Grapegrower & Winemaker - September 2015

SEPTEMBER 2015

Biosecurity The front line of protection

REAL REVIEWS

The commercial reality of wine assessment

Prosecco

The sparkling trend

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contents features SEPTEMBER 2015

45 51 73 82 88 92 94

Irrigation Pest & Disease Crushing Oak & Oak Alternatives Bottling Technology Labelling & Packaging Education

COVER Prosecco’s introduction into Australia can be traced back to Otto Dal Zotto and his wife Elena.

Here, Otto is pictured among his King Valley vines.

Biosecurity The front line of protection

REAL REVIEWS

The commercial reality of wine assessment

Prosecco

The sparkling trend

news

grapegrowing

From the editor .........................................7

Biosecurity being tackled on two fronts....26

Demand is creeping back. Competition for grapes is good.

Movers & shakers .....................................8

The sparkling trend: Prosecco ..................34 34

8

Treasury turnaround: .............................10 Net profit up $178.5 million on previous financial year

My View: Natasha Rastegar.................... 11 Pop-ups and unusual partnerships

It’s been a huge year for Prosecco so far in 2015. The sparkling wine has taken the world by storm with sales so strong there was even fear of a ‘global Prosecco shortage’ crisis.

Gemtree Wines backs Australian Organic Awareness Month ......................40 Where to install soil moisture sensors .....................................45

#RealReviews ........................................14

Fritz Westover, who assists growers in the eastern, southern, and western United States, reports on the key issues of soil moisture sensor installation.

When is good publicity not free publicity – and when is a good wine review not a free review?

New restriction on captan use ................. 51

People & Places: Hunter Valley Wine Show .......................18

Update from a leading US grapevine pathologist ........................54

Who is Guy Taylor? ................................20

regulars 6 What’s online 21 WGGA: The United Grower 68 Young Gun 4 Grapegrower & Winemaker

87 Ask the AWRI 96 Looking back 97 Producer in the spotlight 98 Marketplace classifieds

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

September 2015: Issue 620 winemaking

sales & marketing

Lower alcohol wine: A ‘winemaker’s toolbox’ .........................62

Which wines will China be drinking in 10 years? ..............................88

Alison Crowe is a Napa-based consulting winemaker, author and blogger (www.girlandthegrape.com). In this article Crowe opens the toolbox of techniques available to successfully grow and make lower alcohol wines.

Chinese cuisine could potentially predict which wine styles might be accepted as the Chinese palate for wine develops.

21st Century Vino in London....................66 Walter Speller, the Italy correspondent for www.

JancisRobinson.com explains his journey of discovery with Australian wine, which he calls ‘the Italian miracle’. And he describes why he’s excited about 21st Century Vino in London.

Cellar doors hold selling power for wine brands and regions ...................90 The Archibald Project ..............................92 92

Young Gun: The X-factor .........................68 Xanthe Hatcher believes winemaking is an industry that exudes love and passion.

The history of wine presses, Part 2 ..........73

business & technology

73

Winejobs: The cycle of the ‘boys club’ ......93 94

Leading wine educator ................94

In this article, Simon Nordestgaard, a senior engineer at The Australian Wine Research Institute, describes cover continuous processing and provides some thoughts about the types of pressing technology that may be used in the future.

Roundtable: Oak alternatives ..................83 Despite the lack of attention from the marketing and sales departments, oak alternatives have become a valuable resource for winemakers.

PUBLISHER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE Hartley Higgins

PRODUCTION Simon Miles

MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth Bouzoudis

CIRCULATION: Melissa Smithen subs@winetitles.com.au

EDITOR Nathan Gogoll editor@grapeandwine.com.au EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Denis Gastin, Dr Steve Goodman, Dr Terry Lee, Paul van der Lee, Bob Campbell MW, Prof Dennis Taylor and Mary Retallack EDITORIAL Emilie Reynolds journalist@winetitles.com.au ADVERTISING SALES Maria Stephenson sales@grapeandwine.com.au September 2015 – Issue 620

Entries open for the school competition at 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show ........................95

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

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

5

on the grapevine what’s ONLINE ‘Taste the Bush’ backlash Premier Estates Wine is facing a furious backlash over its ‘Taste the Bush’ marketing campaign. Angry consumers have taken to social media to declare the digital push – the Australian brand’s first advertising campaign – “sexist”, “vulgar” and “childish”. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also received a small number of complaints about the digital video campaign, reports The Grocer.

Calls for crop diversification Agricultural service providers in South Australia’s Riverland are urging farmers to diversify, in a bid to halt economic decline across the region. Survey results released

by Bank SA this week show business and consumer confidence levels have dropped in the region since February, and are now the lowest in the state, reports the ABC.

Cloudy Bay expands Cloudy Bay Vineyards has been given the go ahead from the Overseas Investment Office to buy freehold land for Sauvignon Blanc planting. The Marlborough wine company planned to purchase 11.7 hectares at Bedford Road, near Renwick, from vendors Dean and Sarah Cross, and Dene Ellwood, trustees of the Cross Trust, reports Stuff.

Pipeline plan scrapped Plans for a water pipeline and 100m easement through the Swan Valley have been quashed. The Water Corporation pipeline, planned to service Perth’s growing northern suburbs, has been pulled out of the Environmental Protection Authority’s assessment process. Swan Valley winemakers and grapegrowers had worried about the impact the pipeline would have on tourism and agriculture, reports Daily Wine News.

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

VTA appoints administrator to handle wind-up THE MILDURA-BASED growers’ owned Vintage Traders Australia (VTA) has appointed an administrator to manage the process of winding up operations.

VTA was established nine years ago as an unlisted public company to sell wine grapes on behalf of growers who were shareholders. For a time, VTA also had small batches of wine made from shareholders’ fruit and traded in bulk wine.

Phillip Englefield, Robinvale grower and VTA chairman, said the downturn in profitability that’s plagued much of the Australian wine industry for the past decade has left the company without sufficient financial reserves to continue.

“The 2014 and 2015 vintages have been among the worst ever for the Australian wine industry and unfortunately VTA does not have the capacity to withstand another season like the past two,” he said. “Given that grape prices and market conditions for the 2016 vintage were not expected to vary much from this year’s results, the Board took the responsible decision to cease operations.”

Englefield said two full-time staff, who had worked tirelessly for VTA for many years, have been made redundant and the office in Langtree Avenue closed.

“This has been a very upsetting period for staff and directors, who have always acted to get the best possible outcomes for shareholders.”

The timing and amount of final payments will be the responsibility of the administrator, Des Munro of the

Adelaide-based firm BRI Ferrier, who must also oversee the sale of remaining wine stocks.

Mike Stone, Murray Valley Winegrowers (MVW) executive officer, said the appointment of an administrator to manage the wind-up of VTA is extremely disappointing, but reflects the difficulties associated with an extended period of unprofitability in the Australian wine industry.

MVW was a motivating force in establishing the growers-owned business nine years ago to help growers find buyers for their fruit. It was an initiative that resulted in growers collectively marketing grapes from the MurrayDarling and Swan Hill regions rather than acting as individuals in trying to sell their produce.

“VTA has had varying degrees of success, in some seasons managing the marketing and sale of more than 20,000 tonnes on behalf of around 140 growers,” Stone said. “But there’s no question that a sustained slump in grape prices over much of the past 10 years and a decline in volume and value of Australian wine sold around the world are responsible for the difficulties faced by VTA.” Prior to VTA being established, MVW provided a service whereby wineries were regularly updated with information on growers who had grapes for sale.

“An arrangement similar to this will be operating again before next vintage to assist growers in the marketing and selling of their fruit,” Stone said.

Rules for wine show medals to change THE WINEMAKERS’ Federation of Australia (WFA) has announced tighter rules on the use and display of wine show medals following a recent review into the existing Code of Practice for the Display of Awards.

Tony Battaglene WFA strategy and international affairs general manager said tightening the code would interest wine show organisations around the country as well as winemakers, retailers and consumers.

“We have been reviewing the code over recent months and particularly how it applies to not just bottles but packaging more generally, and how medals are used in marketing wines and the companies behind them,” Battaglene said. “While gold, silver and bronze discs may for example form part of a logo or brand, the code is now very clear that they should not be used to give the impression that www.winetitles.com.au

a particular wine or winery has won an award when they have not,” he said.

Battaglene said the new rules have specifically focused on packaging and marketing to avoid any confusion.

“Including packaging and marketing in the code and specifying that wines found to be in breach of the rules may be ineligible to enter wine shows are all geared to protect the integrity of legitimate wine show medals that have been judged and awarded on merit,” Battaglene said.

“The code acts as guidelines to assist wine shows administer their prizes and, thanks to the new rules, any company found to be in breach may find themselves ineligible to compete or even stripped of recognition.”

Originally put in place in 2003, the guidelines were last updated seven years ago to give wine shows, winemakers and consumers some ground-rules to follow.

September 2015 – Issue 620

from the editor

Nathan Gogoll Editor

“Demand is creeping back. Competition for grapes is good.”

THE BOSS OF Australia’s largest wine company was “very pleased” to present the results from his first full year in the hot seat. While I couldn’t see him during the online/phone presentation he gave in mid-August, I could hear that he was smiling.

But what should the Australian wine industry make of the full FY15 results from Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) and the upbeat mood of Michael Clarke, the chief executive?

When the country’s biggest wine company reports a NET profit of more than $77 million, a whopping turnaround from a loss of more than $110 million the previous year, surely that could only mean good things for the whole industry.

(You can read more about the TWE results on Page 10.)

Perhaps I shouldn’t let myself think too far ahead, after all, the last lot of numbers I looked at closely were displayed on pie charts showing grapegrower profitability.

Nobody was smiling then.

And with those profitability figures still in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but notice there was almost no mention of vineyards or grapegrowing in the information presented by TWE. I heard Clarke mention “growing” a few times, but never in connection to grapes.

In fact, what he made it clear on a couple of different occasions his focus on “the transition from an order-taking agriculture company to a brand-led, marketing organisation”.

I was tempted to think increasing returns to shareholders were more important than any increased returns to grapegrowers. So I asked about that on August 19, the day the TWE results were released.

Here’s the official response: “TWE’s results should be seen as positive for the wine industry. TWE sources two thirds of its grape requirements from growers so if the demand for TWE wine increases our requirement for grapes does also, so grape growers are a crucial partner to our

September 2015 – Issue 620

business and to our success. Our FY15 results show positive momentum behind our business and we believe this is a good thing for the wider industry.”

You probably can’t argue with that.

And they weren’t in the Riverland.

The ‘weekly roundup’ email from Riverland Wine carried a snapshot of the positivity on August 20: “The level of interest in Riverland grapes in AUGUST is unprecedented in recent years. It’s an early ‘green shoot’. Wineries have been active with invitations to growers to commit 2016 grapes. Not unexpectedly, most of them are not prepared to talk prices yet but the demand for winegrapes is definitely on the increase.”

Specifically on the TWE results, the email bulletin noted the news “augurs well also for those who supply Treasury”.

“It seems Clarke has turned the company around in a matter of 12 months.

Indications from company executives who met with Riverland Wine members several weeks ago are also positive; with plans to increase their intake of Riverland fruit again this year.

“Demand is creeping back.

Competition for grapes is good.”

I’ve been hoping to see this sort of mood shift for a while. And though I don’t want to dampen it, I think we should look at a few of the things TWE has done in order to return to profitability.

It has made the most of favourable currency conditions, but that has been common ground for all Aussie producers.

So one of the key things TWE has done it shed volume.

It shipped 719,000 cases less in FY2015 than the previous year. Not a number you’d expect, given the profit recorded.

There have already been changes to the production side of the business (the Rosemount winery in McLaren Vale closed; the packaging and warehouse operations at Karadoc have been scaled back and will cease this financial year; commercial wine production at

www.winetitles.com.au

Great Western and Wynn’s Coonawarra facilities is being transferred to the Karadoc site, which will be exclusively focused on the production of TWE’s Australian commercial wine portfolio; and the Asti winery in Sonoma County, California, has been sold), but Clarke said there was more to come.

“There is a second phase of ‘supply chain optimisation’ to be announced.”

Clarke didn’t hide the fact his team was waiting patiently to acquire another US brand.

“We still believe there’s an opportunity for inorganic growth,” he said. “But we don’t need to buy capital.

“We are incredibly disciplined and we won’t buy something out of ego. We have zero desperation and we know what would fit and what wouldn’t fit.”

He also committed to “investment in trade promotions” and he dropped a few hints. In order to excite retailers and consumers, there will be branding campaigns for Stags Leap, Wolf Blass and Yellowglen as well as a range of new products, including: A contemporary ‘Blass by Wolf Blass’ range; food and wine matching concept labels from Rosemount Estate; a Lindeman’s ‘Gentleman’s Collection’; a new range of ‘Max’s’ wines from Penfolds (in addition to the recently release, super premium ‘The Max Schubert’); as well as a Heemskerk sparkling wine collaboration with Georg Jensen in time for the Spring Racing Carnival and festive season.

Clarke also committed to working with the other “gems” outside of the company’s Top 15 brands, listing Coldstream Hills, T’Gallant and Seppelt as examples of “second tier” brands important to future growth.

I think we can say a good result for TWE is a good result for the whole industry. But we should also be paying close attention to how TWE has restructured in order to return to profit.

Enjoy the read.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

7

movers & shakers Bernard Hickin to retire after 40 years with Jacob’s Creek BERNARD HICKIN has announced his intention to retire as chief winemaker for the Australian branch of Pernod Ricard Winemakers, handing the reins over to Ben Bryant in June 2016.

Joining the business in 1976, Hickin has made many significant contributions to the business and its brands throughout his 40 years in winemaking.

Brett McKinnon, Pernod Ricard global operations director said the company were extremely grateful for the contribution Hickin made towards their success.

“He will be missed by the team and we wish him all the very best for his retirement,” McKinnon said.

Hickin was appointed company chief winemaker of Australian brands in 2006, and then Jacob’s Creek Global Chief Winemaker in 2010 where he worked passionately to produce an enviable global portfolio of wines for Jacob’s Creek.

Bryant, who joined Pernod Ricard in 2000, will have a year of handover time with Hickin to prepare him for the role.

“I have inherited not only a world-class brand in Jacob’s Creek, but a world-class team of passionate winemakers who have worked tirelessly to make the brand what it is today – and I look forward to joining them on the next stage of the journey,” Bryant said.

Bernard Hickin will retire in June 2016, to be replaced by Ben Byrant as chief winemaker of Jacob’s Creek.

During this period Hickin will assist with the transition and focus on various winemaking projects within the Pernod Ricard Winemakers portfolio.

Swinney and Dawson buy Powderbark Ridge Vineyard SWINNEY VINEYARDS and Peter Dawson have recently announced a partnership to purchase and run one of the Great Southern’s most reputable vineyards, Powderbark Ridge.

The Swinney family has been farming in the Frankland River region in Western Australia since 1922 and have a legacy of grapegrowing in the Great Southern region with a portfolio which includes Wilson’s Pool, International Hill and Ingenue vineyards.

Matt Swinney, the Swinney Vineyards executive director said, Powderbark Ridge was a perfect fit to their existing vineyard business.

“It reflects the confidence we have in the industry and the Frankland River sub-region,” Swinney said.

“Having known and worked with

Peter for the best part of 20 years, it makes complete sense that he should join with us in this exciting project.”

Peter Dawson stepped down in 2009 after 16 years as head winemaker for Hardy’s and Constellation on the back of a 37 year career in the industry.

In that time, Dawson was twice named International Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London and more recently served as Chairman of the Australian Wine Research Institute.

Dawson said Powderbark Ridge was an outstanding vineyard with good elevation and classic ironstone soil types; it has a proven history of high quality fruit production.

Developed in 1998, Powderbark Ridge has been planted predominately to

Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling.

Although not well known to the public, Powderbark Ridge has gained a formidable reputation for the quality of its fruit among Western Australian wine producers.

A key reason for this has been the considerable show success of wines made from Powderbark Ridge fruit.

Dawson said he shared a common vision with the Swinneys regarding the future of Frankland River as one of Australia’s premium red wine regions.

“With our combined experience, track record of innovation, and the existing resources of Swinney Vineyards we will take the vineyard to new highs,” Dawson said.

“Outstanding vineyard sites do not come along very often.”

Australian Vintage hires Tim Lockwood to grow European market AUSTRALIAN VINTAGE (AVL) announced the appointment of Tim Lockwood, former European sales and marketing manager for Grant Burge Wines, to fill the newly created European business manager post.

Taking up the Berlin-based role in early September, Lockwood’s chief responsibility will be growing the brand’s European market.

In addition to his seven years with Grant Burge, Lockwood brings extensive experience from his time working in Germany for the Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation, where he

8 Grapegrower & Winemaker

coordinated marketing activities and market entry for wineries into continental Europe, as well as implementing the AWBC’s media and education strategy.

Julian Dyer, Australian Vintage general manager UK & Europe, said the appointment of Lockwood together with the opening of a branch in Europe has been a “real coup” for the company.

“AVL has seen a tremendous growth in the UK market in the last 12 months, and with our McGuigan wine brand now being the fourth largest in this market, we feel the time is right to expand further into Europe,” Dyer said. www.winetitles.com.au

Lockwood said he was “delighted” to head up this move by Australian Vintage into “mainland Europe´s dynamic and certainly diverse markets”.

“The strong and varied brands in the portfolio, nurtured by the multiaward winning winemaking team, led and inspired by Neil McGuigan, is a terrific base from which to grow AVL’s presence,” Lockwood said.

“I am excited to continue bringing the best Australia has to offer to the knowledgeable wine markets of the continent.”

September 2015 – Issue 620

Brown Brothers CEO to retire BROWN BROTHERS CEO Roland Wahlquist has announced his impending retirement in December 2015.

After 25 years of service with Brown Brothers, including 10 years as chief winemaker, 10 years as General Manager, and the past five years as chief executive

officer, Wahlquist has made the decision to retire, take some well-deserved time off and spend more time with his family.

Wahlquist’s contribution over the past 25 years has been extraordinary.

The Brown family and everyone within the company applaud him for

his leadership, wine innovation skills, commitment, fairness and integrity.

A recruitment consultant has been engaged to conduct an internal and external search for a new chief executive officer.

Graham Norton: Invivo’s newest winemaker INNOVATIVE New Zealand wine brand, Invivo Wine, has partnered with talk show king Graham Norton to create the second Graham Norton Sauvignon Blanc, which will be available in Australia this month.

In 2014, Norton rolled his trouser legs up and personally stomped a barrel of New Zealand grapes on his popular TV show to help create his own limited edition Sauvignon Blanc with the Kiwi winery.

The sell-out success and rave reviews for the 2014 vintage from leading wine critics has Norton’s 2015 personal blend tipped to be another in-demand wine.

Invivo founders Rob Cameron and Tim Lightbourne are known for their business acumen, founding the business in 2008, and were named on Deloitte’s Fast 50 List in 2012.

Earlier this year Invivo raised $2 million through crowd funding to fuel further growth, and were the very first New Zealand company to do so.

It is with the same approach Invivo collaborated with Norton, who is a shareholder in the winery, and will continue to release his blend ongoing.

“Graham is a huge Invivo fan and our dealings with him have shown us he really knows wine. So this year we thought we would put him in the driver’s seat,” Cameron said.

The entire Invivo wine blending setup was flown from Marlborough to London so Norton could blend his own wine from scratch, with expert guidance by Cameron, who is also Invivo’s chief winemaker.

In a long winemaking session, Norton added his ‘Norton Hemisphere’ magic to Invivo’s Southern Hemisphere Sauvignon Blanc grapes with the final blend featuring Sauvignon Blanc

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from three of Invivo’s Marlborough growers.

“We’d never tried anything like this before,” Cameron said.

“As well as all the blending and tasting glassware, we had to transport six distinctive samples of Sauvignon Blanc from our six different Marlborough growers and get them there in perfect condition for the blending… what a mission!”

For Invivo co-founder Tim Lightbourne, the process has been a great fit with the Invivo brand.

“We’re not a big corporate that tries to hide behind advertising or endorsements, we’re authentic and we love that Graham wanted to get personally involved to this degree. He’s come up with a bloody good drop!”

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news

Treasury turnaround: Net profit up $178.5 million on previous financial year MICHAEL CLARKE, Treasury Wine Estates chief executive, said fiscal 2015 was a re-set year for the company, “a year where substantial strategic, operational and cultural change was embedded to enhance the quality and sustainability of TWE’s base business”.

It just happened the value of that re-set was an improvement in net profit of $178.5million on the previous year.

“The team has achieved in just 12 months, what might reasonably be expected to occur over a two to three year period,” Clarke said.

“Our full year result reflected the combination of portfolio premiumisation together with deliberate actions to improve the quality and strength of our earnings.”

“We realigned the portfolio by transitioning the Penfolds release date, increased and optimised our brand investment, enhanced our routes-to-market in several regions, improved sales and marketing execution and removed excess overheads and supply chain costs.

“Fiscal 2015 represents the first successful year of TWE’s journey to transition from being an order-taking, agricultural company to a brand-led marketing organisation”.

Reinvigorating TWE’s brand portfolio beyond Penfolds was a key focus for the Company during the second half of fiscal 2015.

Supported by the 50+ per cent uplift in consumer marketing investment, 11 of TWE’s 15 priority brands reported NSR growth, compared with 6 in the prior year.

Collectively, TWE’s 15 priority brands delivered growth in fiscal 2015 with highlights from Beringer, Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Stags’ Leap, 19 Crimes, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Rawson’s Retreat, Pepperjack, Chateau St Jean, Etude and Matua.

The remaining four brands in this top 15 group (Gabbiano, Lindeman’s, Rosemount and Yellowglen) showed “no growth”.

The company over-achieved on overhead costs savings in the period, outperforming the target of $35 million to reach $40 million. With an ongoing focus on costs, TWE expects to deliver a further $15 million of overhead savings in fiscal 2016.

“Sustainable” was the buzzword for sales performance and inventory levels were reduced. As a result, overall volume matches the previous year and depletions were ahead of shipments in all regions.

TWE has worked to separate its premium (which it calls ‘luxury’ and ‘masstige’) and commercial portfolios and this has resulted in rationalisation of production facilities in both Australia and California. From fiscal 2016 onwards, excess production capacity will be further reduced - principally focused on the commercial segment.

While demand for premium (‘luxury’ and ‘masstige’) wine grew, TWE continued to face declining consumer demand for commercial wine in most of key markets. “Reducing cost and complexity from TWE’s supply chain is critical to defending volume and improving margins in this challenging segment, globally.”

10 Grapegrower & Winemaker

KEY NUMBERS • S tatutory net profit after tax $77.6 million – up $178.5m on prior year; • N et Sales Revenue (NSR) up 8.4% on a reported currency basis and by 3.8% on a constant currency basis; • O f the 15 priority brands, 11 brands delivered NSR growth versus 6 brands in the prior year; • $ 40+ million overhead reduction achieved and 50%+ step-up in consumer marketing investment delivered; • E BITS $225.1 million, up 21.9% on a reported currency basis and 16.2% on a constant currency basis, reflecting premiumisation, strategy to grow NSR across priority brand portfolio and reduced cost base; • E PS of 21.9 cents per share up 25.9% on prior period (before material items, SGARA & $80.5 million tax benefit in fiscal 2014); reported EPS 11.9 cents per share; • Strong cash conversion at 102.5%; • F inal dividend 8 cents per share bringing total dividend to 14 cents per share, unfranked, 1 cent per share higher than the prior period; • Distributor inventory realignment program in USA complete; • Depletions ahead of shipments in all regions in fiscal 2015; and • Exciting pipeline of consumer marketing programs including brand innovation and campaigns in place for fiscal 2016.

TWE’s results should be seen as positive for the wine industry.

Meanwhile, on the impact of foreign currency movements, Clarke commented: “Our focus at TWE is to build the company to be a fitter, stronger business regardless of currency. The challenge for our business is to respond to currency movements by selectively reinvesting transactional gains from currency fluctuations in order to remain competitive on shelf and by lowering our costs via supply chain optimisation.”

The outlook for fiscal 2016 and beyond is framed by the ambition “to become the world’s most celebrated wine company; a company that enriches peoples’ lives with quality wine brands”, according to Clarke.

“Fiscal 2015 was a re-set year for our company. Fiscal 2016 is about growth, as we leverage the step-change in consumer marketing investment and sales execution, lower overheads and more sustainable base business that we have embedded in fiscal 2015.

“TWE enters fiscal 2016 with the greatest pipeline of consumer marketing programmes in place in the company’s history, including brand innovations and campaigns. By the end of the first half of fiscal 2016, 10 of our 15 priority brands will be either be relaunched, refreshed via outstanding innovation or promoted via exciting advertising and brand activation campaigns.

“Demonstrating TWE is transitioning from an agricultural company to a brand-led, marketing organisation, higher COGS in fiscal 2016 and 2017, driven by adverse vintage and production costs, are expected to be offset by supply chain optimisation initiatives announced earlier this year.

Clarke remains determined to “drive our company forward in order to deliver consistent, sustainable financial outperformance”.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

my view Pop-ups and unusual partnerships: Opportunities for the Australian wine industry Natasha Rastegar is a member of Wine Intelligence’s senior management team, and leads the office in Sydney. She leads workshops and speaks at conferences throughout Australia, and takes a leading role in the company’s work on trends research. In this article she looks at unusual collaborations and ‘pop-ups’ and asks why the wine industry isn’t making more from these opportunities.

THE TREND of street-style or popup eateries is now so ubiquitous that you would think the cognoscenti of the world’s major cultural capitals would be getting tired of it. But it appears not. The pop-up food genre appears to be evolving faster than an Australian Ashes innings, and new collaborations are showing that the category can still deliver originality and cleverness. So it was just a few weeks ago in Sydney, I bought two, what we might deem as ‘food fads’, thanks to two clever collaborations, from which wine could find inspiration.

Firstly ice-cream. Something I don’t normally eat in winter, even a mild Sydney winter. But Uber had cleverly teamed up with local coveted gelateria, Messina, to deliver their ice-cream to your home or office for one day only, with just one click of the app. The combination of convenience and luxury with this collaboration made it instantly appealing.

Then, a few days later I found myself sat on a pavement, very happily devouring a $12 gourmet burger.

I don’t normally eat burgers. I wasn’t

September 2015 – Issue 620

even that hungry. I was there as part of an event – a contemporary arts festival on Cockatoo Island, Underbelly. The installations had a great focus on evoking different senses, from ‘Holiday Feelings’ (with reclining chairs, seaside scents and soothing audio-visual projections) to impactful sounds of the ‘The Closest Thing to Your Body’ (an investigation of the role of music in a nightclub). Food was available from a small selection of local restaurants, displayed next to the art installations, making it feel like it was a seamless collaboration with the event.

In layman’s terms: my burger felt like a natural choice.

Sadly, the wine available was rather

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limited, even though it too would perhaps have felt like another seamless extension.

Instead I nursed a rather disappointing can of cider, and the rest of the crowd seemed to be doing the same thing.

What draws these examples together is what I believe are three key factors, which are now prerequisites to get Generation Y / Millennials excited: 1. Collaborations that might not make obvious sense at first glance, but are made to work brilliantly together by clever execution; 2. The sense of a unique shared experience and community, which sticks in the memory and gets you to talk about it afterwards; and 3. Having that experience convenient and local to you – in an ideal world, it comes to your doorstep.

It feels like wine could so easily command all three elements, particularly in a country like Australia with such a strong winemaking culture, but also in major urban centres around the world where young people are getting excited about being part of the wine category.

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Regional Round up: SOUTH AUSTRALIA Tom and Sam take the reins at Jim Barry THERE’S A CHANGING of the guard going on at Jim Barry Wines with two sons – Tom and Sam – taking the reins while current managing director Peter Barry is re-working his job description.

“I’ll never retire,” Peter said. “I enjoy the winery my parents created, the wines and the vineyards – I can’t imagine living anywhere else other than the Clare Valley.

“But there are also some rewards in taking a senior role – it’s a bit less hands on and you can take a bigger picture view,” Peter said.

Part of this senior role is the “Keeper of Quality”: the bench marker who makes the call where the buck stops, the arbitrator of quality assurance in the true sense of the word.

Together, the father and sons have created ‘VETO’, a range of wines that represent the best of Jim Barry: Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“VETO began with Tom wanting to ferment a few exceptional parcels of fruit separately in our micro winery,” Peter says. “We go to extraordinary lengths to nurture our vines and we treat the fruit with the respect it deserves during the winemaking process to show the true expression of site.

“The right to veto is a father’s prerogative in family business. Working with my sons gives me great pleasure, every now and then I like to challenge

them by exercising this right. The only thing we did not agree on was the name… but I vetoed them on that!”

Tom and Sam acknowledge that the expectation to perform brings out their entrepreneurial spirit.

“Given what Dad and Grandpa have achieved so far, it can sometimes be quite hard to take the next step and to be confident that we are doing the right thing,” Sam said. “We often find ourselves sitting on the fence.”

Sam said their father has always been there to give them a little push towards the right decision.

“He has always been very supportive and he’s still a real innovator, so it is not as if he’s against change,” Sam said.

“It really is what winemaking at Jim Barry is all about – constant experimentation and self-improvement with the knowledge that Dad is there to give his final opinion.”

Tom said the VETO Riesling is a style unlike anything they have ever produced.

“We identified a small parcel of outstanding fruit on our Lodge Hill Vineyard and let the grapes hang on the vine for an extra week as the natural acidity was very high.

“This developed a completely different flavour spectrum to our Lodge Hill Riesling, which is why it has been selected for our first VETO Riesling.”

The Riesling juice was cold settled

and unfiltered, then 10 per cent was placed into pre-used French oak barrels for cool fermentation.

“Following fermentation the wine was sulphured and left on gross lees for six weeks, while the remaining juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and also left on gross lees for six weeks, before the two wines were blended together.

“The barrel fermentation has added a new dimension to the wine,” Tom said. “It has created a complex textural mouthfeel and coupled with the primary fruit and riper flavours, makes it taste very different to our other Rieslings.”

The VETO Cabernet was picked from the Jim Barry Coonawarra Cricket Ground vineyard during the 2013 vintage.

“This was the best fruit we had seen since planting the vineyard in 1999,” Peter said.

“It has great intensity without the austerity we sometimes get in Coonawarra. We took the Cabernet Sauvignon out of barrel after nine months to accentuate the purity and vibrancy of the fruit, while providing structure and aging potential.

“The VETO Clare Valley Shiraz was selected from our Lodge Hill Vineyard, which at 480 metres, is one of the highest points in the Valley. We selected the grapes from a north-facing slope which has given the wine added complexity and fruit concentration.”

Taiwan officials get a taste of Barossa ‘Old Vine’ IN RESPONSE TO a ‘growing interest’ for high end Australian wine in the country, Wine Australia recently held a Barossa ‘old vine heritage’ masterclass in Taipei.

Hosted by Wine Australia and Austrade, together with support from the Barossa Grape & Wine Association, the event introduced 34 media and trade guests to Barossa’s unique terroir with 10 exceptional Barossa wines produced from old vines.

Martin Walsh, Austrade Taipei senior trade commissioner, said research showed a strong market for high-end wine in Taiwan.

“We recognise that wine enthusiasts and collectors make viable targets as they have strong social networks based around wine,” Walsh said.

“There are many sophisticated

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consumers in Taiwan and their interest in Australian wine is strong.”

Phil Reedman MW presented the master class and educated guests on the region’s old vines that are still producing wines today and its Old Vine Charter.

The wines tasted included the likes of 2010 Henschke ‘Mount Edelstone’ Shiraz; 2010 St Hallett ‘Old Block’ Shiraz; 2010 Cirillo Estate ‘1850 Ancestor Old Vine’ Grenache; and the 2010 Hewitson ‘Old Garden’ Mourvedre, which represent some of the single-vineyard wines made from ancient Barossa vines.

Xavier Tzeng, Taiwan Sommelier Association President, said tasting 10 extraordinary old vine Barossa wines along with in-depth, interactive discussions with Reedman and the local wine professionals was an exceptional experience. www.winetitles.com.au

“This phenomenal masterclass helped us rediscover the beauty of Barossa wines,” Tzeng said.

Hiro Tejima, Wine Australia regional manager, said given the Taiwanese people’s respect for history, it was most fitting to conduct this tasting around the theme of the Barossa old vine heritage.

“The feedback I’ve already received from guests suggests that there is great potential to redefine Australia’s premium wine offering among both wine professionals and consumers in Taiwan through careful and ongoing efforts in market,” he said.

The event follows the recent release of export figures that show an increase in the value of Australian wine exports to Taiwan of 47 per cent to A$15 million in 2014–15, while average value rose 20 per cent to $8.33/litre.

September 2015 – Issue 620

WET Rebate back on the agenda, with different opinions being aired OPPOSITION TO Wine Equalisation Tax rebate wind-backs has gained momentum. Blaxland Vineyards, self described as “a large grapegrower and fledgling wine seller” called a meeting in Adelaide in early September for businesses that “may be damaged if the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia plans to remove Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate eligibility for bulk and unbranded wine becomes law”.

Federal Treasury recently released a discussion paper on the future of WET rebate, with submissions due by 11 September. Both national peak wine industry associations, the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and Wine Grape Growers Australia, have welcomed the government’s discussion paper.

According to a Blaxland statement, “most agree there needs to be some change to the current system, but surely there needs to be a broader range of views and options presented to Treasury.”

“There is not a grapegrower nor contract processing winery representative on this committee. The committee seems clearly representative of the WFA views. We find it hard to understand why an industry body would actually ask the government to remove an essential rebate, especially when a large section of it is making losses.”

The WFA was not involved in the selection of the committee and has also flagged the lack og grower representation.

Yet Lawrie Stanford, Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director, recently said “the WET rebate is one that directly affects both the winemaking

September 2015 – Issue 620

and growing communities and we stand prepared to contribute to solutions with both the WFA and government.”

Paul Evans, the WFA chief executive, said “the two national peak wine industry bodies will continue to advocate for the phasing out of rebate eligibility on bulk and unbranded wine sales which pulls down wine and grape pricing, delays the balancing of supply with demand and is commoditising the sector by underwriting the growth of the low equity home brands of the major wine retailers.”

The Blaxland meeting was set to feature Senator Sean Edwards via phone hook-up.

According to a Blaxland statement “his views are well documented, and as an experienced grape and wine man he sees the broader industry picture rather than that of the WFA which clearly favours the premium branded wine companies.”

In a recent discussion with the Grapegrower & Winemaker about various industry issues, Evans said “the next six month period could decide the future of the industry; leading up to vintage there will be some critical decisions to be made. By this time next year things could be a lot clearer. We don't need a vision, we need to make choices”.

Specifically on the WET rebate, he referred to a “structural reliance” and pointed out his belief “the government will not sit back and keep letting the program grow, they will act”.

“The rebate on bulk and unbranded wine is keeping people afloat, but killing the category,” Evans said.

“We will continue to argue to wind

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back the WET rebate on bulk and unbranded wine; I am rock solid on that.

“Removing it is a tough structural proposal, that's why it needs to be phased in. You can't sugar coat this one.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to put our case again; our position is known and tested. We welcome scrutiny because we’ve done the work, the consultation and the analysis. The sheer volume of work and the level of support we’ve received gives us a mandate.”

Meanwhile, Independent Senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, said it was “deeply concerning” the Government had missed its July deadline for the release of a discussion paper.

“The Government needs to realise that reform of the WET Rebate and a massive boost for export promotions must happen before the next harvest, otherwise there will be hundreds of growers and winemakers who could hit the wall,” said Xenophon.

He endorsed the approach of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and challenged all South Australian Liberal MPs and Senators to publicly state their positions on reforming the wine sector’s tax and marketing arrangements.

Xenophon also rejected a push by some high-end wineries for a ‘volumetric tax’ to replace the WET. “A volumetric tax would be devastating for the vast majority of the sector,” he said. “A volumetric tax might knock down the price of a bottle of Grange by $100 – but it would also knock hundreds of producers out of business and lead to further tumult and heartache.”

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13

news

#RealReviews When is good publicity not free publicity – and when is a good wine review not a free review? Nathan Gogoll reports.

YOU WON’T FIND any wine writers in the BRW ‘rich list’.

However, their influence can make other people very wealthy.

And it’s not just publishing companies – printing scores and reviews in books, magazines, newspapers and online behind a paywalls – that make the money. Wineries stand to cash in on high numbers and glowing summaries of their latest release.

The trouble is that newspapers are dedicating less and less column space to wine reviews and this leaves a bunch of wine writers battling for the opportunities provided by niche publishers – usually in magazine or online formats.

Late last year the Wine Day Out, another event from Dan Sims’ Bottle Shop Concepts wine events company, got Michael Mackenzie from RN First Bite to do some digging into the complexities of wine writing. The topic of the session Mackenzie hosted was ‘lifting the veil on wine journalism’.

Independent opinion in wine has come under pressure from several fronts.

Here’s how he introduced the topic..

“When we read recommendations of what wine to buy, there’s an implicit trust that the points awarded, the glowing terms that are used and the research that’s been done is all for our benefit, the consumer, so that we can make an informed choice,” Mackenzie said. “But what if that trust is misplaced?

What if there are other forces at play? Are we still getting a true picture of what’s on offer?

“The people who write about the wine can also be selling the wine, and also helping the winemaker to launch it in the first place.”

One of the murky areas beneath the veil was the co-location of reviews (favourable comment) and advertising content. And things got even more complicated when the discussion turned to reviews that are actually used to generate advertising revenue.

Max Allen was on the Wine Day Out panel and he spoke openly of his concerns.

“I’ve been worried and frustrated that for quite a long time the wine media – writers, editors, publishers – have not been doing a good enough job of being transparent about how wine content reaches the page or the screen,” said Allen.

“It’s very difficult to make a living writing about wine.

Most of us are also involved working in or around the wine industry. There are plenty of wine writers who also work for retailers; who do marketing; who do promotional work; who do consulting. And this is not always declared.

“For example, there’s a winery I’ve written about quite often because what I think they’re doing is fabulous for Australian wine, it’s the Chalmers family. They’ve got a label, they grow grapes, they are very well-known viticulturists. Once, a few years ago, I was paid by that family to host a wine dinner for them. And I, subsequent to that event, did not declare that I had been paid by that winery on that occasion.

“Subsequently writing about their wines, having taken

14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

money from the winery, having been paid, having the winery as my client, I think the reader deserved to hear about that.”

Mike Bennie, who writes for a range of publications and publishers, was also on the panel and he was willing to discuss the “deeds of my past”, some of which he now questions.

“I feel like there have been very grey areas as I’ve come through the ranks of wine journalism,” Bennie said.

“The most potent example would be writing advertorial.

“Advertorial is content that effectively is written by a copywriter or writing professional that basically is advertising, but dressed up as editorial.”

Another participant in the discussion was Phillip Rich, who owns an independent wine store, imports wine and writes about it monthly in the Australian Financial Review. He spoke about the potential for his different roles to influence each other.

“It’s something I’ve thought about a lot over the years. I suppose you could argue if there’s a perceived conflict of interest, there is a conflict of interest. So for me it’s always been about how I handle that conflict of interest,” said Rich.

“Is there a disclosure in my column that I work for Prince Wine Store? That’s something I’ve thought about a lot over the years and my attitude to that is, if we do go down the path of writing ‘Phillip Rich is wine buyer or a partner of Prince Wine Store’ then that, to me, looks more like self-promotion and that I’m using the column to promote my business – which I’m not.

“I think there are greater conflicts out there. One’s where people are reviewing wines on the same page where there are major advertisers selling those wines.

“There is an argument that maybe there should be more disclosure than what there is currently.”

Max Allen brought took this discussion back to the most pressing point – that both the publishers and the writers would like to make money from wine reviews.

“The traditional media is under threat from a fracturing of medias and the one thing that may ensure sustainability of the wine media is that we retain our credibility and integrity,” said Allen. “And that’s why this worries me, because I think standards need to be maintained so those people who are going out there into the world and saying ‘I have an opinion on something and I would like you to trust my opinion and take it on board’ must have credibility. And if we don’t we will be shoved aside in favour of easy, free content.”

All this makes for a very interesting background to the ‘open letter’ that Huon Hooke and Bob Campbell sent to wineries and retailers across Australia and New Zealand earlier this year, calling on the industry to realise the value of their work.

Hooke and Campbell pointed out that “independent opinion in wine has come under pressure from several fronts”. Their list included: - Excessively high scores by some critics, which undermines the credibility of wine ratings for the consumer; - Wine writers being paid directly by retailers, or entering into revenue share arrangements, for reviewing wines; - Advertorials masquerading as independent opinion; and - ‘Cash for comment’, i.e. wineries being asked to pay to get featured.

“As wine critics, we need to make a living, but we prefer

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Hooke wine review subscription system

Huon Hooke

to derive income from a wine industry that recognises the virtues of integrity, experience, independence, consistency and professionalism,” said the pair’s letter.

Hooke and Campbell said they would seek to differentiate their approach to wine reviews and make a stand “for evenhanded, transparent, ethical and independent reviewing”.

Their proposal offers wineries free reviews of their wine, but requires the wineries and the retailers to pay for any commercial use of the reviews.

As they outline: 1. We do not charge to review wines. If you send your samples, they will enter the tasting queue. Whether or not you hold a commercial plan is irrelevant for your review and rating. We will occasionally send messages to wineries with noteworthy results, or you can check on our respective websites; 2. If you decide to use our content for commercial purposes (e.g. promoting your wines on your website), you will need to obtain a licence for promotional usage; and 3. The commercial licences are completely independent of how much wine you sell – i.e. critics do not get paid more if more wine is sold.

“Everyone’s wine is treated fairly and equally,” according to Hooke and Campbell.

Many wineries have become accustomed to paying an annual membership or licence to different publishers in order to have access to wine reviews and permission to reproduce them. Others aren’t as keen to pay these fees, having already submitted free samples and occasionally having paid for travel, accommodation, meals and other expenses to get the writer to their winery and experience things first hand.

Max Allen said all these issues are talking points, but not often direct conversations between the wine writers and the winemakers.

“Behind closed doors when writers get together, when winemakers get together, when retailers get together – they whinge about this stuff, a lot. But they say ‘of course we can’t say this out loud, because we’re frightened’. The wine industry is frightened of offending the wine media because they rely on them to promote their product. And the wine media is frightened is offending of the wine industry because they rely on them for freebies and favours.”

For Hooke and Campbell, they have decided the wineries that use their reviews (to draw attention to their high quality wine) should contribute to the revenue they can generate from September 2015 – Issue 620

Max Allen - Photo by Bridie Allen

There is an argument that maybe there should be more disclosure than what there is currently. writing it. They argue their system separates the score from the payment. However, if a winery pays for access to the review and makes a feature of it on their website, the consumer is only reading it after a transaction between the winery and the wine reviewer.

So there is complexity even when transparency is the aim.

This raises the issue of disclosure. And Mike Bennie said the consumer can better judge the quality of the information being provided if full disclosure is provided.

“The integrity of somebody who is acting as a critic is imperative,” said Bennie. “And I think that without integrity there really isn’t a way to put credence into what people are saying.”

Another of the Wine Day Out panellists was Angie Bradbury, from Dig + Fish, said wine reviews differ from other expert reviews.

“Unlike a scenario in the restaurant reviewing world where the publisher is paying the cost of the dinner and therefore there’s independence in that factor; in the wine industry new releases are sent to journos, unsolicited mind you, and then most of the time the visit to the winery and the masterclass experience is funded by the winery,” said Bradbury.

“There’s a co-dependency that we now have in that scenario and I don’t think the consumer or the reader of media in all its forms, whether that’s traditional media or new media, understand that co-dependent relationship that now exists between wine producers and wine media.

“If the wineries stop sending the product, the journos have nothing to review; they have no content to put in their magazine, their paper, their website, their blog. The bigger issue is we also have retailers, particularly the big retailers – let’s say Dan Murphys and whether that’s through their Fine Wine Buyers Guide, or Vintage Cellars through Cellar Press, that are publishing glossy magazines and inserting them in papers, delivering them to your mailbox, giving them to you when you walk into the store, with their panel reviewing wine and putting all this content in there that is 100% funded by the wineries that feature in that publication.”

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15

news It’s very difficult to make a living writing about wine. Most of us are also involved working in or around the wine industry. There are plenty of wine writers who also work for retailers; who do marketing; who do promotional work; who do consulting. And this is not always declared.

Dr Dennis Muller, the author of Journalism Ethics for the Digital Age, provided his ideas of disclosure to the panel.

He was asked to put himself into the editor’s role…

“I would require full disclosure to me, as the editor. That was, in fact, the requirement at The Age when I was associate editor there, I had to disclose my financial interests to the editor and it was understood that failure to do so was a sackable offence,” said Dr Muller.

“Secondly, I would require that when they did publish a review that there was a footnote saying that Mike Bennie, or Max Allen, has whatever interests are relevant to the review.

“Sometimes when interests are so embedded simple disclosure is not enough and in those circumstances I would be placing boundaries around what these guys could write about.

“Now for me, we’re relying on these people not for news, not for facts the readers can, in a sense, assess for themselves but we’re relying on them for their expert opinion and they’re not obliged to put in their commentary their reasons for saying this wine is better than that.

“Where we’re relying on expert opinion the contract, the duty if you like, on the journalist for disclosure is heavier than it is in news coverage.

“I would be deeply uncomfortable if I were the editor of the Financial Review, deeply uncomfortable, with the situation I’ve heard outlined. And it’s not to do with the integrity of the individual; it’s the matter of principle.

“A good job for the Wine Communicators Association would be to sit down and set out a code, so everyone would at least have some starting points.”

But when is a wine review not a ‘real’ review? Max Allen provided an example of the blurring of boundaries… in the form of the ‘supplements’ that appear with the James Halliday Wine Companion Magazine (he referred specifically to the ‘Wowfactor White Wines 2014’).

“I know this supplement was put together, effectively funded, through money paid by the wineries featured,” said Allen. “After the review and the score has been arrived at, the advertising department approached the wineries and they say ‘you have received this score and favourable review if you pay a certain amount’, which I believe is somewhere between $1000 and $2000, ‘you get a full page to yourself with the review and the score and a little bit of extra blurb about yourself and a lovely bottle shot’.

“Now we know these things make a difference to sales, talk to any winemaker and they will tell regular scores in the 90s help build a brand. If you’re a winemaker and you’re approaching a restaurant or a distributor… the first thing the distributor or the restaurant will do in many cases is look at your scores ‘oh 93, 94, 95 wonderful, I’ll take you on’ and higher scores, 96 plus, absolutely have an impact on sales – we know this.”

Simon McKeown, the James Halliday’s Wine Companion publisher, was on hand to respond.

“We do advertorials in the magazine. We declare they’re advertorials. With the supplement we go to James [Halliday] with an idea of what the framework is and what the specifications are for the wines we’d like to feature and then we get that from James’ database, James’ supplies the wine reviews and the scores to us and we then approach the advertisers to see if they’d like to promote in the supplement… we approach the winemakers to see if they want to support this particular promotion.”

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McKeown explained that if a winery doesn’t accept the advertising proposal, the review “still goes onto our database and it still can actually be promoted in a future issue of the magazine, it will still feature in the book and also if a winery has a licence they can use the tasting note in their own promotional material”.

“I suppose the other thing is that you can’t buy your way into this supplement, once we’ve decided what the criteria is you can’t buy your way in and I think that’s a quite clear distinction between advertorial. The selection criteria have already been established and that’s a key difference,” McKeown said.

But a wine will not be featured in that supplement unless the winery pays to participate. Even if that wine has a superior point score to all the other advertising partners. Which is probably a different type of key difference.

Angie raised another issue with wine reviews.

“Restaurant reviews say ‘this restaurant is fantastic’ or ‘this restaurant is rubbish’ and consumers get this feeling and this sentiment between good and bad, therefore they’re reading reviews to make decisions. When do you ever read a review of a wine that says ‘this is rubbish’?”

Naturally, this meant there was some discussion about point scores.

Allen said he “never had, at any point, an editor say to me ‘gee, we wish you started scoring out of 100 like all the other people’.” But on the other hand, Bennie writes for two publications where there is requirement is to score.

“I think it’s a helpful tool for people who drink wine, there’s no doubt that a little number at the bottom of a review can anchor you into the a) personality of the writer and b)perhaps give you a numerical analysis of what that waffle above it means,” said Bennie.

“But what I think is increasingly dangerous is what many journalists talk about behind closed doors, and perhaps some of the trade as well, is the increase of points – the point creep phenomenon – in which it’s almost self-serving for the journalist to score higher and higher to re-establish their connection to third-party endorsements and to make themselves more viable as an entity to have a product to sell, which is their writing.

“That’s my greatest concern, that increasing points and the nexus between that and the retailer is self-serving this kind of weird land of journalists benefitting plus also retailers benefitting plus also consumers now increasingly confused. It’s a very strange world right now, I think, for scoring in Australia.”

Allen brought the financial reality to the table which served as an interesting, perhaps unsatisfying, way to conclude.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to fund traditional print media, to make it work, and newspapers and media companies are being forced to look for solutions to that problem that may have been uncomfortable for them in previous years,” said Allen.

“If the outcome of that is less quality, independent journalism then we all lose out.”

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

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people & places

Shiraz shines at Hunter Valley Wine Show THE JUDGES of the CCL Label Clear Image Hunter Valley Wine Show have agreed that the 2014 Hunter Shiraz vintage is one of the region’s best.

“The Shiraz classes of entry were tremendous and have set new levels of benchmark for the Hunter,” said PJ Charteris, the chairman of judges.

More than 50% of the 2014 Hunter Shiraz wines entered into the 2015 show were awarded medals.

A team of 21 respected wine show judges led by PJ Charteris in his first year as Chair of Judges immersed themselves in 730 Hunter Valley wines last week in Singleton. Judges including Fiona Donald, Peter Dredge, Russell Cody, Thomas Hogan, Kim Bickley, Andrew Spinaze, Liz Jackson and Scott Comyns awarded 69 Gold, 120 Silver and 208 Bronze medals in addition to the 23 Trophies.

Sarah Ahmed, Rachael Murray, Nikki DeIuliis, Lisa Margan

Fiona Donald analyses the aroma.

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Tyrrell’s took home 7 trophies including the coveted trophy for the Best Dry White Wine of the Show for their 2006 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon and Brokenwood scooped the pool with the 2014 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz being named the Best Dry Red Wine of the Show The Iain Riggs Wine of Provenance award went to Tyrrell’s Vineyards Johnno’s Shiraz for the 2004, 2009 and 2013 vintages, and a standing ovation for the man it honours and who accepted the award, Johnny Tyrrell, left not a dry eye in the house.

Visiting international Judge, Sarah Ahmed took a shine to Margan Family Wines 2014 Breaking Ground Tempranillo, Graciano Shiraz and awarded it the ‘Silver Bullet’ for the most Innovative Red Wine.

Full results available online at www.hunterwineshow.com.au

The First Creek Winery team: Lorrae St Vincent, Abbabel Holland, Daniel Mathieson and Georgie Harrison.

International judge Sarah Ahmed. www.winetitles.com.au

Sarah Limacher at the judging bench.

September 2015 – Issue 620

Patrick Haddock makes another assessment.

Kelly McCormack, Abby Burden, Lauren Flynn

PJ Charteris, the chairman of judges, in action.

Stuart Hodern, the Brokenwood senior winemaker, who collected Doug Seabrook Memorial Trophy for Best Red Wine of the Show (2014 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz).

Andrew Spinaze, Tyrrell's chief winemaker, with The Petrie-Drinan Trophy for Best White Wine of the Show (Tyrrell’s Vineyards 2006 Vat 1 Semillon).

Iain Riggs, Brokenwood general manaker/chief winemaker, collected the Len Evans Trophy for the Best Named Vineyard (2014 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz).

September 2015 – Issue 620

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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news

Who is Guy Taylor?

Wine Tasmania has a new director with an impressive marketing background EARLIER THIS YEAR one of the people behind the iconic ‘Who is James Boag?’ campaign joined the board of Wine Tasmania. Guy Taylor, the executive director of marketing at Tourism Tasmania, has brought his skills in destination marketing and brand strategy to the wine boardroom. In this Q&A we find out more Taylor’s background and his vision for wine and tourism in Tasmania.

How did the appointment as a Wine Tasmania ‘director’ come about?

Guy Taylor: I was asked by one of the current Wine Tas directors if I would be interested in joining the board given that I had managed the Wine Tas brand evolution as a consultant some months prior and conducted a similar process for Tourism Tasmania some three years before. It seemed like a logical fit.

How important are wine and winery experiences to the Tasmanian tourism industry?

GT: Wine and tourism are co-joined in Tasmania. Again, due to the close proximity of vineyards to other tourism offerings there is substantial opportunity for visitors to inhabit multiple experiences across wine growers/makers, whiskey distilleries, boutique cider and beer offerings. We are the only Australian state where all these experiences are possible in a single day.

How big a part of the Tasmanian economy is tourism?

GT: The total value of the tourism industry, direct and indirect, to Tasmania is $2.3billion.

You have a history of working with key Tasmanian brands; can tell us about your background?

GT: My background is in strategy, particularly relating to building competitively differentiated brands. I contributed to Boags becoming the fastest growing premium beer brand in Australia and helped take Blundstone to the forefront of the global workwear movement. The work I have done for tourism started three years ago when I lead a restructuring of their brand to be more engaged, relevant and consumer-facing.

Growth in visitor numbers the year prior to that strategy being rolled out was 0%. For the past two years it has been 20% and 16% consecutively. Tasmania is uniquely placed in the tourism landscape due to its artisanal qualities and the multi-fold cultural experience that exists here.

Can you tell us more about your work with Boags?

How does your experience in this area help frame your thoughts on promoting Tasmanian wine and wine experiences?

GT: The ‘Who is James Boag?’ campaign that I co-created was the most successful premium beer initiative in Australia.

In pure dollar terms the J.Boag company was bought for about $12million prior to the campaign rolling out. J. Boag recently

20 Grapegrower & Winemaker

sold to Lion Nathan for +$320million. Most people believe that success was largely due to the creative execution around J.Boags Premium. What they neglect to appreciate is the cultural ideology that existed in the strategy that underwrote that work.

It was a brave execution that took a brave client to green light.

The trend towards incremental augmentation in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) models these days means everyone is spending their revenue getting better and better at being the same as everyone else and then relying on data to ratify a de-risked position. That’s not how you build a billion dollar brand. In the wine industry the line on the side of wineglasses is a classic example of the madness of this model – entertainment viewed as a rounding error.

What are your thoughts about how Tasmania wine should market itself?

GT: In a way Tasmanian wine doesn’t need to aggressively market itself because of the quality of the offering and limited supply. Word of mouth plays a crucial function as it does with Tasmania’s tourism offering. We have close to 70% return visitation, and the quality and depth of experience that drives that figure is replicated in wine where 100% of our cost per bottle sits above $15. On mainland Australia 93% of the per bottle price is below $15.

Do you think Tasmania need to be known for a certain grape varietal or wine style?

GT: Far and away Pinot Noir is Tasmania’s hero representing 41% of total production.

Tourism Australia and Wine Australia have begun working more closely together… is it the case in Tasmania as well? Does your role with Wine Tasmania reinforce this?

GT: Tourism Tasmania and Wine Tasmania have great relations. The size of the wine offerings in the state differentiate us from regions like the Barossa, Hunter, Margaret River or McLaren Vale where, due to the sheer scale of operations, you are many steps removed from the winemaker. Personalisation, proximity and elite premium quality are key to the Tassie offering.

Were you involved in the Restaurant Australia activities earlier this year?

GT: I began my role at Tourism Tasmania a month prior to Restaurant Australia hitting town. The penultimate conclusion to the RA initiative, a multi-site ‘Invite the World to dinner’ experience for 250 food influencers from around the world, completely reframed my understanding of event size and complexity. The seamless delivery of that event was only possible due to the unparalleled dedication of numerous teams from both Tourism Australia and Tourism Tasmania.

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

Your Vineyard Your Voice

The Newsletter of Wine Grape Growers Australia

September 2015

Time for a change in mind set IT IS INTERESTING to compare the constitutions of WGGA and the WFA. Both provide for membership of businesses that might otherwise sit under the banner of the other – either winemaker or winegrape grower.

WGGA’s constitution invites membership to “any wine grape grower… including winemakers who also grow wine grapes”. The WFA constitution provides membership for Grape Growers meaning “any person who grows grapes… for use in the production of wine”.

All good so far.

The difference between the two is that

as member of the WGGA, winemakergrowers have voting rights and are entitled to sit on the primary decisionmaking body, the Executive Committee.

On the other hand, Grape Growers who become members of the WFA can attend General Meetings, but cannot vote and can only “speak at General Meetings” or “have matters included on the Board’s Agenda” if the Chair consents.

The mental set of the two is vastly different in terms of whole-of-value chain thinking.

The degree to which vineyard activities and wine production overlap, and

support the ability of each to be successful in the marketplace, is profound, and we cannot afford to have passive and dominant partners across the two. There needs to be constant and meaningful dialogue between the vineyard and wine companies that makes trade between the two purposeful in producing the right product for consumers and profitable for both.

The industry is on the cusp of significant change. If it is going to be change that makes a difference, it has to be different thinking not more of the same.

Summit key messages THE WINE GRAPE COUNCIL SA held its second Winegrape Growers’ Summit in Adelaide on 17 July 2015. The focus was on the global and Australian economic outlook for the wine industry and an implications for grape prices in 2016.

Speakers included business commentator Michael Pascoe, Marc Soccio (Rabobank), Prof Kym Anderson (University of Adelaide), Jim Moularadellis (Austwine), Mark Rowley (Wine Australia) and others. Summaries and podcasts can be downloaded from wgcsa.com.au.

The following is a brief summary of the key messages from the day.

• Conditions are still tough and the global economic recovery is sluggish; • Global demand for wine is soft and supply remains ample – especially after a number of big harvests in the US (before 2014);

• The domestic market for wine is unlikely to grow much due to downward pressures on disposable income, cultural changes in drinking preferences and a strong push from the anti-alcohol lobby to reduce drinking and increase alcohol taxes. There is also a trend towards importing wine into Australia and this is likely to increase as Aldi wine shops grow their market share; • The main export opportunity is the developing markets, especially China.

There are nevertheless inherent risks in the China market and it is difficult to access. The US market is growing but Australia continues to underperform while the UK market is stagnant or declining; • Future growth prospects favour premium products over commercial products;

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• There are opportunities for grapegrowers – like all small businesses – if they are able to be creative and customer-focussed.; • Prices were up slightly this vintage – especially for white varieties, but the indications are that they will not increase in 2016; and • In South Australia, the only varietal “hot-spots” are premium Shiraz (Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale) and Pinot Gris. Chardonnay is better placed than it has been in recent years while Sauvignon Blanc is in short-term undersupply in some regions. Merlot was rated poorly – it is struggling to compete in export markets and it is a difficult variety to grow.

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WGGA News

Indicative prices - should be earlier EXISTING INDICATIVE PRICE provisions in the Code have the potential to drive down price benchmarks and thereby act against grower interests. There have therefore been calls to remove indicative prices from the Code in the growers’ interest. However, it is not the indicative prices themselves, but their timing, that is the problem, and the solution is not to simply throw them out.

Moreover, while these arrangements raise grower risk, the wine producer’s risk is lowered. Wine producers have the option to adjust final prices for fruit much later in the season in response to emerging market circumstances.

Effective grower decision-making about investment in a crop, in terms of meeting off-taker’s requirements as well as optimising their own ability to manage a viable business, requires clear market guidance for the major investment involved in each year’s crop.

Indicative prices are a vital part of such market guidance and to be effective they are made early in the vineyard management decision-making process.

Moreover, since indicative prices are non-binding, they need to be a credible reflection of the market so the grower can understand if they will cover costs, at least.

The effectiveness of early indicative prices relies on them being meaningful, and not misleading, indications.

The earlier the release of indicative prices, the more competitive they become. Growers can assess the implications of the advised price guidance and negotiate their options. Unrealistic, exceptionally low indicative prices, that create a bidding process to keep prices low, will then be tested in the market place. Market testing can be further enhanced by the release of authoritative, independent, third-party assessments of supply and demand – present and future.

Such arrangements will ensure both parties and given maximum incentive to accurately read the market, improving effective business decisions through which the industry will thrive.

Of course, other arrangements than indicative prices are possible.

Current price provisions in the Code of Conduct specify 15 December as the date for notifying growers in the warm inland regions and the Hunter of indicative regional prices. It occurs a month later in the more southerly, cooler districts.

In the current operating environment, the late timing forces growers to commit to unviable production because by far the larger proportion of their costs have been incurred and options to adjust crop management or to renegotiate requirements have passed. Such late market signals also create a perverse outcome in that growers will increase production levels to reduce the impact of loss-making revenue per hectare created by low prices per tonne. In turn, this will prolong supply and demand imbalances.

The government is listening to grower issues Since coming to power after a period of time out of office, the current Federal Government has indisputably been a consulting government. This has been expressed in the large number of reviews and inquiries that sought to harness issues, views and ideas on a wide range of portfolio interests. WGGA has been kept busy this year and last in preparing submissions to many of these reviews.

Has the government listened?

The Agriculture Competitiveness White Paper provides a resounding yes to the question. White Papers are policy papers and the Ag White Paper has many of these, backed up by funding initiatives.

Pleasingly, the White Paper substantially

addresses many strategic priorities that make up WGGA’s work program.

Chief among them are biosecurity, market access, commercial practices, new business models and agrichemical access. Further details can be found at agwhitepaper.agriculture.gov.au.

Add to this the findings of the Senate Inquiry into the Imposition and Disbursement of Marketing and R&D Levies. The findings were highly sympathetic to several of the issues with levy collections that WGGA, and the wider industry, are concerned about.

These include enabling the creation of grower contact databases (‘knowing who the producer levy payers are’), using the database to enable an effective national biosecurity response, more general reforms to levy arrangement covering

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Now let’s see if action follows.

WGGA will certainly be agitating to ensure any initiatives stemming from these reports serve winegrape growers’ needs.

Waiting in the wings are further reviews yet to be delivered. The Tax Review, the WET Rebate Discussion Paper, the Senate Inquiry into the Wine Industry and even the Horticulture Code Review holds some interest for growers.

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WGGA News

The role of the ‘Dog book’ The ‘Dog book’ was first published in 1990 to facilitate the export of Australian wine and this continues to be its primary objective. It does this by setting withholding periods (WHP) for chemical application that meet export market maximum residue limits (MRLs) while minimising the risks from pests and diseases. An Agrochemical Reference Group hosted by the AWRI decides the WHP recommendations. This group takes into consideration good agricultural practice and the impact that

chemical use can have on fermentation or wine quality when setting WHPs. The ‘Dog book’ also functions as a tool to promote Australia’s reputation as a ‘clean and green’ producer and to help meet consumer expectations for environmental performance and workplace health and safety.

The ‘Dog book’ has an ‘Agrochemicals registered for use’ section which is printed in black and white to distinguish it from the ‘recommendations section’ which is printed in purple.

The ‘registered for use’ section of the ‘Dog book’ is an all-inclusive list of agrochemicals registered for use in Australian wine-grape production by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).

The AWRI advises growers to comply with restrictions from their winery or grape purchaser in the first case and contact the winery or grape purchaser before using any chemicals not dealt with in the ‘recommendations section’.

New restrictions on captan The AWRI notified growers on 13 August 2015 that captan is no longer recommended for use on grapes destined for export wine. This change to the ‘Dog book’ recommendation section was made to meet a new European Union (EU) regulation concerning the maximum residue limit (MRL) for captan and how it is calculated. The new regulation, expected to be enforced from early January 2016, states that the MRL for captan will be set at 0.03 mg/kg and will include its main breakdown product tetrahydrophthalimide (THPI). Residue testing has shown that quantifiable amounts of THPI greater than the MRL can be present in grapes even if captan is applied long before

flowering. As such, to be confident of nil detectable residues in wine, it is recommended that captan not be used on grapes destined for export wine.

Knowing that this change may be highly disruptive to many growers’ spray strategies, the AWRI is providing technical support for a Wine Australia and Winemakers’ Federation of Australia submission to the EU requesting reconsideration of the new regulation. Coordinated efforts with the Australian Government Department of Agriculture are also being made to resolve this international trade issue as quickly as possible.

Letter to the Editor Thought I’d write to the United Grower about my experience with the last vintage. I suppose I’m wondering if there is anything you can do about it. I grow grapes in a cool climate area of SA and have a contract with a major company (although who knows for how much longer).

Naturally enough, I want to get the best price possible so I work as close as I can with the company. Well, they insist on it anyway.

The contact started early in the season for the 2014 harvest, that is, July 2013. I wanted to discuss pruning and gradings. A time and date was set with the company GLO but no show, no call.

A little while later I asked for any explanation I could get for our gradings from the previous season and got very little feedback/ direction. It was a waste of time. When it came time to prepare for harvest, I rang the GLO to arrange a time for him to visit. He brought another GLO with him but I wasn’t invited to look with them and when they had finished they didn’t even call in to the office. Just drove straight out the gate. I had to call the guy and the only comment he had was looks OK. A week later he visited off his own back. About another week after that, he and another GLO visited again. Again, I wasn’t asked to go with them and when they had finished, the only feedback was ‘no more water’.

So much for their input to the harvest management.

In the end we got no more than a day’s notice of picking. In this time,

you have to allow time to pick and transport. It’s very little notice.

The year before, I remember we spent an extra $1800/Ha on their recommendations for shoot thinning in a block. We lost around 1.5t/Ha and ended being downgraded to C grade anyway. All up, it cost $11600/ha compared to eventual revenue of $6567/ha.

There’s no accountability in all this and we get treated like fools.

Surely there’s something that can be done?

Sincerely, T. R. Ellis Executive Director’s’ note: We have the Code but as we stress to many people, you can’t specify things down to the level of just being treated decently. Private contracts can help here but I’m sure you’re going to tell us that you don’t get much input into the contract they deliver to you and it’s not easy to complain when it’s so hard to sell your fruit. Of course, we regularly raise these kinds of issues with the WFA to see if there are things the organisations can do to raise standards. We have also talked to the office of the National Small Business. The Commissioner hosted an industry roundtable on these kinds of matters and the outcome was favourable for our arguments.

There is hope we can follow up on this.

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WGGA News

WGGA matters: At-a-glance WGGA priorities for 2015-16 On a slimmer budget in 2015-16, WGGA has trimmed its strategic priorities. Key areas for action will be: • National biosecurity arrangements; • Organisational restructure; • Code of Conduct reforms; and • Improved commercial relationships between growers and wine companies.

Full details of our proposed operational plans for 2015-16 can be viewed at www.wgga.com.au under ‘About WGGA/Our Activities’.

WineTech 2015 Congratulations to David Cavanagh from Yarrah Park Vineyard (SA) and Tony Cahir from Watson’s Creek Wines (Victoria) who visited the WGGA stand at WineTech in July and were the lucky winners of our prize draw. Tony won a copy of Kym Anderson’s Growth and Cycles in Australia’s Wine Industry and David is now keeping dry under a WGGA umbrella.

Thank you to all our visitors over the three days – it was lovely to speak to so many growers and even to sign up a few new members!

Membership reminder A reminder that WGGA membership for 2015-16 is still open.

There’s a category for everyone interested in supporting grower issues.

Special offers close on 30 September 2015 so if you haven’t joined or renewed your membership yet, get in quick!

Visit www.wgga.com.au to learn more about which membership category suits you and this year’s special offers.

WGGA submissions If you are interested in WGGA’s views on the recent Senate Inquiry into the wine industry or would like to learn about WGGA’s position for the government’s Tax Review, WGGA’s submissions can be viewed on the WGGA website at http://wgga.com.au/policy/wgga-submissions. .

We’re up and tweeting WGGA has launched into social media with Twitter to keep you up to date with news and events. We are also on Facebook to give you a chance to join a conversation and/or have your say on industry matters You can follow us on Twitter at @WGGAinfo or search for Wine Grape Growers Australia on Facebook.

Grape and Wine 2015 ‘Grape and Wine 2015 – a focus for action’ was held on 28 August in Adelaide.

The aim of the event was to assemble national, state and regional industry people to discuss and provide direction on: • The priority areas for industry representative bodies to contribute to focus on for a return to profitability; and • Consider the future industry representative structure might best tackle the priority issues and present a united industry voice.

In August we sought grower feedback via a survey and the results from this were fed into the day’s discussion. With the outcome unknown at the time of writing, readers are asked to watch both the WGGA (www.wgga.com.au) and WFA (www.wfa. org.au) websites for outcomes and further action.

Office staff Our Office Manager Kelly Bonser will be taking maternity leave at the end of October. We wish her and the expanding family the best on this happy adventure. We also look forward to her return in the new financial year. We will advise everyone about Kelly’s replacement in the next issue of The United Grower. The office phone and email details will remain the same.

WGGA Associate Members

WGGA proudly acknowledges its associate members: AHA Viticulture Bayer CropScience Belvino Investments Broke Fordwich Wine Tourism Association Gaetjens Langley Lallemand Oenology National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) Performance Viticulture PFG Australia Retallack Viticulture River Murray Training SCE Energy Solutions Vine Sight Vitibit Woodshield

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grapegrowing Biosecurity being tackled on two fronts STRONG TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, a national focus and a wealth of experience in pest and disease management in Australia is being put to good use as those in charge of the biosecurity project consultancies get to work on behalf of Wine Grape Growers Australia (WGGA).

“I am confident we have chosen two excellent organisations to help deliver these extremely important projects for the wine sector,” said Lawrie Stanford, WGGA executive director.

The first project, due for delivery later this year, will be to prepare a strategic plan and business case, through consultation with industry, for longer-term national biosecurity arrangements in viticulture. Stuart Pettigrew, of Ag Dynamics, has been selected for this task and he brings 25 years’ of experience in working with agricultural businesses on pest and disease management including in vineyards and other horticultural crops.

“Not only does Stuart have great depth of knowledge in pest and disease management and biosecurity across a range of crops, he has also worked as a vineyard manager and has direct experience with the issues and realities facing grape growers,” said Stanford.

Pettigrew said he was tackling the task in three steps.

“The first one was to meet with opinion leaders amongst both this topic and also some of the key growing areas,” he said.

“I’ve done the first round of consultations really just to check what the industry is feeling, almost to take the temperature of the industry to see how they are feeling about the whole area of biosecurity.

“It’s been a little bit of a long process, particularly for WGGA, to build momentum on this area.

Biosecurity is traditionally one of those areas where people want to make sure someone else is looking after because no one gets too excited by it.”

The second project has been awarded to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).

26 Grapegrower & Winemaker

AT A GLANCE Wine Grape Growers Australia (WGGA) currently has two biosecurity projects being managed for the benefit of grapegrowers.

Stuart Pettigrew has been appointed to prepare a strategic plan and business case, through consultation with industry, for longerterm national biosecurity arrangements in viticulture.

Kerry DeGaris, through the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), is currently delivering biosecurity operations that fulfil the grape sector’s obligations to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed.

AWRI will deliver biosecurity operations that fulfil the grape sector’s obligations to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed, which defines the cost sharing arrangements between the industry and the Commonwealth government for responses to exotic pest incursions, as well as dealing with national ramifications of endemic pest and disease management.

These tasks will be outsourced to AWRI for the next 12, and possibly 24 months, while longer term arrangements are being developed and implemented.

“The AWRI’s expertise in matters of viticulture pest and disease, its prominence in extension activities to vineyard operators and its acknowledged capacity in executing rapid responses to weather and disease events all recommended it to the task,” said Stanford.

“A key feature of AWRI’s tender was its ready-to-go industry knowledge and established industry networks across Australia.

All of these qualities ensure that growers will be engaged in biosecurity management activities that affect them.”

AWRI’s project activities will be delivered primarily by

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

Kerry DeGaris, with support from the AWRI viticulture team.

Kerry is a qualified viticulturist with 17 years’ experience working in many grapegrowing regions of Australia.

Kerry DeGaris said it has been a bit of a “baptism of fire” because there had been a lot happening with biosecurity and her workload has been busy straight away.

“I’m picking up a lot of representation on the Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests (CCEPP), I sit in on those meetings and there have been a lot of those because every time there’s a new incursion there’s not an Emergency Plant Pest Response,” said DeGaris.

“There are a lot of phone hook-ups and it’s my job to take information back to the grape industry if it’s relevant.”

The projects are being funded by voluntary contributions from a range of organisations with viticulture interests.

Moreover, the strategic planning will engage with the range of the viticulture industries including winegrapes, dried fruits, table grapes and nurseries.

WGGA has national responsibility for biosecurity arrangements in the wine sector on behalf of independent grape growers and winemaker grape growers. It is the signatory to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed for the wine sector and as such, has an obligation to the normal commitments required of industry parties under the Deed.

WGGA undertakes these biosecurity responsibilities in close association with the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, in consultation with the Australian Grape and Wine Authority and in close liaison and cooperation with the other viticulture industries namely; table grapes, dried fruit and nurseries.

While the relationships with the other viticulture industries are integral to the management of the projects, WGGA’s funding arrangements are independent of those applying to table grapes, dried fruit and nurseries.

Pettigrew said part of his role had been to prepare a background assessment which included dry fruits. “I’ve also had a discussion with Australian Table Grape Growers Association as well to try and include all viticulture”.

He said the key message is that the winegrape sector can’t do this without the other viticulture sectors.

“We’re really trying to make sure that we talk about what we have to do, and what we must to do project the industry and not what we can add into the project,” said Pettigrew.

“What we decided with WGGA and ‘dried fruits’ who are both involved in the project, and hopefully table grapes will come on board as well, is let’s come up with a really solid business case and a solid proposal before we go out and talk to growers.

“I wanted to go out and say ‘this is what we’re proposing’.

We’re still in the ‘drawing it together’ phase, so the next phase is to come up with the strategic plan which will be looking at: How should we be going about doing this? Who should be involved? What are the activities? What will the funding mechanism look like?”

Pettigrew said once these questions have been answered, a clear understanding about the activities will be possible.

“Around that we will develop a business case saying: if we don’t do this, here is the consequence; and of we do, these are the benefits. Once we get to that point, we will go out and speak numbers to the industry.

“We’re still in phase two at the moment which is still drawing all the bits together into some sort of coherent structure. Once that’s written and approved by the key stakeholders, we will then go out and deliver that to a broader audience.

“At this stage, what we’re really looking at from the industry is anyone who feels strongly about this should really actually take the opportunity now to have some input about it. Most growers are happy for their representative and regional groups September 2015 – Issue 620

Biosecurity is traditionally one of those areas where people want to make sure someone else is looking after because no one gets too excited by it. to speak on their behalf but we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to put some input into the process.”

DeGaris in the meantime has been managing the current requirements for the WGGA, on behalf of the winegrape industry, while Pettigrew works on how that role will be strategically planned and funded for the future.

But DeGaris is at the coal face – on the ground protection from pests and disease incursion. Protection from new pests and diseases has not been a part of the daily management plan of growers or representative bodies. But Pettigrew said the aim is to plan for ongoing efforts of the broader viticulture industry to work on project that increase the ability of the industry to help protect itself.

“That’s awareness raising activities and having growers as regional champions that can push the topic of biosecurity at their regional levels,” Pettigrew said. “Understanding who the technical experts around the industry are; and who can be relied on to help out.”

While fruit fly and phylloxera are existing pests, they will also become part of the planning.

“I guess, at a technical level they don’t fall under the biosecurity system from a perspective of the emergency plant pest response deed because they’re already in Australia,” Pettigrew said.

“But, of course nothing is ever as clear cut as that. While they don’t fall under the deed, they would fall under any biosecurity activities we plan simply because there is no point in sidelining groups such as the phylloxera board when they have great skills and experience.

“What we’re really trying to structure as part of the strategic planning part of the project is how we can come up with a system that engages all of those people to use their respective skills and not duplicate.”

DeGaris pointed out the funding for the management of fruit fly in Australia has ceased, and the winegrape sector is expected to contribute to the ongoing control of this pest.

Regardless of the funding issues, DeGaris works to identify the level of threat and communicate these to both industry and government, in order to facilitate any response.

“My job is the conduit between the Federal Government and WGGA,” she said.

At the moment she is in preparation mode ahead of the National Viticulture Biosecurity Committee, which will meet for the first time this November.

DeGaris, who lives on the family farm at Bool Lagoon in the Limestone Coast region, has worked in the wine industry since 1998, she has worked for Accolade and McWilliams and also had a pest and disease monitoring role with Wynns.

“I’ve got good pest and disease knowledge,” Degaris said. “I majored in entomology in my final year of university. But the big part of the role is extending the information out to growers.

I’ve had a lot to do with growers over the years.

“The AWRI already do a lot of extension work and they have a good team of viticulturist and good industry contacts. So we’ve got the skills to do all that is required in this role.”

She said growers shouldn’t be daunted by emergency response planning.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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There are very good procedures and there is a biosecurity plan, so there are emergency response plans in place. But what is lacking in our industry is the people on the ground.

“There are very good procedures and there is a biosecurity plan, so there are emergency response plans in place. But what is lacking in our industry is the people on the ground.

“One of my roles will be to identify the right people and build those networks and train people up. That list of people will need to be regularly maintained and the plans need to be updated every five years.”

DeGaris said the largest time commitment in her role has been taken up in phone meetings. There are often two per week which not only take a few hours to complete but require plenty of follow-up work.

“I’m just shocked at how many incursions are happening on a regular basis. And a lot of the pests come in could have some relevance to the wine industry, but that depends on where the incursion happens.

“But there’s a lot of investigation work involved, trying to find out if a particular pest has been found in any other wine regions around the world and whether they will have any economic impact.”

Pettigrew pointed out that “basically all of the high-priority pests that we want to keep out of Australia are a major economic pest in some part of the world already”.

“That’s why we have identified them as major pests. The one that people will know about is pierce’s disease which has devastated viticulture areas internationally and California has the vector for it. It’s one of those diseases that has an insect vector and a pathogen.

“There’s a lot of work going on in the Californian industry to keep glassy wing sharp shooter under control.

“There have been plenty of examples of devastating diseases come into Australia and cost significant sums to money to control. I think the reason these pests and disease are there is because they’re devastating and there’s plenty of examples of where they have caused problems.

“In California controlling the glassy winged sharp shooter is an example of an added expense to every vineyard manager’s budget which is something we want to avoid.”

Pettigrew said the viticulture industry wasn’t alone in working through its biosecurity planning.

“The citrus industry is in the third year of an R&D levy funded project which I am managing and we went out and held a lot of information sharing sessions with a lot of activities on the ground as well as surveillance programs and trainings,” he said.

“We built a lot of momentum around the topic.

“But we need to be aware that there are a lot of people who understand it and a lot of people who don’t. Proper awareness raising across the entire viticulture sector is critical for this to be a success in the long term.

“The government has a big commitment already in this field, but what they quite rightly expect is that the industry gets their house in order.

“If the government is putting its money at the table to support any future management programs then the industry really needs to get its act together as well to be an equal partner.

“Recently when the cucumber industry went through some issues, because it had refused to sign up to the deed, the government made all the decisions and the industry had no seat at the table.

“What we need to sell this message as is that the government are sitting there as a willing partner, but why would they put up money if the industry aren’t serious about the topic themselves.

“It’s a shared responsibility but the leadership needs to come from the industry so we can be proactive in making important decisions.”

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing

Assessment of relationships between grape chemical composition and grape allocation grade for Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay Internationally, there are examples of objective winegrape quality assessments being carried out by chemical measurement and accurate analysis of aroma, tannin and colour compounds. But here in Australia winegrapes are generally assessed far more subjectively. In this article, Paul Smith, the Australian Wine Research Institute’s research manager for chemistry, looks at a recent project between a large Australian wine company and a leading viticulture management business. This article focuses on work investigating whether current fruit grading allocations can be predicted using chemical measurements, with data from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay grape lots from the 2014 vintage.

A WIDE RANGE of compounds that contribute to wine’s appearance, aroma, flavour and texture are derived from grapes. Many of these compounds are known and measurable, and can be manipulated through viticultural and/ or winemaking practices. Around the world, many wine companies use grape chemical measures to assess grape value or style; for example, E. and J. Gallo Winery in the USA applies an index of the concentration of multiple compounds primarily for fruit streaming (Smith, 2013). Grower cooperatives in Germany are currently trialling measurements of aroma released from the glycoside precursors in grapes as a style indicator and companies in USA, NZ, Italy, Portugal and South Africa use grape tannin and colour measures to support winemaking decisions.

By contrast, measurement of compounds in grapes to objectively assess their value or style is not something that has been implemented widely in Australia, with only one or two measures used by just a handful of companies.

Instead, in Australia the value of grapes is usually determined through visual and tasting assessments, often conducted by a single individual. Growers can be paid based on a subjective assessment of the condition of the vines, the flavour of the fruit and the presence of disease, as well as some simple chemical measures of grapes such as colour, total soluble solids, pH or TA. Other growers are paid based on the final value of the wine that is made from their grapes. Many growers and winemakers would like to support decision-making processes by using objective chemical measures that are directly related to attributes that

30 Grapegrower & Winemaker

confer value to wine. For both growers and winemakers, such measures could provide specifications that would allow the most value to be achieved from grapes.

A NEW COLLABORATIVE PROJECT To address this gap, a new project was developed in 2013 with Accolade Wines and FABAL vineyard managers as partners, funded by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (now Wine Australia). The project aimed to measure a range of chemical compounds in multiple grape batches of different grades and determine which compounds, independently or in combination, could differentiate between grape grades.

The objectives were to determine how variable the chemical measures are across a wide range of fruit grades, if there is a relationship to fruit grade, and if the fruit can be classified based on similarity of chemical composition. A further aim was to assess the practical application of grape compositional grading measurements and to support wine producers who intend to apply these measures in their systems.

GRAPE SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS Grapes from a range of quality grades were sourced by representative sampling of vineyards from multiple regions, and a wide range of chemical analyses were performed to determine the concentration of compounds known to affect wine style and key sensory properties. These included basic berry chemical composition such as average berry weight, pH, TA, TSS, moisture, malic acid, -amino nitrogen, ammonia www.winetitles.com.au

and YAN (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen).

Possible negative markers of style included laccase activity and chloride. In addition, data acquired using spectral measures included total phenolics (A280), red colour (A520), A420 and methyl cellulose precipitable (MCP) tannin. Full spectral fingerprints in the UV-Vis, mid infrared (MIR) and near infrared (NIR) regions were also acquired. Aroma compounds quantified included the ‘grassy, green’ C-6 compounds, ‘green capsicum’ methoxypyrazines, free -damascenone (‘fruity’), and the broad flavour measure phenol-free glycosyl-glucose (GG). For a summary of the functions of these compounds in grapes and wines, please refer to Smith (2013).

The grading data were supplied by the grower or winery contracted to make wine from those grapes. Accolade grades grapes and wines on a scale from 1 (highest value) to 9. Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay grapes were studied in 2014 across grades 2-9. Grapes were sourced from eight geographical areas (Swan Valley, Riverland, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Clare Valley, Padthaway, Coonawarra and Wrattonbully). For Chardonnay, grapes were additionally sourced from the Adelaide Hills, Great Southern, Margaret River, Pemberton and Tasmania.

WHICH CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER VALUE FRUIT? A statistical method known as discriminant analysis was used to build models capable of correctly predicting the grade for the majority of the fruit samples.

The models were very successful, able to classify samples correctly to a high September 2015 – Issue 620

1. Cabernet Sauvignon

2. Shiraz

FIGURES: PLS regression model predicting grade, with loadings for significant chemical measures in grape samples.

degree (85-93%). Almost half of the incorrect predictions were less than two classes away. Using an alternative partial least squares (PLS) regression approach gave models with a good ability to predict grades with overall R2 values of 0.650.78 (that is, 65-78% of the variance in the grade is explained by the chemical measures), which is a very promising result.

The regression models can be used to determine which aspects of the grape chemistry are most associated with differentiating between grades, and these results are shown in Figure 1, 2 and 3 for Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay respectively. Coefficients can be positive or negative depending on whether higher concentrations of components increase value (better grade) or decrease value (poorer grade), and only significant variables are shown.

For Cabernet Sauvignon there was a moderately successful prediction of grades using PLS regression and chemical composition (R2 of validation =0.71). The significant variables that were higher in higher grades were some specific amino acids, tannin, GG and UV-Vis absorbance values. The concentration of C6 compounds, YAN and some amino

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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grapegrowing 3. Chardonnay

value chain, and especially between grapegrowers and winemakers, is central to a sustainable Australian wine sector.

Objective measures of quality may contribute significantly to ensuring that transparency, trust and the maximisation of value are achieved, by providing an objective framework within which all parties understand what is expected, to achieve the highest value and most effective use of available resources.

Acknowledgements

acids was higher in lower grades.

Discriminant analysis was 90% correct for grade prediction.

For Shiraz there was also a moderately strong prediction of grades using PLS and chemistry (R2 of validation = 0.65).

The significant variables that were higher in higher grades were some amino acids, UV-Vis absorbance values, tannin and GG, but unlike Cabernet, also C6 compounds and YAN. Only aspartic acid concentration was higher in lower grades. Discriminant analysis was 85% correct for grade prediction.

For Chardonnay there was good prediction of grades using PLS and chemistry (R2 of validation = 0.78). The significant variables that had higher concentration in higher grades were GG, precursors to the varietal thiol 3MH, malic acid, ammonia nitrogen, two C6 compounds and ammonia.

The UV-Vis absorbance at 370 nm (flavonols, sun exposure marker) and proline concentration were higher in lower grades, and higher pH and a C6 compound were also associated with lower grades. Discriminant analysis was 93% correct for grade prediction.

Using grape spectral data only, discriminant analysis using UV-Vis spectra from grape extracts, MIR spectra from juice and NIR spectra from homogenates was able to predict grade better than 90% for Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay. Spectral tools such as these are rapid and would be more readily accessible to industry than some of the more advanced chemical measurements.

In summary, a number of important chemical measures were identified as being related to grade across the 2014 dataset for the different varieties.

Measures that were positively associated (i.e. there are higher amounts) with higher value grade included TSS, A280 (total phenolics), A320 (hydroxycinnamic acids), A370 (flavonols, sun exposure markers), A420 and A520 (red colour),

32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

a range of amino acids (some of which may be precursors to aroma compounds), glycosyl glucose (GG, aroma precursors), tannin (MCPT) and thiol precursors.

Compounds that were negatively associated with grade included nitrogen measures, 2-aminobutyric acid, asparagine, glutamic acid and the two C6 ‘green’, ‘grassy’ compounds Z-3-hexenol and E-2-hexenol. Tannin, GG, TSS, A280 (total phenolics) and A520 (red colour) have all been previously demonstrated to be generally positively associated with red grape and wine quality in Australia, and this dataset once again reinforces this observation. Across two seasons studied (2013 data not shown), total phenolics (A280), tannin and red colour (A520) were consistently positively associated with grade in the red varieties. Many of the identified chemical measures are available commercially or can be implemented with low to moderate technical investment depending on the facilities available to the winery or grower.

The project has continued in 2015 and wines have been made from the grape samples under standardised conditions to allow the assessment of wine sensory properties and to relate these to the grape compositional measures.

CONCLUSION Developing an understanding of the relationships of available objective measures to well established subjective grading systems has the potential to significantly reduce production costs and increase value, by ensuring that fruit is used in the most efficient production stream and that maximum value is returned from the end-product.

It also may lead to significant savings in the costs of assessing vineyards through more effective application of resources and clearer understandings of geographical, viticultural and climatic drivers. The maintenance of strong professional relationships along the www.winetitles.com.au

This work is supported by Australian grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body, Wine Australia with matching funds from the Australian Government. The Australian Wine Research Institute is a member of the Wine Innovation Cluster in Adelaide.

References and further reading

Bindon, K.A., Smith, P.A., Holt, H., Kennedy, J.A. 2010 Interaction between grape-derived proanthocyanidins and cell wall material. 2. Implications for vinification. J. Agric. Food Chem. 58(19): 10736–10746.

Bindon, K., Kassara, S., Cynkar, W., Robinson, E., Scrimgeour, N., Smith, P.A. 2014. Comparison of extraction protocols to determine differences in wineextractable tannin and anthocyanin in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. J. Agric.

Food Chem. 62 (20): 4558−4570.

Cerpa-Calderon, F.K., Kennedy J.A. 2008.

Berry integrity and extraction of skin and seed proanthocyanidins during red wine fermentation. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56 (19): 9006–9014.

Kassara, S. ,Kennedy, J.A. 2011. Relationship between red wine grade and phenolics. 2. Tannin composition and size. J. Agric. Food Chem. 59(15): 8409–8412.

Mercurio, M.D., Dambergs, R.G., Cozzolino, D., Herderich, M.J., Smith, P.A. 2010. Relationship between red wine grades and phenolics. 1. Tannin and total phenolics concentrations. J. Agric. Food Chem. 58 (23): 12313–12319.

Peyrot des Gachons, C. and Kennedy, J.A. 2003.

Direct method for determining seed and skin proanthocyanidin extraction into red wine. J. Agric.

Food Chem. 51(20): 5877–5881.

Smith, P. 2013. Recent advances in objective chemical measures of wine quality. Petrie, P. (ed.) Objective measures of grape and wine quality: Proceedings of the ASVO and WISA seminar, 25–26 July 2012, Mildura, Victoria. Adelaide, S.A.: Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology: 44–49.

Paul Smith, Research Manager – Chemistry, AWRI Alex Schulkin, Scientist, AWRI Bob Dambergs, Wine TQ Consulting Stella Kassara, Scientist, AWRI Sheridan Barter, Technical Officer, AWRI Mark Solomon, Scientist, AWRI Wies Cynkar, Research Scientist, AWRI Alex Sas, Accolade Wines Warren Birchmore, Accolade Wines Chris Bevin, formerly Accolade Wines Leigh Francis, Research Manager – Sensory and Flavour, AWRI Keren Bindon, Senior Research Scientist, AWRI Dimitra Capone, Research Scientist, AWRI

September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing

The sparkling trend: Prosecco IT’S BEEN A huge year for Prosecco so far in 2015. Far from a poor man’s Champagne, the newest trend in sparkling wine has taken the world by storm with sales so strong there was even fear of a ‘global Prosecco shortage’ crisis.

Building a reputation as a premium sparkling wine, the Italian variety overtook Champagne as the most popular choice of bubbles across the globe.

In the UK alone, Prosecco achieved a 74.6 per cent uplift in the year to 20 July 2014, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, while one of the country’s biggest on-trade suppliers, Bibendum, reported a 295 per cent surge in superpremium Prosecco sales with a 150 per cent rise for premium Prosecco.

The category is also on top in the US with 18 million Americans now said to drink sparkling wine at least once a week, according to a report by Wine Intelligence.

While Champagne has long been the dominant sparkling import in the US, Prosecco is beginning to make ground with an increased prominence of imported sparkling wine styles, especially Prosecco, pushing sales past 20 million cases a year.

In Australia, Prosecco is both imported and locally grown by a select few vineyards predominately located in Victoria’s King Valley.

Dubbed ‘Australia’s home of Prosecco’, the King Valley offers supreme weather conditions that allow a successful growing season for the variety.

HISTORY OF PROSECCO IN AUSTRALIA Prosecco’s introduction into Australia can be traced back to Otto Dal Zotto, owner of Dal Zotto Wines together with his wife Elena. Dal Zotto recognised the tranquil King Valley was similar to his home land in Northern Italy and decided to take a huge risk by purchasing a property and planting vines.

In 1999, inspired by his childhood spent in the town of Valdobbiadene, the birthplace of Prosecco, Dal Zotto planted the first Prosecco vines in Australia.

Michael Dal Zotto, son of Otto and current chief winemaker and CEO of Dal Zotto Wines, said his family were lucky to discover an Italian migrant who had already imported the variety to Australia.

“Customs had the gentleman’s contact details which allowed him to be contacted to discover if cuttings of the variety were available,” Michael said. “In the spirit of cooperation common in the Australian wine industry, the gentleman obliged and so stage one of the dream of Dal Zotto’s growing Prosecco in Australia proceeded.”

Michael said by the end of 1999, the winery had planted their first Prosecco vines, after a 12 month process to produce grafted Prosecco vines in sufficient number to allow a viable planting to be undertaken.

“The overall project from sourcing the material to making the first bottle of Prosecco took six years (1998-2004) of hard work, with the first vintage being released in December 2004, under the new look Dal Zotto brand,” Michael said.

GROWING PROSECCO IN THE KING VALLEY With its numerous microclimates, the King Valley has become home to Prosecco. The grapes thrive in conditions which are cold in winter and hot in summer which makes north-east Victoria an ideal location.

Michael said Dal Zotto Wines have been growing Prosecco in a number of vineyards ranging from 300 to 400 metres above sea level.

“These vineyards are throughout King Valley in Whitfield, Cheshunt and the Rose River Valley,” he said “The vines are arch cane pruned as we find this gives the most even ripening

AT A GLANCE What is Prosecco?

Prosecco is an Italian sparkling white wine with an intriguing history dating back to the 16TH century. Although also produced in the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Guiulia, Prosecco finds its true home where it is given DOCG status, in the hills around Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, Valdobbiadene. Up until the 1960’s Prosecco was generally rather sweet and barely distinguishable from the Asti wine produced in Piedmont. Since then, production techniques have improved vastly, leading to the high-quality dry aromatic wines produced today.

34 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

AT A GLANCE Glera vs Prosecco Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene, more simply Prosecco, was traditionally the best of new and old world wine; it was the name of the grape and the region in the Veneto, Italy that produces sparkling wine. It was easy to sell Prosecco because consumers were aware that Prosecco was the name of the grape and the region. However, this changed in 2009 when the Prosecco region was promoted to the highest Italian status level, DOCG. As a result, it become illegal for producers outside of the DOCG zone to use the name Prosecco. Instead, they were required to use the name ‘Glera’, a synonym for Prosecco. Despite this, Australian grown prosecco is made from Prosecco grapes, not Glera grapes. The grapes brought to Australia and cultivated here have been classified and registered legally as Prosecco.

and consistent production from year to year.”

Michael said budburst has traditionally occurred in midSeptember with harvest kicking off around last week of Feb to the middle of March.

“The variety can be quite generous which is a reason for our change from spur pruning to arch cane and we tend to have a yield of 10 to 15 tonne to the hectare,” he said.

“The variety is quite disease resistant and it has an open bunch.”

Brown Brothers, another winery which produces Prosecco in the King Valley, has a bank style vineyard which sits at a 450 metre altitude on deep red, well-structured soil.

Brett McClen, Brown Brothers chief viticulturist, said the winery has been harvesting Prosecco in the region since 2008.

“Our annual production is pushing up towards 1000 tonnes,” McClen said.

“We started with something in the order of 80 tonnes back in 2008 and it has grown very rapidly.”

Vine Talk – fungicide resistance part 1 Last month we discussed areas of spray application for crop protection products. We also touched on the importance of investigating any suspect cases of resistance to chemistry used in the vineyard. Before this season gets underway, it’s worth delving a little deeper into understanding some of detail behind the subject of fungicide resistance management.

Fungicide resistance is a stable, heritable trait that results in a reduction in sensitivity to a fungicide by an individual fungus. This ability is obtained through evolutionary processes. Fungicides with a single-site mode of action are at relatively high risk to developing resistance compared to those with a multi-side mode of action. Most fungicides being developed today have a single-site mode of action because this is associated with lower potential for impact on the environment, including non-target organisms.

When fungicide resistance results from modification of a single major gene, pathogen subpopulations are either sensitive or highly resistant to the pesticide. Resistance in this case is seen as complete loss of disease control that cannot be regained by using higher rates or more frequent fungicide applications. This type of resistance is commonly referred to as ‘qualitative resistance’. Botrytis resistance to the strobilurin, Group 11, would be considered ‘qualitative resistance’.

When fungicide resistance results from modification of several interacting genes, pathogen isolates exhibit a range in sensitivity to the fungicide depending on the number of gene changes. Variation in sensitivity within the population is continuous. Long-term selection for resistance in the pathogen by repeated applications may eventually result in the highest label rates and/or shortest application intervals not being able to adequately control the disease. This type of fungicide resistance is commonly referred to as ‘quantitative resistance’. Powdery mildew resistance to group 3, the DMI’s is considered quantitative resistance.

Next month we’ll look at practical steps you can take to avoid becoming a victim of fungicide resistance. In the meantime, get a head start and explore the CropLife website to better plan your fungicide strategy for the 2015/16 season.

Your local Syngenta representative can provide assistance on these topics.

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

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Michael and Otto Dal Zotto among their Prosecco grapevines in the King Valley.

Without access to their own nursery, McClen said Brown Brothers source material from the nurserymen at Euston, which is the old Chalmer’s Nursery.

Like Dal Zotto Wines, McClen said he mostly cane prunes the vines, but has experimented with some spur pruning in the past.

“It’s a very productive variety,” he said. “We’re probably seeing a trend that it’s more fruitful off cane pruning but regardless it’s very productive under both systems.”

McClen said the grapes have been reasonably robust in adverse weather with the large bunch weight acting as an advantage.

“The architecture of the bunches are also very large, so it is quite a straggly bunch which helps with the disease resistance,” he said. “It is prone to powdery but in terms of botrytis we find that when there is rain, the water actually drains through the bunches so it’s not prone to splitting.”

FROM BUNCH TO BOTTLE To ensure Australian Prosecco is as close to the original Italian wine as possible, Michael said he has stuck to traditional winemaking methods.

“Dal Zotto Wines employ two methods to produce Prosecco,” he said. “L’Immigrante Prosecco, is made with the traditional method ‘champenoise’, but the majority of the harvest goes into making the Vintage Pucino Prosecco and NV Pucino Prosecco, produced using the ‘charmat’ method.”

In Italy the charmat method would be used for 99 per cent of all Prosecco produced.

Michael said the fruit was generally harvested around nine to 10.5 baume by machine and top loaded into the press.

“The juice is then racked and inoculated,” he said.

“Fermentation takes approximately two weeks and aiming for a temperature range of 14-16 degrees throughout the ferment.

“We ferment the wine dry and then during the charmat process aim to ferment back to our desired residual sugar level and a CO2 level of around 9.5 to 10.5g/l.”

Michael said at the end of the process, the final wine was

36 Grapegrower & Winemaker

fresh with delicate aromatics of jasmine, wisteria and citrus blossom and on the palate.

“There is crisp apple and citrus flavours and good balance between acid and residual sugar,” he said.

A GROWING TREND Melissa Brauer, marketing consultant and Dal Zotto Wines’ Prosecco Queen, said the variety has been fast growing in popularity in Australia.

“Over the past few years there has been a much wider promotion and public awareness of the variety, especially through events and social media,” she said. “Australian trends seem to always follow the UK and US where Prosecco is very popular.

“The popularity over summer of the Aperol Spritz also put Prosecco on people’s drinking radar, and there has been literally a tripling of the number of Proseccos available at Dan Murphy’s.”

Brauer said the City of Wangaratta Tourism together with the King Valley wineries have worked hard to embrace social media in a really inclusive way, promoting the region as a whole as well as the home of Prosecco.

An initiative called ‘Prosecco Road’ has been started by King Valley Prosecco winemakers has been driven by Christian Dal Zotto, Dal Zotto Wines sales and marketing manager, for the past six years.

Christian said he has seen huge growth in the demand for Prosecco.

“As a wine, it is approachable with its delicate aromatics and fresh crisp palate, which makes it appeal to a broad audience,” he said.

“This is evident at our ‘Primavera del Prosecco’ festival in November where we celebrate the release of the new seasons prosecco.

Michael said the winery has experienced as many as 2000 visitors across all demographics enjoy Prosecco at the festival.

“All in all we see Prosecco as a wine for all occasions and to be enjoyed at any time,” he said.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing

AT A GLANCE More about Prosecco?

Synonym: Glera, Serprina, Prosecco Bianco, Prosecco Nostrano, Prosecco Tondo, Prosecco Baldi, Prosecco Lungo.

Commonly mistaken for: Gardana, Malvasia del Chianti, Malvasia Toscana, Malvasia Trevigiana, Prosecco-Malvasia.

Origin: The origins of this variety are uncertain; the variety could be native of the Trieste region around the zone of Prosecco (from which derives its name), but where, however, it was called Glera, from here perhaps it moved to the Veneto (Colli Euganei), where it was called Serprina, this is only one hypothesis; the other one suggests the inverse move, in 1772 for the first time it is cited in Consigliano Academy (in the province of Treviso) by the academician Malvolti Francesco. Today It is mainly grown between Valdobbiadese and Conegliano (northeast Italy), where it is the most common variety. This variety is not very homogeneous, in fact it used to be divided into “Prosecco lungo” and “Prosecco tondo”, within this variability there were groups of individuals so different both in vegetative and reproductive organs that they gave different names to the various biotypes: Prosecco Balbi, Prosecco dal peccol rosso e Prosecco rosa (this last one was cultivated in Dalmatia, but now it is practically extinct).

Biotype descriptions: • Prosecco lungo (or minuto or slungo): vine characterized by low vigour; the bunches are large, long, not winged, semi-compact.

The berries are not of homogeneous size, but with a strong and thick skin.

• Prosecco tondo (or Proseccon): vine characterized by high vigour; the bunches are large, long and winged. The berries are large with a thin skin.

Agronomic and environmental aspects: It has a preference for hilly areas, with a medium exposure and good humidity. The vines require VSP training system (Controspalliera) and cane pruning. High and constant yield, a summer pruning and a thinning of bunches is advisable to avoid possible attacks of pests and improve the quality of the fruit.

Diseases, pests and disorders: This vine is adaptable to different climates, but having an early time of budburst it can be susceptible to spring frosts and show hen and chicken and dropping off.

Shows a good resistance to sour bunch rot. Susceptible to downy and powdery mildews and Flavescence Dorée. Can be attacked by mites, rhynchota and lepidoptera.

Vine characteristics: Growing Tip: fully open, cottony, of whitish green colour.

Leaf: Medium-large size, wedge-shaped, 3-lobed or 5-lobed. Has a U or V-shaped petiolar sinus with lobes strongly overlapped, lateral superior sinuses shaped like a deep U, while the inferior (if there are any) are like an open V. The profile is undulating with involute lobes.

Bunch (Prosecco tondo): Medium-large, of pyramidal form, winged, loose density of berries.

Berry (Prosecco tondo): Of medium dimensions, round; thin skin, covered by bloom, of golden yellow colour and slightly spotted.

Vegetation growth habit: Drooping Vigour: High Average bunch weight: Medium (150-350 g.)

Average bunches per shoot: 1 or 2

Growth Stages: Time Time Time Time

of of of of

budburst: Early flowering: Early veraison: Medium harvest: Late

Available Clones: VCR 101: Clone selected by “Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo”; biotype “Prosecco tondo” characterized by medium-high vigour and constant productivity, big and long bunches with loose density of berries. Less susceptible to downy and powdery mildew.

Wine characteristics: The wine can be made in two different styles: dry or sparking (Spumanti), the latter is the most common. It is straw-yellow or slightly clear and gilded yellow in colour, fizzy, not very alcoholic, amiable and very fragrant. This variety is used in important DOC of the Veneto region, sometimes it is blended with other native white grapes, such as Verdiso: Colli di Conegliano, Colli Euganei, Conigliano-Valdobbianese, Montello and Colli Asolani and othes DOC: Bagnoli, Breganze, Gambellara, Piave.

VINEYARD CANE RAKES • Very efficient at raking canes and debris • Rake and mulch in one pass • Single or double sided with swing back protection system

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38 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Sustainability award for De Bortoli DE BORTOLI WINES was recently recognised for its sustainability at the Australian Business Awards 2015. An ‘ABA100 award’ highlighted De Bortoli Wines’ achievements in implementing its own ‘Re-Engineering Our Future for a Carbon Economy Project’, with the goal to become a zero waste winery.

Since the wine company’s project began in 2011, with a $4.8 million grant from the Federal Government’s Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program on top of an $11 million investment by the De Bortoli family, the project was responsible for the installation of the largest solar panel array of any Australian winery at that time and a focus on minimising waste, maximising water efficiency and reducing energy consumption.

Based on eight key sustainability initiatives, the project has enabled De Bortoli Wines to reduce its energy footprint, while maintaining the quality of wine being produced.

Darren De Bortoli, the wine company’s managing director, said the ABA100 award was a good indication of the sustained focus on continued and

September 2015 – Issue 620

innovative environmental practices.

“We are committed to improving environmental responsibility to safeguard a future where great wine and a healthy environment can be enjoyed by everyone,” said Darren. “Being named an ABA100 winner for sustainability is recognition of the hard work the De Bortoli team has done over the past few years to build and grow a business that is dedicated to reducing its impact on the environment, while continuing to produce premium, affordable wines.

“It is satisfying to once again be recognised by our peers as a leader in sustainable practices.”

Tara Johnston, the award program director, said the Australian Business Awards have conducted knowledge building programs across the past decade which focus on organisations that prioritise innovation and technology as they continue to drive local and international markets.

“The ABA100 winners have demonstrated innovative, enterprising and technologically advanced business initiatives and products that support an obvious transformation coinciding with

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the ever-changing, highly competitive business environment,” said Tara.

“H ig h-per for m i ng, i ntelligent organisations that continuously and effectively improve their processes and products are set to survive the long term challenges faced by all Australian businesses.”

Each year the ABA100 winners are recognised through a variety of different award categories that demonstrate business and product innovation. Corporate, government and non-government organisations are acknowledged for implementing wellmanaged industry leading initiatives and for the research and development of highperforming products and services.

Businesses initiatives are evaluated utilising the POEM Assessment Module via a detailed analysis of the method, execution, performance and outcomes of their initiative. Products including platforms, software, knowledge, systems, services, information and devices are evaluated via the PREF Assessment Module which evaluates their features, end user benefits, research and performance.

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grapegrowing

Gemtree Wines backs Australian Organic Awareness Month SEPTEMBER is ‘organic awareness month’ – an initiative from Australian Organic – and McLaren Vale’s Gemtree Wines is a gold sponsor.

“We chose to become a Gold sponsor of Australian Organic Awareness Month to help spread the word about the importance of buying organic,” said Mike Brown, Gemtree chief winemaker.

“Sustainability is of fundamental importance to us. It is our hope that the more educated consumers become about the benefits of certified organic products the more informed their choices will be.

“We hope to see a shift towards certified organic products and an improvement to the farming practices and ecosystems driven by this demand shift away from more traditional products.”

Gemtree has been certified by Australian Certified Organic since 2013; has also been a member since 2013; and the gold sponsorship of Australian Organic Awareness Month comes follows sponsorship last year.

This year’s Australian Organic Awareness Month will celebrate brands and retailers, pick up on ‘paddock to plate’ stories and draw attention to “why Australian Certified Organic products matter”.

The goal from all those involved is to spread the message about the benefits of choosing certified organic.

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40 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Sustainability is of fundamental importance to us. It is our hope that the more educated consumers become about the benefits of certified organic products the more informed their choices will be.

Consumers will be made aware that when they choose certified organic, they’re supporting: non GM, animal welfare, pasture fed, socially responsible, free to range, sustainably fished, biodiversity friendly and grown free from harsh synthetic pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics.

Gemtree is organic wine produced authentically by the Buttery family from McLaren Vale.

One of the things the winery wants to highlight during Australian Organic Awareness Month is that ‘organic’ isn’t just something that goes on a label, but rather a process that draws from natural production and a method the Buttery’s believe grows better grapes and sets new standards for sustainable, generational farming.

The approach to organic and biodynamic farming at Gemtree is all about soil fertility, the healthy foundations for good wine, and the recognition of a relationship between plant growth and a natural rhythm.

This approach provides an opportunity, as farmers, to retain the role and function as providers for, and caretakers of, health and the welfare of the community as well as the environment.

When the decision was made to start farming biodynamically in 2007 there was a very pragmatic approach to the transition.

As Mike explains, “these systems had to work with our vineyard, so we couldn’t just throw the baby out with the bath water and just all of a sudden change every single regime”.

“We started slowly and now after several years we can see a noticeable difference in the health of our vineyard, the quality of our fruit and that of our wine.”

Being a staunch consumer and user of organic products, Mike’s wife Melissa (nee Buttery) advocated that the removal of herbicides and many synthetic chemicals from the vineyard would produce better tasting fruit and ultimately lead to higher quality wines - and she was right.

By introducing organic and biodynamic farming practices in the vineyard Melissa has enhanced the overall health of our vineyard ecosystem.

Mike conducted extensive experimentation with biodynamic and organic wines using alternative winemaking practices and the result is the quality wines that Gemtree produces today.

Mike believes that great winemaking stems from the collaboration between viticulturist and winemaker to determine the final quality of the fruit.

Mike and Melissa’s philosophy is simple, minimal intervention in the winemaking process and a more environmentally conscious farming system to produce wines which are powerful, concentrated, and express the true characteristics of each grape variety and the region. The Gemtree family see themselves as custodians of the land and their approach to sustainability is

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September 2015 – Issue 620

sna pmax

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See video at: www.snapmax.com.au Mike and Melissa Brown (nee Buttery), the chief winemaker and biodynamic viticulturist at Gemtree in McLaren Vale.

simply that it is the right thing to do. It is not just about winemaking but about setting new standards for sustainable, generational farming.

There have been some recent accolades to suggest the approach is paying off.

Earlier this year, at the 6th International Organic Wine Award, Gemtree collected a range of awards, including; two ‘grand gold’; three gold; and one silver medal.

A total of 220 wineries and distributors from 20 countries, a total of more than 900 organic wines, took part in the 2015 awards and ‘grand gold’ wines were characterised as world-class wines, “which can cause an unforgettable, defining and sensual experience”.

Gemtree’s award winning wines included: Grand Gold (96 – 100 points) • 2013 Ernest Allan Shiraz (cellar door exclusive); and • 2013 Bloodstone Shiraz.

Gold (90-95 points) • 2013 Obsidian Shiraz; • 2013 Cinnabar GSM (cellar door exclusive); and • 2014 Luna Roja Tempranillo.

Silver (83-89 points) • 2012 The Phantom Red Blend Four.

The highest scoring wine was the 2013 Ernest Allan Shiraz, with 98 points, which ranked it equal second from the entire list of 815 award winning wines.

This wine also recently received 4.5 Stars at the Winestate Magazine ‘Organic Wines Tasting’ 2015; 96 points in the 2016 James Halliday Australian Wine Companion with a glowing tasting note – “Drinking this is like wrapping your September 2015 – Issue 620

mouth in velvet. It’s plush, smooth, offers folds and layers of flavour, and is both comforting and warming”.

There was also a 94 point score from The Wine Front in July, with Campbell Mattinson noting: “It takes generosity and grabs it by the hand. It’s firm with tannin but thick with blackberried/plummy fruit, a slick of toasty vanillin oak then slavishly applied. Mocha notes. Juicy berries galore. Deliciously smooth, but with the structure to match”.

Two parcels of estate-grown fruit were selected for the 2013 Ernest Allan; Shiraz from the Stage 4 North and Olive Creek blocks located in McLaren Flat.

Blocks aged between 25 and 50 years that were transitioned across to biodynamic farming practices in 2007 and converted to achieve organic certification in 2011.

Ernest Allan Rivers was the grandfather of Melissa and her brother Andrew Buttery, Gemtree’s executive director.

Ernest Allan was a market gardener who understood the relationship between the earth and his plants.

He supported sustainable, chemical free farming many years ago when he grew his own produce and the ambition for the wine was to encapsulate his philosophy with the wine.

“Ernest Allan Shiraz reflects the true character of our premium organic Shiraz blocks and the sustainable, chemical free farming that Ernest also used to grow his produce so many years ago,” Mike said.

“This wine is literally Ernest – honest and true.” www.winetitles.com.au

• Trains straight to the wire • Easy to open and close on the vine • Protects from vermin • Translucent to see vine • Easy to install and remove

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All the information you need in one place PRINT & ONLINE

2015 OUT NOW! • 7,000 Industry listings • 9,000 Personnel • 3,000 Wineries • 5,600 Wine brands • 1,750 Grapegrowers • 2,000 Buyers’ guide listings • 300 Distributors & retailers • 210 Writers & media

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NEW 2015! - WINE BLOGGERS To order your copy: Ph: +618 8369 9509 E: orders@winetitles.com.au Visit: www.winebiz.com.au

Genomics research to benefit wine and biodiversity TWO NEW research projects at the University of Adelaide will use leading genomic expertise and technologies to benefit the wine industry and biodiversity conservation.

The two projects have won funding from the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF), enabling them to access AGRF’s genotyping and genome sequencing services.

Researchers aim to use the latest genomics technologies to provide the first definitive scientific explanation of wine terroir the unique ‘sense of place’ captured in the world’s leading wines.

Led by Dr Cassandra Collins and Dr Carlos Rodriguez Lopez in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, the researchers will investigate the interplay of genetics, plant physiology, environment (including climate, soil, topography and vineyard management) and wine quality.

Their long-term aim is to provide

information that can be used by the industry to maximise the expression of terroir in Australian wines, helping to secure the future of the Australian wine industry.

In the second project, which is not related to the wine and winegrape industry, researchers will reconstruct crucial aspects of Australia’s recent environmental history using the genomes of four iconic species to investigate why there is widespread, and potentially disastrous, lack of genetic diversity in Australia’s native animals.

Led by Professor Alan Cooper, Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, the researchers will complete the first genomic reconstructions of the dingo, emu, red kangaroo and thylacine to generate evolutionary and population histories unavailable from the fossil record or other means.

This information will help us to understand the vulnerability of current biodiversity to future threats. The project will also involve a training program in bioinformatics to help build the next generation of researchers to operate at the interface of informatics and evolutionary biology.

“The grants represent the first step towards establishing a proposed South Australian-based genomics centre to accommodate a national hub of agriculture and environment research,” said Dr John Stephen, AGRF National Operations Manager and Adelaide Node Manager.

University of Adelaide Deputy ViceChancellor (Research) Professor Mike Brooks said the projects were tremendous examples of applying cutting-edge genomics research to challenges in agriculture and environmental biodiversity.

Post frost management strategies ACROSS THE PAST two editions (July, Issue 618; and August, Issue 619) Amanda Mader, from Gumpara Vineyards, presented her findings based on the assessments of a significant frost event in the Barossa in October 2014.

Unfortunately, one figure (representing temperature recorded at Nuriootpa) was repeated at the expense of a second figure that showed the temperature recorded by a frost fam in the Dimchurch Vineyards at Ebenezer.

To make sure we present the most accurate information as possible we are publishing the missing data, together with the section of Mader’s article it refers to.

Understanding the timing of when the October 2014 frost hit regarding vine phenology stage, the climatic conditions and the mechanics of air flow were the key factors in the decision making process to implement strategies to maximise yield potential in 2015 and beyond.

Frost Event, October, 15, 2014 – Climatic Data September 2015 – Issue 620

This event was a radiation frost which is characterised by clear skies (low okta), little or no wind causing the ground and ambient air to cool by the loss of heat to the atmosphere.

Other factors affecting frost formation include minimum temperature and relative humidity. Frost occurs when minimum temperature of the air falls below the freezing point of water, which is 0°C. This is measured at the height of 1.2m above the ground surface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Frost_(temperature) Relative humidity (%) was not high enough to result in any release of latent heat from the change of state of water between the vapour to liquid to solid phase. http://www.bom.gov.au/ climate/map/frost/what-is-frost.shtml The minimum temperatures were on the decline between the 10/10/2014 and the 15/10/2014, when sub zero temperatures were attained in the early hours of the morning at -1.0°C. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_023373. shtml Figure 4 represents temperature data (°C) logged from the frost fan in operation at the Dimchurch Vineyards in the Ebenezer region between midnight and 7.20am on 15/10/2014.

Note the change of wind direction from the North East to the North West resulted in spike in temperature from -0.25°C to 0.38°C, which occurred around 4.48 am as highlighted by the yellow circle. The variation in temperature between readings is caused by the rotation of the fan.

For more information about this topic, please contact Amanda Mader: E: ajmader123@gmail.com

www.winetitles.com.au

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grapegrowing

Vineyard heating innovation improves crop results and sustainability Thermaculture™ introduced to New Zealand AGROTHERMAL SYSTEMS has announced its introduction to New Zealand wineries and grapegrowers. This innovative crop management process utilises heat treatments directly to crops from a tractor-pulled machine.

The company recently exhibited at the Romeo Bragato 2015 Conference in Napier, highlighting the benefits of improved fruit set, greater harvest yields, sustainable pest control and improved wine quality.

“It seems almost ironic to be introducing this technique to New Zealand,” said Marty Fischer, AgroThermal Systems founder and CEO, “since Mike Lane of Hastings pioneered the early pest control work on this technique from 2005-2010 and managed a very successful wine quality trial held at Mission Estates Winery in 2013.”

The thermal treatment technology can best be described as the application of heated air at a minimum of 100º C expelled at a wind velocity of 40-to-160km/hr onto crops from a farm-tractor pulled machine moving at 5-6km/hr. This basic treatment protocol has remained consistent in most all of the testing done or being done since 2001. The treatment is applied periodically from bud to harvest during the growing season depending upon local climatic conditions and the benefits being targeted.

During the early testing years of the technique (2007-2010) it became clear that the heat blast treatment to

Thermaculture increased berries per bunch by 13 per cent and average bunch weights by 19 per cent on my Pinot Noir, as well. So, not only did I save money on costs but increased production per hectare as well.

44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

control pests also had effects beyond pest control. Observations regarding improvements in fruit quality and plant health led to an eventual filing of a new patent under the umbrella concept of Thermal Plant Treatment (TPT). After extensive vineyard treatment trials and experimental treatment timing, frequency and intensity from 20122014, it is clear that many problems can be solved using heat in the vineyard especially when nature fails to provide sufficient heat for fruit set and crop development.

According to Mike Lane, he was able “to reduce my pest control costs by twothirds and controlled all pest issues except for powdery mildew, a fungus that required about 50 per cent of the usual sulfur treatments when combine with Thermaculture”.

“Thermaculture increased berries per bunch by 13 per cent and average bunch weights by 19 per cent on my Pinot Noir, as well. So, not only did I save money on costs but increased production per hectare as well.”

Lane pulled out his own grapevines in 2010, he was involved in managing a 2013 trial at Mission Estates. Wine was produced from the trial and control blocks at Mission Estates and chemistries were evaluated by the Eastern Institute of Technology. The table below shows that Thermaculture significantly increased many of the phenols and flavonoids that determine wine quality characteristics.

In addition to the improvements in wine flavour characteristics, harvest data gathered by Fruition Horticulture, an independent New Zealand based agriculture research firm showed that average bunch weight was the same for trial and control bunches, but that the treated bunches had an increase of 18.5% more berries due to greater fruits set. “ From 2012-2015, Thermaculture has produced greater fruit set averaging www.winetitles.com.au

24 per cent more berries per bunch on over 35 trials conducted in the US, New Zealand and more recently in Germany and France,” said Fischer. “In 2014 harvest yields on 12 US trial blocks showed a 31 per cent increase in harvest yields per vine.”

The wines produced f rom Thermaculture grapes are consistently preferred over wines made from nontreated control bocks in blind taste tests. In 2015 a Thermaculture Pinot Noir produced by Adelsheim Vineyard of Newberg Oregon was selected by Wine Business Monthly as a featured wine that was poured at their inaugural Wine Quality and Innovations show held in the Napa Valley.

According to David Paige, Head Winemaker at Adelsheim, “the 2014 heattreated Pinot Noir we are pouring at the IQ show expresses the same characteristic differences versus the control wine that we have consistently seen since 2012”.

“The heat-treated wine is more youthful, the tannins are richer and more vibrant, and the wine has a fresher fruit flavour yet still true to the terroir that makes our wines unique.”

According to Fischer, “while we are most experienced with wine grapes, Thermaculture will provide benefits to other crops including orchards, berries, kiwifruit and other important New Zealand crops”.

“Our technology has come a very long way in recent years through careful research and trials helping us to understand how best to treat crops and achieve specific results as desired by the grower. Whether it is increased yields, pest control, wine quality or just saving crops from rain damage that is being sought, we can help New Zealand growers.”

For more information visit www.agrothermalsystems.com September 2015 – Issue 620

Where to install soil moisture sensors Fritz Westover, who assists growers in the eastern, southern, and western United States, reports on the key issues of soil moisture sensor installation. This article was first published by Practical Winery & Vineyard and is used here with permission.

Irrigation GRAPEGROWERS are encouraged to use a combination of soil, plant and weather data when determining the length and frequency of irrigation events in vineyards. The most common questions that growers ask about vineyard irrigation are: How often should the vines be watered, and how much water should be applied per irrigation?

Estimation of daily evapotranspiration can tell a grower roughly how much water is removed from the soil, and it is the principal means by which growers can determine the amount of water to apply to a vineyard block. Plant data (such as leaf or stem water potential determined by means of a pressure chamber) is often used to determine how vines are responding to the amount and frequency of water applied.

For example, if a grower wishes to strategically apply less water than the amount lost to evapotranspiration (a deficit irrigation strategy), a plant water status measurement can be used to indicate the degree of water stress the vines are experiencing.

WHY MEASURE SOIL MOISTURE? Soil moisture sensors are a useful tool for assisting with vineyard irrigation scheduling.

For example, water status of the soil can be measured during the winter to determine if winter rainfall is reaching the effective rooting area of vines. Soil moisture sensors are also helpful to determine the irrigation time required to replenish water to a desired rooting depth.

The data provided by soil sensors can help growers to understand how water moves in soil and the areas where roots are most actively taking up water, potentially reducing excess

AT A GLANCE • Soil sensors must be installed in the location that best represents a vineyard irrigation block; • Mapping soil (pre-and post-planting) and vine vigour patterns (post-planting) provides useful information for selecting sensor installation sites; and • A strategy must be developed to evaluate the soil in a block to verify placement of sensors in a representative soil profile.

water application. In areas where water quality is affected by high salt concentration, soil moisture sensors can provide valuable feedback regarding the effectiveness of irrigation or rainfall with regard to potential leaching of salts below the root zone.

Proper placement of soil sensors is critical for obtaining data that will be useful to improve vineyard irrigation scheduling.

SELECTING A REPRESENTATIVE LOCATION Ideally, a grower would install soil moisture sensors in multiple locations per irrigation block to obtain an average of soil moisture across a site. However, the cost of sensors and the associated telemetry devices required to retrieve data from a large number of data-logging stations is often a limiting factor when choosing the number of sensors to install. For this reason, it is most common for growers to install moisture sensors in only one or two sites within an irrigation block.

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1300 138 223 I am happy to recommend use of Hydrosmart to any grower considering adapting it to their site’s water as it has added real value to our business. After using it for well over a decade we plan using Hydrosmart on all d’Arenberg bores well into the next successful decade of growing and winemaking.

- Giulio Dimasi Viticulturalist / Grower Relations d’Arenberg Osborn Road McLaren Vale SA September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing When implementing a small number of data points across a vineyard, it is important to choose a soil profile that best represents the majority of the irrigation block.

For example, installing soil moisture sensors in an area of shallow soil or with less water-holding capacity than is typical of the whole block can potentially result in sensor readings that overestimate the frequency of irrigation sets needed within that block. Conversely, the installation of sensors in an area having deep, heavy clay soil than is not typical of the block will result in sensor readings that potentially underestimate the water needs of the whole block.

MAPPING VINEYARD SOILS Ideally, a vineyard soil will be fully mapped prior to designing a vineyard and establishing irrigation blocks to be irrigated differently as needed. Soil maps are available online from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resource Conservation Service (USDA- NRCS) Web Soil Survey. (websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/) These maps show the approximate boundaries of distinct soil series and can serve as a good starting point for determining where a soil may change within a site.

Maps from the USDA-NRCS are helpful to describe the soil type of an area, however they are not accurate enough to be used alone when selecting where to install a soil-moisture sensor. On-site mapping of vineyard soils by a soil scientist or vineyard soil expert is recommended to understand the precise boundaries of different soil types.

Soil characteristics that may change across a soil series include effective rooting depth, the depth to bedrock or hardpan, soil texture and depth of distinct soil horizons.

The process of soil mapping involves the excavation of multiple soil observation pits across a site in order to establish where changes in soil characteristics occur. The potential influence of different soils on vine growth is then estimated based on the knowledge and prior experience of the soils expert.

Before a vineyard is planted, soil pits can be excavated using a backhoe. Additionally, hand-operated soil augers can be used to capture disturbed soil profile samples and assist in delineating changes in soil across a block. Hand- or electricpowered augers will disrupt less soil volume on a site. In established vineyards, large excavation equipment can be more difficult to manoeuvre, making use of portable hand or mechanical augers more accessible.

MAPPING VINEYARD VIGOUR Differences in soil across a vineyard block often contribute to growth differences in vines as observed in the canopy.

Vegetation index maps, often referred to as “vigour maps”, are helpful tools for understanding differences in relative vigour across a mature vineyard block. Difference s in vigour may be due to numerous factors, including changes in soil characteristics.

Normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) mapping is one of the most commonly used tools for tracking differences in vegetative growth across a vineyard.

NDVI images provide a snapshot in time (such as midsummer) when the relative canopy size and health can be compared within a vineyard block. Vines or areas of low NDVI will use less water, drying the soil at a slower rate than vines or areas with a higher NDVI. Additional, low-tech measures can be taken to verify growth

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

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

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

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

46ME20526_130x185_PlexusMag_FA.indd Grapegrower & Winemaker

1

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18/04/2013 September 2015 3:01:42 – IssuePM620

differences observed from NDVI maps, including dormant pruning weights of vines and visual observation.

PRE-PLANT CONSIDERATIONS Uniform vine growth is desired within a vineyard block.

Variability of soil across a vineyard site should be considered when designing the layout of vineyard blocks and irrigation. In general, larger vineyard blocks are more economical to establish and manage, therefore it is not always practical to divide blocks by soil type.

However, irrigation design in the pre-plant phase allows a grower to customize a system across a block, such as developing separate irrigation zones to address differences in soil waterholding capacity. It is also useful to have historical photos or satellite images and crop use information to identify areas of the site that may have had large areas of soil disturbed (uprooted trees, trenching for pipelines or compacted roadways).

CHOOSING SENSOR LOCATIONS IN AN EXISTING VINEYARD The goal when choosing sensor locations in an existing vineyard block is to locate an area of the vineyard with soil that best represents the majority of the irrigation block.

Placement of sensors in the outlying soils of lowest or highest water holding capacity can result in soil moisture readings that lead to either excess or under-irrigation. Supplemental irrigation may be needed in the weakest area of the vineyard block.

The series of soil cores pictured above shows the difference in soil across a block of Cabernet Sauvignon. The soil core from the lowest elevation (A) is from the centre of the high-vigour

September 2015 – Issue 620

swale area on the west side of the block. Note that the soil from the high-vigour area (A) of the vineyard has clay content as deep as 4 feet, whereas the soil core from the top of the hill (D) has heavy clay top soil down to about 2 feet, followed by a sharp transition to loam. The two cores from the centre of the block (B, C) are of the most representative soil, having a sandy clay loam top soil, transitioning to clay loam, then loam subsoil.

After reviewing soil maps and vine vigour, a strategy should be developed to evaluate soil in the irrigation block, such as digging observation pits in a grid pattern across a block. This

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grapegrowing extra step will help to verify that the soil sensor placement is in an area that represents the most commonly observed soil profile.

Soil sensors are most commonly positioned within 18 inches of a vine trunk and in line with trellis and irrigation wires to reduce damage from machinery.

DEPTH OF SOIL SENSOR PLACEMENT

WHERE TO AVOID PLACING SENSORS

After determining the most representative location for placing soil-moisture sensors in an irrigation block, the depth of sensor placement must be considered.

Choosing the depth to place individual soil moisture sensors requires careful evaluation of the soil profile.

Due to the deep-rooting habit of grapevines, it is common to place sensors at increasing soil depths in order to capture the movement and potential availability of water.

When using a probe-type sensor with multiple sensor depths pre-set by the manufacturer, the most important decision is the total length of probe required to reach the desired soil depth.

Be sure that the length matches the depth with which you wish to monitor water movement and that the soil depth is adequate for full insertion of the probe.

A sensor at or near the bottom of the root zone is suggested to identify deep percolation.

Before final installation of soil sensors, observation points can be evaluated in the area immediately surrounding the sensor location.

Evaluation of a soil profile within 2–3 feet of a proposed installation site is a helpful practice to make sure you do not install sensors in a disturbed spot.

Note, any observation hole dug within a few feet of a sensor site must be carefully back-filled and tamped to prevent rainfall or other surface water from influencing sensor readings.

In general, sensors should not be placed in the following areas of a vineyard: • Areas of excessively high or excessively low vigour that do not represent the majority of the block; • Soils that do not drain well or hold water longer than the majority of the block; • Where soil depth is deeper or shallower than the majority of the block; • Pockets of soil that do not represent the majority of the block (random sand pockets, or hard pan); • Areas in line with surface runoff (bottom of swales) or drainage channels in a block; • On the border of the vineyard or areas near competing vegetation; • Areas that receive supplemental shade from structures or trees other than vines or trellis; • Where natural soil structure has been disturbed in the past (backhoe pits, uprooted trees and backfill from erosion); • Areas that may receive significantly more or less irrigation water than the rest of the block (this may be based on evaluation of distribution uniformity); and • Where vines are not representative of the block (weak vines, or vines of different age or rootstock).

SENSOR PLACEMENT RELATIVE TO EMITTERS AND VINES The location of soil moisture sensors relative to the vine root system and drip emitters (in irrigated vineyards) will influence the usefulness of the sensor readings. If sensors are placed too far from active roots, the effect of water movement in mass flow cannot be captured.

Likewise, placement too far from the emitter can lead to overwatering of vines if the sensor is not within the desired wetting pattern of a routine irrigation set.

Most growers will tend to err on placing sensors closer to the emitter (within 4–6 inches) in order to avoid excess watering.

Some trial and error may be necessary to find the best distance from emitters in a particular soil.

Author’s note: This text was developed by the Vineyard Team, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable winegrowing since 1994. Materials are based upon work supported by industry contributors and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under No. 68-9104-3-177. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additional information on types of soil moisture sensors and tips for installation can be viewed on the Vineyard Team website at: vineyardteam.org/projects/ vineyard-demonstration.php.

Reference: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Resource Conservation Service - Web Soil Survey: websoilsurvey.sc.egov.USDA.gov/app/homepage.htm

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Wireless moisture sensor data retrieval TAIN ELECTRONICS has been manufacturing soil moisture loggers for grapegrowers for more than 20 years – keeping up with developing technology to assist their clients.

Over the past couple of years, founder Steve Howard identified a gap for a new product in the market aimed at small-tomedium growers – a product that allowed data to be retrieved using the wireless technology present in every modern mobile phone.

Steve had been working on hardware prototypes over the past couple of years, but hadn’t had much success finding developers who could deliver a good software solution for the mobile and web.

Then last year the answer appeared quite close to home. Steve’s is son Tom became available to help out, after taking a break from the Silicon Valley-backed travel website Adioso, which he’d spent the past few years helping to build.

Together they’ve spent the past 18 months building the new logger hardware, mobile software and desktop web application, and with the help of some experts in the viticulture industry and some growers who have extensively trialled the system, have delivered a product designed to lead the market for functionality and value.

The advantages of their developments include: • The removal of the need for a separate device to download data from the logger, which has long been the case with comparable systems;

• Automatic data sharing, instantly, between all staff and consultants who work at the vineyard; and • Data that can be easily viewed on any mobile device or desktop computer, regardless of its make or operating system.

There technology supports a range of sensors, including: • Tension (gypsum) blocks, which have long been popular with grape growers; • SDI-12 probes, for example the EnviroTek EnviroPro, which monitors soil moisture, temperature and conductivity (which indicates salinity) every 100mm down to a maximum of 1600mm; • Pulse counters for tipping bucket rain gauges and irrigation flow meters; and • Voltage inputs for temperature, humidity, solar radiation.

A single unit is equipped to log data for a range of sensors at the same time.

Each unit can handle one SDI-12 sensor, four tension blocks, four voltage inputs and two pulse counter inputs. Data from all these inputs can be logged at a rate of up to once every 15 minutes (though 30-60mins is more common for more efficient use of power and memory).

Data from all these inputs can be displayed on a single graph, and custom graphs of selected inputs can also be created.

Though it is currently necessary to use a smartphone to retrieve data, down the track there will also be an option to fit a cellular transmitter, so data is

Data that can be easily viewed on any mobile device or desktop computer, regardless of its make or operating system. automatically sent to the web without requiring physical proximity to the device.

The mobile app also supports offline operation, so it will work in areas where there is no mobile phone coverage, and display the data locally, then data can be uploaded to the web and sent to other users as soon as the phone is back in mobile range.

For more information about Tain Electronics products or services: P: +61 (3) 9898 7366 E: info@taindata.com

1 Marlow Road, Keswick, SA 5035 P: (08) 8351 8611 F: (08) 7225 1993 E: info@eclipseenterprises.com.au - www.eclipseenterprises.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

49

grapegrowing

Water stress and stem water potential BACK IN JULY (Issue 618) we published an irrigation article from Michael Kopyt and Shlomo Tsadok, of the Golan Heights winery in Qatzerin, Israel.

The article ‘Everyday monitoring of stem water potential for decision making in irrigation of grapevines’ contained one table which contained a technical error.

The VPDmax records in Table 1b were wrong. In the interest of accuracy the revised table is printed here, and we have included the section of the article that gives the graphic its context.

The authors developed a theme previously published in the Grapegrower & Winemaker (Kopyt and Ton, 2005; 2007; Kopyt et al., 2005).

It is well known that both yield and composition of berries depend on vine water status at all stages of growth and development (Greenspan et al. 1996; Coombe and McCarthy, 2000; Ojeda et al. 2001).

Increased sensitivity of vines water content both to air conditions variations and changes of soil water content was demonstrated using this technique.

High-frequency monitoring of water status enabled to make well-timed decisions on irrigation and thereby to avoid undesirable deviations of grapevines condition (Ton and Kopyt, 2004; Kopyt and Ton, 2005).

Application of dendrometers in combination with field measured Stem Water potential (SWP) data allowed to quantitatively estimate vines water status that makes it possible

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50 Grapegrower & Winemaker

to keep the desired Irrigation Strategy of grapevines growing (Kopyt et al., 2005; Kopyt and Ton, 2007).

WATER STRESS AND STEM WATER POTENTIAL Water deficit can lead to stress condition with irreversible consequences eventually manifested in injury of leaves or/and bunches.

With use of SWP field measurements in many cases we observed after-effect of water stress without visible signs as an decrease of SWP in favourable air and soil conditions after extremely high SWP records (See Table 1 - above) reflected the recovery period after stress.

This change of SWP may be temporary (Table 1a - above) but may continue until the end of the season (Table 1b - above).

SWP measured immediately after morning watering on July 28 (Table 1a) next day after observed extremely high SWP record (-1.69±0.07MPa) is significantly lower than in previous and following measurements in spite on the favourable air conditions (daily maximum VPD (VPDmax) is less than 3kPa).

An example demonstrated on Table 1b, it is shown decrease of SWP from -0.78±0.06MPa on August 8 to -1.16±0.03MPa on August 22 after detected days with high SWP on August 14, 15 and 21, and this relatively low level of SWP (higher level of water deficit) was maintained till harvest.

In our understanding, Irrigation Strategy is the certain level of vines water deficit during the season (with equal other agrotechnical treatments) that is necessary to form the desired yield and composition of grapes.

These levels (they may be different during the season) can be provided by water reserves in soil after winter rainfall or/and irrigation. Until recently, the difficulty was a timely detection of excessive water deficit for tuning of irrigation, if necessary.

In practice, the only reliable way of such an assessment was a visual estimation of vines: wilting and yellowing of leaves are sings of previous excessive water deficit; overgrowth of shoots is a result of too low deficit.

For more information on this topic, please contact the authors.

Michael Kopyt E: kopytm@gmail.com Shlomo Tsadol E: tsadok@golanwines.co.il

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

New restriction on captan use AN AFFORDABLE multipurpose fungicide used extensively by grapegrowers will no longer be an option for the control of black Pest & spot, botrytis bunch rot, downy mildew and Disease phomopsis cane and leaf spot.

Updates on the European Union’s change in policy on the maximum residue level (MRL) and residue definition for captan started reaching grapegrowers in midAugust.

Essentially grapegrowers won’t be able to use captan this season, unless the industry representative bodies can bring about a different approach with the EU. According to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), the MRL for captan has changed from 0.02 mg/kg (limit of quantification) to 0.03 mg/kg (limit of quantification), and the residue definition is now the sum of captan and THPI (expressed as captan).

THPI (tetrahydrophthalimide) is the main metabolite when captan breaks down. The change is expected to enter into force in early January 2016.

To comply with the new residue regulations, the AWRI offered the following advice: “captan is not recommended for use on grapes destined for export wines”.

Growers have been left frustrated by the news, for several reasons. Firstly, captan was widely-recognised as an affordable and useful option for control across four different targets.

“This news would be annoying for growers in high pressure regions,” one grapegrower said.

“A lot of people were used to putting out sulfur and captan in one pass to give them good coverage.

“Other pre bunch closure botryticide options are more expensive but there is some resistance. Mancozeb is pretty hard on your beneficials, I guess we will be looking to use more copper. I know that Cabrio and Flint offer good downy and powdery coverage, but that doesn’t cover you for botrytis".

But growers were also disappointed that one fungicide option was being removed at a time when spray resistance has been an increasing issue.

“Any spray that you lose is painful. Because the more options you have access to, the more you are able to work around resistance issues.

“I reckon we are going to see more and more of this happening, we have already seen roundup removed from the shelves in France because of health concerns.”

Andrew Weeks, the Riverland Wine business manager, echoed this sentiment.

“Growers want to have the biggest array of products available to them, or as many strings in their bow as possible,” said Weeks.

“Hopefully people haven’t committed their funds for this spray season before they hear this news.”

One viticulture consultant told the Grapegrower & Winemaker that he believed the European Union had made a knee-jerk reaction, one that had a flow-on affect to Australian grapegrowers this season.

“We really make it hard on ourselves by banning things, rather than actually asking the EU to provide the scientific proof of what impact the change in MRL will have.”

There has been some concern the alternatives to captan will require growers to complete additional spray passes. But there is not a clear consensus on this, due to the variations of different regions and threatening weather events.

September 2015 – Issue 620

AT A GLANCE The maximum residue level (MRL) for captan has changed from 0.02 mg/kg (limit of quantification) to 0.03 mg/kg (limit of quantification), and the residue definition is now the sum of captan and THPI (expressed as captan). THPI (tetrahydrophthalimide) is the main metabolite when captan breaks down.

Carcinogen status of captan Safe Work Australia: • C aptan is classified by SWA as a Class 3 Carcinogen, possibly carcinogenic to humans.

National Toxicology Program: • No significant ingredient is classified as carcinogenic by NTP. International Agency for Research on Cancer: • Captan is Class 3 - unclassifiable as to carcinogenicity to humans.

Growers want to have the biggest array of products available to them, or as many strings in their bow as possible. Hopefully people haven’t committed their funds for this spray season before they hear this news.

Another viticulturist said he didn’t envisage the loss of captan require anyone to do any extra spray passes, “as there are plenty of other options to achieving the desired outcomes”.

“You could say that whilst losing the use of captan may have removed an option that some growers really appreciated, there are other cost-effective alternatives available which they can seek advice on from their agronomist or winery.

“Ultimately the weather will have greatest bearing on spraying demands and costs!”

It was also stressed that it can be very complex to choose agrochemicals for vineyard pest and disease control as there are many options and scenarios, and other things to consider (including tank mix compatibility etc.).

“Every product and combo has pros and cons.”

The AWRI is supporting Wine Australia and Winemakers’ Federation Australia who are working through the Federal Department of Agriculture to resolve this trade issue.

Alternative chemical options for control of black spot, botrytis bunch rot, downy mildew and phomopsis cane and leaf spot are listed in the ‘Dog book’.

The AWRI recommends growers consult with their winery and follow their winery guidelines for agrochemical sprays.

For more information on this topic growers can Marcel Essling at the AWRI Helpdesk P: 08 8313 6600 E: helpdesk@awri.com.au

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

51

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Controlling botrytis organically IT IS HARD to quantify just how much botrytis infection costs the New Zealand wine industry. Needless to say, it is substantial, which makes controlling it a priority of on-going research.

Dr Philip Elmer, senior scientist at Lincoln University, is one of those researchers, concentrating on biological control systems.

At this stage in New Zealand there are 10 products available to organic growers, with five of those being biological control agents (BCAs). And while most are proving their worth in the vineyard, Elmer is quick to point out they also require a whole system approach if they are to deliver efficacy.

At the recent Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowing conference, Elmer highlighted how you can get the most out of your BCAs, and had some sage advice.

NUMBER ONE – YOU NEED TO OPEN UP YOUR CANOPY “Canopy management is one of the cornerstones for the successful use of biological controls and natural products,” he said. “As part of the Grape Futures Project we listed that as the most important non chemical strategy for managing botrytis in vineyards. It is widely adopted now and is based on shoot thinning, bunch and leaf zone removal, vine trimming, bunch thinning and mechanical removal of aborted fruitlets and floral debris, which we refer to as bunch trash.”

As part of the research project, Elmer used a Collard to blow the trash from the bunches.

“We were able to bring the crop loss in Chardonnay down from 21 percent (where we did nothing) to 13 percent crop loss, just by going through with the Collard system and blowing that floral trash out of the bunches.”

That reduction increased even further, when blowing floral trash out was combined with mechanical leaf removal. Crop loss when both were undertaken, dropped to 6 percent.

Removing trash is one of the biggest deterrents of botrytis Elmer said, because it gets rid of the early season botrytis inoculum.

“In trashy clones of Chardonnay, where you get an abundance of necrotic caps and aborted fruitlets, it becomes a nirvana for a pathogen like botrytis. It is their food base. We know when it gets established on those caps early and on the aborted fruitlets, we get an even greater supply of botrytis that can sit inside the developing bunches. This provides the inoculum for all those early season latent infections, the green rot you occasionally see during mid-season rain, and bunch rot at harvest.”

Another form of opening the canopy up is to graze sheep among the vines.

In some cases where the munching habits of sheep were utilized, 93 percent fruit exposure was achieved.

“Some of you might say that is too high. But at berry pea size, sheep were very effective. Just don’t leave them in there too long.”

SECOND - ENSURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT SET UP FOR SPRAYERS “It is almost as if the success of the biological and natural products, begins and ends here.”

He says 80 per cent good coverage of the surfaces will ensure there is good control.

“It always comes as a surprise at how poorly some of these sprayers are performing. You need water sensitive papers to September 2015 – Issue 620

There is too much yellow on this paper, showing how little of the spray has actually reached the target.

show whether or not the spray is reaching the target.

“At the end of the day, how well biological or natural products work does not reside with the vineyard manager or the winery owner. It resides with the guy on the tractor.”

Mixing up your modes of action is another suggestion he has.

“I would suggest you do not rely on one single mode of action, or one natural or biological control. It does pay to mix them up.”

There are a number of inexpensive products that can complement BCAs. One such product, which the researchers have been trialling, is calcium.

“We know that if we can get significant increases in calcium content, it can reduce botrytis in grapes, although it does depend on the variety. It can be used as an additive to increase the efficacy of the biological control agents.”

In trials that began in the lab, then moved onto potted vines, small plot trials and finally grower based trials, the use of calcium reduced the botrytis levels significantly.

“We used Biomin C and put three applications on. Some growers actually only put two on, although our early research had shown that four would be best.

“Basically they were applied at 14 day intervals and the average reduction across these blocks was about 48 percent. We have not yet combined Biomin C with our biological and natural products. That is something we still have to do.”

Some seaweed products have also shown good results when used with a biological control. But Elmer says there is a caveat there, in that if you are going to mix BCAs with seaweed products, you need to check with the manufacturer to find out if they will be beneficial.

Another method proven to dramatically reduce botrytis levels is mechanical thinning or shaking. (See NZ Winegrower issue 92, Shaken Not Dropped).

CONCLUSION In summary Elmer said if you are using biological or natural products, you have to take a whole systems approach.

‘We do have to give them a hand at times. Modifying the canopy is the simplest way of doing that. We know they (BCAs and natural products) work better under low disease pressure conditions, as opposed to having to blast epidemics.”

This article was first published by the New Zealand Winegrower, the definitive journal of the New Zealand wine sector. You can read New Zealand Winegrower online at: www. ruralnews.co.nz/wine-grower.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

53

grapegrowing

Update from a leading US grapevine pathologist DR KENDRA BAUMGARTNER was one of the keynote speakers at the recent Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) Mildura Seminar.

Baumgartner is a grapevine pathologist with the United States Department of Agriculture based in Davis, California.

The aims of her research on grapevine trunk diseases range from tracking the infection of the plant by the microscopic fungal filaments to modelling the longterm economic benefits of preventing trunk diseases. She was well placed to speak to the theme of the Mildura Seminar ‘vineyard longevity, maintaining the asset’.

In California, where trunk diseases are currently one of the main drivers of vineyard decline, Baumgartner leads a team of plant scientists, social scientists, grower groups, and extension advisors who are working to develop new outreach strategies that encourage prevention of trunk diseases starting in young vineyards.

“Every vineyard in California becomes infected,” Baumgartner said. “It is one of the greatest obstacles to profitability.

“There is only so much creative pruning and re-training you can do, so disease prevention needs to start with the vines are young and healthy.”

The economic consequences of infection are serious, with yield losses in severely symptomatic vineyards reaching more than 90 per cent. Woodcanker diseases significantly limit the profitable lifespan of vineyards. Annual yield losses due to Eutypa dieback and Botryosphaeria dieback, two widespread wood-canker diseases of grape (aka trunk diseases), account for 14% of the gross producer value of California winegrapes.

Trunk diseases in California are the main depreciable driver of vineyard longevity.

Yield losses accumulate each year,

What we can see is that it is more cost effective to do something rather than nothing. And it is better to start as early as you can – don’t wait 10 years. as there are no effective methods to eradicate the wood infections. As such, diseased orchards and vineyards must be replanted on a truncated cycle, and the high start-up costs are not repaid.

Therefore, the best strategy is prevention.

Baumgartner said here work was focused on various techniques to reduce the threat of infection, including delayed pruning and protection of pruning wounds. The long-term goal is to extend the longevity and productivity of vineyards and orchards by developing a suite of detection tools, economic data to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of preventative practices, and resistant plant material for replanting diseased vineyards and orchards.

DELAYED PRUNING Pruning wounds made in early winter are very susceptible to infection for two main reasons: 1. Winter rains induce spore release; and 2. Cold temperatures lengthen the woundhealing process.

In contrast, pruning wounds made in mid- to late winter are at lower risk of infection because rain is typically less frequent at this time and because the wounds heal soon after pruning.

Double pruning is a type of delayed pruning for cordon-trained, spur-pruned vineyards and involves two passes, the first during mid-winter and the second later in the season.

With the first pruning pass (often with a mechanical pruning machine), canes are ‘pre-pruned’ to about 25-30cm above last year’s spurs. No cuts are made down to the cordon with the first pruning pass.

With the second pruning pass, canes are pruned to 2-bud spurs. This second pass should remove trunk pathogens that infected pruning wounds after the first pruning pass.

PROTECTING PRUNING WOUNDS There are fungicides that prevent infection of pruning wounds for dormant-season use. In addition, there are other non-fungicidal materials that provide a physical barrier to infection.

All such pruning-wound protectants must remain continuously active for 30 days. Re-application may be necessary, depending on the protectant used and the timing of the first application with respect to rain, which triggers spore production and washes protectants off pruning wounds.

Baumgartner presented figures that compared disease control efficacy and yield predictions to evaluate the real impact on annual returns for growers.

Her modelling shows that prevention carried out in young vineyards has significant financial benefit across a 25-year lifespan.

“What we can see is that it is more cost effective to do something rather than nothing,” she said. “And it is better to start as early as you can – don’t wait 10 years.

“We want to convince growers to do more protection in the early years.”

more jobs more winery positions more viticulture positions more industry positions MORE OFTEN… and listed with DailyWineNews

For further information contact Andrew Dawson at jobs@winetitles.com.au or by phoning +618 8369 9500 or post your ad online at winejobs.com.au Post your classified listings on the wine industry’s most trusted website, www.winetitles.com.au created and managed by

54 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing

New Bayer ‘sensational’ chemistry for grape growers

NEW ZEALAND grape growers have a new weapon for controlling powdery mildew with the launch this week of Bayer’s new dual-action fungicide Luna Sensation®.

Bayer New Zealand grape specialist Chris Miln says Luna Sensation has been extensively trialled in New Zealand where it has been shown to be highly effective against powdery mildew.

“The disease is common in New Zealand and is increasingly becoming a problem for grape growers in all the main grape growing regions,” said Miln.

“Powdery mildew is not only unsightly, but it can have a major financial impact too. Infected grapes can result in off wine flavours and are usually downgraded in the winery, resulting in a financial penalty to the grower.

“Growers are keen to control and eliminate powdery mildew, so naturally we are delighted to supply the new technology in Luna Sensation.”

Powdery mildew is often described as a hot weather disease as it develops under relatively dry conditions and does not require moisture to spread its infection. It often arises in the spring from contaminated shoots or buds and if left untreated, will spread throughout the vine.

As its name suggests, powdery mildew appears as a grey to white powdery growth on leaves and bunches of grapes.

The two active ingredients in Luna Sensation (fluopyram and trifloxystrobin) provide synergistic activity that results in powerful disease control.

The new active ingredient in Luna fungicides – fluopyram – is not a carboxamide. Fluopyram shares the same SDHI mode of action with boscalid, fluxapyroxad, and penthiopyrad, but fluopyram behaves very differently. It is uniquely in the pyramide chemical group and differs in shape and in molecular flexibility from other SDHI fungicides. Luna/fluopyram

continues to control boscalid resistant isolates.

Luna Sensation has been extensively trialled in New Zealand vineyards. As shown below Luna Sensation provided outstanding efficacy against powdery mildew in all trials.

These trials were set up to demonstrate efficacy with 3 - 4 Luna Sensation applications and therefore do not reflect the label recommendations. Luna Sensation should be incorporated into a season long powdery mildew spray programme.

“The use recommendations for Luna Sensation are for applications over the critical flowering period, a crucial timing to prevent powdery mildew infections,” said Miln.

“It also has other advantages such as good adherence to the vine and no detectable residues.”

Miln says the key to controlling powdery mildew is to get in early and control early season infections to prevent epidemics occurring later.

“To really be effective, growers need to have a seasonal spray programme from early spring right through to the pre-bunch closure stage. With Luna Sensation now available, they now have a powerful new tool to incorporate into spray programmes.”

Luna Sensation is a liquid soluble concentrate formulation which is available in a 1 L plastic bottle. In trials Luna Sensation has been tank mixed and proved compatible and safe to the crop with other products.

Luna Sensation is registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No P9161 and is approved pursuant to the HNSO Act 1996, No HSR100998. Luna® Sensation is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. ©Bayer CropScience 2015.

For more information about Luna Sensation, visit www.lunasensation.bayer.co.nz.

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

www.winetitles.com.au/gwm 56 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

“REVUS saves me time and money in my vineyard. “

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Steve Brown Maxsons Vineyard near Yenda NSW

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For further information please call the Syngenta Technical Product Advice Line on 1800 067 108 or visit www.syngetna.com.au. Product labels and usage directions should be followed for the application of any product referred to in this publication. The information contained in this brochure is believe to be accurate. No responsibility or liability is accepted in respect of this information and those non-excludable conditions implied by and Federal or State legislation or law of a Territory. ® Registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. *Registered trademark AD15-239

grapegrowing

Two products provide plenty of protection AUSTRALIAN winegrape growers are showing keen interest in a breakthrough fungicide registration to protect their vineyards against the trunk disease Eutypa, and the opportunity to improve on the current labour-intensive method of hand-painting pruning wounds.

For the first time, growers have a registered Eutypa fungicide, Emblem, which they can apply to pruning wounds with commercial vineyard sprayers.

The re-entry period for Emblem also allows workers to quickly return to the vineyard for continued pruning, vine training and disease scouting as soon as the spray had dried.

Luke Dowler, Crop Care’s technical sales manager for the Adelaide and Yorke Peninsula regions of South Australia, said the company had been fielding enquiries about Emblem from all sectors of the winegrape industry.

“Eutypa is widespread across Australia’s major grapegrowing regions, and growers are looking at how to change from hand-painting pruning wounds to applying Emblem with spray equipment. For many, that will mean adjusting existing spray equipment, or purpose-building spray rigs that can directly target the cut ends of canes.

“The work of the South Australian Research and Development Institute on trunk diseases – which led to the registration of Emblem – is being followed closely by the industry.

“Eutypa was a hot topic at a recent Barossa pruning field day.”

PHOMOPSIS-infected grapevine. Photo by WA Department of Ag & Food.

PHOMOPSIS CONTROL Emblem is also registered for controlling phomopsis cane and leaf blight when applied after pruning to dormant spurs, buds and canes, 1 to 4 weeks before budburst. Fluazinam – the active ingredient in Emblem – provides broad-spectrum protection, and is considered the most potent inhibitor of phomopsis black fruiting bodies’ (pycnidia) viability.

To control infection from any released phomopsis spores in spring and summer, it is recommended that the prebudburst application of Emblem be followed with post-budburst applications of other registered controls such as Dragon, containing the active dithianon.

Trials in NSW, Victoria and South Australia confirmed that a combination of fluazinam applied two weeks before budburst, and dithianon applied three times between budburst and 15cm shoot growth provided good control of phomopsis.

TYPICAL black spot holes in grapevine leaves. Photo by WA Department of Ag & Food.

IPM-FRIENDLY CONTROL FOR PHOMOPSIS, DOWNY MILDEW AND BLACK SPOT Crop Care – the Australian company that registered Emblem for Eutypa prevention – provides the quality dithianon product Dragon, which is registered for protecting vineyards from the important diseases phomopsis, downy mildew and black spot.

Dragon has an excellent IPM profile, while other protectant fungicides – such as those based on mancozeb – are known to have a damaging effect on a range of predatory mites that assist in managing bud mite and rust mites in vines. Dragon is also soft on bees and earthworms.

Its excellent rainfastness protects vines longer in wet weather than most other alternatives.

A strong inhibitor of spore germination and extremely active on black spot spores, only a small amount of Dragon is required to control target diseases.

With their experienced R & D team and backed by several years’ trials, Crop Care has reduced the rate of Dragon for downy mildew from 50g down to 25g – providing growers with

58 Grapegrower & Winemaker

WITH an excellent IPM profile, the protectant dithianon fungicide Dragon is highly active against phomopsis, downy mildew and black spot.

a quality, low-cost alternative to common fungicides such as copper and mancozeb. The superior rainfastness of Dragon may allow growers to reduce the amount of copper applied in any season.

Dragon is the only M9 fungicide registered for use in Australian grapevines at that lower use rate of 25g/100L, providing an affordable alternative for resistance management.

For more information visit www.cropcare.com.au.

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

New generation spraying with ‘SCRAM’ In combination the Turbomiser SILVAN AUSTRALIA has released technology that allows individual spray the new generation of its marketnozzle rate control with low nozzle wear leading Turbomiser spraying technology and with a narrow-droplet spectrum. This with specific application in vineyard enables target spraying to be achieved for operations. excellent coverage and more efficient use Designated as the Turbo SCRAM of spray chemicals.

(Silvan Centrifugal Remote Air Module Silvan Australia’s spraying specialist patent pending) the innovation combines Gavin Wheatcroft said the new Turbo the unparalleled coverage and water SCRAM is the result of extensive research savings of Silvan’s Turbomiser technology and development conducted by the long with the efficiency and safety advantages Developed by Silvan Australia in conjunction established company together with of a hydraulic-drive fan system, to create with leading vineyard owners, managers and the ability to source the best-available the next generation in ultra-efficient crop spraying contractors the new Turbo SCRAM components to provide what growers protection. spray assembly offers significant benefits in efficiency, spray coverage and penetration want.

A key feature is the application of the through the high velocity air produced by the “In creating the Silvan Turbo SCRAM 320mm diameter German-made, highboom mounted centrifugal fans employed. we have employed feedback from performance, hydraulic-drive centrifugal a number of Australia’s top vineyard fans that are engineered to provide the owners, managers and operators on the an anodised, marine-grade aluminium high air velocity needed for optimum application features they are seeking,” exoskeleton with its proven wrap-around spray coverage. said Wheatcroft. profile designed to create air turbulence The fans also draw their air from two “Everyone in the field is driven by in the vine canopy. metres high, with one fan on each of the input costs and in vineyard spraying The multiple, high-velocity air streams ‘wrap’ air tube of the sprayer. operations the challenges today are to also eliminate shadowing to achieve This means the key benefits are even apply spray chemicals to maximum optimal spray coverage. air distribution and the elimination of benefit, to achieve the most effective The Turbo SCRAM is an optional leaf blockages or fruit damage from any penetration into the vine canopy and to choice on Silvan 2,000, 3,500 and 4,000 sandblasting effect. avoid downtime or reduced efficacy. litre tank capacity spray units and can Each of the fans operates highly “I believe that the Silvan Turbo also be fitted to the Silvan G2E and G2 efficiently and at a low noise level and is SCRAM is a new product innovation sprayers. powered by the hitch-mounted hydraulic with significant application potential to Other key features are a fullypower pack which can be disengaged meet today’s demands of efficient and galvanised rectangular hollow section during tank fills and spray agitation, for high quality grape production.” steel chassis frame and spray boom increasing operator safety. assembly with a hydraulic opening and The hitch also allows for a tighter For more technical information... closing function plus rollers for easy turning circle which makes headland Visit: www.silvan.com.au row width adjustment. The chassis is turns easier to negotiate.

E: :info@silvanaust.com supported by tandem-axle suspension for The specially designed Silvan 3 7 5 6 F l u t e 8 8 x 1 8 5 _ GGW 1 2 0 1 3 - 0 3 - 2 0 T1 5 : 5 8 : 2 5 + 1 1 0 0 P: 1300 SILVAN (1300 745 826) a smooth ride. ‘wrap’ tube assembly is supported by

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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grapegrowing

Chemicals and the GHS: Don’t be left behind A NEW INTERNATIONAL system of chemical classification and labelling is on the way and it will affect anyone in Australia who manufactures, buys, sells or uses hazardous chemicals – is this you?

If you work with hazardous chemicals you need to get on board now with changes that will be in force by 31 December 2016.

The GHS stands for the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. It replaces the current Approved Criteria for Classifying Hazardous Substances and the Australian code for their labelling.

Did you know? The GHS was developed over ten years by a number of international experts in areas ranging from toxicology to fire protection.

The changes affect the way information on chemicals is communicated.

Craig Day, a farmer, contract sprayer, and trainer for chemical accreditation, believes better information will help him avoid exposure to the chemicals he works with.

Craig says he is ready for the transition and in fact has already devised a strategy to both educate his students and to help steer his business through the transition period.

“I knew it was coming and I hope it will tighten up the rules and close the gaps in the current labelling system,” said Craig.

“I’m hoping that there’s a clearer link between what’s on the label and the SDS; that the info on the new labels picks up some of the hazards that are buried in the SDS.” Both labels and the SDS will look different and are expected to communicate hazard information better, to a broader audience.

Agriculture and veterinary chemicals will still need approval by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).

However, the addition of GHS Hazard Statements to these labels will complement the APVMA risk assessment process and improve hazard communication for all users.

The United Nations initiated the GHS for this reason, as a way to standardise hazard communication across countries.

You will not only see changes to classifications of the chemicals themselves, but to the language and organisation of labels and the SDS with new signal words, hazard statements and precautionary statements.

Perhaps the most noticeable change will be the pictograms.

There are now nine diamonds surrounded by a red border, with two new symbols for those that affect human health and one for environmental hazards.

Did you know? Over 65 countries have adopted or are in the process of adopting the GHS. 60 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The GHS labels will advise you on how to safely handle, dispose of and store these products.

“It’s sobering to get someone to sit down and read the SDS on these chemicals. They have to know a range of different information in case of a spill and most of my student’s reactions are, ‘I didn’t know it was really that toxic’,” said Craig.

Craig worries about chronic health issues and believes better information can help raise awareness about handling.

“There are plenty of people in the rural environment who suffer from long latency illnesses.

“We hear about bladder cancer and clusters and I know plenty of people who have had eye injuries from not wearing the right protection.

“I do wonder why so many in the rural environment suffer Parkinson’s disease and of course the organophosphates story is one that worries me. Not many people get the annual health checks done. People’s awareness is quite low.”

The new language used is simpler and more direct, and provides information that will protect chemical users and their environment.

The GHS is hazard based rather than risk based and aims to regulate hazardous chemicals throughout their whole life cycle.

That is, from the point of manufacture through to safe use and environmentally acceptable disposal.

Craig said his plan of action involves taking an inventory of his stock and said he if he can purchase GHS compliant goods now it will help him to avoid re-labelling later.

“We will run down our supply in the interim, finish what we can, and then we will look at our register and re-print our SDS and labels.

“That way when we receive new supplies we’ve changed over and have the right SDS and register to go with it.

“I anticipate that companies preparing next years’ cropping chemical now are also implementing the new labelling system – at least they should be at this stage.”

If you are a chemical manufacturer or supplier, or you work with hazardous chemicals, you should: • Identify deadlines • Conduct an inventory • Assess your readiness • Implement your transition plan Remember, any new stock you buy from 1 January 2017 must be GHS compliant (both labels and SDS). Check with your manufacturer or supplier if they are carrying GHS compliant stock before you place an order, especially for larger purchases you order now.

For more information on the GHS visit workcover.nsw.gov.au.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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Lower alcohol wine: A ‘winemaker’s toolbox’

A systematic, holistic approach to reducing sugar levels in grapes and alcohol levels in wine Alison Crowe is a Napa-based consulting winemaker, author and blogger (www.girlandthegrape.com). In this article, first published in the US by Wine Business Monthly, Crowe opens the toolbox of techniques available to successfully grow and make lower alcohol wines.

WINEMAKERS ARE A very diverse group. Some of us work for multinational corporations and some of us are president and chief bottle washer of mom-and-pop start-ups.

Some of my colleagues are executive-level supply chain managers and global business brokers while other winemakers I know (equally powerful) provide everything from forklift training to cellar labour to bar-back support to their small but scrappy winery crew.

From listening to, reading about and observing our community over the past year, one trend keeps popping up again and again: lower alcohol wines.

It became so much of a topic of conversation on Facebook, in the wine industry headlines and on weekend get-togethers in the past year, that I put together a discussion and panel tasting about making lower alcohol wines for the 2015 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento.

WHAT ARE ‘LOWER ALCOHOL WINES’?

Interestingly, the definition of “lower alcohol” wine at this talk, like my panelists, varied widely depending on literally where in the world they were from.

For example, Ollie Davidson of Constellation Brands, New Zealand, with his cool climate, is able to naturally grow lowsugar (but still flavourful) white wines that clock in at 9 per cent alcohol.

Steve Matthiasson, of Matthiasson Family Wines in Napa, California, achieves a ‘lower alcohol’ Napa Cabernet Sauvignon at 13.2 per cent, well under the typical 15 per cent and above what our warmer climate naturally produces.

62 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Corey Beck of Francis Ford Coppola Winery brought his 10.5 per cent alcohol “Gia Frizzante” from California’s cooler Central Coast, which was produced with both vineyard techniques and alcohol-removal technology, like reverse osmosis and filtration.

On the other end of the spectrum, and perhaps the most controversial definition of “lower alcohol” wine on my panel, was Pete Opatz’s High Five North Coast red blend at 14.35 per cent. I chose Pete for the panel because I knew his story and I knew what his more than 30 years of California viticultural experience could contribute to our discussion.

By using conscious vineyard and cellar techniques (as well as input from his nephew, a chef interested in more foodfriendly wines) he’s brought that wine’s alcohol down from the blistering 16 per cent-plus range to where it is now without using alcohol removal.

For bold red blends and mouth-filling wines (and let’s be honest, these are the wines that some powerful critics still look for), achieving balance, while not sacrificing flavour, is the new holy grail for some winemakers.

WHY LOW ALCOHOL WINES? The small but growing interest in lower alcohol wines seems to be coming from many quarters around the world. Many countries, like the U.K. and Sweden, have governments that are actively attempting through a mix of marketing and taxation policy to reduce the units of alcohol their populace consumes.

A younger generation of alcohol consumers is expressing the desire to drink lower calorie as well as less-intoxicating beverages when they choose to drink alcohol at all.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

The generation that helped define the ‘power wines’ of the 1980s and 1990s, by making, scoring and drinking boozier wines, is also aging.

As this paradigm gives way, a newer, fresher outlook on wine and alcoholic drinks seems to be awakening.

THE DELICATE DANCE OF DELICIOUSNESS Whether a winemaker’s mandate is to address growing demand from the international marketplace (like my friends at the larger corporate players) or just to please themselves (a luxury which some smaller wineries can afford), every winemaker has to think about how alcohol plays (or doesn’t play) well with the other components in any given wine.

Alcohol never stands alone and, contrary to what some wine advocacy groups would have us believe, isn’t the only component important for ‘balance’.

Total acidity, pH, aromatic complexity, tannin, sugar and carbon dioxide levels, especially, are all important pieces of the overall picture of a wine.

Bruce W. Zoecklein at Virginia Tech sketches out the below schematic that explains the interactions: Sweet = (or balances) Carbohydrates Polysaccharides Ethanol

Acid

+

Organic acids

Phenolics Skin, seed, and stem phenols Barrel phenols Enological tannins Volatile phenol

Alcohol brings a sense of body to wine and can also increase the perception of tannin. Sugar can mask both acidity and tannin and also give the impression of body and a ‘full’ mouthfeel. It often is present in lower alcohol wine because of

these effects. In order to not have a product be too sweet, higher acid is often required to balance the sugar if present.

Acid and phenolics re-enforce and amplify each other, so too much of one can bring out a negative in another.

The most important thing to remember is that if alcohol is going to be lower, other ‘sweet’ components have to be higher, or something on the other side of the equation (acid + phenolics) has to be lower.

Carbon dioxide bubbles will contribute body, which is one of the reasons many sparkling wines can be so successful at lower alcohol levels.

Floral, distinctive or especially rich aromatic varietals, as well, will help the ‘nose’ take the place of some of the complexity that ripeness and alcohol might have contributed.

For this reason, Chardonnay is hard to do on a low alcohol level whereas Riesling can really shine.

TECHNIQUES FOR GROWING AND MAKING SUCCESSFUL LOWER ALCOHOL WINES Most winemakers that aim for lower alcohol wines aren’t simply removing alcohol post-fermentation but are taking a systemic, holistic approach.

The following are some techniques to employ (which I gathered from my Unified panelists, personal experience and other sources) if you are seeking to reduce the sugar levels in your grapes or the eventual alcohol levels in your wines.

In the boardroom: • Plan to make varietals that don’t rely on the heft of booze for style (Chardonnay, anyone?) and that bring other charms

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winemaking to the party. Floral and aromatic varietals, such as Riesling and Malvasia Bianca, for example, are lovely at lower alcohol levels; and • Choose to make wine styles that naturally lend themselves to lower alcohol, like low tannin, sparkling or slightly spritzy products.

In the vineyard: • Choose naturally lower acid sites, especially those with hot nights (more than 21°C) and lower diurnal fluctuations, which will burn off residual acid earlier in the season.

Especially in whites, this will allow for full-flavoured picking at lower Baume; • Hold off on irrigation as much as possible post-veraison. This pushes the vine into senescence and developing tannins earlier in the season; • Don’t fruit-thin too much. A higher tonnage per acre (contrary to popular belief) will assist ripening fruit faster for a given leaf load; • Remove laterals; • Make sure you don’t have too much canopy, especially for reds. Dappled, open sunlight into the fruit zone is critical as it decreases malic acid during ripening; • Leaf-pluck in the fruit zone, as long as a heat wave doesn’t threaten sunburn; • Try box-pruning or ‘California Sprawl’ to get dappled sunlight into all of the vine; and • Get out in the vineyard and taste constantly as harvest approaches. Don’t be afraid to pick some ‘early lots’, if you can, in order to get some lower alcohol blenders. You may be

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64 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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surprised at the quality, especially if you’ve followed some of the above viticultural suggestions.

At the crusher: • Adding untoasted oak dust/shavings at the destemmer can help combat green flavours in red grapes; and • Be careful if you use flash détente (thermovinification)in your red macerations. This process can easily make you gain 1° to 1.5° Brix (approx. 0.6 to 0.9 Baume) upon completion.

In the fermentation vat: • Warmer fermentations (more suitable for reds than whites) can help ‘blow off’ a certain amount of alcohol, perhaps 0.25 to 1 per cent; • Open-top fermenters, like those often used to produce Pinot Noir, can also contribute to ethanol ‘blow off’ and reduce alcohol slightly by 0.25 to 1 per cent; • For white wines that will not be 100 percent malic acid complete, choose a malic acid reducing yeast like Lalvin C. It gives a 30 percent reduction in malic acid during primary fermentation and ‘rounder flavour without any undesired ML fermentation by-products that may not be style-appropriate; and • Try arresting fermentation, especially for whites that have higher acid, to leave a little residual sugar. This will result in a lower final alcohol and will balance out the higher acid/ lower alcohol and lend some body to the finished wine that alcohol would’ve contributed.

In the cellar: • Try blending lots from early-picked, warmer-night sites (see above, less acid) with those that come from higher-flavoured more ‘traditional’ sites; • Alcohol-removal technologies, like spinning cone or nanofiltration, can be employed to remove alcohol. If you choose this approach, don’t just pick an arbitrary level. Do ‘sweet spot’ trials because alcohol levels are not linear in quality. The same wine may taste very different (and perhaps not pleasant) at 11.5 per cent versus 11.75 per cent; • Surprisingly, some of the newer tannin preparations from companies like Laffort, AEB and Enartis Vinquiry can smooth out rough phenolics and make ‘green’ disappear in young and finished wines. I hear good things about the ‘Rouge’ tannin from AEB and the ‘Dark Chocolate’ tannin from Enartis. By removing green tannins or rough-feeling tannins, the absence of alcohol for body won’t be missed so much; and • If you are storing sweet wine, chill and/or filter in order to keep tabs on possible re-fermentation. Certainly sterilefilter the wine via cross-flow or 0.45 micron nominal pad or cartridge if this is the case.

Just as each winemaker is different, so are the techniques we may apply to achieve a wide array of lower alcohol wines, that is, if we’re interested in doing so at all.

Winemakers and wine companies that are looking to produce lower alcohol products are just one small segment of a large, global winemaking and wine-consuming picture.

Just because it’s some critic’s or some famous winemaker’s pet project right now doesn’t make lower alcohol wine any better or more virtuous than others.

As a few critics, bloggers and sommeliers seem to start grasping the lower alcohol pendulum as it swings away from some of the heavier wines of the past, I would caution us against championing one kind of dogma just for the sake of change or to replace one ideology with another.

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

Grape waste could make competitive biofuel THE SOLID WASTE left over from the winemaking process could make a competitive biofuel, University of Adelaide researchers have found.

In a paper published in the journal Bioresource Technology, the researchers demonstrated that up to 400 litres of bioethanol could be produced by fermentation of a tonne of grape marc.

Across the global wine industry, the total production leaves an estimated 13 million tonnes of grape marc waste each year and here in Australia the waste marc is estimated to reach several hundred thousand tonnes annually. Generally all this marc is disposed of at a cost to the winery.

“This is a potentially economic use for what is largely a waste product,” said Associate Professor Rachel Burton, Program Leader with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.

“There is a potential new industry with the evolution of local biofuel processing plants to add value to the grape for an environmentally friendly biofuel.”

PhD candidate Kendall Corbin analysed the composition of grape marc from two grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. She also investigated pre-treatment of the grape marc with acid and enzymes.

Corbin found that the majority of the carbohydrates found in grape marc could be converted directly to ethanol through fermentation with a yield of up to 270 litres per tonne of grape marc. What was leftover after the ethanol was extracted was suitable for use as an animal feed (without the animals needing a lie down soon after) or fertiliser.

The research also found the ethanol yields could be increased by pretreatment with acid and enzymes up to 400 litres a tonne.

“Using plant biomass for the production of liquid biofuels can be difficult because of it structurally complex nature that is not always easily broken down,” said Corbin.

“Grape marc is readily available, can be sourced cheaply and is rich in the type of carbohydrates that are easily fermented.”

There is a potential new industry with the evolution of local biofuel processing plants to add value to the grape for an environmentally friendly biofuel.

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winemaking

21st Century Vino in London Walter Speller, the Italy correspondent for www.JancisRobinson.com explains his journey of discovery with Australian wine, which he calls ‘the Italian miracle’. And he describes why he’s excited about 21st Century Vino in London.

I MET JANE Faulkner, Melbournebased wine writer, a couple of years ago in Alba where we taste the Barolo and Barbaresco en primeur. Last year she invited me to be the international judge at the AAVWS, which I was more than happy to do because I was very interested to experience first-hand how Italian varieties were doing in Australia.

I have been curious about that for at least 15 years, in fact, from the time I tasted a Crittenden Barbera while in London; and a subsequent discussion with an Italian winemaker, who lamented that Italian varieties aren’t as great as the French ‘because they don’t travel well’.

I had found this comment always utter ‘bull’, but now I had the chance to see if he was correct. And what did I find? Lots of complex, well-crafted wines from Italian varieties that didn’t need to be acidified to keep their freshness and generally were far more drought resistant, and hence more irrigation independent.

I also heard many winemakers were enthusiastic about these varieties because of their tannins, adding complex textures to the wines, and their savouriness, making them prefect food matches, compared to the often voluptuous and rich French varieties. The book that Garry Crittenden had co-written in 1998, Italian Wine Grape Varieties in Australia, was way ahead of its time, suggesting that Mediterranean varieties were, in general, much more suitable for Australia than their French counterparts.

Except for a new style (savoury, fresh, medium bodied weight, especially for the whites, and some stunning examples

Australia is a very exciting wine country with lots of experimentation and soul searching going on producing highly original, terroir driven wines, something that is not yet common knowledge. of Nebbiolo, a bitch to grow outside of Langhe, and already there considered a prima donna) that is now more and more embraced (away from rich, concentrated and extracted wines) the word terroir becomes a strong focus in the new approach, while climate change makes people aware that these Mediterranean varieties are more sustainable than the French in large parts of the Australia.

I was shocked by the fact that many winemakers dabbling in Italian varieties actually never had any experience with the original versions, but, and that was amazing, most of these wines were very promising, with real varietal expression and lots of acidity. It is what I dub ‘the Italian miracle’; because unhindered by a preconceived idea of style of these varieties, unlike what happened to the French counterparts, something pretty

unique and delicious came out of the process. It meant that lots of winemakers just had a hunch about a specific variety’s adaptability to their terroir and had a go at it.

I wanted to show several of these wines in London and approached Jane Faulkner, Kim Chalmers and the London office of Wine Australia. The latter gave me a platform for a free pour tasting of wine selected by me, but when I started to talk with Kim and Jane, we decided we might as well recreate a London version of 21st Century Vino, to discuss with UK trade people what is happening with these varieties and also to emphasise that it is much more than just a trend or an effort of Australia to diversify itself, sheer out of marketing reasons.

I also wanted to show that Australia is a very exciting wine country with lots of experimentation and soul searching going on producing highly original, terroir driven wines, something that is not yet common knowledge.

Last April I did a tasting of Australian Fiano versus Californian Fiano at my place in Italy and it turned out that Australia is far more focused on bringing out terroir, texture and originality, while the Californian examples turned out to be cloying, fat Chardonnay-lookalikes.

While Australia is brimming with initiative and producing exciting Fianos, California, strangely enough, is still 20 years behind. I do realise though, that it is such a niche, that for the Californians it might not be even worth to do their best with Fiano, but in turn I wonder why they try at all, if not to be good at it.

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www.tonnelleriesaintmartin.com 66 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Alcolyzer ME

ONE FOR ALL NEW!

One alcohol meter for all your beverages Walter Speller says 21st Century Vino London will shake up existing perceptions.

WILL THE WINES SURPRISE THE UK TRADE AND MEDIA? I won’t pretend that I am the first to put the spotlight on these so called alternative varieties, but I wanted to give it a regional theme, and Jane Faulker especially helped me source wines from many different regions to try and show the diversity in expression based on difference in origin.

I am aware it is a very ambitious approach, one that may not be wholly proven by 50 samples, but it is a very nice start and certainly worth a try!

The UK is a very sophisticated market and the best restaurant lists boast the greatest wines Australia has to offer.

What will be a challenge is to change the standard UK perception from Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz towards other varieties.

The initial problem is that these international varieties are associated with European regions, and many have come to stand for a certain style. 21st Century Vino London turns the spotlight on the different terroir as well as September 2015 – Issue 620

devoting one of the three seminars solely to the question what makes these wines different, and show leftfield examples, normally associated with ‘natural wine’ but here they are much more experiments in getting transparency into the glass – i.e. displaying the origin, more than trying to be hip.

The winemakers that are so very generous to spend time and money to come over to London will, no doubt, be able to shake up existing perceptions, because, without exception, all are focused on creating transparent wines that reflect their origin.

I see Italian varieties as a mere vehicle, as perhaps better adapted to certain Australian terroirs which is why in due time we will be able to talk about a McLaren Vale, or a Heathcote, instead of it necessarily needing the suffix of a grape variety to describe a style. All these winemakers are working on just that, with one, Dave Fletcher, going so far as to produce a Nebbiolo both in Australia as well as Piemonte. www.winetitles.com.au

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young gun

I love working amongst likeminded people and find that winemaking is a lifestyle, not a job Xanthe Hatcher believes the Hunter Valley is the best place in Australia to make wine.

The

X-factor

Xanthe Hatcher believes winemaking is an industry that exudes love and passion. The Hunter Valley winemaker has put her heart and soul into a career that is well and truly taking off. At just 32-years-old, Hatcher has established herself as a rising star in the wine world. As well as gaining national accolades with her nomination for the Wine Society young winemaker of the year, Hatcher has been offered the opportunity to sit as a judge at the Hunter Valley Wine Show this year. Emilie Reynolds had a chat to the inspiring young winemaker about what drives her passion for wine.

BORN AND RAISED in Dural and Glenorie in New South Wales, Xanthe Hatcher always knew her love of science would shape her future career.

Although as a teenager she was unsure about which path to take, a few adventures with her folks brought Hatcher the clarity she needed.

“In my early teenage years I remember going on road trips with my parents visiting wine regions,” she said. “I always thought they were beautiful places and that winemaking seemed like a really interesting and diverse career.”

With her mind made up, Hatcher left school and enrolled in a viticulture and winemaking degree from the University of Western Sydney.

“My career in the Hunter Valley wine industry began in 2009,” she explained. “I was living in Sydney and managing a wine store when I came to the Hunter for work experience during the 2009 vintage. I absolutely loved it and knew then that I had to pursue my dream of becoming a winemaker.”

Just a few weeks later, Hatcher left her job in Sydney and moved to the Hunter.

Since then, Hatcher has completed seven vintages in the Hunter Valley and one unforgettable experience in the Alentejo region of Portugal.

Currently working as a winemaker for Agnew Wines, Hatcher said she has often been inspired by the people who surround her.

68 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“I am fortunate in working for a great company with some of the finest fruit not only in the Hunter Valley, but also a number of Australia’s great regions.

“The wine industry has afforded me passions of the head and the heart,” she said. “It’s an industry full of incredibly passionate people whom invest their life in their work.”

Hatcher said she has even been lucky enough to meet her soulmate through the wine community in Hunter.

“During the adventure of making some of Australia’s best Chardonnay, and all that comes with it, I found love,” she said.

“I met my husband Michael Hatcher, a fellow winemaker.

“I figured that if you still want to be around someone after a long vintage working together then domestic challenges seem insignificant.”

In a quirky twist of fate, Hatcher discovered an incredible coincidence that linked the pair in history.

“Just before Michael and I were married, we just happened to discuss our family histories,” she explained. “Upon Michael revealing his fifth generation grandfather was James Squire (first person to commercially grow hops and brew beer in Australia), I remembered seeing that name in some of my family archives.

“I investigated and it appears that my grandfather of the same time was great mates with James Squire, being larrikins together and on the public record for receiving stolen property.”

Apart from winemaking, Hatcher said her other passion lies

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September 2015 – Issue 620

I still have a lot to learn but I hope to become a great Hunter winemaker in cooking, a skill that goes hand in hand with winemaking.

“I love to cook for my husband, family and friends,” she said.

“Good wine is best enjoyed with good food and vice versa.”

Clearly embracing a creative life and all of the opportunities thrown at her, Hatcher said the winemaking industry was one “you enter into for love and passion”.

“One of my biggest achievements to date was being asked to judge at the Hunter Wine Show,” she said. “I felt incredibly humbled that I was seen to have the skills to be able to judge my peer’s wines, it really showed me that I had become part of the industry.”

Hatcher said she couldn’t see herself leaving the Hunter Valley in the future and would be happy with a long and successful career in the region.

“Whilst the Hunter is arguably the best region in Australia, it is certainly the best region to be a winemaker,” she said. “I still have a lot to learn but I hope to become a great Hunter winemaker.”

To other aspiring young winemakers, Hatcher said although it may be tough to get started, the long terms benefits mean you never have to work a day in your life.

“It may seem hard to ‘get in the door’ sometimes, but it is an industry that is incredibly rewarding,” she said. “I love working amongst like-minded people and find that it is a lifestyle more than a job.”

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winemaking

The adoption of innovations by Australian grapegrowers and winemakers A project led by Megan Hill, from the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources in Victoria, together with Geoff Cowey, senior oenologist at the Australian Wine Research Institute, found grapegrowers and winemakers facing decisions on innovative technology, equipment or products are likely to seek multiple sources of information and value demonstrations and trials. This article was first published in Issue 217 of The Australian Wine Research Institute Technical Review (August 2015).

A KEY MEASURE of success for applied research is to have research outcomes adopted by end users. Often, however, researchers and investors find it difficult to predict and/or understand why some research findings are widely taken up and others are not, irrespective of the apparent return to the end user. This question was investigated in a recently-completed project, which looked at factors influencing the adoption of innovations by Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers.

The project aimed to: 1. Segment the sector to identify who adopted innovations; 2. Understand why some innovations were adopted ahead of others; and 3. Investigate how people found out about innovations and where they sought information.

Understanding who has adopted innovations, what is being adopted and why, could help predict the target markets for individual innovations and the most appropriate dissemination strategies to maximise the adoption of future innovations.

During the project, it was found that people were confused by the terms ‘innovation’ and ‘adoption’. Grapegrowers and winemakers do adopt new technologies or practices but generally do not classify this as adoption or innovation. In this project an innovation was broadly defined as a technology, product or practice new to the person or enterprise using (adopting) it.

INNOVATIONS CONSIDERED IN THE PROJECT Factors such as high cost, changes to infrastructure, training requirements or expertise needed can all potentially impede the adoption of an innovation. The project team thus considered 20 vineyard and 20 winery innovations in order to short-list two vineyard and two winery innovations to examine in depth. In both the winery and vineyard spheres these needed to be: • One innovation likely to be relatively simple to adopt (low

70 Grapegrower & Winemaker

cost with no required changes to infrastructure or staff training); and • One innovation likely to be more difficult to adopt (high cost outlay, more complex, involving more effort, time, know-how or additional training to adopt).

The innovations needed to be relatively new, but around long enough to achieve some level of adoption by producers. Generally it was felt that they should have been in the marketplace for between five and ten years. Innovations considered in the shortlisting process included salinity measurement tools, smoke taint measurement and remediation, rapid analysis techniques such as Winescan/Oenofoss®, tannin analysis, fruit sorting tables, alternative variety plantings and the Pellenc® grape harvester. In the end, the four innovations selected were: The four innovations selected were: Vineyard

Winery

Low cost, easy to adopt

new chemical sprays (eg. Legend, Revus)

novel yeasts (eg. Alchemy, Maurivin Platinum)

High cost, difficult to adopt

soil moisture monitoring

cross-flow filtration

HOW DID THE PROJECT PROGRESS? Once the four innovations were chosen, a survey was developed to examine the influence of a range of factors on adoption behaviour. Information on demographics (age, location, climate), business size, financial position and future outlook was collected.

Grapegrowers and winemakers were asked a range of questions about their opinions and beliefs in regard to the selected innovations. These included: • ‘Perceived usefulness’ - how much they believed adoption of the innovation would help them reduce costs, save time/ labour or improve quality; • ‘Perceived ease of use’- how easy they felt it was to use the particular innovation and if additional training or other changes would be needed; • ‘Social norm’ drivers – if their peers, suppliers, customers thought they should be using the innovation; • ‘Previous experience’ – if the innovation had been used or observed previously in other companies/countries; and • ‘Innovative factor’ - the general tendency towards early adoption of new technologies.

Information seeking behaviour was also examined: • How people first found out about an innovation; • What sources of information were used when making an innovation adoption decision; • Why those sources were used; and • How much information was sought.

In total 5,253 people were contacted across Australia, resulting in 1,066 completed phone and on-line surveys and 83 face-to-face interviews with grapegrowers and winemakers, all

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Vineyard

% Adoption

New chemical sprays

66

Soil moisture monitoring

33

Winery Novel yeasts

60

Cross-flow filtration

41

of whom played an active role in the decision-making process in their business. This sample ended up being representative of the range of business sizes and regional breakdown of the current Australian wine sector (2013 Wine Industry Directory).

WHAT INNOVATIONS WERE BEING ADOPTED? As expected, low cost, easy to adopt innovations had a greater adoption rate (Table 1). Of the 1066 participants surveyed, 66% of growers had adopted or trialled new chemical sprays whereas only 33% had adopted soil moisture monitoring. For winemakers, 60% had used novel yeast at least twice and 41% had purchased or leased a cross flow filtration unit.

Other innovations mentioned by respondents included the planting of alternative varieties, composting, use of weather and irrigation phone apps, anaerobic juice settling by flotation, energy efficiency practices (temperature control systems), fruit sorting tables and infra-red spectroscopy.

Business size affected adoption. Smaller businesses were less likely to adopt the high cost, difficult to adopt innovations, due to both financial constraints and a greater risk to their business associated with adoption if the innovation did not work. Smaller businesses tended to adopt low cost, easy to adopt and already proven technologies. Larger scale wineries and vineyards were found to adopt more, particularly those technologies that helped achieve expansion or efficiencies and automation in line with their scale of operation e.g. soil moisture monitoring or cross flow filtration.

Age was also linked to adoption, with the youngest segment (<34 years of age) more likely to be both confident of increasing productivity and more likely to adopt innovations.

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK The financial outlook of a business, and the attitude toward increasing productivity, influenced general approaches

to innovation adoption. Businesses that were struggling financially, reducing their scale of operation or expecting to be sold had little intention, motivation or capacity to spend money or time adopting new expensive technologies. They did however still trial new low cost products such as novel yeasts and new chemical sprays if those products enabled them to continue operating at a reduced cost.

In contrast, businesses that were increasing their scale of operation were more confident of increasing productivity and more likely to adopt the more expensive or complex technologies to achieve this, such as wine presses, cross flow filtration or soil moisture monitoring.

Grapegrowers and winemakers that were financially stable but not able to invest heavily in new technologies still adopted innovations but focused on those technologies that were not capital intensive and that would provide clear short to medium term benefits to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, such as flotation processes and energy saving technologies.

PERCEIVED USEFULNESS The belief that a technology would provide benefits such as reducing operating costs, saving time or labour, improving product quality or increasing workplace safety, was found to be the key driver of adoption in this project. For high cost and more complex technologies, this influence was moderated by the business size, financial position and the individual’s motivation towards increasing the productivity of their business.

The opinions of respected growers or winemakers in the region also emerged as a key driver for adoption, with information from the industry ‘grapevine’ being highly valued as credible, independent and experience based.

HOW DID PEOPLE FIND OUT ABOUT INNOVATIONS? Seminars, salespeople, friends and trade magazines were all mentioned as primary sources of information, although in many cases respondents could not remember where they had first heard about the innovations.

Seminars and workshops can be seen as an important mechanism for planting the seed about the innovations available to producers, and prompting them to think about adopting new technologies or practices. They also provide an opportunity to discuss innovations with both presenters and attendees.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

71

winemaking CONCLUSION

When making a decision whether or not to adopt an innovation, producers generally sought out specific information to assist with their decision-making. With simple, low risk innovations people typically used only one or two sources of information to assess the innovation. With more complex innovations multiple sources were used, including: • Independent experts (consultants, industry or government organisations or scientists); • Written articles; • Other grapegrowers and winemakers; • Suppliers; and • Viewing the technology in action at another vineyard/ winery or field day.

For example, a winemaker deciding to use a new yeast might look on the web and talk to a supplier and a colleague who had used it. This process could take an hour or a few days. However when the adoption of cross-flow filtration was being considered, more than five sources of information were usually used. Most winemakers would trial the technology, often over several years before adopting, unless they had previous experience, in which case this process was shortened.

In this project a number of general principles and concepts from marketing and adoption literature were tested and found to be applicable and potentially useful to the Australian wine sector and those seeking to maximise the adoption of R&D innovations.

Segmentation of the grape and wine sector was mainly determined by: • Financial and business outlook; and • Several dimensions of an innovation’s perceived usefulness, but this did vary with each individual innovation.

Overall the work suggests that market segmentation and message design need to be tailored to the individual innovation to encourage maximum adoption. Guidelines for doing this can be found in the project report.

For all innovations, adoption strategies must show a clear link to factors that reduce costs, increase quality or save time while also demonstrating easy implementation.

This will allow the strong industry network and key influencers within regions to validate and communicate the messages across the sector.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?

Further information

The results of the project suggest that an organisation developing a complex or potentially risky innovation will need to provide a range of types of information and communicate through a number of channels to boost adoption rates.

Demonstrations of the innovation that showcase its usefulness and ease of use are likely to be most convincing, maximising the chance for information to move through the industry network.

People also tend to have a pecking order for seeking information. Many grapegrowers and winemakers indicated that they use web search engines at the beginning of their information search, rather than specific websites.

For information providers this suggests that search rankings are important in ensuring information reaches its target audience. Again, the strong industry network within the grape and wine sector emerged as important with trusted colleagues often being asked for opinions about innovations.

Independent experts and advisors who are trusted and accessible are also valued.

Interestingly it was found that people who were active and closely involved in industry networks and associations were more likely to adopt innovations than those less connected.

The full project report is available from the AGWA website: http://research.agwa.net.au/completed_projects/adoption-ofgrape-and-wine-rd-outputs-who-what-and-why/

Acknowledgements This project was conducted by Megan Hill (Principal Investigator), Neill Barr and Roger Wilkinson from Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Victoria; Sandy Hathaway from Felix Consulting; Geoff Cowey, Mark Krstic and Con Simos from the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI); and Angela Paladino from the University of Melbourne. The project was funded by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority, and completed through collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute, Wine Grape Growers Australia and the University of Melbourne. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of more than 5,000 grapegrowers and winemakers involved in the project.

The inclusion of any brands, products or services in this article does not imply an endorsement by the authors or the AWRI.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

The history of wine presses

Part 2: Continuous presses... and what next?

In this article, Simon Nordestgaard, a senior engineer at The Australian Wine Research Institute, describes the different styles of continuous press that have been used and provides some thoughts about the types of pressing technology that may be used in the future.

This article is a continuation of an article published last issue on the types of pressing equipment that have been employed since the late 19th century.

The first article focused on batch processing mode equipment, while this article focuses on continuous processing mode equipment. Continuous presses have generally been associated Crushing with higher throughputs but lower quality wine production. This article again focuses on the pressing of grapes for white wine production, although most of the equipment to be discussed has also been used for pressing fermented red grapes.

DRAINERS A WIDE VARIETY of equipment has been used for continuous draining. This has included rotary screens, vibrating screens and drag cleat screens but the most commonly used has been inclined drainers. Inclined drainers (Figure 1) are essentially a screw conveyor inside a cylindrical screen. They are similar in operation to continuous screw presses.

Continuous drainers are generally associated with higher juice solids levels than static drainers since the cake and its constituent parts tend to be continually sheared. This shearing can result in both higher solids in the juice released from each grape part and less filtration as that juice passes through the cake to the outlet screen. The benefit of continuous drainers is in their throughput. A single inclined drainer might process as much as 50 tonnes/hour. Furthermore, the inclined drainer is really part way between a drainer and a press, potentially collecting as much as 80% of the available juice compared with the 50% that might be obtained with a basic static drainer.

The incline also conveniently raises the cake for loading into a press.

Figure 1: Inclined drainer

SCREW PRESSES Screw presses are the most widely used style of continuous wine press and have been since the late 19th century.

They operate like an inclined drainer, but with higher pressures, courtesy of an obstruction at the cake exit.

A means of feeding the cake into the high pressure zone without backflow is one critical feature of screw presses.

The method used influences the level of unnecessary churning of the cake, which can in turn impact upon press throughput, yield and juice solids levels.

The method used in some early presses September 2015 – Issue 620

Figure 2: Screw press with counter-rotating feeding screw (a) overview, and (b) cut-away showing twin screws

was to have two screws spinning endon-end in opposite directions with the first screw force-feeding the second high pressure zone screw (Figure 2), but this was very aggressive. The use of a wheel that engaged between ridges of the screw was an alternative feeding system (Figure 3) that came to be used by most screw press manufacturers for much of the 20th www.winetitles.com.au

century. Then in 1970, Coq introduced a ‘Bi-valve’ feeding system (Figure 4).

This consists of a simple plate with two openings through which the first section of a screw feeds the cake and the leading rim of the second section of the screw immediately catches it. This and other static anti-return devices that followed were apparently a significant advance Grapegrower & Winemaker

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over the feeding wheels – being more efficient, cleaner and cheaper. The screw press shown in Figure 4 also has the ability to extend and retract the screw shaft. This concept is used to advantage in impulse screw presses, where part or all of the screw is intermittently moved forwards without rotation achieving a better approximation of a batch press and also better handling of slippery grapes.

Screw presses from earlier in the 20th century generally tended to employ smaller diameter screws rotating at faster speeds than screw presses from later in the 20th century. This, together with the improvements in feeding mechanisms, reportedly lowered the levels of juice solids obtained with screw presses; however, solids are still at higher levels and/or are more difficult to remove than in juice obtained with batch presses.

Ultimately, the operation of a screw press is fundamentally different to that of a batch press. Batch press operation comprises a series of cycles of pressing and crumbling while screw press operation consists of a simultaneous pressing and crumbling as the screw shears the cake and its constituent parts.

Screw presses are still reasonably widely used for mass wine production because of their incredibly high throughputs as much as 50 tonnes/hour (fresh grape basis with prior draining), but very few new screw presses are now purchased. Large volume axial filling batch pneumatic membrane presses have generally taken their place, although they still cannot match the throughput of screw presses.

Figure 3: Screw press with feeding wheel

Figure 4: Coq screw press with ‘Bi-valve’ feeding system

PNEUMATIC PRESSES Batch operating pneumatic presses (discussed in the previous article) are now the dominant style of wine press.

Beyond axial filling, attempts have been made to adapt pneumatic presses into continuous devices even more suitable for higher throughputs. An early example was the South African MacKenzie pneumatic press (Figure 5), one of which was installed in the Barossa Valley in 1965. This press employed intermittently operating mesh belts to move the press cake between four pressing stations. At each station, compartment doors would close and the cake would be pressed using rubber bladders. Press capacity was 40 tonnes/hr (fresh grape basis with prior draining). A more recent variation is the Siprem continuous pneumatic membrane press (Figure 6). It employs a single cylindrical tank, partitioned into several different pressing chambers.

DECANTER CENTRIFUGES The decanter centrifuge is a separation September 2015 – Issue 620

Figure 5: MacKenzie continuous pneumatic press

Figure 6: Siprem continuous pneumatic membrane press (left) external view, and (right) internal view

technology that is well established in many industries and which has intermittently been trialled as a wine press substitute over the last 20 years, with some limited adoption. Undrained www.winetitles.com.au

mash is fed into a fast rotating chamber (Figure 7). Grape parts are projected into the chamber wall and juiced. Solids collect on the chamber wall and are transported towards the solids exit via Grapegrower & Winemaker

75

winemaking than the smaller particles by centrifugal force (a particle twice the diameter falls four times as fast). The residual small particles have been suggested in some studies to facilitate the formation of desirable aromas during white and rosĂŠ fermentations.

Decanter centrifuges are capable of higher throughputs than batch membrane presses for the same footprint.

This has led to them being trialled directly mounted on machine harvesters to facilitate immediate juicing in the vineyard for white wine production, but this system is not yet commercially available.

Figure 7: Mode of operation of a decanter centrifuge

BELT PRESSES

Figure 8: Mode of operation of a belt press for apple juice production

Belt presses are widely used in other industries (including for fruit juice production) and have been intermittently trialled and used to a limited extent for wine production. In these devices material is flattened progressively between two perforated belts as they pass around a series of rollers (Figure 8). A major complaint with the use of belt presses in wine production has been high juice solids levels. Belts can also be difficult to clean and are susceptible to damage by hard solid objects in the feed.

ROLLER PRESSES a scroll rotating at a slightly faster speed than the chamber. Clarified juice flows between the flights of the scroll towards the liquid exit.

Unlike presses, decanters only produce one juice fraction. This juice can have overall lower solids content (by lab centrifuge test) than batch membrane presses, but there can be more small

particles and the juice turbidity can therefore sometimes be higher. This particle size distribution is probably a consequence of lots of particles of all sizes being released as grapes are rapidly juiced against the bowl wall and some being released during solids transport by the scroll, but the larger particles then being much more easily removed

Rollers have been widely used in wine production to crush grapes but removal of released juice has always been performed in a separate drainer or press.

In the sugar industry, roller mills with Messchaert drainage grooves are used for processing sugar cane (Figures 9 and 10).

These grooves allow for juice drainage during compression.

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winemaking The two-roll sugar mill arrangement (Figure 10b) is less common than the three-roll arrangement (Figure 10a) but is interesting in that it allows multiple roller mill stages to be placed above one another, with solids following a single downwards path between stages.

Sugar cane is a very different feedstock from grapes but the concept of a roller with a novel surface profile to facilitate compression with simultaneous juice removal might be applicable to continuous grape pressing in some highly modified form.

presses) to allow for the processing of smaller batches.

It would also need to be as mechanically robust as a membrane press, which has few wearing parts.

Ideally it would produce all juice fractions side-by-side, with the division Figure 9: Sugar mill roll surface profile with of fractions being able to be adjusted in Messchaert drainage grooves between each real time to maximise value. tooth (This is something that is not possible VELVET T Large Capacity with batch membrane presses and Membrane Press routinely results in sub-optimal choice technologies it is still low compared with of press-cuts.) screw presses and there is room for a Such a device would be a considerable competing technology. technical feat.

The only real current contender is the decanter centrifuge. While this Drawing on historical experiences technology may or may not have merit as with different press designs suggests a press substitute, it is currently difficult it might have some of the following to see decanter centrifuges being adopted operational characteristics: en masse as they use a different approach • Continuous operation but with and produce only one juice fraction.

VELVET multiple stages of cushioned nonI believe that it will Closed Membrane Presstake a new and as shearing compression and crumbling yet undeveloped pressing technology to as in a batch press; displace the batch pneumatic membrane Filter • Grapes are gently destemmed but not press. This technology would need crushed before pressing. Whole bunch to realise higher throughputs while batch pressing is widely understood to achieving high yields and low juice produce juice with the lowest solids solids like a membrane press. KAPPA 50 levels. These low solids levels must To be a compelling contender, it would be a consequence of the manner in need to have a very low hold-up volume which juice is released from each (unlike continuous pneumatic membrane

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Open Membrane Press Screw presses were widely used in large wineries and underwent many adaptations that somewhat reduced the MICROFLEX Flow levels of juice solids that they Direct produced.

With the advent of large axial filling batch pneumatic membrane presses, the use of screw presses has declined.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

whole grape not as a consequence of cake filtration, since the stems provide a very open cake structure.

The principle of low solids release at the individual grape level may allow for press operation without large cake beds – a practical necessity for a highquality continuous press with a low hold-up volume; • Direction of juice outlet slots almost perpendicular to the direction of grape compression, as in a basket press, to avoid fouling of slots; • Free juice removed rapidly by vacuum to prevent slippage and shearing; • Pressing atmosphere able to be inerted if desired; and • May involve stages of rollers with novel surface profile/material, a staged screw press with novel paddles/elements instead of the normal screw flight, or stages of pressing between novel high frequency oscillating surfaces.

Some form of feedback control at each stage would be required to manage compression in real time.

An entirely new style of press is difficult to imagine now, but it could still happen. After all, advances such as turning the vertical basket press on its

Figure 10: Juice draining down Messchaert grooves on (a) feed roll of a traditional three-roll sugar mill, and (b) both rolls of a two-roll sugar mill

side and making it rotate to automatically crumble the cake or using an inflatable bag for pressing were revolutionary when introduced. The next major development in pressing technology could be just around the corner.

Acknowledgements Much of the information contained in this article was collected during the course of PhD studies performed several years ago. I thank Australian grapegrowers and winemakers and the Australian Government for funding those

[]

2 1 Presses In

Disclaimer None of the information presented in this article should be considered as an endorsement of any brand or product by the AWRI. The developments described are an interpretation based on available information and are presented in good faith. Readers should undertake their own investigations before making any major process changes.

It quickly converts from an If you’re looking open press to a closed press for a new press, offering complete versatility the smart choice in varietal and stylistic winemaking is the new Europress S It has unique detachable drains on the style press outside that turns the closed press into an open press, in just 20 minutes.

The external drains allow faster press cycles and makes cleaning very quick, thorough, and safe.

Take a look at the benefits and features offered by the smart Europress range. Call Grapeworks for further information.

National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550 Email info@grapeworks.com.au

Scharfenberger

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Maschinenbau

September 2015 – Issue 620

studies, and my PhD supervisors: Brian O’Neill, Chris Colby, Elizabeth Waters and Graham Jones, for their support.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

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winemaking

Sustainability and sensory analysis at SIMEI 2015 TWO HIGHLY-TOPICAL issues for the oenological sector will be tackled at SIMEI in Milan this November.

SIMEI has become a showcase for international wine technology, not only because it features the best innovations of the sector, but also because the organisers (Unione Italiana Vini) aim to make it a unique, top-level professional update.

This November, the scheduled international conferences will host the most-qualified speakers; each providing their own professional contribution and encouraging participants to take part in the discussion.

On November 3 the debate will turn to the topic of ‘sustainable viticulture as a tribute to wine quality’, and an assessment of where the winemaking industry currently stands in terms of sustainable development.

The classical meaning of the term ‘sustainability’ defines it as a balance between social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects in search for solutions according to the requirements of the present and of the future. The winemaking sector tends to give more importance to the environmental aspect, disregarding or pushing other aspects into the background.

The aim of the conference is to turn the attention on the other pillars of sustainability as well as on the different indicators of the environmental aspect.

Sensory analysis will be the focus on November 4 – and all aspects will be considered, from the scientific to the different

AT A GLANCE Rob Mack, assistant winemaker at McLaren Vale Winemakers, will be heading to SIMEI courtesy of the Grapegrower & Winemaker. Rob was selected as a SIMEI competition winner on the creativity of his entry, a poem.

“I’m really excited to be given the chance to attend the SIMEI exhibition this year and can’t wait to sink my teeth in to all the innovations and products that are going to be shown there,” he said. “It’s a bit of a dream come true!”

elements of production, including the commercial point of view.

The choice to draw attention to sensory analysis resulted from a commitment of the Unione Italiana Vini to obtain objective and quantifiable results when measuring the quality of wine.

The ambition of the sensory analysis discussion is to work toward universal language and shared measurement scales.

With the most-qualified international stakeholders gathered, it is hoped than an outline of a ‘sensory identikit’ for the modern consumer can be developed.

More information about the program is available at www.simei.it/congress.

Travel prizes on offer at the Australian Small Winemaker Show THE AUSTRALIAN Small Winemaker Show (ASWS) will reward the ‘champion viticulturist’ and ‘champion winemaker’ at the 2015 show with a cash prize of $1500 to each individual to support travel for professional development.

“The viticulturist and winemaker awards acknowledge the skills of the individual and their excellence in their craft,” said John Lucas, ASWS president.

“The viticulturist and winemaker awards offered by the Australian Small Winemakers Show are unique amongst wine shows in Australia and recognising the contribution of the viticulturist to the final product is particularly rare.”

In 2015, the travel prizes will be awarded to the viticulturist responsible for growing the grapes used in the champion ‘white wine of show’ and the winemaker responsible for producing the ‘champion red wine’.

Andrew Murray of Powderbark Ridge in Western Australia’s Franklin River, was the 2014 winner of the viticulture

80 Grapegrower & Winemaker

award. Andrew, the Powderbark Ridge vineyard manager, also grew the grapes used to make the ‘champion red wine of show’, the Mandoon Estate 2012 Franklin River Reserve Shiraz.

Andrew’s goal at Powderbark Ridge has been to produce quality fruit of a distinct regional character.

Managing soil moisture for optimum grape quality is the biggest challenge in the vineyard at Powderbark Ridge, with soils of low water holding capacity and finite water supplies. Andrew plans to use his prize to travel interstate to learn more about methods for manipulating soil moisture and particularly the use of compost.

David Bicknell, from Oakridge in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, won the winemaker award in 2014. His award winning white wine was a 2012 Chardonnay, the 864 Funder and Diamond Drive Block.

The 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show will be held 17-20 www.winetitles.com.au

October and entries are now open. Chief Judge at the 2015 ASWS will be the highly experienced, international wine judge Jim Harre from New Zealand.

“Jim has previously judged at the Australian Small Winemakers show and we are particularly pleased to welcome him as our first overseas Chief Judge,” said John.

“Jim’s extensive experience as a wine judge continues the high calibre of judges at ASWS”.

The ASWS open to wineries crushing less than 500 tonne in any one year and attracts entries from wineries across Australia and New Zealand. “The ASWS is the premier event for small wine producers to benchmark their wines and achieve important accolades through medals and trophies at this national wine show,” said John.

Entry form, details and dates are available at www.asws.com.au or by phoning Paul on (07) 4681 4482.

September 2015 – Issue 620

Commitment to the environment recognised

by Australian Packaging Covenant AUSTRALIA’S LEADING wine packaging, warehousing and distribution company, Portavin, has consistently set industry standards for excellence since its establishment in Margaret River in 1989. From very small beginnings, Portavin now operates in five sites across Australia.

Through continued innovation and packaging initiatives, Portavin has been recognised by the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) as the 2015 award winner for highest scoring organisation in the small to medium packaging manufacturer category.

The Australian Packaging Covenant is a sustainable packaging initiative which aims to change the culture of business to design more sustainable packaging, increase recycling rates and reduce packaging litter.

Portavin has been a signatory of the APC since 2010 and this year proudly accepted the award at the presentation dinner in Melbourne at the end of July.

Mike Davies, Portavin’s executive chairman, said the award was great recognition for “the many years of hard work that has been put into creating a culture that is truly focussed on sustainable packaging”.

“Improvements in helping the environment make it all worthwhile.

This award is gratefully accepted as it

September 2015 – Issue 620

Mike Davies (chairman), Anthony Davis (general manager WA) and Ian Matthews (managing director VIC) proud to receive the award.

rewards the team for all their hard work in this area,” said Davies.

“We have great people across our Portavin locations and special thanks needs to be given to the whole team for embracing our vision and helping to implement the systems and practices for us to lead in this arena.”

Davies also congratulated CA Henschke & CO, Pernod Ricard Winemakers and OI for success in their respective divisions and showing the wine industry is a

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leader in sustainable packaging.

This Portavin award closely follows recent recognition for ‘service excellence’ from DHL and Qantas, and firmly cements Portavin is a leader in the packaging industry.

With an experienced and dedicated team, the company offers wine bottling, packaging, dry goods supply, laboratory services, yeast and fermentation products, warehousing and logistics, as well as bulk wine storage.

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roundtable

Roundtable: Oak alternatives Oak alternatives aren’t a ‘sexy’ part of the winemaking process, that gets a lot of mentions on back labels or separate pages within the winery website dedicated to delving into the details of which products are used and why different choices were made for certain wine styles. However, despite the lack of attention from the marketing and sales departments, oak alternatives have become a valuable resource for winemakers.

BACK IN 2012 we asked winemakers what was new in Oak & Oak the world of oak Alternatives alternatives. And the winemakers discussed the increasingly-advanced options at their disposal.

What we found three years ago was that purchases were often being made with price per litre pressures in mind. This month we’ve approached two winemakers from very different operations to talk about how they are using oak alternatives.

What we’ve found is that while price remains a key factor, the performance of the product is now the biggest influence on purchasing decision.

The different ways of delivering the oak without barrel maturation have been refined to a range of more tried and true approaches.

And the winemakers are very aware of what products, as well as variations within specific products, can deliver the characters they desire for specific wine styles.

Question: What oak alternatives are you currently using?

Jeremy Nascimben: We currently only use staves in tank as an alternative oak product, we us them with a large majority of our reds.

Both commercial and premium,

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Jeremy Nascimben, Calabria Family Wines Pty Ltd After studying a Bachelor of Applied Science at Charles Sturt University, Jeremy worked at local wineries, vineyards and cellar doors, to further enhance his winemaking skills and knowledge of the craft. On the back of these experiences – as well as later vintages in New Zealand, France, Germany and Canada – Jeremy secured a permanent role at Calabria Family Wines in 2011.

While the winery is based in Griffith, home to the Calabria family, fruit is sourced from both the Riverina and Barossa regions. There are 10 different wine brands in the Calabria range, starting from RRP $5 per bottle.

having some degree of stave contact during malo lactic fermentation, as well as commercial oaked chardonnay during primary fermentation.

We have trialled barrel inserts in the past, with no avail.

Sam Brewer: We are working with Seguin Moreau and evOAK, so just a couple of suppliers.

And we use ferment chips and ferment staves as well as some thick planks for longer ageing.

Q: Do you use different oak alternatives depending on the wine varietal or blend?

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JN: Yes. We currently have 10 French and 10 American types/brands of staves in our program, which over time and experience, we have found niche uses for.

Whether it be as a blend, or as a singular type, depending on flavour and tannic need for each and every parcel packed away for malo.

SB: In the whites, with a Chardonnay, we have a lower-impact French oak stave that provides just some background.

But for the reds we’re looking for the opposite, we want the sweet, vanillin, forward sort of oak characters for finished wines that deliver plenty of fruit and plenty of oak.

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roundtable

Sam Brewer, Yarran Wines Sam has plenty of experience working across a range of regions, including the Yarra Valley, King Valley, Sonoma Valley (US), China and the Riverina. He has been working as the winemaker for the family winery since 2009. The Yarran Wines vineyards, winery and cellar door are all located in Yenda, in the Riverina. Most of the Yarran wine range is priced between $12 and $22.

Q: Are you using oak alternatives for any premium wines (RRP above $20 per bottle)?

JN: Yes, pre-barrel, in tank. Small amounts are used, during malo-lactic fermentation to help structure, aid in depth as well as stabilise colour.

SB: We do use some of the thicker staves in combination with barrels on some of our wines in the $20-25 range.

Q: What is the biggest influence on your decision to use an alternative to an oak barrel?

JN: Price point.

At Calabria Family Wines, we make wines ranging from $5 to $185 per bottle, hence the need for cheaper alternatives to barrel use down the cheaper end.

SB: I’m not completely driven by price, because we don’t play in the market below $10 per bottle.

So what we’re mainly looking for are really stable products.

But cost is a factor. I’m happy to pay a bit more when I can trust the results and match them to what I need.

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Q: How have you worked out what works best for you?

JN: Experience. Over time, we have discovered speciality uses of certain brands/types of oak planks that work well with specific varieties, GI’s and/or products. These all started as trials, and if proven, become part of our program.

Every parcel is tasted before a specific type and/or blend of oak plank is decided on pre malo. The advice here is to trial, trial, trial.

SN: Doing your own bench trials and doing a lot of mucking around in the winery is difficult. But I do like to catch up with winemaking mates and hear their feedback on what they are doing and what they have found to work for them. Having consistent suppliers, specific to the type of oak you want to work with is another factor.

Q: What are the benefits of the alternatives you use?

JN: There are a few, depending on what wines we are talking about. In regards to commercial wines, being able to oak

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the parcels up, ready for early release is definitely a benefit. Especially because it’s what consumers want, fresh, vibrant, early release soft commercial reds.

The benefits for premium pre-barrel, is much more about structure building, and colour stabilisation, especially when used during malo-lactic fermentation.

We have trialled mini-staves in tank in the past, and although for a limited amount of products, these kinds of staves do work, there are some physiological constraints of their use.

The smaller in size (and also to a similar extent the smaller the thickness) the stave has, we find the more oak flavour extraction per time, but less oak tannin extraction over time, hence although good for commercial wines where plenty of oak flavour is required, not much structure is gained when using < 9mm thickness or mini staves.

The vast majority of staves on the market are 9mm, and we also find with some varieties/GI’s that are able to spend more time on oak, 12mm works best, allowing more time to build structure and release oak derived flavour.

SB: There are a lot of guys selling oak now that head out with all their marketing material and are really targeting their pitch to match what the winemakers are doing. So you can be confident asking the suppliers about the specific results you are looking for, like I did with the evOak Latitude products that we chose for our Chardonnay.

Q: Are there any drawbacks, or issues to be managed carefully?

JN: Time on stave.

September 2015 – Issue 620

Like with any oak treatment, whether it be barrel or tank, time on oak is important. As winemaking is all about balance, and balance of oak and fruit is crucial when talking about these types of products. Tanks on stave can quickly become dominated by oak flavour if not carefully managed.

SB: My personal observation has been that when you are using the alternatives you tend to see the results a lot quicker, or more obvious, than the 12-month maturation in an oak barrel.

And sometimes I think the alternatives might not hold on to the same oak characters as well after 12 months-or-so in the bottle. They seem to fall away a bit more.

Q: Have you found any unexpected benefits from using oak alternative products?

JN: As would be expected, meeting a price point, as well as some evidence, in house, of colour stabilisation if used during malo lactic fermentation.

SB: With some of the thicker staves, I’ve been really happy with the results. I guess that’s not as much unexpected, but more about being pleased the quality of the result can justify the price.

Q: Do you think consumers, or even wine writers and show judges, can pick wines that are made using oak alternatives?

JN: I frequently judge at various wine shows around Australia, and to a point yes, oak alternatives can only give the wine so much, and can never replace the maturation (i.e. gradual oxygenation) of a wine that occurs in barrel.

Taking to some winemaker friends of mine, tank staves used in conjunction with micro ox, can to some extent replace barrel use all together. But after in-house trials, I am still a traditionalist, and am yet to be swayed.

In regards to oak tannin release for structure and flavour, the difference is much harder to pick, as the quality of staves these days are quite good.

SB: Has anybody noticed? That’s a really interesting question. It’s probably got a lot more to do with the function of the style of wine. I think there would be lots of consumers who wouldn’t know what to look for or evaluate the oak. But I wouldn’t want to say unequivocally that people can pick. It is hard to say, for sure.

Q: Would you be prepared to talk about oak alternatives when promoting your wines?

JN: Yes and No. There is still a stigma attached to the use of oak alternatives, September 2015 – Issue 620

whether it be barrel inserts, staves or chips. They are still, in some winemakers/ wine writers eyes, viewed as inferior products when compared to the “real thing” such as barrel.

They however do serve a purpose, especially when it comes to price point driven wines. I think this has all come about when in the past, the quality of oak alternatives may not have been up to scratch, hence giving these types of alternatives a bad name.

I would assume that consumers have the same view, as staves sound less “romantic” when compared to the idea of a neat, orderly, manicured barrel hall.

SB: I’ll say that our wines are “aged with” rather than “aged in” and we won’t use the word barrel if there weren’t any involved. We get around it by describing the flavour profile more than the process, I guess.

But the real answer is no, we don’t mention that we used staves or stick because there’s probably a bit of a consume stigma. Whether or not the average consumer believes, or has a picture in their mind, there were barrels involved, I don’t know.

Q: What new development in oak alternatives do you think you’d like to work with?

JN: Forrest specific staves, which some suppliers are already doing, allowing more ability to tailor choose oak for any and every parcel.

SB: I know the suppliers have new things to show you all the time, but I’m keen to see who else is using them first because we’re only small and we don’t have much scope to do our own experimenting.

Q: What support do you look for from suppliers when considering an oak alternative you haven’t used before?

JN: Quality of oak, consistency, as well as when showing new oak types, for me, the best proof is in the glass.

It is invaluable when an oak rep comes in with samples to taste, as compared to a reference control, of what their oak is doing.

Then, if any show promise, in house trials are the next step, which are also invaluable, hence the ability of suppliers to provide small trial samples, which not all oak companies provide.

SB: Personally, I’m not that keen on bench trials, I’d prefer to see the wine that’s been made in a commercial sense from another producer.

I want to see the impacts on the finished wine. www.winetitles.com.au

www.seguin-moreau.fr www.seguinmoreau-icone.com Graeme Little

Mobile: +61 (0)437 060 943 glittle@seguinmoreau.com.au

Dan Eggleton

Mobile: +61 (0)438 824 493 deggleton@seguinmoreau.com.au SEGUIN MOREAU AUSTRALIA Post Office Box 5 Hindmarsh, South Australia 5007 Tel.: +61 (0)8 8406 2000 Fax: +61 (0)8 8406 2001 admin@seguinmoreau.com.au

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winemaking

The easiest way to impart rounded French oak characters

XOAKERS

From the stave mills of Chene and Cie comes a range of the finest French oak products.

XTRACHÉNE offers greater winemaking flexibility using oak that is fully traceable.

STICKS 22.90 The provenance of every piece of oak can be traced back to not only the forest it came from but to the very tree from which it was harvested.

Natural maturation of staves over a minimum of 24 months ensures that any bitter wood components have been leached prior to OAK CHIPS processing. The staves are toasted in state-of-the-art food-grade convection ovens, using specific ‘time and temperature’ formulas, to produce unique flavour and aroma profiles.

XTRACHÉNE products deliver the complexity of French oak maturation with a range of cost-effective, flexible options suited to fermentation and maturation in either tank or neutral barrel.

GRANULAR

It simply means more control for the winemaker and more affordable French oak finesse.

For full details visit www.xtrachene.fr or contact Simon Young +61 (0)419 504 735 Email: simon.young@chene.com.au Andy Gravier +61 (0)439 657 903 Email: andy.gravier@chene.com.au

XTRA XTRA CHÊNE CHÊNE 86 Grapegrower & Winemaker

XtraChêne evolving oak for winemakers BUILDING a reputation for producing quality barrels, XtraChêne have grown in popularity since their debut in Australia last year. Primarily crafted in Taransaud, France; Canton, USA and Kádár, Hungary, XtraChêne employ a rigorous selection process and season the oak for up to 24 months.

Simon Young, XtraChêne representative, said the company prides itself on time-honoured techniques in cooperage that produce premium French Oak alternatives. Young said XtraChêne control the entire production process, from oak sourcing to final product, allowing the brand to offer complete traceability on all its oak alternatives.

“They can be tracked back not just to an individual forest but to an individual tree in that forest,” Young said. “It is the appellation of oak in reality. The oak we are using for alternatives is drawn from the same matured materials (minimum 24 months open air storage) used for Taransaud barrels.”

Young said XtraChêne sourced the best timber from a log; straight grain with no knots, not off-cuts or waste materials.

“We offer a range of items to cover fermentation, barrel rejuvenation and tank maturation,” he said.

After extensive research and development, Young said the XtraChêne Stick 22.90 has been transformed into a remarkable product which has evolved with the industry.

“The square profile of the stick provides a better balance of natural oak flavours and aromatics derived from toasting when compared to a standard stave,” Young said. “The radial surface of our stick is 10cm² compared to 6cm² for the stave allowing for deeper penetration of wine to gain pure oak characters.”

Young said the 22.90 offered five toasting options, providing a great deal of flexibility in winemaking terms, from bulk blends to premium small batch production.

“With convection there are three choices; light, medium and medium+; Quattro (a combination of convection and fire toast) while Terroir, the premium version, is 100 per cent fire toast,” he said. “The Terroir is specifically suited to high quality wine production and is at the leading edge of oak alternatives.”

Used at 1-4 Sticks per HL, Young said the product was a very cost effective method of acquiring balanced and long lasting oak flavour. Young also mentioned XtraChêne Xoakers as another C&C alternative. The 2.5cm oak ball was designed for precise, uniform additions of oak to neutral barrels. Used for fermentation and maturation, XtraChêne Xoakers also contribute to complex oak characters for rounding and softening wines. Shaped to impart oak character as close to new barrel treatment as possible, the product has been manufactured from the same matured staves used for a barrel.

“XtraChêne Xoakers are ideal for extending the life of a neutral barrel by adding 20–50 Xoakers per hectolitre, they are packaged in 500gm (approximately 75 Xoakers) food grade plastic bags,” Young said. “XtraChêne brings a high quality oak alternative for winemakers who want the edge in French oak complexity.

“XtraChêne has a number of different products, from granular oak and high-grade chips to barrel kits and oak sticks for tank maturation,” he said. “Technical backup is available and stock is ex-warehouse in Australia.”

Free sample sticks, or enough Xoakers to rejuvenate a Barrique or Hogshead, are available by contacting Simon Young.

P: +61 (0)419 504 735 E: simon.young@chene.com.au

www.winetitles.com.au

September 2015 – Issue 620

ask the

DIY haze and deposit identification A high proportion of questions answered and investigations conducted by the AWRI helpdesk are related to hazes and deposits in wine. While the helpdesk is well equipped to identify both common and unusual hazes and deposits, there are some steps that can be taken in the winery lab or kitchen to achieve a quick DIY identification.

STEP 1 – ISOLATE THE DEPOSIT OR HAZE

STEP 3 – SOLUBILITY TESTS

THIS CAN BE done by centrifuging a portion of the wine and examining the deposit, settling the deposit in the fridge overnight and then decanting off the wine leaving the deposit behind, or by filtering a portion of the wine through a sterile membrane and collecting the material that is filtered out.

Testing the solubility of a deposit in a range of solutions can provide a lot of extra information to help with identification.

The solutions needed are: a weak solution of sodium hydroxide (0.1M), a weak solution of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, 50% ethanol and hot water.

Solubility in sodium hydroxide is indicative of a protein/ amorphous material; solubility in acid suggests colour material or possibly a metal-based deposit (most commonly copper or iron); solubility just in ethanol indicates colour material; and solubility in hot water indicates a crystalline material.

If the material does not dissolve, and instead can be seen floating on the surface of the liquid, this indicates that the material may be waxy cork coating material, cork dust or even a cleaning agent.

STEP 2 – EXAMINE THE MATERIAL This is normally done with a microscope, at around 400x magnification, to classify the deposit as either crystalline, microbiological or amorphous in nature.

For winemakers that don’t have access to a microscope, there is still a lot that can be found out with the naked eye.

Crystalline deposits are almost always white, and if the crystals are large enough will be easy to distinguish without magnification.

Large crystals can often be confused with glass chips by a consumer, but the more common smaller crystals look more like table salt or sugar. Crystalline deposits normally settle to the bottom of the bottle.

Amorphous deposits, which include protein from white wine, are generally tan/brown in colour and look a bit like dirt or mud settled at the bottom of the bottle.

Protein, phenolics and colour material from red wines are more reddish-brown, and these deposits sometimes coat the inside surface of the bottle, particularly if the wine has not been filtered.

Microbiological deposits are generally wispy in appearance and don’t settle as well as protein and phenolic deposits.

Wines affected by microbial growth thus generally have a high turbidity. Microbiological deposits tend to be creamy white in colour and can be accompanied by fizz, spritz or excess pressure in the wine.

As wine yeast and bacteria are quite small, a microscope is needed to identify them definitively.

As an alternative, there are some rapid test kits available to determine if for example there are viable Brettanomyces cells present, but ideally if a wine is suspected of being affected by a microbial deposit, it should tested for the presence of viable cells by plating.

September 2015 – Issue 620

STEP 4 – FLAME TEST FOR CRYSTALLINE DEPOSITS The most common crystalline deposits found in wine are calcium tartrate and potassium bitartrate and the easiest way to distinguish between the two is to use a flame test. If a deposit looks crystalline and dissolves in hot water, place a small piece on a spatula or spoon and hold it in a low gas flame. Calcium tartrate burns with a red flame and leaves behind a white fluffy residue. Potassium bitartrate burns with a violet/purple flame and leaves behind a black tarry residue. For wines affected by crystalline deposits, it’s a good idea to test the cold stability.

STEP 5 – OTHER POSSIBILITIES If the tests described above are inconclusive, the unidentified haze or deposit could be one of the other materials seen occasionally in wines, such as diatomaceous earth, filter fibres, rubber or pieces of material from the bottling line. If in doubt, samples can always be sent to the helpdesk for confirmation or definitive identification. The helpdesk lab has a high quality microscope and a library of spectral fingerprints of the materials found in wines during the last 20 years of investigations.

For more information about haze and deposit identification or other technical issues, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on helpdesk@awri.com.au or 08 8313 6600.

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sales & marketing Which wines will China be drinking in 10 years?

Bottling Technology

Dong Li is a senior editor and columnist for Taste Spirit in America. He holds an MBA and has completed advanced training from the International Sommelier Guild. In this article he looks at Chinese cuisine as potential predictors of which wine styles might be accepted as the Chinese palate for wine develops. This article first appeared in Wines & Vines in the US, and is republished here with permission.

THERE IS a saying that suggests, “you can’t sell a ice to an Eskimo”.

Unfortunately, many wine importers find themselves in similar situations in China’s wine market, where there is no historical culture of wine consumption across thousands of years, and 70 per cent of the Chinese population has minimal or no wine knowledge.

Most attempts to decode China’s wine market focus on socio-economic factors such as GDP and disposable income, given that ‘price and label’ are still the most predominant purchasing triggers.

Yet the evolution from ‘price and label’ to ‘quality and taste’ is happening, accelerated by many factors including thriving wine education institutes and the Chinese government’s anti-corruption movement.

A crystal ball that can forecast which Australian wine is going to win over the Chinese wine market during the next 10 years does exist: It is Chinese wine lover’s palate.

One of the best ways to understand the Chinese consumer’s palate is through the country’s varied cuisines. Eight regional cuisines have been recognised: Lu (Shandong), Chuan (Sichuan), Hui (Anhui), Yue (Guangdong), Min (Fujian), Xiang (Hunan), Su (Jiangsu) and Zhe (Zhejiang).

These styles differ from one another due to factors such as available resources, climate, geography, history, cooking techniques and lifestyles. With billions of people from the countryside of China moving to the cities, and western cuisines gaining popularity, the fate of Australian wines in the Chinese market will largely depend on understanding the Chinese wine lover’s palate and its evolution over time.

The fate of Australian wines in the Chinese market will largely depend on understanding the Chinese wine lover’s palate and its evolution over time.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Chinese Cuisine By Region Lu (Shandong)

Min (Fujian)

Shandong cuisine is characterised by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. This is the top region for alcohol consumption in China, so a rich-flavoured, full-bodied, tannic wines should be able to gain some traction in this area.

This cuisine is known to be light but flavourful, soft and tender, with particular emphasis on umami taste. Rhône varietals would pair well with this cuisine since their tannins are moderate enough that they don’t taste bitter with flavours that are sweet, sour or salty, yet they retain enough tannins to stand up to meat.

Chuan (Sichuan) Arguably the most well-known Chinese cuisine in the world, Sichuan (Szechuan) cuisine is in fact a product of globalisation. Peppercorns that were brought to China from the Americas in the 18th century, largely determined Sichuan cuisine’s distinctively spicy taste. Both off-dry white wines or peppery reds could find a market here, depending on whether people like to offset or intensify the heat on the palate.

Yue (Guangdong) The Cantonese are well known for consuming almost anything that moves. This versatile attitude toward food makes Guangdong cuisine one of the easiest Chinese cuisines to pair with wine. Riesling, with its broad spectrum of styles from bone dry to super sweet, could be a good match for many Guangdong dishes.

Su (Jiangsu) and Zhe (Zhejiang) Referred to as the ‘land of fish and rice’ (synonymous with the western ‘milk and honey’), these two cuisines have many similarities: Both are almost never spicy in contrast to Sichuan or Hunan cuisine, and they’re usually more meticulous and light compared to the hearty cuisine of north China. This is the land of delicacy for both cuisine and palate, which calls for delicate wines such as Pinot Noir.

Xiang (Hunan) Similar to Sichuan cuisine, the Hunan style of cooking is also well known for its hot, spicy flavour, fresh aroma and deep colour. Sweet, fragrant white wines such as Viognier would match well with the spicy and sour flavour of this cuisine.

Anhui (Hui) Anhui cuisine can be quite salty and hearty due to its heavy use of soy sauce. A full-bodied, mature, fruity red wine would do well in this region.

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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sales & marketing

Cellar doors hold selling power for wine brands and regions NEW RESEARCH has shown that a visit to a winery’s cellar door has a lasting effect on consumer behaviour, influencing their buying habits for months afterwards.

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute tracked behaviour of more than 3300 visitors to 79 cellar doors across Australia over a six-month period. The results reveal the power of the cellar door in promoting a winery or region’s brand.

During the six-month period after a cellar door visit, the buyer group (54% of visitors) bought an average of 9.1 bottles of the winery’s wine, and the likelihood of making future purchase is 47% on average.

Most importantly, 16% of cellar door visitors who had never bought the brand before began buying it after a visit - this gain can be directly attributed to the cellar door visit and experience.

Reasons for not buying wine include already having a stock at home (25%), preference for other wine brands or styles

90 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The cellar door does something quite special, it can give the brand a good story if those who visit and taste the wine have had a good, authentic, and memorable experience. People who visit a cellar door also become more educated about the wine region and this increases the consumption of wines of that origin.

(20%), and non-availability of the wines at their usual retail outlet (15%).

After a cellar door visit, most wines are bought from large liquor chain stores (33%), but visitors also revisit cellar doors and buy wine (23%). The cellar door channel (including mail order and wine clubs) made up 31% of wine purchases.

Members of wine clubs buy 2.5 times more wine than non-members - about 15% of visitors to a cellar door were members of its wine club. By the time six

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months had passed, 47% of visitors had consumed all the wine they bought at the cellar door. 68% consumed it at home.

A cellar door visit also changes patterns of wine consumption in consumers, encouraging consumption of higher quality and more expensive wines.

Consumers were more likely to consume wine from the visited region, and their general consumption rose significantly.

The power of word-of-mouth is also increased by a positive visit to a cellar

September 2015 – Issue 620

door. 83% of consumers who visited a cellar door recommended a visit to friends, family or work colleagues within three months of visiting, an average of 3.4 times.

Lead researcher Professor Johan Bruwer from the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute said that the research shows a cellar door visit has a much wider impact beyond simply counter sales on the day.

“The question is how powerful is the effect of awareness, tasting, and overall experience at a cellar door in influencing future purchase behaviour of that brand.

This project provides a measure of that impact across a significant period of time after that visit,” Professor Bruwer says.

“The cellar door does something quite special, it can give the brand a good story if those who visit and taste the wine have had a good, authentic, and memorable experience. People who visit a cellar door also become more educated about the wine region and this increases the consumption of wines of that origin.”

The full research report is available online, from Wine Australia’s ‘research and development’ website www.research.agwa.net.au.

The Lake Breeze cellar door during August’s Langhorne Creek Cellar Treasures weekend.

Bottling Line Solutions Bottle National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550

September 2015 – Issue 620

Label

Pack

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sales & marketing

The Archibald Project ARCHIBALD IS THE nickname given to Archie Fragos by his parents Michael and Marianne. Of Greek heritage, the Labelling & name delighted all of the relatives as they Packaging expected Archie must have been inspired

by Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς), the Greek hero from the Trojan War. “No,” laughs Marianne, “Archie was named after Archibald, a character from Monarch of the Glen, a daggy English TV series.”

In February 2015, Michael and Marianne received the terrible news that Archie had been diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small-Round-Cell Tumor. The shock had barely sunk in when the Fragos family galvanized behind Archie and went about seeking the best treatment possible.

Archie has one thing in common with his namesake Achilles: this is a battle and he is fighting it like a superhero.

THE WINE The Archibald is the brainchild of the team from Chapel Hill Winery. Many ideas went into the hat about how they could help but the one that made most sense was producing a wine. After all, it is what they do best.

Winemaker Bryn Richards made seven phone calls to seven local winemakers. Result: seven barrels of the best of their 2014 vintage were promised to the blend. The Archibald was beginning to take shape.

The next step was to bring these winemakers together with their samples to blend The Archibald. Tom, Liam, Charlie, Matt, Paul, Bryn and Bodhi locked themselves in the Chapel and put together a blend of Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre with a twist of Tempranillo. Success. Satisfied with their efforts, lunch was then consumed with gusto.

THE LABEL AND BOTTLE The name, The Archibald, provided a great story for the design team from Woodscannon, Aaron and Amanda, to design a label for this beautiful wine. Both have a personal connection

to the family and jumped at the chance to donate their time to this project.

Like most kids, the Fragos children love a bit of art and craft, the perfect link to the artistic connotation of the name. A colour palette was selected and one rainy day in May all three kids sat down at the dinner table to work on their masterpieces.

These art works have been converted into contemporary and stylish label sets which have been printed by Bruce and the team at Studio Labels. Just another company who didn’t hesitate to help out when asked.

The last step to this puzzle was getting this wine to bottle.

Maria and Vince from Serafino Wines were next to put their hands up donating the bottling at their McLaren Vale bottling line.

Numerous individuals have contributed their time and talents to help Archie’s fight. You can help today by visiting our online store and making a donation, or by purchasing our wine.

All proceeds are dedicated to aiding The Archibald Project.

For more information, visit www.thearchibald.com.au (Editor’s note: There were 300 dozen bottles of The Archibald made. The first week they went on sale 200 dozen were snapped up. There might be a couple bottles left by the time you read this, but you will need to put in an order ASAP.)

Top Solutions

National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550

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September 2015 – Issue 620

business & technology The cycle of the ‘boys club’ JOE IS YOUR FAVOURITE employee.

He drinks the same beer as you, makes you cry with laughter and you even rock up in the same clothes sometimes.

All that aside, Joe is a fantastic worker who sits proudly at your right hand. But there’s a problem, Joe is so good at his job, you’ve decided to promote him. A great move for the company, but one that leaves you with a gap to fill.

You go through the motions, meticulously follow Grapegrower & Winemaker’s top tips for writing a job profile (see the January edition, issue 612) and land some top-notch applicants.

Enter Susan and Simon. They’re both 41-years-old, hold the same university degree and have equal experience in the industry. You interview both candidates and decide that Simon is the stronger choice. A verdict based on nothing other than a ‘what’s best for the company’ attitude, right? Well, no actually. There’s a good chance you chose Simon because he’s a man, like you.

A study by recruiting agency Hays in conjunction with diversity and employee specialists InSync Surveys, asked 515 hiring managers to review the CV of Susan, while another 514 looked at Simon’s CV. The resumes were identical but for one notable change – the name.

The results? Male hiring managers prefer male applicants. And although female hiring managers generally prefer females, when it comes to making the final hiring decision, it’s more likely a man will get the job.

Jeremy Galbreath from the Curtain University School of Business has been conducting his own research into the roles of women in the wine industry.

Although female enrolments in oenology across Australia have been on the rise, their advancement from campus to chief remained relatively

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slow. According to Galbreath’s study, the average percentage of women in the CEO role was 13 per cent; in the winemaker role nine per cent; in the viticulturist role 10 per cent and in the marketer role 54 per cent.

“I studied women in CEO, winemaker, viticulturist and marketer roles across all wine companies in Australia from 2007- 2014,” Galbreath reported. “The findings suggest larger companies have less representation of women in the top roles, the only exception being the winemaker role. Companies with strong environmental sustainability credentials tend to have more women in top CEO and marketer roles. Lastly, companies with high export orientations reduce the likelihood of women representation in the top roles.”

Galbreath’s study has also found when women do reach the top, it’s a ‘boys club’.

“Interviewing 16 women working in one of the largest wine producers in Australia, they find that within the corporation, a male-dominated hierarchy exists, particularly in upper-level positions,” Galbreath reported.

The interviewees from the wine producer felt within the organisation, the ideal worker was ‘masculine’ as men had the ideal ‘labouring body’.

“This includes the need to work long hours, to demonstrate commitment to the organisation ahead of social or family responsibilities, cultural norms such as golf days and watching AFL, and required physical strength for heavy

lifting and using machinery.”

This led researchers to conclude that the majority of roles were occupied by men because they were shaped by assumptions about gender that give men an edge over women.

“Masculine benchmarks for skills and experience to achieve promotion into higher levels requires women to ‘match’ their careers to those of men to be competitive, and masculine culture, norms and value practices were embedded in the everyday practices and processes of the organisation,” Galbreath reported.

Nick Deligiannis, Hays in Australia & New Zealand managing director, said if men continued to fill top roles, it would remain difficult for women to get ahead.

“When the majority of executive positions are currently held by men, affinity bias is an obvious barrier in women’s ability to achieve such positions in equal numbers to men. It affects our perceptions and makes a difference when we’re rating candidates.”

Nicholas Barnett, Insync Surveys’ chief executive officer said affinity bias was a desire to be part of the ‘in-crowd’ and involved being surrounded by colleagues who “make you feel comfortable because they are like you”.

“Unfortunately in a male dominated environment women with similar skills have to earn respect before it’s given.”

Barnett said hiring managers need to be aware of the unintentional inclination, and take another look at ‘Susan’s’ qualifications.

“In a hiring sense, the affinity bias revealed in our Hays/Insync Surveys study means that males will continue to hire more males than females unless those hiring understand the unconscious biases they hold and implement strategies to overcome them.”

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September 2015 – Issue 620

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business & technology

Leading wine educator Education

Hayley Young, who completed EIT’s Graduate Diploma in Oenology, has created her own wine brand and project manages for an engineering company designing and building wineries on both sides of the Tasman Sea.

AT THE HEART of a region renowned for the diversity and quality of its wine styles, Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) offers New Zealand’s widest range of viticulture and wine science programs.

Highly qualified lecturers with industry experience teach programs that range from certificates through to diplomas, bachelor degrees and graduatelevel qualifications and encompass grapegrowing, winemaking, wine

business and wine marketing.

Programs are designed to be flexible, providing a variety of study options, both full and part-time, February and July starts and on-campus and distance online learning supported by residential schools held in Hawke’s Bay. The wide range of programs enables graduates to progress to higher-level qualifications.

The Bachelor of Viticulture and Bachelor of Wine Science degrees can be

studied simultaneously and completed within four years.

EIT works closely with the Hawke’s Bay wine industry to provide students with opportunities to gain handson experience working in wineries and vineyards in an area described by leading wine writer Michael Cooper as “the aristocrat” of New Zealand’s wine regions.

EIT also offers its Certificate in Grapegrowing and Winemaking at its Tairawhiti campus in Gisborne, which operates a 1.6ha vineyard and winery producing wines under the Cognoscenti wine label.

As Paul Robinson, a Bachelor of Viticulture and Bachelor of Wine Science graduate and 2014’s New Zealand Viticulturist of the Year winner, points out: “The fact that EIT graduates have won the New Zealand Viticulturist of the Year for the last three years shows the quality of the graduates, lecturers and the systems EIT has in place.”

EIT graduates are also top performers in the inaugural New Zealand’s Young Winemaker of the Year competition.

Lauren Swift, who completed EIT’s Bachelor of Wine Science and Diploma of Wine Marketing, is Hawke’s Bay’s representative in the nationwide event and Marlborough’s winner, Abigail Maxwell of Babich Wines, is also an EIT Bachelor of Wine Science graduate.

For more information about programs visit www.eit.edu.au.

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EASTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 94 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Entries open for the school competition at 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show

A NEW FEATURE at the 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show will be a competition for high schools from around the country with winemaking programs.

“This is a major new initiative for the Australian Small Winemakers Show and is our way of supporting the next generation of winemakers entering the industry,” said John Lucas, ASWS president.

“Eight Queensland high schools that are part of the Gateway Schools program have winemaking courses and we are encouraging schools from other states to rise to the challenge and take on the locals.”

Two classes will be open to high school wine producers at the 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show – one white wine (class 22) and one red wine (class 65).

Michael Britten, the chief steward, foreshadowed introducing more classes for student winemakers in the future as

entries increase.

“Hopefully as entries increase in future years we may even introduce a competition between states,” said Britten.

A trophy for ‘champion school exhibitor of show’ and the associated bragging rights is up for grabs. The trophy is sponsored by Winetitles and the winning school will receive a 12 month subscription to Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker plus a copy of the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory.

More information about the student classes can be found in the show schedule now available on the show website.

“The school competition is a terrific opportunity for student winemakers to have their wines reviewed by experienced judges and current winemakers,” said John.

The Australian Small Winemakers Show is open to wineries crushing less than 500 tonne in any one year and attracts entries from wineries across

Australia and New Zealand.

“The ASWS is the premier event for small wine producers to benchmark their wines and achieve important accolades through medals and trophies at this national wine show,” said John.

The show is held in Stanthorpe, Queensland, and is run by a dedicated group of volunteers. It was originally established in 1987 by the wine sub-committee of the Stanthorpe Agricultural Society and has grown to be the most prestigious wine show for small winemakers in Australia and New Zealand and one of the fastest growing shows on the annual wine circuit.

Entries now open for the student and open/general classes in the 2015 Australian Small Winemakers Show and an entry form is available www.asws.com. au or can be obtained by phoning Paul on 07 4681 4483. Entry fee is $45 each or just $20 per entry for the student classes.

Entries close Tuesday 6 October.

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calendar

looking back We step back in time to see what was happening through the pages of Grapegrower and Winemaker this month 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

September 1985 Recent publicity concerning illegal additives, such as the anti-freeze agent diethylene glycol, to Austrian and some German wines has wrongly and unfairly reflected on the wines of two of Germany’s most respected and quality conscious wine producers. Both Dienhard & co. and Henkell & co. have provided health authorities with independent laboratory analysis of all their wines sold in Australia which prove conclusively they contain no illegal substances.

September 1995 Neil and Lorraine Ashmead, of Elderton Wines, in the Barossa Valley, have expressed their disapproval at the local trade of unbranded wines. Whist always denying the occasional request to supply unlabelled wines, known to the trade as ‘cleanskins’, the Ashmead’s believe their attitude and that of like-minded winemakers has “in no way diminished the volume of unlabelled, effectively orphaned wine rumbling around in the market”.

September 2005 Australian winemakers must be prepared, more than ever before, to visit their markets frequently, deepen relationships with distributors and communicate with trade face-to-face. This was a key message at the Forth ANZ Australian Wine Marketing Conference, themed ‘Route to Market’, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre last month. The good news is that opportunities still exit in all markets, including our favourites the UK and US, but “more and better marketing” is required.

Australia & New Zealand September 15 Samuel Smith & Son - Negociants Australia New Release Tastings 2015 Sydney, NSW. www.negociantsaustralia.com 16 Samuel Smith & Son - Negociants Australia New Release Tastings 2015 Melbourne, VIC. www.negociantsaustralia.com 17-22 (JD) Australian Fortified Wine Show Rutherglen, VIC. www.rutherglenwineshow.com.au

21-25 (JD) Australian Cool Climate Wine Show Murrumbateman (Canberra Region), NSW. www.murrumbateman.org.au 21-25 (JD) Canberra and Region Wine Show Canberra, ACT. www.rncas.org.au/rws 22-24 Henty Machinery Field Days Henty, NSW. www.hmfd.com.au

17-22 (JD) Rutherglen Wine Show Rutherglen, VIC. www.rutherglenwineshow.com.au

23-24 (JD) Geographe Wine Show 2015 Bunbury, WA. www.geographewineshow.com

17 Samuel Smith & Son - Negociants Australia New Release Tastings 2015 Adelaide, SA. www.negociantsaustralia.com

26 Go Grazing Mudgee, NSW. www.mudgeewine.com.au

18-19 Riverland Field Days Riverland, SA. www.riverlandfielddays.com.au 20-23 Fine Food Australia Sydney, NSW. www.finefoodaustralia.com.au

27-30 (JD) ADELAIDE 2015 Royal Adelaide Wine Show-Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA Wayville, SA. www.thewineshow.com.au

October 3-5 (JD) Australian Inland Wine Show Swan Hill, VIC. www.inlandwine.com 3 Pizzini Presents Sangiovese King Valley, VIC. www.pizzini.com.au 3-4 Tradies Murrumbateman Moving Feast Murrumbateman, NSW. www.makersofmurrumbateman.org.au

6-9 (JD) Qantas Wine Show of Western Australia, Mount Barker, WA. www.wineshowwa.com.au 6-8 (JD) The Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge, Nagambie, VIC. www.shirazchallenge.com.au

5-9 (JD) 2015 Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, Ascot Vale, VIC. www.rasv.com.au/wine

International September 15-17 Cape Wine 2015 Cape Town, South Africa. www.wosa.co.za

17-19 BioFach America 2015 Baltimore, USA. www.biofach-america.com

October 9-18 Bern Wine Fair Bern, Switzerland. www.bernerweinmesse.ch

13-16 VITeff Epernay, France. www.viteff.com

10-14 Anuga 2015 Cologne, Germany. www.anuga.com

JD = judging date CD= closing date

For a comprehensive list of events, visit www.winetitles.com.au/calendar

96 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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September 2015 – Issue 620

producer spotlight

Producer Profile Corrina Wright Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards 246 Seaview Road, McLaren Vale Vineyard/Winery Size: 100Ha vineyard; 150t crushed; approximately 10 employees.

Tell us more about the family vineyards and the Oliver’s Taranga wine brand: Our family have been farming the same land for 6 generations, since 1841. We have always had vines, but were primarily a mixed farm until the mid 1980’s when we concentrated on vines exclusively. We started our own wine brand in 1994, as I decided to do winemaking at uni, and we wanted to see what we could do with our own fruit. We still sell 70% of our grapes to numerous other customers, and the Oliver’s Taranga brand is completely estate grown. Oliver is my family name, and Taranga is the name of the property- taken from the Kaurna ‘Tarangak’ meaning ‘the middle’. At the time the property was established there was really only Adelaide & Victor Harbour, and our place is 50kms from each, in the middle as such!

Tell us more about your career: Grew up on and around vineyards (mum’s side of the family) and my dad was also in the management side of the wine industry. He worked at Pirramimma, the old Southern Vales Co-op and was general manager at Kay Brothers for 28 years. I worked in the vineyard and at various cellar doors (Kay Brothers, Tatachilla) for most of my life, then got a role as Grower Liaison for the old Southcorp each vintage and I began studying Oenology at Adelaide/Roseworthy/Waite in 1994. Then received a scholarship to complete my degree at the University of California- Davis, and lived over there for a couple of years.

Came back to a graduate winemaking role with Southcorp, and travelled around a number of sites, before settling at Karadoc in Mildura working on the Lindeman’s wines. All the while, I was popping back and forwards to McLaren Vale making the tiny batches of wine under the Oliver’s Taranga label. Then eventually moved back to the Vale working at the Rosemount McLaren Vale winery post takeovers, and left just after the Fosters takeover to work at Oliver’s Taranga full time. We renovated the old workers cottage in 2007, and we had a cellar door home! I have been lucky enough to attend the Len Evans Tutorial in 2005, and was part of the inaugural intake of the Wine Industry Future leaders program. Judge at numerous wine shows around Aust and internationally, and have served/ currently serving on many industry boards over the years including the ASVO, MVGWTA, WFA, SAWIC, etc.

September 2015 – Issue 620

What have been your biggest achievements: Opening the cellar door. Having children and still having a career. Buying my mum’s part of the vineyard and achieving Grange with our Shiraz four out of six years (so far!) Taking more ownership of the Oliver’s Taranga business with my cousin Brioni and learning to be a business woman and not just a winemaker. Winning the AAVWS White wine of show with our 2014 Fiano.

What are the current challenges you are facing: Cash flow, reliance on the majors, accessing export opportunities, the fact that we are not a FMCG, but some of our customers expect us to be, the large investment (in time and cash) required to bring red wines to the market, government uncertainty with WET tax, growing our direct to consumer lines, increasing tourism in McLaren Vale, growing the pie so that our slice grows, water/weather events, Succession planning & shock proofing the business.

Where do you go for support on these issues: WFA, SAWIA, AGWA, Wine Australia, EMDG grants, banks (!!!), do a rain dance every now and then, FBA, other mentors, industry publications, the socials, Industry Leaders Fund Grant, Leadership 21 by Mt Eliza Business School, independent chair and members on our board.

How important is the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine a source of information: Always important to catch up with what is happening out there in industry and research land. I can remember them being in the loo at my grandpas & uncles for many years- must have been the spot where they could take their time and savour the reading from cover to cover! You could say the Grapegrower & Winemaker has nourished a number of generations of my family!

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September 2015 – Issue 620

Buying or Selling - Check out the industry site

www.winetitlesclassifieds.com.au FREE POSTING & SEARCH FOR

Grapes & Bulk Wine Used Barrels Used Equipment Real Estate Services & Supplies Looking for the right person for the job?

THE LEADING ONLINE WINE INDUSTRY JOB SITE All ads posted on Twitter for maximum exposure @WTclassies, @GlobalWineJobs

Post your classified listings on the leading website for the wine industry T: +618 8369 9500 F: +618 8369 9501 E: classifieds@winetitles.com.au W: www.winetitles.com.au