Grapegrower & Winemaker - Issue 650 -March 2018

MARCH 2018

Energy efficiency: Alternative options for wineries Grower round table:

What works best for managing post-harvest vines?

Industry speaks out on national alcohol plan

NOW BROUGHT TO YOU BY KUBOTA. ROM LE F B A IL AVA

to 1.5m7m 4.5

UP TO 5 YEARS’ FINANCE AT Great Plains Min-Till and No-Till Compact Drills are the most dependable seed delivery system for the small application market — be it vineyards or pasture renovation. Available in sizes to suit every situation, the range features a unique double disc opener system and a high coulter pressure of up to 203kg. Take advantage of this incredible finance offer across the Great Plains range.

ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS RANGE UNTIL 30 APRIL 2018

To see the full range go to greatplainsaustralia.com.au

*Offer is only available for ABN holders who are using the equipment predominantly for business purposes. 0.9% p.a. finance rate, no repayments for the first 6 months then monthly repayments. Maximum term 60 months, a minimum of 20% deposit, minimum financed amount of $4,000 and no residual payments. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and credit criteria apply. However, some fees may become payable depending on how the loan is conducted. Credit provided by Kubota Australia Pty Ltd ABN 72005300621, Australian Credit Licence Number 442007.

The offer expires on 30 April 2018, with finance application submitted by 31 May 2018. Machine installation no later than 30/11/18.

9090XD 9090XD Side SideConveyor ConveyorSystem System

9090XA 9090XAO 9090XAO The “Opti-Grape”Destemmer DestemmerSystem System The 2-Bin Destemmer System “Opti-Grape”

UpUptoto60-tonnes 60-tonnesper perHa Ha with withany anylength lengthrows. rows.

[MOG [MOGsample: sample:0-1] 0-1]

Up Up to to 20-tonnes per Ha Shorter Shorter Rows Bin Bin Capacity Capacity - 3.22m3 MOG MOG sample: sample: 0]

Uptoto8-tonnes 8-tonnesper perHa Ha Up ShorterRows Rows Shorter BinCapacity Capacity- -3.2m3 3.2m3 Bin SortingSetting: Setting:Infinite Infinite Sorting

Contents March 2018

Issue 650

MARCH 2018

Energy efficiency: Alternative options for wineries Grower round table:

What works best for managing post-harvest vines?

Industry speaks out on national alcohol plan

The cover Yalumba’s Angaston winery in South Australia.

Installation of solar panels has helped the facility reduce energy usage and costs. See more from page 46

Features 20

Tips for managing post-harvest vines

43 How to reduce power costs for wineries 49 Mixing it up: Co-fermentation and field blending

News 5

From the editor

8

My view: WISA’s Matthew Moate

10

New campaign for Australian wine tourism

15

International briefs

16

Movers & Shakers

18

On the Grapevine

23 Winemaking 46 Sourcing power through solar

Regulars

52

Some good news about water and wine

6

What’s online

6

Say that again

Draft alcohol strategy ‘falling short’: Comment by WFA’s Tony Battaglene

7

Winetitles Insights

34

Ask the AWRI

38

Vinehealth Australia

58

Testing Times

81

Looking back

54

Grapegrowing 23 27

To be or not to be… certified organics After hours irrigation to lower vineyard temps

30 Seasonal events test German cool climate Riesling growers

56

Young Gun: Rudimentary Wines’ David McKenna

Business & Technology 66 Registration rights for exporters to the UK and Europe 69

Equipping winemakers with the tools of success: gas management and membrane technology

72

Capping it all off: corks and capsules

81 Calendar 82

Marketplace classifieds

Sales & Marketing

49 4 Grapegrower & Winemaker

74

Customer numbers add up to profit: sales figures for cellar doors

76

Is a redesign needed for your wine brand? www.winetitles.com.au

66 March 2018 – Issue 650

From the Editor Publisher And Chief Executive Hartley Higgins General Manager Joanne Oertel Editor Hans Mick editor@grapeandwine.com.au

Hans Mick Editor It’s the time of the year when most people in the grape and wine sector are at their very busiest. Pickers are out in force in vineyards to harvest what promises to be abundant Vintage 2018 yields in many areas. Harvest started early this season in a number of regions: mild conditions in WA brought forward picking by several weeks, while continuing dry conditions in New South Wales resulted in the earliest start to harvesting in decades in the Hunter Valley and elsewhere. In western Victoria, warmer temperatures also compressed vintage, but early indicators point to no loss in grape quality, which is encouraging news for those growers affected by late frosts at the end of 2017.

An early harvest signalled good news for winegrape producers at Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand, who welcomed the positive impact of hot and humid conditions on their fruit.

In this March edition of Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, we look ahead in the vineyard, by asking some of Australia’s leading viticulturists about what works well for them when it comes to managing their vines postharvest. Our round table discussion – involving Gina Knight, Liz Riley, Hannah McKay and Jenny Venus – identifies some of the successful practices used in relation to irrigation, fungicide, nutrition and more. Also, two prominent growers reveal how they’ve successfully made the switch to organic practices, and offer tips for those considering following their lead. We ask if night time irrigation could be a solution for lowering vineyard temperatures during heatwaves. We learn about the experiences of cool climate Riesling growers in Germany who are dealing with shifting and warmer seasonal temperatures, and find out if there are lessons that can be applied here.

March 2018 – Issue 650

There’s also a hectic pace right now for wineries, with preparations underway to ensure the coming winemaking processes run smoothly. In this issue, we examine some important topics for winemakers to consider. Paul Le Lacheur speaks to fellow wine producers to ask them about their innovative blending practices; he finds that some positive results are the result of adjusting co-fermentation and field blending techniques. For wineries wanting to escape soaring power costs, a number of alternative options are presented in our special energy feature.

We take a closer look at one success story: Yalumba’s Angaston management team reveal how solar systems have improved their winery’s operations.

This edition also features commentary from Winemakers’ Federation of Australia chief executive, Tony Battaglene. He raises concerns over what could emerge as a serious impediment to the progress of the industry as a whole. Australian governments – federal, state and territory – are considering a proposal for a National Alcohol Strategy to tackle harmful consumption. But with WFA concerned that industry has been excluded as a stakeholder in the process, members of the sector are being urged to look further into what the implications of the proposed changes could be.

And there’s still more inside this issue: post-Brexit trade mark rights for wine exporters to the UK and Europe; the latest gas management and membrane technology; what’s next for corks and capsules; and, the importance of constant wine brand evolution.

Enjoy the read!

Editorial advisory board Denis Gastin, Dr Steve Goodman, Dr Terry Lee, Paul van der Lee, Bob Campbell MW, Prof Dennis Taylor, Mary Retallack and Corrina Wright Editorial Chloe Szentpeteri journalist@winetitles.com.au Advertising Sales Suzanne Phosuwan sales@grapeandwine.com.au Production Luke Westle Circulation: Brooke Bradshaw subs@winetitles.com.au Winetitles Media ABN 85 085 551 980 630 Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083 Phone: (08) 8369 9500 Fax: (08) 8369 9501 info@winetitles.com.au www.winetitles.com.au @Grape_and_Wine Printing by Lane Print Group, Adelaide © Contents copyright Winetitles Media 2017.

All Rights Reserved.

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

Cover price $8.25 (inc. GST) Subscription Prices Australia: 1 year (12 issues) $79.95 (inc. GST) 2 years (24 issues) $150 (inc. GST) New Zealand, Asia & Pacific: 1 year (12 issues) $114 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $217 (AUD) All other countries: 1 year (12 issues) $190 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $349 (AUD) Students (Aus only): 1 year (12 issues) $66 (inc. GST)

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

5

what’s ONLINE New protocols for Tasmanian wine grape harvests

Protocols have been put in place to ensure vineyards in the North and NorthWest fruit fly control zone of Tasmania can still harvest their grapes and make wine. In February, the control area for fruit fly was extended to the East across the Tamar River, affecting some of the Tamar Valley Wine Route. Biosecurity Tasmania said wine grapes will now need to be transported in clean containers and processed within 24 hours. After this process containers need to be washed with a steam cleaner or high pressure water before they leave the winery.

Source, The Advocate.

NSW wineries to exhibit at leading Asian trade fair Nine wineries from New South Whales’ Orange region have been selected to showcase their best wines at the Vinexpo wine trade fair in Hong Kong from May 29th to the 31st. Philip Shaw Wines, Ross Hill Wines, Angullong Wines, See Saw Wines, Printhie Wines, Rowlee Wines, Logan Wines, Gordon Hills Estate Wines and Stockman’s Ridge Wines have been invited to represent Orange. Orange region vignerons association president and owner of See Saw Wines, Justin Jarret, said although the Asian market will be dominated by red wines, Orange winemakers will be primarily showcasing Chardonnay, Pinot and Shiraz. Source, Central Western Daily.

Orora sees growth through wine exports to China

One of the country’s largest packaging companies is facing a soaring demand for wine bottles, and could soon be manufacturing a billion glass bottles a year, amid a surge in Australian wine exports to China. The ASX-listed Orora Group revealed its Australasia business had delivered an 11 per cent rise in earnings to $121 million in the six months to December, partly attributed to large growth in bottled wine exports. Source, The Sydney Morning Herald.

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

Say that again “Currently we have very dry conditions and ideally post-harvest irrigation would be going out. We are going to have a 12-16 week post-harvest period so it would be good to both retain the current canopy but to also push some fresh leaf to generate some additional carbohydrate reserves to rebuild the vines after the tough season.”

Liz Riley, page 20

“For countless decades of wine production, the ancient Devonian slate terraces that border latitude 50° North have been regarded as the northernmost extremity of viable, cool climate viticulture in Europe.”

Mark Smith, page 29

“Understand your energy use onsite and run your refrigerator off-peak as much as you can. To do that, effectively get rid of human error by putting an automated system on it and set it up like that.”

James McIntyre, page 43

“The message from this little story is, if you have a problem wine, don’t ignore it and hope it goes away.

Get advice on the available options and make some moves to resolve it, as our client finally did.”

Greg Howell, page 56

“Australian winemakers who hold EU trade marks, or apply for them between now and the withdrawal date should feel reasonably comforted that these arrangements will be in place on the withdrawal date, such that they will continue to have registered rights enforceable in both Europe and the UK.” Mark Hamilton, page 65

“Having the shorter lee times and being local we can accommodate it quickly and we’re able to have customers come to site, do their colour matches, press checks and see the capsules actually being made.”

Brodie Atkinson, page 71

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Winetitles Insights Compiled from data supplied by Wine Australia and the Wine Industry Directory, our regular Winetitles Insights report features industry sales and production insights to keep growers and winemakers informed on the latest trends.

AUSTRALIAN WINE EXPORTS

Key performance indicators point to a positive outlook for the Australian wine sector:

Value of exports over time (A$ billion)

• The value of Australian wine exports increased for the fourth consecutive year and the growth rate accelerated in the last 12 months, up by 15 per cent to reach the highest level in a decade, The rate of growth in value was the highest since 2004

2.7 2.5 2.3

• The average price for bottled exports continued a long-term upward trend while for bulk wine increased to a five-year high due to tighter global supply

2.1 1.9 1.7

• There was strong growth in all export price points, from entrylevel/commercial wines through to Australia's finest wines

1.5

2012

2013

2014 2015 2016 12 months ended December

2017

Average value of exports (A$ per litre) 1.04

6.00

1.02

5.00

1.00

4.00

0.98

3.00

0.96

Bottled (RH-axis)

0.94 0.92

2012

2.00

Bulk (LH-axis)

2013 2014 2015 2016 12 months ended December

1.00 2017

0.00

• Export growth was strongest for premium wines reflecting increased demand for premium Australian wines in most regions around the world • In the domestic off-trade market, the growth rate in Australian wine sales accelerated in the last 12 months while for imported wines it slowed • In the domestic off-trade market, red wine sales are poised to overtake white wine sales, driven by strong growth in Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Chardonnay is making a comeback, recording close to double-digit growth at $20 or more per bottle and outselling Sauvignon Blanc in this price point • China (including Hong Kong) is Australia's biggest export destination by value with exports closing in on A$1 billion at an average bottled value of A$7.74 per litre • In the last five years, exports to China have more than trebled

DOMESTIC MARKET Domestic off-trade market (A$ billion) 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

Domestic off-trade market by category (A$ billion) 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5

MAT To 8/1/17

os e

tif i Fo r

R

ed

e ha m pa gn

lin g

ed

C

Imported wine

Sp ar k

Australian wine

R

W hi

te

0.0

MAT To 8/1/17

MAT To 7/1/18

MAT To 7/1/18

AUSTRALIAN EXPORTS TO CHINA (INCLUDING HONG KONG) Value of exports over time (A$ million)

Average value of bottled exports (A$ per litre) 8.00

1,200 1,000

7.50

800

7.00

600 400

6.50

200 0

2012

2013 2014 2015 2016 12 months ended December

2017

6.00

2012

2013 2014 2015 2016 12 months ended December

2017

Sources: Wine Australia, IRI-Aztec

Wine Australia providing insights on Australian Wine March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

7

news

my view

Lessons from the USA Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc. (WISA) executive officer, Matthew Moate, recently travelled to California to experience first-hand the scale and strength of the US wine sector at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento. He lays out the lessons learnt from that event for the Australian industry as it stands ready to expand.

T

he Australian wine industry is back.

Over the past 18 months or more cautious optimism has turned to outright positivity for the industry with announcement after announcement of positive news. Increased value and volume from the vineyard, exports booming largely thanks to China and more investment in local winery production, tourism infrastructure and also by suppliers is all pointing to the signs of more good times to come.

From the supply side of the industry, technology keeps improving and new solutions are coming to the market at a rapid rate. The recent start-up category of the 2017 Wine Industry IMPACT Awards saw a dozen new solutions from across the value chain enter. This is another positive sign of opportunities to add greater capability and competitiveness to grape and wine producers.

Talking with suppliers, they are as positive as ever. As the market conditions have improved for their grape and wine producing customers more opportunities for collaboration and trials of new solutions become available. The relationship between the supply sector and their grape and wine producing customers is critical to harness, support and develop new solutions for the market to commercialise and

WISA shared a stand with AMS Filtration.

adopt. Both grape and wine producers and suppliers need each other more than ever to improve profitability and sustainability in a rapidly changing business landscape.

As part of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc. (WISA) commitment to industry, we recently attended the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento, California. To understand the size and scope of this event, you need to know that in the USA there are now over

Craig Erskine, technical director of AMS Filtration discussing new titanium membrane technology at Unified Wine and Grape Symposium.

8 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

9,600 wineries, up from approximately 7,000, in the past four years. The two-day exhibition attracted over 600 exhibiting suppliers and there are still around 200 on a three-year or more wait list. By 1pm on the first day of the show over 12,500 industry guests had filed through the doors.

There were a number of positives for this trip. Firstly, WISA member AMS Filtration was able to dip their toe in the market by sharing our stand and launching their new titanium membrane cross-flow filtration technology. The interest level on the stand was at times overwhelming, with large numbers of people wanting to learn more about the advantages of this new titanium solution that has already had a significant impact with the major producers in Australia.

Secondly, with the WineTech Trade Exhibition coming up in July 2019 it was perfect timing to speak with people on the ground in this market to understand firsthand opportunities from this event to improve our national exhibition. The first major step in creating the new collaborative agreement bringing together the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, WineTech and the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia Outlook Conference (along with the McWilliams Maurice O’Shea dinner) to enhance this event and outcomes were already announced in late 2017. The next step is to maximise this partnership.

March 2018 – Issue 650

The standout opportunity at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium I saw for continued improvement in our national event was the seamless integration between exhibitors and delegates via regional on floor wine tastings, food & beverage breaks scattered throughout the exhibition space, sponsored break out networking sessions and ability for exhibitors to attend content sessions throughout the event. These are all areas identified as important to both sides of the market through WISA trade event research conducted late in 2016.

Delegates and visitors want opportunities to be hands-on and engage and learn about new products and services and exhibitors need opportunities beyond their stand, to make connections and participate in knowledge sharing.

Attending the Unified event was also an opportunity to seek out new solutions, products and services in order to attract those suppliers to Australia to improve our industry’s capability and competitiveness.

The market is significantly larger in the USA and unlike our locally based suppliers, our US counterparts don’t need to necessarily be thinking about diversification into other agriculture, food and beverage or to be looking at international markets to ensure long term viability. Therefore, it is important for us to be speaking with

international suppliers to fly the flag for Australian grape and wine producers and to encourage them to enter our market with global leading proven solutions.

Overall, the experience was eye opening with the range of products and services available. Along with traditional grape and wine production equipment, there was a clear focus on environment, waste and

“So, where to from here? Expect the whole value chain to continue to become more advanced, data driven, smarter and automated. sustainability solutions. There was also an obvious IT and data driven component from the vineyard with a myriad of precision viticulture products and services, manufacturing, packaging and inventory control through to cellar door and direct to consumer products and services that provides grape and wine producers the real-time data to make decisions to build capability and competitiveness across the

value chain.

So, where to from here? Expect the whole value chain to continue to become more advanced, data driven, smarter and automated. Expect consumers to demand higher levels of tailored products and solutions that meet their needs, both in direct relation to the product of wine but also associated experiences and how it makes them feel.

As one of Australia’s largest value adding industries, wine can play a vital role in the transition to advanced manufacturing. It’s not just something for the ‘big boys’. Given 42% of the USA’s 9,600 wineries produce less than 1,000 cases a year, the solutions are targeted at being able to service and afford to add capability and competitiveness to this large SME market segment.

Now more than ever it is critical to know your business, its numbers; collect the data and use it to make informed decisions along with building meaningful relationships with suppliers, customers and consumers. Be willing to look at new opportunities, technologies, products and services to ensure you are delivering the highest possible value through your production and just as important offer flexible authentic consumer touch points and engagement to drive your brand loyalty.

Quality winemaking products...

WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED E.E. Muir & Sons Logo Colour Specification

Business Manager Damian Toon 0409 431 771

Technical Sales Manager Adam Daniels 0407 047 024

www.eem.com.au • qa@eem.com.au March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

PMS: CMYK: RGB: HTML:

293 100 - 68 - 0 - 2 0 - 70 - 173 0046AD

PMS: CMYK: RGB: HTML:

354 89 - 0 - 90 - 0 0 - 175 - 63 00AF3F

Grapegrower & Winemaker

9

news

New campaign for Australian wine tourism Wine Australia has partnered with Tourism Australia in a $36 million marketing campaign in the USA, aimed at boosting interest in Australia as a tourism destination.

The unique campaign, backed by $1.5 million from the federal Government’s $50 million export and regional wine support package, was officially unveiled with a new ad broadcast to a TV audience of more than 100 million people during the ‘Super Bowl’.

A key focus of the $50m package is to leverage and grow international tourism to create demand and build awareness for premium Australian wine.

Assistant minister for agriculture and water resources, Anne Ruston, said the new ad broadcast will further strengthen one of Australia’s most important industries.

“The Australian wine sector has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and the $50m package aims to build on this, with an ambitious agenda of targeted activities, including marketing

campaigns in the USA and China,” she said.

“At home, this investment will help to attract up to 40,000 additional international tourists to visit our worldrenowned wine regions by 2019–20, delivering an estimated $170 million to the economy.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the sector leverage these investments as our reputation for producing fine Australian wine continues to build,” Senator Ruston said.

Chief executive of Wine Australia, Andreas Clark, said this campaign was the perfect opportunity to work with Tourism Australia to promote Australia as a desired destination and to showcase world-class vineyards to a large and engaged audience.

“The exciting, one-off $50 million investment is an opportunity for the wine sector to maintain its competitive edge, thinking bigger, bolder and better than ever before.”

“The work with Tourism Australia is

an initiative to help achieve our tourism objective and drive visitors to Australian wine regions,” he said.

The investment by Wine Australia amplifies the promotion of Australian wine on the world stage and complements the targeted USA marketing campaigns being delivered.

For more information and to view the campaign visit www.australia.com

$11.1 million to support Australian vineyards Wine Australia and PIRSA’s South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) have signed a five year $11.1 million co-investment agreement.

Through a dedicated research and development program in disease management, vineyard resilience and clonal performance, the agreement will support the profitability of the Australian grape and wine sector.

Under the strategic partnership agreement, Wine Australia will contribute $6.5 million and SARDI $4.6 million over five years, allowing for longer-term strategic investments that will benefit levy payers and the whole Australian wine sector.

Key grape and wine sector priorities to be addressed under this agreement include: • developing new and improved management strategies to prevent and control grapevine trunk diseases • developing strategies to manage fungicide sprays in a way that minimises the development of resistant populations of fungi 10 Grapegrower & Winemaker

• developing innovative irrigation practices to overcome the difficulties in maintaining vine productivity under dry winter conditions • understanding the causes of vintage compression and developing vineyard management options that increase the proportion of fruit harvested at optimal maturity • establishing Cabernet Sauvignon trials for future evaluation of clonal response to climate and management • maintaining germplasm collection to support national viticulture projects.

Wine Australia chief executive, Andreas Clark, said the agreement with SARDI reflects the high level of strategic alignment between sector priorities and SARDI’s Strategic Plan to support the profitability of Australia’s grape and wine community.

“Through this agreement, Australia’s growers and winemakers will benefit from more sustainable management of pests and diseases, and an excellent www.winetitles.com.au

Australianspecific range of practical vineyard management pr ac t ic es to m inim ise t he impact of climate change,” he said.

“It will also maintain capacity for biosecurit y and future proof Australia’s grapevine germplasm collection.”

This agreement is the third in a series of bilateral partnerships between Wine Australia and major research institutions.

Under a new research and development funding framework, it will allow the Australian grape and wine community’s research partners to be better able to make strategic investments, plan for the future, maintain technical capabilities in key areas, and have greater flexibility to pursue promising research results within an overall agreed framework.

March 2018 – Issue 650

oncein a

blue moon

DEALS

ENJOY BRILLIANT SAVINGS ON SELECTED T-SERIES TRACTORS New Holland is celebrating the blue moon with great deals on selected T-Series tractors. Now you have the rare opportunity to enjoy big savings with a low finance rate of just 2.95%. So visit your local New Holland dealer before the 31st March 2018 to secure a great deal.

Visit your local New Holland dealer and you’ll be over the moon.

2.95%*

P.A. FINANCE *Terms and conditions apply. Finance rate subject to term and deposit requirements and excludes Boomers and Workmasters. Full 2-year Factory warranty across all tractors. Finance provided by CNH Industrial Capital Australia Pty Ltd AFS License No. 286664. Offer is available to business customers only and subject to credit approval. Contact your local dealership for full details.

The “Specialist” Tractors 4 - SERIES

REX SERIES

ORCHARD & VINEYARD MAINTENANCE

PRUNNERS & TRIMMERS GEPPS CROSS 08 8139 7222 SUMMERTOWN 08 8390 3017 NARACOORTE 08 8762 0123

UNDER ROW MAINTENANCE www.landinicentral.com.au admin@landinicentral.com.au

NZ stink bug measures target vehicles and machinery The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has introduced new measures to reduce the risk of brown marmorated stink bugs arriving in vehicles and machinery from Japan.

The changes will require all used vehicles (both cars and trucks) to undergo inspection and cleaning at an MPI-approved facility in Japan prior to export.

MPI biosecurity and environment manager, Paul Hallet, said any used machinery or other types of used vehicles from Japan will require certification proving it has undergone cleaning by an appropriate provider.

“Nearly 95% of used vehicles from Japan already go through approved Several bulk carriers were ordered to leave NZ waters recently due to excessive contamination. facilities that are designed to eliminate the risk of biosecurity threats like seeds and hitchhiking organisms such as Asian insecticide to flush out any insects out of detections are made,” he explained. gypsy moth,” he said. confined spaces.

“A proposed treatment programme “The requirement will now be It directed four bulk carriers to leave will be trialled on one of the affected compulsory for all imports and the New Zealand last month due to excessive ships this week. The vessel will have to changes will significantly reduce the contamination. pass rigorous biosecurity checks for MPI chance of transporting dirty vehicles and Hallet said MPI will work with to allow the release of its cargo.” machinery that could contaminate other industry to develop longer term options Hallet said an agreement from cargo. for reducing the biosecurity risk. all parties will ensure New Zealand’s “The move is the result of an “We are all keen to work together to biosecurity isn’t compromised. unprecedented spike in the number of consider solutions that avoid the need to The brown marmorated stink bug can stink bugs arriving at the border from turn vessels around at the border. be devastating to wine grape crops, with Japan in bulk carriers,” Hallet added.

“This could include treatment prior to related damage including lower berry MPI has already increased the level of 4407Metarex_GGWM 2018-02-22T13:04:09+11:00 entering New Zealand waters or finding weight, cracked berries as a result of inspection of arriving carriers and their ways of fumigating the vessels here if any feeding activity and stink bug taint. cargo, including the use of fogging with

Prevention in autumn is better than cure in spring • Attractive & palatable for a better kill • Lasts longer than others come rain, hail or shine • Bait spreads further with fewer passes

ALL WEATHER SLUG AND SNAIL BAIT

Innovation. Quality. Solutions. ® Registered Trademark of De Sangosse, France.

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

13

news

Target high-risk drinkers, not all drinkers: WFA The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) has welcomed the efforts of governments to combat harmful alcohol consumption but said it has serious concerns that the current draft National Alcohol Strategy (NAS) targets all consumers rather than those most at risk.

WFA chief executive, Tony Battaglene, said the draft NAS being considered by federal, state and territory governments misses the mark. If implemented, it will hurt all moderate and responsible consumers and not help those in real need of intervention.

“There are several ideas in the draft NAS that we support, including national recognition of Responsible Service of Alcohol requirements, improved awareness and enforcement of secondary supply laws (regarding underage drinking) and more effective compliance activities around existing laws,” Battaglene said.

“However, the draft NAS includes population-wide measures such as taxation, pricing and advertising restrictions that will penalise responsible consumers and will not provide direct assistance to those struggling with alcohol abuse.

“We know that risky drinking has significantly declined in a range of demographic groups including underage drinking and young men in their 20’s. This draft NAS is a missed opportunity to really drill down into the causal factors behind those successes and to identify specific groups which still need interventions and assistance.”

WFA is also very disappointed that the draft NAS deliberately excludes industry as a stakeholder in the proposed stakeholder reference group which will measure the progress of the strategy and its implementation.

“Australian winemakers work hard to

create an environment, particularly at their cellar doors, where people can enjoy their wines responsibly. Winemakers want to be part of the solution to combat risky drinking, but we can only do that if we are considered full stakeholders in national strategies,” said Battaglene.

“We look forward to working with all levels of government to find long-term and effective solutions to harmful alcohol consumption and hope that the final version of the NAS does just that.”

Read more on page 54, where WFA chief executive Tony Battaglene offers further comment on this important industry issue.

Reports of spray drift damage in SA's Riverland and Mid North Off-target damage to grapevines has been an ongoing issue in viticultural and horticultural areas adjacent to broad acre cropping.

According to Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA), certain weather conditions, such as inversions, can result in spray drift damage tens of kilometres from the application site, so producers must consider that sensitive crops may be located some distance away when planning a spray operation.

Biosecurity SA’s manager of rural chemicals, Michael McManus, said it’s disappointing to see spray drift incidents occurring despite the extensive education programs on chemical use provided to industry groups.

“We rely on the entire farming community to use chemicals as per the mandatory label requirements.

Biosecurity SA therefore reminds farmers to consider their neighbours and abide by 14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

regulatory requirements when spraying.

“Correct use of agricultural chemicals maximises the cost effective use of chemicals and the quality and yield of crops. However, when used incorrectly, they can impact on your neighbours, local communities and trade.”

While investigations can be time consuming and spray drift origins difficult to trace due to rapidly changing weather conditions, Biosecurity SA will pursue all reports of anyone who has either deliberately or negligently caused damage to others by not following regulatory requirements.

“When spray drift incidents or suspected incidents occur neighbours need to notify Biosecurity SA immediately so we can take action,” McManus said.

“Reporting chemical misuse in a timely manner is critical to protecting our crops and achieving compliance and if farmers don’t report incidents, we www.winetitles.com.au

can’t stop poor practices by those few who are letting the whole industry and community down.”

“In the Mid North, Ag Ex Alliance is establishing a network of 40 weather stations across the Mid North, Clare Valley, northern Adelaide Plains and northern Yorke Peninsula to provide localised information to farmers to help make better decisions about when to spray and minimise spray drift, McManus added.

“We are urging anyone who is planning a spraying operation to exercise caution – we have online resources to help guide correct spraying operations.

If you’re not sure, it’s your responsibility to find out.”

For more information, visit the PIRSA biosecurity SA page on http://www.pir. sa.gov.au/biosecurity/rural_chemicals/ chemical_use_best_practice.

March 2018 – Issue 650

international briefs SWEDISH SALES Consumers in Sweden may be buying less alcohol, but they are spending more on expensive wine when they do.

New figures from Swedish liquor store chain, Systembolaget, revealed there was a 3.1% increase in sales of premium wine last year, despite Swedish consumers drinking eight percent less alcohol than they did a decade ago.

Systembolaget’s chief executive, Magdalena Gerger, said the trends correlate to the state’s key goals, which are to offer quality beverages at low-level consumption rates.

“Our goal is to succeed in combining a Sweden that feels a little better, where we have respect for one another, and where we aim for good quality,” she said.

CHINESE SPARKLING

The new varieties are hoped to reduce the need for pesticides in the French wine industry.

Around 20 hectares of the new vine varieties will be planted in 2018 with a further 100 hectares in planning for 2019.

CHILEAN GROWTH Data from Vinexpo and the IWSR has predicted Chile will become the UK’s second largest import supplier by 2021.

In volumetric terms, the top five producing countries for wine supplies for the UK in 2016 were Australia, the US, France, Italy and Spain, with Chile coming in sixth position.

In the next five years Chile is expected to gain a 2.4% increase of the UK’s volume market share, while Italy and France are forecasted losses of over four per cent, and the US and Australia almost two per cent.

GREEK EXPORTS

V Research by Wine Intelligence has predicted a boost of sparkling wine consumption in China, due to a range of affordable options.

The wine body’s research director, Chuan Zhou, said a surge of cheaper sparkling wine is attracting younger professionals who could previously not afford varieties such as Champagne.

“There should be a bright future for sparkling wine in China overall because it connects with the needs of the young generation, which is moving away from the ‘ganbei’ or ‘bottoms up’ drinking culture,” she said.

It’s also expected that non-Champagne sparkling wines will boom for importers and retailers in coming years.

“This is due to the typically lower price and also the flavour of such bubbles being more suitable to the Chinese palate, both of which allow consumers to enjoy it on informal and frequent occasions,” Zhou said.

FRENCH VARIETIES According to the French Tribune, The National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) has announced the production of four new varieties which are resistant to major disease.

Floreal, Voltis, Artaban, and Vidoc vines are resistant to downy mildew and powdery mildew and were developed from 18 years of research.

March 2018 – Issue 650

Results from the National InterProfessional Organisation of Vine and Wine of Greece showed considerable growth in Greek wine exports in recent years.

Between 2009 and 2016 Greek wine exports soared by 562% to Japan, nearly 556% to China, over 104% to Australia, 90% to Canada and over 81% to the US. However, the vast majority of Greek wine exports - 84% - are still within the EU, with the UK being the largest importer.

Greek wines have also showed an increase in prices, with buyers prepared to pay higher in recognition of the improved quality.

KOREAN IMPORTS

bar 9.7% from the previous year.

An increase of marketing for budget wines across retailers is said to be the cause of boosted sales.

US BULK In recent years, California’s wine industry has produced heavy vintages, which resulted in an over-supply of wine and a depression of prices.

According to Silicon Valley Bank’s Rob McMillan’s annual industry report, a lighter harvest in 2016 meant the bulk wine market balanced out last year.

And with another average harvest in 2017 of approximately 3.8 million tons for California, prices offered and volumes demanded should also be in balance, he said.

Chardonnay has seen “impressive” demand growth and declining stocks, which may drive demand and price higher, while Cabernet is showing slowed consumer growth rates, resulting in increased availability of juice.

UK PROSECCO A recent report by Vinexpo has shown the UK has seen a boost in sales of sparkling wine over the past ten years, increasing from 8.7 million nine litre cases in 2011 to 14.1 million cases by 2016.

It is expected consumption will continue to grow to 16.15 million cases by 2021.

Prosecco has been leading at the forefront of this trend, with sales of 1.2 million cases in 2012, and a further 8.5 million cases expected for sales growth in the next three years.

The UK is the world’s second largest importer of wines by volume at 119 million cases in 2016 after Germany with 124 million cases.

US MARKET

According to data compiled by the Korea Customs Office, South Korea’s wine imports increased exponentially in 2017 due to a demand of white and sparkling wines in single-person households.

The figures also showed a significant increase in purchases of ‘mini’ bottles below 750ml in volume.

A first for South Korea, imports surpassed $200 million in 2017, with $210 million worth of wine imports raising the www.winetitles.com.au

Recent data from Dutch bank, Rabobank, has shown online alcohol sales in the US are outstripping in-store purchases, with total US sales recorded at $1.7 billion.

Sales from winery websites have quadrupled in a five year period, equating to $100 million of sales that were processed from online delivery apps in 2017, compared to zero data in early 2013.

However, Rabobank said brand owners have the option of more than a dozen online channels, and brand owners will need to identify which online channels best suit their products.

The largest portion of sales is currently made up by speciality retailers, worth an annual $975 million, whereas direct to consumer sales make up the second largest portion of sales at $410 million.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

15

news movers & shakers

Calabria Family Wines appoints chief winemaker Calabria Family Wines has announced the appointment of Emma Norbiato to the role of chief winemaker.

Calabria Family Wines was established in 1945 and has grown to be one of Australia’s top producing family winemakers under the leadership of director and winemaker, Bill Calabria.

Today, the company is managed by the third generation of the Calabria family, with Bill overseeing viticulture management, and is proud for Norbiato to take on the position of Chief Winemaker.

Norbiato joined the winemaking team at Calabria Family Wines in 2009 and during this time she was named 2016 Australia’s Women in Wine Winemaker of the Year.

With 18 vintages of winemaking experience, Norbiato is also a senior wine show judge with over 15 years of experience across both regional and capital city shows.

Norbiato’s new role of chief winemaker will see her responsible for the winemaking and stylistic direction of the Calabria Family wine portfolio, working together with the team of winemakers and grapegrowers to produce high quality wines.

Norbiato is looking forward to working with the dedicated Calabria winemaking team to continue the strong direction of the family portfolio.

“They say you are only as good as the sum of your parts, and I am very fortunate to be part of a good team,” she said.

“I am truly excited about the upcoming wine developments we have ahead for 2018, from multiple regions around Australia.”

Norbiato also paid tribute to Bill Calabria’s legacy.

“Bill has been a great asset of our region and mentor to many.

Bill Calabria with Emma Norbiato.

I am deeply honoured to take on this position and share the Calabria family story and wines.”

Bill Calabria said the appointment reinforced the strong direction the family company will be investing in its portfolio moving forward.

“Emma’s passion has allowed her to shine through the ranks at Calabria Family Wines right up to chief winemaker.”

“Her extensive knowledge of the Australian wine industry, together with the strength of Emma’s award winning winemaking will be a credit to the Calabria Family brands and I know that she will continue to nurture our wine portfolio.”

He said the Calabria family look forward to seeing the team drive brand growth under Norbiato’s leadership.

New members for Wine Communicators of Australia In a positive start to the year, Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) has announced the appointment of two new national board members, Simon Clark and Marni Ladd.

With the pair bringing to the table a plethora of experience and skill, WCA chairman, Angus Barnes, echoed the sentiments of other board members.

“The WCA is excited to have such high calibre wine communication professionals join the team.”

“It is with great pleasure we welcome Simon and Marni, and we look forward to having their extensive experience build on what is an already exceptional group of communication experts.”

Ladd is a highly experienced and appointed industry education professional and is currently program director of wine business at the University of Adelaide.

She is also the current chair of the business and education committee with 16 Grapegrower & Winemaker

WCA boardmembers Marni Ladd (left) and Simon Clark

Great Wine Capitals global network and a member of the University’s wine futures advisory board.

Prior to her current tenure, Ladd was program director at the Australian Centre for Retail Studies at Monash University, following roles in marketing, change management and adult education.

Clark has over 12 years’ experience in the PR and communications industry across a number of sectors from FMCG, technology and not-for-profit. www.winetitles.com.au

For the last two years, he has worked as the global PR manager at Pernod Ricard Winemakers for their Australian wine portfolio which includes Jacob’s Creek, St Hugo and George Wyndham.

“With the recent appointments of these talented individuals the WCA has gained access to people with hands on experience and skills in education, public relations, digital media and traditional marketing and communication disciplines,” Barnes said.

Barnes said the new appointments are a positive expansion to forge business connections for professionals working in wine.

“Each are a valuable asset to the WCA community as we continue to expand our membership, influence and ability to forge business to business connections for professionals working in wine.”

March 2018 – Issue 650

Riverland Wine appoints new operations manager The appointment of Jo Battersby as operations manager combined with a shift in organisational structure has enabled Riverland Wine to begin 2018 with renewed energy and optimism.

Chris Byrne, now the executive chair, has been at the helm of Riverland Wine for the past decade, building it into the ‘progressive and respected organisation’ it is today.

Riverland Wine said the appointment of Battersby will allow him to focus more on strategic issues and building relationships, while she supports the organisation in delivering outcomes against the strategic plan.

With extensive senior experience in strateg y development, project management, team building and community engagement, Battersby has the capability and senior experience to

Jo Battersby

fit the new role.

“This appointment has been made after much deliberation over the skill set needed for effective implementation of the plan,” Byrne said.

“The timing of this appointment will ensure Riverland Wine members

will be best placed to ride the new wave of prosperity as values of grapes, wine and properties all reveal steady improvement.

“To have discovered this talent right here in the Riverland was an extra bonus.

It represents a further strengthening of Riverland Wine and the region.”

Describing the operations manager as a ‘pivotal role’, Mr Byrne said Battersby will lead the ongoing development of Australia’s largest wine region, building on the themes of leadership, innovation, unity and pride.

Working closely with the management committees, members, delivery groups, government bodies, industry agencies, growers and winemakers, Battersby’s role will encourage cooperation and collaboration for the benefit of the region’s wine industry.

Moorilla Estate buys Domaine A/Stoney Vineyard in Tasmania

Moorilla Estate Pty Ltd has announced the purchase of Coal River Valley’s internationally acclaimed Domaine A / Stoney Vineyard.

This is the first winery that Moorilla, owned by Mona founder David Walsh, and located at the world-renowned museum site in Berriedale, has purchased.

Winemaker and general manager, Conor van der Reest, said Moorilla Estate Pty Ltd recognises Domaine A / Stoney Vineyard as a cornerstone of quality Tasmanian winemaking.

“Moorilla and Domaine A are both very much focused on making wines that truly show what Tasmania and our individual vineyards have to offer.”

“We look forward to working with Peter and Ruth to make sure we protect the integrity of this brand that has such a March 2018 – Issue 650

loyal and well-deserved customer base,” he said.

The additional stock that comes with the ownership of Domaine A / Stoney Vineyard will help cater to Mona’s increasing demand on-site, such as that which will come with Mona’s 172 room hotel development, set to open in 2022.

“We see the strength in the unity of these two significant Tasmanian brands,” Reest said.

“We will, however, operate them as separate entities, ensuring Domaine A is made using the same great techniques Peter and Ruth have developed and implemented over the years.”

Peter Althaus, departing owner, Domaine A / Stoney Vineyard said he will remain invested in what has been built at Domaine A / Stoney Vineyard. www.winetitles.com.au

“My retirement and the decision to sell the business was certainly not an easy one, but from many interested parties (both local and international) I am confident I have chosen the right organisation, winemaker and people to maintain my label’s integrities and qualities,” he explained.

“In keeping with my ethos of winemaking and business, this decision had very little to do with money! It was, most importantly, about feeling assured that the legacy I have built will be in the hands of the appropriate custodians.”

Effective March 1st, Moorilla’s purchase of Domaine A includes the vineyards and Coal River Valley winery.

Moorilla will make no changes to Domaine A’s existing employees.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

17

news on the grapevine

2018 Barossa winemaker and viticulturist of the year

Daniel Falkenberg and Richard Langford.

VINTAGE STORAGE / LOGISTICS ISSUES?

WE CAN SUPPLY TWO 11,OOO LITRE PODS (22,000L) STORAGE IN SECURE SHIPPING CONTAINERS FOR AS LITTLE AS $5/DAY* NO TAINT • NO LEAKAGE • SECURE • DELIVERED NEW • RETURNED CLEAN

Contact Chris 0417 888 930 or chrisd@ihug.com.au

The wine fraternity Barons of Barossa has named Richard Langford the 2018 Barossa Winemaker of the Year and Daniel Falkenberg the 2018 Barossa Viticulturist of the Year at the annual Declaration of Vintage.

The choice of these two quiet achievers reflects the region’s stance – respecting the traditions and practices that the Barossa has been known for but at the same time, incorporating both natural and technological management of vineyards.

Langford has been the winemaker at Elderton Wines since 2003 and has elevated their wines to a new level, winning an array of trophies and sky-high scores from the industry’s luminaries.

With vineyards across the breadth of the Barossa, his aim is to ensure that every wine shouts their terroir and variety.

“I’m humbled to be chosen to be part of this remarkable lineage of truly great winemakers,” Langford said.

“The Barossa has a greater diversity than most regions, renowned for both red and white wines.”

“And with over 160 years of winemaking in the region, it has a deep-seated camaraderie across the industry and a timetested commitment to quality,” he added.

Falkenberg is the viticulture manager at Eden Hall Wines.

A generational Barossa grower, he has a wealth of traditional knowledge at hand that he accesses along with natural environmental practices and the application of new technologies as part of his adaptive management program.

“Viticulture is a constant evolution of practice and each generation has to work with different and new conditions,” Falkenberg said.

*Based on 12 months hire of 2 pods excl. container. Higher rates apply to shorter terms.

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Chris Hemsworth gets a taste of Barossa winemaking

T

he 2018 vintage at Jacob’s Creek got the VIP treatment, as acclaimed actor Chris Hemsworth joined the team to get an insider’s view on creating one of the world’s most unique wines, Double Barrel.

Hemsworth experienced a firsthand insight into what it takes to bring together Double Barrel, which is finished in aged whiskey barrels.

The star of Thor, The Avengers and 12 Strong, Hemsworth recently provided his vocal talents for the new Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel ‘Two Barrels, One Soul’ commercial, which was released in late 2017.

“We’ve been warmly welcomed in the Barossa by the Jacob’s Creek team who have taken us into their home and shown us what makes this place and its wines world class,” Hemsworth said.

“As someone who travels a lot I’m always looking for things that can remind me of home and a glass of Double Barrel does just that.”

Jacob’s Creek Chief Winemaker Ben Bryant hosted Hemsworth at the winery, taking him on a tour of the vineyards and barrel room, tasting wines directly from the barrel, blending wine, and coopering the all-important barrels.

“Chris really has a passion for Aussie wine and was keen to meet the team behind creating Jacob’s Creek,” Bryant said.

We brought together those involved in growing the grapes and making the barrels alongside our winemakers to spend time having a chat over a harvest barbecue at our historic Jacob’s Creek Estate.”

The development of the Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel range has been a complex undertaking that has taken years to perfect.

Following a great deal of experimentation, the winemakers March 2018 – Issue 650

discovered whiskey barrels produced the best results for what they wanted to achieve.

Matured in wine barrels, the wine is finished in aged whisk(e) y barrels for a richer, deeper and smoother finish.

The award-winning Double Barrel range brings to life the spirit of innovation and expertise of the Jacob’s Creek winemaking team.

The range includes a Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz Cabernet, alongside a new release Chardonnay – the first white wine for the range.

Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky with Ben Bryant..

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

19

grapegrowing grapegrowing Post Harvest Vineyard Management

Tips for managing postharvest vines

What works best for vineyards after the grapes are picked?

A year ago, in the March 2017 issue of Grapegrower & Winemaker, viticulturist Sam Bowman revealed the importance of post-harvest vineyard management and the reasons why it should be a consideration as much as nutrition, irrigation and fungicide programs during the growing season. Now, he explores the topic further by presenting a round table discussion with some of Australia’s leading lights of viticulture. He asks about what works best for them once harvest has taken place.

There’s been some small pressure from powdery mildew in Margaret River vineyards this year.

U

nderstanding the physiology of the vine and the dependence on stored carbohydrates helps reduce biennial bearing and brings consistent patterns of growth each year (weather dependant of course). Australia is lucky to have some brilliant minds in viticulture across our vast and differing landscape. We have called upon some of our top viticulturists to offer insights into how they manage their vines after the grapes have been picked and begin the journey to becoming another bottle of great Australian wine.

Contributors taking part in this round table discussion: Gina Knight (GK) is vineyard manager at Coldstream Hills, Upper Yarra Valley Vineyards, Victoria Liz Riley (LR) is a viticultural consultant based in the Hunter Valley, NSW Hannah McKay (HM) is vineyard supervisor at Vasse Felix, Margaret River, WA Jenny Venus (JV) is senior viticulturist, Landmark, SA 20 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Q: How do you manage irrigation after harvest and how is the irrigation regime monitored (soil moisture probes, visual canopy identifiers, soil inspection)? Typically how many days/ weeks would you continue to irrigate after harvest?

GK: Fortunately, we generally have sufficient water at the end of the growing season to be able to irrigate for around three weeks after harvest giving the vines around 8 to 12L each per week. We use a dig stick to assess soil moisture.

LR: Given that we usually have harvest rain or post-harvest rain, the need to irrigate is really driven by the weather. Currently we have very dry conditions and ideally post-harvest irrigation would be going out. We are going to have a 12-16 week post-harvest period so it would be good to both retain the current canopy but to also push some fresh leaf to generate some additional carbohydrate reserves to rebuild the vines after the tough season. The ‘new’ canopy needs to be pushed quickly and have time to mature and contribute back so through Feb and early March, rather than later in March and April which is too close to dormancy commencing.

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

MILES AHEAD

THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Over 25 years of proven hands free growth straight to the wire, with quick and easy assembly using our Zip-Safe seal. It’s no wonder GroGuard is Australia’s biggest name in vine establishment technology.

Designed and manufactured locally for Australian conditions, our legendary strength and reliability is backed by a 3-year guarantee.

Contact your local rural store or

freecall 1800 644 259 www.groguard.com.au

grapegrowing

HM: In terms of scheduling irrigation events, given Margaret River is historically so dry during the harvest period and vineyards restrict water supply for the final push before the pick, it is good to give the crop a drink the night or early morning following the pick.

This also ensures maximum utilisation of the water application and transportation within the vine as it will be absorbed quickly and not be used in fruit maturation or acid dilution.

JV: After harvest, the vines are irrigated to refill the profile to allow them to recover from the stress of harvest. Often vines, particularly red varieties are water stressed leading into harvest to develop intense flavour profile. Once harvest is complete it is important to refill the profile to ensure the vines are able to adequately store carbohydrates to next season.

Do you have a requirement to continue a fungicide programme after harvest and if so which pests/diseases cause issues?

GK: This is rare, however the only fungicide we would use after harvest would be sulphur if there was a late powdery infection or mite issues.

LR: Yes – with a 12-16 week post-harvest period where canopies are present we tend to go out with a copper, sulphur and caterpillar control spray. This may be repeated if there is sufficient new growth to warrant it and will also be applied to growing young vines.

HM: Historically the most common target for post-harvest fungiciding in Margaret River has been Botrytis with this year showing a small pressure of powdery mildew. Potassium silicate sprays are becoming the hot topic in the region as we are seeing a strong shift towards organic viticultural practices. These products strengthen the plant cell walls protecting them from further disease manifestation and penetration.

JV: If scale and mealybug are present in the vineyard, there may be an opportunity to apply an insecticide spray to control some of these insects prior to them migrating under the bark for winter.

Scale and mealybug are becoming an increasing problem in many regions and they are often difficult to control in season, therefore it is important to have a post-harvest/winter strategy as well as an in-season program to keep on top of insect pests.

GREEN, QUALITY,

INNOVATIVE

SOLUTIONS

www.fischeraustralis.com.au 22 Grapegrower & Winemaker

What does your post-harvest nutrition programme look like? What are the main elements you are looking at getting in before leaf fall? Any products you swear by?

GK: As soon as possible after a block has been harvested and depending on availability of tractors and people, we spray a foliar spray containing a mix of nitrogen, calcium, magnesium and boron, while the leaves are still healthy and active. We believe the combination of these elements improves the uptake of nutrients and their movement within the vine.

LR: Depends on the site – nitrogen and potentially potassium and phosphorus subject to petiole results and field symptoms.

The decision to apply, formulation (solid/liquid), method (foliar/ fertigate/undervine), products vary according to conditions – we are nimble and often have more than one plan up or sleeve.

HM: Many think that organic and biodynamic farming is too costly to implement large-scale, but there is something quite primal and resourceful to it. We are seeing that in our vineyards with more sites producing their own nutritional requirements.

An example is the age-old use of compost that is raging in the region at the moment and showing real strength in short and long-term benefits. Utilising grape marc from winery presses not only closes the system between vine to wine and then back to vine but also provides a brilliant upcycling of quality plant material.

JV: Generally, I recommend growers fertigate phosphorous and if possible also apply a seaweed type product to help with uptake.

I prefer to manage the vineyard floor not just the strip below the vines. Growers should be considering cover cropping and broadcasting fertiliser and gypsum as another way to improve the overall health of the vineyard.

Any other post-harvest tips or tricks you have had success with in your career?

GK: We keep watering as long as we can after harvest and try to ensure we replace at least some of the nutrients the vine has lost through harvest. If this can be done, we believe the vineyard will benefit the next season when the vine has all the stored carbohydrates ready and available for the new season.

LR: Keep looking at vineyards, make plans in two week cycles and adjust subject to change. Most importantly have a break, recharge and refresh.

HM: Most non-grape or wine folk think that as soon as the fruit is off, vineyards shut down but for most growers you take a moment and bask in the glory of getting all or most of the fruit across the line and then start implementing good foundations for the following grow season. Naturally everything in vineyards is about timing so with no rest for the wicked; happy harvesting but make sure you show some managerial love post-harvest to the vines that have worked so hard to produce such good fruit to continue the legacy of great Australian wines.

JV: Post-harvest is a great time to see what has happened through the season and how the vines have grown. Once the leaves have fallen it is easy to see the vine structure, the strength of the canes, where the bunches were distributed on the vine (as long as they weren’t hand-picked). Grower should take some time to assess the vineyard post-harvest, dig some soil pits, take soil tests and plan to mulch weak areas or prune stronger areas differently. Sheep have become part of the winter management program but cover cropping is also important and helps improve the entire vineyard floor. Consider locking sheep out of some blocks and cover cropping to help manage weed problems, improve soil health, vine vigour, etc. Post-harvest should be a time to reflect on the season and plan for the next season before the grower gets busy with all the winter jobs.

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

To be or not to be… certified organic How to convert your vineyard using sustainable practices Many growers are making the move to have their vineyards certified organic, but how hard is the conversion process? Chloe Szentpeteri spoke to Richard Angove, from SA’s Angove Family Wines, and Steve James, from Voyager Estate in WA, to find out how to get started and what the benefits are.

A

ngove Family Winemakers have been operating in South Australia since 1886, with vineyards at McLaren Vale and Renmark. The company began converting its iconic Warboys Vineyard at McLaren Vale to organic and it hasn’t looked back since. Richard Angove has been at the forefront of the family business since 2009 with his sister Victoria, and he manages sales, marketing and winemaking, with a passion for organic and sustainable wine.

Organic wine has been a hot topic of late and more winemakers are looking to make the move. Surprisingly, going organic isn’t as hard as you might think, although it does take some time.

“It takes three years to be certified organic so you can’t just click your fingers and say alright, now we’re using management practices and now we have that certification,” Angove said.

“Once you have certification you’re audited every year to maintain it. You can

Richard Angove at Angove Family Winemaker’s McLaren Vale cellar door.

do the practices and not get certified but for us it’s an important part of being organic – you’ve got to have proof.”

There’s a similar story at Voyager Estates in WA’s Margaret River region.

Manager of winemaking and viticulture, Steve James, has been operating several areas of his estate organically for around ten years, but without certification.

While the vineyard has adopted sustainability and natural processes for vine maintenance, James plans to phase

One of Voyager Estate’s organic blocks March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

23

grapegrowing

Voyager Estate’s manager of winemaking and viticulture, Steve James, and LAMS analyst, Claude Bourguignon.

the 120ha of vines into certification, in three stages, 40ha at a time.

He is confident that the sustainable practices and organic certification will be a perfect match to the Voyager Estate’s – and Margaret River’s – gravelly loam soil.

Moving to organic A conventional grapevine will experience many changes when converting to organic.

The removal of artificial nutrients triggers a reaction which can result in a drastic reduction of crop produced in the first couple of years.

But as the vines go deeper, they adapt to the lack of synthetic chemicals and re-balance themselves.

“We see in our vineyards that have gone organic, in the tough years they’ve performed better because they’re that little bit more resilient and the ratio of canopy to fruit is much more in balance,” Angove said.

“Our marketing philosophy behind it, and it’s actually the real grapegrowing philosophy, is that if you have healthier soil, you’re going to have better flavour and vines that are healthier in general.

“I think the big thing is that you don’t have the easy fix as such. Weed control becomes more challenging and you need to be ahead of the game with nutrition,” James added.

At both Angove and Voyager Estate, the management principles are much the same.

24 Grapegrower & Winemaker

By removing the use of herbicides and ultimately all chemicals found in sprays and nutrition additives, both wineries have adapted by using natural products and sustainable measures.

“We’re doing more soil testing to try to pre-empt anything earlier rather than later,” Voyager’s James explained.

“With organics you don’t have the quick, high tech fix where it can be done straight away, so you need to think lower release products that are more natural.

“With weed control, it’s the timing of cultivation and doing under vine mowing in combination with management that works really well,” he said.

According to Angove, location may be a key indicator of how well the organic takes.

“Regionality helps you go organic so a place like McLaren Vale, which has a classic Mediterranean climate, there’s very low disease pressure,” he said.

“Compare that to a place like the Hunter Valley which is more sub-tropical, with more thunder storms in the growing season and a lot more humidity, there’s a higher disease pressure so it’s a little bit harder to be organic.”

James agreed that soil type plays a part in being successfully organic, but he said it comes down to how well you know and manage your vineyard.

“Organic seems to work with our soils but I think it comes back to understanding www.winetitles.com.au

your property and the individual soil,” he said.

“Good growers and good farmers know their soil and how it behaves and for me it’s about getting the timing right of cultivation and when you’re doing things.”

Maintaining the vines As many organic grapegrowers might agree, sustainable practices can be tough to navigate.

One of the biggest challenges Angove and James face on a regular basis has been the proliferation of weeds.

“You can’t just go through the vineyard and spray a broad acre to kill weeds, you’ve either got to mechanically remove them or be comfortable that they’re there,” Angove explained.

“So a lot of the time organic vineyards in winter look really messy because they have lots of different types of weeds, so lots of really nice biodiversity, but sometimes they can look really scrappy and that’s something we’ve had to get used to.”

James said Voyager Estate manages weeds during the winter by using sheep on a grazing management plan, which has shown positive results.

“We use that multi-prong attack of the sheep in combination with cultivation techniques.

“Dedicate the timing to make sure you do it.

“To me it’s the two W’s: weeds and March 2018 – Issue 650

weevils. We get a garden weevil that’s quite a pest here but we actually find that some of our cultivation practices with organics upset the garden weevil,” he said.

While not common in all areas of Australia, James said Western Australia does have a problem with the pest, which is not too dissimilar in colour and size to a brown marmorated stink bug.

Apart from weeds and weevils, both Angove and James agreed that snail control is paramount for organic vines.

For Angove, he gets a laugh out of his very enthusiastic ‘snail hoover’ assistants, Indian runner ducks.

“They’re crazy ducks with personality and we have 20 of them and they just hoover the snails in the vines,” he exclaimed.

“It’s more expensive but we think it’s better for the soil and it’s kind of like biosecurity. At the end of the day if we look after the soil we get better grapes.”

A simple and effective control method, James said Voyager Estate is also looking at purchasing Indian runner ducks for snail maintenance in the near future.

But it’s vine maintenance that is the essential component of going organic, and combined with the right nutrition to feed

The Indian runner duck can act as an ‘enthusiastic snail hoover’ in an organic vineyard.

ZERO FORCE. FULL POWER. Experience the new dimension of ergonomics in high-pressure cleaning: with the new EASY!Force trigger gun, you need zero holding force and can clean effortlessly for longer. EASY!Force is compatible with Kärcher Professional pressure washers.

www.karcher.com.au 1800 675 714

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

25

grapegrowing

Angove McLaren Vale cellar door.

roots and soil, it is the foundation of its success.

Notably, both Angove Family Winemakers and Voyager Estate use seaweed based fertilisers.

It provides a range of nutrients to the vines which you would otherwise source from a synthetic fertiliser.

Additionally, James said compost is very useful.

“We produce a bit ourselves but we also purchase organically certified compost which makes up the basis of our nutrition program.

“You spend a lot more on nutrition going organic but then you also don’t have the chemical costs of fungicides,” he explained.

“It might be a bit more work in the vineyard and a slight increase in the cost of running but I think it’s going to come back in the first few years.”

Soil and climate The team at Voyager Estate were recently visited by Laboratoire Analyses Microbiologiques Sols (LAMS) analyst, Claude Bourguignon, who tested the winery’s soil.

The French laboratory specialises in analysing vineyard soils to understand its physical, chemical and biological properties and how this relates to wine quality and style.

James said Bourguignon was impressed with the soil, particularly in vine blocks with roots penetrating vertically through the top soil and down into the clay.

“We had run that block organically as a trial, although non-certified for probably ten to 12 years before we’d even gone on this journey in the last few years.

26 Grapegrower & Winemaker

“He attributed that to the roots being deep and under-vine cultivation, lack of herbicide use over the years and just constantly building on the health of the soil through use of compost and mulching,” he added.

“That’s the beauty of the best soils in Margaret River, free draining and the clay acts as a reservoir during winter rainfall for slow release back to the vines during the growing and ripening season.”

Once analysed in the lab, the soil sample results will benefit Voyager Estate’s internal structure.

In terms of climate variables, Angove said organic vines cope well.

“The warmer and drier it is the less disease pressure that we have. You still want cool nights, just no heatwaves.

“Having said that when the heatwaves do come through, our organic vines stand up better than inorganic vines. Now I can’t explain why, they just seem to be more resilient,” he explained.

“Perhaps deeper roots, more shade on the berries and for irrigation we have soil moisture probes that we use to monitor sub-soil moisture and when it gets to certain points the irrigation kicks in.”

Tasting the difference When asked if a difference in taste can be detected between organic and inorganic, Angove and James had different ideas.

“I think it would be very hard to determine what’s what. I think you can taste the difference between some organic foods versus others but with wine I’m not sure… I think it tastes better,” Angove said.

He also added that the team at Angove Family Winemakers is thinking about www.winetitles.com.au

doing a blind tasting to try and distinguish which wines are organic and which ones aren’t.

James said the difference between the two is noted not only on the palate, but also in the character of the wine produced.

“After a few years our organic trial block began to produce fruit that seemed less overtly fruity and it began to give the wine more character, complexity and texture.

“I think it gave the wine more layers,” he said.

Both wineries’ goal is to succeed with fully certified organic wines, and James said his entire vineyard will be in the conversion process by this time next year.

His advice for going organic?

“If you’re interested, try a patch, get comfortable with it and see if it works for you. With organics, you’re working with nature, not trying to resist and control it.”

“The thing I love about it is that you feel like you’re more in tune with nature in a funny sort of way,” he added.

Angove said the family owned winery aspires to be one of the best producers of organics in the world.

“We have the largest selling organic wine in Australia at the moment and we want to grow that and defend it.”

“We have plans for a couple of new wines to come out as well and we’ve converted all our company owned vineyards to organic and we’re working with a number of growers to get them to move into the organic space as well.”

Keep an eye out for some new vintages that are certified organic. You might just find you want to make the move yourself!

March 2018 – Issue 650

After hours irrigation to lower vineyard temps Night watering helps vines keep their cool in heatwaves Scientific research undertaken in South Australia has shown irrigating vineyards at night during heatwaves can reduce fruit losses by up to 30 per cent. In this article originally published in The Lead, Andrew Spence examines some unexpected findings.

T

he project has run at a vineyard in the Riverland, Australia’s largest winegrape growing region over the past two summers.

It is scientifically proving the most effective and efficient methods of protecting grapes from heat damage such as leaf scorch, reduction in grape quality and lower yields.

Vignerons have long suspected that hot nights were as much to blame for heat damage as hot days, particularly after three or four consecutive days of scorching heat.

Principal scientist with the South Australian Research Development Institute (SARDI), Dr Mike McCarthy, is leading the project, which is funded

by Wine Australia via the University of Adelaide.

The original project began in 2014 and installed under-canopy sprinkler systems at sites in the Riverland and Coonawarra March 2018 – Issue 650

to provide an evaporative cooling effect for the vines.

The results were surprising.

Even though the under-canopy sprinkler system delivered very little evaporative cooling of the vines, the night time irrigation increased yields – or effectively reduced losses – by a minimum of 30%. This led McCarthy to begin the second study in 2016 using traditional drip irrigation systems to water at night during hot conditions “It wasn’t the cooling effect of the air so much, but more so the cooling of the ground and the root system and rehydrating the root system in preparation for the next day,” McCarthy said.

“The last two years the focus has been if we put the same amount of water on through the drip system at night as we were through the under canopy sprinklers, do we get the same effect?

“Based on last year’s data we are www.winetitles.com.au

achieving the same effect just by turning the drip irrigation system on at night rather than turning the canopy sprinklers on.”

This year’s grapes will be picked this month and McCarthy expects the results to be similar to the 2017 vintage or potentially better because of the increased number of heatwave events in South Australia this summer.

He said the vines did not require more water; it was just the timing of when the irrigation was applied that was critical. “[Recently] the Riverland was having days of 45 degrees (Celsius) and that’s in the shade so what’s the temperature on the bare unprotected soil during the day – pretty damn hot,” McCarthy said.

“What this night time irrigation is doing is cooling that soil down at night, which is of benefit to the root system, and the roots are also being rehydrated at night for the next day.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

27

grapegrowing “We’ve been finding that at midday the next day the canopy temperatures were up to five degrees cooler than the control vineyard so that little bit of water at night was still having a significant positive effect on vine physiology in the heat of the day the next day.”

Wines made from grapes grown in the test vineyard have been put through sensory evaluation and compared against wine produced from the nearby control vineyard.

Dr McCarthy said there was no diminution of flavour or decline in quality attributes as a result of the 30% higher crop.

“So growers don’t need to worry that this night watering is going to have an effect on quality – maybe it is even having a positive quality effect on some attributes,” he said.

“The biggest problem most growers have got is their irrigation system hasn’t got the flexibility to water all of their blocks in the one night.

“Maybe now there’s some good hard science behind it, growers will be prepared to invest some more money in upgrading their irrigation systems.”

Barossa Valley vigneron Will Holmes has about 65 hectares of vineyards in Gomersal where he grows Shiraz,

Cabernet, Grenache and Tempranillo.

He has invested $200,000 on extra storage tanks and extra pumping capability in recent years so he can irrigate his vineyards by pulsing it through the night.

“I’ve basically put a drought management and a heatwave policy in place based on exactly what Mike McCarthy has recommended on a commercial scale,” Holmes said.

“It works 100% but you’ve got to be set up to be able to achieve it. You’ve got to

have a big enough irrigation system and the ability to put out a lot of water very quickly.

“We had one year when we estimated we were losing $20,000 a day in a heatwave and you just don’t get those losses with this system so it pays for itself very quickly in a hot year.”

Holmes said a number of growers had come to look at his system with a view to replicating it.

He said he knew of “plenty” of Barossa growers who had taken hits during the recent heatwaves.

“What their losses are I don’t know, but I would estimate they will have lost 20 to 30% of their fruit and they’ve lost canopy, which is very important for ripening over the next month,” Holmes said.

McCarthy’s final report, including the results from the 2018 harvest, will be lodged with Wine Australia by June 30.

South Australia is consistently responsible for about 50% of Australia’s annual production and includes 18 regions including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and Coonawarra.

Don’t miss a

THING!

An essential snapshot of wine business, research and marketing news from Australian and international wine media sources.

Distributed to over 11,700 subscribers.

Subscription is free and easy!

Visit www.winetitles.com.au to sign up today.

Join the list of leading suppliers who use Daily Wine News for an instant advertising message to the industry!

Contact Andrew Dawson

+618 8369 9500 28 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Upping the ante against stink bug bandits Australia is upping the ante against one of our most significant pests, the stink bug, after a spike in detections on cargo from the USA and Italy.

Minister for agriculture and water resources, David Littleproud, said the federal government had increased inspections and treatment at the border to protect Australian horticulture growers from the pesky intruder.

“The Coalition knows biosecurity is critical to Australia’s ongoing prosperity and to protect agricultural industries, the powerhouse of the Australian economy,” Littleproud said.

“The stink bugs are a huge threat to Australian agriculture because they eat everything, including vegetable crops and fruit and ornamental trees, they’re not picky.”

The marmorated stink bug are known to cause physical damage to wine grapes which often results in bunch rots or yield loss.

They can also cause wine taint if they end up in ferments.

The most effective way to detect brown marmorated stink bugs in particular is by visually inspecting host plants.

They are large bugs that give off a strong and bad odour when disturbed.

“The pest has been known to smuggle itself into the country on anything from cars and trucks to deck chairs or cases of balsamic vinegar,” Littleproud said.

Between September and April each year, the risk of stink bug sightings increases.

“During that period cargo coming from high-risk countries, including Italy and

the USA, must be treated either offshore or on arrival and undergo inspection,” the minister said.

“Goods shipped from Italy between January and April that have not undergone pre-shipment treatment must be treated on arrival in Australia.”

An adult brown marmorated stink bug is the size of a five cent piece, gives off an unpleasant smell and is a mottled brown colour with light and dark patches.

An additional $300 million over four years has been invested to strengthen the biosecurity through the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, including boosting Australia’s capacity to manage pests, diseases and weeds.

The total expenditure for biosecurity this financial year is $744.3 million—an increase of $140.9 million or 23.4% since 2012-13.

For information on how to identify brown marmorated stink bugs, visit agriculture. gov.au/pests-diseases-weeds/plant/brownmarmorated-stink-bug.

Nail Clip Mildura Vine & Tree Nursery

NEED VINES OR

GRAFTING?

Grafted vines, vinifera and rootstock now available.

Taking orders now for 2018

Screw Clip

Specially developed for the viticulture industry to provide positive wire-to-post fastening.

• Clips are moulded from polyethylene UV stabilised plastic capable of resisting temperature extremes.

• Screws are protected by a high durability coating for longer life.

• Available in single or double ended clips.

• By design, the load is carried by the screw rather than the clip.

• Screw pull-out loads far exceed those of nails and staples.

Cost-effective wire-to-post • Screws can be driven into softer timbers without pre-drilling.

• Posts are not subjected to hammer shock when screw driving. fastening using the successful Vini Clip System.

• Clips also available for nailing if preferred (recommend nailgun for best results).

All Products Proudly

Automatic Flusher Valve for Irrigation Hose

- Australian -

Incorporating Spiralfast™ Tension Ties.

Available in three sizes to fit Israeli & Australian 17mm and 13mm dripper irrigation lines.

We also do contract Field Grafting and changing varieties

Ph 0408 140 729

Mildura Vine

March 2018 – Issue 650

Water exits here

Now you can allow air to evacuate from your dripper system and automatically shut off when the water reaches them. When water pressure is turned off the valve automatically opens, allowing flushing and drainage of lines. Also can be wedged open for power flushing.

61 2 9482 5663 • ppp@tpg.com.au Now available from our New Zealand agent, Amacron Ph 08 00102253 www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

29

grapegrowing

Seasonal events test German cool climate Riesling growers Facing up to the challenges of climate change Mark Smith recently travelled to Germany’s south-western wine regions to learn more from local growers about changing weather patterns and the difficulties of maintaining traditional growing practices. In the heartland of German Riesling, he found that weather extremes are becoming a more common concern.

“E

verybody talks about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it,” wrote American author Mark Twain.

More than a century later, much the same can be written of climate change. Indeed, it’s now 30 years since the international body charged with assessing climate science – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – first met in Geneva, Switzerland. Who’s made mention of that?

Relevant data, of course, mounts up day by day. January 2018 saw the release of the Annual Climate Statement by Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. The news wasn’t good. Last year was Australia’s third hottest on record.

Officially 21.5° Celsius, the area-averaged mean temperature for 2017 was almost a full degree above that calculated for 1961-1990. Simple averaging of temperature maxima made it the second warmest year on record in Australia. Our five hottest years have all occurred since 2005.

Increased temperatures Preliminary estimates already indicate 2017 was equally noteworthy globally, and it was easily the hottest year in which there was no El Niño weather system to push temperature maxima ever higher. January’s Climate Statement noted, “… it is likely 2017 will be the second or third-warmest year on

Historic Weingut Andreas Laible traces its family’s involvement in winemaking back as far as 1672.

30 Grapegrower & Winemaker

record since 1850… Global temperatures have increased by just over one degree since the pre-industrial period, and all of the ten warmest years on record have occurred between 1998 and the present.”

Grapegrowers and winemakers on the world’s second driest continent are not the only ones facing unique industry challenges. Wine producers everywhere are on red alert – and that includes those that grow and make Riesling in its traditional heartland of Germany.

Weingut Andreas Laible – located in the town of Durbach, Baden – can trace its family’s involvement in winemaking in the southwest back as far as 1672. Almost every year now, seasonal events in and around the company’s 7.5ha vineyard provide new and unique entries for its historic record books.

Petra Laible remembers vines on the bony, granitic southfacing slopes of the renowned Durbacher Plaurelrain vineyard springing to life two weeks earlier than normal in 2017. Next, new shoot growth was sped along by the region’s warmest March on record. Cooler than average weather then brought a wake-up call. Severe frost literally blitzed growers near the end of April, when their vine shoots were already 20cm in length.

“The frost came with temperatures around -6.0° Celsius, and left us with vintage losses of 20%-30%,” Laible said.

“The slopes here are very steep – between 40% and 80% –

Vines on south-facing slopes in some German Riesling producing areas the sprang to life two weeks earlier than normal in 2017. www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

southern States in late May and early June, and resulting in the loss of at least a dozen lives due to various inundations.

At Durbach, heavy rainfall and subsequent soil erosion brought about the collapse of a decade-old planting of vines on a property adjoining Weingut Andreas Laible.

“We had very heavy rain and our neighbour’s whole terrace just collapsed,” Petra Laible recalled.

“We were more fortunate. We’ve done a lot of work in recent years to establish drains and mulch our vines, in order to prevent the threat of erosion and the collapse of steep terraces.

We haven’t always been so lucky. About a decade ago, we planted some Syrah here as a trial, just to see how it would grow. We had hail three years in a row and our plantings were completely destroyed,” she said.

Northernmost cool climate region

Petra Laible from Weingut Andreas Laible, located in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

and we’re normally spared from such events. The last time we had frost was around 60 years ago, and only the old people living in the valley can remember it. The seasons are starting earlier and earlier, but we just have to get on with things.”

Riesling accounts for 4ha of the family’s vineyard holdings. Each highly-prized plant is trained to a single upright pole, according to the region’s long practised tradition of Einzelpfahlerziehung. One vine per pole means a vast amount of time is spent managing the site. Long dry spells often punctuate summer and create unwelcome water stress, something all too characteristic to Plaurelrain, thanks to its skeletal soils and ancient geology.

Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, a handful of producers near the famed rocky outcrop of Kaiserstuhl – less than 70km south of Durbach – decided it was time for things to be done differently in their vineyards. They resolved to simplify the rigour of the region’s intensive viticulture by bulldozing their way through the landscape, transforming terroir in a bid to create larger, more easily managed terraces. Forty years on, the loss of unique formations and microclimates has resulted in a loss of quality and regionality in the wines now produced from the sites.

Growers committed to quality tough out difficult seasons. A long dry spell through the whole of October 2017 saw the Laible family begin handpicking their Riesling (aka Klingelberger) ahead of schedule, before water stress and falling acidity compromised their harvests. Gladly, Europe’s 11th warmest October on record had been preceded by a cooler than average September in southern Germany, and wine quality in 2017 remains promising for Weingut Andreas Laible.

September 2016 in Baden was a different matter entirely.

Back then, a fabulously dry and sunny summer was brought to an end with a very warm month indeed – Europe’s hottest September since records began in 1910. The fine weather extended well into October, with Riesling being harvested in pristine condition. Cool nights helped preserve natural acidity, providing raw materials for excellent wines with crystal clear varietal character.

Harvest completed a memorable year in the vineyard.

Growers had experienced an anxious start. Europe’s second warmest February since 1910 had been followed by much cooler months, delaying budburst in many wine regions.

Damp weather in early spring then became almost torrential in some parts of Germany, causing flooding in central and March 2018 – Issue 650

Growers in the Mosel Valley some 200km to the north of Weingut Andreas Laible know only too well the perils of cultivating steep vineyard slopes. For countless decades of wine production, the ancient Devonian slate terraces that border latitude 50° North have been regarded as the northernmost extremity of viable, cool climate viticulture in Europe.

Warming temperatures in the region – which is flanked by the Mosel’s Saar and Ruwer tributaries – have helped make winegrowing less marginal than in the past. Steep hillsides, with occasionally dizzying vineyard aspects, require owners to bear very substantial financial burdens. It has been estimated that around 1500 working hours are need to cultivate a hectare of vines in the Mosel Valley. That’s roughly twice the time needed in the much flatter Pfalz (or Palatinate) region that runs parallel to the Rhine River some 500km further east.

The picturesque Mosel Valley continues to provide a home to the distinctive Bogrebenerziehung method of vine training – one upright stake holding each plant, with a rather quirky looking heart or bow shape being fashioned from a long vine cane. The practice offers good light penetration and air circulation around each plant, but is time-consuming. Yields are invariably low, often around 50hL/ha. Here and there, wire trellises make small inroads on the landscape.

Weingut Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken has a reputation for wine quality that is equalled by few producers in these parts.

Germany’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’ for 2017, Hanno Zilliken and his daughter Dorothee grow Riesling grapes on their 11ha of vines along the Saar.

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

31

grapegrowing

Hanno Zilliken among his Riesling vines. A major concern is that flowering doesn’t occur too early due to warmer temperatures.

Dubbed Germany’s Winemaker of the Year by the influential cool air temperatures courtesy of exposure to significant wind Gault Millau Weinguide 2017, Hanno Zilliken and his daughter – all play bit parts in creating the wine magic.

Dorothee craft wines of exquisite beauty from their 11ha of “In some parts of Germany, we’re starting to see Riesling vines along the Saar. They may grow only Riesling, but that ripen too quickly,” noted Dorothee Zilliken. doesn’t stop them from having as many as 20 different wines “Time on the vine is becoming too short for bunches to in their sales portfolio. achieve proper aroma and flavour development. Owners often The aforementioned Weinguide credits the Zilliken family have to pick to avoid alcohol becoming too high or acidity with having Germany’s Best Riesling becoming too low. Here, we have the Kabinett, Best Riesling Auslese, and Best luxury of waiting. Our major concern is Riesling Spatlese 10 Years and Older. that we don’t have flowering too early.

Two village vineyards – Saaburger In 2016, it was cold and wet during Warming Rausch and Ockfener Bockstein – flowering and we only picked 20% of our temperatures in provide the company with its Riesling usual harvest because some parts of our the region – which riches. Indeed, ‘riches’ is very apt, for vineyards had no grapes at all.”

Zilliken are renowned for the bevy of is flanked by the remarkable late harvest Rieslings that Loss of soil moisture Mosel’s Saar and sets Trockenbeerenauslese at the top Like their peers elsewhere with steep of their product pyramid, along with slopes, many sites along the Mosel, Ruwer tributaries Beerenauslese and Eiswein.

Saar and Ruwer rivers are challenged – have helped That noted, the family’s wines mirror by water stress in warmer years trends elsewhere in Germany, with because of loss of soil moisture. High make winegrowing many more dry wine styles now being rates of evapotranspiration and plant less marginal than created than was the case 30 years ago. dehydration add to the problem, and Warming temperatures typically allow can be attributed to high levels of solar in the past. riper spectra of aromas and flavours to radiation. become evident in the glass, along with “Degree of vineyard slope has a major levels of residual sugar that sometimes effect on plant evapotranspiration,” run counter to logic or organoleptic assessment. (The 2016 explained Professor Dr Hans Schultz, President of Hochschule Ockfener Riesling Kabinett has 52g/L of residual sugar. The Geisenheim University.

2014 has 56g/L; the 2012 has 61g/L. All seem quite dry on the Schultz visited Australia in mid-2016, and was a key palate.) presenter at Adelaide’s Wine Industry Technical Conference.

Thin, bony soils; steep, south-facing vineyards that are There, he noted recent research in Germany’s Rheingau around 100m higher than neighbours elsewhere in the Mosel; indicated the amount of evapotranspiration experienced by a 32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

vine on a site with zero inclination could be as much as 791mm per year. Meanwhile, a similar vine planted on a 30° slope was likely to exhale 998mm of water – some 26% more than the vine planted on flat ground.

He concluded, “we need to analyse all climate data carefully, region by region, for strategic decisions to be made with respect to cultivation.”

Thomas Haag, owner/winemaker of highly respected family company Weingut Schloss Lieser, has spent many years doing exactly that in the Middle Mosel. His 22ha of Riesling are scattered across 170 different plots.

Wines from Graacher Himmelreich, Lieser Schlossberg, Niederberg Helden and Juffer Sonnenuhr represent some of the greatest names in German viticulture, but Haag is a realist and accepts the industry must adapt to the challenges of climate change. Recent concerns about mid and late season sunburn are being addressed by careful canopy manipulation “to ensure the right kind of fruit exposure and a proper balance between leaves and fruit on the vine”.

Haag is quick to recognise that trellis wires and small Caterpillar tractors can add efficiencies to vineyards, but he’s not prepared to deny the value of some long established methods. Single post vine training in some locations can outperform VSP trellises by helping to retard rapid increases in must weights in warm seasons, while preserving all important natural acidity.

“I think the intensity of the challenges we have today is just like we had 30 years ago,” Haag said.

“But the challenges themselves are completely different ones now. In the 1980s, we had a number of poor vintages and wine quality went up and down. At times, you were just happy to be able to select some ripe grapes to make a good Kabinett Riesling.

“Today, we worry that fruit will be too ripe and our wines too rich and alcoholic. Unlike 30 years ago, we talk with our colleagues about solving our day-to-day problems. We began doing that in the 1990s. It was like coming out of a dark tunnel.

Today, we know we are not alone in facing the challenges of the future.”

New powdery mildew chemistry anticipated for 2018 When new chemistry makes its way from initial discovery, through the research and development (R&D) pipeline and then to the grower, it is indeed exciting. It’s a process that can take more than 10 years!

From a R&D company’s perspective, the new active should be a standout. It’s initially picked up in large screening trials with thousands of other chemical compounds. It’s then tested over many years for its action, activity and safety to the environment.

Tens of thousands of potential active ingredients drop away in the process. Once it has overcome those substantial hurdles, the best formulation is then developed to meet the needs of growers. The new product needs to be easily diluted in the spray tank to give a homogenous solution, which gives uniform spray coverage and delivers active to the target. Compatibility with other products and crop safety are also major considerations in formulation choice.

Then it comes down to what manufacturing techniques will be employed before the product can be commercially released.

With such large costs and long development timelines, it is small wonder that only a handful of truly unique products are introduced each year across the globe.

As one of the few remaining R&D companies, it’s clear to Syngenta that any new crop protection product needs to have either a clear rotational fit or deliver significant benefits in biological efficacy, or both, over existing products to be worth all that effort.

From Syngenta’s R&D pipeline comes the anticipated release of the new fungicide MIRAVIS®, containing the new Adepidyn® technology, and currently under Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) review. MIRAVIS is a powdery mildew specialist providing exceptional control of powdery mildew in grape vines.

Syngenta has run Australian trials over the past few years leading up to the product launch in 2018. Demonstration trials have shown how well MIRAVIS performs under what can only be described as extreme disease conditions.

For more information or to see the demonstration trials, contact your local agronomist/viticulturist or Syngenta Territory Sales Representative. Trials this season are based in South Australia’s Riverland and Adelaide Hills and in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Sites are located so they are within relatively easy reach of airports.

Concerns about mid and late season sunburn are being addressed by careful canopy manipulation at Weingut Schloss Lieser’s 22ha of scattered Riesling vines in the Mosel Valley March 2018 – Issue 650

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

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

33

ask the

grapegrowing

Spray drift Damage to grapevines caused by herbicides drifting onto vineyards from sprays conducted on nearby properties occurs occasionally in Australia. Queries about this issue, commonly known as ‘spray drift’, are received from time to time by the AWRI helpdesk. This column provides answers to some of the more common questions about this topic.

Effects of simulated 2,4-D drift on trial vines at Charles Sturt University. Picture courtesy of Gerhard Rossouw

I’m seeing some odd leaf symptoms on my grapevines and I think they have been subjected to off-target spray drift. What should I do?

Grapevines are very sensitive to some herbicides, even at low levels of exposure, but leaf distortion can result from many factors including nutrient deficiency/toxicity, trunk diseases, insect damage and viruses. If you see unusual symptoms on grapevines and are unsure of the cause, you can send pictures of the leaves and canopy to the AWRI helpdesk for assistance. If the symptoms are suspected to be from a chemical drift incident, it should be reported to the appropriate authority in your region, so they can investigate the extent of the damage, advise on the possible causes and take further action. Agricultural chemical users have a legal obligation to ensure that the chemicals they apply stay within the target area. It is an offence 34 Grapegrower & Winemaker

if a spray results in injury to plants or stock outside the target area or causes contamination of agricultural produce.

Is there a national body to report a spray drift incident to?

Responsibilit y for addressing incidents of off-target spray drift lies with each state and territory government. The table below provides phone numbers for the relevant organisation in each state or territory. Further details are also provided on the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website, but if you are in any doubt, please contact the AWRI helpdesk for assistance.

Will I find out who is responsible for the drift?

It may be possible to identify where the spray came from and the applicator, but in some weather conditions droplets from chemical sprays can travel many www.winetitles.com.au

kilometres before landing, so identifying the source is not always possible.

If I think I have been affected by spray drift, should I test my leaves for agrochemical residue?

In circumstances where the spray drift was noticed at the time, and the applicator is known, it may be useful to test grape leaves for chemical residues to confirm that spray drift has occurred.

In this case you are testing only for those herbicides that were used in the spray mix. In situations where the applicator and chemicals involved are not known, trying to identify the herbicide through grapevine tissue testing can be costly and is not recommended. Even if you have a strong suspicion of what has caused the damage, the effort spent on testing leaves during the growing season is better spent on testing grapes at harvest or testing the finished wine.

March 2018 – Issue 650

State or territory

Who to contact in case of spray drift

Australian Capital Territory

Environment Protection Authority – 132 281

New South Wales

Environment Protection Authority – 131 555

Queensland

Biosecurity Queensland – 132 523

South Australia

Biosecurity SA – 1300 799 684

Tasmania

AgVet Chemicals Program – 03 6777 2133

Victoria

Agriculture Victoria – 136 186

Western Australia

Department of Health – 08 9222 4222

Should I test the grapes or the wine?

To confirm the presence of an active constituent, testing of the final wine is more useful than testing the fruit. This is primarily because the fermentation process is known to affect chemical residues and once the wine is finished the product is largely homogenous.

If grape residue testing is required, a grape sample should be collected that is indicative of the whole vineyard, and not just the portion of the vineyard where symptoms were more visibly obvious.

Drift across a block is unlikely to be uniform, and a sample taken just from the affected area will not give a true indication of the overall residue level in the fruit. In addition, as residue levels in fruit can change as the season progresses due to chemical degradation, movement within the vine and dilution as fruit expands, the sample should be taken as close to harvest as possible.

The AWRI can assist in helping estimate the transfer of residues from grapes to wine if there is data available for the particular active constituent, but because herbicides are not applied to grapevines, this is not always the case.

If my vines have been affected by spray drift, will the grape buyer reject my fruit?

After the incident is reported to the relevant authority, that authority’s assessment will help the grape buyer in deciding whether residue testing is required to confirm that the fruit is fit for purpose. It would be expected that each spray drift incident is assessed individually, and a decision taken based on the advice from the investigation and any residue testing results.

INNOVATION FOR GROWTH

ERO GRAPELINER HARVESTER

from herbicide drift and still produce ripe grapes, but the recovery depends on the age of the vine, the severity of the drift event and the herbicides involved.

Young vines are more susceptible than established vines and sometimes do not recover after herbicide damage.

Avoiding putting affected vines through water stress can help in their recovery.

Is research being done to better understand off-target herbicide damage?

An investigation into the impact on grapevines of four common herbicides began in spring 2017 at Charles Sturt University. The research will monitor and describe the development of leaf, shoot and bunch injuries in grapevines in response to exposure to four herbicides commonly used in broadacre weed control (2,4-D, MCPA, dicamba and glyphosate) as the season progresses towards grape maturity. The effects of the herbicides on grapev ine canopy function, metabolic pathways, fruit composition, carbohydrate reserves and incidence of bud necrosis will be assessed. The study will promote understanding of the underlying physiological and metabolic implications of specific herbicide exposures on grapevines.

For further information about spray drift or any other technical matter, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on (08) 8313 6600 or email helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Engineered by our German partner ERO to minimise downtime over the harvest period, with a comfortable cab, ergonomic controls and large fuel tank, they’re quick in the vineyard and on the road too!

Arrange a V18 demo now Call us on 1800 269 773 or sales@fmrgroup.com.au if you’re serious about improving your harvest outcome.

NEW ZEALAND: 0800 367 583 FMRGROUP.CO.NZ AUSTRALIA: 1800 269 773 FMRGROUP.COM.AU

Will the vines survive?

Grapevines are known to recover March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

35

grapegrowing SUPPLIER UPDATE

INNOVATION FOR GROWTH

ERO GRAPELINER HARVESTER

Engineered by our German partner ERO to minimise downtime over the harvest period, with a comfortable cab, ergonomic controls and large fuel tank, they’re quick in the vineyard and on the road too!

Arrange a V18 demo now Call us on 1800 269 773 or sales@fmrgroup.com.au if you’re serious about improving your harvest outcome.

NEW ZEALAND: 0800 367 583 FMRGROUP.CO.NZ AUSTRALIA: 1800 269 773 FMRGROUP.COM.AU

36 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Pilot program for autonomous vineyard tractor New Holland Agriculture has partnered with E. & J. Gallo Winery – the largest familyowned winery in the world – in a pilot project testing for NHDrive autonomous technolog y w ith application to T4.110F vineyard tractors.

This collaborative pilot program is focused on gathering ag ronomic and operator feedback on the use of this technology in everyday vineyard activities, with the ultimate objective of delivering autonomous solutions that are driven by the real-world requirements of winegrowers.

The pilot program is the latest step in the New Holland autonomous vehicle program and its exploration of the various applications that can benefit the most from this technology.

The brand unveiled its NHDrive autonomous solution in 2017 at a number of Australian field days, and to date, has previewed it on the T7 heavy duty and T8 tractor ranges illustrating possible row crop applications.

The new pilot program with the T4.110F demonstrates that New Holland’s autonomous solution is applicable to the brand’s entire range of tractors, from high horsepower row crop all the way through to its specialty ranges.

New Holland Agriculture brand president, Carlo Lambro, explained that sustainability and innovation are the drivers for New Holland.

“That’s how we help our customers to farm efficiently and profitably today, and anticipate the way their needs will change,” she said.

“We believe that specialty operations, and in particular those in the vineyard environment, could significantly benefit from the introduction of autonomous technology, in terms of productivity and sustainability.

“Our partner in the pilot program, E. & J. Gallo Winery, shares our commitment www.winetitles.com.au

to innovation and sustainability in viticulture, as well as our objective of providing an autonomous solution that will benefit winegrowers around the world.”

The pilot program is taking place in an E. & J. Gallo Winery vineyard in California, USA, with T4.110F tractors fitted with NHDrive autonomous technology.

During the course of the initial research and development program, further progress has been made into the integration of the various component parts, specifically the sensing and perception elements and the signal receivers.

This pilot is focused on a full range of vineyard maintenance and crop production tasks, which will provide feedback to further develop these activities during autonomous operation.

These often repetitive applications, represent a broad cross-section of activities that are undertaken in vineyards, and are also representative of those carried out by the wider agricultural community.

The data generated during the pilot will enrich the New Holland autonomous vehicle program, providing real-world detail on the full range of possible automated and autonomous applications.

These include operator assisted autonomy, where the NHDrive supports the operator in the cab; supervised autonomy, where the operator will be in the field and supervises unmanned vehicles, and ultimately full autonomy, with no local supervision.

March 2018 – Issue 650

Quality First, No Compromises

GRAPEVINES www.kcvines.com.au

VARIETY ARNEIS BARBERA CAB FRANC CAB SAUV CHARDONNAY

CLONE

ROOT STOCKS

CVT15

OR [OWN ROOTS ]

424, AT84

SO4

P58

RICHTER 110

CW44, G9V3, SA125

RICHTER110,RUGGERI,RAMSEY,101-14, PAULSEN

76, 95, 96, G9V7, P58, MENDOZA

101-14, 99 RICHTER,PAULSEN, 5BB, SCHWARZMANN

CHENIN BLANC

PAULSEN

DURIF

H7V13

PAULSEN

MALBEC

CW14

PAULSEN

MERLOT

FPS 08

101-14

MAT SERIES, SAVII 03

RICHTER 110, 101-14

MAT 1

PAULSEN

PETITE VERDOT

G7V1

PAULSEN

PINOT GRIS

D1V7

RICHTER 110

BESTS

RUGGERI

114, 115, 667, 777, ABEL, D4V2, MV6,MARIAF

OR, 101-14, PAULSEN, 5489, RAMSEY, 5C, 5BB, R 110

VCR101

SO4

REFOSCO

CVR14

OR

RIESLING

D2V2, I10V10

OR, 101-14

SAPERAVI

I11V10

101-14, 5BB

SAUV BLANC

H5V10

RAMSEY

NEBBIOLO NERO D’AVOLA

PINOT MEUNIER PINOT NOIR PROCECCO

SEMILLON SHIRAZ

SCHWARZMANN 1654, C6-17, KYEEMA

OR, 101-14

TRAMINER

456

SCHWARZMANN

VERDEHLO

KOSOVICH

SCHWARZMANN

ZINFANDEL

C11V7

KOBER 5BB

SUNGLO

CSIRO

RAMSEY

BLACK GEM

CSIRO

RAMSEY

AVAILABLE FOR SAME YEAR SPRING PLANTING

“The future belongs to those who plant for it” Postal: P.O. Box 1054, Mildura Vic 3502 Nursery: 6527 Sturt Highway, Trentham Cliffs [via Mildura] NSW 2738 P: 03 5024 8812 F: 03 5024 8834 E: justin@kcvines.com.au M: 0407 309 961, 0427 808 998

w ww w w.v w.v ii nehea nehea lt lt h.com.au h.com.au

Richard Angove from Angove Family Winemakers, Phil the Phylloxera Guy and Vinehealth Australia CEO Inca Pearce at the RVC launch in February.

Who’s hitchhiking with you?

T

hat’s the question wine tourists in South Australia are being asked in the fight against hitchhiker pests that could decimate the wine industry.

The campaign, created by Vinehealth Australia, was launched in February at Angove Family Winemakers in McLaren Vale by Leon Bignell MP, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and Minister for Tourism.

The main character of the campaign is ‘Phil the Phylloxera Guy’, who hitches a ride from vineyard to vineyard with various groups of tourists. It’s intentionally silly to cut through the serious nature of biosecurity. You can view and share the campaign at www. vinehealth.com.au/tourism.

In reality, phylloxera is a tiny pest that can be picked up and spread by tourists on tyres, shoes, clothes and equipment.

And while phylloxera is present in other parts of Australia, South Australia is proudly phylloxera free.

38

“Tourists could walk through a phylloxera-infested vineyard in Australia or overseas, and unknowingly, pick up the tiny insect on their shoes or clothing, then be in a phylloxera-free vineyard later that day or weeks later and spread phylloxera there,” said Inca Pearce, CEO of Vinehealth Australia.

We’re asking tourists not to walk or drive close to vines or down vine rows. Stick to the roads and paths.

“Our campaign asks tourists not to let Phil the phylloxera bug and his nasty pest friends hitchhike with them. We’re asking tourists not to walk or drive close to vines or down vine rows. Stick to the roads and paths.”

The risk The vines underpinning South Australia’s $2.11 billion wine industry are free of phylloxera and many of the other pests and diseases that have decimated wine regions around the world. But increased global and national trade and tourism means increased pest and disease risk.

There has been a doubling in the number of exotic plant pest incursions in Australia in the past seven years1. And phylloxera is being detected in more vineyards in Victoria.

Research commissioned by Vinehealth Australia in 2017 showed that 44% of female visitors and 28% of male visitors to wine regions expect to be able to take photos amongst the vines as part of their wine tourism experience.

IGAB review, 2017: http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ biosecurity/partnerships/nbc/intergovernmentalagreement-on-biosecurity/igabreview#final-report.

1

27

“It’s wonderful that tourists are visiting our regions and enjoying our wines.

In this campaign, we’re encouraging tourists to play an important role in our Australian wine story. We have some of the oldest vines in the world in South Australia, and we want to keep it that way,” Inca said.

“There are many ways tourists can enjoy all that our wine regions have to offer without risking the health of our vines. We’re encouraging tourists to chat to the staff about tours, experiences and activities available when they arrive at the cellar door.”

Responsible Visitation Who’s Hitchhiking With You? is part of a broader Responsible Visitation Campaign, developed by Vinehealth Australia, which also includes: A Wine Tourism Biosecurity Training Program for South Australian cellar door, marketing and tourism staff in wine regions, to arm them with knowledge and tools for keeping vines healthy.

Tourist-friendly signage for cellar doors, to educate visitors about their role in keeping vines healthy. The signs are available for purchase at w w w. vinehealth.com.au/industry/resources/ host ing-v isitors/host ing-w ine-tourssignage

The creation of six ‘best practice’ cellar door sites in South Australian wine regions featuring the new tourist signage, and Cellar Door Kits with footwear disinfestation equipment, sturdy disposable shoe covers, rubber boots and educational materials. The cellar doors are Skillogalee Wines in the Clare Valley, Charles Melton in the Barossa Valley, Golding Wines in the Adelaide Hills, Angove Family Winemakers in McLaren Vale, Bremerton in Langhorne Creek and Zema Estate in Coonawarra.

The campaign is funded by Vinehealth Australia and Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA), with additional support from the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA).

“We’re proud to be a supporter of this important campaign for South Australian growers and wineries,” said Brian Smedley, Chief Executive of SAWIA. “South Australian wine businesses welcome tourists to our regions to enjoy the increasing diversity of experiences while enjoying a glass or two of wine.

However, given the increasing number of wine tourists, the wine industry needs to ensure there is clear guidance provided to protect our most valuable assets – our vines.”

The growing tourism market

According to South Australian Tourism Commission figures2, in the 12 months to September 2017, total tourism expenditure in SA grew to a record high $6.3 billion up 2.0 percent for the year. This was led by international expenditure, up 13 percent.

And international visits to South Australia grew by 2.8 percent in the year to September 2017 to a record high of 442,000.

Research also shows that over the past decade, the number of aircraft passengers into Australia has increased by 80% 3.

Cruise ship numbers visiting Adelaide are also increasing. One ship will have a permanent berth at Outer Harbour. More people from all over the world will be arriving via cruise ships and seeking out experiences.

Added to this, the Australian Government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package aims to grow the Australian wine sector by showcasing the nation’s wine tourism offering and drawing more tourists to our regions.

2 SATC: http://tourism.sa.gov.au/research-andstatistics/south-australia/value-of-tourism.

3 IGAB review, 2017: http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ biosecurity/partnerships/nbc/intergovernmentalagreement- on-biosecurity/igabreview#finalreport.

The Charles Melton crew at cellar door training: Krys Smith, Virginia Weckert, Charlie Melton, Cam Malouf, Lucy Fitzpatrick, Erin Hoklas and Debbie Tregeagle with Vinehealth Australia training manager Rebecca Weatherill.

28

39

Ground force

w w w.v i nehea lt h.com.au

Cellar door staff are on the wine tourism frontline, and these people are the key to the success of this campaign.

With that in mind, Vinehealth Australia created a Wine Tourism Biosecurity training program as a pillar of the Responsible Visitation Campaign.

The free training program is currently being rolled out across South Australian wine regions, with individual site training at larger cellar doors and group training for smaller cellar doors.

The training program includes information, dialogue and tools for cellar door staff to use when sharing the ‘healthy vines’ message with visitors.

“The response from wineries has been incredibly positive,” said Vinehealth Australia training manager Rebecca Weatherill.

“Winery owners and cellar door teams are passionate about the health of their vines. The biggest problem for many wineries is the access tourists have to their vines. Car parking areas and cellar doors are often very close to vines, and these vines are usually unfenced. Cellar doors are often designed without biosecurity in mind, so we’re workshopping ideas to help manage the risks posed by this common issue.

“The signage that we’ve developed to educate tourists about not walking into vine rows certainly helps. And cellar door staff are now considering the use of rubber boots or disposable shoe covers for visitors who are granted access to the vineyard.

“I’m spending time with cellar door staff getting the message right. An important message for tourists is that we have some of the oldest vines in the world here in South Australia, and we want to keep it that way.”

Next steps Vinehealth Australia is now working with the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA), to explore opportunities to extend the Responsible Visitation Campaign and the Wine Tourism Biosecurity training program nationally.

“We know this project is relevant to every winery and cellar door in Australia,” said Inca Pearce. “We’ve been lucky in Australia to avoid many of the nasty pests and diseases that other wine regions around the world have to deal with, such as Pierce’s Disease. We have phylloxera in Australia, but it is currently confined to regions in Victoria and New South Wales. Containing phylloxera within those regions is vital.”

40

Leon Bignell MP and Phil the Phylloxera Guy.

A lack of available chemical or biological control for phylloxera means there is no treatment for a vineyard infested with phylloxera. The only management option is to pull out the vines and replant with new vines that have been grafted onto phylloxera tolerant or resistant rootstock. Pulling out vines and replanting comes at an approximate cost of $60,000 per hectare 4, including vine removal, new grafted vine material and new block 4 Calculated in 2017 by Vinehealth Australia and benchmarked against industry standards.

infrastructure, notwithstanding the loss of production while plantings mature.

“Best practice biosecurity is about identif y ing risks, understanding them and then managing those risks.

Controlling who enters your vineyards is an important part of managing the risks to the health of your vines.”

For more information about the Responsible Visitation Campaign visit h t t p ://v i n e h e a l t h . c o m . a u /p r o j e c t s/ responsible-visitation-campaign/ 29

Top four for #V18 People

T

his vintage, Vinehealth Australia is asking vineyard owners to focus on four key biosecurity activities. They’ve even come up with a cool acronym: VIPP. Ok, the acronym might not stick, but the topics are worth thinking about. So here are the top four topics for #V18.

1. Vehicles, machinery and equipment 2. Interstate links 3. People 4. Property access “Best practice farm-gate hygiene can stop the spread of pests and diseases, including phylloxera. These four focus areas will help to ensure you do your bit to keep your own vines and our industry safe,” said Inca Pearce, CEO of Vinehealth Australia.

Vehicals/Machinery/Equipment Do you allow unauthorised vehicles to drive down your vine rows? If so, you’re risking the health of your vines.

Ensure all visitors report to the office on arrival. Use signs, fences and gates to advise of property restrictions. Can you provide a vineyard vehicle for visitors to use? And make sure parking areas are away from vines, on a hard pack surface.

When it comes to machinery and equipment, make sure you check the 30

following before you grant access to your vine rows: • That their movement complies with state plant quarantine regulations; • That they are clean of all soil and plant material; • That they have undergone appropriate sterilisation according to state plant quarantine regulations; and • That they are accompanied by all required biosecurity documentation outlined in state plant quarantine regulations.

Interstate links Do you regularly review your links with interstate vineyards, wineries, contractors and suppliers? Are those businesses in a Phylloxera Infested Zone (PIZ) or Phylloxera Risk Zone (PRZ)?

It’s important you understand the regulations and documentation required for the movement of grapes, grape products, machinery and equipment used in vineyards, diagnostic samples, soil and propagation material between Phylloxera Management Zones within and between states. You can get more information about state quarantine regulations at http://vinehealth.com. a u / i n d u s t r y/ p l a n s - a n d - p o l i c i e s / phylloxera-regulations/.

We know that increasing numbers of people are visiting our vineyards.

They are tourists, contractors, sales and supplier representatives, marketing staff and VIPS, researchers and others contributing to operational management.

These people come with a risk of picking up and spreading pests, diseases and weeds on their shoes, clothing, vehicle tyres and machinery and equipment they might bring with them.

It’s therefore important that you are in control of the flow of people around your property so you can manage and mitigate these risks. Ask all visitors to report to the office (or cellar door) on arrival.

Keep a visitor log, recording vineyard regions each person has visited in the past three weeks and check whether there has been a visit to a vineyard overseas or in a Phylloxera Infested or Risk Zone in Victoria, New South Wales or Queensland. Entry of anyone to your vine rows must only be granted under controlled conditions. For further information and practical tips, refer to Vinehealth Australia’s ‘Biosecurity Planning for Vineyard Owners Hosting Visitors’ fact sheet at http://vinehealth. com.au/i ndust r y/resou rces/host i ngv isitors/host ing-w ine-tours-posters/.

Importantly, also ensure you provide biosecurity training on hygiene protocols for all vineyard staff including contract and casual labour.

Property access Ensure your designated parking areas are away from vines and well signposted.

Minimise the number of entry points to your vineyard. Use signs, fences and gates to advise of property restrictions. If vineyards must be accessed, provide site vehicles to ensure only ‘safe’ vehicle tyres come into contact with your vineyard soil.

In tourist settings, you can also plant hedges and use attractive fencing or bunting at common entry points to vine rows – these are usually vines that are in close proximity to car parks, cellar doors and roadways.

Vinehealth Australia has a range of farm-gate and tourist-friendly biosecurity signs available for sale. Visit www. vinehealth.com.au for signage options or phone (08) 8273 0550.

41

grapegrowing SUPPLIER UPDATE

INNOVATION FOR GROWTH

ERO GRAPELINER HARVESTER

Seppeltsfield drives fungicide efficiency programs Risk management forms the basis of an effective fungicide strategy for one of Australia’s oldest wineries.

E

Engineered by our German partner ERO to minimise downtime over the harvest period, with a comfortable cab, ergonomic controls and large fuel tank, they’re quick in the vineyard and on the road too!

Arrange a V18 demo now Call us on 1800 269 773 or sales@fmrgroup.com.au if you’re serious about improving your harvest outcome.

NEW ZEALAND: 0800 367 583 FMRGROUP.CO.NZ AUSTRALIA: 1800 269 773 FMRGROUP.COM.AU

42 Grapegrower & Winemaker

stablished in the 1850s, Seppeltsfield has an iconic cellar door in SA’s Barossa region, with vineyards based in the Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale totalling 2265 hectares.

Seppeltsfield vineyard manager, Kingsley Fuller, is responsible for the company’s 1300 hectare Barossa vineyards, which is 70% Shiraz, with the remaining vines made up of varieties such as Cabernet, Grenache, Riesling, Mataro, Palomino, Touriga and Nero d’Avola.

Fuller has been managing the dripirrigated vineyard for eight years and is proactive when it comes to controlling pests and diseases.

“It’s generally not too bad here. In a dry year we don’t have too many problems, but in a wet year we will be susceptible to most fungal diseases,” he said.

“I wouldn’t call it a high-pressure region, however we still have to protect.

Because we have many and various vineyards, we need to have an effective risk management fungicide program, rather than a reactive one.

“In a small operation, labour, diesel and general tractor running costs may be a fairly minor consideration for spray applications, and while it’s all relative, when you increase the scale to our level, you can see why we wouldn’t want to spray any more than we have to,” he explained.

Fuller said the winery operated ten tow-behind spray units at the Barossa vineyard, completing up to six annual fungicide applications between October and December, taking ten to 14 days each application to cover all vineyards.

They predominately use copper and sulphur products, as well as azoxystrobin, to protect against powdery mildew and downy mildew.

“The issue with downy mildew is that you might have the right conditions for it to incubate, but you won’t visibly see evidence that it’s there for another ten days after. www.winetitles.com.au

“So if the conditions are conducive for it, we’ll probably spray copper for one to two rounds after that point to try and inhibit the problem from spreading further,” Fuller said.

“We’ll generally apply three copper sprays up until post-berry set (E-L stage 31), but sometimes we’ll do an additional spray if the conditions call for it.

“If you get a perfect storm with downy mildew, then it can wipe out the majority of crop, so it’s worth being vigilant,” he said.

Given the size of their fungicide program, Fuller said efficiency was crucial, and selecting products that were easy to use and just as effective was vital.

He said they introduced a new copperbased fungicide at Seppeltsfield this year, Airone WG by Relyon.

“It’s price competitive and the biggest point for us was the ease of usage.’’

“It’s compatible with other products and you can pour it straight into the spray tank without mixing into a paste or slurry beforehand, as some products require,” Fuller said.

“When you’ve got ten spray tanks running at one time, it’s so much easier not to need buckets or sticks on hand to mix. You can just tip Airone straight in the tank and keep moving.

“We haven’t had a lot of downy mildew pressure this year, but judging by how well the product sticks to the vine leaves, I’m expecting the efficacy in a high-pressure season to be just as good.”

The vineyard uses Airone at a rate of 200g/100L or 2kg/ha, with a 1000L dilute, for a total application rate of 500L/ha at full canopy.

Airone is based on a combination of copper oxychloride and copper hydroxide, in the form of water dispersible granules with quick action and long-lasting activity for the effective control of a range of diseases in vineyards.

March 2018 – Issue 650

winemaking

How to reduce power costs for wineries Energy Alternatives

A comprehensive guide to alternative energy options for winemakers

Power bills are rarely a pleasant experience for most business operators, and understanding what they mean can also be a challenge. From one vintage to the next, prices can soar ever higher with little explanation. That’s why Chloe Szentpeteri spoke to experts in energy, engineering and winemaking to put you on the path to better energy efficiency.

E

lectricity has been identified as the single largest cost factor for many winemaking businesses.

There are many options that help reduce power costs, and most of them start with a few small steps that cost very little, but will save significant dollars.

Understanding power usage patterns can be the first major step for operators to gain insight into how energy efficient their operation is, and at what cost to their business.

There are two sides to the equation: consumption and the rate at which a business pays.

Firstly, consumption can be determined by the actions wineries take to reduce the amount of power used by applying various techniques to become more efficient.

Secondly, the rate at which businesses are charged for energy can be negotiated resulting in an agreed contract between them and power suppliers. There are a number of measures that can be taken to reduce this rate, which will be explored in greater detail later.

But let’s begin with consumption. The key areas to focus on include refrigeration, pumping, compressors and lighting.

a refrigeration plant, should be run as efficiently as possible. This can be done by upgrading or optimising the performance and operation of the machinery.

While upgrading comes at a small sum in the short term, the financial savings far outweigh this when looking at the improved long-term performance and energy savings.

“If you want to reduce your actual consumption there are also other ways,” said Gishen. “For example, [by] not unnecessarily overcooling when you don’t need to.”

He said tanks that don’t require constant refrigeration should not be kept excessively cold and should be turned off when not in use.

Gishen said turning tanks off is a bit like turning off the lights when you leave the room.

“Turn switches off and turn cooling off when you don’t need it rather than running the whole thing all the time at a set point and forgetting about it,” he said.

Running the refrigeration system at

a slightly higher temperature can also save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, from your energy bill.

“If you push the set point up by one degree you can save several per cent [in consumption] very easily and that’s unlikely to cause any harm to your wine quality,” Gishen explained.

Temperature and cold stabilisation Yalumba’s executive director, Andrew Murphy, and winery operations manager, John Ide, are two experts in the field of winery engineering and both have effectively managed energy efficiency at the winery’s Angaston operations in the Barossa.

Both agreed that refrigeration is the first point of power saving.

By using the above steps and adjusting temperature on tanks accordingly, the winery has had conservable success in becoming more efficient with power usage.

“So with electrical application it’s all

Refrigeration South Australian Wine Industry Association’s (SAWIA) environmental project officer, Mark Gishen, said that refrigeration consumes between 50-70% of electricity used at a typical winery (see Figure 1).

Gishen is a seasoned consultant and manager of operations and projects for the wine industry, and is an expert in associated technology. He has more than eight years in his role at SAWIA and 11 in his personal business, Gishen Consulting.

He said the equipment used for refrigeration, such as compressors at March 2018 – Issue 650

Figure 1: A breakdown of energy use in a typical winery. www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

43

winemaking

Refrigeration is between 50 – 70% of typical consumption use at a winery.

about heat transfer. It’s not about cold, it’s about lack of heat,” Murphy said.

In simple terms, refrigeration is taking heat out of something and removing it through a condenser.

“We have a little bit of brine for a few applications in sparkling wine production for some pressure tanks, but primarily we’re directing expansion of ammonia or chilled water for our fermentation.”

“So if you get red ferment that you run between 18°C and 26°C you don’t need -10°C in a refrigerant to get that, you just need a temperature differential to shift it so that’s why we use water and +4 as a primary refrigerant,” Murphy said.

“And when you’re running at those high temperatures your fridge runs much more efficiently. The amount of power you put in, the higher [the] heat transfer.”

Ide explained that cold stabilisation is run at about two to four degrees to recover potassium bio tartrate and is then seeded in large amounts.

“Other people would typically seed it at very small amounts because it’s quite expensive, and then not recover it and run at maybe -4°C, whereas we can get the same effect at 2°C over 24 hours really.

“We can achieve that because we recover all the tartrate and then reuse, so then we can dose in very large amounts compared to what other people do,” he said.

Pumping and compressors On average, pumping can use up between ten and 20%, and compressed air between five and ten per cent, of the total amount of power used by wineries.

44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

To be more cost effective, Yalumba pumps ammonia around its site as the primary refrigerant for chilling must and fermentation tanks. The use of brine as a secondary refrigerant has also proven effective, in contrast to its costly and inefficient use as a primary refrigerant.

“Both our wineries actually work on pumping out primary refrigeration and using compressors. So instead of having 30, 40 or 50KW pumps, sending thousands and thousands of litres of brine around, we have 5KW pumps pumping hundreds of litres,” Murphy said.

“There are only two pumps to do the whole winery, very small because it works on pressure as well as pumping,” Ide added.

This refrigeration system also has the option of off-peak loading to reduce costs and power consumption by maximising compressor efficiency.

Another method of power saving is using variable speed drives on compressors, although it comes at a substantial initial cost. A variable speed driver for a 450KW motor, for example, can be purchased for around $120,000.

But this outlay is likely to provide long-term benefits by cutting power consumption for many processes. These can be applied not just to air compressors for refrigeration, but also for bottling lines and even air conditioning systems within office spaces.

Ide said a 20-30% reduction in power usage can be achieved by installing variable speed drives, with the possibility that larger-scale wineries could produce even better results. www.winetitles.com.au

LED lights Lighting isn’t as big a concern as the other factors when it comes to the winery power bill. On average, it takes up around five per cent of total energy used. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to reduce costs by adopting more efficient options.

Although the price per unit of LED bulbs is expensive, they are a viable choice for winemakers leaving lights on 24 hours a day, and the return rate is quick.

“LED lights are typically less than two years payback for most areas, especially in wineries when you have lights on all night over vintage. Look at reduction and use,” Ide said.

Tariffs and demand Apart from alternative choices to improve energy efficiency, savings can also be found by using a different approach to power rates, network tariffs and demand.

Tariffs are the pricing structure used by retailers for charging customers and these vary depending on demand.

There is a small selection of tariffs related to demand that should be considered, but there are many more when it comes to managing the amount of kilowatts used per cents, and per hour.

Retailers, such as SA Power Networks, buy electricity from the gas plant and then they sell electricity back to consumers.

In South Australia there are two low voltage (LV) demand tariffs – agreed and March 2018 – Issue 650

James McIntyre, an associate from energy consultants 2XE, has a thorough understanding of the field of energy efficiency, with a particular focus on power consumption and how to reduce costs in the wine industry.

According to McIntyre, energ y providers use fundamental economics to balance out energy use by consumers.

“Because if they end up with massive peaks on electricity then that kills the grid. And that’s why the Tesla battery [in SA] is there because it helps alleviate that.

These peaks are also the result of demand. For example, during the middle of a heatwave, when consumers arrive home from work, the first thing many do is switch on the air conditions, like most other consumers.

Because of the spike in energy use, consumers are charged a premium for demand.

Figure 3 represents a full day’s energy consumption for two different wineries.

It shows how much power is used per hour, and the average amount used over two and three month periods. The first winery (in black) has systems in place to ensure a consistent power consumption, unlike the second winery (in orange), which will be charged more for demand during the peak hours of a typical nine to five weekday.

“If you have a winery using an amount of electricity over a lengthy period, compared to a winery that uses all their electricity in one hour, [the latter] are paying so much more in demand,” said McIntyre.

“There’s about three times’ difference in price with peak and off-peak usage.”

This is where vintage impacts your March 2018 – Issue 650

Comparison of agreed and actual demand $16,000 $14,000 $12,000 $10,000 $8,000 $6,000 $4,000 $2,000 $0

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Tariff ty pe 1

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Tariff ty pe 2

Figure 2 represents a winery that has tried both an agreed demand and an actual demand tariff

Good vs Bad demand profile 5 00.0 450.0 400.0 350.0 300.0 250.0 200.0 150.0 100.0 5 0.0 12 :0 0 A 1: M 00 AM 2: 00 A 3: M 00 A 4: M 00 A 5: M 00 A 6: M 00 A 7: M 00 A 8: M 00 A 9: M 00 1 0 AM :0 0 1 1 AM :0 0 1 2 AM :0 0 P 1: M 00 PM 2: 00 P 3: M 00 P 4: M 00 P 5: M 00 PM 6: 00 P 7: M 00 P 8: M 00 P 9: M 00 10 PM :0 0 1 1 PM :0 0 PM

actual.

LV agreed demand tariffs charge on the basis of a business’ highest demand during peak usage times during workdays and these come in two periods: Annual Demand Period – Any half hour period between 12 noon and 9pm (local time) on workdays between November and March, excluding public holidays.

Anytime Demand Period - Any half hour period outside the annual demand period.

LV actual demand tariffs charge on the basis of a business’ maximum actual recorded demand during peak usage times on workdays and also come in two periods: Peak Monthly Demand – Any half hour period from 12pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday.

Off-peak Demand Period - Any half hour period outside the peak period.

Good

Bad

3 per. Mov. Avg. (Good)

2 per. Mov. Avg. (Bad)

Figure 3

energy bill. With a demand based tariff on an annual contract, users will be charged at the highest peak of energy consumption, even if it only hits that peak once in the entire year.

Automated systems Systems should be operated wisely across the other months of the year and ‘smarter’ energy use during vintage will potentially save many thousands of dollars.

“Understand your energy use onsite and run your refrigerator off-peak as much as you can. To do that, effectively get rid of human error by putting an automated system on it and set it up like that,” McIntyre said.

“That’s one of the big ones because nobody is going to switch on their refrigeration system at 9pm at night and then come in at 6am because nobody is going to be there at that time.

“There’s no point in trying to chill 100 tanks at the same time. Chill a batch of ten then an hour later switch those off and switch on the next batch of ten.

“I have examples where wineries have www.winetitles.com.au

saved around $200,000 just by changing the set point temperature by one or two degrees,” he said.

Another simple money saver is automating lights to switch off when business hours are finished, and switch on just before opening, to allow time for certain types of bulbs to heat up in larger scale operations.

Energy efficiency is no easy topic to navigate when there is an abundance of options that will help reduce power costs.

By understanding energy usage and the fundamentals behind energy contracts and bills, winery operators can place themselves in better stead to save money and optimise workplace performance.

Operators are encouraged to start with the basics and do simple research to decide what measures will work best for their individual needs. For help with finding the best energy contract, or to gain a more thorough understanding of how to monitor energy, call your supplier or access SAWIA’s Wine Energy Saver Toolkit via http://www.winesa. asn.au/members/advice-information/ environment/energy-efficiency/wineryGrapegrower & Winemaker

45

winemaking

Sourcing power through solar Energy Alternatives

How to achieve energy efficiency and reduce costs with solar panels

Solar power is a growing source of energy supply for a number of Australian and New Zealand wineries. With a bit of homework, operators can switch over to solar as a viable option to reduce soaring costs. Chloe Szentpeteri spoke to two of Yalumba’s Angaston management team to find out how solar systems have helped their winery’s operations.

F

ive generations and 167 years ago, Yalumba planted its first vineyard and is now recognised as one of the most prestigious and historical wineries in Australia.

The brand has expanded operations across the country which wouldn’t have been possible if the team wasn’t so tech savvy and financially astute.

Under the leadership of executive director Andrew Murphy, and winery operations manager, John Ide, Yalumba’s Angaston winery in the Barossa Valley

has developed energy efficient strategies to reach optimum levels of performance.

Ide has been in his role at the facility for eight years, and has substantial expertise in the field of engineering.

“We’re installing [solar power] on all our various branches around the country: WA, Queensland and Victoria, and then both wineries – the big installs here and in Oxford Landing [near Nuriootpa in the Barossa],” Ide said.

“We have about 1.2 megawatts (MW) at our Angaston site here and we’re going

Yalumba’s iconic clock tower, which reflects a heritage dating back to 1849.

46 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

to have 700 kilowatts (kW) at Oxford Landing.”

Since the solar panels were first installed in early 2016, Yalumba now boasts the largest solar system installation ever seen at an Australian winery and with a completely new system of energy efficiency, it’s never looked back.

Ide said the company has saved between 20-40% in power savings thanks to the solar panels, and a combination of optimised equipment and installations of variable speed drives and compressors.

So how does a winery go about installing solar? Firstly, it’s recommended that wineries follow the basic steps to energy efficiency (as seen on page 43) before looking into solar installation.

Solar power is an effective tool if a winery can manage its existing infrastructure and power consumption, but for some smaller scale wineries, it may not be a viable option financially at all.

If used correctly, solar can have an incredible impact on daily operations, and much of the financial bearing is dependent on agreements with the power retailer.

“All of our solar is a power purchase agreement, so we have an agreement with AGL to buy the power from the solar panels and so we don’t have any capital outlay,” Ide said.

Essentially, this agreement means the asset will become the consumers after ten years, which means no capital outlay in the meantime and extra funding to spend on maintenance, infrastructure, or other winery costs.

“So you’re basically paying for the infrastructure as well as the power and there’s various people that offer it,” Ide said.

“There are a few traps because when you’re generating power, if you’re not using it you’re still paying to generate that power. You pay the cents per kilowatt an hour, even if you’re not using it,” he explained.

March 2018 – Issue 650

“You do get an offset if you’re putting it into the grid so it’s not so bad, but you can get into a situation where you’re paying more to generate than you’re getting back for feeding it in.

“You need to be using above 85% of generated power, below that it starts becoming marginal.”

Executive director Murphy – who has devoted 37 years working at Yalumba Family Vignerons – said solar comprises around 25% of total energy usage at the company’s Angaston site.

“Even on a Saturday in the holidays when there’s no production happening we’ve still got underlying infrastructure that’s still being powered, but on a low level – it’s about how you size the solar to maximise its usage,” he said.

Ide confirmed that with a power purchase agreement and the introduced energy efficiency measures, the solar panels have just about paid for themselves already.

“We had a lot of people approaching us for straight out purchase [of the panels] but we could never make the figures add up,” Ide said.

On a large market contract, Yalumba is paying for maximum demand power and actual power used on separate contracts.

“Let’s say you’re paying 20 cents a kW per hour for maximum demand and 20 cents for your power, you’re only recovering 20 cents for your power and you’re not really impacting maximum demand that much.”

“So when you looked at straight out purchasing it was about a five to seven year payback,” Ide said.

Yalumba has saved between 20 – 40% in power with the help of these solar panels.

Yalumba was lucky enough to get a foot in the solar market before prices increased, successfully signing up to a power purchase agreement that meant no capital and a long-term investment.

However, for smaller wineries on a residential type bill of 34 cents or 45 cents, a straight out purchase has great potential as wineries can recover the whole amount.

Yalumba is now cash-flow positive due to the solar panels and are considering even more alternative energy sources, such as electrical batteries or ice batteries.

For now, Murphy said electrical batteries aren’t viable as they are expensive and there’s not much return after installation.

Ice batteries on the other hand, could be a promising venture worth further research.

“We’ve looked at running an ice bank and using it at night when power is cheap, then using that ice to chill the water during the daytime,” he explained.

“We’ve got that designed in our winery [and we’re] looking to install it in Oxford.”

“It’s about spreading the load over the network. You can over-chill when power is cheap and then you don’t need to turn it back on during the day,” he said.

For now though solar power has proven its worth as a commendable energy source when used correctly and when combined with the right contract.

“We get the panels in eight years’ time for nothing and then it’s all free,” Murphy said.

It’s all about crunching the numbers and doing the research for what works best for you.

Yalumba’s impressive grid of solar panels.

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

47

Red Wine Blending

Mixing it up

Co-fermentation and field blending justifies winemakers’ efforts Although co-fermentation and field blending are well-established techniques, innovation in the area is producing some outstanding results by adjusting procedures and mixing up the selected varietals.

Paul Le Lacheur explains what he’s learnt after speaking to fellow winemakers about some of their successful blending outcomes.

Blending Shiraz and Viognier at Clonakilla winery in the Canberra district

N

either co-fermentation nor field blending are new ideas. But in the Canberra district, new approaches to some related problems are reaping positive rewards. Clearly, these practices have been common in the Rhône, Tuscany and parts of Portugal for many generations.

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to a number of outstanding practitioners of the winemaking craft.

Tim Kirk is chief executive/winemaker at Clonakilla, the vineyard and winery he established in the Canberra district in 1971.

I gained invaluable knowledge from him on the subject: Clonakilla specialises in the co-fermentation of Shiraz with Viognier.

According to Kirk, particular attention to picking at lesser ripeness levels in the Viognier is a key issue.

“We might only use five to seven per cent Viognier but we need to get in and pick it a little earlier, before that apricot-like varietal character dominates the blend,” he said.

“In the top quality vintage of 2015, the Viognier percentage was merely five per cent.”

March 2018 – Issue 650

Clonakilla’s seemingly boundless complexity is achieved by strict attention to detail.

“Our fermentation capacity is extremely adaptable. Batches can range from ten tonnes down to just half a tonne,” explained Kirk.

“We always co-ferment our Shiraz and Viognier. Batches often come in small lots, representing as many as 27 different parcels of fruit from parts of the vineyard we feel offer subtlety and ultimately, complexity,” he enthused.

This ‘micro-control of ferments’ effect allows Clonakilla to capture the minute differences drawn from each different soil profile. Most soils are sandy clay-loam in nature.

These topsoils sit over sub-soils of decomposed dacite (a volcanic influence).

Kirk went on to explain the advantages of vineyard elevation.

“At around 600 metres above sea level, we have yet another cooling influence over our already cool district, making it describable as a truly cold climate,” he said. www.winetitles.com.au

Co-pigmentation The owner of the Canberra region’s Collector Wines, Alex McKay, also provided some rare insight.

He believes in using both field blending and co-fermentation to produce the best results possible from available viticultural resources.

“The science of co-pigmentation through the co-fermentation process is not very well understood, especially by me,” he revealed.

“Purple hues seem more prominent when you co-ferment, but we don’t want too much of that in our wines,” he explained.

“We also use lots of whole bunches and stems to extend palate length.”

Co-fermentation is often thought of as a technique to simply treat Shiraz and Viognier as one entity. But this is not the case at Collector wines.

“Sure, we often co-ferment, but we also field blend the white Rhone varieties, like Marsanne and Rousanne, in with the Shiraz,” McKay said.

Once again, a theme here at Collector is dealing with ‘small parcels’.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

49

winemaking best when fresh and young, rather than with extended bottle age. Not to say a medium cellar term of three to five years won’t show secondary characters, merely to say there is a small cost. The taster runs the risk of losing some of those simple, aromatic primary fruit characters. They are replaced by an earthy, mushroom bouquet with bottle age.

Earlier fermentation results

Matt Bloomhead, from Three Dark Horses, focuses on pumping over his Grenache Touriga blend

“Typically, we’ll have about 20 parcels of Shiraz fruit, picked over perhaps a two-anda-half week period.

“Sometimes it’s as little apart as eight days, but we have the option to hold the fruit and co-ferment because of our long harvest window.

“Historically, we had Viognier which was quite ripe, giving us that apricot character, but we now pick it much earlier, for delicacy,” he added.

Collector Wines also sees great value in having the capacity to treat parcels in differing fermentation sizes.

McKay often ferments in three-tonne lots, but is able to handle ferments down to one tonne or even 500 kilograms.

This variable fermentation capacity allows options such as field blending the white Rhone varieties together, fermenting as one, and then back blending with Shiraz.

Here, both co-fermentations and field blending options are pursued as vintage conditions dictate. For example, in 2016, especially in the Murrumbateman area, vintage was surprisingly early, putting (unwanted) pressure on fermentation and storage capacity.

Blending complexity Matt Bloomhead, winemaker at Three Dark Horses is another exemplar of the craft.

Now, I have to declare my bias immediately: Matt is an old friend of mine who sometimes makes wine with his heart, not just his head.

His winery is in McLaren Vale. Three 50 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Dark Horses is perhaps seen as one of the stalwarts of ‘old-school’ red making. Matt makes some of his best reds based on old vine Grenache, Shiraz and of course, Mouvedre.

Three Dark Horses has established an enviable reputation for complex blends. So what’s news in their winemaking pursuits?

Matt was overseas, in Cambodia, when I enquired about the latest vintage of Grenache and Touriga. Even with vintage on his doorstep, he was still keen to respond.

He was both willing and able to enlighten me as to how and why he gained such silky tannins and that much sought after palate complexity.

“Indeed our Grenache/Touriga (labelled as GT) is co-fermented,” he admitted down the phone line. Tick one for yours truly.

I felt it impossible to explain the complexity of this wine any other way at a recent blind tasting.

The viticultural and oenological rule book for this rustic red is disarmingly simple: “Two vineyards, picked at the same time. Half of the fruit was as whole bunch, half was simply crushed on top”.

“We fermented with wild yeast and the wine was made completely unoaked, un-fined and unfiltered,” Matt added.

The secret here is harmony. Matt is convinced that, “the co-fermentation adds harmony to the blend earlier in the process, which is essential for a wine that is released only six months after vintage.”

It’s clear to me that the wine shows at its www.winetitles.com.au

Norbett Baumgartner, winemaker at Mia Valley Estate, located in Victoria’s Heathcote region, is another co-fermentation devotee.

He and his wife Pam have produced a number of unique wines, not the least of which is their Cabernet Shiraz blend.

When I spoke with him recently, his message was unequivocal: “My experience has been that when these varieties are fermented separately, it can take forever to get the components to come together. In some vintages that process took up to seven or eight years. I can’t wait that long.”

Naturally, Norbett believed the reverse was the case when he started co-fermentation.

“When we fermented our Cabernet Sauvignon and our Shiraz together, the parts of the puzzle all came together at an earlier age, even more quickly by comparison with the separately fermented wines,” he said.

Co-fermentation is not the only string to Baumgartner’s bow.

“We planted many different clones,” he explained. “1654, PT 23, 1127, R6WV28, the list goes on and on.”

“I admit I’ve lost track of where each clone exists in each row. Having said that, we can still visually identify clonal differences and we ferment each of them as a distinctly separate batch.”

Baumgartner went on to explain how he recognises the more obviously elongated bunches of the PT 23 clone and how this makes separation much easier.

“From that point on (identification), our oenology is relatively traditional. We still leave our reds in barrel for three years, then hold them for one to two years before release.

“So when they’re finally released, they are seen as fairly mature wines.” he said.

Blending reds and whites Tallavera Grove Wines in the Hunter Valley is another producer using both co-fermentation and field blending for reds and whites alike.

Two examples are a Shiraz Viognier and the Carillion Riesling, from the Central Western NSW region of Orange.

The family-and-friends team hand picks the fruit, and then optionally separates the ferments within any given variety.

In addition to this selection, they almost invariably co-ferment around three to four per cent Viognier in with the Shiraz.

March 2018 – Issue 650

Earlier vintages (such as 2009) have taken both trophy and gold awards at wine shows, vindicating this approach. Another wine in the range showcases field blending.

The 2016 Wild in the Wood is a case in point. Semillon, Viognier and Chardonnay are vinified together, having been field blended.

Originally, these varieties came into production after rootlings were scattered randomly through a special ‘odds and ends’ block.

Each year, some portion of these wines are barrel fermented ‘sur lie’, to yield wines of depth and satiny texture without sacrificing precious varietal fruit.

Husband and wife team Elena and Zar Brooks own and operate Dandelion Vineyards, dealing with fruit from McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. They have been co-fermenting McLaren Vale Shiraz on approximately five per cent Riesling skins, but for some different reasons than those expressed by other producers of this style.

“We ferment whole bunches of our McLaren Vale Shiraz on Riesling skins, but we do so for tannin, structure and balance,” revealed Elena.

“Riesling skins can be quite tannic, in a good way,” she said.

Even such a small percentage of Riesling adds perfume notes of rose petals

to the otherwise spicy Shiraz character.

Importantly, Dandelion Vineyards are keen to acknowledge the influence of Riesling prominently on the label.

The co-fermentation adds harmony to the blend earlier in the process, which is essential for a wine that is released only six months after vintage - Matt Bloomhead Having looked at a number of co-fermented Shiraz and Viognier blends from right across Australia’s diverse viticultural sites, one thing is abundantly clear. The best wines show restraint, both in the tiny percentages of Viognier used and the baume at which the Viognier is picked. Those wines with more Viognier

in the blend all had that tell-tale apricot aroma and the oily viscosity typical of more varietal Viogniers.

For me, the lesson to all winemakers who are intending to co-ferment these varieties is clear - less is more.

Statistics taken from a 2016 University of SA survey of more than 5,000 consumers on exit from retail liquor outlets, showed 86% of wines bought that day were consumed within three days.

Small percentages of Viognier ‘lift’ varietal Shiraz fruit, making it much more aromatically accessible when released as a young wine.

In my opinion, analysis of these figures points to the need for winemakers to produce styles which have a positive aromatic impact on consumers. As a nation, we are drinking our wines immediately on purchase.

Naturally, those producers showing discretion in the Viognier percentage can still make wines worthy of age.

Those examples will still retain dominant Shiraz fruit, structure and tannin levels for the patient drinker with a cellar and will also satisfy those who demand a wine with secondary characters in its bouquet.

WINERY RESOURCES – FUTURE CHALLENGES

WINEENG 2018 AUSTRALIA - BAROSSA VALLEY - JULY 25–26 NEW ZEALAND - HAWKES BAY - OCTOBER 17–18 March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

51

winemaking

Some good news about water and wine Adding H ² 0 in the course of the winemaking process to reduce alcohol levels has long been a contentious issue. Now, research undertaken at the University of Adelaide has found adding water during early fermentation may not have a dramatic impact on wine quality. This article was originally published by Wine Australia.

A

dding water to must is now legal in Australia under specific conditions but it remains a topic of discussion and debate.

The obvious positive is the ability to moderate alcohol levels to facilitate fermentation. What is unclear is whether there’s a down side. Does adding water affect the quality of what goes into the bottle? And does it become a different wine?

There is some cautionary good news on the first of those questions, courtesy of University of Adelaide PhD candidate Olaf Schelezki. The results of his research

suggest that limited amounts of water added at the start of fermentation does not have a dramatic impact on key parameters such as colour, tannins, volatiles and sensory. In some cases, it may be a better option than adding low alcohol wine, another way to reduce alcohol levels in the final product. But it won’t cover up for bad harvest decisions.

In the first year (2015), Schelezki was

blessed with what others considered a curse. A heatwave in McLaren Vale saw the potential alcohol in the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in his trial vineyard increase by nearly three per cent in barely three days. This produced a control wine coming in at 18% alcohol 52 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

and badly needing some attention. To bring the alcohol level down he used two approaches: replacing up to 30% of the juice with water or 40% with a ‘green harvest wine’ of about 4.4% v/v made from grapes harvested at veraison. In both cases he was surprised about how little happened.

Despite a significant change in the liquid component, the wine itself was not greatly affected (unless high substitution rates were used – leading to marginal changes). The key appears to be that the ratio between liquid and solids was not changed. What is important to note, however, is that both the quality and the character of the wine was largely retained.

“It was a very overripe crop, very shrivelled fruit with almost port wine aromas and dried fruit, and these characters prevailed despite lowering the alcohol content,” Schelezki said.

“It was not a great wine and the process did not change that. In this case it would have been better to avoid the problem and harvest earlier.”

The 2016 vintage, which included Shiraz along with Cabernet Sauvignon, was closer to normal, producing a control wine at 15.5% alcohol: one that might be open to stylistic tweaking but didn’t need drastic attention. This time both ‘treatments’ had a slightly greater (but still not dramatic) effect on the wine, with water proving the better option.

Schelezki suspects the reason is that water, unlike green wine, does not bring with it any unripe grape characteristics of its own, and is added in a lower quantity.

There are still a number of questions to be answered, however, including why the impact on Shiraz was different to that on Cabernet Sauvignon.

During 2017, the focus was on comparing water as a juice replacement with simply adding water into the ferment. The data is still being analysed, but there is an early indication that there is very little difference when bringing alcohol content down by one per cent.

March 2018 – Issue 650

It was a classic example of the compressed vintages that winemakers are facing around the world. Unwanted heat at a sensitive time of the year’ - Olaf Schelezki It’s a very complex topic because once you add something or take something away you change something else, and that can have a domino effect.

However, Schelezki is pleased to be able to show the results.

“Adding water is really not the big deal that some people have been perceiving it as, and is particularly benign in comparison to some other approaches to lowering wine alcohol content,” he said.

The project was supported by the Australian Research Council (Project No. IC130100005), Wine Australia, the AWRI and the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre.

Olaf Schelezki.

The future is now

Monoblocks available from 1,000 - 30,000 bph

Unsurpassed Innovation in Bottling

info@viniquip.co.nz www.viniquip.com AUS: 1800 209 370 NZ: 0 800 284 647 March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

53

winemaking

Draft alcohol strategy ‘falling short’ Industry speaks out about why draft National Alcohol plan must change A draft National Alcohol Strategy is currently under consideration by federal, state and territory governments across Australia. While the efforts of legislators to tackle harmful alcohol consumption have been welcomed, industry leaders have raised concerns over how the proposed measures could adversely impact the wine sector. Winemakers’ Federation of Australia chief executive, Tony Battaglene, outlines why the draft plan should not be implemented in its current form.

A

ustralian health ministers will this year agree on a national strategy to prevent and minimise alcohol-related harms among individuals, families and communities. Winemakers want to play our part. However, in its current form, the Draft National Alcohol Strategy (NAS) won’t help anyone, but it will harm winemaking businesses if it doesn’t significantly change its focus.

W holescale taxation changes, minimum pricing mechanisms, generic health warnings on labels and advertising restrictions are just some of the actions identified in the current Draft NAS. These are broad-based population measures designed to make everyone drink less even though the vast majority of us are drinking responsibly. They will also not help the small percentage of people who are drinking at risky levels. The draft NAS doesn’t nail down the specific demographic groups who do need help, or describe measures that will really target them. It is lazy policy-making and the real tragedy will be those most in need of assistance will miss out.

The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia has made a comprehensive submission to the Draft NAS and our full comments are available online at www. wfa.org.au.

Australian government guidelines define risky drinking over a lifetime and on single occasions as no more than two standard drinks on any day and not more than four on a single occasion (see www.nhmrc.gov.au). The guidelines are currently under review and I’ll talk more about them at a later date.

We know from government data that Australian alcohol consumption is trending downwards and more people are consuming alcohol at levels that are not detrimental to their health. According 54 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Tony Battaglene.

to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2017) in 2016 only six per cent of Australians drank every day – those aged 70 years and older dominant this group. Using government definitions, less people are drinking at lifetime risky levels (down from 21% in 2004 to 17% in 2016). Single occasion risky drinking has also fallen from 30% in 2004 to 26% and downwards trends are also appearing in specific demographics. Significant declines were seen in 18 to 24 year olds drinking at risky levels (31% in 2010 down to 18.5% in 2016) and 25 to 29 year olds (24% in 2010 down to 18.3% in 2016). However, www.winetitles.com.au

in reading the current Draft NAS, you would think we were in the grip of an alcohol crisis. Of course there’s still more to do, but we should base our response on the evidence available to identify where scarce government resources should be targeted.

For example, there’s been some very good downwards trends in underage drinking. The AIHW data shows 82% of 12 to 17 year olds in 2016 abstained from alcohol all together, compared with 54% in 2004. That’s a big gain in just over a decade. The proportion of 12 to 17 year olds drinking at risk of harm on March 2018 – Issue 650

a single occasion (binge drinking) has also declined from 17% in 2004 to five per cent in 2016. That’s a massive decrease.

Our efforts to prevent underage drinking is showing results. Of concern to us is around 30% of underage drinkers still get their supply from their parents so more needs to be done to educate that this isn’t an effective harm-minimisation strategy.

Recent studies suggest kids who don’t drink before the age of 18 actually have a more moderate approach to alcohol in later years. Let’s get more education into schools, through social media channels like the very effective campaigns run

by DrinkWise, and address the causal factors supporting underage drinking which include peer pressure and parental attitudes.

Despite its stated aim to target harmful alcohol consumption, the Draft NAS relies heavily on broad-based punitive measures such as taxation, pricing and advertising restrictions to reduce overall alcohol consumption. These are ineffective in targeting risky drinking.

The Draft NAS refers to the 2010 Henry Tax Review recommendation to remove the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) and tax wine under the excise system in its list of actions. This would be disastrous for our industry. The excise system was not designed to tax seasonally-dependent agricultural products like wine. Unlike wine, beer and spirits businesses can store raw inputs for use in multiple production cycles through the year, they are less capital intensive and do not have the same rural and regional footprint.

The WET remains the most appropriate taxation system for wine. Taxation system change will not reduce risky drinking but would significantly increase costs for all producers.

WFA also does not support minimum unit pricing (MUP) as a tool to target harmful consumption. The AIHW data actually shows those in the lowest socioeconomic groups are less likely to exceed risky drinking guidelines than those in higher socio-economic groups. MUP unfairly increases costs for all lower socio-

It is lazy policymaking and the real tragedy will be those most in need of assistance will miss out. economic consumers, does not raise any additional revenue for government health programs, and directly increases profits for retailers. A minimum floor price of $1.50 per standard drink (as recommended in the Northern Territory’s recent Liquor Review) will increase the price of a four litre cask of red wine by around 300% to more than $60.00. The Western Australian Government has also said they are seriously considering this policy.

The Draft NAS calls for a national advertising code. We already have the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code which operates under Australian governmentapproved guidelines and has a government representative on its management committee. And despite advertising growth over the last two decades and its proliferation across multiple platforms, overall alcohol consumption has declined.

The Draft NAS calls for impactful health-related warning labels. On-label

generic health warnings are ineffective in changing behaviour and are not solutions to address obesity, cancer or other broad health issues. Their manifestation depends on a complex range of factors and can occur in abstainers as well as moderate drinkers.

The Draft NAS does contain some good ideas, although many are not new, including standardisation of Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) requirements, improved awareness and enforcement of secondary supply legislation, improved treatment, information and support services, and effective compliance activities. WFA also supports implementation of the yet to be finalised National Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan and looks forward to opportunities for industry participation.

The crux of this issue is that every government action must be targeted.

Scarce resources must be strategically allocated to address specific problems, with well-designed solutions that are based on a very thorough understanding of the causal factors. The current Draft NAS falls far short of this and we think everyone can do better.

Many of the measures in the current Draft NAS are business as usual for State and Territory Governments, or they are broadbased measures proven to be ineffective in targeting harmful consumption. The NAS is a great opportunity for governments to be innovative in their approach, to identify 2 or 3 specific areas where harm is occurring and try something new. If the industry’s connection with consumers was fully engaged to promote new public health campaigns – real change could be achieved. Governments need to deal us into this process. Not deliberately exclude us.

The Cellar-Mate can’t make the coffee...

But it can automatically fill tanks, rack tanks, fill barrels, empty barrels, prepare blends, fill tankers, feed filters, carry out pump overs, fill flex containers...

There is a better way!

Call us ge to arran o a dem

Telephone 03 9455 3339 Fax 03 9459 5232 Email: rapidfil@rapidfil.com.au Web: www.rapidfil.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

55

winemaking young gun

A simple step into winemaking Young Gun: Rudimentary Wines’ David McKenna At 28 years old, David McKenna is a proud father, budding winemaker and the sole owner of Rudimentary wines. A new business operation that’s distributing to a domestic market, the brand is on the rise with plans to expand. Chloe Szentpeteri has the story.

Rudimentary founder and sole operator, David McKenna.

D

Rudimentary Wines crusher.

avid McKenna has a love for wine tasting and a growing skill set in making it. But it wasn’t always so. He once had other ambitions for his life.

A chef by trade, it was a horrible car accident that changed his life, and overnight 16-hour shifts in the kitchen became a thing of the past.

In early 2013, in need of a new direction, McKenna made a phone call to a small family owned winery in the Barossa. They needed a new staff member and the following week, McKenna was hired. Three years later the thought crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe, winemaking was the job for him.

“From there I got interested in it and started travelling. I went to the United States a couple of times and I was hooked and couldn’t stop,” he said.

“I couldn’t go back to the real world after that.”

McKenna worked in Oregon in the Willamette Valley for Chateau Bianca in 2013, followed by two vintages at Hall Wines in California, Napa Valley in 2013 and 2014.

His attitude quickly changed from winemaking being a ‘cool experience’ to it becoming a permanent career change.

“It crossed my mind that I really enjoy this and would like to continue doing this, so what can I do to make it happen?” he mused.

McKenna said all of his experience came from the field, rather than a classroom.

“I haven’t studied. I have been gifted some really great opportunities by some great winemakers who either saw 56 Grapegrower & Winemaker

potential or who I managed to convince to give me a job and that allowed me to jump a little bit and skip some steps,” he said.

“It was certainly who do you know more than what do you know.”

“Steven, Joe and Charlie Black at Smallvalley wines were my biggest teachers. They are the ones who gave me the break out in the Barossa and I still purchase grapes off them and still send people out there.”

McKenna also found teachers in Alex Sherrah of Sherrah Wines, and Anthony Nielson from Mann Wines.

“They gave me a huge break in McLaren Vale and really helped to take it to the next level,” he said.

Humble beginnings McKenna started his own business by building contracts with vineyard owners, meeting the growers and purchasing fruit.

That’s when he started Rudimentary. Both the name of the business and everything it embodies means simplicity and pure enjoyment for the smaller things in life.

The business motto reads, “We love wine, but we hate the bullshit. We make wines that rock and are fun to share with friends”.

And while it may have been a casual introduction into wine, McKenna said the support of industry members helped him find his feet.

“Meeting new growers and gaining more experience, they want to help you more and when your name gets out there, people start

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

taking you more seriously […] it’s been a bit of a struggle but we’re getting there,” he said.

“I’m amazed at how much everyone helps out and is interested in what you’re doing and just generally wants to see you do better. It’s really cool.”

If you walked into McKenna’s backyard at Brighton in Adelaide’s south, you would find everything a winemaker needs to complete the process from start to finish.

Equipped with vintage crusher and even a pizza oven to keep him going, he is more than capable of producing his wine, backyard or not.

Heat and cold stability testing equipment by RATEK IT2402

Thermoregulator

IR1060

Refrigeration unit

Backyard to bayside When looking at locations to open a cellar door and winemaking site, McKenna said he could get a much nicer location for a decent price in Port Elliot, a little more than an hour south of Adelaide.

“It’s got a really good feel to it and it’s interesting to visit. It’s not just a shed out the back.”

Port Elliot has a few wineries dotted around the coast just by Victor Harbour, and plans are being drafted to give the industrial area a facelift.

With an eclectic group of boutiques, including a surf shop, coffee roaster and a collection of artists, McKenna said his winery will be an interesting addition.

While the operation will be a significant expansion of his business, he said it’s important to take small steps without losing sight of what the brand is about.

“I’m going to expand but I don’t want to take any control out of my hands. It will be capped at what I can achieve as the sole operator of the business.

“I really wanted to make the best wine I possibly could for a price that everybody can enjoy and I think the only way I can stop prices increasing or quality decreasing is to just have absolute control over it.”

“I’ll go as far as picking it, making it, bottling it myself to stop that,” he said.

McKenna is sourcing around ten tonnes of grapes a year by himself but would like to increase that to 100 tonnes to grow his business in the domestic market.

On the subject of exports, he said he has many connections in America who have since moved into the Chinese market and while it’s a potential business move in the future, he has no immediate plans for his wine or business to leave Australian soil.

“There’s a lot of outlays and a lot of overheads in this industry. It’s certainly not cheap.”

IB1250

Water bath

RATEK have solutions for all of your heat and cold stability testing requirements. Submersible stirrers and conductivity meters are also available on request for rapid cold stability.

Water Baths & Tanks

‘Man of mystery’ McKenna oozes a calm demeanour and a laid back look at life despite the challenges he’s overcome. He takes pride in his business and most of all in his ten month old daughter, Delilah.

His icons are Bo Silliman and Brandon Allen, from SLO Down wines in California as, “they play by their own rules and know how to have a good time.”

His favourite wine is a Sauvignon Blanc from Contessa Winery in California which he said changed his perception of white wine.

“It’s hands down the best wine I’ve ever drunk,” he said.

McKenna is a duel citizen and considers himself an international man of mystery because of his US and Australian passports.

He said he would like to learn more about traditional ways of making sparkling wine.

While McKenna has certainly been on a bumpy road to get to where he is now, he looks forward to winemaking as a lifestyle and to seeing his daughter grow.

He takes comfort in the simple. In Rudimentary.

To find out more or to purchase Rudimentary wines, go to: www. rudimentarywines.com.au March 2018 – Issue 650

New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory Ph: (02) 9603 1205 rowensw@rowe.com.au

Queensland Ph: (07) 3376 9411 roweqld@rowe.com.au

Victoria & Tasmania Ph: (03) 9701 7077 rowevic@rowe.com.au

Western Australia Ph: (08) 9302 1911 rowewa@rowe.com.au

REF:212

www.winetitles.com.au

South Australia & Northern Territory Ph: (08) 8186 0523 rowesa@rowe.com.au

x/marketing/advertising/212-Grape.Growers.July17

Grapegrower & Winemaker

57

winemaking Testing Times

Measuring for smoke taint and pH levels Greg Howell, from Vintessential Laboratories, provides the latest instalment of the ‘recent problems that we have seen’ and explains how solutions have been found.

The NSW DPI advised local vignerons on how grapes could be tested for smoke taint.

Smoke taint concerns from February bushfire in Orange Our NSW manager, Christina Bos, knew it was a bad sign for the local wine industry when she saw the columns of smoke rising off Mt Canobolas from her front veranda in Orange one weekend in February. For those that know this gorgeous region, the 1395-metre-high mountain looms large over the town and is host to many of the great and well-established vineyards in the region.

And of course the fire could not have come at a worse time as all the fruit was well advanced and the majority post veraison, the worst time for taint by smoke from bushfires. The region had been very dry and the fuel load on the mountain was high as no fires had been experienced in that spot for decades.

Much research has been done on smoke taint both here in Australia and overseas over the past decade and we know much more about it than we used to. The volatile phenols that are produced in smoke absorb into the grapes and can bind with sugars in the fruit. The resulting glycosides can be hydrolysed at a later stage in the life of the wine and give negative taste sensations. The unbound (free) phenols and the bound phenols can be measured to give an overall picture of the level of smoke taint. The bound phenols can also be released in the fermentation and so winemakers are encouraged to do small scale ferments to see the effect of the ferment on the glycosides.

Immediately after the fire broke out the locals and the DPI swung into action to advise the local vignerons on what was needed and how the grapes could be tested for smoke taint. We do a lot of this testing when it’s needed and so were able to offer advice on how to collect the samples and how to treat them prior 58 Grapegrower & Winemaker

to us doing the testing. At the time of writing this, sampling and testing is ongoing and therefore nothing definitive can be put into print about the overall impact of the fire.

A sticky situation Just prior to vintage a customer sent in an unfinished wine from a previous vintage. It was a dessert wine with a stuck ferment and the winemaker was also a bit stuck as to what to do with it. It had high Volatile Acidity (VA), heaps of sugar, low alcohol and was taking up tank space.

The question asked was “what can I do with it?”. After we established some test data it was obvious the VA was well over the legal limit, the alcohol was very low, ethyl acetate was the highest we’d ever seen and sugars were in the hundreds of g/L. There were several obvious choices including blend it off, have it processed by reverse osmosis to get rid of the acetic acid and ethyl acetate, or pour it down the drain. The winemaker did ask the question about refermenting the wine but this was considered not only quite difficult but with no guarantee of a quick result plus there was the ongoing concern about tank space needed very soon for 2018 vintage processing. We didn’t need to make the point that this should have been looked at a bit earlier…

Blending was the chosen route and the blend we saw recently had done the trick. The alcohol was up where it gave better balance, VA was nicely under the legal limit of 1.5 g/L, and sweetness was in a good spot for the style of wine desired. Upon tasting the blend, the highish ethyl acetate wasn’t obvious. With a little more tweaking this is going to be a quite acceptable sticky wine, and the tank will hopefully be free just in time for vintage.

The message from this little story is, if you have a problem

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Oenobrands_FinalTouch_A4.pdf Oenobrands_FinalTouch_A4.pdf 1 27/08/2015 1 Oenobrands_FinalTouch_A4.pdf

1

27/08/2015

3:41 27/08/2015 pm

3:41 pm

3:41 pm

Figure 1: Smoke rising from February Mt Canobolas fire. Photo: Christina Bos.

wine, don’t ignore it and hope it goes away. Get advice on the available options and make some moves to resolve it, as our client finally did.

pH testing

Figure 2: Typical pH electrode for use in wine.

Vintessential Laboratories are dedicated to helping its customers discover production problems early, understand them, and then fix them. At its five laboratories around Australia we test hundreds of samples every week, so there’s hardly a problem they haven’t seen.

Every month they bring you some of the recent problems that have been sent to them and explain how, working with their clients, they managed to help solve them.

Greg Howell founded Vintessential Laboratories in 1995; he can be contacted by email on greg@vintessential.com.au. More articles on related topics are available on the Vintessential website: www. vintessential.com.au/resources/articles/

Most winemakers measure the pH of their own juice and wine.

It’s a relatively simple but important test and the equipment is not expensive. We, of course, also do this testing on a daily basis for lots of wines in our five laboratories but of course have to be very fussy to ensure we meet all the requirements of our NATA accredited quality system.

This time of year we receive lots of requests for checking and calibrating pH meters and electrodes and for the supply of new ones as well. It is important that those doing this pH testing understand that some electrodes are not suited for wine testing, so it is advisable to talk to a supplier who understands the chemistry of wine and the limitation of the electrodes they sell. pH meters can last decades. There is little that goes wrong A RENEWED AND REJUVENATED RANGE OF YEAST: FERMIVIN! Brilliant wines made from renowned yeasts with them, assuming they are good quality ones to start with.

Winemakers throughout the world have been putting their trust in The Fermivin range includes yeast strains selected for many applications: Electrodes, however, do need looking after and have a relatively Fermivin yeastswines since themade 1970s. These yeasts can usedrosé to or produce Brilliant from renowned yeasts to achieve rapid and complete fermentations; for red,be white, short life span. In our labs our electrodes don’t see out a year sparkling wines. all styles of wine to includes achieve rapid and complete fermentation. ® The Fermivin range yeast strains selected for many applications: before they are disposed of – and we look after them fastidiously. to achieve rapid and complete fermentations; for red, white, rosé or We consider the electrodes to be a low-cost consumable and sparkling wines. a typical price tag of around $200 we see this as good value for money. I personally have seen electrodes in winery labs that are many years old, neglected, dried out and not fit for purpose – but still in use. This is a critical measurement and results can vary since widely if a poor electrode is used. So consider how long yours will 1970 last and whether it needs replacing. We have previously written about how to care for electrodes.

If you want a good check on how you are going with your pH since accuracy and other testing, it is recommended that you join 1970 the Interwinery Analysis Group (known as IWAG, see www.

How to make the perfect sparkling wine. interwinery.com.au). For a few hundred dollars a year, there’s no better way to see how your results compare to others in the industry. As NATA accredited labs we have to be part of such a scheme and we have found that there is Final none nor asbased Final touch PoP touch is better, a unique PoP issolution a unique solution on naturally based onoccurring naturallymannoproteins occurring mannoproteins that can improve that can theimprove quality the of your quality sparkling of your sparkling good value as IWAG. There is also an annual one-day conference wines.

Not wines. only can Not it only noticeably can it noticeably enhance the enhance mouthfeel the and mouthfeel tartaric and stability, tartaricbutstability, it also but it alsothe their preserves elegance, freshness elegance, and freshness and Final touch PoP is a unique solution based on naturally occurring mannoproteins that can preserves improve quality oftheir your sparkling balance.

And balance. it’s And touch it’s convenient: regardless of whether your ofonwhether sparkling your wine sparkling is made wine isthe made Charmat by the theorquality Charmat traditional method, traditional you method, simply wines.

Not only canconvenient: itLab noticeably enhance the mouthfeel and tartaric stability, but itby also preserves their elegance, freshness and you simply and small trade-display that’s worth attending. managers Final PoP is a uniqueregardless solution based naturally occurring mannoproteins that can improve of youror sparkling Not only can it noticeably enhance the mouthfeel and tartaric alsoCharmat preserves their elegance, freshness and you simply add Final add Final PoPwines. touch immediately PoP immediately before bottling. before bottling. balance. it’s convenient: regardless of whether your sparkling wine is stability, made but by itthe or traditional method, from most (if not all) larger winery labs And aretouch present, as are the balance.

And it’s convenient: regardless of whetherAr2 your sparkling wine is made by the Charmat orjb3 traditional method, you simply3c sm102 lvcb Ts28 Final touch PoP immediately bottling. add Final touch before PoP immediately before bottling. major lab suppliers to wineries. Itadd isOENOBRANDS highly recommended that UTE UTE OENOBRANDS SAS SAS L OL L OL LU Parc Agropolis Parc II - Bât Agropolis 5 OENOBRANDS II - Bât 5 SAS at vb1 ls2 4F9 chAmPion xl O L U T E L mT48 all winery lab staff, no matter how small the winery, attend U T ET E SO OENOBRANDS SAS L OL Parc Agropolis II - Bât 5 2196 Boulervard 2196 de la Boulervard Lironde de la Lironde ParcCSAgropolis - CS BâtAdelaide/Barossa, 5Montpellier Boulervard de la Lironde least once. And yes, it has always been held-II34397 in 34603 34603 - 2196 34397 Cedex Montpellier 5 Cedex 5 CS 34603 - 34397 Montpellier Cedex 5 2196 de Lironde vr5 PF6 E73 A33 7013 20 Pdm RCSBoulervard Montpellier RCS - la SIREN Montpellier 521 285 - SIREN 304 -521 285 304304 RCS Montpellier 521 285 although more complaints from interstaters who can’t getSIREN there CS 34603 - 34397 Montpellier Cedex 5 N TE info@oenobrands.com N T N TE info@oenobrands.com info@oenobrands.com vintessential.com.au Email: info@vintessential.com.au SSE ESSE vintessential.com.au vintessential.com.au Email: info@vintessential.com.au Email: info@vintessential.com.au SSE www.oenobrands.com RCSwww.oenobrands.com Montpellier - SIREN 521 285 304 T www.oenobrands.com E Phone: 1300 30 2242 (Australia-wide) or +61 3 5987 2242. might get the committee to think about holding it elsewhere for NN TESSE info@oenobrands.com Phone: 1300 Phone: 30 2242 1300 (Australia-wide) 30 2242 (Australia-wide) or +61 3 5987 or +61 2242.

3 5987 2242.

E vintessential.com.au Email: info@vintessential.com.au SS www.oenobrands.com a change…

Ar2 Printed sm102 lvcb paper.

3c Phone: 1300 30on2242 (Australia-wide) or +61 3jb3 5987 2242.Ts28 100% Printed recycled onpaper.

100% recycled Oenobrands_FinalTouch_A4.pdf

1

27/08/2015

3:41 pm

®

AGENCE REBELLE

- agence-rebelle.com

AGENCE REBELLE

- agence-rebelle.com

HowHow to make to make the perfect the perfect sparkling sparkling wine. wine.

How to make the perfect sparkling wine.

L

L

Grapegrower & Winemaker

chAmPion

xl

mT48

59

TI AL

BB A

RATI NG 2 0

S

AB S NG 2 ATIL RA 0 EB

TT I A IA L TL I

CE

AB

T IA B S A LA

EB

CE

RATI NG 2 0

RATI NG 2 0

L

EB

CE

EB

L

CE

S

4F9

IN G T I M ES

I

ls2

20

ST

ST

vb1

IN LY V Y NG T IM E

N VI N VI IN V

IN G T I M ES

N

on 100% recycled WinemakersPrinted throughout the world paper. have been putting their trust in FERMIVIN yeasts since the 1970s. They can be used to produce all styles of wine, meeting market and consumer demands.

OENOBRANDS is proud of this heritage and draws on over 40 years’ accumulated experience to continue developing new fermentation solutions.

Printed on 100% recycled paper.

FERMIVIN yeasts are selected in collaboration with wine growers and technical institutes. They are then cultivated, dried and checked in our factories to ensure their authenticity, high performance and quality.

www.winetitles.com.au

A R S OF T E

YE

Y

A R S OF T E

A R S OF T E

IN G T I M ES

ST

VI

March 2018 – Issue 650

YE

20 20

YE

ST

A R S OF T E

Y

YE

Y

S

PROUD HISTORY – BRIGHT FUTURE

winemaking

Queensland wines ready for world domination It’s just a matter of time, according to ASVO Winemaker of the Year 2017, Mike Hayes, before Queensland wines take over the world. Kerry Heaney spoke to the Granite Belt winemaker and wine educator about the positive future that lies ahead for the Sunshine State’s wine industry.

“W

e are not tied by 200-year-old traditions but willing to learn and experiment. There are over 100 grape varieties planted on the Granite Belt,” according to Mike Hayes, who is the chief winemaker at Symphony Hill Wines at Ballandean on Queensland’s Granite Belt.

“Our youth are saying they don’t want to drink the oldfashioned, big tannic reds. They love luscious fruit-driven wines and are not interested in a Cabernet that’s going to be good to drink in 25 years,” he explained.

“Queensland wines come from the earth, not from the sun.

They are beautiful, delicate, yet powerfully structured wines which are balanced but have longevity from the granite soil.”

Hayes upstaged a field of nearly 1000 of Australia’s finest winemakers to win Winemaker of the Year from the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) in November 2017.

He sees the award as a win for Queensland wine and believes it has changed perceptions and brought Queensland winemaking out of the dark ages.

“This is an award for the whole district,” said Hayes. “There are many people on the Granite Belt making outstanding wines.

“We know we are leaders now. The next challenge for Queensland

wines is world domination. Let’s take our Nebbiolo back to Italy and beat the Italians, our Gewurtztraminer back to Germany and beat the Germans. That’s what I want to see,” he said.

“People say dreams don’t come true, but they bloody do! This is way above what I ever dreamed.”

Queensland wine in his blood A third-generation Ballandean-born viticulturist and winemaker, Hayes has been making wines in Australia and New Zealand for over 30 years.

The youngest of nine kids in an Irish Catholic family, he started his winemaking career the hard way, straight from the schoolyard to chipping weeds from dusk to dawn.

In the past year, his wines made through Symphony Hill’s contract winemaking business have resulted in 15 trophies, 19 gold (over 11 varieties), 27 silver and over 70 bronze medals.

Hayes wants to make wines for people, not show judges. He said if they win an award, that’s a bonus.

“If the people in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were as passionate about the Queensland wine industry as they are about the State of Origin we could plant the whole of the state

People say dreams don’t come true, but they bloody do! This is way above what I ever dreamed.

- Mike Hayes

60 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Granite Belt winemaker Mike Hayes said his 2017 ASVO Winemaker of the Year accolade is ‘an award for the whole district’.

and not be able to supply them. I won’t eat in a restaurant that doesn’t have a Queensland wine on its list. If they don’t support my industry, I won’t support theirs.”

100-year vineyard With an eye to the future, Hayes has been researching Australian vineyards looking at trends in climate change, searching for varieties for the future.

The establishment of a 100-year vineyard at Queensland College of Wine in Stanthorpe is one of the steps taken by the industry to safeguard its future. The vineyard has been planted on its own roots with biosecurity protection.

“We are just having a crack at it, not trying to revolutionise the world,” said Hayes.

Alternative varieties masterclass As part of the Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Harvest Festival, Hayes recently held eight masterclasses, providing an opportunity for wine lovers to learn about some of the world`s rarest wine grape varieties and be guided through the origins, aromas and flavours of the most exotic wine styles in the world.

“This masterclass on alternative varieties [has been] an Australian first,” said Hayes.

“Participants [tried] ten wines in a structured tasting of reds and whites from the 14 wineries involved in the masterclasses,” he explained.

Hayes said those taking part learnt how to evaluate wines ‘like a judge’.

The masterclasses were part of the annual festival held in Stanthorpe that celebrates the Granite Belt region’s rich bounty of grapes, wine and other produce.

Read more of Kerry Heaney’s articles at: https:// eatdrinkandbekerry.blogspot.com.au/ March 2018 – Issue 650

FINEWELD STAINLESS STEEL Manufacturers of Quality equipment for the Wine Industry > Storage and Settling Vats > Variable Capacity > Transportable Tanks > Grape Receival Bins > Conveyor Systems > Installations > Valves > Manways > Fittings 17 TOVA DRIVE, CARRUM DOWNS, VIC 3201

Ph: 03 9775 0339 Fax 03 9775 0338 Email: info@fineweld.com.au

www.fineweld.com.au

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

61

winemaking

Tapping into the UK market Bulk wine opportunities and trends discussed at London event

I

n February, the International Bulk Wine & Spirts Show (IBWSS) was held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London.

The event kicked off with a brief keynote address by award-winning business editor, Richard Siddle, who outlined the dramatic growth in the bulk wine industry in the UK, which is the largest importer of Australian bulk wine.

The busy tasting floor saw many genuine buyers mingling with the producers.

Business cards were exchanged, samples were poured and hands were shaken.

Early session started with a presentation by Clive Donaldson, wine sourcing manager at WM Supermarkets PLC. Donaldson outlined what UK retailers are really looking for in private and bulk suppliers. Shelf space at UK retailers is increasingly scarce, so there is tremendous demand for wines that customers are actually willing to drink.

The logic is simple: “If customers want to buy a product, we will want to buy the product.”

At one time, the decision by retailers to carry private label wines often involved a consideration of the trade-offs between price and quality, but not any longer. The average consumer is becoming much more sophisticated and the private label wines you can now find on the shelves of London’s top retailers are now of considerable quality.

That has raised the bar for international winemakers attempting to access the fastgrowing UK market.

62 Grapegrower & Winemaker

In fact, the issue facing many UK retailers is not whether or not they should get involved in the private label industry, but rather, what sorts of private label brands they should be creating.

In a panel discussion, participants led

by Andrew Catchpole, editor at Harpers Wine & Spirit, discussed the best ways to go about creating a private label program.

The important point to keep in mind here, said the participants, was that both small and large retailers are already heavily involved in the private label and bulk wine trend. In fact, according to many wine analysts, bulk wines now account for more than 50% of all wine sold in the UK, and that trend is only accelerating. In a market

www.winetitles.com.au

such as the UK, the competition is high and producers need to understand the needs of retailers as well as consumers to succeed.

There are a number of important things to keep in mind, in order to make sure that your private label program is working as planned. For example, you need to consider factors like best routes for sourcing, consistency of supply, quality control, and the potential marketing synergies in expanding a private label range.

Speakers outlined in greater detail some of these factors that go into creating a highly effective private label program.

For example, David Richardson of the UK’s Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) discussed the regulatory issues specific to the bulk wine industry. He focused on the regulatory distinctions between bulk products and cased goods. What’s important, he says is to make sure that you are really capturing all the price advantages of shipping in bulk. You really need to have a handle on the hidden regulatory costs that might inflate your transportation costs. “Bulk has clear benefits,” he said, “but it also demands a higher level of commitment.”

Later, Barry Dick, MW went into finer grain detail about the differences between shipping with ‘Flexitanks’ and International Standards Organization (ISO) tanks. When shipping in bulk, cost savings are just part of the total picture. You have to understand the important competitive differences of these two shipping standards (Flexi and ISO), he said.

All told, the exhibitors at the London event represented a range of bulk industry March 2018 – Issue 650

suppliers, importers and distributors, including Bear Creek Winery (California), Bodegas Vinival (Spain), Casa Girelli (Italy), Cortecchia (Italy) and Kingston Estate Wines (Australia).

The show floor gave participants a better chance to consider some of the strategic options for growing their own private label wine business. For example, should a UK retailer be talking with bulk wine suppliers from Australia and other New World wine destinations, or instead, keeping the focus much more on European bulk producers?

Answers to those types of questions were provided at an afternoon session led by Clem Yates, MW, who talked about private label and bulk strategies for importers and distributors. One issue she brought up was the need to avoid channel conflict. The problem, she says, is that private labels can put a strain on relationships with manufacturers. These wine and spirits brands are counting on distributors to get their products onto the shelves of retail destinations and can understandably feel a bit threatened when they see those same distributors embracing lower-cost private label brands.

Ultimately, suggested Yates, it’s all about seeing the emergence of new brands as an opportunity, not a threat. Those new

brands are helping to grow the overall market, and can actually have a positive impact for wine suppliers. For example, consumers may develop a taste for red wines from Spain, and that could spark a trend that lifts all winemakers from Spain.

One major theme that emerged throughout the day was that the private label and bulk wine industry is truly

œnologiee

œnologiee

naturee

naturee

ricerca innovación ción

ricerca ción innovación

i n n o v a t i o n

TANIN / TANNIN

TANIN / TANNIN

i n n o v a t i o n

TANIN nce VR SUPRA®Élégance

TANIN VR COLOR® OR®®

TANIN SPECIFIQUE DE LA VINIFICATION DES VINS ROUGES

STABILISATION DE LA MATIÈRE COLORANTE NTE

USAGE ŒNOLOGIQUE

USAGE ŒNOLOGIQUE

1 kg

1 kg

March 2018 – Issue 650

global now. What happens in Chile, Spain, South Africa or Australia will have an impact elsewhere in the world.

Highlighting the global nature of the bulk wine industry, Florian Ceschi, Director of Ciatti Europe, shared the latest findings of the Global Bulk Market Report. Within every major trend, he said, there are very big opportunities.

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

63

winemaker profile winemaking

Ed Swift, from Printhie Wines, discusses the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia

M

y family owns and operates Printhie Wines in the cool climate wine region of Orange in NSW. In 1996 we planted the first 12ha of grapevines and grew production to 33ha . When my younger brother Dave and I returned home in the early 2000s, we all put our shoulders to the wheel to grow and expand the business. These days, along with vineyards, we have a cellar door, Printhie and Swift branded wines and a contract winemaking service.

My first exposure to WFA was through the Future Leaders Program which I was selected for in 2009. It was during my time in Future Leaders that I met lots of people involved with WFA and I began to understand some of the importance of the work it carries out on our behalf and this was demonstrated through the good work done around wine taxation.

WFA’s role in helping to explain, along with the ATO, the raft of changes around the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate has been significant. WFA worked with state and regional wine associations to 64 Grapegrower & Winemaker

coordinate and deliver information and the approach it has taken and the outcomes achieved stand out as great examples of why we need a national representative body like the WFA. It also helped ensure the same information was delivered to everyone – to winemakers, producers, advisors and others in the supply chain – which helps individual business as well as the whole industry to become best equipped to adapt and change, including to the new regulations but also to other challenges.

WFA has been at the forefront of negotiating outcomes and making things happen.

There are many reasons to be a member of WFA. The obvious one is it makes sense to support our national peak body which is our organisation with our representatives on its Committees and Board. We gain access to WFA expertise, including in Canberra.

We have a voice at the decision-making table and on issues of national importance.

We also get to network with like-minded businesses and wine organisations which is also good for our family business.

In December 2017 I was elected as a WFA Board Director and I look forward to bringing the topics that are important to small winery operations to the table.

No matter what sized operation you are involved in, the more people who get behind WFA, the stronger, louder and more effective it can become and that www.winetitles.com.au

Ed Swift, Printhie Wines.

means achieving favourable outcomes for our industry which is in everyone’s best interests.

Here at Printhie we have many plans for the future of our family business. Almost all of them rely on having a safe and stable marketplace. Being able to rely on WFA to help smooth the waters and achieve the right trading conditions we need, including taxation, labelling, exports and everything in between, means we can get on with the business of making and marketing wonderful wines.

WFA is the peak national organisation for winemakers.

To find out more or to join, visit wfa. org.au March 2018 – Issue 650

business & technology

Rabobank report: structural changes for wine industry 2017 was a dynamic year for the wine industry, marked by short-term scarcity and rising prices, according to Rabobank’s latest Global Wine Quarterly report.

The report says while, “2017 was an unusual one for the wine industry, forcing all players to rethink their short-term strategies,” changing consumer behaviour, global shifts in demand volumes and changing trading frameworks, could represent long-term structural changes.

RaboResearch senior beverages analyst, Maria Castroviejo, said the unconventional year may be a one-off, although it could be enough to accelerate deeper changes that were already developing in the wine industry.

Castroviejo said while none of the changes in long-term sourcing strategies are new or triggered by one poor harvest, the recent events are likely to accelerate and reinforce their implementation.

March 2018 – Issue 650

With longer-term strategies seeing wineries invest in vertical integration or diversifying their offer, retailers increasingly purchasing directly from producers and wholesalers, and distributors changing business models.

“All the trends suggest that, in the near future, the wine industry will continue to see sustained M&A activity all along the value chain,” Castroviejo said.

With France being particularly active as the largest players consistently expand their business inside and outside their borders.

In relation to Australia, the report details that wine exports increased by nine per cent in volume and 13% in value in the 12 months to September 2017, with exports growing at all price points, particularly for wines below $2.5/per litre or above $20/per litre.

By country, sales to Greater China

www.winetitles.com.au

continued to be a key driver, with a 42% year-on-year increase in value terms, more than offsetting lower sales to the UK, New Zealand and Canada.

Meanwhile US wine imports continued their upward trend, with Australia driving success in the bulk wine category with a 124% increase in shipments to the US of bulk wine in the nine month period to September 2017, while botted wine imports fell by eight per cent.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

65

business & technology

Registration rights for exporters to the UK and Europe Post Brexit trade mark protection clarity emerges Wine industry lawyer Mark Hamilton examines the legal implications for wine exporters of the UK’s looming withdrawal from the European Union. He reveals holders of EU trade marks should expect their rights to remain protected in both markets.

C

onsiderable clarity regarding the fate of European Union trade marks following Brexit has recently emerged.

To recap, the UK is still a member of the European Union until the expiry of the notice period of two years provided for by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (which amended the earlier Treaty of the European Union).

Article 50 was triggered by the UK on the 29th day of March 2017, meaning that the UK will leave the EU on the 29th day of March 2019, unless the notice period is extended with the unanimous consent of all EU member states.

The UK and the remainder of the EU are currently immersed in negotiations to separate their legal systems and economic arrangements.

Much has been made of the supposed difficulty of achieving this, but it does seem that both sides are dedicated to making rational arrangements of a selfevident nature.

An excellent example, of great interest to Australian winemakers exporting wine to the EU and the UK, are the arrangements 66 Grapegrower & Winemaker

likely to be made in relation to trade marks. These are highly likely to be as outlined in the September 2017 position paper on intellectual property rights of the European Commission’s Task Force for the Conduct of Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 (“TEU”) (“the EU Task Force”). The EU proposals seem entirely sensible and potentially non-contravened.

Intellectual property rights The EU task force noted that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union will (unless satisfactory arrangements are made) create uncertainty for UK and EU27 stakeholders in relation to the scope of protection in the United Kingdom of certain intellectual property rights; to the treatment of applications for certain rights and to the exhaustion of rights conferred by intellectual property www.winetitles.com.au

rights. This uncertainty will significantly affect the conditions under which goods that are placed on the market in the union before the withdrawal date could continue to circulate between the EU27 and the UK. The EU task force said that the withdrawal agreement should ensure that: 1. The protection enjoyed in the United Kingdom on the basis of union law by both UK and EU 27 holders of intellectual property rights having unitary character within the union before the withdrawal date is not undermined by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union; 2. Procedure-related rights (eg. right of priority) in relation to an application for an intellectual property right having unitary character within the Union still pending on the withdrawal date are not lost when applying for an equivalent intellectual property right in the United Kingdom; 3. Applications for supplementary protection certificates or for the extension of their duration in the United Kingdom on-going before the March 2018 – Issue 650

withdrawal date are completed in accordance with the conditions set out in union law; 4. Databases protected in the EU27 and the UK before the withdrawal date continue to enjoy protection after that date; and 5. Exhaustion before the withdrawal date within the union of the rights conferred by intellectual property rights is not affected by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

General principles The EU task force proposes the following general principals apply in accordance with union law, as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement: 1. Intellectual property rights within the EU • The holder of any intellectual property right within the EU and granted before the withdrawal date should, after that date, be recognised as the holder of an enforceable intellectual property right in relation to the UK,

comparable to the right provided

by EU law – if need be on the basis of specific UK domestic legislation to be introduced.

The implementation of this principle should include, in particular, the automatic recognition of an intellectual property right in the UK on the basis of the existing intellectual property right within the EU. Where applicable to the relevant right, the implementation of this principle should also include: • The determination of the renewal dates; • The respect of priority and seniority principles; The adaptation of ‘genuine use’ requirements and ‘reputation’ rules to the specific situation under consideration; The recognition of a trade mark in the UK should not be refused on the ground that the equivalent EU trade mark had not been put into genuine use in the territory of the UK before the withdrawal date.

The owner of an EU trade mark having reputation in the EU should be allowed, after the withdrawal date, to temporarily exercise in the UK rights equivalent to those foreseen in Article 9(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 and Article

SUPERSTART

5(3)(a) of Directive 2015/2436 in respect of the equivalent national trade mark even if the equivalent national trade mark in question does not yet have a specific reputation within the UK. • The implementation of this principal should not result in financial costs for the holders of intellectual property rights within the EU. Any related administrative burden for such holders should be kept to a strict minimum.

2. Where an application for an intellectual property right within the EU has been submitted before an EU body in accordance with EU law before the withdrawal date and the administrative procedure for the grant of the right concerned is still ongoing on that date, the applicant should be entitled to keep the benefit of any priority date in respect of such pending application when applying after the withdrawal date for an equivalent intellectual property right in the UK. 3. Legal protection of databases Makers or rightholders of databases protected pursuant to Article 7 of Directive 96/9/EC in the EU member states before the withdrawal date should continue to

R

NATURAL YEAST OPTIMISATION

SUPERSTART® Blanc

March 2018 – Issue 650

SUPERSTART® Rouge

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

67

business & technology enjoy protection after that date in the EU27 member states and in the UK in relation to those databases.

For this purpose, the requirements of Article 11(1) and (2) should be waived in the EU27 member states in respect of UK nationals and UK companies and firms; conversely, the UK should not exclude EU27 nationals and EU27 companies and firms from legal protection of databases in the UK on nationality or establishment grounds.

when such good (to which the trade mark is related) was put on the market in the union before the withdrawal date by the proprietor of the trade mark or with the proprietor’s consent.

4. Exhaustion of rights Rights conferred by intellectual property rights which were exhausted in the European Union territory before the withdrawal date should, after that date, remain exhausted in both the EU27 territory and in the UK territory. The conditions for exhaustion concerning each intellectual property right should be those defined by union law. For instance, in relation to trade marks, the rights conferred by the trade mark to prohibit its use in relation to a good are exhausted

Data transfer and cooperation

Definitions For the purpose of this article, the notion of ‘Intellectual property right within the EU’ relevantly refers to the following right: • A ‘European Union trade mark’ refers to a trade mark registered in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the European Union trade mark.

For the purpose of facilitating the implementation of general principal 1, the EU task force proposes that the withdrawal agreement should provide for adequate cooperation and the transfer of relevant data between the entities charged with the registries of intellectual property rights in the UK and in the EU27.

The EU task force says that any such transfer of data should comply with the general principles set out in the paper on “Essential Principles on the Protection

of Data and Information Obtained or Processed before the Withdrawal Date”.

The arrangements proposed by the EU seem entirely sensible and aimed at continuing the protection across Europe and the UK which EU community trade mark holders have at present under the combined EU system. It is hard to see why the UK would object to these proposals, which seem consistent with engineering the best economic and regulatory outcome for all parties involved.

Australian winemakers who hold EU trade marks, or apply for them between now and the withdrawal date should feel reasonably comforted that these arrangements will be in place on the withdrawal date, such that they will continue to have registered rights enforceable in both Europe and the UK. Mark Hamilton is a leading Australian wine lawyer with substantial practical industry experience through Hamilton’s winery. He can be contacted on (08) 8231 0088 or 0412 842 359 or by email at mhamilton@gropehamiltonlawyers.com. au. Website: www.gropehamiltonlawyers. com.au

Global wine tech leader to build HQ in SA’s Barossa Valley

A

Nu r ioot pa-based busi ness – specialising in producing innovative wine technologies – has been offered a $500,000 State Government to support a project that will create 19 full-time equivalent ongoing jobs.

VA Filtration will use the Regional Development Fund grant to support building a $4.5 million purpose-built new technology facility on Pipeline Road.

The facility will boost South Australia’s reputation as a world leader in innovative wine technologies.

New positions will include researchers, engineers and manufacturing experts.

Another 15 FTEs will be created during the construction phase.

The facility will enable VA Filtration to construct highly advanced modern filtration machines locally in South Australia, instead of the company needing to outsource this work interstate as currently occurs.

The project aligns with the State Government’s economic priorities of ‘Premium food produced in our clean environment and exported to the world’ and ‘Growth through innovation’.

VA Filtration is a global distributor of a 68 Grapegrower & Winemaker

unique, patented mobile filtration system, designed to service small to medium wineries.

It uses patented, highly advanced filtration processes to improve wine quality by removing or reducing undesirable compounds and taints.

Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock said the business is a valuable contributor to the state’s premium wine supply chain.

“South Australia already accounts for almost 80 per cent of Australia’s premium wine production which is produced from some of the oldest vines in the world.

“In 2016-17, South Australia’s wine industry generated more than $2.3 billion in revenue. VA Filtration currently services around 180 wine producers across South Australia.”

The State Government’s $15 million Regional Development Fund (RDF) drives economic growth through grants to boost investment in regional infrastructure and the creation of jobs in South Australia.

VA Filtration managing Director and founder Matthew Hooper said his business is pleased to be offered the funding, which will allow it to expand its world-leading technologies in the heart of Australia’s most www.winetitles.com.au

prestigious wine region, the Barossa Valley.

The project will give VA Filtration a permanent base for the company, building on the existing invaluable mobile service we provide to customers.

We’re excited to now be able to dramatically expand our operations in regional South Australia, increase machine exports through our subsidiary companies in the USA, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Argentina, and develop a dedicated research and development division.

The regional development fund has been independently assessed by Ernst and Young. This assessment showed that projects supported by the RDF in the 2016/17 financial year alone would make an economic contribution to the state of over $1 billion and create over 3000 regional jobs.

March 2018 – Issue 650

Equipping winemakers with the tools of success The latest in gas management and membrane technology As one of the leading suppliers in Australia for molecular carbonation and gas management systems, PTI Pacific are at the cutting edge for engineering technology used in wineries. Chloe Szentpeteri spoke to founder Lee Carty, to find out more on their precision measurement of CO².

P

TI Pacific was established five years ago, with the goal of producing user-friendly carbonation systems with the precision to accurately measure and control levels of CO². In 2014, the company built its first inline carbonation system for a contract bottling site, and the technology has taken off since then.

Owner and founder Lee Carty developed his business idea from the comfort of a beanbag while sitting in his lounge room.

After noticing problems with inline carbonation systems in machinery imported from Europe, and a lack of technical knowledge from Australian users, he decided to build his own.

Carty has been in the wine industry for around 13 years, working in laboratories or with technical equipment, and his strength lies in membrane technology and winery machinery.

“I could foresee that the market was going to need something highly accurate

Customised INTEGRA Wine Gas Management machine for simultaneous inline Dissolved O2 reduction and CO2 adjustment at the filling line.

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

for the management of gases and it seems to be booming at the moment,” he said.

“We’ve grown from strength to strength and [we are] working with some of the largest players in the industry including 3M, CSL, Lion Co and Murray Goulburn.”

In 2015, PTI Pacific partnered with 3M and the two companies have since complemented each other with expertise and equipment.

PTI Pacific now distributes machinery for the wider food and beverage industries and

Lee Carty, Founder & Managing Director of PTI Pacific

Grapegrower & Winemaker

69

business & technology

Lee Carty, PTI PACIFIC Managing Director (left) and Scotty Morgan, PTI PACIFIC NSW Sales Manager (right) conducting gas management and carbonation trials at Casella Wines (Griffith).

`it also provides some of Australia’s largest pharmaceutical and medical companies with specialist technologies.

Membrane technology PTI utilises ‘Liqui-Cel’ membrane contactors to precisely dose or remove dissolved gases from wines. This can be done in the form of high concentration CO² which is added for semi-sparkling and sparkling wines, and/or low concentration adjustment.

“We use a plastic polymer as a membrane, which is similar to a crossflow filter, except its hydrophobic so the liquid won’t actually pass through it,” Carty explained.

“All it does is pass alongside it and it works in a similar way to your lungs so as you breathe in, you take in oxygen concentration out of the atmosphere.

“You have a low concentration of oxygen on the other side of your membrane in the lungs, so the oxygen passes across the membrane into your blood stream,” he said.

Similarly, as wine passes across the membrane, CO² can be added by applying pressure.

This results in molecular carbonation and the gas passes through the membrane at such a fine level so it’s instantly dissolved into the beverage on the other side.

“So there are no bubbles, there’s no foaming and there are much less processing issues, much less weight, and much more control by doing it that way,” Carty said.

“Similarly in terms of oxygen removal out of wines we do it the same way. Very precise and at very low level.”

Carty said CO² at low concentrations 70 Grapegrower & Winemaker

is difficult to accurately measure, but PTI Pacific’s machinery has been developed to do so.

“We have been working on minor CO² adjustments either in the cellar or at bottling increments from 0.5g up to 2g/L,” he explained.

“We can do this accurately just in time, so this could be when the tanker is unloading, as you’re filling a 24kL bladder for export or just for a filler bowl as well.

“Most of the technologies at the moment really struggle with that ‘just in time’ accuracy or they rely on predictive measurements.”

Carty said there are many cool climate producers, such as those in New Zealand making aromatic whites, who struggle with post ferment CO² concentrations.

Due to the drop in ambient temperatures the wines try to hold onto their gas content.

“Traditional sparging of tanks with nitrogen gas is very laborious and inaccurate and can have a detrimental effect on wine aromatics and even potential foaming issues at the filler,” he said.

“At PTI Pacific, the cost per litre is reduced by being able to automate and mechanise simple processes, as has been the case with most process applications in the winery.

“We manufacture wine gas management machines for applications from tank-totank adjustment in the cellar, at tanker unloading, and directly at the filling line.”

Domestic and international markets Many wine companies import machines and equipment due to limited supplier options in Australia.

Europe has a considerable market for www.winetitles.com.au

machinery manufacturers in the wine industry, with imports coming from Italy, Germany and France.

Despite developing its machinery on home soil, PTI Pacific often imports equipment in addition to using their own resources.

“It’s difficult to manufacture in Australia as our market is very small and I’m already finding that it’s a problem,” Carty said.

“At the moment we’re just selling to Australia, but we’ve got applications that we’re working on in New Zealand, Canada and Brazil.

“One of the problems, particularly for small to medium players, is they get brands that pop up and disappear and one company has an agency and the next year another company has an agency and it’s very difficult to get a continuous supply of service for some of this equipment,” he said.

Carty said many wineries struggle with the depth of support from international importers.

“It tends to be where a lot of equipment is imported, it’s dropped off to a customer, a techie will go and wire it in, and they’ll grab the final payments and run,” he explained.

“Particularly with bottling and packaging equipment, the issues are that customers then have a machine and a day later they’re thinking, ‘ok they’ve dropped it off and installed it, what the hell do I do now?’ There is a lot of that which means wasted time for the customers.

“Our service team is incredibly busy just picking up the pieces from existing installations, which certainly helps our business,” he said.

Servicing machinery PTI Pacific has a service team with a partnership with more than 18 mechanical and electrical engineers, to assist customers with queries relating to bottling and packaging equipment.

“We’re currently developing a model right now whereby not only can we turn up and put a piece of equipment on site and train people how to use it, we also go into a whole depth of training,” Carty said.

“We will even write standard operating procedures (SOPs) for customers so that they can learn how to use it and so we can model that for them and hold their hand through the whole process so they don’t have wasted days trying to learn the equipment.”

The company is trialling some of its models on a rental agreement, rather than outright purchase.

The customer can rent machines anywhere from a six month period up to six years, which includes servicing.

“The membranes in our machines require quite a lot of cleaning and maintenance and that’s one thing that a lot of customers don’t realise – particularly for March 2018 – Issue 650

wines or similar beverages where you have a lot of high protein content or high alcohol content,” Carty said.

PTI Pacific have a facility in Melbourne where the team work on a ‘swap and go’ system. Inadequate filtration, using the wrong cleaning chemicals that contain surfactants or solvents among others, are ways to ensure that the membranes won’t perform effectively and the results will be sub-par.

That’s why the company’s system allows customers to send membranes back to the facility for repair. Clients are sent clean replacements, which removes downtime and allows operations to continue running smoothly.

“We’ll do all the cleaning, testing, and the regeneration, do a full service on it and send it back to them,” Carty exclaimed.

Service operators will fly around Australia to support PTI Pacific manufactured equipment, but also other bottling, canning and packaging equipment.

“If one of these membranes is damaged it could equate to a whole day with the machine out of action, so we try and be very proactive with our servicing, and our equipment here [in Melbourne] is actually capable of doing that.”

Live trials Over the last few months PTI Pacific and

Figure 2. Liqui-Cel membrane contactor performance log

partner, 3M, have conducted several large winery trials to test their technology, most notably with results at Yalumba and Casella.

Casella Family Brands conducted a live trial at their Griffith winery in New South Wales, to prove the concept of inline and simultaneous CO² adjustment and O² reduction with one machine.

“We utilised a trial volume of wine which was deliberately brought to an ‘out of spec’ oxygen (O²) concentration of 2500ppb (2.5ppm) to test the machine performance and capability of precise CO² addition and simultaneous O² reduction,” Carty said.

The results showed that at a constant flow rate of 8200L per hour, the team was able to carbonate the Moscato at an average of 3g/L whilst simultaneously reducing dissolved O² from 2.5ppm to an average of 0.46ppm, equating to an average of 81.5% O² reduction (Figure 2).

Although 2.5ppm is quite high, the

technology proved capable of reaching the specification with precision.

Senior winemaker at Casella Wines, Greg Short, said the technology is simple to use and provided stable and predictable results. “[With] early sensory assessment, three tasters had a clear preference for the LiquiCel carbonated product when compared to a tank carbonated product. However, this is not statistically significant as the sample size was too small.”

“We will be conducting further sensory analysis with the wider winemaking group soon, although initial results look promising,” Short said.

PTI Pacific and 3M will continue working with wineries to implement and supply membrane and gas management technologies into the Australian and global wine markets while continuing to develop their equipment and specialist services for the wine industry.

FERMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS

ORGANOLEPTIC CHARACTERISTICS

• Alcohol tolerance: up to 16 % vol.

• Wide range of optimal temperatures: 20 - 35°C.

• Very low production of negative sulphur compounds (including SO2 and H2S) and of compounds binding SO2.

• Low nitrogen requirements.

• Masked perception of green characters.

• Moderate volatile acidity production.

• Aromatic freshness and expression of black fruit notes.

• Regular fermentation kinetics.

• Great smoothness of mouthfeel.

• Good malolactic fermentation compatibility.

LAFFORT AUSTRALIA - Tél: 08 8360 2200 - Email: info@laffort.com.au - www.laffort.com

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

71

business & technology

Capping it all off Wine bottle corks and capsules changing with the times The cork industry has undergone many changes over the years to accommodate new technology and broaden the product range to meet consumer demands. Corks were once the only type of closure for wine bottles, but over the decades they’ve faced strong competition from screwcaps as the preferred choice for winemakers.

Chloe Szentpeteri lifts the lid on what’s next for cork tops.

T

im Stead is the general manager for Amorim Australasia, one of our largest cork distributors, and just one thread in a chain of international offices for the multinational supplier.

Based at the company’s manufacturing facility at Regency Park in Adelaide, he has a strong background in product development and sales, and a deep knowledge of the cork industry and where it’s headed.

Stead said the product with the highest growth rate in the last couple of years has been the ‘twin top’, otherwise known as a 1+1 cork. It’s an agglomerate cork body, made up of numerous small pieces bonded together, with a disk of natural cork on either end.

“Because of the natural disc in contact with the wine, which protects the wine from what people might theorise is a risk of exposure to glues and things with the agglomerate,” he said.

Despite this reasoning, Stead explained that there’s a minimal risk of exposure, due to the use of food grape glues. However, protection from a layer of natural cork is there all the same.

“But also you’re protecting that natural micro-oxygenation of the cells of oxygen that are inside the cork still omitting into the wine and giving that continued maturation of the wine.

“The other aspect is that when the consumer opens the product they can see a natural cork surface there that’s not looking too manufactured,” Stead explained.

The twin top is consistent with oxygen performance, but the manufactured body with natural ends is aesthetically pleasing too, and has been a preference in overseas markets, particularly China.

It also seals well in containers that are travelling internationally and in hot conditions.

“The consumer has that natural cork exposure and experience when they open a bottle and by the time you’ve compressed this in the bottle and you’ve got the customer’s print in the cork you would 72 Grapegrower & Winemaker

barely recognise that it’s a natural cork,” Stead added.

Another top performer in closures is the micro granular cork which is made up of much smaller granules than the twin top. For example, Amorim has developed a product called ‘Nutricork’ – a manufactured cork that is highly controlled in terms of oxygen behaviour, elimination of cork taint and sealing and mechanical properties.

“It’s an extremely reliable product. There are other micro granulate products on the market but ours is one of the cheaper options for winemakers, both in a small sense domestically and also in larger export markets where it’s growing,” Stead explained.

There’s a little bit of flexibility there but we’re down to the point now in pricing where there’s just nowhere left to go.

Price and competition Pricing goes hand-in-hand with volume but according to Stead, there has also been a generalised price point for established items in particular markets.

Whether a buyer is asking for 500,000 units or asking for five million, the price remains largely the same.

“At the end of the day I’m buying over five million units anyway so I’m getting a price benefit and so I’ll pass on that price benefit to whoever wants to buy that particular unit of stock,” Stead noted.

“There’s a little bit of flexibility there but we’re down to the point now in pricing where there’s just nowhere left to go. www.winetitles.com.au

“We have to be mindful that we’re trying to run a business here and keep employees, and we can’t go any lower than certain levels and that’s the way it is.

The upside to this from a supplier’s point of view, is that there is a very small number of competitors in the cork industry for the Australian market and according to Stead, only two to three of a sizeable nature.

“We represent a bit over 50% of the whole market here in Australia,” he said.

“We’re the largest importer of corks into this market as a supplier of the industry but there are two or three competitors we take very seriously and there are others outside of that we don’t want to discourage from being in the industry, though they aren’t so much a threat for our business.”

However, despite a small number of suppliers, the key players compete heavily for the major business.

The balance between it all, is the suppliers that buy independently from the market, and those that operate offshore.

“So Amorim ourselves, we are a wholly owned subsidiary of Amorim in Portugal,” Stead said.

“We buy from Amorim internally and they buy from the upstream raw material.

We are a vertically integrated supplier chain and there are others that are here in Australia that are independent of any upstream supplier so they’re buying from the market.

“There are slightly different managerial or structural approaches but all the suppliers in this market are reputable and providing good products and doing QA checks on everything,” he said.

Capsules Like corks, capsules have shown growth in their aesthetic applications and protective properties as a tamper-evident closure.

With recent trends pointing to a boost in sparkling wine sales both domestically and overseas and with winemakers modernising packaging and labels, now is as good a time as any to use capsules.

March 2018 – Issue 650

Enoplastic’s ‘Splitter’ machine cuts the material to size for individual use

National sales manager for Enoplastic Australia, Brodie Atkinson, has spent nearly 13 years in the wine industry and when not travelling, spends his time at the company’s Adelaide-based manufacturing site. He enjoys wine and seeing developments in the wine industry.

In Australia, there are around 90 million capsule units produced for sparkling, and Enoplastic makes around 75 to 77 million of that total.

“We have a fair monopoly on the marketplace and we’ve had an overflow of that leading into this time of year,” Atkinson said.

“Capsules are all tamper evident products at the end of the day as well as being aesthetically part of the design for the end result on the bottle.”

Some wine bottles don’t utilise a sparkling hood so may use a screwcap, cork or in some cases even a muselet.

“They’re still offering some tamper evidence but it’s unlike a hood which goes over the top of all of that.

Market trends Atkinson said Enoplastic has seen a drop in PVC capsules and although they continue to go over cork mouth and still wine, the tendency is to be more premium.

And that’s why polylaminate capsules are growing.

“In the last 12 months we’ve seen a 50% increase in demand for polylaminate capsules and we’ve seen some small gains in the sparkling area of about two or three per cent,” Atkinson explained.

On the flipside, PVC demand has dropped by 40%.

“I think we’ll continue to see PVC decline.

“As we see markets in the US changing from corkmouth to screwcap and we’re seeing that middle class of China moving from PVC to more of a premium product like polylaminate, I think they’ll try and trend out of PVC and go into polylaminate capsules.”

Atkinson said there’s been a shortage March 2018 – Issue 650

A selection of PVC, polylaminate and hoods customised stock at Enoplastic

of polylaminate capsules in the market, hence Enoplastics brought their machine to Australia to accommodate that shortage and be able to do quicker lee times for customers.

“We’re trying to set our facility up to accommodate the changing trends within the industry and we’ve been able to capitalise by bringing the polylam machine in and being the only company in Australia who can do polylam capsules.”

“I think there’ll be something new that will come out into the marketplace and that’s why we’re looking at the Greenleaf,” he added.

Greenleaf is one of Enoplastic’s newest products which has been launched in Europe and is currently under trail to launch in Australia.

Designed as a shrink capsule, it fits over 30x15mm screwcaps and are said to decrease packaging costs and meet economical run sizes.

The product has seen initial testing but requires machinery not yet imported to Australia.

Price and competition Enoplastic is the only company in Australia who manufacture capsules and hoods, though competition still runs high.

An agreeable exchange rate allows products to be bought in at a cheap price.

But the biggest advantage that a domestic Australian supplier holds is reduced lee times.

“We take the risk out of not having to order in such large volumes. It’s inevitable at some point or time to have an issue and you don’t want to be ordering 600,000 capsules and then finding out something is wrong with them,” Atkinson said.

“Having the shorter lee times and being local we can accommodate it quickly and we’re able to have customers come to site, do their colour matches, press checks and see the capsules actually being made.

“We’ve been around for over 40 years and we’ve got long established relationships with www.winetitles.com.au

key customers but certainly we’re looking to expand and what we’ve done is continually bring new machines into our business to make sure that we keep up with the trends in the industry,” he added.

The benefits of corks and capsules Winemakers will argue two different sides of the coin when it comes to preference for cork or screwcaps, and capsules are simply the cherry on top, with the added benefit of tamper-evidence.

At the end of the day these are closures and the main purpose of the closure is to sell what they protect and protect what they sell.

As a point of preference, there are two main streams: the aesthetic appeal of the product and the technical perspective.

Stead explained there are numerous examples in markets like the US where consumers pay more for bottles with cork due to the perception of value.

“In recent studies by Nielson they’re buying more volume at more value with products that have cork in it, so there’s a good argument in some markets to say ‘cork is better for my product because I’ll sell it at a high price and I’ll sell more of it’,” he said.

The positives of using cork mean that winemakers can tailor their bottles to achieve certain styles of wine that may not involve a lot of chemical intervention, so the winemaking process can continue in the bottle.

Cork will provide that with microoxygenation and so forth, hence if you don’t want any of that then there’s a screwcap as a solution.

With capsules, Atkinson said products like the Greenleaf won’t necessarily revolutionise the marketplace, but it’s an alternative to customers using traditional plain screwcaps or corks, allowing for customisation at a much more economical price.

Even though the market is constantly changing, it is companies like Amorim Australasia and Enoplastic that forge the way for the wine packaging industry’s future.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

73

sales & marketing sales & marketing

Customer numbers add up to profit Financial benefits flow from knowing and applying the sales figures for cellar door visitors In his latest article on the science of increasing sales and profit by driving cellar door business, Richard Warland, outlines how tracking gross profit numbers generated by walk-in and virtual visitors can help to predict the benefits of greater promotion.

Customer relationship marketing in the wine industry In the February, April and October 2017 editions of Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker we acknowledged the importance to the small winemaker of direct to consumer (DtC) or ‘cellar door’ sales and how to improve performance in this area. The scientific marketing approach to DtC (and wholesale for that matter), can be described as customer relationship management (CRM). Whether they are individuals, bottle shops or restaurants, managing your relationship with them is vital to your profitability.

CRM cannot be bought The principle of CRM has been around since the first trader sold something to a fellow primitive human being. In the 1990s however, ‘The Big 5’ consulting firms started spruiking technology-enabled CRM and there were some infamous and costly failures.

The reason for this is that CRM is not a ‘thing’ and cannot be bought… but it can be learned.

The actual principles of CRM are simple –

Know your customers Use this knowledge to serve or communicate with your customers, with offers that are relevant, through the channel they prefer, at a time they prefer.

By understanding the gross profit generated per average visitor, you can predict the financial benefit of increasing your advertising effort to drive increased visitor numbers CRM’s first essential – know your numbers!

I was recently talking to an old friend who runs a relatively successful ‘boutique’ cellar door sales outlet. He has a high

number of ‘walk-in’ visitors and I asked him if he counted his visitors in order to understand his average sales (and gross profit) per visitor.

He replied, “We are just a small business, Richard. We don’t need to do that”. My reaction was, “because you are a small business, you do need to do it!”

If he spends any money on attracting cellar door visitors (and that includes ‘virtual visitors’) to his website, he needs to understand his return on investment (ROI), or more simply, ‘how much profit does he make for every dollar he spends?’

‘It all falls out in the wash,’ he might say. Well yes, but that does not help him improve his future sales and profits.

Let’s put it to you, the reader. By understanding the gross profit generated per average visitor, you can predict the financial benefit of increasing your advertising effort to drive increased visitor numbers. ‘Increased effort’ could be as simple as paying to erect a new sign at the nearest intersection, or as professional as paying for ads in local and state tourist magazines, or printing brochures for your nearby resorts and hotels.

And please don’t fall into the ‘it’s all too hard’ trap. If you have too many visitors to

It can be valuable to learn where website visitors entered your site, where they came from and which products they looked at.

74 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Inexpensive store traffic counters installed at the entrance to your cellar door can record numbers of walk-in visitors

count manually, it can be done for you by unobtrusive and inexpensive store traffic counters installed at the entrance to your cellar door.

Of course, visitors to your website are easily reported on and if you don’t have any one of the low cost reporting tools such as Google Analytics, you are wasting an opportunity! Learning where your online visitors entered your site, where they came from, which products they looked at, how long they looked at each page and where they went when they left, can be extremely valuable in improving online sales. If all this is beyond you and your staff, then find a young digital marketing-focused person who will do it for you on an hourly basis – they are out there in droves!

Test and learn!

If you like the sound of this, don’t go blindly rushing to increase your advertising expense assuming that your average sales per new visitor will remain the same. A key practice in the science of DtC marketing is testing.

Direct marketers have known for decades that advertising media varies widely in its potential to bring in new profitable customers. I will bet now that a new sign at the nearest intersection will produce not as many, but ‘better value’ March 2018 – Issue 650

visitors than (say), an ad in a state tourist magazine. That is not to say that the latter won’t be buyers, it is just that by ‘fishing in a larger pond’ you stand the chance of attracting more ‘tyre kickers’ who taste, but don’t buy, thus driving down your average sale per visitor.

Visitors to your website are easily reported on If you do decide to try new advertising media, put a toe in the water first and remember to ask your new visitors where they heard about you. Better still; include a coupon or redemption code in your ad in order to measure response.

To come In future articles I will discuss other CRM essentials Accurately recording customer names & contact details and subtle unobtrusive techniques for doing so.

Capturing all interactions in one data base and keeping your data clean (meaning accurate and up to date). www.winetitles.com.au

…and much more on the power of ‘knowing your numbers’.

All of this is not as difficult as it seems and there are marketing possibilities few of you would have dreamt of!

Richard Warland is a Roseworthy Oenology graduate (class of 1970-71).

He made wine in the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Hunter before moving on to sales and marketing management and thence to CEO positions in wine direct marketing finally spending eleven years with Cellarmaster Wines after they bought his company, Cellar Door Direct. From 2005 – 14 he lived in Hong Kong and Macau, consulting on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Loyalty Marketing to companies spanning many industries in China. He is now based in the Adelaide Hills and consults on direct and loyalty marketing in Australia and Greater China. Since 2010 he has lectured on CRM to the multi-national MSc Wine Business class at The Burgundy School of Business in Dijon.

Richard can be contacted at richard. warland@rtsronline.com

Grapegrower & Winemaker

75

sales & marketing

Is a redesign needed for your wine brand?

The importance of constant brand evolution Regardless of the size of your company, or the nature of your products and distribution, constant innovation is required to ensure that you retain your connection with your target market. Nina Chalmers, Creative Director at CoLLECT Design provides firsthand insight into embracing change for enhanced perception of your brand.

T

hink about the brands that have stood the test of time…

Coca-Cola, Nike, Kodak and Veuve Clicquot, who’ve been in the game since 1772! We all know their slogans and logos, even though they’ve evolved over the years. But it’s this constant self-evaluation and reinvention, based on the changing needs of the marketplace that has ensured the longevity and relevance of these brands. Think of it as growing up with your customers, evolving as their needs change. It is especially important to ensure that your wines continue to have appeal for newcomers to the market.

Changes to branding don’t have to be radical. Minor evolutions

over time are effective too, like keeping typography and colour subtly in line with current trends can keep your packaging looking fresh. However, in some cases, radical change is needed in order to yield game-changing results.

If your wine is good, but your distributors lack enthusiasm about the product, or your wines aren’t being stocked in the restaurants you believe they belong in, it may be time for some strategic design thinking. If you are serious about brand success, seek the expertise of an experienced branding and packaging designer. They will guide you through the elevation of the look and feel of your packaging, until it tells the story of your wine.

Case Study: The Hedonist - Walter Clappis Wine Co. The Hedonist brand was established over ten years ago. Walter Clappis recognised something of himself in the in the idea of immersing oneself in all of the delights life has to offer, and so the story began.

A new addition While Clappis was building his brand and selling his biodynamic wine philosophy with a range of popular wines at one price point, very little changed until the addition of a new Reserve label in 2013. This Shiraz was exceptional and distributors loved the luxury appeal of new packaging. With the elevated perception of the brand, sales increased by a whopping 30% across the entire range. Moving with the changing demands of the global market, and updates to wine label compliance, a year later, CoLLECT proposed a minor evolution of the existing range which included their awarded Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and a Rosé. With new typography and refined balance, the overall look was cleaner and more contemporary.

Embracing change Following the success of the Reserve, in 2015 CoLLECT were briefed to 76 Grapegrower & Winemaker

redesign the Rosé label. The wine was good, but it was not selling as well as it should have. Maintaining the integrity of the established brand, the new look was to be feminine, but not garish or silly. The addition of a pale dusty pink, or a flower to the mouth of the pig was suggested.

The solution Having spent time getting to know the family behind the brand, the creative team had formed a strong connection with them, and genuinely come to understand their passion for the wines they produced. Inspired by the sensory experience of the wine – its colour, taste and the delicate strawberry and rose petal bouquet, the possibilities for the design solution began to take shape.

Market appeal From a consumers’ point of view, from selection to consumption, the enjoyment of wine should delight all five senses. After almost eight years in the market, The Hedonist brand was well established and the timing was perfect for a significant change; a bold statement that would visually tell the story of the fresh, delicate wine and the family who produce it. www.winetitles.com.au

The Hedonist - before.

March 2018 – Issue 650

sales & marketing Elevated brand perception

Onward and upward

As briefed, a f loral element was incorporated, but rather than popping a rose into the pig’s mouth, we took the portrayal of the wine’s strawberry, floral notes to the extreme. The result is an enlarged but stripped back version of ‘Pig’, filled with delicate spring flowers and imagery that captures the funloving nature of the pig as he delights in every aspect of his pleasure-seeking life.

Building on this success, in collaboration with The Hedonist team CoLLECT developed a design strategy to reinvigorate other varietals to boost the integrity and competitiveness of the brand as a whole, with a view to improving their bottom line.

Cost efficiencies To offset the floral focal point of the label, the mechanically grained 80gsm cast coated label was replaced by a heavier, 105gsm paper stock. The old Rosé label was very large, so the size was decreased to prevent unnecessary cost and difficult application. This change offset the cost of the more premium paper stock.

Increased consumer demand The change strengthened their brand presence in the market, which in turn increased their sales and profitability.

‘The Rosé was not selling well until the CoLLECT facelift, which saw production double and the product sell out in a quarter of the time, compared to the previous year.’ – Walter Clappis

It is especially important to ensure that your wines continue to have appeal for newcomers to the market.

A carnival of change Inspired by the look and feel of the floral Rosé, the new Sangiovese draws on the spirit of Italy while the Tempranillo features characteristic Spanish icons, filling the pig with sumptuous colour - each varietal with a complementary palette of its own. A thicker, more

premium, uncoated Super Opaque White paper is selected. Although slightly more expensive, removing the grain provides a cost saving, while the luxurious paper texture delivers the perception of a quality product.

Typography selected for the Rosé is carried across to the other varietals in the price point for consistency, which subliminally builds trust in the consumer. The pig brand icon on the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon is enlarged and the position of the brand name is consistent across the range, building the brand integrity.

A note from the writer: Until recently, CoLLECT design was known as Graphic Language Design. Our company has evolved, and we believe the new name captures our essence more succinctly.

After years of delivering design strategies that empower our clients to develop and evolve their brands with measurable results, the time came to reassess our own. We’re still in the same Adelaidebased studio and led by the same creative team, but our why is now clearly to connect vision and emotion to create design solutions with a purpose. www. collectdesign.com.au

The Hedonist - after.

78 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

March 2018 – Issue 650

Langhorne Creek winery to get first-class events centre

A

venue at Langhorne Creek is expected to become a destination of choice for major regional events, following $300,000 in grants from the SA government’s regional development fund.

The $1 million project at Lake Breeze Winery will see the establishment of a new first-class functions and wedding venue, warehouse, cellar door expansion and alfresco dining area.

On completion, the winery will hire ten full-time administration, event management and food and beverage service employees.

The Follett family’s Lake Breeze Winery is located on Step Road on the Bremer River’s original floodplain in Langhorne Creek, one of Australia’s oldest wine regions.

SA regional development minister, Geoff Brock, said the project is particularly important for Langhorne Creek, as one of

the state’s most picturesque locations.

“This development will enable worldclass events to be held at Lake Breeze, serving up to visitors the beautiful Langhorne Creek views, and the region’s premium food and wine offerings,” he said.

Vineyard manager and eldest son, Roger Follett, said the development will benefit the region and continually help Langhorne Creek to thrive in the future.

“From our gorgeous cellar door and

restaurant, we have stunning views across the Lake Breeze vineyards and it’s our vision to share it by developing a first-class tourism and events destination.

“We are a passionate family business.

We’re very pleased to have the support of the regional development fund to help bring our vision to life, supporting regional South Australia and, specifically, Langhorne Creek,” he added.

Got empty drums ...

or unwanted agvet chemicals? drumMUSTER and Chemclear have the right solutions to keeping your land safe and clean

Grapegrower & Winemaker MARCH 2018 185 x 130mm horizontal.indd 1

March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

21/02/2018 11:23:03 AM

Grapegrower & Winemaker

79

sales & marketing

History to help Australia boost wine exports

A

ustralia can again lead the way in expanding wine exports among non-European countries, according to a new book that analyses wine production, consumption and trade trends over the last two centuries.

The book, Wine Globalization: A New Comparative History, edited by Kym Anderson and Vicente Pinilla (Cambridge University Press, February 2018), compiles empirically based analyses by some of the world’s leading wine economists and historians of national wine industries before and during the two waves of globalisation (prior to World War I, and recent decades).

In the book, contributors have drawn on a global database of wine statistics, covering 47 countries over the time period 1860 to 2016, to explain wine markets of the past, and to project future markets up to the year 2025.

Book editor and wine economist at the University of Adelaide, Professor Anderson said the book examines why it took Australia and other ‘New World countries’ so long to exploit their comparative advantage in wine.

Co-author Kym Anderson.

“When globalisation of wine markets did occur, it was Australia that led the way among non-European countries in launching wine exports in the 1890s, and again in the 1990s.

“Asia’s wine consumption per capita, and wine’s share of its “Despite the slump over the past decade, Australia is now total alcohol consumption, are still extremely low – and Australia poised to lead the way again,” Anderson said. is in a prime position to capitalise on that.”

The book also highlights the emergence of Asia as the most The book is available for purchase via amazon.com and was Accolade Limited, Aravina Australian Vintage Ltd,6 as Barwick Wines, Belimportant Wines market forAustralia Australia in terms of export growth. Estate, launched at a workshop on February part of the Australasian tunga, Bests Wines Western, Bremerton Brown Brothers Milawa Pty “Asia, especially China, Great is key to future growth in the value of Wines, Agricultural and Resource Economics SocietyVineyard (AARES) 2018 Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, Cellarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, CloAustralia’s wine exports,” Anderson explained.

Annual Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

ver Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Coriole Vineyards, Delegats Wine Estate, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanselow Bell, Five Star Wines, Fowles PWine, Fuse Wine OS Services Pty Ltd, Gemtree Vineyards, Glenlofty Wines, Harry Jones Wines, Henry’s Drive ViJO THoward gnerons Pty Ltd, Hentley Farm, Hope Estate, Hospitality Recruitment Solutions, Park IN BS VRabbit Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, Inglewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack VineTA Pty yard, Jim Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, Kirrihill NO Wines Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier by, Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, W GEMake WInes Australia, McWilliam’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity VIneyards, Moxon Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Oenotec Pty Ltd, Options Wine Merchants, Orlando Wines, Ozpak Pty Ltd, Patrick of Coonawarra, Plantagenet The Wine Industry’s Leading Online Wines, Job SitePortavin Integrated Wine Services, R&D VITICULTURAL SERVICES PTY LTD, Robert Oatley Vineyards, Rymill Coonawarra, Seville Estate, Stella Bella Wines, Streicker Wines, The Gilbert Family Wine Co, The Lane Vineyard, The Scotchmans Hill Group Pty Ltd, The Yalumba Wine Company, Tintara Winery, Tower Estate Pty Ltd, Treasury Wine Estates, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Two Hands Wines, Tyrrell’s Wines, Vinpac International, Warburn Estate Pty Ltd, WebAware Pty Ltd, Wine and Vine Personnel International,Wines Overland, Wingara WIne Group,Wirra Wirra Vineyards, Zilzie Wines, Accolade Wines Australia Limited, Aravina Estate, Australian Vintage Ltd, Barwick Wines, Beltunga, Bests Wines Great Western, Bremerton Wines, Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard Pty Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, Cellarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, Clover Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Coriole Vineyards, Delegats Wine Estate, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanselow Bell, Five Star Wines, Fowles Wine, Fuse Wine Services Pty Ltd, Gemtree Vineyards, Glenlofty Wines, Harry Jones Wines, Henry’s Drive Vignerons Pty Ltd, Hentley Farm, Hope Estate, Hospitality Recruitment Solutions, Howard Park Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, Inglewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack created & managed by Rabbit Vineyard, Jim Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, Kirrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier by, Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Make WInes Australia, McWilliam’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity 80 GrapegrowerMoxon & Winemaker www.winetitles.com.au March 2018 – Issue 650 VIneyards, Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Oenotec Pty Ltd, Options Wine Merchants,

Go with the site that leading wine industry companies use.

Australia & New Zealand

looking back

March 8-25 2018 Taste Great Southern, Various locations in Great Southern, WA, www.tastegreatsouthern.com.au 9 Upstairs at Hollick, Hollick Estate, Coonawarra, SA, www.hollick.com 10-11 Tastes of Rutherglen, Rutherglen, VIC, www.tastesofrutherglen.com.au

16-25 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Various venues throughout Melbourne & Regional Victoria, VIC, www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au 17 A Day on The Green, Leconfield Wines, McLaren Vale, SA, www.adayonthegreen. com.au

11 North Canterbury Wine & Food Festival, Glenmark Domain, Waipara, NZ, www.ncwineandfood.co.nz

17 Albany Wine & Food Show, Eyre Park, Middleton Beach, Albany, WA, http:// albany.wa.gov.au/events/albany-wine-foodshow-2018

11 Peninsula Piers & Pinots, Flinders Foreshore, Mornington Peninsula, VIC, www.mpva.com.au

17 Wine and Cheese Fest, The Meat Market, North Melbourne, VIC, www.wineandcheesefest.com.au

13 Wine Intelligence Workshops - Sydney, Christie Conference Rooms, Sydney, NSW, www.wineintelligence.com/events/wineintelligence-events-brand-power-innovationstrends-workshop-series-2018-2

24 Leeuwin Concert Series - Jackson Browne, Leeuwin Estate Winery, Margaret River, WA, www.leeuwinestate.com.au

16 Wine Intelligence Workshops – Melbourne, Odd One Out, Melbourne, VIC, www.wineintelligence.com/events/wineintelligence-events-brand-power-innovationstrends-workshop-series-2018-2

24 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival - Cellar Door Experience, Bridge Hotel, Richmond, VIC, www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/ program/the-bridge-hotel-cellar-doorexperience-6971 27 Taste the State: New South Wales, International Conventional Centre, Sydney, NSW, www.winecommunicators.com.au

April 6-15 .O.O.D Week (Food of Orange District), Orange & surrounding Shires, NSW, www.orangefoodweek.com.au 7-8 A Little Bit of Italy in Broke, Broke, NSW, www.littlebitofitaly.com.au

10 Wine Intelligence Workshops - Adelaide, National Wine Centre, Adelaide, SA, www.wineintelligence.com/events/wineintelligence-events-brand-power-innovationstrends-workshop-series-2018-2

March

16-18 RendezVino Karlsruhe 2018, Messe Karlsruhe, Rheinstetten, Germany, www.rendezvino.info 17 Meininger’s International Wine Conference 2018, Hotel Intercontinental, Düsseldorf, Germany, www.meiningers-conference.com 17-20 IFE18, ExCel, London, UK, www.ife.co.uk

March 1988

New gas system benefits export wine drive Around eight million litres of wine valued between $20 and $40 million dollars are being protected from oxidation each year by a new gas system recently developed.

The system is for protection of export wine in containers and has been developed exclusively by Liquid Air Australia. Total cost of the system can be less than two cents per litre.

March 1998

French wine exports reach highest level yet While 1997 proved a record year for exports of Australian wine, French wine exports have been setting records on their own.

According to an article published in a recent issue of LA Journée Vinicole, exports of French wine and spirits topped the 40 billion franc mark last year, surpassing those of 1996 by 15%.

March 2008

Midrow management: searching for a sustainable future

International 15-17 VIINIEXPO 2018, Helsinki Fair centre, Messukeskus, Helsinki, Finland, www.viiniexpo.fi

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.

18-20 ProWein 2018, Düsseldorf, Germany, www.prowein.com 21 WiVi - Central Coast Wine Industry Conference & Tradeshow, Paso Robles, California, USA, www.wivicentralcoast.com 22-25 Wine Masters Challenge - XX World Wine Contest, Estoril, Portugal, www.winemasterschallenge.co.uk 26-29 Hotelex Shanghai 2018, Shanghai New International Expo Center, Shanghai, China, http://en.hotelex.cn/shanghai-exhibition/

The midrow area of the vineyard is seeing increased attention from vineyard managers as techniques employed to manage this area within the vineyard change to more sustainable practices.

Modern vineyards are looking to adopt viticultural practices that ensure the sustained agricultural productivity of the vineyard. An important aspect of a sustainable vineyard is the use of appropriate floor management practices that are vital for successful implementation of sustainable production systems.

April 8-9 Concours des Grands Vins Blancs du Monde, Strasbourg, France, www.lesgrandsconcoursdumonde.com March 2018 – Issue 650

www.winetitles.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

81

Marketplace

All advertisements also appear on www.winetitles.com.au/classifieds/

b Road

Sutherlands Sutherlands 92 Lumb 9 Road Lumb 4 BCreek 2 C Creek I 16 J Road 4 B 2 C 2 Iof 16 J For Sale by Expressions Interest

Sutherlands Creek 9 Lumb Road

“Parklands” - Home At The Vineyard

2

View by appointment only.

2 11 3

9 Lumb Road, Sutherlands Creek, VIC 3331.

Rene Pompe Wake up & smell the grapes at this gorgeous 4 bedroom home on approx. M 0419 764 940 134 acres. Not only an ideal lifestyle choice but an opportunity to invest in E rene.pompe@landmarkharcourts.com.au an ever-thriving industry & reap the benefits of producing your own wine.

Owen Sharkey • Approx. 8 minutes to Bannockburn, 10 minutes to Geelong Ring Road M 0417 365 607 • Lounge + 2nd living/rumpus extension to alfresco E owen.sharkey@landmarkharcourts.com.au • Large fully equipped kitchen with fantastic storage

1 Vineyard

1

"Parklands" - Home At The Vineyard

opportunity to invest Not only an ideal lifestyle choice but an opportunity to invest benefits of producing in an ever-thriving industry & reap the benefits of producing your own wine.

• • • • • • • • •

2 bathrooms + separate shower & mud room Alissa Larsen Ducted vacuum system. Reverse cycle H/C + wood fire M 0411 132 872 Town & tank water + 4 Licensed irrigation dams (8 dams total) E alissa.larsen@landmarkharcourts.com.au Standpipe & separate truck access Hothouse, veggie gardens & established orchard Landmark Harcourts 17m x6.5m garage with workshop & W/C + separate workshop Shop 11, Country Plaza Bannockburn VIC 3331 Machinery sheds, shearing shed + hay shed P 03 5281 4500 7m x 4.7m air-conditioned site office with kitchenette ForofSale For "Parklands" "Parklands" - Home- At Home The At Vineyard TheSale Vineyard E bannockburn@landmarkharcourts.com.au Approx. 30 Acres well-maintained vintage vines

Tired of paying too much for your grape harvester parts?

3

Expressions of Interest March 17th @ 5PM Expressions Interest Closing March 17th @ 5PM Not onlyClosing an Notideal only lifestyle an ideal choice lifestyle butchoice an opportunity but an opportunity toofinvest to invest View Inspection only View Inspection appointment only inby anappointment ever-thriving in an ever-thriving industry &industry reap the&benefits reap theof benefits producing ofby producing www.landmarkharcourts.com.au www.landmarkharcourts.com.au your own your wine.own wine.

WINE PRESS SERVICING

VINE GRAFTING

• Standpipe & separate truck access • Standpipe & separate truck access • Standpipe & separate & truck separate access truck access ox. 8 mins to • 4 BR home on approx.

134 acres, approx.

8 mins to • 4 BR home • 4 BR on approx. home on134 approx. acres,134 approx. acres,8 approx. mins to 8 mins to • Standpipe • Hothouse, veggie & established orchard • Hothouse, veggie gardens & established orchard • Hothouse, • Hothouse, veggie gardens veggie&gardens established & established orchard orchard Road Bannockburn and 10 minsgardens to the Ring Road Bannockburn Bannockburn and 10 mins andto10the mins Ring toRoad the Ring Road Rene Pompemaintenance & breakdown Rene Pompe • Preventative with workshop & W/C + separate workshop• 2 car garage with workshop & W/C + separate workshop • 2 car garage • 2 car with garage workshop with workshop & W/C + separate & W/C + workshop separate workshop n to alfresco • Lounge• 2+ car 2ndgarage living/rumpus extension to alfresco • Lounge +• Lounge 2nd living/rumpus + 2nd living/rumpus extensionextension to alfrescoto alfresco M 0419 764 940 M 0419 764 940 repairs for all makes and models.

• Machinery sheds, shearing shedshower + hay shed • Machinery sheds, shearing shed + hay • Machinery • Machinery sheds, shearing sheds, shed shearing + hayshed shed+ hay shed e shower & mud room • Large kitchen, 2 bathrooms + separate & mud room • Large kitchen, •shed Large2kitchen, bathrooms 2 bathrooms + separate+ shower separate& shower mud room & mud room Owen Sharkey Owen Sharkey x 4.7m air - wood conditioned office •cycle with kitchenette • 7m x 4.7m • 7m airx- 4.7m conditioned air - conditioned site officesite withoffice kitchenette with kitchenette • Reverse• 7m cycle A/C plus fire site office with kitchenette • 7m x 4.7m air - conditioned site • Reverse Reverse A/C cycle plus wood A/C plus firewood fire M 0417 365 607 M 0417 365 607 • 24/7 coverage during vintage 30 acres of wellirrigation maintained vintage wines of well maintained vintage wines Approx 30 • Approx acres of 30well acres maintained of well maintained vintage wines vintage wines on dams (8 dams total) • Town &• Approx tank water, 4 licensed dams (8 dams total) • Approx 30 acres • Town & tank • Town water, & tank 4 licensed water, 4irrigation licensed irrigation dams dams dams total) (8 dams• total) Landmark Harcourts Bannockburn, Landmark(8 Harcourts Bannockburn,

Visit us at

Where quality meets affordability.

• Large inventory of spare parts.

• Membrane replacement.

• PLC upgrades and design improvements.

Electrical & mechanical expertise.

Bruce Gilbert 0428 233 544 Brian Phillips 0417 131 764

03 9455 3339 • www.rapidfil.com.au

brucethegrafter@gmail.com www.brucethegrafter.com

www.ghparts.com.au

We have a range of parts to suit the following makes of grape harvesters

TO ADVERTISE CONTACT Suzanne Phosuwan on (08) 8369 9513 or

Braud • Gregoire • Pellenc

email s.phosuwan@winetitles.com.au

the marketplace for

BUY • SELL • NEW • USED

Grapes & Bulk Wine

Now there’s a cost effective site for wineries to buy and sell grapes & bulk wine.

Place listings –

Nominate –

Describe –

Move -

grapes, bulk wine and clean skins

Marketplace

variety, location and tonnes of grapes

variety and litres of bulk wine

cases of clean skins

List FREE today online or call (08) 8369 9500 WTC Find your grapes & bulk wine

G&BW on www.winetitlesclassifieds.com.au

82 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winetitles.com.au

created & managed by

March 2018 – Issue 650

ti - Nährsto f ien

Nutriments

for oenological use

utrientes -N

fe

ts trien Nutr Nu

OptiFlore® O guarantees a balanced yeast nutrition through addition of organic nitrogen, thus ensuring a regular and complete alcoholic fermentation.

Nutriments

ti - Nährsto f ien

fe

nts - Nu trie tr Nu

Promotes yeasts' growth and aromatic expression under difficult fermentation conditions.

utrientes -N

Quality organic nutrition

Thanks to its composition of inactivated yeasts, specially enriched in sterols, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, OenoStim® helps yeasts to better resist alcohol stress, whilst promoting cellular viability and aromatic expression.

Filtration and wine additives with

Service • Integrity• Reliability PA C K A G I N G

Membranes

Filterability Index Systems

When moving to Blue H20 some years ago, Vinpac International took a risk. BHF based their supply proposal on service and technology and a commitment to partner with us on a journey of continuous improvement.

What can I say? We have not been disappointed The service is second to none, and through our partnership we have reduced our filtration costs dramatically.

Nitrogen Generation

– Andrew Holdback, Operations Manager, Vinpac International

STATE

H 2O Web www.bhftechnologies.com.au

Head Office VIC/TAS NSW/QLD SA/Group Oenologist SA/WA

Luke Houlihan Ralph Clark Paul Bowyer Steve Brunato

(03) 9564 7029 0419 158 614 0401 455 103 0401 446 119 0405 121 271

info@blueh2o.com.au luke@blueh2o.com.au ralph@blueh2o.com.au paul@blueh2o.com.au steve@blueh2o.com.au

Proven solutions using crossflow filtration with ceramic membranes.

www.dtpacific.com | info@dtpacific.com | + 61 3 9924-4040 | @DellaToffolaPac