520 nm, colour intensity and hue for evaluating the change in colour caused by the treatment; • Turbidity to evaluate the speed of sedimentation; • Volume of lees to estimate the loss of wine; and • Tasting.

TESTS IN A CHAMPAGNE COOPERATIVE ON PINOT MEUNIER 'TAILLE' MUSTS In Champagne, the ‘taille’ musts, or musts from the second pressing, are obtained after the cuvée, which constitutes the higher quality must. Taille musts are generally more turbid, coloured, herbaceous and subject to oxidation.

During this test, taille must was enzymed with 2cL/hL of liquid enzyme then treated with the various products at a dose of 100 g/hL in 3hL vats.

The following colour and taste analyses were carried out after the malolactic fermentation: P5 and P6 are pea-based plant proteins, P1 (Polycase) is a product of animal origin containing, amongst other things, casein. Figure 3 shows that treatment with P6 is the most

effective in reducing DO 280, which proves its high reactivity to polyphenols. The impact of P5 on the wine is, for its part, very close to that of the reference P1.

For DO320, the results are close. All the treatments were effective in protecting the must from oxidation throughout the wine-making process.

The product with the greatest impact on colour is P6. This property is interesting for base wines as it means the amount of active charcoal required can be reduced.

Charcoal is used during the wine-making process for champagne-based and other sparkling wines to bleach the musts and wines when red grapes with white juice are used to make white wine. In terms of tasting, Figure 5 clearly shows that the organoleptic profile of the control is very different to that of the treated wines. The formulations tested had practically the same impact as the reference P1.

The three products improved the fruity and floral notes, as well as the acidic balance. They reduced dryness and bitterness.

The product P6 proved to be particularly effective in reducing the herbaceous character of the wine.

The products P1 and P6 reduced the colour (orange-yellow character) and thus the oxidised character of the wines.

The product P6 seems to be an interesting substitute for the reference P1 for increasing the floral and fruity notes of wines, improving their acid balance and also reducing their dryness, their bitterness and their herbaceous character.

Other trials with white and rosé wines from other regions confirmed these results, with the result that the formulation P6 was chosen to replace the reference Polycase. This new product based on plant proteins and combining the properties of Polycase was named Polygreen.

ProVGreen Pure Must www.martinvialatte.com

Pea proteins selected for the clarification and treatment of musts against oxidation

MARTIN

Rapid flocculation of suspended particles in must Removes oxidized or oxidizable phenolic compounds from must Ensures well compacted must deposits Contributes to aromatic freshness and to the preservation of a young tint in white and rosé wines

VIALATTE INNOVATION FOR VEGAN WINES

KTS Control

(controls indigenous microorganisms) Specific formulation based on chitosan Removal of undesirable microorganisms Significant decrease in Brettanomyces yeasts Fast acting distributed by:

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winemaking • Clarification of musts and wines; • Improvement to the organoleptic characteristics of wines; • Reduction of micro-organism populations, in particular Brettanomyces; and • Reduction in Ochratoxin A concentration.

Today, Martin Vialatte has two chitin-derived formulations that are non-allergenic and not of animal origin: KTS Control, a specific chitosan-based formulation for elimination unwanted micro-organisms, in particular Brettanomyces, and KTS Clear, a specific chitin-glucan-based formulation for eliminating unpleasant tastes (reduction, ethyl phenols) and for clarifying and fining wines.

From the second day, the population of Brettanomyces is reduced by 95% After 14 days, the number of micro-organisms detected dropped below the threshold of analytical detection.

Figure 6: Monitoring of the Brettanomyces population by quantitative PCR in a Merlot after the addition of 10 g/hL of KTS CONTROL

USING CHITIN DERIVATIVES FOR VEGAN WINES For several years, chitin derivatives have been available for treating musts and wines. Chitin is a polysaccharide that is widespread in nature and mainly used in the agro-food, cosmetics and health industries.

Chitin is mainly produced from crustacean shells, but only chitin of fungal origin is authorised for use in wine-making.

Its principal derivatives are chitosan and chitin-glucan.

These compounds have several properties:

CONCLUSION There is no official charter specifying the permitted practices or oenological products for making vegan wines. But some key principles are recognised by most vegans.

First, vegan wines must be made using organic grapes, and the producer must not use animals to cultivate the vines.

Finally, the oenological products used must not be of animal origin.

The Martin Vialatte range today offers several products that are compatible with a vegan lifestyle.

These formulations have a mode of action and an impact on the musts and wines similar to fining agents of animal-origin, and are important tools for makers of vegan wines.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

A practical guide to blending In this article, David Cowderoy provides some practical guidance on blending, based on his experience across more than 30 years of winemaking, during which he has prepared blends from 1000 litres up to more than half a million litres; for a wide range of wines styles; and from all across the world.

IN THE PAST 50 years the advances in the science of wine production have been rapid and far reaching, enabling a better level of wine quality than every before.

However blending is one area that still fundamentally relies on the capabilities of individuals. Statistical analysis can provide tools to guide the process but at the end of the day the blending itself is a skill which must be learnt, so posing a challenge to many new producers.

THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT Perform the tastings in a room free of background aromas. A laboratory is not a good place due to chemical smells, especially if there is a burner or heater.

Similarly a kitchen has too many food aromas.

Allow plenty of time and don’t be tempted to rush. And ensure there are no disturbances, like phone calls. The

ability to concentrate is one of the key factors required in tasting.

Avoid taking samples just after any addition of SO2. The aromas will be bleached out and dulled. But at the other extreme young wines with little or no protection can rapidly oxidise so fill the sample bottles with CO2 or dry ice before taking the samples.

A sample highly charged with yeast will not be representative and a good clarity is important. If the tank is still very cloudy filter the wine through a small capsule filter or at the very least take the sample from just below the top of the tank, where it will have settled more.

However do not take directly from the top as this could have a degree of oxidation, especially if the tank is ullaged.

You will obviously need plenty of identical tasting glasses and a spittoon.

Plus to prepare trial blends a 100ml

measuring cylinder and 10ml graduated pipette. Also a marker pen to write on the glasses.

Samples of the previous vintage should be available for cross reference.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT AND ADVICE An analysis is also useful, particularly for parameters where there are limits and implications. i.e. free & total SO2, copper, TA, Alcohol, VA and residual sugar.

Avoid planning to work on too many blends all at once. You will need to repeatedly taste the wines and palate fatigue can be a major problem.

Before you start the process of blending establish an objective. This should be based on factors such as target style, release date, price point and for sparkling dosage level (Brut, Extra Brut, Demi-Sec etc).

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winemaking Try and anticipate how the wine will develop. This is particularly important with sparking wine where the ageing curve can vary considerably depending on variety and pressing fraction, as shown in figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1: Ageing curve and pressing fraction

Figure 2: Ageing curve and variety

There are many nuances that will influence the ageing curve but probably the most important is pH. The lower the pH, the longer the ageing curve, but not necessarily the greater the peak quality.

Aromatic varieties can be particularly hard to blend unless you have prior knowledge of how they will age. For instance, Schoenburger can sometimes have wonderful floral aromas that work very well in a blend when the wine is young, yet totally dominate when the wine has some bottle age. Or Bacchus from very ripe grapes may be great when young but after time in bottle will become flabby and fat.

For large blends one route here is to adopt a sliding blend. That is two or more blends that are destined for the same label/market but released at different times. The early release blends will have a higher proportion of the more forward wines and the later blends more of the wines that will age well. Theoretically this could be viewed as producing two different blends. However, it is a route to creating a more consistent style, which is often checked by supermarkets.

When tasting young wines it is very easy to become distracted by characteristics of the wine that can be

manipulated. In particular acidity. This if course can be reduced in the final blend and do not overlook the drop that will occur on cold stabilisation, which can be substantial.

For PDO and PGI sparkling cuvees, acidification is possible which can be particularly useful for the taille, especially in ripe years. Of course modification of acidity will change the pH, with an effect on the ageing curve.

Another distraction can be phenolics, apparent as astringency and/or bitterness. These can be reduced with proteinaceous fining agents but if there is a particularly problematic wine it is better to do this before blending rather than after. However, bear in mind how the wines will develop. Phenolics can sometimes give young white and rosé wines structure and texture but these do not tend to age well.

Young wines can often be reduced which can be very off putting. The fruit also tends to be far less expressive when the wine is in a reduced state. This may dissipate with time and processing but for blending it is better to treat the sample with copper to remove this.

Young red wines high in dissolved CO2 can be particularly hard to taste as

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May 2016 – Issue 628

this re-enforces the acid and tannins. Try and remove this by shaking the sample or sparging with nitrogen.

FLEXIBILITY CAN BE IMPORTANT Keep an open mind about what will work and what will not. Sometimes the results can be surprising. An interesting example was a tank of Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux that had a problematic ferment and lacked varietal aroma. My initial approach was to use it in a second label but quite surprisingly it improved the overall quality of the first label, adding texture and mouth feel.

Similarly, small changes to the blend can have a profound effect. The most striking example I have encountered was a Chardonnay blend from the Languedoc, with which I was struggling due to a lack of aroma. Just one per cent of Muscat lifted the nose and significantly improved it.

But two per cent was too much.

In trying to produce a blend for a flagship wine, it is tempting to start with just the best wines. But the approach often doesn’t work. The best analogy is two solo artists performing a duet. Each will vie for center stage and the overall result not as good as a lead singer with good backing.

One of the most important starting points for blending is to have a large range of wines with which to work.

Creating a wine of complexity with just two or three wines is like tying to paint a picture with just a couple of colours.

The winemaker has at is disposal numerous tools to achieve this, not just variety and clone but yeast strain, lees handling, oak treatment and so on. Plus, the 15% rule should always be kept in mind. 15% of a previous vintage or a different variety (or both) will not compromise the label but may help the blend significantly.

One of the most difficult scenarios for blending is where multiple products need to be blended from multiple tanks. The situation can rapidly become confusing with seemingly endless permutations.

I find the easiest way to keep track and visualise this is with a spreadsheet.

Once you have narrowed the blend to one or two possibilities, prepare a larger sample to be evaluated later, in a more consumer-like environment, such as at home or with colleagues.

Your palate is a key tool for blending and so it is important to maintain and increase your tasting range. Cellar palate is a particular problem, where

winemakers try just their own wines. It is important to try a wide range of wines on a regular basis, including competitors.

Trade tastings are particularly useful for this and acting as a judge for competitions very useful for benchmarking your palate against other industry experts.

The skill of blending is not an easy one or one that comes quickly, but taken step by step you will gradually develop your expertise and so hone what is a very powerful production tool.

About the author: David Cowderoy completed postgraduate studies at Roseworthy College in the mid-1980s before starting his winemaking career in England.

He is one of the few second generation UK wine producers, having been born at Rock Lodge vineyard, planted by his father in the 1960s.

He was one of the first to produce sparkling wine in the UK and was central to the formation of Chapel Down, now one of the largest wineries.

He was also a consultant in Argentina, Chile, France and Romania.

In 2000 he joined Bottle Green as their International group winemaker, then joined Waverly Vintners in a similar role.

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winemaking

Wine regions

and whisky

ACCESS to high quality barley and barrels and a variable yet temperate climate have distillers confident South Australia can emerge as a top-shelf whisky region.

A $2.5 million distillery in the McLaren Vale wine region – best known for its bold shiraz - will begin operating this month with the aim of releasing its first single malt in about two years.

John Rochfort, the McLaren Vale Distillery founder and general manager, has moved back to South Australia after several years honing his craft in Tasmania, one of the premier whisky producing regions in the southern hemisphere.

His last role was as CEO at Lark Distillery – the gold medal winner for Best World Whisky at the International Whisky Competition in Chicago in 2014.

Rochfort said access to high quality local barrels was one of the reasons McLaren Vale was chosen as the site for the distillery.

“We’ve selected some incredible South Australian barrels with amazing history like a 90-year-old Muscat cask that continually held Muscat for the entire period of time – it was the same block of Muscat every single season – and we’ve got our hands on some incredible port barrels as well,” he said.

“A lot of the vineyards are coming forward with their best, award-winning barrels saying ‘we’d love you to have them, please in four or five years when it’s ready can you spare us a bottle’.”

In recent years India and Taiwan have emerged as leading warm climate whisky producers while the southern Australian island of Tasmania has long been known as a hot spot for high quality single malts.

McLaren Vale is about 10km from the coast and is warmer than Tasmania but cooler than Bangalore and Taiwan. Its Mediterranean climate has average maximum temperatures between 14C and 28C and average minimums between 7C and 16C. Rochfort said the distillery’s location in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges overlooking the vale was an “amazing climate” for maturing whisky.

“We get these really crisp, cool nights and then South Australian summer days and then in the afternoon around three

70 Grapegrower & Winemaker

or four o’clock we get these really nice cool breezes that bring it right back down so for maturing barrels and really getting the most out of the wood it’s an amazing location,” he said.

A malting plant will be built on site to allow barley from specific districts to be malted individually to make true single batch whiskies.

“What we’ve been able to do is work with farmers in four specific regions of South Australia – they each have their own climate that produce a different character to the grain.

“So by doing that small batch malting, every single barrel we put out will have its own provenance from the grain.”

Rochfort will work alongside his brothers Nicholas and Lachlan and father Christopher at the distillery.

They plan to mature most of the whisky in 100 and 200-litre barrels, but will initially use some 50-litre barrels to kick start the operation.

“Obviously with the wood to spirit ratios they will mature much faster so I would expect that in two years, two and a half years there to be a first release,” he said.

“We would like to think it would be a good rich, oily whisky, that’s got a lovely oily mouth feel and is rich with a really good palate feel, that’s the goal.

“Bill Lark in Tasmania really taught me everything I know and I spent a lot of years tasting and assessing Lark whiskies before we made them available for release and everything that we did in Tasmania we’re recreating here with the benefit of a much better ability to select barrels.

“We’ve already been approached by a couple of different countries putting their hands up for our first thousand bottles, which we haven’t even put down yet -demand is incredible at the moment.”

Output at the distillery, which has been helped by a $500,000 South Australian Government Regional Development Fund grant, is limited because it can only process 100 tonnes of barley a year.

“So we’re looking at around 20,000 litres in our first year growing to a maximum of 50,000 litres by year five,” Rochfort said.

The range of whiskies will start with the McLaren Vale

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McLaren Vale Distillery founder John Rochfort, third from left, with his team.

single malt at $120-$150 through to the Bloodstone Collection featuring the “Best of the best” barrels from South Australia, ranging in price from $500- $1000.

“These are barrels that have previously won amazing awards – it could be a 1967 Grange Hermitage barrel – so when we get hold of these barrels we want their complete history from everything that ever went into that barrel, the dates of the fill, it must have only ever had the same grape variety from the same block in that barrel or we won’t accept it as a Bloodstone barrel,” Rochfort said.

“The grain must be specially grown on farms, it must maintain its provenance.

“When we bottle them, an original bottle of the Muscat, or Sherry or Port or Bourbon or whatever was in that barrel before we took use of it will be part of that box set when the whisky is matured. You’ll also be able to have a little bottle of the Mount Lofty spring water that we use, a little sample of the grain that we use for that particular bottling and some shavings of the actual wood from the barrel as well as the bottle of single malt.”

Rochfort said he was working with separate groups in three other South Australian wine regions – Barossa Valley, Limestone Coast and Clare Valley – who wanted to start their own whisky distilleries.

“We would really like to see the single malts representing the regions of South Australia because each region has its own special wines and grain growing abilities and to be able to produce a single malt which is truly made up of that region’s input is the goal,” he said.

About 45km south of McLaren Vale at the mouth of Australia’s biggest river, The Murray, Gareth Andrews has been running the Steam Exchange Brewery in Goolwa for a decade, where he now also distils whisky. He hopes to launch his first single malt towards the end of the year.

The G R Andrews & Sons Fleurieu Distillery is producing spirit for three established Australian whisky makers – including two in Tasmania – to help provide cash flow while its whisky matures.

Andrews said South Australian distillers were beginning see the opportunities created by a global whisky boom.

“Globally, the whole whisky boom is on and people are looking for quality over quantity and they are starting to realise that good quality single malt whiskies can be made in other places than Scotland,” Andrews said.

“We’ve got the barley, we’ve got the climate, so everything’s good.”

Adelaide-based Southern Coast Distillers began selling its South Australian whisky in 2011. Jim Murray described one of its single malts in the 2012 edition of The Whisky Bible as “one of the most astonishing whiskies it has been my honour to taste”.

May 2016 – Issue 628

Based on the Ripper Method, Hanna sulfur dioxide mini titrators use an optimised pre-programmed method of analysis with a powerful algorithm that determines the completion of the titration reaction by the use of a specialised oxidation reduction potential (ORP) electrode.

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winemaking

Climate change and wine production in the UK There’s already excitement building about the viticulture opportunities and winemaking excellence from an island not far from a major wine producing country – and this time we’re not talking about Tasmania.

THE IDEA OF CLIMATE CHANGE turning the UK into a viable wine-making region may have boosted the industry in recent years. But cold snaps, sharp frosts and downpours threaten productivity – according to University of East Anglia research.

As UK wine producers prepare for what they hope will be a bumper 2016 season a study published today reveals that year-to-year climate variability and hazardous weather at key points in the growing season leave the industry highly sensitive to the elements.

It also suggests that in vogue varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot noir are more susceptible to UK climate variability than traditional varieties.

Over the last decade there has been a boom in English wine production.

The amount of land used for viticulture (vine growing) has increased by 148 per cent – with around 1884 hectares (the equivalent of 2638 football pitches) currently devoted to the industry.

It is not just the scale of production that has grown. Producers are receiving global recognition for their premium quality wines - in particular English Sparkling Wine, which is out-classing other more famous sparkling wineproducing regions.

Researchers from UEA studied the UK’s main grape-growing regions and looked at the relationships between temperature, rainfall, extreme weather events and yield. They also surveyed wine producers for their views on the role of climate change in the success of English wine.

By combining this data, they were able to identify opportunities and threats to the industry for the first time.

Lead researcher Alistair Nesbitt, from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said: “The UK has been warming faster than the global average since 1960 and eight of the warmest years in the last century have occurred since 2002.

Producers recognised the contribution of climate change to the sectors recent growth, but also expressed concerns about threats posed by changing conditions.

“We wanted to see whether potential future climate change may make wine-

72 Grapegrower & Winemaker

KEY FINDINGS: • J une rainfall is the most powerful weather indicator in explaining year-toyear yield variability in the UK; • In central-southern and south-eastern England, the UK’s dominant viticultural areas, there has been a non-linear warming during the growing season over the last 50 years; • Weather variations and extreme events impact productivity from year to year; • Frosts pose a particularly high threat to yields if they occur at critical times such as soon after bud-burst in Spring; and • A recent change in dominant UK vine varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot noir has increased sensitivity to weather variability. making more viable in the UK by first analysing sensitivity to past climate variability.

“We found that while average temperatures over the growing season have been above a key minimum threshold for ‘cool-climate’ viticulture for two decades, wine yields vary considerably.”

“Our findings identify threats to the industry, as well as opportunities,” said Nesbitt.

“High quality wine grapes grow best with an average growing season temperature in the range of 13-21oC. But even within this range, there are other factors at play.

“Since 1993, the average southern England growing season temperature has consistently been above 13oC and since 1989 there have been 10 years where the temperature was 14oC or higher (up to 2013). This is around the same temperature as the sparkling wine producing region in Champagne during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

“However by comparison, UK wine yields are very low. In Champagne, yields can be more than 10,000 litres per hectare, but in the UK, it is around 2,100 www.winetitles.com.au

on average.

“While rising average temperatures are important, the impact of short term weather events such as cold snaps, sharp frosts, and downpours will continue to threaten productivity.”

The research attributes bumper years (1996, 2006 and 2010) to optimum temperatures and weather conditions - warm springs and autumns and the absence of frosts at critical times.

Meanwhile low yielding years (1997, 2007, 2008 and 2012) are attributed to wet and cold weather during flowering, wet and cold growing seasons, low levels of sunlight, poor summers and/or spring frosts.

“We found that the spring months of April and May have become warmer over the last 25 years. This is a significant time when buds burst and initial shoot growth takes place. Warmer temperatures at this time indicate an earlier start and lengthening of the season.

“However, when warmer temperatures occur in April there is potential for increased vulnerability if a May air frost follows.

“In June, wet weather, particularly when combined with cool and overcast conditions, can really impact the flowering process, delaying it and reducing the number of berries and young grapes forming on the vines. We saw a correlation between high June rainfall and poor yield across the whole period we studied.

“A recent change in dominant UK vine varieties has also increased the industry’s sensitivity to weather variability. There has been a drive to produce English sparkling wines such as Chardonnay and Pinot noir - but these grapes are more sensitive to our climate variability.

“It’s too early to predict what the weather may hold in store for the 2016 growing season, but a warm spring with low frost levels would be the promising start producers are hoping for.”

‘Climate and weather impacts on UK viticulture’ is published in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Production on April 1, 2016. The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and Chateau de Sours.

May 2016 – Issue 628

New national single vineyard wine show of the ‘best single vineyard shiraz’ will THE COWRA WINE SHOW is one of be awarded the Seguin Moreau trophy of only a few non-capital city national wine one premium fine wine barrel. shows. Russell Cody, the chief judge, A modest entry fee and minimum stock together with Tim Knappstein, a former 2016 COWRA WINE SHOW levels of 50 dozen at time of entry will chief judge, and their senior fellow TIMETABLE give smaller producers the opportunity judges encouraged the Cowra committee Schedules available: to benchmark their wonderful single to introduce a wine show for single Monday 2 May vineyard wines alongside both small and vineyard wines. In 2015 the inaugural Entries close: large producers.

Australian National Single Vineyard Friday 10 June Entry Schedules for both shows will Wine Show (ANSVWS) was held with the Entries to be received by: be emailed to producers on May 2 and number of entries showing a wonderful Friday 8 July may also be downloaded from the web acceptance by the industry. site www.cowrashow.com. Entries can The 34th Cowra Wine Show will be Judging: be made on line with secure payment held in August 2016 where the ANSVWS August 1-4 facilities or a paper entry form can be will once again be centre stage. Since Exhibitors tasting: downloaded for mail or scanned for the launch of the new show in 2015, Thursday 4 August email entries. Judging will take place in producers and winemakers have Public tasting: the week commencing 1 August. expressed considerable interest and Saturday 6 August Wine lovers will be able to taste wines enthusiasm with this initiative. entered in the two shows on Saturday Trophy presentation: The Cowra Wine Show committee is 6 August at the public tasting, a feature hopeful that this new initiative will lead Saturday 13 August event catering for 750 guests. to the ANSVWS becoming the Cowra The presentation function on Saturday Wine Show. As well as awarding the 13 August will give guests another opportunity sample the class winning wines with valuable trophies, the viticulturists trophy winning wines. or growers of the fruit in the ‘white table wine of the show’ For more information: and the ‘red table wine of the show’ will each receive a Email cowrawineshow@bigpond.com prestigious Riedel decanter and Riedel glassware. The winner

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winemaking

Who likes which sparkling and why?

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Kerry Wilkinson is getting exceptional value out of 50 bottles of sparkling white wine and 24 bottles of Moscato.

They are the basis of a two-pronged research study looking to determine what wine styles and attributes appeal to different consumer groups, as well as whether there are any consistent chemical markers in the wines that are indicative of quality.

Funded by Wine Australia, it’s a project where science meets marketing and involves Wilkinson, an oenologist, and colleagues from the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia, as well as specialists from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga.

The first step was to ask a sector reference group to select 50 sparkling white wines across the four key production methods – Carbonated, Transfer, Charmat and Methode Traditionelle – that presented a cross section of what Australian wineries are producing. An expert panel rated the quality of each wine, using the Australian 20-point judging system. A trained panel then completed descriptive analysis, rating the intensity of key aroma, flavour and palate attributes.

For the consumer phase of the project, CSU Consumer Sensory Scientist Professor Anthony Saliba used statistical analysis to identify six wines that were representative of the entire sensory profile. Fortuitously, these included at least one wine from each production method.

Next, 150 consumers provided information about themselves, their wine knowledge and their attraction to sparkling wine, before blind tasting the 6 wines and giving their honest opinion.

Analysis of their responses allowed the consumers to be divided into four separate segments.

Looking for demographic links between people in each segment – such as age, gender, education, income or level of wine knowledge – starts to build a picture of whether certain types of consumers are more attracted to specific styles of sparkling wine.

Sparkling wine is an interesting style because it’s so diverse – trying to understand how the different techniques are driving the different sensory attributes.

“That’s useful for the sector, because it allows particular wine styles to be marketed to consumers in a certain segment,” Wilkinson said. “For example, some consumers aren’t going to appreciate the complex characters of Method Traditionelle sparkling wines, but they might instead like a lighter or fruitier style.”

The same process was then repeated with the Moscato, and there were some surprises.

“I have to admit I probably stereotyped Moscato as fruity and sweet, but the descriptive analysis was quite varied and the panel could differentiate quite a lot – some a bit tropical, some more confectionary, some with developed characters off a simple base,” Wilkinson said. “I also suspected that Moscato was just an entry level wine, but a number of highly involved consumers were quite favourable towards it.”

Full findings from the consumer study are expected to be published soon.

In the second part of the project, due for completion in May, all 50 sparkling white wines underwent fairly extensive chemical analysis, with the researchers looking at protein and polysaccharide content, amino and organic acids, and aroma and flavour volatiles. Wine composition was then compared with the expert panel’s rating of each wine.

“We generated a lot of data and that’s what we are trying to work through to understand if there is something in any of those suite of measurements that we’ve made that links through to quality ratings. Is there something that’s in the wines that were given high scores, but not in the lower scoring wines?

“Hopefully there are going to be some key compositional markers that we can use to identify quality.”

Wilkinson said it’s been “a great project to work on”.

“As a chemist, sparkling wine is an interesting style because it’s so diverse – trying to understand how the different techniques are driving the different sensory attributes.”

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May 2016 – Issue 628

Tips to help move your wine from the winery to the shelves Peter Walker, Portavin business development manager, takes a look at the practical steps the winery can take to ensure the process of getting the latest release wine into the marketplace.

With vintage winding down across Australia, it is an ideal time to reconsider these useful tips.

1. REVIEW YOUR BRAND AND PACKAGING Engage in a brand review session with your marketing team and key stake holders to ensure your branding and packaging is congruent with your brand values and is appealing to your potential consumers. It can help to get an outsiders opinion (e.g. speak with friends, colleagues and other people that are not so close to your brand).

Anything from slight refreshment of artwork through to strategic re-positioning of your brand can increase sales. Do this when you have plenty of time so as not to rush decisions or put pressure on supply to market.

2. SOMETIMES SIMPLE CHANGES MAKE SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS SENSE Changes in packaging can reduce costs and help contribute to higher margins.

Glass is a good example, it is a major contributor to packaging costs and by

switching to a different bottle you may actually be able to reduce costs, and with minimal changes to appearance.

then leave it to your supplier to ensure delivery is made in time to meet the bottling dates.

3. ORDER PRINTED DRYGOODS WELL IN ADVANCE OF YOUR PLANNED BOTTLING DATE

5. PENCIL IN BOTTLING DATES WELL IN ADVANCE

Printed screwcaps generally have the longest lead time however labels and cartons can take just as long. Ideally allow at least eight weeks from sign-off of artwork.

If you are waiting on confirmation of some detail (i.e. alcohol level) don’t hold up submitting what details you do have – keep things moving, it may even mean less of a delay.

4. FORECAST YOUR GLASS Current supply lines mean you need to order your glass around four weeks prior to delivery (and that’s for standard bottles). If you have chosen something slightly (or vastly) different, it may even take longer.

The greater lead time you can provide your supplier, when it comes to bottle types, colour, volumes and dates, the better. If you are working ahead, you can

To ensure you meet your important sales commitments, you need to provide your bottling partners with as much notice as possible. Information around each wine that will help them get organised in advance includes: • Variety; • Vintage; • Volume (approx.); • Specific label/brand; • Carton format (six-pack or dozen); and • Whether the job is for fully-packaged wines or cleanskins.

I trust this might assist you to get your wine into your key markets in a timely and stress-free matter. Hope you had a successful vintage and that strong sales will follow.

For more information on Portavin services visit their website www.portavin. com.au.

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winemaking

Lucky break for Melbourne students CONSUMERS MIGHT NOT THINK about winemaking as a physically demanding job, but on a stinking hot summer day in February at Dale Wheeler’s Chum Creek vineyard, it becomes clear that a certain level of physical resilience is definitely required.

A student in Melbourne Polytechnic’s degree in Agriculture and Technology majoring in viticulture and winemaking, Wheeler walked the avenues of Chardonnay and Syrah vines

high on the hills of Chum Creek, north-east of Melbourne, and described the journey that had led to him and his business partner, Rhen Dodd, launching their independent wine label, Strenua, in 2014.

According to Wheeler, a Brunswick resident, it was a combination of a chance opportunity and lots of hard work which led to their current success. In 2011, the owners of the Chum Creek property had purchased the property with its 22-year-old vines, but didn’t have the resources or desire to manage the vineyard.

Pulling out the vines would have been an expensive exercise and a waste of a resource, so in 2013 they contacted Melbourne Polytechnic to see if any of the viticulture students might be interested in managing the vines and harvesting the grapes.

Wheeler and Dodd, a former Melbourne Polytechnic student, jumped at the chance, recognising the opportunity presented by a closed-loop business model – making wine for their own label from fruit grown in vineyards they were caring for – was a rare opportunity.

“We made a decision early on to run the vineyard completely organically, with a focus on generating greater biodiversity within the soils,” Wheeler said. “We believe this leads to more expressive wines.”

As part of this approach the pair also chose not to use glyphosate-based chemicals either under-vine or in the midrow, they also sought to improve soil health with seaweed and site-fermented fish emulsions – the ultimate aim being high quality wine.

The wines are made with just a small amount of sulfur dioxide, necessary to preserve the wines.

After a lot of hard work, the pair have produced their first well-received vintage of a boutique small-run wine that sells quickly, thanks to the support of Melbourne’s independent wine sellers.

“It’s nice to see that it was well received by the public and not just our mates,” Wheeler said.

The single-barrel releases of Rosé and Chardonnay have

2016 Edition OUT NOW

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almost sold out, with small volumes of Syrah not far behind.

The pair sells wine through a handful of wine bars and independent retail outlets, an approach that was an easy extension of their years of wine trade experience.

Both Wheeler and Dodd still work full-time in the trade, but hope to eventually make their label a bigger part of their career.

It doesn’t hurt that Dale completed a Bachelor of Business (Advertising) at Queensland University of Technology before moving to Melbourne and pursuing his passion for wine at Melbourne Polytechnic.

“The Melbourne Polytechnic course really complements practical experience and provides a realistic view of what you will be faced with. When you’re working on a student budget with no equipment, it’s very challenging, and the teachers in the course have been very supportive,” says Dale.

Part of the practical experience he gained through the course was taking part in a study tour to Spain in 2014, spending three weeks in Rueda, central Spain, to produce a full vintage of Verdejo, Tempranillo and Garnacha rosé.

The chardonnay grapes at the Chum Creek vineyard were harvested in February, and the Syrah in early March, so Strenua’s customers are eagerly anticipating the 2016 vintage.

Wheeler and Dodd are currently busy processing the grapes while their two Southdown sheep keep the grass down between the resting vines.

Melbourne Polytechnic operates across six campuses and five specialist training centres throughout Melbourne. The institute delivers high quality vocational and higher education in industry-standard facilities.

For more information visit www.melbournepolytechnic.edu.au.

Product Update

Prevention of bacteria spoilage THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT types of bacterial species that can cause spoilage in wine. Some types of Lactobacillus can produce volatile compounds such as acetic acid or diacetyl, which contribute unwanted flavours and aromas. Another group, Pediococcus is capable of producing biogenic amines as well as negatively impacting on texture. In both cases bacterial infection is more likely to

occur during sluggish fermentations, or during storage, post MLF. The ability to screen for these two groups of organisms can be the key to controlling their growth and preventing problems from occurring. However, traditional methods for the detection of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are time consuming and labour intensive.

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winemaking

Bec Duffy claims Tasmania’s ‘rural women’s award’ HOLM OAK WINES CO-OWNER and winemaker Rebecca Duffy has been recognised for her services to the wine and primary industries by being awarded Tasmanian ‘rural women’s award’ for 2016.

The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) award is Australia’s pre-eminent award for regional women. The award identifies and supports emerging female leaders who have the desire, commitment and leadership potential to make a greater contribution to primary industries and rural communities.

Jeremy Rockliff, Tasmania’s Primary Industries Minister revealed that, as the winner of the Tasmanian Rural Women’s Award, Duffy will be able to visit cellar doors and wineries throughout Australia, the US and South Africa, with the assistance of the $10,000 prize. In addition, Rebecca will represent Tasmania at the national titles for the Award.

“My project is to do a cellar door study tour, and discover unique and dynamic cellar door experiences to bring back to Tasmania and the Tamar Valley in particular,” Duffy said. “A lot of cellar door experiences in Australia represent standard tastings. We want to create something different and compelling to give people a reason to visit us.

Duffy is keen to visit the Napa Valley and nearby Sonoma County, in California. The cellar doors Duffy is particularly keen to visit include:

• Kendall Jackson, Sonoma County, “for their sensory garden as this is something we are implementing at Holm Oak”; • Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley, “because you can only visit by appointment and this is an area I would like to explore… not so no one comes, but to be so popular that you have to book to visit. This enables you to control numbers and give visitors the best possible experience”; and • St Supery, Napa Valley, “for their ampelography tours, an interesting and fun way to explore the vineyard, and their wine aroma identification tastings”.

“I’m still researching other cellar doors, but am particularly interested in finding a place that does barrels tastings well and integrates local produce and wine together for a unique experience,” Duffy said.

“I also want to see what is happening in Australia.”

Her local wish-list includes: • Crittenden Estate, Mornington Peninsula, where “they have recently opened their wine centre and do structured tastings which is something I am interested in doing more of. Also, they are a smaller wine producer doing tourism well, so perhaps is more relevant to me”; • Shaw and Smith, Adelaide Hills, because “their wine flights have been successful over a number of years”; • Magill Estate, suburban Adelaide, where “the prestige and

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May 2016 – Issue 628

history is impressive, perhaps something to aspire too. I’m also keen to see the level of detail and customer service as these are very important in creating a world class experience”; and • Innocent Bystander, Yarra Valley, even though “I know it is changing hands, but I was interested in their barrel hall tasting of the Giant Steps wines”.

“I’m still searching for other small producers in both the Napa and Australia to visit who are offering unique and dynamic experiences, recently vintage has gotten in the way of my research,” Duffy said.

“Depending on the budget and time I would also like to visit South Africa, I haven’t picked out any particular cellar doors yet, but from all accounts they do wine tourism particularly well.”

Duffy believes Tasmania is well positioned to become one of the world’s greatest touring destinations for agricultural and wine tourism, and the end goal of her study tour is to inject fresh ideas into the Tasmanian wine industry.

“There are massive opportunities for Tasmania – tourism is growing significantly within the state and the Tasmanian wine sector is going from strength to strength, so to combine the two can create a really strong and compelling business model.”

The Award acknowledges women’s leadership capacity in effecting change and influence through connecting and collaborating, and creates opportunities for women to drive innovation and build resilience. The award is about finalists identifying a learning opportunity that will benefit both the finalist and the industry in which they work.

Rebecca Duffy has been at the helm of Holm Oak Wines, with her husband Tim Duffy, for 10 years. Production of premium cool-climate wine from fruit at Holm Oak’s Rowella vineyard has increased from 1500 cases per year to 12,000. In this time, a new winery has been built, a bottling line installed and the original cellar door has expanded into a compelling tourism destination.

In her spare time, Duffy is a director of Wine Tasmania, secretary of the Tamar Valley Wine Route group and mother of two young children.

Duffy is an experienced winemaker, with 17 years’ experience including roles in McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, the Napa Valley as well as WA’s Capel Vale Wines where she was senior winemaker before returning to Tasmania in 2006.

The Holm Oak wines reflect the Duffy’s minimalist approach to winemaking, which is probably far too simplistic an explanation for the intuitive way she makes wine – with cold soak, whole bunch and wild ferment techniques all at her disposal as she works with Pinot Noir.

“To be honest, we mostly do our own ‘research’ – though I’m not sure you can call it that – by doing trials each year to see what works with the different clones and different blocks of Pinot that we have,” Duffy said. “Pinot noir seems to be a bit of a moving target and what works in one year doesn’t necessarily work the next. Similarly, what works at one vineyard does not work at another.

“However, there are potentially some broader areas of research that can provide some tools when you have particular problems. The work that Anna Carew and Angela Sparrow are doing at TIA (the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture) is interesting in regards to the extraction of Pinot Noir phenolics.

“I’ve tasted some wines from some research that Angela did using a stick blender to macerate the skins which was really interesting and possibly useful; however, the effect varied depending on the fruit source which is why we try and conduct our own trials as much as possible.”

May 2016 – Issue 628

For further information, please contact Kauri AUS Tel: 1800 127 611 AUS Fax: 1800 127 609 Email: winery@kauri.co.nz

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people & places

People and places: The country comes to the city Clare Valley producers recently showcased their wines in the middle of Adelaide to launch the 2016 Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend.

Held on Leigh Street, a bustling foodie destination, the pop-up wine tasting event saw more than 20 Clare Valley

wineries exhibit new vintage varieties, flagship wines and iconic Rieslings.

Matthew Lawson, Clare Valley Winemakers Incorporated chair, said it was a great opportunity for the public to sample the very best of Clare Valley in the heart of the city.

1

“We wanted to bring a little snapshot of Clare to the city and show people what makes our region truly special,” he said.

“What better place to do this than at the trending dining precinct, Leigh Street.”

2

3 1. Greg Cooley from Greg Cooley Wines had his 2015 Laura & Shane bubbles out for tastings.

2. Karen and Michelle representing Taylors.

3. Faerlie Pearse from Kirrihill Wines.

4. Darius Pask represented Mocandunda Vineyard at the event.

5. Stephanie Toole and Alex Grosset from Mount Horrocks.

6. Annette Barry 7. Johno and Jason from Kilikanoon.

8. Jack Walker and Luke Broadbent were pouring O’Leary Walker wines.

4

5

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sales & marketing Treasury to back regions for sales pitch WHEN TREASURY WINE ESTATES announced its plans to put nine key wine brands in the spotlight, the selection was based on regionality. The company said regions would become “a key part of the next stage of the company’s global brand strategy”.

Christian Sims, the newly appointed general manager for regional wines, said the new initiative was about putting extra focus back on regional brands. He said the nine brands chosen represented the best of regional wine in Australia in terms of diversity and quality.

The brands include Coldstream Hills, Devil’s Lair and Seppelt. Sims said although Treasury had made the decision to close the Great Western winery the brand still represented regionality.

“The Seppelt brand is critical,” he said. “It stands out as an icon of Victoria.”

Other regional ‘gems’, including T’Gallant, Heemskerk and Saltram, will follow the trajectory established by TWE’s global focus brands; supported by a new team focused on maximising the potential of these regional wines.

“We believe that these nine brands represent the best of regional wine in Australia in terms of diversity and quality

of region,” Sim said. “We are looking for more people to enjoy these wines and are committed to increasing production and invest in these brands.”

As foreshadowed by Michael Clarke, Treasury’s chief executive officer, the company has committed to the promotion of regional wines in order to realise growth opportunities both within Australia and internationally.

“We will reinvigorate and grow these regional ‘gems’ just as we have other brands in our portfolio,” Clarke said.

“These brands will have the freedom and the independence to grow – they are treasured wines that we will transform into regional champions, sold globally.

“Opportunity exists to think about, manage and invest in these brands differently. Our dedicated gems brand team will consider all options to ensure these brands maximise their value contribution to Treasury Wine Estates,” Clarke said.

Regional Gems marks the next stage of Treasury’s brand transformation strategy after 15 brands were identified as global priority brands in 2015, with marketing support focused to drive growth in key regions across the world.

The dedicated team, led by Sims, will focus exclusively on optimising the sales, marketing and value contribution of these wines. The team will also be supported by an Advisory Panel that includes one of Australia’s most respected wine experts, James Halliday AM. “We are determined to deliver value growth from our regional gems. Our ambition is to export 50 per cent of our regional gems, and we have increased the Australian vintage intake for these brands by approximately 40% this year to help realise their potential,” Sims said.

Sim said although the initiative has not limited itself to one target market, the first port of call would be regions in the world that are comfortable with exporting wine.

“Counties that already have a really good appetite for Australian wine,” he said. “East coast US, Canada, big parts of Asia and specific cities within Europe as opposed to whole countries.”

“I see this strategy as helping to build ‘Brand Australia’ internationally, with a new focus on Australia’s presence in key overseas markets. I am genuinely excited about what the future holds for these brands,” Halliday said.

These brands will have the freedom and the independence to grow – they are treasured wines that we will transform into regional champions.

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10th vintage milestone MISHA’S VINEYARD celebrated its 10th vintage in April with a birthday present that included the expanding distribution into Myanmar and Indonesia.

From the outset, the strategy for the spectacularly-located Misha’s Vineyard, has been to build a premium brand working primarily with top restaurants and five-star hotels with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region according to Misha Wilkinson.

“When we launched our wines into the market in early 2010, we announced 3 distributors in Asia – Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong – as well as Negociants New Zealand as our domestic distribution partner,” Misha Wilkinson said. “Since then we’ve steadily increased our coverage across the Asia Pacific region and delighted to now be adding Myanmar and Indonesia, bringing the total number of markets in the region to fourteen.”

In Myanmar, Misha’s Vineyard will be represented by Ikon Mart, the key supplier to top hotels and premium restaurants for over 15 years, and in Indonesia, Misha’s Vineyard will focus on Bali working with Istana Indah Wines, which is owned by wine importer Pantja Artha Niaga. Misha’s Vineyard has also changed their distribution partner in China and since January 2016 has been represented by Prestige Fine Wines, based in Beijing.

In New Zealand, celebrations kicked off at The Rees Hotel in Queenstown with a nine-course degustation dinner. Estate owners Andy and Misha Wilkinson, delved into library stocks

to showcase the entire range of Misha’s Vineyard wines, sharing some of the best examples across the nine vintages in bottle so far. This included the first wine produced from their site as well as a selection that had claimed international accolades.

The celebrations continued across a recent business trip around Southeast Asia where Misha and Andy hosted a wine dinner in Kuching, the capital of the state of Sarawak on Borneo; and a wine tasting event in George Town, the Penang capital. The Wilkinsons also visited Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to conduct tastings and education then hosted several wine dinners in Singapore.

Misha’s Vineyard is located on one of the most spectacular sites in New Zealand at the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. Pinot Noir and a range of aromatic white varieties are planted on the north-west facing slopes of the 57-hectare property. The wines are made by Olly Masters.

The brand has been named among New Zealand’s Top 20 Producers by Decanter (UK) magazine. The wines are exported to more than 20 countries.

“Our strict marketing philosophy and approach has held us in good stead over six years since our wines were launched into the market. We have managed to build a premium brand in more than 20 export markets” Andy Wilkinson said. “Hitting our 10th vintage is a milestone worth celebrating but in wine terms it’s still early days. Our focus is now on the next 10 years and ensuring we stay true to our commitment to our distributors and customers and delivering the very best wines we can produce.”

Bottling Line Solutions Bottle National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550

May 2016 – Issue 628

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Is ‘brand Australia’ dead?

Australia’s largest wine company, Treasury Wine Estates, recently announced an initiative to put a spotlight on the regionality of their wines (as we’ve reported on the previous pages). The message was clear. Australia’s biggest wine company was moving away from ‘brand Australia’. Should other wine brands follow? Emilie Reynolds reports.

PERCEPTIONS OF AUSTRALIA The country: hot, far away, beaches, desert, surfing, tennis, kangaroos, sharks, Sydney, koalas The people: tanned, rough, simple, racist, uncultured, tough, strong, laid back, sporty, not funny but think we are, hard partying, sincere, honest The food: sheep, prawns, sharks, whales, crocodiles, everything cooked on BBQ, no vegetables.

N.B. Many Koreans believed we ate whales and only campaigned against whaling so we could eat them all ourselves The wine: okay through to very good perceptions

A RECENT STUDY asked trade and consumers from key global wine markets, including the US, UK and China, what they thought of Australian people. Among the top answers were “rough”, “simple” and “uncultured”.

The question was asked as part of a global study by Professor Roberta Crouch and funded by Wine Australia, the University of Adelaide and the Australian National University. Crouch had a goal of uncovering global perceptions of Australia, Australians and Australian wine to see how they could be affecting international wine sales.

Setting out to reveal the ‘country of origin’ effects for Australian wine, Crouch surveyed seven current or emerging wine markets to estimate the potential economic benefit for Australian wine exporters if the existing attitude towards ‘brand Australia’ changed.

WHAT DO THEY THINK OF US? Crouch said for wine, ‘country of origin’ has been found across numerous international studies to be consistently relied upon by consumers to inform their perceptions of wine quality and their willingness to pay a premium price - even overriding the actual taste of the wine in some instances.

“People don’t consider a product on its own,” she said.

“They consider the country, people, food and wine image all together.”

Armed with this information, Crouch interviewed key international trade and consumers from US, the UK, China, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and India to get a feel for what they thought about Australia.

Broken down into four categories, participants were questioned about their opinions on the country, people, food and wine. Answers varied but the image across the board was predominately stereotyped. Australia was hot, full of kangaroos and entirely Sydney. The people were tanned, tough and racist. The food was an array of barbequed meats primarily hunted straight from our coat of arms and the wine, well, it was “okay”.

Crouch described the perception of Australia as “single dimensional”.

“If we think of the USA- it’s multifaceted,” she explained. “But when people have a single dimension impression: they only think of one aspect of the country and for Australia it’s our landscape, history or animals.”

HOW TO FIX OUR IMAGE ISSUES When looking at wine specifically, Crouch found Australian wine garnered positive responses from China, Indonesia and India but was considered less favourable for the US, the UK, Korea and Vietnam.

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May 2016 – Issue 628

You don’t see Brand France or Brand Italy, you see Burgundy or Tuscany.

Even in the US, you don’t see Brand America for wine, you see Napa, Sonoma, or the Fingerlakes “Australia has image issues in USA and UK,” Crouch said.

“People already believe that Australian’s are bold, unique, honest and authentic. Our task is to form the message, to occupy our unique premium position based on our unique attributes.”

Dr Liz Thach, Professor of wine and management at Sonoma State University, gave a presentation about the state of Australian wine in the US at a Wine Industry Marketing Conference held in Adelaide recently. She said in the US ‘brand Australia’ has become tarnished.

“Most Americans perceive it as inexpensive bulk wine,” she said. “Only the sommeliers and wine experts know about the beautiful wines that you make.”

Thach said, moving forward, there were only really two choices available for Australian wine producers who wanted to successfully export to the US. “One is to continue your country strategy, but don’t call it Australia, and focus on more premium wines. If you’re going to insist on using a country brand, then call it something else — perhaps ‘Fine Wines from the Land of Oz. “Second is to resurrect your ‘regional hero’s strategy,’ which really never came to fruition in the US,” Thach said. “A regional

May 2016 – Issue 628

focus seems to make more sense, because you don’t see other fine wine countries using a country strategy – they use region.

“For example, in Europe, you don’t see Brand France or Brand Italy, you see Burgundy or Tuscany. Even in the US, you don’t see Brand America for wine, you see Napa, Sonoma, or the Fingerlakes. So Australia needs to rethink ‘brand Australia’ and focus on promoting its distinctive and amazing regional wines.”

Crouch said Australian wine producers need to stop emphasising our climate, animals and sporting culture.

“Let’s not emphasis stereotypes,” she said. “We would like to give international consumers something else to think about.

Promoting our reliable craftsmen and premium products will make us look good.

“We should always make people see that we are winningand not on the sporting field.”

Crouch suggested Australian wine producers who were struggling to enter the lucrative US market, should continue to work on changing their image.

“Avoid Australian slang and jargon, we want to be known for more than that,” she said. “Think about the overall presentation of your wine and the people who travel to represent your brand.”

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Canada market analysis: Best of both worlds There’s more to Canada’s wine market than meets the eye Canada has two distinct cultural groups, French-speaking Quebec and English-speaking Canada, but how does each shape the countries wine consumption? Chris Giles, Wine Intelligence marketing executive, explores the Canadian wine market.

WHEN IT COMES to the Canadian wine market, it looks as though there are many classic traits of a maturing wine market that can be easily applied, on the surface at least. Steady, but slowing, growth; a strong cohort of knowledgeable and adventurous consumers; and increasing numbers of regular drinkers are all present in this market, which is currently the 12th largest in the world.

On the positive side, a steadily growing population, and a higher proportion of who are drinking wine at least once a month, has resulted in a two million increase in adults drinking wine at least once a month since 2013.

More than 16million Canadian adults currently enjoy at least a monthly drink – a figure which amounts to 59% of all adults. However, growth in the Canadian wine market has slowed in recent years; between 2013 and 2014, per capita wine consumption growth dropped below 1%, whilst growth in still wine market volumes over the same period were limited to an increase of just 2%, and sparkling wine growth was just 0.5% (IWSR 2015).

There are signs that wine isn’t the only category showing signs of slowing down.

Beer is reaching fewer wine drinkers than 2013, along with rum, and liqueurs.

Beer Canada reports a decrease of 1.2% of beer consumption compared to 2013, and that since 2009, the Canadian beer category has declined by 3.4%. Arguably, these statistics point to a mirroring of trends also seen in several other markets, with consumers curbing their alcohol consumption as they become more health and well-being conscious.

But it isn’t until we look under the surface of Canada as a wine market that opportunities start to become evident. Dividing trends by the nation’s two biggest cultural groups – Frenchspeaking Quebec and English-speaking Canada – reveals characteristics that

86 Grapegrower & Winemaker

English-speaking Canadians are also more likely to be drinking other beverages which are trending globally such as whiskey, cider or Prosecco, and their brand recollections reflect their connection to the Anglophone world, with domestic, US and Australian brands dominating. reflect each community’s history and cultural influences.

Our report reaffirms the long-held Quebecois bias towards Old World wines, with French wines by far the most popular in the province, followed by Italy and Spain. We also see the Quebecois affinity for all things traditionally European in other areas. They are more likely to drink Rosé, for example – in fact over half do, compared with just a third of English-speaking Canadian regular wine drinkers.

And where brands are concerned, European favourites such as JP Chenet and Mouton Cadet are much more likely to be found (and picked up by consumers) on the shelves of an SAQ store in Quebec than an LCBO in Ontario.

Conversely, Anglophone parts of the country are more likely to draw their influences from both south of the border, with Californian wines topping the

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charts amongst consumer recollections, and also from domestic regions, such as the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario.

English-speaking Canadians are also more likely to be drinking other beverages which are trending globally such as whiskey, cider or Prosecco, and their brand recollections reflect their connection to the Anglophone world, with domestic, US and Australian brands dominating.

These differences all point towards a complex and interesting market – whilst Canada may seem relatively straightforward at first glance, getting to know it in more depth requires a little more careful attention.

You can find more research from Wine Intelligence, including the full Canada Landscapes 2016 Report, at www. wineintelligence.com.

May 2016 – Issue 628

Want the latest wine business information at your fingertips?

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2016 OUT NOW! • 8,000 Industry listings • 9,000 Personnel • 3,000 Wineries • 5,600 Wine brands • 2,000 Grapegrowers • 1,800 Buyers’ guide listings • 330 Distributors & retailers • 220 Writers & media

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+ Statistics + 2015 Overview + Calendar of events + Wineshows + Courses + Organisations

CONTRACT WINEMAKERS - NEW 2016!

To order your copy: Ph: +618 8369 9522 E: orders@winetitles.com.au Visit: www.winetitles.com.au

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.

2006 Barossa grapegrower, wine producer, wine industry commentator and publisher Paul Clancy claims that the wine industry has shot itself in the foot. “The Australian wine industry is in a crisis mostly of its own making,” he wrote. Clancy said that serious structural problems had built up in the past decade and these would not be overcome by the passage of time, and warned that these problems would wreak significant social and economic havoc in many regional areas for some time.

Clancy questioned how an industry, held up as a model to others as the success story of the 1990s, could get it so wrong.

1996 Australian winemakers are more progressive than their French rivals in their willingness to experiment with different winemaking techniques, a French oenologist observed on a recent visit to Australia. Francoise Roure, who is a journalist for the monthly La Vigne magazine, visited some of Australia’s wine regions in an attempt to find the “secret” behind the nation’s current export success.

1986 Throughout the entire vintage it was evident that some MIA grapegrowers were more concerned about disposing of their entire crop regardless of price, chairman of the Winegrapes Marketing Board, Roger Hoare, claimed. This was shown by the amount of distillation grapes delivered mostly as mixed variety loads to wineries. While in itself not an illegal act, it was an action by both growers and wineries against the spirit of the price agreement, Hoare said.

Australia & New Zealand May 19-22 Noosa International Food & Wine Festival Noosa Heads, QLD. www.noosafoodandwine.com.au

23-24 (JD) 2016 International Cool Climate Wine Show Mornington, VIC. www.coolclimatewineshow.org.au

19-22 Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival Coonawarra & Penola Townships, SA. www.artsfestival.com.au

24-26 Irrigation Australia 2016 Regional Conference & Exhibition Melbourne, VIC. www.irrigation.org.au

20-21 Mildura Field Days Mildura, VIC. www.mildurafielddays.com.au

27-29 Tasmanian Women in Agriculture Rural Women’s Gathering St Helens, TAS. www.twia-gathering.com

June 1-30 Hunter Valley Wine & Food Month Hunter Valley, NSW. www.winecountry.com.au 4 The 4th Hunter Valley Wine Festival Hunter Valley, NSW. www.huntervalleywinefestival.com 3-5 The Good Food & Wine Show – Melbourne Melbourne, VIC. www.goodfoodshow.com.au

6 (CD) 2016 Australian National Single Vineyard Wine Show & 2016 Cowra Wine Show Cowra, NSW. www.cowrashow.com 10-13 2016 McLaren Vale Sea & Vines Festival McLaren Vale, SA. www.mclarenvale.info 11-12 Pizzini Wines Sangiovese è Salsicce King Valley, VIC. www.pizzini.com.au

International May 23-25 Wine Prague 2016 Czech Republic. www.wineprague.com

26-28 BioFach China 2016 Shanghai, China. www.biofachchina.com

24-26 Vinexpo Hong Kong Hong Kong. www.vinexpohongkong.com/en

26-28 International Cool Climate Wine Symposium Brighton, UK. www.iccws2016.com

June 1-5 (JD) Shanghai International Wine Challenge (SIWC) 2016 Shanghai, China. www.siwc.org.cn

8-10 Sitevinitech China 2016 Yinchuan-Ningxia, China. www.wineinternationalltd.com

3-5 International Wine and Spirits Fair Winexpo Georgia Georgia. www.expogeorgia.ge

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 88 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2016 – Issue 628

industry profile

Franco D’Anna Hoddles Creek, Yarra Valley Vineyard area: 35 hectares Tonnes Crushed: 350 Tell us about your current role: We have no roles at Hoddles. We all do the all the jobs. From driving a tractor and lifting wires, through to racking tanks and washing barrels.

I have a small team of four staff members and we do all the winery and vineyard work. Hence, I need people who are prepared to work in any roles regardless of their seniority.

Same goes during vintage, we need everyone working a variety of roles. After harvest, my role is to play as much golf as possible.

Can you tell us about your career in the industry so far?

I started off in retail, selling wines at my family liquor store. It was a great grounding in understanding wine styles and learning that the consumer is king.

I finished a commerce degree and decided I didn’t want to be stuck between four walls. My family had a property in the Yarra since 1960 so we decided to plant vines. I was guided early by Mario Marson. I knew nothing about making wine or growing grapes. I was fortunate that people like Timo Mayer and others were willing to share their ideology on winemaking.

May 2016 – Issue 628

I enrolled in a Viticulture degree whilst planting Hoddles. I was fortunate enough to work with James Halliday at Coldstream Hills, then do some vintages in Burgundy, Barolo and also on Mt Etna is Sicily.

Hoddles is pretty self-sufficient these days so I have a little more time to give back to the industry. I currently am vicepresident of Wine Yarra Valley and chair the technical committee.

What are you most proud of?

Apart from having four daughters, I think building a brand from scratch with little or no knowledge to start off with.

Hoddles has been a great ride, the wines have gone from strength to strength.

The wines sell out pre-release for almost every label. Being a 25,000 case brand, I think we have done ok.

What are the current challenges you are facing?

In the Yarra specifically, I think our biggest challenge would have to be Phylloxera. As an association we are putting all our resources towards tackling this problem and stopping the spread to neighbouring regions.

It seems that we are alone on this journey as government support and support from appropriated bodies has been negligible so far. We accept as a region we will never be able to stop the www.winetitles.com.au

spread within our boundaries, however we as the association, have not got the time, funding or legislative power to try and stop the pest crossing borders into states which are Phylloxera free.

Where do you go for support on these issues?

We are currently trying to establish some protocols with the State Government to learn how to try to manage vineyards within the PIZ and outside.

Looking at fruit movement and risks associated with it. This is a massive job that will hopefully be able to be used in other regions.

In doing this, we have looked for support from Wine Victoria and Vinehealth to push the project forward.

How important is the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine a source of information?

The G&W has been extremely important. From my uni days at Wagga, I can remember G&W being passed around at the back of the class for some great reading whilst the lecturer was boring us with filtration or teaching us how to make wine in a 100,000 tonne winery.

I have used it as a source to buy fruit, invest in machinery and also as a guide for technical information. I still keep all my copies and look forward to its arrival in the mail each month!

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For your copy of our 2016 Order Form please contact us!

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90 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2016 – Issue 628

The holy grail of winery filtration has arrived!

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The unique design advantage of the Della Toffola OMNIA Series filter is that it can process with good flow rates automatically - juice & wine lees, flotation solids and most importantly, also wine. Thus, when the filter is not recovering high solids & lees, the same wide-bore channel membranes can be used to filter actual wine. Moreover, we can interchange the whole membrane module from a wide channel to a wine specific membrane module. This makes the OMNIA Series a cross-flow filter investment that works for the winery every day of the year.

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