Grapegrower & Winemaker

MAY 2013

Best of boutique

WEA preview

Vintage 2013 brings early harvest

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May 2013: Issue 592

Contents features

winemaking

33 Frost

53

Best of boutique

53

Best of boutique

59

Effect of cold soak on phenolic extraction

68

WEA Conference 2013 preview

65

Oxidation a major concern in 1983

77

Bottling and labelling

66

Greg Howell: vintage 2013 – a hot one!

81 Education

68

WEA Conference 2013 preview

news

sales & marketing

6

My View: David Lowe

75

WCA: matching message to the audience

7

National vintage wrap

76

Label Q&A: Andervine

16

Regional Round-up: Queensland

77

Wine history told through bottling company

18

Education empowers emerging influencers

grapegrowing 20

Helping wineries and growers work together

21

Climate change squeezes world's wineries

23

Fruit grading: better assessment needed?

26

Peak time to pick for top flavours

28

Ask the AWRI: salt in grapes and wine

30

NSW and ACT battle botrytis and Brett

32

Grapegrower in Profile: Sam Dahlitz

33

Fans keep frost at bay

36

Ben Rose: is winter really a quiet time?

business & technology 79

Vinexpo: world of wine looks to 2016

82

Peter Bailey: supply and demand balances

The United Grower Sponsored by

7 MAY 2013

Best of boutique

WEA preview

Vintage 2013 brings early harvest

YEARS

45

cover

regulars

Jan and John Angas outside their rustic cellar door at Hutton Vale, Eden Valley, South Australia.

Photo: Kellie Arbuckle.

5 on the grapevine 20 grapegrowing 53 winemaking 83 export snapshot 84 looking forward 85 marketplace classifieds

53

In this issue May Publisher and Chief Executive Hartley Higgins Managing EDITOR Elizabeth Bouzoudis EDITOR Grahame Whyte editor@grapeandwine.com.au Editorial advisory board Dr Jim Fortune, Denis Gastin, Dr Steve Goodman, Prof. Jim Hardie, Dr Terry Lee, Paul van der Lee, Bob Campbell MW, Prof Dennis Taylor and Mary Retallack Editorial Kellie Arbuckle Contributors Ben Rose, Greg Howell, Jen Barwick and Peter Bailey Advertising Sales Chas Barter sales@grapeandwine.com.au

In keeping with our theme of Small & Medium Enterprises, this month we look at Australasia’s outstanding boutique wineries, as chosen by our panel of experts.

Each of the five selected finalists is able to offer a truly unique experience through both cellar door and the range of wines they offer.

The intriguing question in my mind is why the panel chose these wineries as exemplars of the industry, in the less than 250 tonnes crush category.

What is it that makes a winery stand out from others? On page 67, see Kellie Arbuckle’s inside report on this dynamic and colourful side of our industry, when she invites the panel to choose their favourites from a smorgasbord selection of delightful options.

Also in this issue, we present a fascinating insight into the memorable

2013 harvest, with regional reports from every state.

Overall, winemakers seem to be pleased with the efforts of their vineyard and winery crews in coping with astonishingly variable weather and a lightning-fast vintage.

We certainly anticipate some outstanding wines from a vintage that sets new records for vineyard temperatures and highlights the ability of our winemakers to cope with unexpected timelines for harvest.

I trust you will enjoy reading more about our world of grapegrowing and winemaking in this May edition.

Grahame Whyte Editor Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker editor@grapeandwine.com.au

Circulation: Melissa Smithen subs@winetitles.com.au Subscription Prices Australia: 1 year (12 issues) $77.50 (inc. GST) 2 years (24 issues) $145 (inc. GST) New Zealand, Asia & Pacific: 1 year (12 issues) $110 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $210 (AUD) All other countries: 1 year (12 issues) $174.50 (AUD) 2 years (24 issues) $339 (AUD) Students (Aus only): 1 year (12 issues) $66 (inc. GST) Winetitles Pty. Ltd. 630 Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083 PO Box 1006, Prospect East South Australia 5082 Phone: (08) 8369 9500 Fax (08) 8369 9501 info@winetitles.com.au www.winebiz.com.au Printing by Lane Print Group, Adelaide

Contributors Ben Rose is the principal advisor of Performance Viticulture and is the Grapegrower & Winemaker`s bimonthly viticulture columnist.

On page 36, Ben discusses the long list of jobs to be done in the vineyard during the winter season, showing it is not actually such a quiet time of the year.

Greg Howell is managing director of Vintessential Laboratories and author of the bimonthly Essential Oenology column in the Grapegrower & Winemaker. On page 66, Greg gives an example from the current vintage showing how stuck ferments cause headaches for winemakers attempting to control ferment temperature during hot weather.

© Contents copyright Winetitles Pty Ltd 2013.

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)

4 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Peter Bailey is manager of Wine Australia’s Wine Sector Intelligence division. This month, on page 82, Peter reveals how a reduction in vineyard area, along with reduced yields, has assisted in creating a better supply-demand balance.

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

on the grapevine GWRDC announces investment priorities for 2014-15 The wine industry’s peak research funding body has allocated process efficiency, vineyard profitability, biosecurity and developing people as top four investment priorities for 2014-15.

The Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation will issue a targeted call for research proposals in these four areas with the aim of generating enhanced knowledge and improved practices that support a competitive Australian wine sector.

The 2014-15 priority areas were identified following consultation with industry stakeholders as part of the development of GWRDC’s five-year Strategic research, development and extension plan 2012-2017.

GWRDC management will commission gaps and needs analyses to identify the researchable questions before providing face-to-face briefings for potential research providers on the priority areas.

GWRDC will open the call for investment applications in the areas of process efficiency and vineyard profitability following a researcher briefing day, to be held this month. Submissions for preliminary project applications close Friday 28 June.

A call for investment applications in the area of biosecurity will be made in February 2014.

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

2013 Wine Industry Directory out now Specialist publisher to the grape and wine industry, Winetitles, has released the 31st edition of the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory.

Often dubbed the ‘wine bible’, this year’s directory (WID) includes a comprehensive listing of Australian grapegrowers, along with regular features.

These include an extensive listing of wine producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, universities and education institutions, writers, wine publications, organisations, events and wine shows as well as industry personnel.

The 2013 WID lists 2572 Australian companies that commercially sell wine – a net gain of 40 producers and growth of 1.6% since the previous edition (2532).

Winetitles, which also publishes the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine, began compiling industry statistics, winery contact details and industry suppliers in the one directory in 1983, when there were just 344 wine producers listed.

Purchasers of the WID receive access to the WID Online and can search listings via the Winetitles website (www.winebiz. com.au).

The WID is available from Winetitles for A$110.55 in Australia, A$112.50 in New Zealand and A$135.00 overseas.

For more information contact Winetitles on (08) 8369 9500 or e-mail orders@winetitles.com.au.

New speakers confirmed for WINEHEALTH 2013 Professor Ramon Estruch from the University of Barcelona and associate professor Leon Simons from the University of New South Wales have recently confirmed their participation in WINEHEALTH 2013. Prof Estruch studies the effects of alcohol consumption on the human body. He is the coordinator of a large scale Spanish study on the impact of a Mediterranean diet on prevention of cardiovascular disease in high-risk patients. Profr Estruch will present in the ‘Wine and cardiovascular disease’ conference session, focusing on a recent study comparing the effects of red wine, dealcoholised red wine and gin on indicators of, and risk factors for, cardiovascular disease.

Associate professor Leon Simons is principal investigator of ‘The Dubbo study’, Australia’s longest running longitudinal study of healthy ageing. This study, which commenced in 1987, includes investigation of the impact of alcohol consumption in an elderly population. A/Prof Simons will present in the conference session that covers epidemiological evidence on the relationship between alcohol consumption and human health. WINEHEALTH 2013 will take place in Sydney in July and is open to anyone with an interest in the impact of wine consumption on human health. More information can be found at www.winehealth.com.au.

May 2013 – Issue 592

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what’s online Questions raised over wine climate change report A new report warns some Australian premium wine regions could lose most of their established vineyards by 2050 due to climate change. However, there are concerns the study does not take into account moves to adapt to harsher conditions. The US National Academy of Science has published The Climate Change, Wine and Conservation Report.

It says areas such as South Australia’s Coonawarra, Barossa Valley and Clare Valley, as well as WA’s Margaret River, are among those which could be affected.

However, Adelaide University researcher Dr Doug Bardsley says the outlook might not be so bad, reports ABC News.

Distaste on wine health claims Public health experts have branded a wine health conference a misleading industry attempt to influence government policy by presenting one-sided evidence on wine’s health benefits. Run by AWRI, the July conference in Sydney will host world experts for stimulating exchange of scientific information on the health impacts of drinking wine. Professor Mike Daube, director of the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth, said he was concerned that evidence of the negative health effects of drinking would not be presented at the conference, reports The Age.

Brown Brothers vineyard sell-off Brown Brothers winery has announced the company’s two smallest vineyards will be sold, to cope with a struggling market.

Chief executive Roland Wahlquist said the company would sell Whitlands Vineyard in the King Valley and White Hills Vineyard in Tasmania. Marketing head Katherine Brown said: “Having these vineyards is such a high operation cost for us – we had to be proactive,” she told Weekly Times Now.

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Winetitles

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.winebiz.com.au/dwn.

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5

my view The value of small and medium enterprises throughout the wine supply chain PUTTING ASIDE THE issues around WET tax for a moment, my answer to a question on the value of small and medium wine enterprises will address three areas; namely production and growing of grapes, marketing and promotion, and social and community benefits.

The value comes in two parts.

Firstly, commercial operations generate income, provide employment and create a multiplier in regional centres. where agriculture is based. The second, less tangible, value is placed on the communication and involvement at all levels of primary, secondary and tertiary parts of the wine industry.

Rather than produce a document that details financial activity, I prefer to focus on initiatives that we have undertaken as an industry recently – and that we must undertake in the future – that fairly and squarely demonstrate how important small and medium enterprises are.

Growing and making Local wine industries are generally based in regional areas some distance from a large city and the economies of these regions rely heavily on the loyalty of local commerce. The numbers I see from multipliers for employment and dollar turnover are high, certainly higher than other traditional forms of agriculture, higher than retailing and often only exceeded by mining investment. Small and medium wine enterprises, not just the large vineyards and wineries, employ labour – and the money is spent locally.

When large wine companies exit a region due to relocation for cost management, small and medium wineries either pick up the surplus grapes or take responsibility for the removal, reworking or opportunity for purchase. Certainly the pressure for a region to remain viable is usually left to the small and medium enterprises.

New wine styles, new varieties, new regions; the value that they provide to an industry in crisis needs to be recognised. When the industry hits tough times like now, you will find that the long-term view of this industry is mostly supported by small and medium enterprises. Tomorrow’s new wine style and tomorrow’s wine consumer need to be considered and experimentation, long-term views and genuine innovation is the domain of small and medium wine

6 Grapegrower & Winemaker

enterprises.

SMEs that will survive and flourish are those that recognise that grape quality should be rewarded – not penalised – by pricing. SME’s natural advantage is speed of uptake of research and development.

With few layers of management, direct contact with growers and winemakers and a highly mobile marketing team, they can facilitate a new wine that has come from an idea in as little as four weeks. This is a valuable tool to a rapidly evolving wine public.

Marketing and promotion Typically SMEs operate cellar doors and engage in face-to-face communication with the public. This cannot be underestimated as a vehicle for education, advocacy and awareness. Since SMEs cannot compete on price or large scale efficiency, the natural tools of marketing and promotion are stories, information and engagement. The value we put on this is loyalty to wine, loyalty to a region and the creation of future ambassadors for the industry. In turn this adds value to an industry, since we need to turn the tide against discounting. In fact, what SMEs can and will do will be the saviour for the industry, since we can resist sales to supermarkets, market and promote by value adding and restore profitability.

If we can turn the tide against the ridiculous level of imported wine at the moment by offering quality wine, well packaged and properly marketed to the wine resellers, then the value to the Australian wine industry is so high it is indeterminable.

Social and community benefits To me, this is where SMEs can play the most valuable part. In a politically correct world where situations (euphemism for problems) are massaged and messaged, our future looks grim.

The pressures of oversupply have led to supermarket domination, health authority interference (since wine is the cheapest form of alcohol), introspection and a leadership void. The greatest value SMEs can give to the wine supply chain is to carry the arguments that our industry is responsible, is here for the long term, steeped in history and an antidote to homogeneity, blandness and over-processing.

Other agricultural industries look at our industry and can see the benefit of www.winebiz.com.au

David Lowe CEO, Lowe Wines, Mudgee, NSW President, NSW Wine Industry Association Director, Winemakers Federation of Australia

value adding, of marketing and sales that take traditional forms of agriculture out of commoditisation. In a community sense, the wine industry supply chain has a lot riding on it – the future of towns that have regional linkages where every bottle that is labelled from a region is a marketing tool. The fact that SMEs want every wine they make to be different takes wine out of the commodity stakes, and this will halt the interference of governments who will use government policy as a blunt instrument to effect social change.

As a footnote, the current board of WFA understands all this and is enacting programmes to deliver to wineries and cellar doors, enabling them to convey the message that wine is different and must be cared for.

May 2013 – Issue 592

Vintage 2013 Wineries toast a quality 2013 vintage For many regions vintage 2013 will go do down as one of the hottest on record. For others, the wine harvest will be remembered by its unusually early start. For most, however, this year’s vintage will be regarded for its lower than average yields in certain varieties and exceptional quality.

Kellie Arbuckle

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Barossa The 2013 vintage in the Barossa Valley will be remembered as the driest, earliest and quickest vintage in memory.

Nigel Blieschke, chair of the Barossa Viticulture Technical Group, Louisa Rose, chief winemaker at Yalumba, and Nicky Robins, viticultural development officer of the Barossa Grape and Wine Association, agreed that the 2012-13 growing season was extremely variable in all aspects.

The 2012 rainfall in the Barossa Valley was the fifth driest on record. Spring rainfall was also well below average, leading to variable vine growth across the region. The variable weather also saw a number of hot days above 35°C in both October and November.

The flowering period was particularly volatile, with a number of violent lightening storms damaging the emerging inflorescences. This, combined with the dry conditions that continued into December and January, led to poor fruitset in most varieties.

A heat spell of temperatures over 33°C from 12-18 February caused many vineyards to lose more of their potential yield, and Baumés jumped dramatically.

Many vineyards were harvested by the end of February to early March – a month or so earlier than 2012. Almost all vineyards were picked by the end of March – the earliest ever finish to vintage in memory.

Yields were generally below average, but quality of both reds and whites looks strong.

Reds are showing excellent and balanced colours, flavours and tannins; Grenache may prove to be the real standout from the 2013 vintage, but Shiraz won’t be far behind.

Eden Valley The dry, early and quick vintage was also experienced in the Eden Valley, with harvest beginning in mid-February with Riesling and other white varieties.

Nine days above 30°C in early March (the third longest run ever of above 30°C days in March) meant that much of the Eden Valley Riesling and Shiraz ripened early and was picked in the first two May 2013 – Issue 592

A great vintage gets underway at Langmeil Winery in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

weeks of March.

Yields were generally below average, but quality looks strong. Riesling that was harvested early retained both natural acidity and great flavours, while Shiraz is probably the standout red variety from the region.

McLaren Vale McLaren Vale also had an early start to the 2013 vintage, which finished by the end of March.

Chardonnay was harvested from the middle of February, with Shiraz beginning at the end of February. By the first week of March, a large percentage of the district had already been harvested.

James Hook of McLaren Vale Crop Watch said weather conditions were ideal throughout the season.

“As well as being dry, there was effectively no rainfall for three months from December,” he said.

“Disease levels were the lowest for many years and fruit was very clean.”

Harvested yields were down 10-30% from what was expected and demand for McLaren Vale fruit was high, particularly for Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as Grenache and Mourvèdre all of which were looking promising in terms of colour and flavour.

Hook said the season was not without its challenges.

“The rapid and early harvest tested www.winebiz.com.au

many winemakers’ experience in juggling which vineyards to pick immediately and which grapes to keep on the vine to improve,” he said.

“When picked just right, the results will rank highly compared against previous vintages that have earned McLaren Vale its reputation.”

Langhorne Creek The 2013 Langhorne Creek vintage kicked off in the first week of February and progressed at a fast and furious pace, leaving only a small amount of lateharvest varieties by the end of March.

The season began with excellent soil moisture profiles across the district thanks to good winter and early spring rains which supported vines through a warm and dry later spring and summer.

Langhorne Creek Grape and Wine executive officer Lian Jaensch said the season was mostly ideal.

“It has been a year of very low disease pressure for Langhorne Creek, although unusually high numbers of vine moth were noted during spring which then reduced by early December leaving no significant impact,” she said.

Reduced fruitset in early flowering blocks impacted yields, particularly for Cabernet Sauvignon, while later flowering blocks produced average yields across other varieties.

Overall, a conservative regional Grapegrower & Winemaker

7

Vintage 2013 “After a warm and fast flowering period, we saw an even set with high berry numbers per bunch. The excellent set necessitated significant fruit thinning at veraison which was advanced by approximately a week by the warmer weather,” said Sue Hodder, winemaker at Wynns Coonawarra Estate.

However, cool and dry conditions late in the season afforded winemakers the opportunity to steadily pick their grapes without the pressure of an early season break.

“These conditions have been optimal for our reds. As a result there are strong wines with high colour density, fruit concentration and tannin structure,” Hodder said.

estimate of between 45,000t and 48,000t is anticipated from the Langhorne Creek 2013 vintage.

While demand for Chardonnay remains low across the industry, all other varieties continue to be sought after.

“It may have been a frantic vintage with some lighter crops but the fruit has been well received by wineries,” Jaensch said.

“White varieties have performed well and we can expect some outstanding reds amongst the Cabernet, Shiraz and, though in lower amounts than desired, excellent Malbec.”

Clare As with 2012, vintage in the Clare Valley was very early. The first grapes were harvested in the third week of January in the southern end of the valley for sparkling-based wine, while the first table wine grapes (Chardonnay and Semillon) were harvested in the first week of February.

The seasonal conditions experienced over the 2012-13 growing year could be described as benign, apart from the frost event of mid-October which impacted many vineyards in the southern and eastern parts of the region.

“Overall, yields were slightly down in comparison to long-term averages, but some varieties were exceptions,” said John Bastian, president of the Clare Valley Winegrowers Association.

“Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, in particular, seem to have been the most consistent bearers this season, with average yields and early indications from winemakers of excellent quality, particularly flavour intensity, in

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the reds.

“Overall, Shiraz yields have been lower than average. The lower yield expectation, coupled with frost damage, appears to have reduced any oversupply issues for red varieties in the short term, with a steady demand for red varieties right up until vintage.”

The very welcome decision by SA Water to reduce (albeit temporarily) the price of mains water this year has undoubtedly had a significant benefit both in terms of yield and quality of the vintage overall.

Coonawarra Coonawarra has experienced an excellent vintage which was characterised by a warm, dry summer and then a cool autumn.

Padthaway’s 23 producers commenced vintage in the first week of February and finished in the first week of April, according to Treasury Wine Estates vineyard manager David Edwards.

Dry conditions allowed growers to manage vine health with irrigation and allowed growers to benefit with no disease pressure.

Edwards said the most important period in the region’s viticulture season was during Christmas.

“Growers worked tirelessly during the Christmas break to ensure vines were irrigated to maintain healthy canopies leading into harvest. This showed in the early February period, with healthy canopies allowing growers to ease the irrigation back and allow the vines to ripen the fruit with excellent flavours developing,” he said.

Yields were slightly down, partly

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due to the weather and the focus on premium quality fruit production with winemakers.

Edwards said vintage 2013 is likely to exceed what was a successful vintage in 2012.

“The warm weather prior leading up to the red harvest allowed for some excellent varietal characters to develop in Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in particular. Chardonnay will also produce some typical premium wines,” he said.

Growers across the region reported improved quality and prices in blocks from vintage 2012.

Southern Flinders Growers in the Southern Flinders began picking whites on 4 February and reds – including Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon – on the 14th of the same month.

By 21 February, the harvest at Baroota in the Coastal Plains was complete.

Growers at Bundaleer, near Jamestown, picked about 10 days earlier than usual for Shiraz and two weeks earlier for Cabernet Sauvignon.

Southern Flinders Wine Group secretary Margaret Blesing said the weather was hot with a very dry spring

Riverina vintage 2013 statISTICS • At 300KT the 2013 Riverina grape intake was just 8KT short of the 308KT record set in 2009, while the red grape intake of 136KT was a new record, eclipsing the 2009 figure by almost 2000t • this year’s vintage is 17.5% higher than the rain-affected 2012 vintage (which saw almost 6000t of fruit processed for concentrate) • the intake of sound fruit was up 20% on 2012 and met 99% of wineries’ anticipated intake • intake of most major varieties exceeded expectations. The only significant weak spot was Chardonnay, which at 54KT was 6% less than winemaker requirements and 9KT less than 2012. and yields were varied.

“Baroota vineyards produced average yields while Bundaleer was about 30% down. One vineyard in the region (plains)

did not harvest due to very low yields,” she said.

Riverland The Riverland has produced a very successful vintage, according to Riverland Wine Grapes Association executive officer Chris Byrne, who characterises the vintage as showing good demand, yields and quality.

“Reports from winemakers are that they are very pleased with much of the quality wine product,” Byrne said.

Though varied, yields are estimated to be about 400,000t overall – a small reduction on last year’s 411,000t figure.

Chardonnay was down but some of the red varieties, particularly Merlot, were up.

“It’s been very low pest and disease year because of the long dry period. It was a high water-use year and irrigators had to irrigate more than they would in a normal year,” Byrne said.

“We didn’t have an extreme heatwave but it was a sustained warm growing period and a very compressed vintage.”

Byrne said there was a small increase in prices for grapes for the third year running.

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Vintage 2013

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NEW SOUTH WALES Hunter Valley The 2013 Hunter vintage commenced earlier than expected, with harvesting starting in mid-January.

Crops were down by about one-third on average as a result of a dry growing season, with only 90mm of rain from September to mid-January.

The reds were harvested throughout February with three rain events totalling 150mm. Conditions between rain events were clear, dry and windy, enabling ripening to progress and harvest to continue.

Liz Riley of Vitibit said Semillon and Shiraz will be the standout varieties from this year’s vintage.

“The majority of whites were harvested prior to the first vintage rain event and there are some fantastic Semillons emerging post-vintage,” she said.

“Despite the rain, colours and Baumès were both very good and there is a quiet confidence about Shiraz quality this year.”

There was an increased demand for both red and white fruit, particularly reds, due to the reduced red intake in 2012. Pricing shifted up a degree – a reflection of supply and demand.

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With an ideal growing season, Mudgee vignerons were very optimistic about their fruit for vintage 2013, according to Robert Stein winemaker Jacob Stein.

“Mild temperatures and mainly dry weather were happily accepted, with widespread rain events scattered throughout the season, ensuring balanced crop levels and ideal grapegrowing conditions,” he said.

“Fortunately the rain events during harvest were short, with only moderate falls which were followed by windy and sunny drying conditions.”

Harvesting of aromatic whites started in the second week of February, while harvesting of red varieties started in late February and finished in early April.

White varieties were 20% lower in crop levels than normal, while most red varieties were average cropping, with the exception of Cabernet Sauvignon which was about 20-30% lower than average.

Stein said the highlight of this vintage is the quality of both white and red varieties.

“White varieties maturing in tank are of a very high standard and all red varieties are of excellent quality, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon,” he said.

“Alternative varieties are also a highlight, with Chambourcin, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo and Grenache all www.winebiz.com.au

looking great.”

Stein said growers had felt a sigh of relief after two challenging seasons in 2011 and 2012.

Cowra Harvest started about a week early in the Cowra region, with Chardonnay being harvested around 14 February.

Jason O’Dea of Windowrie Estate said the region experienced a warm dry finish to the year, except for one significant rain event in mid-February, when 30-80mm of rain was reported across the region.

“This delayed harvest for around a week and did cause some issues with the Shiraz harvest in some later higheryielding blocks,” he said.

“This was the only significant rain event in the region and was followed by high winds which dried out the ground and canopy quickly. From this period on the region has experienced warm days and very cool nights, which has been great for fruit balance and the wine made from these grapes.”

Many growers across the region reported average yields with excellent quality. Prices have remained in line with 2012, however many of the wineries from the region have reported that they are very excited with what they have in tank.

“It is expected that 2013 will go down as one of the best vintages ever from our region,” O’Dea said.

New England Although often overused in the wine industry, ‘challenging’ is an apt descriptor for vintage 2013 in the broad region of New England.

“We had a very good start to vintage,” said Topper’s Mountain owner, Mark Kirkby. “There was excellent fruitset and a sensible amount of rain.”

But then from late January to the end of February the region experienced consistent and unusual easterly winds, which brought showers and storms every two or three days, helping botrytis establish in the white varieties, including Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

From March, however, the season dried out, with excellent ripening conditions carrying through to the end of vintage.

Ken Hutchinson of Splitters Swamp Vineyards said the season was “extremely variable”.

“The quality is reasonable, with careful vineyard management focusing on the control of disease and birds,” he said.

A number of vignerons decided not to harvest given the extreme conditions and May 2013 – Issue 592

Printed Wine Tasters

Riverina Cabernet Sauvignon, ripe and ready for the 2013 winegrape harvest.

the toll taken on the fruit.

“Due to the wet and then hot weather, we were not happy with the quality of our grapes and so decided not to harvest,” Rolf Blickling of Blickling Estate said.

Riverina The Riverina vintage started in the second week of January, earlier than the normal Australia Day start, due to lightcropping Chardonnay blocks.

The majority of the harvest was complete by the end of March, with only the botrytis Semillon remaining on vines.

Conditions were ideal throughout the harvest, bar two rain events and the heatwave, which caused some heat damage to exposed bunches.

Chardonnay appears to be well down this vintage, with a regional average harvest of 12t/ha. Semillon production remained stable while Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier production rose.

Wine Grapes Marketing Board CEO Brian Simpson said prices in the Riverina continue to be low which, combined with low or capped yields, is causing financial hardship to continue.

“It is estimated the majority of winegrapes were sold at less than the cost of production per hectare,” he said.

“District average pricing information to be released later is likely to show the fifth consecutive year of unsustainable returns to growers (in average terms).

“Growers reported disappointment in red prices as they were of the belief that prices would rise following two seasons that ended in lighter crops due May 2013 – Issue 592

to weather.”

Shiraz is likely to be the highest variety in terms of tonnes produced this season. The crop as at 8 March was 237KT with the Riverina Winemakers Association expecting a high 304KT.

QUEENSLAND Granite Belt The 2013 vintage at the Granite Belt got off to a great start in early February with high anticipation of a bumper harvest following early good rain.

The whites started being harvested without problem and are showing good varietal characters, while the reds were harvested with more difficulty.

“The reds started with unseasonal heat that forced the reds into early veraison,” said Sarah Reeves, marketing and business manager of Granite Belt Wine and Tourism.

“This was followed by extensive rain over several weeks accompanied by cloudy weather conditions, bringing sugar levels in the reds to a halt.

“Continuing rain meant some reds were harvested 1-2Bé less than desired, with some varieties suffering rot damage and a 10-30% loss.”

She said whites will be the standout from 2013, as they show excellent flavours, while reds are lacking intensity and Baumé.

Pinotage, Fiano, Saperavi and Sangiovese are the new welcome varieties for 2013.

Sirromet Wines chief winemaker Adam Chapman said his yields were about 20-50% up and 30% up on flavours. www.winebiz.com.au

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Vintage 2013

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“It has been one of our best vintages in 14 years, and certainly in the top three,” he said.

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12 Grapegrower & Winemaker

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Mount Barker While tonnage is slightly down across the Mount Barker wine region, intense fruit-driven wines are expected from the 2013 vintage.

This year’s vintage is one of the quickest brought on by the warm weather and dry conditions, according to Mt Barker Wine Producers Association president and Galafrey chief executive officer Kim Tyrer. By 15 April, some Mount Barker wineries had finished picking while others were in their final days.

“In hindsight, it has been a relatively easy vintage with little pressure from disease or pests, and picking conditions have been good,” Tyrer said.

This year Galafrey started vintage on 20 February, with Chardonnay and Muller being the first to be picked. Both varieties produced reduced crop size due to dry conditions and a hail storm, which occurred in late November while the vines were flowering.

Tyrer said the tonnage for Cabernet Sauvignon was very low for the winery and across the region.

Plantagenet Wines winemaker Cath Oakes said that overall yields are slightly lower but the quality is excellent.

“I am very happy with what we have – a standout for me is the Chardonnay, and the Cabernet we are picking now looks to have good intensity,” Oakes said.

Margaret River

Saturday 12 October 2013

ON 11 OCTOBER 2013

Growers in southern Queensland started harvesting white varieties – Verdelho, Chardonnay and Viognier – in the first week of January.

In some cases, harvesting was undertaken early due to the threat of rain and disease, particularly downy mildew.

Harvesting of red varieties – mostly Shiraz, Chambourcin, Merlot, Mourvèdre and Cabernet Sauvignon – started in late January and was completed by mid to late February.

Scenic Rim Wine Industry Association secretary John Mullins said yields were down on last year, where irrigation was not used, but quality was very good.

“Overall the harvest was a vast improvement on both 2011 and 2012 in terms of yield and quality. Winemakers are reporting excellent quality wines,” he said.

“Quality was mostly excellent with the crop being used for dry reds and rosé.”

He said some crops were lost due to bird damage and heavy rain with associated rots, while other crops were lost due to the inability to harvest before botrytis caused severe damage.

Vintage 2013 has lower than forecast yields, reflecting a return to an average year when compared with the bumper 2012 harvest, especially for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.

By the end of March, the whites had been completed.

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends were impacted by the cooler spring with Chardonnay also affected somewhat, with high winds during flowering likely to have played a part.

With almost ideal weather conditions for whites, wineries are reporting exceptional fruit, showing intense varietal flavours that are typical of Margaret River.

By mid-March, Cabernet Sauvignon was ripening steadily, with the cornerstone blackcurrant characters appearing in the fruit.

Margaret River Wine Industry Association CEO Nick Power said cooler conditions had allowed tannins to ripe in sync with

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

uniform and fully ripened at harvest.

The mild start to the season, the steady increase in summer temperatures and good canopy management to shade the fruit resulted in a very satisfactory harvest for 2013.”

the fruit character.

“Year 2013 should exhibit a wonderful balance in the resulting wines, something for which Margaret River is well known,” he said.

A large amount of Marri blossom through the region has meant bird damage from Silvereyes has been minimal.

In addition there has been little disease pressure because of the ideal growing conditions.

Geograph

Pemberton A hot, dry summer with January temperatures at 3°C above the mean maximum temperature saw fruit being picked up to 10 days earlier than usual in Pemberton.

Whites and reds were both harvested earlier compared with previous years, and reports are that fruit quality is exceptional.

“By all reports, the 2013 vintage was a season of great fruit, great quality and few issues,” said Katie Masters, president of the Pemberton Wine Region Association.

“Standout varieties include Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Noir,” she said.

“The first crop of Pinot Gris from the area was harvested this year and is a variety that shows promise.”

Some crop levels were down on 2012, but not significantly below the expected yields.

Peel Vintage 2013 started early in Peel, with a number of vineyards commencing in the third week of January during the hottest summer recorded in Western Australia.

Peel Wine Association president Bernie Worthington said yields on whites

May 2013 – Issue 592

Chardonnay grapes at Oakway Estate Wines, in Geograph, Western Australia.

were down about 20% on average and, despite heat causing some sunburn, quality was overall excellent.

He said red wine production was at usual levels although there were occasional issues with uneven ripening, possibly due to heavy rain during late spring and some resultant secondary growth.

“Some of the red wines seemed to ripen out of sequence to the usual patterns.

Heavy rain in early March and again in late March caused some delays in harvest to some growers and, as a result, the harvest in a number of vineyards was not completed until early April, again the latest ever,” he said.

“The fruit was disease-free, clean,

www.winebiz.com.au

The Geograph grape harvest commenced in mid-January, with the first fruit harvested being Verdelho followed by Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay and then Chenin Blanc.

The majority of the red varieties grown in the region were very different; some of the earlier ripening varieties, such as rosé, were picked in early March but most were delayed and were not picked until late March. Grenache, Shiraz and Merlot were first, and were followed by Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon in early April.

Geograph Wine Industry Association president Sue Ward said crops were average to low in volume.

“Chardonnay and Semillon were average, while Sauvignon Blanc and other white varieties were very low due to the wet and windy weather during flowering which reduced the fruitset and lowered bunch weights,” Ward said.

“The upside has been that the flavour and quality of the whites has being excellent with good acid retention.”

She said the main red varieties had reasonable crops with good bunch sizes and great quality.

Blackwood Valley The 2013 harvest for white varieties got off to an early start in the first few weeks of February in the Blackwood Valley,

Grapegrower & Winemaker

13

Vintage 2013

Anthony Yurisich from Olive Farm Winery, Swan Valley.

following warm conditions in January.

Despite the reasonably quick ripening time, quality in the whites was outstanding, said Kirsten Skraha, president of the Blackwood Valley Wine Industry Association.

“Unseasonal wet weather during the growing season ensured healthy vine growth and bunch development,” she added.

Harvest of reds was delayed by a cool spell in late February, with all vineyards having completing harvest by early April.

Yields are down across the board by about 30% for a number of factors including seasonal influences in spring.

Skraha said sale prices and contracts had also seen a positive upward trend this year.

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intense flavour, according to Julie Church of the Swan Valley and Regional Winemakers Association.

“Low rainfall this summer has meant disease has been nonexistent, resulting in fruit of a consistently high standard,” she said.

She said Verdelho, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay are looking sensational, with some dry whites already in the bottle, while Shiraz, Cabernet, Petit Verdot and Grenache are showing intense colour with deep and complex flavours.

Vintage in the Swan Valley commenced in the third week of January and, apart from a few fortifieds, concluded in the first week of April.

Production from the Swan Valley is expected to be in the vicinity of 5000t.

Church said growers were pleased with prices received for fruit as wineries were pleased to pay for quality.

TASMANIA

The Tasmanian vintage started in late February and, by midApril, was yet to finish, with both whites and reds still on the vine.

Wine Tasmania industry development officer David Sanderson said yields had been average to heavy, with more and larger bunches than the previous season.

“This does not imply overcropping as Tasmanian yields are historically quite low for many producers,” Sanderson said.

“Some growers are reporting 20-30% increases in yield on the previous year, whilst others are achieving yield targets with judicious bunch thinning.”

Swan Valley Prices are similar to the previous season and quality is Ideal weather conditions both leading up to and during the reported to be very good, with even ripening in all varieties. harvest season has resulted in grapes of high quality and Australian-Grapegrower-and-Winemaker-Savour-quarter-page-vertical-ad-flat.pdf 1 19/04/13 10:31 AM “The weather has generally been very good – warm and sunny, with occasional rain events. A large rain event in late March only seemed to help freshen up the mid-rows,” Sanderson said.

“The warm dry days and cool, crisp nights are perfect for producing top-notch Tasmanian fruit. The weather outlook for Tasmania for the rest of autumn is drier than average with mild to warm days and cool nights, ideal for ripening the remainder of the grapes.”

Daniel McMahon of Moorilla Wines said fruit quality was great. “We achieved equal pricing for fruit sold but the high yields statewide have seen a decrease in price across the state.

Quality is excellent, with good fruit flavour and excellent tannin profiles all achieved at lower Baumé ripeness than usual,” he said.

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Winemaker David O’Leary of O’Leary Walker Wines. Photo courtesy of Amanda Crawford of O’Leary Walker Wines.

14 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2013 – Issue 592

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regional round-up

Wineries rank highly in northern state The Queensland wine industry is enjoying new awards and grants after demonstrating a major commitment to sustainability, quality and perseverance.

Kellie Arbuckle

Granite Belt voted a favourite travel secret The Granite Belt has been voted number 32 in Australian Traveller magazine’s 100 Incredible Travel Secrets of Australia.

The ranking makes the Granite Belt the third highest listing in Queensland and the highest ranking wine region in Australia.

Granite Belt Wine and Tourism marketing manager Sarah Reeves said it was an honour to be ranked so highly and to see savvy Australian travellers recognising the region as the most nationally significant up and coming wine tourism destination.

The independent Australian Traveller is the highest selling travel magazine in Australia.

Sirromet chief winemaker Adam Chapman says the company’s move into solar power was part of its commitment to sustainable wine production.

Sirromet goes solar Sirromet Winery is installing a 200-kilowatt solar system at its Mount Cotton headquarters to generate electricity after it was awarded a carbon price grant from the Federal Government.

Up to $227,503 in revenue from the carbon price will be used to help the family-owned winery with the investment, which is due for completion at the end of this month.

The system will include about 800 solar panels installed on two buildings – one at Sirromet’s Restaurant Lurleen’s and one at the administration block – and will help the company to reduce its power bills by up to $33,000 a year.

The investment is also expected to help the winery cut carbon pollution by reducing the energy intensity of its operations by 18%.

Sirromet chief winemaker Adam Chapman said the company’s move into solar power was its latest initiative in a long-term aim to achieve environmentally sustainable wine production.

“Since opening in 2000, Sirromet has significantly reduced its dependence on water mains by collecting and processing rainwater, reducing (water) consumption, and recycling wastewater and using grey water from our dam for irrigation,” Chapman said.

The winery also undertakes a variety of practices to help tackle waste management and energy conservation.

The funding to Sirromet comes from

16 Grapegrower & Winemaker

the Government’s $1 billion Clean Technology Investment Programs.

Mother Nature hits Clovelly The vines at South Burnett winery Clovelly Estate have endured a rough time with the weather over the past six months.

Hail struck the winery’s vineyard and olive grove in November, causing about 5% fruit loss, according to CEO and chief winemaker Luke Fitzpatrick.

The winery took another hit on Christmas Eve, when a fire burnt its way through about 2ha of a 3.1ha block of Barbera. Two flood events followed over the Australia Day long weekend and again in February.

“The heat and smoke meant that only a very small parcel of fruit was salvaged.

The whites were all harvested prior to the first flood event that delivered approximately 330mm of rain over the Australia Day long weekend,” Fitzpatrick said.

Overall, yields at Clovelly were down about 50%, with Cabernet being the most affected variety with losses of about 80%.

Varieties that were harvested prior to the second flood handled the conditions better, with standout varieties being Petit Verdot, Shiraz and Saperavi.

Fitzpatrick said the recovery effort was well under way. www.winebiz.com.au

“Having gone through this only two years prior, the recovery has been more efficient but twice as difficult. We are becoming increasingly nervous farmers,” he said.

Clovelly Estate is a family-owned winery and grows a mix of alternative and traditional varietals. The winery was transformed from a cheese factory in 1998 and now processes grapes for the winery and under contract.

Best of the best Granite Belt winery Symphony Hill scooped the trophy for best other red variety wine at this year’s Winewise Awards for its 2009 Reserve Petit Verdot.

In a major coup for Queensland, the winery edged out Rosemount’s Hand Picked Nursery Mataro 2011 by a narrow margin at the awards, held in Canberra.

Winewise Awards are only open to wines that have won gold at major wine shows over the previous 12 months. The 2009 Reserve Petit Verdot had already won three trophies, including Champion Wine of the Show, at the 2012 New England Wine Show.

Symphony Hill owner Ewen Macpherson said it was exciting to see the wine match Australia’s best.

“Our flagship is our Reserve Shiraz which has been awarded gold at a national show every vintage since 2003, May 2013 – Issue 592

Symphony Hill Wines’ owner Ewen Macpherson, winemaker Mike Hayes, and cellar hands Don Maddock and Marie Ashmore celebrate a successful harvest of awards in 2013.

and now we have its lesser known sibling, Petit Verdot, clambering for attention,” Macpherson said.

Symphony Hill Wines resides in the cool climate region of the Granite Belt, about three hours south west of Brisbane.

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Turning wine into medicine A Brisbane-based biochemist has developed a new wine style that provides relief to patients suffering from arthritis.

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wine age, they become non-tannic and fat-soluble, and are easily absorbed into the bloodstream. As a result, the antioxidants are able to deliver profound anti-inflammatory effects.

Jardine filed a patent for the antioxidants, known as Modified Polyphenol Technology, and is now producing highly processed wines for people who suffer pain from arthritis.

“The common antioxidants in our foods – tea, coffee and wine – are water soluble, but the body can only absorb fat soluble nutrients. So when we age a food such as a wine, we make it more bioavailable to provide relief from those with arthritis and chronic fatigue,” Jardine said.

Chronic fatigue sufferer, Kerri Newman, was the first person to change her daily glass to this polyphenolic rich wine and reported results in four days. “I have tried every natural remedy I could get my hands on, however changing my wine at night did the job,” Newman said.

Jardine now hopes to apply the technology across all foods.

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Whirlwind education tour seeks to empower world’s emerging influencers Some of the best-performing graduates from The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) have embarked on a visit to Australia’s top wine regions to gain a taste of our wine industry.

Kellie Arbuckle

WSET’S TOP GRADUATES got to sniff, swirl and taste their way around Australia’s wine regions last month as part of an educational trip organised by Wine Australia.

For just over a week, eight graduates were treated to winery visits, dinners and themed tastings around the country as part of the Wine Australia/WSET Scholarship program.

The graduates are recipients of the Wine Australia/WSET scholarship, which aims to educate scholars about Australia’s fine wine and regional personalities, leading them to become ‘ambassadors’ of the industry upon their return home.

The scholars were selected to participate in the visit based on their exceptional performance as part of the WSET’s Diploma or Level 3 Awards programs.

Wine Australia’s regional director, Australia, Asia and emerging markets, Aaron Brasher said educating the graduates would help expand the global network of Australian wine advocates.

“This visit will give the WSET graduates the opportunity to experience the regions, meet the people and hear the stories that make Australian wines stand out on the world’s stage,” Brasher said.

“In educating these scholarship recipients and providing a first-hand experience of our top drops, we’re also creating passionate advocates for Australian wine, who will take their experience and taste for Australian wines back to their jobs, customers, families and friends when they return home.”

Over eight days the graduates – from Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Canada, Sweden, the US and Australia – travelled to the Barossa Valley, the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Tasmania and the Yarra Valley.

Amanda Parker, general manager at The Fine Wine Centre and Berry Bros and Rudd, was among the travelling WSET graduates.

Now living in Hong Kong, Parker moved away from Australia 14 years ago.

She says the visit has given her a better understanding of Australian winemakers

18 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Eight WSET graduates were treated to a wine tasting at Geoff Weaver Vineyards, at Lenswood, last month as part of Wine Australia’s educational trip.

and wine styles.

“There is still so much to be communicated about the complexities and the uniqueness of the wine industry there [in Hong Kong]. I look forward to experiencing the intricacies of the regions and relaying my personal experience to my colleagues,” Parker said.

Niklas Bergqvist, freelance sommelier and wine educator in Sweden, said the trip will allow him to better communicate the diversities of Australian wine through education.

“Right now people in Sweden are very interested in the classical regions of Europe so it’s always fun to take a good modern style of Australian wine, such as Chardonnay, and serve it to them blind – the results always surprise them,” Bergqvist said.

He said the challenge for Australian wine producers was to promote both the new and traditional styles of wine.

“It’s important to show the breadth.

Australia has a long tradition of making wine but it is evolving,” he said.

WSET graduate Jennifer Book is a wine educator at the International Sommeliers Guild and wine boutique sales associate at Bin 905 Distinctive Wines and Spirits in Canada. www.winebiz.com.au

While she said it is clear Australian winemakers are doing things differently, the diversity of Australian wines in Canada is limited.

“Since coming to Australia I’ve certainly seen different wines that I have never seen in Canada. We do not see the diversity that you guys have here,” Book said.

At the end of her journey, she hopes to be able to find new Australian wines and share her new-found knowledge through education.

“To be able to source some wines that we don’t have in our market right now in Calgary would be amazing,” she said.

The WSET graduates were hosted by Wine Australia, the Australian Wine Research Institute, Barossa Grape and Wine Association, McLaren Vale Grape and Wine Tourism Association, Coonawarra Vignerons and Yarra Valley Winegrowers Association, as well as a number of wineries.

They include Peter Lehmann Wines, Chateau Tanunda, Yalumba, Seppeltsfield, Jacob’s Creek, Geoff Weaver Vineyards, Coriole, Chapel Hill, Wynns, Bay of Fires, Josef Chromy Vineyards, De Bortoli and Oakridge Wines.

May 2013 – Issue 592

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grapegrowing A passion for helping growers and wineries achieve results together Kellie Arbuckle

NICOLE PITMAN ISN’T so much as interested in the texture or aroma of a wine as she is about the events that occur in the vineyard.

Equally, she is not the grapegrower who focuses on all things terroir. Her interests involve Mother Nature and her impact on the soil, vines and fruit development, and how all these elements combine to affect the resulting wine.

Her role in the wine industry is very behind the scenes, probably unheard of to the regular wine-drinking consumer.

Nevertheless it’s a fundamental role that both growers and winemakers rely on in meeting each other’s everyday needs.

As viticulture officer for CCW Co-operative, the largest grape supply company in Australia, Pitman is responsible for ensuring there is a working relationship between the grower and the winery, notably Accolade Wines, whose well-known brands include Banrock Station and Berri Estates.

She’s there to help growers and wineries; for grower members (of which there are more than 600), she’s the go to gal to assist on industry issues and technical support for quality winegrape production.

This includes matters relating to soil and irrigation management, pest and disease control, and fertilising practices.

“I liaise predominantly with the viticulture staff at Accolade, and that’s a good working relationship,” Pitman said.

“Both sides of the fence aim to help growers as much as possible and, generally, the grower-winery relationship works well.

Nicole Pitman, viticulture officer of CCW Co-operative at the Riverland.

“Accolade and CCW viticultural staff share the same building, so it is easy to just pop next door if an issue arises.”

However, working for the CCW Co-operative means that for Pitman, the interest of the grower always comes first.

On her busiest day, Pitman will speak with up to 10 growers, ranging from phone calls to property visits, with the majority of concerns relating to disease issues or spray programs.

During the vintage season, growers want to know about post-harvest fertilisers – how much to use and when to apply it – and correct Baume sampling.

Pitman says the best part of her job is making a difference.

“The rewards are dealing with growers

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and helping them achieve the best of their ability,” she said.

“Learning the ins and outs of the wine side of things is interesting and establishing a closer relationship between the grower and the winery is always a positive thing.”

The challenges, she says, are weather related.

“Dealing with bad weather and how that affects growers ... bad weather that is conducive to disease means you get more enquiries from growers, especially during the growing season.”

The hardest part, she says, is seeing growers struggle from poor returns per hectare.

“A difficult thing to do is advise growers that their fruit has been rejected, as it ultimately affects their income,” she said.

Having grown up on a fruit property in Berri, in the Riverland, Pitman has always had an interest in viticulture.

“I suppose you could say it’s in my blood, since my great-grandfather established the family property almost 100 years ago,” she said.

Pitman attended the University of Adelaide, where she studied Agricultural Science at the Waite Campus. After working in broadacre agriculture she moved to the Riverland.

The desire to make a career out of viticulture came when she was offered a job with Iama 2000 as a sales agronomist.

“I always had an interest working in horticulture and agriculture, but it’s nice to start specialising in viticulture,” she said.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

Study finds climate change will put the squeeze on world’s vineyard areas First global study of the impacts of climate change on wine and conservation reveals loss of majority of current area suitable for grapegrowing by 2050 and expansion of vineyards into wildlife habitats.

COULD MERLOT BE growing alongside the moose of Yellowstone National Park soon – or in prime panda habitat in China?

A new study by a team of international researchers and led by Conservation International suggests that it could.

Their key finding: climate change will dramatically impact many of the most famous wine-producing regions in the world today and prompt the opening of new areas to wine production in unusual places, which would likely degrade or put pressure on the critical natural capital and ecosystems that support species and human wellbeing.

The study appeared last month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and is the first ever worldwide analysis of 2 7 5 9 S l u g Ou t _ Gr a p e s G. p the impacts of climate change on wine

The global wine community faces a major challenge in how to accommodate an expanding horticultural industry, in some cases in the most densely populated areas, where large areas of natural that dhabitat f Phave a galready e 1 been 1 5lost / 0or 2severely / 1 3 degraded, , 1 0 : and 4 0where : 4 6less A M 3% of that area in currently under protection.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

21

grapegrowing

Quotes from co-authors: Pablo Marquet, professor at the Department of Ecology at the Catholic University of Chile: “These results are not good news for Chile´s wine industry. The projected increases in stress for wine production are dramatic. Here is an important challenge for the wine industry – how to become more efficient at water use. The bigger challenge, however, is how to accommodate a growing agricultural industry in the most densely populated area in the country, where more than 70% of natural habitats have been lost or severely degraded, where less that 3% of its area in currently under protection and where large changes in climate are expected”.

Maki Ikegami with the Bren School of the University of California at Santa Barbara: “Vineyards are already expanding into the predicted suitable areas rapidly. Conservation measures in those areas must be taken immediately”.

Robert Hijmans, associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis: “Wine grapevines, which are sensitive to climate and largely concentrated in regions with Mediterranean climates, provides a good test case for measuring indirect impacts that result from climate-driven modifications in agriculture.”

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production and conservation. It found that the area suitable for wine production will shrink by as much as 73% by 2050 in certain parts of the globe, with high potential for stress on rivers and other freshwater ecosystems as vineyards use water to cool grapes or irrigate to compensate for rising temperatures and declining rainfall.

Dr. Lee Hannah, lead author and senior scientist for Climate Change Biology at Conservation International’s new Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Ecosystem Science and Economics, said climate change was going to move potential wine-producing regions all over the map.

“These global changes put the squeeze on wildlife and nature’s capacity to sustain human life in some surprising places,” Hannah said.

“Consumer awareness, industry and conservation actions are all needed to help keep high-quality wine flowing without unintended consequences for nature and the flows of goods and services it provides people,” she said.

The researchers looked at nine major wine-producing areas within the first global map of future winemaking, using multiple models of wine suitability. The areas analysed in more details are: California, western North America, Chile, Mediterranean Europe, northern Europe, the Cape Floristic region of South Africa, parts of Australia with a Mediterranean climate, parts of Australia with non-Mediterranean climate and New Zealand.

Another key finding from the study is that new areas will become more productive, including parts of western North America and northern Europe. These places at higher latitudes and higher elevations will become increasingly suitable for winemaking and sought after by vineyards as they search for the climatic conditions that are ideal for winegrape growing.

This will have implications for conservation of wildlife and ecosystems in regions as diverse as the Rocky Mountains around Yellowstone National Park and central China, where new vineyard suitability will open in the habitat of the endangered giant panda. Mature, producing vineyards have long-lasting effects on habitat quality for native species as they involve, for instance, removal of natural vegetation, spraying of chemicals and use of fences.

Co-author Dr. Rebecca Shaw, a climate scientist and associate vice president for the Environmental Defense Fund’s Land, Water and Wildlife program said climate change will set up competition for land between agriculture and wildlife – winegrapes are but one example.

Solutions The authors concluded that winegrapes are symbolic of a wide variety of crops whose geographic shifts in response to climate change will have substantial implications for conservation, and that adaptation strategies are urgently needed to maintain productivity and to minimise impacts on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Among their key recommendations are: • joint planning of vineyard expansion between business managers and conservationists to avoid areas of high environmental importance • investment in new varieties of grapes that offer similar flavours but with altered climate tolerances • consumer awareness (by purchasing bottles with natural cork, and from vineyards that adopt sustainable practices).

For more information about or register to attend the upcoming workshops, contact SPAA on nicole@spaa.com.au or Dr. Nicole Dimos on 0437 422 000 or visit www.spaa.com.au 22 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

Is there a need for improved vineyard assessment for fruit grading?

Peter Dry, Mardi Longbottom and Marcel Essling.

ASSESSMENT SCHEMES ARE used by wine companies to allocate batches of fruit to particular grades (matched to market requirements). There are many different types of assessment schemes and they differ in their degree of complexity. At one extreme is a pre-harvest assessment by a viticulturist (a winemaker might or might not participate); up to 10 attributes may be potentially scored; and each attribute classed as ‘good’, ‘average’ or ‘less than average’ (this will be strongly benchmarked within that region).

The end result is an allocation to one of 4 to 5 grades. At the other extreme is the type of scheme that might comprise multiple inspections; the pre-harvest assessment will be conducted by both viticulturist and winemaker; there are 15 or more vine and seven or more berry attributes, some with up to five categories.

The data are collected on a portable computer or similar and integrated to generate an overall score for grading.

The benefit of multi-attribute score sheets is that they provide an opportunity to integrate many vine characteristics.

This is desirable because use of one attribute alone is unlikely to be adequate for purpose of fruit grading. An example of a multi-attribute score sheet can be found on page 178 of Iland et al. (2011).

The vine characteristics used for fruit

May 2013 – Issue 592

grading can be allocated into one of the following for convenience: vine balance, canopy microclimate, disease, berry or yield. Of course, some characteristics may fit just as readily into one as another: for example, the extent of lateral shoot development may fit into either ‘vine balance’ or ‘canopy microclimate’.

Vine balance The vine characteristics in this category include: leaf area relative to fruit weight; percentage growing shoot tips; main shoot length; extent of lateral shoot development; shoot lignifications; and time of ripening. An overall vine balance ‘score’ is often used in assessment schemes. This is a visual integration of all characteristics, strongly benchmarked within a region. There is no standard method.

Leaf area to fruit weight (LA/FW) relationship with wine composition and score is well documented (Dry et al. 2005, Iland et al. 2011). However, leaf area and fruit weight per vine are rarely measured in practice because it is considered to be too time consuming and costly. LA/FW is mainly assessed visually.

Percentage active shoot tips (PAS) at veraison, shoot length and extent of lateral shoot growth are all indicators of shoot vigour. PAS is used in many

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schemes but it is generally an estimate rather than an actual precise count.

This characteristic is easy to quantify.

There is good evidence that cessation of shoot growth by veraison is positively associated with wine quality – this comes from terroir studies (e.g. van Leeuwen et al. 2004; Scarlett and Bindon 2012) and benchmarking studies with Pinot Noir and Shiraz (Winter et al. 2005, 2007).

Extent of lateral shoot growth is an indicator of shoot vigour. It is negatively correlated with end use rating (Riley 2000) and related to canopy density – a high degree of ‘leafiness’ (presumably a consequence of lateral shoot growth) correlated with low wine score for Shiraz (Winter et al. 2005) Shoot lignification (SL) is often used in assessment schemes – but there have been relatively few published studies.

Winegrape value positively correlated with SL at harvest for Shiraz in vineyards in hot to cool regions (Gray et al. 1997). In regional benchmarking studies, SL at veraison positively correlated with wine score for Shiraz (DVCS 2006), Shiraz (Winter et al. 2005) and Pinot Noir (Winter et al. 2007). All wines with high score in the Shiraz study had minimum of 40-60% SL. For Pinot Noir, SL at veraison correlated with other characteristics, e.g. % growing tips, seed maturity.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

23

grapegrowing Canopy microclimate The vine characteristics in this category include: leaf layer number in bunch zone; shoot density; bunch density; proportion of exposed bunches; and proportion of exposed leaves. The benefits of an open canopy with a low proportion of shaded leaves and bunches are well understood and this is the basis of modern canopy management (Smart 1992). However, canopy microclimate indicators are rarely measured in assessment schemes.

Canopy density/openness is mainly estimated visually by integration of several of the above characteristics; for example, leafy/dense canopies were negatively correlated with winegrape value (Gray et al. 1997).

Bunch exposure. The proportion of exposed relative to shaded bunches is estimated in some schemes. The influence of bunch exposure on wine quality is well understood (Dry et al.

2009). However, there is, by necessity, a trade-off between optimal degree of bunch exposure for disease control and quality on one hand, and avoidance of berry ‘chemical damage’ and sunburn on the other. This requirement to achieve a balance between over-exposure and under-exposure of bunches is reflected

in many assessment benchmarking studies.

schemes

and

Berry Size. Visual assessment of berry size is done in many schemes. Does it correlate negatively with wine score? Yes – in some studies e.g. Gray et al. (1997), Iland and Ristic (2012). No – in many more studies e.g. Roby and Matthews (2004), Bindon et al. (2008), Poni et al. (2009), Iland and Ristic (2012). The research described in the latter studies has confirmed that environmental and cultural factors may affect skin development independently of pulp and thus can alter fruit and wine composition without any change in berry size (Poni et al. 2009) – for this reason, the use of berry size as a key attribute in assessment schemes must be questioned. Furthermore, some benchmarking studies have shown no correlation between berry weight/size and wine score (Swinburn 2006, Winter et al. 2007).

Sensory assessment. The tasting of berries in the vineyard for fruit grading is not new, but formalised berry sensory assessment (BSA) (Winter et al. 2004) is relatively new and now used in some assessment schemes. There has been

relatively little research to support its use. BSA was positively correlated with juice composition/wine score (Le Moigne et al. 2008; Tardaguila et al. 2008; Witbooi and Carey 2009; Lohitnavy et al. 2010) but in most cases only a few out of 20 or so attributes were correlated with wine score e.g. flesh maturity, astringency of pulp and skin, seed and skin colour.

Yield The majority of vineyards producing premium wine tend to have low yield (t/ ha) so it is assumed, by some, that low yield is indicative of good quality. Many wine companies use yield as a criterion for fruit grading even though the weight of experimental evidence indicates that yield is not a reliable predictor of quality (Dry et al. 2005 and references therein).

This proposition is supported by some benchmarking studies that found yield and wine composition/score to be not correlated (DeGaris 2000, Winter et al.

2005). Measures of vine balance are much more valid for fruit grading than yield alone.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

assessment to provide greater objectivity.

Aerial imagery, e.g. normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) or PCD, has demonstrated a strong relationship between vine vigour and wine composition, particularly phenolics, across multiple sites and vintages (Bramley and Hamilton 2004; Iland et al. 2011; Lanyon et al. 2010; Smart 2011; Scarlett and Bindon 2012).

NDVI maps that are sensitive to the variations of vertical leaf area index and gap fraction of the canopy can now be created by ground-based devices (Drissi et al. 2009). Point and shoot near-infrared spectroscopy combined with GPS can generate fruit composition maps and quality potential zones (Smart 2011). A recent paper described on-the-go sensing of berry anthocyanin concentration

by Multiplex fluorescence based noncontact handheld sensor (Bramley et al.

2011). Even if this technology is not able to replace the standard vineyard assessment by scoring of vine attributes, it could be used to identify zones within a vineyard block to permit more accurate and representative sampling.

Conclusions

solely on chemical measures of the fruit before or soon after crushing, vineyard assessment schemes will continue to be required for fruit streaming. Research shows that there is merit in assessing vineyard characteristics prior to harvest to get an indication of potential fruit attributes; however for the purpose of streaming and grading fruit this assessment needs to be undertaken with a high level of accuracy and the results properly interpreted. Only then do you have some meaningful indication of the potential inherent in a batch of grapes.

Many of the grading schemes currently in place do not adequately measure, count or sample within the vineyard to draw a reliable conclusion about fruit quality.

For this reason, there is a need for an improved vineyard assessment scheme for fruit grading that has a greater degree of objectivity than the current schemes and that is transparent to growers.

Further reading AWRI publication Dry, P.R., Longbottom, M.L. and Essling, M. (2012) Vineyard characteristics used in assessment schemes: theory and practice.

Proc. ASVO Seminar Objective Measures of Fruit Quality, Mildura, July 2012

Some references

Dry, P.R., Iland, P.G. and Ristic, R. (2005) What is vine balance? Proc. 12th Aust Wine Ind Tech Conf, Melbourne, 2004: 68-74.

Gray, J., Gibson, R., Coombe, B., Iland, P. and Pattison, S. (1997) Assessment of winegrape value in the vineyard – survey of cv. Shiraz from South Australian vineyards in 1992. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 3, 109-116.

Iland, P.G., Dry, P.R., Proffitt, T. and Tyerman, S. (2011) The Grapevine: from the science to the practice of growing grapes for wine (Patrick Iland Wine Promotions, Adelaide).

Winter, E., Whiting, J. and Rousseau, J. (2004) Winegrape Berry Assessment in Australia (Winetitles).

Winter, E. and Lowe, S. (2005) Benchmarking NE Victoria Shiraz 2004/05. Report to GWRDC (Project RT 04/08-3a).

Authors Peter Dry, AWRI viticulture consultant, peter.d r y @ aw r i.com.au, Ma rdi Longbottom, viticulturist and Marcel Essling, senior viticulturist.

Until such time that fruit grading is based

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18/04/2013 3:01:42 PM25 Grapegrower & Winemaker

grapegrowing

VINE TALK

When planning your winter herbicide program it is important to consider herbicide resistance management strategies, as well as the potential cost of herbicide resistance to your business.

Glyphosate resistance was first discovered in a New South Wales orchard in 1996. Currently, the list of weeds resistant to glyphosate in Australia includes; Weed

Number of glyphosate resistant populations

Annual Ryegrass (Lolium rigidum)

363

Awnless Barnyard Grass (Echinochloa colona)

76

Fleabane (Conyza bonariensis)

57

Windmill Grass (Chloris truncata)

10

Liverseed Grass (Urochloa panicoides)

3

Great Brome (Bromus diandrus)

2

Source AGSWG 2013

Paraquat resistance was first detected in northern barley grass in 1983.

Three populations of paraquat resistant annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) were confirmed in south eastern South Australia in 2010 and one population is also resistant to glyphosate. Currently, the list of weeds resistant to paraquat in Australia includes; Year confirmed

State

Crop

Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula)

Weed

1984

VIC

Lucerne

Northern barley grass(Hordeum glaucum)

1983

VIC

Lucerne

Barley grass (Hordeum leporinum)

1988

VIC

Lucerne

Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum)

2010

SA

Pasture seed

Small square (Mitracarpus hirtus)

2007

QLD

Mangoes

Silvergrass (Vulpia bromoides)

1990

VIC

Lucerne

Source Chris Preston, Uni of Adelaide

Research has shown that where resistance has occurred to either glyphosate or paraquat, these were the major or only herbicide used continuously for 15 years or more and there had been minimal soil disturbance. Put simply, the cause was a lack of herbicide rotation, with limited non chemical weed control measures.

Viticulturists need an integrated strategy to prevent weed resistance and help protect the future of glyphosate and other herbicides. Rotating herbicide mode of action groups will help to prolong their effective life and combining this with slashing, grazing, cover crops or other non-chemical methods will further assist.

Peak time to pick for top flavours FLAVOUR IS THE crux of a study in NSW vineyards which aims to give vignerons a new tool to predict grape harvest dates which will deliver optimum results according to wine style.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) staff are collecting samples and measuring sugar accumulation in berries from Orange and Griffith vineyards to get the lowdown on Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

DPI horticulture research leader, Shane Hetherington, said the work contributed to the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC), an alliance between DPI, Charles Sturt University and the NSW Wine Industry Association.

“NWGIC is part of DPI’s commitment to delivering cutting edge research and the latest innovations to winegrape growers,” Dr Hetherington said.

“This project adds to the development of Local Land Services and a new extension model for the NSW wine industry.”

DPI technical officer, Lester Snare, said the project aims to give growers a new tool to better predict harvest dates which match a particular wine style and its aromatic profile.

“It’s a simple tool based on complex science which has been successfully used in France, Spain, South Africa, Chile and Argentina,” Mr Snare said.

“We’re collecting data to calibrate the harvest tool to fit local wine styles and regions.”

Vignerons have long relied on taste and sugar tests, including Brix and Baume, to determine their harvest dates – now new indicators are being used to remove some of the variables and better match harvest decisions to wine styles.

NWGIC director, Alain Deloire, is driving the project.

“For the first time we have indirectly linked sensory attributes, mouth feel and aromatic profile, to sugar accumulation during the berry ripening process,” Professor Deloire said.

“Each grape berry has its own growth and ripening dynamic based on hundreds of compounds, including sugar, water, minerals, organic acids and aromatic precursors.

“We’re using the changes in berry sugar levels, which are not directly related to Brix or Baume, to trace flavour development so growers can harvest grapes when they are at their aromatic peak to suit particular wine styles.”

While getting harvest dates right is critical to wine production, there’s a logistical advantage too – depending on the variety, harvest can be planned 10 to 40 days before it’s due to start.

Finally, always remember to seek professional advice for your specific situation.

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NSW Department of Primary Industries technical officer Lester Snare takes Merlot samples as the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre works to calibrate a new tool that predicts wine harvest dates to suit wine styles.

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

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ask the Salt in grapes and wine a common issue THE VITICULTURAL TEAM at The Australian Wine Research Institute often fields queries from grapegrowers at AWRI roadshows. Here are some of the more common questions asked about salt in grapes.

How is salt measured … sodium or chloride? What are the legal levels for salt in grapes, what are the consequences and how should I avoid it?

In Australia, salt is measured as the concentration of chloride in wine (which is then expressed as the concentration of sodium chloride [NaCl]). The Australian Food Standards Code specifies, “A wine must not contain more than 1000mg/L soluble chlorides expressed as sodium chloride”. This equates

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to 606mg/L of chloride ions. Other countries have maximum levels lower than this, the lowest being Argentina which has the lowest maximum allowed level of 600mg/L chloride expressed as sodium chloride, or 364mg/L chloride ions (Analytical Specifications for the export of Australian Wine¹).

Research suggests that chloride concentration in juice is a good predictor of the final concentration in a white wine; however, juice chloride concentration should be multiplied by 1.7 to estimate concentration in red wine. The higher extraction of chloride during red winemaking is due to the ions extracted from skins during fermentation. Therefore, red juice should have no more than 356mg/L chloride ions so that finished wine does not exceed the maximum legal level of 606mg/L chloride(356mg/L in red juice x 1.7 = 606).

Fruit should arrive at the winery with less than the maximum allowed legal levels of salt for Australian winemaking, however several wineries specify lower tolerances for chloride based on taste and their own historical data. Some wineries may also specify a tolerance level for sodium to match low sodium tolerances in some export markets.

• Australian legal limit = 606mg/L of chloride ions OR 1000 mg/L sodium chloride in wine.

• For white grape juice the concentration of chloride ions should be used as a guide to the concentration of chloride ions in the resultant wine • For red grape juice, 356g/L chloride ions will result in

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May 2013 – Issue 592

approximately 606mg/L chloride ions in the resultant wine.

Impact on wine quality and winemaking The detection and recognition thresholds of sodium chloride in juice and wine are shown in Table 1². The characteristic flatness, savoury or soapy characters, and burning persistence associated with salt can be detected below the legal limit in white juice and wine. For red juice however, both the the salt detection and recognition thresholds are well above the legal limit for salt (Table 1).

Excessive salt can be removed from wine using electrodialysis or ion exchange. Alternatively, wine with a high salt content can be blended with wine with lower levels. However, winery processing techniques to remove salt from wine can be costly and wine with levels of salt which exceed the maximum legal level may not be sold. Salt removal techniques have been shown to have no undesirable effect on the sensory qualities of treated wine, however, removing the salt can change the overall wine style.³

Table 1. Sodium chloride detection thresholds for white and red juice and wine.

Detection threshold

Recognition threshold

White juice

420 mg/L

2670 mg/L

White wine

570 mg/L

4790 mg/L

Red juice

1550 mg/L

4580 mg/L

Red wine

520 mg/L

2980 mg/L

Avoidance For soils with high salinity levels, flushing the root zone with water can decrease the amount of salt available for uptake by the vine. In regions with high salinity, salt tolerant rootstocks can decrease chloride uptake. Some wineries specify a maximum acceptable salt level in juice at receival. Decreased skin contact time in red ferments can decrease salt(s) extraction during fermentation.4 As for petioles – taken at flowering or veraison – there’s evidence that high salt levels might indicate more salt in your grape juice. How much, however, cannot be predicted.

Contact the viticulture team at the AWRI for more information on telephone: 08 8313 6600 or email: viticulture@awri.com.au

References

Analytical Specifications for the export of Australian Wine (AWRI) ( 2012) http://www.awri.com.au/industry_ support/regulatory_assistance/export_requirements/ Default.asp

1

2 Bastian, S.E.P. de Loryn, L.C. Collins, C. Petrie, P.R. Johnson, T.E. (2011) Determination of NaCl detection and recognition thresholds in grape juice and wine and sensory perception of salt in white wine.: [poster summary]. Blair, R.J.; Lee, T.H.; Pretorius, I.S. (Eds) The 14th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference : Adelaide, South Australia 3-8 July 2010: p. 375.

Cowey, G., Travis, B., Simos, C., Francis, L. (2010) Salt removal from wine using electrodialysis.

Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker No. 556, 58-62.

3

4 Walker, R.R., Blackmore, D.H., Clingeleffer, P.R. (2010) Impact of rootstock on yield and ion concentrations in petioles, juice and wine of Shiraz and Chardonnay in different viticultural environments with different irrigation water salinity. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 16, 1, 243-257.

A date with China.

In May, GWRDC presents the latest research about Chinese consumer wine preferences in the first #INseries events.

Hear about the latest consumer insights from China over a breakfast of local produce and learn how to apply these insights to your business.

Speakers: Professor Larry Lockshin, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science and Angie Bradbury and associates, Dig Marketing.

MCLAREN VALE

23 MAY

BAROSSA VALLEY

24 MAY

HUNTER VALLEY

27 MAY

YARRA VALLEY

28 MAY

MARGARET RIVER

30 MAY

The #INseries is an integrated program of extension workshops supported by the GWRDC Innovators Network. For more information about upcoming workshops on viticulture, winemaking and consumer insights, join the Innovators Network. Sign up for free on your mobile by scanning the QR code or go to www.gwrdc.com.au/mobile/join-innovators-network

To register for the China Insights workshop or for further information email registrations@gwrdc.com.au

www.gwrdc.com.au May 2013 – Issue 592

www.winebiz.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

29

grapegrowing

Regional program battles against botrytis and Brett THE GREATER NEW South Wales and ACT wine industry has four major activities in 2012–13 using GWRDC Regional Program funding, with the projects set to continue next year for the benefit of 15 NSW wine regions and the ACT. Consultant to the NSW Wine Industry Association Richard Hilder, also a joint owner of 72ha of vineyard in the Hunter Valley, said the demonstrations and seminars planned for this year were selected in consultation with the R&D Committee within the NSW Wine Industry Association, which includes regional representatives.

Botrytis spraying trial The first activity was a trial to investigate registered sprays that suppress or eliminate botrytis infection of winegrapes.

“There was widespread botrytis in most regions of NSW in 2011–12 due to the drought-breaking rains that persisted up to harvest, which caught many growers off guard,” Hilder said.

A conventional spray program for botrytis was tested, along with Trichoderma mixtures, an organic spray of fungicidal potassium soap and a control treatment of no botryticides.

The trial was designed by Greg Dunn and Melanie Weckert of the NWGIC and conducted at Pyramid Hill vineyard, in the Upper Hunter.

The growing season for the 2013 vintage was relatively dry until late in the ripening period (only 43mm of rain between budburst and veraison), making conditions difficult for botrytis development. However, DPI viticultural officer Tony Somers assessed the trial in mid-late January and took photographs of the grape bunches in the various treatments. At that point, there were no visual symptoms of botrytis in any of the treatments. Rainfall of 118mm fell at the trial site from 27–29 January.

“Following the rain, bunches from each treatment of the trial were taken on 30 January and stored in plastic bags in a cool section of the vineyard shed. It is too early to draw conclusions from the sampling. However, from observations, a fortnight after the samples were bagged, no botrytis was evident on the grapes protected by the organic spray of potassium soap, while botrytis in varying degrees was present in the other treatments,” Hilder said.

30 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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The treatments in the trial were assessed by Hilder and Gardener for the incidence and severity of botrytis infection on 4 February and the grapes in the trial were picked on 7 February.

A complete report of the trial will be published before the end of June and available on the GWRDC website.

It is planned that the botrytis trial will be conducted in the same vineyard next year, and Hilder said the project team was keen to establish a similar trial in Canberra and the Southern Highlands. He said the exciting aspect of the registered Trichoderma and organic products was their short withholding period before harvest.

Brett, tannin and acid seminar In late January, seminars were held in Mudgee and Canberra about quantifying physiological factors in tannin and acid, and identifying sources of Brettanomyces.

About 50 winemakers attended each forum. AWRI senior oenologist Geoff Cowey and research scientist Keren Bindon, presented the latest findings in tannin research, tannin structure and the related sensory affects dependent on grape ripeness and wine style. They also covered Brett perception in different wine styles, along with monitoring, management and control strategies.

Tastings of regional wines were conducted as part of the presentations, identifying tannins that reflected and supported regional character. Other tastings were held to identify Brett flavour.

The seminars will be held again in 2013–14, with the addition of information about the management of diseased grapes.

Helping Semillon survive the heat Back in the Hunter Valley, demonstration trials relating to the use of sunburn protectant sprays to improve Semillon quality were held at McWilliams’ Lovedale vineyard and at Bimbadgen in Pokolbin.

“The trials were assessed by Liz Riley of Vitibit and Tony Somers of the Department of Primary Industries NSW. Vineyard walks were organised at short notice, but due to the early onset of harvest, attendance was down on initial expectations,” Hilder said.

A report will be written about this year’s work for distribution to local industry, and the trial will be held again in 2013–14.

May 2013 – Issue 592

TRUCK & MACHINERY

manheim.com.au

grapegrowing grapegrower

Sam Dahlitz

Barossa Vigneron of 2013 is a partner in Samerra Vineyards and owner of Stonewell Vintners at the Barossa Valley. Born in Tanunda, Dahlitz started his career in the wine industry in 1996. In 1997 he planted the first vineyards at Stonewell and began a contracting business. He has slowly grown his holding to 32ha, as well as 24ha under full management. Dahlitz has also developed the contracting side of the business with fungicide spraying and harvesting.

What inspired you to work in viticulture and how have you got to where you are now?

I started work in viticulture by helping out a mate during vintage, which led to working full-time for Carl Lindner.

In 1997 my parents and I developed a property at Stonewell Road, Tanunda.

The following year a neighbouring property was sold and the new owner approached me to manage the existing vineyard and develop the rest of the block. This led to me seeking part-time work with Phil Neldner and filling in the rest of the week at home and contracting.

In 2000 we purchased another property in Vine Vale and continued to grow contracting by improving equipment. We then purchased a 20ha property south of Tanunda in 2007.

What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most or get the most satisfaction from?

Everything. Things are always changing throughout the year, and with no two seasons being the same there are constant challenges to produce the desired end result.

Who do you think is the most influential person in the Australian wine industry?

The end consumer. As a grower or winemaker, it doesn’t matter how good our grapes or wine may be to us, someone still has to want to drink the end product.

What is your favourite time in the vineyard and why?

First is pruning. Even though the weather can be miserable, pruning is the one thing I can control in the vineyard to try and obtain the quality I am trying to grow. Second is vintage, when you can see where your efforts and decisions have ended up.

Barossa. It was fascinating to see the amazing difference in sub-regions, but also the difference that can be seen between neighbouring vineyards. From a grower’s perspective it was really interesting to see other people’s reactions to what we do in the vineyard.

What do you like to do when you’re not working in vineyards?

Fishing, camping or golf. There’s something about chasing a little white ball or looking into a fire in the middle of nowhere.

What keeps you awake at night?

Finances. I am continually worrying about how we can do the things that need to be done in the vineyard each year on a limited budget, as well as being able to upgrade equipment to keep the contracting as efficient as possible for me and my clients.

How do you de-stress after vintage?

Each year Alison, my wife, with our boys Blake, Chey and Corbin like to pack up our camper trailer and just pick a direction to explore.

What was the last big-ticket equipment purchase you made for your business?

Would you recommend the equipment to colleagues?

Our last big purchase was a secondhand UR 800 series grape harvester – prior to that was a Greentech fully adjustable fungicide sprayer. I can highly recommend both machines.

What has been the best business decision you’ve made for your business?

Tell us about your most memorable winetasting experience?

Recently it would be to purchase our own grape harvester. This year saw us pick 90% of our own fruit in just six days, something that would have been very difficult to do working with contractors.

A couple of months ago I was invited to a barrel tasting of a number of Shiraz wines from Chateau Tanunda and Rolf Binder Wines. Each winery had a sample from blocks within a short distance of each other, from six sub-regions of the

From a research and development perspective, is there one single piece of research in the wine industry that has influenced you or your directions in viticulture?

32 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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Photo by Dragan Radocaj, courtesy of the Barossa Grape and Wine Association.

The Grapegrower & Winemaker is a good source of information and ideas that can help develop my own ideas by taking note of what other people are doing. From a grower’s perspective, it’s good to have a mix of the winemaking side of information as well, so you better understand how the resulting wine can be influenced by what you’re doing in the vineyard.

Not particularly. Ideas on the best ways to grow grapes are always changing and are dependent on who the purchaser is.

The Ark question. The world is flooding ... which two wines (white and red) would you take onto the Ark?

The white wine would have to be an Eden Valley Riesling. For a red, besides our own Shiraz, I’m a big fan of Kaeslers Old Bastard Shiraz. Spoilt for choice in the Barossa!

May 2013 – Issue 592

Vineyard managers use fans to keep frost at bay Kellie Arbuckle

VINEYARDS ON BOTH sides of the Tasman were hit by frost this vintage due to the atypical cold conditions that took place during the latter part of 2012.

For New Zealand Frost Fans this season has Frost been a busy one, with the company being called out to install a number of fans throughout Marlborough and Hawkes Bay as well as various regions in South Australia.

New Zealand Frost Fans sales manager Brett Feehan said unusual weather patterns had caused frost problems for a number of vineyards last year.

“The slightly higher number of cold events and the fact that the upper atmosphere was colder and longer than previous years attributed to a sting to the frost tale in 2012,” Feehan said.

“The late October and early November event was notable in both countries, though less damaging in Marlborough than other regions due to the south westerly winds.

“Our staff spent weeks visiting properties in both countries and all regions helping growers understand the damage that had occurred and how our C49 fan can help.”

Frost damage was reported in various winegrowing areas including Central Otago, Marlborough, Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, as well as South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Jamie Nietschke of Moppa Estate in the Barossa Valley said he lost about 10% of his crop (about 3ha of 30ha, in total) to frost.

“We had about a couple of acres of Shiraz and a couple of acres of Riesling that frosted in Moppa which were hard to salvage,” he said.

In October Nietschke had a frost fan installed at his vineyard at Koonunga, north of the Barossa, which is known to be a frost-prone area.

He said the frost fan provided sufficient protection against the frost events.

“Where the fan coverage stopped you could see shoots that were being frosted, whereas there was no damage in the area that was covered by the fan,” he said.

Nietschke said the Frost Boss covers about 10ha and provides enough heat to keep the vines from shutting down.

“We’re trying to protect the vineyard from frost events as well as ensure it doesn’t get too cold that the vines’ growth is A frost fan at Koonunga, stunted,” he said.

Barossa Valley.

May 2013 – Issue 592

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grapegrowing

What happens when a firewood machinery designer plants a vineyard?

DAVID BURDER, HEAD designer and CEO of Whitlands Engineering, be ga n desig n i ng Vineyard vineyard equipment for machinery his personal vineyard in 2001 after realising some of the vineyard equipment on the market was overpriced and inefficient.

An inventor, Burder had started out designing firewood processing machinery under the well-known Superaxe brand. Understanding that several of his vineyard innovations had potential, Whitco Vineyard Equipment was born. Tried and tested in the company vineyard for more than 10 years, Whitco is now distributed across Australia and New Zealand by certified dealers.

One of the four brands designed and manufactured by Burder’s company Whitlands Engineering, Whitco has become a specialist manufacturer of hedger bars, cane rakes, masts and mounting systems. All components for the Whitco range are sourced locally where possible and built onsite at the workshop in northeast Victoria and backed by a one-year warranty.

Whitco hedging systems provide a versatile and innovative solution to trimming and pruning work in vineyards.

Available in medium duty for summer trimming and heavy duty for winter pruning, the efficient and robust cutting mechanism allows impressive ground speeds – which translates to big savings on labour. Both models are available in four lengths and either right-hand or lefthand configuration. The modular system allows the user to start with a single cutter bar and add on to create double,

triple or quadruple hedging systems to suit particular trellising systems and canopy styles.

Veteran grapegrower John Cavendon has been involved in viticulture for more than 30 years. Cavendon’s vineyard in the heart of the King Valley grows a range of premium varieties for contract sale and he has been using a Whitco hedging system for years. “For vineyards like ours which need to be economically viable, this hedging system is ideal. It works efficiently at higher speeds, which means we can get through our trimming and pre-pruning much quicker. The blades are more solid than anything else we’ve used – the whole thing is robust and reliable.”

The cutter bars feature a double acting reciprocating action, allowing fast vibration free cutting and good penetration into foliage. The nitride hardened bisalloy blades stay sharp, and require very little maintenance or lubrication. All the cutter bars have the option of spring-loaded, swing-back mounts to protect against damage to posts and equipment.

The hedger bars are simple to fit to existing front-end loaders, forklifts or masts. Alternatively, Whitco has a range of purpose-built hydraulic masts, which are fitted with a quick-change attachment system. This enables the mast to be easily removed from the tractor when not in use or interchanged between different tractors once the base mounting is fitted to them. It is a versatile and practical addition to your vineyard tractor.

Also available is the Whitco Cane Rake, a great piece of equipment used to sweep up winter pruning debris into

Whitco hedging systems provide a versatile and innovative solution to trimming and pruning work in vineyards.

the centre of the row where it can be mulched. The removal of waste from the undervine area assists in the quest for clean, hygienic and disease-free vineyards. With excellent results up to 8kph, the cane rake does a great job of cleaning the vineyard floor and maintaining productivity.

In the quest for producing higherquality fruit, practising good canopy management and reducing labour input and costs, the Whitco range of vineyard equipment is ideal for mechanical trimming, pruning and raking. For more details and your nearest distributor visit www.whitcovinquip.com.au or ring Whitlands Engineering on 1800 702 701.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

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grapegrowing

Winter: the quiet time – or is it?

Ben Rose

AFTER HARVEST IS often a time when activity in the vineyard slows down, and staff and managers can take time off before pruning commences.

While the weather is still fine this can be a very productive time, before the damp days of winter set in and pruning begins.

Prior to pruning, irrigation should continue until decent rains occur. If leaves are green, foliar fertiliser can be applied to ensure good health for the start of the following year. Soil fertiliser can also be applied (although this may be better in late winter or early spring).

Post-harvest sprays are generally of little value – best to apply pre-budburst or early budburst sprays.

Maintenance of the vineyard is very important and given that money is tight, many vineyards may have forgone proper maintenance over the past few years.

A well-established vineyard should be properly maintained to ensure that every operation throughout the year is undertaken as efficiently as possible.

This will save you time and money.

Vineyard maintenance should include: • removal and replacement of broken posts (or their repair) will assist with mechanical pre-pruning and all other vineyard tasks through the year • replacement of end assemblies will also assist with mechanical prepruning and all other annual vineyard tasks • replacement of broken wires now will assist pre-pruning, while a second check post-pruning is also valuable, particularly in vineyards that have been mechanically pruned • check for loose or missing staples in posts for cordon and foliage wires (you don’t want these in tractor tyres and

wineries don’t want them in the press) • inspect irrigation systems for damage – hurdles, valves and filters are often broken by mechanical harvesters; overhead sprinklers (both irrigation and frost control) can be broken or completely removed by mechanical harvesters; dripper line can be caught and pulled by machinery; and drippers can be pulled out. If sheep or cattle are put into the vineyard over winter then a second check when stock are removed is beneficial • grading roadways, access tracks and clearing drainage lines for when the rain comes (when soil moisture allows) • sow cover crops and midrow sward rejuvenation.

Of course machinery maintenance is critical too and winter is always a good time to undertake these tasks, particularly on the wet days.

Machinery maintenance should include: • washing and cleaning machinery both inside and out. This allows for any issues such as oil leaks, wear and tear and other damage to be seen easily and to be repaired • oil leaks from filling and inspection plugs is common and new seals may be in order; leaks from around gaskets may be more severe while cracked or damaged housings could be hiding potential major issues • change oils, lubricants and filters – check with the handbook or manufacturer as to how often and what oil and grease should be used. Replace washers around filling and drainage plugs. Write the hours and the date on the oil filter so that anybody can see quickly when the next service is due.

• grease all moving parts – many machinery manufacturers/suppliers currently have a ‘grease less often’ policy (as over-greasing will push out bearing dust covers and expose the bearing to more dust and dirt than may otherwise have been the case), so check how often and how much should be applied • check and replace drive belts

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• check tyre wear, and replace tyres if necessary. Winter is often the time for serious off-road vehicle (tractors and farm vehicles) accidents as conditions can change suddenly and bald or balding tyres can lose grip very quickly.

Financial maintenance is also important and often overlooked. Prepare realistic budgets and cashflows based on a most likely scenario, and prepare a worst case cost scenario so that there are no surprises. Discuss your plan with your lender so that they know what you are doing and what your expectations are – that way there should be nothing unexpected for them either. Look at ways of spreading your costs out through the year such as having a smaller team of pruners for a longer time, and aim to do as much of the pruning as you can with in-house staff; pre-order your chemicals but only ask for delivery (and invoice) as you use them, or see if you can get an end of financial year saving by ordering and paying for the majority of your chemical requirements by June 30.

Health management is critical to stay focused on the year ahead. The past few years have been very tough, and with the high dollar any improvement may only be small. Take some time out – go away and switch off the phone, laptop and tablet for at least a week, although by then end of one week you will probably only have just started to relax. Ensure that your staff get a decent break too, as their health is as critical as having wellmaintained vineyard and machinery .

Ben Rose is the principal advisor of Performance Viticulture (www.performanceviticulture.com.au) and manager – Rural & Agribusiness at Opteon Property (http://www.opteonproperty.com.au/). Ben has always been involved in wine and viticulture, growing up on the family’s Rising Vineyard in the Yarra Valley outside Melbourne. After graduating with first class honours in Agricultural Science at Melbourne University he established Performance Viticulture in 1997. Ben is now also a Certified Practicing Valuer specialising in wine industry assets, specialist rural properties and agribusiness valuations. Phone 0418 836 773 or email ben@performanceviticulture.com. au.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

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grapegrowing

Interchangeable cutting head enhances Electrocoup pruner versatility and value AFTER AN INTENSIVE t h ree-yea r test ing period including one full pruning season in Australia, the Pruning Elect rocoup F3010 elect ronic pruning shear is right at home in Australia’s vineyards.

The F3010 was developed in France, and is the result of six years of research aimed at creating a more versatile, comfortable and easy to use pruning season.

According to Ryset Australia managing director, John Anzellotti, one of the new model’s biggest selling points is the ability to change the cutting heads in less than 15 minutes, which substantially increases the range of cutting applications the F3010 can handle.

“There are three optional kits available – light, medium and maxi,” Anzellotti said. “The light version is 20 grams lighter than the other models, is specially designed for use on wood with a small diameter and gives the user better penetration into the wood of the vine thanks to its small cutting head,” he said.

“The medium and maxi kits allow operators to tackle more heavy-duty pruning tasks by significantly increasing the cutting capacity of the pruning shears. The medium kits can be used on wood with a diameter of up to 45mm, while the maxi kit easily handles wood

38 Grapegrower & Winemaker

The new Electrocoup desuckering tool in action ­– all tools use the same battery pack.

up to 55mm in diameter and is ideal for cutting back vines before top grafting operations.”

Extensive testing by the Electrocoup F3010’s manufacturer Infaco found that the new model was as fast and powerful as the F3005 model – with a maximum absorbed power of 600 watts and an average power of 180w. The F3010 weighs 60g less than the previous model, topping the scales at just 830g – or 810g with the light cutting attachment fitted.

In addition to the reduction in weight, operator comfort has been further enhanced by an 11mm reduction in the

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diameter of the pruner body – meaning all users can get a better grip on the appliance and achieve more precise pruning results.

The F3010 features two operating modes. In proportional mode, the speed at which the blade opens and closes is varied depending on how quickly the operator moves the trigger, a quick squeeze of the trigger will result in a lightening fast cut while a smoother, slower press will decrease the blade speed. In pulse mode, pressing on the trigger will automatically close the blade at maximum speed, while releasing the trigger will open the blade at top pace.

May 2013 – Issue 592

at the user’s fingertips, allowing them to easily monitor the machine’s performance.

“The nickel-metal hydride battery pack does not weigh the user down, but rather is flexible and flat, allowing it to adapt to the shape of the user’s back. Designed in the shape of an upside down T, the waistcoat containing the batteries fits comfortably around the waist.”

The Electrocoup maxi cutting head tackles the biggest and toughest vines.

Rola Engineering

Setting A new StAndArd in MechAnicAl Pruning

The lighter medium cutting head is an effective pruning tool.

The F3010’s half-aperture feature – invented by Infaco more than 15 years ago – now added flexibility and is entirely electronically programmable.

“Once an operator has saved their settings to the memory, when the appliance is switched on the used can program the memory to change the initial position of the appliance to suit the task and their personal preferences,” Anzellotti said.

“In order to increase the lifespan of the cutting blade, the positioning of the blade can be changed. Once wear and tear are evident, the crossing ratio of the blade can be changed electronically to ensure good quality cutting for longer periods of time,” he said.

“The F3010 is fitting with a liquid crystal display screen, which is attached to the pruner's waistcoat. The LCD panel provides a wide range of information – including battery levels, number of cuts made and the intensity of work performed –

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grapegrowing

Smiles aplenty as CSU harvest comes in THE 2013 VINTAGE harvest has concluded at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange, with strong yields and excellent quality in all varieties picked. CSU winery marketing manager

Justin Byrne said the second crop of Riesling to be harvested at CSU in Orange yielded six tonnes. “It’s just as well, since the 2012 Charles Sturt ‘R’ Riesling has been very popular and is likely to run out soon, so it is good to know we have a great follow-up in the 2013 vintage,” he said.

The harvest also included three tonnes of Pinot Gris, a good crop of 40 tonnes of Chardonnay destined to become both sparkling and table wine, and 17 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc.

The Cabernet is the final variety to be harvested at “The question remains as to CSU Orange. whether the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc will be better than the 2012, which is in the market now,” Byrne said. “We have to wait until the spring to see.”

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The question remains as to whether the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc will be better than the 2012.

Justin Byrne The red varieties also performed well, with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon relishing the warm growing season. “The Cabernet Sauvignon is the last of the varieties to be harvested at Charles Sturt and will spend at least 18 months in barrel before bottling for release sometime in 2015. So patience is required,” Byrne said.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

grapegrowing

Klima is suited to arch cane pruning Grahame Whyte

WITH HARVESTING COMPLETED, the Brown Bros crew in the northeast of Victoria is preparing for a busy pruning season that begins this month.

To assist with this huge task, a Klima machine was purchased two seasons ago.

Banksdale vineyard manager, Mark Pell said he had been trying for a number of years to work out how to cut costs with cane pruning.

“I must admit I’d always thought that was impossible to machine prune it – we’ve got a pretty vigorous vineyard site,” Pell said.

“We have only got 36 ha on arch and 65 ha on spur but cane pruning was just so hard, so physically demanding, pulling canes out all the time, particularly on vigorous varieties.

“Then my boss, chief viticulturist Brett McLen was at a conference and he overheard people talking about this machine and that’s where it started.

“We contacted Klima, had a look at the machine working and came back

convinced that we had to have one.”

Preparation for a full season With a multifunctional Pellenc tractor, a straddle tractor, setting up the machine is done at the start of the season and it stays on for the rest of the season.

“You can run with a smaller crew and you can pick the better pruners to make the cuts. What we were finding was that handpruning was getting harder each year and with inexperienced pruners that we had to use more and more of to get through the pruning, the standard would go down,” he said.

Pruning usually starts towards the end of May and is finished by the end of August or early September. “We actually have to do the first two panels in this vineyard completely by hand. If we had our machine on a front-end loader we would get away with the first panel but on the over-the-row tractor the machine sits back a bit further and it’s just set up a bit differently.”

Smart Dyson and arch cane trellis Banksdale is around 100 hectares, with 36ha on arch cane (the rest is spur pruned), with the Klima machine also working at the Whitlands vineyard, where there is 65ha on arch cane, so all up the machine is doing just over 100ha of cane pruning.

“We’ve got Smart Dyson and arch cane,” Pell said.

“After the first two panels the crew selectively make cuts – they basically select the spurs and the canes that we need and cut the rest off. Once the machine’s gone through and pulled out the unwanted canes, you’re pretty much left with two or three spurs per vine and two canes. In some varieties they might leave a spare cane – it just depends.

“Basically anything mechanical is occasionally going to do some damage, in some blocks we may leave a third cane in case we lose a cane. You do get left with a little bit of trash and hence you do a second pass with the pruning crew,

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May 2013 – Issue 592

grapegrowing to clean up the canes that are left on the wire and trim up the canes ready for arching down.”

Pell has found a number of advantages in utilising the arch cane system, such as the ability to put down more buds instead of a flat cane where less space is available for buds. He said it also spreads the fruit zone out and provides better budburst, taming the natural apical dominance of the cane’s outermost buds by moving the weakest buds to the highest point.

The pruning crew uses normal electric secateurs and for safety reasons doesn’t work at the same time as the machine – a block is completed before the machine comes in. Waste material falls onto the midrow in a fairly mulched-up condition.

Impressive operational speed The groundspeed of the tractor varies from up to 5-6km/h on flat blocks down to around 4 km/h in the more vigorous and difficult country – blocks with gullies or hills – but it’s still able to operate in the tougher terrain.

“The operators get used to it pretty quickly,” Pell said. “Probably the most difficult part is hooking up the three wires at the start of the row. Occasionally the wires will get crossed and the operator has to hop out – but that’s very rare. He has the video screen, so he can actually see the hook on the wires and it’s just a case of getting used to that.

Once you’re actually driving, it’s fairly straightforward.”

The tension of the wires is important and if they are too loose a loop can form in front of the Klima, get caught and break the wire.

Brown Bros Whitlands vineyard manager George Fitzgerald shows viticulturist Sean Dean how Klima arch cane pruning is done, while the machine is stationary.

Labour costs reduced

but you live with that. We certainly haven’t seen yields decline or anything like that with the use of the machine.”

Pell said he would recommend Klima to other vineyard managers.

“I can see this sort of technology getting better and better. The key benefits of the Klima are the savings on labour and also being able to utilise your best pruners for the most important job in doing the cuts. Enhanced safety is also a key benefit, with reduced incidence of repetitive strain injuries.”

Cane pruning is now cheaper than spur pruning – with savings from 30-50% on manual labour costs.

“We also lessen the risk of injury from people spending all winter yanking on canes and pulling them out of wires,” Pell said. “In 2010 we were averaging 70 hours a hectare and now we’re down to 43 hours a hectare for our arch pruning – we are still learning and trying to improve things each year.

“It’s a bit like a mechanical harvester or pre-pruning machine, there’s always a few wires or a bit of mechanical damage

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44 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2013 – Issue 592

The United Grower May 2013 The newsletter of Wine Grape Growers Australia

The United Grower

is produced by

for the winegrape industry Sponsored by

WGGA proudly acknowledges its associate members – Advanced Viticulture and Management, AHA Viticulture, Belvino Investments, Red Acre, Retallack Viticulture, SCE-Energy Solutions, Vine Sight, Vitibit and Woodshield.

Towards defining adjustment – independent growers who can, respond to market demands WGGA has commissioned data sets from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that enable us to analyse the profile of Australian grapegrowing over time and draw some conclusions about adjustment taking place in the industry. The datasets are based on the standard ABS Vineyard Survey, with modifications to allow us to identify independent versus winemaker-grape growers as well as the size of vineyard establishments in each region.

Over the two years between harvest 2010 and 2012, the number of winegrape growing establishments decreased by 466, and there was a net removal of 6,300 hectares of bearing vines from the national vineyard area. The rate of removals in this period was not even – with only 1,550 hectares removed in 2011-12 compared with 4,700 hectares of net removals in 2009-10 (see table).

Most of the reduction in growing establishments between 2010 and 2012 was of independent growers

from cooler-temperate regions, at 260 establishments, or 55% of the total exits of 466. The next biggest decrease was of the independent growers in warm districts, at 175 establishments, or 37% of the total exits. Overall then, the independent grower category accounted for 92% of the decrease.

There was one sector out of the four that expanded between 2010 and 2012.

Thirteen new winemaker growers appeared in the warm districts, adding 3,400 hectares to the area in this category. However, the most likely explanation for this observation is the method by which the ABS identified winemaker growers. Growers who had paid the WET were classified by the ABS as winemakers. In these circumstances, the most likely explanation for the increase in warm inland winemakers is that some larger independent growers converted some or all of their grapes to wine and in doing so, paid WET. In these circumstances, what were continued

Adjustment in winegrape supply, 2009-10 and 2011-12

Address: Level 1, Industry House, National Wine Centre Corner Botanic and Hackney Roads Adelaide, SA 5000 Telephone: (08) 8133 4400 Facsimile: (08) 8133 4466 Email: info@wgga.com.au Website: www.wgga.com.au

2011-12 profile Tonnes Total prodarea uced Independent Warm growers inland CoolerTemperate Winemaker Warm growers inland CoolerTemperate Total

Exits 2009-10 to 2011-12

Establishments

Bearing areas

Change (%)

Change (ha)

Change (%)

The hidden factor

Drivers New Net Net planting, removals removals Grapes 2011-12 , 2009-10 , 2011-12 left

%

%

Change (No.)

ha

ha

ha

ha

32%

50%

-175

-8.8%

- 3 500

-7.0%

570

- 2 600

- 270

2 350

30%

21%

-260

-9.1%

- 3 900

-8.4%

960

- 1 450

- 890

5 560

8%

10%

13

13.9%

3 400

38.5%

80

12

60

180

30%

19%

-44

-2.5%

- 2 300

-5.1%

590

- 670

- 450

4 271

100%

100%

-466

-7.0%

- 6 300

-4.2%

2200

- 4 708

- 1 550

12 361

Source: ABS, derived from the Vineyard Survey, special data request by WGGA. Colour scheme: grey shaded cells highlight significant drivers of the adjustment trends, green shaded cells highlight growth, rather than contraction, between 2009-10 and 2011-12. www.wgga.com.au May 2013 The United Grower 1

Committee and staff news

Your WGGA executive committee's views Victor Patrick (chair)

Simon Berry

I would not be surprised if in excess of 70% of wine grape growers fail to generate enough income to cover overhead costs and generate a business return in 2013.

Overall a good vintage in areas I travel. Minimal rain disruption, fruit ripened rapidly in a very compressed activity period. Not all fruit sold or sold profitably and demand is not in step with supply yet.

victorpatrick@bigpond.com Electoral zone: South Australia (voting member)

Kerry Smart

ksmart@westnet.com.au Electoral zone: Greater Western Australia (voting member) To succeed in China will require an understanding of the Chinese wine palate by the Australian industry and how that palate is likely to evolve.

Justin Jarrett (deputy chair)

jarrettswines@bigpond.com Electoral zone: New South Wales/Queensland (voting member) As the 2013 vintage ends it is now clearer than ever that the wrong variety in the wrong region has little hope of a sustainable price.

Bob Bellato

rvb4@bigpond.com Electoral zone: New South Wales/Riverina (voting member) Another financially unsustainable year for growers in the Riverina which will cause many more growers to exit the industry.

Dennis Mills

mvw@murrayvalleywinegrapes.com.au Electoral zone: Murray Valley (voting member) Vintage finished before Easter with crop levels average at best. Prices generally less than cost of production except for Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot. Oversupply of Gordo and Chardonnay and uncontracted Merlot.

Continued from page 1 previously warm inland independent growers have become identified as winemaker growers. They will have registered in the dataset as both exits from the warm inland independent grower number as well as registering as new winemaker growers.

This is a form of adjustment that may not have been anticipated in the industry and it raises issues around the WET rebate and the role of retailers in taking wine to market.

At least, the trend in grower winemaking is

a legitimate means of survival for growers if wisely planned. Importantly, if this business model is motivated by poor returns from winemaker off-takers, then it represents a wake-up call for winemakers.

An interesting observation is that while the largest number of the earlier net removals, in 2010, occurred in the warm districts (at 55% of the total), the larger proportion of net removals in 2012, at 86%, were in the cooler districts. The statistics on areas for which fruit was left or dropped at harvest in

ÂŽ

simon@berry2wine.com.au Electoral zone: South Australia (voting member)

ANDREW WEEKS Email: Andrew.weeks@cwines.com.au Electoral Zone: Riverland (voting member) The vintage of 2013 in the Riverland will be remembered for the early start, low disease pressure and rapid ripening of fruit. There are some good signs in regard to wine quality. Growers are starting to regain optimism for the future.

Kym Ludvigsen

ludvigsn@vic.chariot.net.au Electoral zone: Greater Victoria/Tasmania (voting member) It was a fast and furious harvest. Quality is very good but quantity is a bit below average. Now is the time to reflect on the good and the bad practices to improve for next vintage.

Lawrie Stanford (executive director)

lawrie.stanford@wgga.com.au (non-voting member) Existing positive signs in the industry do not yet outweigh continued signals of supply-demand imbalance and will not rescue asset-depleted businesses – careful thought and wise counsel about hanging on in these circumstances is required.

2012 confirms the greater incentive cooler areas have to remove vines. In 2012, around 12 350 hectares had fruit left or dropped (see table above – last column).

Based on the average tonnes per hectare for that season, this could represent around 135,000 tonnes of fruit that was not sold and more, of course, if yields were average.

Critically, the cooler districts accounted for 80% of these hectares. It is also important to note that in a relatively disease-free season like 2010, inability to sell is more likely to

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WGGA Opinions

Continued from page 2 have been due to economic circumstances rather than disease.

Not only were cooler districts experiencing a higher rate of removals in 2012 but they were also planting more. In 2012, 70% of the new planting occurred in the coolertemperate districts. On the assumption that this new planting reflects planting to different varieties that have better market prospects, the amount of contraction occurring in the cooler districts through removals, was partially offset by an adjustment strategy that involves planting to more profitable varieties.

This is also observable in the warm districts but is not as prevalent.

Interpreting these observations will be to some degree speculative but they are at least consistent with the WGGA view that cooler-temperate production is the major source of the industry’s oversupply given

market prospects. Clearly, it is observed that adjustment pressures are most intensively felt by independent growers in both warm and cool districts. In addition, WGGA’s belief that current adjustment levels may be ‘as good as it gets’ receives support from this data. It appears that although some contraction in the supply base is occurring (see more on this in the ‘Fact Box’), those that can survive by profitably converting their grapes to wine, or by changing over varieties – are doing so – and this is potentially putting a floor on the amount of contraction that will occur. For businesses that cannot adopt these strategies, and which are simply hanging on ‘until things get better’, should pay heed to the possibility that ‘better’ may still be some way off and if the potential floor to adjustment that is speculated upon here is real, adjustment, or ‘better’, may never be as good as hoped for.

In these circumstances, particularly if assets

are being depleted by hanging on, careful thought and wise counsel is required.

A final footnote to this article concerns the Vineyard Survey dataset on which these insights are based. In 2009, when the ABS fee to conduct the Vineyard Survey became prohibitive, the industry decided it needed to collect its viticulture data itself. At the time, three years was assigned to put these arrangements in place, during which the GWRDC would fund the collection in year 1 and 3 of the period. This time has now expired without alternative arrangements in place. The 2012 collection was the last Vineyard Survey. New arrangements need to be made for continued collection of viticulture data or a decision is needed for the GWRDC to continue funding the ABS Vineyard Survey. Until one of these happens, the industry will have no new national viticulture data.

Musings on the 2013 harvest It is Easter Monday and I am waiting patiently for vintage to commence in our vineyard.

More importantly, I am waiting for our vineyard assessment to be completed by our major off-taker, only then will we know what our likely pricing will be and have any idea of our financial performance. We now regularly hear the words – “the fruit is sugar ripe but not flavour ripe”. It would be beneficial to all concerned if some objective measurement of this observation was developed.

As I await the assessment results and contemplate again this year, poor prospects for financial gain, I have time to also reflect on quotes from past industry leaders (who shall remain nameless).

In August 1999 – “What I can say is that any future downturn in the Australian wine industry will be a mini blip.”

In November 1999 – “I don’t think we will ever meet demand despite all the nonsense of gluts - the sky’s the limit.”

And a decade later, in November 2009 – “Comprehensive analysis and consultation suggests that at least 20% of bearing vines in Australia are surplus to requirements. On

acceptable business return.

While supply appears to be roughly in line with what can be sold, there remains a wide gap between supply and what can be sold at a price that provides an acceptable return to both the grower and processor.

The Winemakers Federation of Australia has commissioned an expert review of industry dynamics to ascertain profit opportunities and challenges over the next five years.

The purpose of the review is to help identify the key issues and potential steps that may be taken to recapture sustainable growth and improve industry profitability. This is welcome news and hopefully grower interests will be well represented and adequately addressed during this review.

One thing is certain – the issue of nonprofitable grapegrowing is now in its fifth year and many in the industry will not survive much more of the same.

There is also the issue that ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’.

The review will be of academic interest only unless it is followed by widespread action throughout the industry.

cost of production alone, at least 17% of vineyard capacity is uneconomic.”

After several years of negative returns many growers are probably thinking “Bugger the future, my main worry is surviving today.”

At the time of writing, the 2013 vintage is nearing completion in most of the major regions. Industry bodies are nervous about predicting the size of the crush and rightly so.

But let’s assume for the moment that the 2013 crush is similar to that of 2012 (and anecdotal evidence suggests that this may be the case). Let’s also assume that winegrape pricing and the distribution of that pricing across the tonnages crushed is also similar to last year.

My back of the envelope calculations suggest that 34% of the one million tonnes produced in the warm inland regions will be produced at a significant loss to growers and that a further 34% will not show a steady-state business return.

The situation is little better in coastal temperate regions where approximately 500 kilo tonnes is produced, 30% of that production is likely to be produced at a loss and a further 30% will not produce an

Vic Patrick WGGA Chair

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news News

A word of warning Although vintage 2013 has barely finished, it is not too soon to start thinking about how to protect your interests in next year’s grape transactions. There are two particularly important things to do to protect your interests over fruit delivered to processors.

1. Undertake due diligence before finalising any agreement for the sale of the grapes.

2. Secure an interest in your grapes, or the resultant wine, before handing over the grapes.

The Wine Grape Council of SA (WGCSA) highlights the importance of these actions from their experience in trying to represent problems on the behalf of their members.

Research undertaken by WGCSA shows that 5-10% of SA growers are paid late or don’t receive full payment for grapes.

Recently Stonehaven Wines (Aust) Pty Ltd was placed in provisional liquidation and around 23 grape growers are unlikely to receive any of the $1.3 million owed to

them.

From this kind of experience, WGCSA have alerted growers to consider the following.

1. Hedge against problem processors by obtaining a credible statement of their financial position.

2. Get agreements in writing.

3. Have agreements checked by a lawyer before signing.

4. Ensuring that a Purchase Money Security Interest (PMSI) clause is included in contracts and that the PMSI is registered on the Personal Property Securities Register under the Commonwealth government’s Personal Property Securities Act 2009.

WGGA notes that legislation in all states of Australia provides that title passes to the off-taker on physical hand-over of sold goods, unless there is a contract clause stating otherwise. A PMSI is such a clause and means that title does not pass until

the goods are paid for. The next step, of registering this clause on the Personal Property Securities Register (www.ppsr.gov. au), means that in the event of the off-taker becoming insolvent, the seller becomes a secured creditor against all of the assets of the insolvent business. This does two things. First, it ensures the seller is secured (has a claim to the failed company’s assets) and secondly, gets around the problem of identifying the original goods for return to the seller (which of course may be hard to identify when transformed into wine, blended etc).

WGCSA invites SA winegrape growers to contact them on 8133 4403 or 0439 182 411 to report non-payment in full for grapes delivered to any processor.

More information on the Personal Property Securities Register and guidelines for grape processing contracts can be found on the WGGA website www.wgga.com.au.

WGGA Executive Committee member visits Vinitech Sifel In response to an invitation for members of the Australian wine industry to attend Vinitech Sifel 2012 as VIP guests of the organising committee, WGGA submitted the name of Andrew Weeks as a young, up-coming viticulturist and member of the WGGA Executive Committee. VinitechSifel 2012, is an international exhibition of equipment and innovations for the wine industry and the fruit and vegetable sector, and took place in the Bordeaux-Lac Exhibition Centre from 27 to 29 November 2012.

Andrew was fortunate in being accepted to attend and spent three days at the exhibition where he attended seminars, visited vineyards, observed new winegrape growing technology and tasted Bordeaux food and wine. This is a summary of his visit. More can be read on the WGGA website about Andrew’s visit to this ‘world class event’, and why he would strongly recommend to anyone involved in the wine industry that they should attend the event, if given the chance.

Andrew writes …

The city of Bordeaux is a pleasure to visit and the famous wine and food culture on show made the exhibition all the more enjoyable.

The exhibition was located at Bordeaux-Lac Exhibition Centre which was convenient to public transport. The exhibition centre is massive, with enough space in the hall to accommodate a huge amount of farm machinery and winemaking equipment.

The sheer scale of the exhibition meant that simply walking from one end to the other took considerable time.

4 The United Grower May 2013 www.wgga.com.au

An environmental focus was very evident as demonstrated by the following exhibits.

• Horse-drawn machinery, including a multi-row spray plant.

• A solar-powered automatic robot mower.

• Multi-row electric tractors.

• Numerous electrostatic and recycling sprayers.

• Various mechanical sucker removers, many comprising rotating rubberised “fingers”. These were available in handheld or tractor-mounted units.

Displays of winemaking equipment were extensive and included presses, sorting tables, cork producers, barrel merchants and many bottling plants.

The Australian delegation visited several Chateaux in the region where viticulture and winemaking methods were openly discussed. It is clear that tradition and quality are paramount in the operations of Bordeaux producers. Often, the problems they face may be different to those in Australia.

Viticulture is much more intensive in Bordeaux with many vines planted on approximately one square metre of space.

Many of the vines in the region are trained to single or double-sided Guyot. New shoots are usually trained to a VSP and they are trimmed several times during the growing season. A strong focus on biological farming and low impact viticulture techniques was evident on the vineyard visits. While visiting some of the Premier Grand Cru vineyards we witnessed a horse pulling a mole board plough to mound up soil around the base of the vines. While there seemed to be an increasing amount

Andrew Weeks

of mechanisation, great value is given to traditional methods at the same time.

The whole experience of visiting Bordeaux was extremely enjoyable and informative.

The Vinitech Sifel exhibition was certainly worthwhile but a visit to the region and city of Bordeaux is enjoyable when judged on the wine and food experience alone.

Many thanks to the Vinitech Sifel organising committee for the invitation, Sandra Trew the Australian representative at Promosalons for making the arrangements and WGGA for recommending me.

The grower behind the brand Grower: Robert John WINERY: Q uealy Winemakers/Balnarring Vineyard WINEMAKER: Kathleen Quealy Brand: Malakoff Pyrenees Nebbiolo Region: Greater Victoria The Wine and the Winemaker Kathleen Quealy along with her partner Kevin McCarthy own and operate Balnarring Vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula each bringing with them extensive experience in both viticulture and winemaking . Previously Kathleen and Kevin established the successful T’Gallant Winery before selling the business to Fosters.

Kathleen continues to develop her winemaking concepts gathered from visits to Northern Italy and Alsace, France. Her aim is to create affordable wines that have character and texture. She experiments with different varieties, techniques and vineyard sites to produce a variety of specialities in the less well known varieties such as Pinot Gris and Nebbiolo.

The Grower Malakoff Estate Vineyards, owned by the John family; Robert, Lorraine and Cameron; is situated in the Pyrenees Ranges just south of Landsborough and totals 23 hectares of vineyards. The first plantings were made in 1997 and in just 15 years, the John family have had considerable success – being judged Victorian Vineyard of the year in 2005-06 and the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria’s Horticultural Producer of the year in 2006.

The relationship Robert has been supplying Nebbiolo to Kathleen since 2010 and has found that their success has been largely due to great two-way communication. Kathleen is actively involved in the Nebbiolo site and Robert encourages her contribution in the decision-making in matters like pruning, watering, canopy management and harvest time. Robert explains: “We don’t have a written agreement with Kathleen but rather, an ongoing relationship which ensures the management of Kathleen’s section of the vineyard fits in with the wine style that Kathleen is making”.

The future Robert sees “a very strong future for Malakoff Nebbiolo – it has the right environment to do well”. The vineyard site is right, the vines are at an age when they are producing their best and the winemakergrower relationship encourages the best management for fruit tailormade to suit the wine product.

The Nebbiolo Vineyard The 4-hectare patch of Nebbiolo was planted in 2000 on a site comprising permeable red clay with quartz and ironstone gravel. As the vineyard faces north on a moderate slope, it is well sheltered with a low risk of frost, making it very well suited to growing Nebbiolo, having sufficient warmth to ripen the grapes and also to optimise grape flavour and colour.

Watering is from catchment dams by drip irrigation incorporating a fertigation system.

Canopy management is structured to ensure dappled sunlight to fruit to promote ripening without over-exposure to the sun. With harvest in late March or early April they have been able to maintain cropping rates at 6-7 tonnes per hectare.

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WGGA Opinions

A model for selling grapes in difficult times Peter Raymond is vineyard consultant in the Barossa Valley. Recently he has been focusing on helping growers achieve profitable sales in a difficult market. Here he shares a few ideas and principles he uses in his business to help growers sell their fruit.

In the first instance, I believe my approach in designing my own business parallels some general approaches that growers can consider for theirs.

• Work out what your strengths are – in terms of your own experience and background • Define your scope – what your business will focus on • Do your market research: what does your potential customer need, and how can you help them achieve it?

• Look after all your customers – including your client’s customers In the end, my business model focussed on growers who are reliant on the vineyard for most or all of their income. This excludes winery vineyards, MIS vineyards and part-time growers. My model is based on the smaller grower – ie around 15-50 hectares.

Central to my approach is a model that encourages wineries to take a more long-term view of purchasing fruit from growers, based on a preferential liking for their product. I found that if a grower were to have a future in the industry, they had to make the first move to initiate change and see it through. Of course, it takes a lot to do this given there was no guarantee any improvements would improve the sale outcome.

From my experience, the following are key elements of success among the growers who are my clients.

• Grow what the market wants. In cool climate regions this is generally top end fruit, with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon the focus. Other varieties are also now in demand but only the higher quality fruit.

• Region is critical for this market. As a rule, if you aren’t in a recognised GI you’re in trouble. Operating costs are higher in cool climates and $/t needs to be higher than warmer climate areas. Even some well recognised regions still struggle selling mainstream grape varieties at decent prices. Regional branding is now the trend and will only gain more momentum in well recognised GI’s.

• Varietal mix is critical for profitability and the spreading risk. For the most part, whites are nearly extinct from my books except for small volumes of white alternative varieties making good returns for some growers.

• Involve the customer – the winemaker – in the grapegrowing process, including all management decisions that may affect wine quality and always seek feedback on wine quality post vintage and preferably taste with the winemaker.

• Keep communication very open and very honest – especially around negotiating picking dates.

Peter Raymond

Wine sector stars in the Rural Women’s Award Once again, the quality of women in the wine sector has been evident in the selection of a winemaker and viticulturist as the South Australian finalists for the 2013 RIRDC Rural Women’s Award. Last year, the national award was won by viticultural consultant Mary Retallack.

Anna Hooper is a winemaker at Cape Jaffa Wines in the Mount Benson wine region near Robe. As well as being responsible for the wines, she is also passionate about environmental sustainability in grape growing and together with her husband Derek, started developing the first biodynamic vineyard in the South-East in 2003.

Dr Mardi Longbottom also has a Limestone Coast connection: she grew up on a farm in Padthaway. She is a winegrape grower, viticulturist and viticultural consultant with 21 years’ experience in vineyard management, technical viticulture research, education and

extension.

In her role as a viticulturist with AWRI, Mardi’s work has been valued by WGGA particularly in her work developing objective measures for winegrape attributes which includes her presence on the Winegrape Quality Measurement Committee.

Mrs Hooper receives a $10,000 bursary from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, which she plans to use to visit New Zealand, California and South Africa to investigate other ways to produce wine sustainably. Both finalists will attend a one-week residential Australian Institute of Company Directors course in Canberra later this year, to enhance their leadership capabilities.

WGGA would like to congratulate both of these talented women and wish them all the best in the national award, which will be announced in Canberra in October.

Mardi Longbottom

Anna Hooper (on left) with the Hon Gail Gago, the SA Minister for Agriculture.

Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference and Trade Exhibition.

The AWITC is a key calendar event for grape and wine industry people.

The 15th event is on 13-18 July 2013, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour.

A 10% discount applies to current ASVO members and Australian levy payers.

Catch up with old and new colleagues, share ideas, and hear some of the foremost experts present on topics relevant to us today and in the future.

See you there!

6 The United Grower May 2013 www.wgga.com.au

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Fact Box

Getting the facts straight on supply adjustment hectares (an inflated number because dried and table grapes are included), while the 2011-12 areas (ex table and dried grapes) were 148 509 hectares. This gives the impression that around 25,250 hectares, or 14.5% of the national vineyard had been removed since peaking. The greater likelihood however (the adjusted numbers) is that 14,140 hectares, or 8.7%, had been removed.

Measured against the often-quoted 20% of the national vineyard area that has to be

removed to achieve supply and demand balance, the perception of how far the industry has adjusted goes from nearly three quarters of the way to less than half when the data is standardised. The difference between the two interpretations is worth about 135,000 tonnes in an average year.

Looked at the same way, because of the 2010-11 ‘break in series’, a reading of the raw numbers will lead to an overstatement of the adjustment between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Table: Historical numbers for reported and estimated areas of the national vineyard

Total Area (ABS Vineyard Survey) hectares 168 791 173 776 172 676 162 550 156 632

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 (1) 2009-10 2010-11 (2) 2011-12

148 509

Total Area (ABS Ag Census) hectares

160 300

Standardised total winegrape vine area*

Implied net planting

hectares 157 987 162 653 161 624 162 550 156 632 154 748 148 509

hectares 1 103 477 - 2 289 - 941 - 6 758 - 2 057 - 2 923

180 000

8 000

170 000

6 000

160 000

4 000

150 000

2 000

140 000 130 000

- 2 000

120 000

- 4 000

110 000

- 6 000

Implied net planting (bars)

(1) Winegrapes only, this year onwards (2) Ag Census data and break in series - all other years are Vineyard Survey data * Estimates from Vineyard Survey, 2005-06 to 2007-08; Vineyard Survey raw data, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2011-12; estimate from Ag Census, 201011)

Total area (lines)

In recent years, there have been changes in the Vineyard Survey which mean it is not a consistent time series and interpretation from one year to another may not be like-on-like.

As a result, recent statements about vineyard removals has been overstated. This fact box attempts to clarify the situation in regard to the size and rate of change in the national vineyard.

The data referred to is the industry’s national Vineyard Survey data which is traditionally provided, for a fee, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

First, a change in the Vineyard Survey occurred in 2008-09 when only winegrape data was collected while before this time, dried fruit and table grape vines were included. Nevertheless, estimates of the winegrape component could be made and this was usually 93% to 95% of the total vine hectares reported – see associated illustration.

Second, the Vineyard Survey was not conducted in 2010-11 due to lapsed funding in the light of a cost increase (see lead article in this newsletter). In this year however, viticulture data was collected through the Australian Bureau of Statistic’s Agricultural Census which fortuitously occurred that year. Due to methodological differences between the Ag Census and the wine sector’s traditional Vineyard Survey, the Ag Census numbers were not consistent with the previous or latter numbers from the Vineyard Survey (a ‘break in series’ in statistical terminology).

By employing various assumptions to achieve internal consistency of the Ag Census numbers plus consistency with the Vineyard Survey history, WGGA was able to estimate what the 2010-11 Ag Census numbers were likely to be. This is also shown in the associated illustration.

After accounting for the changes in the data collections, it is possible to see how some recent interpretations of changes in the vineyard area could be overstated.

According to the reported numbers that are available to most people, the total national vine area peaked in 2006-07, at 173 776

- 8 000

100 000 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 (1) (2) Implied net planting

Total Area (ABS Vineyard Survey)

Total Area (ABS Ag Census)

Standardised total winegrape vine area*

(1) Winegrapes only, this point onwards (2) Ag Census for red square data point and reworking of Ag Census number for internal and time series consistency for the green circle.

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winemaking

best of boutique

Boutique players blend passion with dedication to make wines of eloquence Three quarters of the Australian and New Zealand wine industry is made up of producers who crush less than 250 tonnes annually. Following on from our review of the top Australian and New Zealand wine companies in our April issue, this month we put the spotlight on the smaller players – the boutique producers who make up the majority of our industry. We ask five people who represent different facets of the industry – from viticulture all the way to the trade – who their favourite five boutique wineries are and what makes them unique. In this special feature, journalist Kellie Arbuckle also speaks with five of those wineries and reveals their personal journeys into the wine world.

CURLEWIS

Farming for quality As a six-year-old boy, Stefano Marasco got his kicks from watching his father make wine.

“I use to love watching the juice come pouring out of the crusher and I remember being told not to drink too much of it,” Marasco recalls.

Today, Marasco involves his own son in the winemaking process at his winery, Curlewis, located on the Bellarine Peninsula at Geelong.

Marasco and his wife, Leesa, took over Curlewis winery from Rainer Breit and Wendy Oliver in 2011, with Breit still in charge of winemaking.

The winery strives to create wines of greater concentration and flavour ripeness with a full length of palate.

“It’s about making good quality Pinot Noir and maintaining that quality. It’s one thing we’ll never want to compromise,” said Marasco, who produced just 6t this year.

“We like to spend time nurturing our plants – 90% of producing a good wine is in the farming while 10% is in the making.”

Curlewis has three Pinot Noirs in its repertoire – an estate, reserve and entry-

FAVOURITE FIVE Matt Pooley is the manager and winemaker at Pooley Wines in Tasmania. Pooley has a strong commitment to his craft and is passionate about reducing the impacts of climate change. He chose his favourite five wineries on the basis of top cool climate producers of exceptional Pinot Noir. “These wineries were consistent in blind tastings and really made an impact on me. The styles are varying and so too are the characters behind the wines,” he said.

Felton Road, Central Otago Felton Road producers the best Pinot Noir and Riesling in this region and New Zealand along with Ata Rangi.

Ata Rangi, Martinborough

Pooley Wines manager and winemaker Matt Pooley.

This winery produces fabulous wines. Consistently good, the vineyard reaches physiological ripeness.

Paringa Estate, Mornington Peninsula Consistently good Pinot Noir.

Curlewis, Bellarine Peninsula With a cult following, this winery uses cutting-edge, innovative winemaking attitude and methods.

Farr Rising/By Farr, Geelong Innovative and experimental winemaking.

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53

best of boutique FAVOURITE FIVE Lucy Anderson is a director of winehero, Asia, a marketing consultancy that specialises in strategy, communication and brand development. “If you are looking for a theme that connects my top five, it would be: the winemakers’ love for the land, how the vineyard is the most important aspect of their wines, and how courage and creativity can be used to craft something entirely new,” Anderson said.

Bellwether, Coonawarra and Tasmania Sue Bell’s winemaking philosophy is simple: make great wines that reflect the site and display purity, texture and complexity – oh, and are great to drink now or after a few years. winehero director, Asia, Lucy Anderson.

Timo Mayer, Yarra Valley (Victoria) The website probably attests to how small this ‘boutique winery’ actually is – one page only! Timo has excited locals and international guests with his cloudy wines that “bring back the funk!”

Ruggabellus, Barossa Valley Ruggabellus represents the new Barossa. Each wine is inspired by the landscape and aims to reflect the uniquely Australian character of the wine. Rugged beauty, indeed.

Wines by KT, Clare Valley Working with local growers and recognising their importance by naming the wines after them, KT, or Kerri Thompson, has been making wines in the Clare Valley since the late 1990s. Bringing vineyard detail to life, Riesling is the hero with three single-vineyard labels.

Freeman Vineyards, Hilltops I was introduced to Freeman wines by Sydney sommelier, Stuart Knox, at Fix St James. Wow! I had never tasted a wine like theirs, not from Australia, anyway. With plantings of Rondinella and Corvina in the Hilltops of New South Wales, the Amarone-inspired Freeman ‘Secco’ has been crafted. I have nothing but admiration for Dr. Freeman and his team who have succeeded in doing what Australia does best – borrow from the old and create something new!

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level wine – all of which are made with minimal intervention from grapes grown at their property.

“Our Pinots are very untouched, unadulterated, unfiltered and very unique,” Marasco said.

“We absorb the winemaking styles of Burgundy and Rhone in particular, but set out to take advantage of our more consistent climate and some of the better new techniques.”

FREEMAN VINEYARDS

Winery satisfaction comes from the ground up Established in 1999, Freeman Vineyards is a family-run winery in the Hilltops in NSW that has become known for its Italianorigin wines.

Made by Brian Freeman, who was recently honoured with the 2012 Graham Gregory Award for his contribution to the NSW wine industry, Rondinella and Corvina are the winery’s signature varieties.

Freeman draws on Italian winemaking practices to blend the two varieties to produce what is now the winery’s flagship wine, the Freeman ‘Secco’ Rondinella Corvina.

“Rondinella and Corvina are used to make Amarone in Italy.

To make it, Italians dry the grapes for three months before fermenting them. We dry some of the grapes then co-ferment them with fresh grapes, so our process is inspired from the Amarone process,” Freeman said.

“What the drying process does is change the grape tannins so we end up with very ripe fruit and quite fine tannins without any greenness.”

Freeman, who produced just 90t last year, says the best thing about being small is the ability to be in complete control.

“It’s the satisfaction from seeing something develop from the ground up – from the growing of the grapes to the pouring of the wine,” he said.

CLONAKILLA

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Clonakilla winery has come a long way since 1971 when John Kirk established the family business, now famous for its cool climate red wines.

Chief winemaker Tim Kirk took over as CEO in 2010 after relocating from Melbourne where he taught religious education at Xavier College.

“Since I’ve returned here the business has grown

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FAVOURITE FIVE Peter Nixon is the national fine wine manager for Dan Murphy’s. As part of this role, he is the editor and principal contributor to Dan Murphy’s Fine Wine Buyer’s Guide, Australia’s highest circulation consumer wine publication. Nixon also oversees the Dan Murphy’s wine panel and is actively involved in international and local wine show judging. Originally from London, Nixon took to an interest in wine through the London wine trade and while holidaying with his family at various wine regions in Europe.

House of Arras, Tasmania Ed Carr is almost certainly the finest Australian sparkling winemaker Australia has ever seen. Quietly spoken but clearly determined, Ed is enough argument for the potential of Australian sparkling wine. My cuvée of choice is the pristine 2001 Blanc de Blanc.

Oakridge, Yarra Valley David Bicknell might bear an uncanny resemblance to the late Dan Murphy however it is not this attribute that gets him onto my list. Whilst he is deservedly recognised as a true maestro of cool climate Chardonnay, his greatness in this area should not overshadow his brilliance at Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Cabernet and Riesling.

Clonakilla, Canberra District Tim Kirk hasn’t just put Clonakilla on the Australian wine map, but has generously mentored a whole generation of young Canberra winemakers to ensure Canberra is increasingly recognised as a serious region – cool climate Shiraz (with or without Viognier) and Riesling being the all-stars.

Teusner, Barossa Valley Kym Teusner is undoubtedly one of the Barossa’s young rock stars, though his brilliance is founded on a genuine respect for the region, its growers and its history.

Handsomely packaged from top to bottom, the wines are profoundly intense and well balanced. Oak handling is second to none. Kym’s entry-level wine, The Riebke, is a lesson in premium quality, astonishing value Barossan Shiraz.

Campbell’s, Rutherglen Colin Campbell is a worthy ambassador for arguably Australia’s greatest wine treasures: Rutherglen Muscat and Topaque (nee Tokay). From the jaw-dropping rare treasures Isabella Rare Tokay and Merchant Prince Muscat through to the entry-level equivalents, these are benchmark, world-class fortified wine examples.

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National 03 9555 5500 SA & WA Sales 0401 560 550 NSW Sales 0447 020 313 Email info@grapeworks.com.au Dan Murphy’s national fine wine manager Peter Nixon.

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best of boutique FAVOURITE FIVE Max Marriott is a winemaker and viticulturist in New Zealand, and a contributor to the Grapegrower & Winemaker magazine. “It has to be said that I do gravitate towards smaller, more focused producers where there is a degree of transparency and integrity behind the production,” Marriott said. “My selection here is a list of people, more than brands, whose wines – particularly their specialties – reach the greatest heights in terms of quality, interest, age-worthiness and drinkability.”

Destiny Bay, Waiheke This winery has a tiny production and an absolute dedication to the very highest quality – noble tenets that many aspire to, yet few achieve. In one of the most tumultuous weather-variable wine regions in the country, Destiny Bay are crafting some of the greatest Bordeaux blends this country has seen.

Bilancia, Hawkes Bay Warren and Lorraine make my cut purely and simply for their La Collina Syrah. I have bought every vintage and it never fails to disappoint. It is New Zealand’s best, most consistent and most ageworthy Syrah.

Ata Rangi, Martinborough Time and time again, Ata Rangi not only dazzles with its Pinot (which is truly exceptional and a class act, year in year out), but their exceptional Chardonnays, too.

Pyramid Valley, Canterbury Two of New Zealand’s most well-known personalities – Mike and Claudia Weersing – have rapidly forged a reputation at their home vineyard base in North Canterbury for wines that are crafted – nay, guided – rather than made. ‘Hands-off’ here can mean ‘hands-on’, the result leading to wines that are often fastidiously nurtured by an everattentive parent, to the end that they are the truest product of their origins.

Valli, Central Otago

exponentially. This year we’re pushing up to 300t but we still just at 250t,” Kirk said.

Kirk’s fascination with wine started in the late 1980s and 1990s when he helped make wine in the school holidays before travelling to northern Rhone.

“After tasting Rhone Valley Shiraz wines I was completely enraptured with what could be done when you ferment a small amount of Viognier with Shiraz from a cool climate site,” he said.

“So when I came back I showed this to the business and we came up with our own Shiraz Viognier.”

The same wine has become recognised worldwide; in 2005 it was recognised at the ‘outstanding’ level of the Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine, and was elevated to the highest level of ‘exceptional’ in 2010.

For Kirk, the best thing about being boutique is the ability to experiment with new wine styles.

“We love the freedom we have to experiment and develop new creative approaches to the wines we make,” he said.

Clonakilla is currently experimenting with Tumbarumba Chardonnay, a Murrumbateman Pinot Noir and a Grenache/Mourvèdre/Shiraz blend, which will be called ‘Ceoltoiri’ – an Irish word meaning ‘musician’.

When your modus operandi is sub-regional expression, tiny yields, top quality and miniscule production, what’s not to love? Grant Taylor is a Pinot Noir specialist and very aware of this variety’s typicity, crafting wines that carry the stamp of Central Otago, entwined with elegance and poise. His forays into the Waitaki region are as equally exciting as his sub-regional offerings from across Central Otago.

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Telephone 03 9455 3339 Fax 03 9459 5232 Email: rapidfil@rapidfil.com.au Web: www.rapidfil.com.au 56 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2013 – Issue 592

FAVOURITE FIVE Peter Griscti is a recent graduate in Viticulture and Oenology from the University of Adelaide, currently working as a vintage assistant winemaker at Rolf Binder Wines. Before and while studying, he has worked a number of international vintages and several in his home region – the Barossa. He has vintage lined up in the Niagara region of Canada later this year, and plans on undertaking postgraduate studies in business.

First Drop, Barossa Valley Matt Gant and John Retsas produce a diverse range of wines – and clearly have a lot of fun doing it! I find their wines interesting to drink; they blend a lot of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese varieties, as well as producing high-end single-vineyard Shiraz (Fat of The Land) from several parts of the Barossa. In their words, “First Drop is about passion for life, fun and flavour”, which sums it up nicely.

Hutton Vale, Eden Valley Everything that John and Jan Angas produce at their Eden Valley property is of the highest quality – whether it’s grass-run lamb, preserves or wine. Their small vineyard provides fruit for their Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache Mataro blend and Shiraz. I think it’s great that you can pick up a lamb roast from John and Jan at the Barossa Farmer’s Market, and enjoy it that night with their outstanding Shiraz that had the sheep grazing alongside it! Hutton Vale is produce of integrity.

Alpha Box and Dice, McLaren Vale Owner Justin Lane is making a wine for every letter of the alphabet – blends of several Italian varieties, plus some of the more regular varieties you’d expect to see in McLaren Vale such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. The cellar door is a pretty interesting place and the labels are really intriguing. Blood of Jupiter (Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon) is probably one of my favourites.

McLean’s Farmgate, Eden Valley Bob McLean produces a couple of brands under his own label; I really enjoy his Barr-Eden Vineyard wines. At approximately 500m, his vineyard is one of the highest in Eden Valley, planted with Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro and Riesling. I strongly think anyone starting out in the industry should visit producers like Bob; I always leave with gained knowledge that you can’t learn at any university.

Craigow, Tasmania This was a great discovery on a Tasmanian holiday a couple of years ago; my travelling companions and I were very impressed by their Riesling and Gewürztraminer, in particular. The hospitality was outstanding – it’s how a cellar door experience should be.

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best of boutique HUTTON VALE

Winery reaps connection and quality from the land Situated in the heart of Eden Valley, Hutton Vale has been home to the Angas family since 1843.

Run by John and Jan Angas, the property is a full-on working farm; grain, sheep (for wool) and prime lambs for meat – which goes to various highend Barossa restaurants including Appellation, Rockford and Hentley Farm – are produced on the farm, in addition to winegrapes.

While John and Jan only released their wine commercially in 2000, they have been making their own wine for years.

“In 1987 we picked our own fruit and made it into wine. We continued doing this for 10 years, each year picking a couple of tonnes and making and sharing wine with friends, who eventually said we should have a label on it,” Jan recalls.

“So in 2000, we released our first wine – a 1998 Shiraz.”

Hutton Vale produces less than 1000 cases of wine a year, and enjoys cellar door visits and special functions by appointment to provide visitors with the full immersion experience.

Jan says the best thing about being boutique is the connection with the land and the seasons.

“If you’re a smaller producer, you can get away with the differentiation of seasons which means you can have some really outstanding game-changing wines,” she said.

Jan and John Angas of Hutton Vale winery, at Eden Valley in South Australia.

Vineyards in Nelson.

After a long and intensive search to find a site for their own vineyard, they purchased a farm in the Pyramid Valley, near Waikari in North Canterbury, in 2000.

Together, they produce about 800 cases of Pinot Noir and about three to four cases of Chardonnay each year.

Prior to coming to New Zealand, Mike travelled extensively throughout Europe to gain a better understanding of his

passion – wine.

“Doing a scientific degree scared the hell out of me so I went to Burgundy, bought a van and drove around Europe talking different winemakers into me working for them,” he recalls.

Along the way, Mike worked for several producers including Hubert de Montille, Domaine de la Pousse d’Or and Nicolas Potel in Burgundy; Jean-Michel Deiss and Marc Kreydenweiss in Alsace; and Ernst Loosen in the Mosel.

After working a stint at James Halliday’s winery, Coldstream Hills, Mike travelled in a campervan around New Zealand.

“I fell in love with the place, the people and the landscape,” he said.

“I remember thinking about the potential of the wine and particularly the style of Pinot, which was much lighter and maybe a little more elegant than US Pinots – just what I was aiming for.”

Reflecting on the past few years, Mike says the best thing about being a small player is the involvement.

“The fact that we have such a small team where everyone is involved with everything is great,” he said.

PYRAMID VALLEY

Winery finds quality secrets through travel Mike and Claudia Weersing, both very well travelled, came to New Zealand in 1996 when Mike began making wine with Tim and Judy Finn at Neudorf

Mike and Claudia Weersing of Pyramid Valley, in North Canterbury, New Zealand.

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May 2013 – Issue 592

Effect of cold soak on the phenolic extraction of Syrah Cold soak aims to enhance wine colour after extraction of anthocyanins – by leaving the juice soaking on skins for several days, the colour should become darker due to an increase in optical density.

Russell Moss, Kelsey Daniels & Jeff Shasky

Introduction TO THE CONSUMER, wine colour is often indicative of overall quality.

Anthocyanins are responsible for red wine colour and are present as polymeric complexes or as free anthocyanidins.

Skin proanthocyanidins are considered to be softer and have a higher quality than the seed proanthocyanidins.

Anthocyanins are often released by aqueous extraction from the berry during a period of maceration. Maceration not only extracts anthocyanins, but other compounds including tannins, proteins and polysaccharides.

During fermentation, maceration is occurring simultaneously as the skin and juice are in contact and the anthocyanins are diffusing from the skins to the juice.

The cell walls of the berry are broken down and the anthocyanins found in the cell vacuole are then extracted into the wine through a process of diffusion.

There are several different winemaking methods that aim to break down these cell walls and extract large amounts of phenolic pigments.

A common method to induce phenolic extraction involves holding the un-inoculated must at cool temperatures of around 15°C, or at cold temperatures of around 4°C for an extended period of time prior to fermentation. This process is what is known as a cold soak and is meant to improve wine colour after the slow aqueous extraction of the anthocyanins. The juice soaks with the skins for several days, after which the

colour is theoretically darker due to an increase in optical density. There are several aspects that impact the ability of the juice to extract colour during a cold soak including the copigmentation, temperature and ethanol.

The molecular bonds that occur between the anthocyanins, pigments and other non-coloured organic components are the results of a process called copigmentation. As much as 50% of the colour in red wines can be due to copigmentation, thus expressing a great impact on colour. This phenomenon is central to understanding how its behavior as a dynamic equilibrium is vitally important to the extent of colour extraction. Copigmentation puts a limit on colour potential, the extraction of

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59

winemaking pigments, primarily anthocyanins, and the strength of the retention of these pigments for long term colour stability.

Because colour can change over time, the initial extraction of pigments is really only the first part of the long process of colour development. Literature points to the fact that an adsorptiondesorption equilibrium exists between the pigment concentration at the cellular level in the grape skins and the pigments concentration in the wine. Copigmentation will shift the anthocyanins and pigments out of the free anthocyanin pool of the adsorption equilibrium, which results in a greater potential for adsorption of pigments in the wine causing an elevated level of extraction.

Temperature plays one of the most vital roles in the entire winemaking process. The temperature of the alcoholic fermentation is extremely important, as studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between increasing temperatures and greater levels of colour extraction (Gao et al. 1997). Therefore, it stands to reason that various temperatures of the cold soak will affect the wine, especially in conjunction with the temperature of the primary fermentation.

Reynolds et al (2001) found that Syrah increased levels of anthocyanins after a cold soak when it was coupled with lower fermentation temperatures, between 15 and 10 °C (P<0.05) but no increase was shown when the temperature of fermentation was around 30oC. Previous research on the subject of cold soak extraction suggests that the results of such a treatment are inconsistent or do not persist into the finished wine. Much of the literature directly contradicts the notion that the wine will extract more phenolics during a cold soak (Heatherbell et al. 1996 and Koyama et al. 2007).

The effects of ethanol and temperature on anthocyanins and tannins would be more likely to hinder the extraction

NEW!

Table 1. Spectrophotometric data of varying cold soak treatment temperatures.

Sample

A280 nm

A280-4

A420 nm

A520 nm

Hue (A420/A520)

Colour Intensity (A420+A520)

Control

39.73

35.73

1.02

1.67

0.611

2.69

2°C

38.21

34.21

1.08

1.59

0.679

2.67

6°C

43.31

39.31

1.40

2.02

0.693

3.42

10°C

37.98

33.98

1.45

2.09

0.694

3.54

Copigmentation puts a limit on colour potential, the extraction of pigments, primarily anthocyanins, and the strength of the retention of these pigments for long term colour stability. rather than promote it. Somers and Evans (1979) found a loss in anthocyanins and total phenolics in Syrah wines after a heat treatment. They attributed the loss to the effect that ethanol has on the structures of deeply coloured pigment aggregates present in the juice prior to fermentation, which suggests that this same phenomenon may occur after a cold soak as well. As ethanol increases, there is a significant reduction in the equilibrium of the pigment concentration in the wine and the concentration in the grape skins, and as mentioned before, higher temperatures are correlated with pigment extraction as opposed to cold temperatures (Gao et al. 1997). However, this portion of literature tends to look at wine post-bottling. The polymerisation of pigments that commences during this period tends to reduce the differences seen in anthocyanin concentrations of

cold soaked and control wines (Sacchi et al. 2005).

Other than varietal factors, climatic factors and the condition of fruit maturity will also greatly influence the anthocyanin content of the berries. Other factors limiting the intensity of extraction are the concentrations of certain cofactors present in the skins at harvest and their solubility under the conditions that the juice or wine creates. The ultimate limitation to extraction is the amount of coloured pigments present in the berry.

This radically changes from variety to variety, and some varieties, such as Pinot noir, are notorious for low concentrations of anthocyanins that results in poor colour development. Syrah has proven difficult to display a colour difference in scientific experiments. One study analysed Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell and Syrah after a 10-day 10°C cold soak. Both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Monastrell showed positive differences in colour extraction while Syrah showed no effect (BusseValverde et al. 2010). Gil-Muñoz et al.

(2001) also found no significant increase in anthocyanin extraction from Syrah which had undergone pre-fermentative cold soak (P>0.05).

Materials and methods Syrah grapes were harvested from the UC Davis vineyards in September of 2011. The fruit was then crushed and de-stemmed using a Delta E1 (Bucher Vaslin). The processed fruit was then allocated to four 55 gallon research fermenters. These vessels are made of stainless steel, jacketed for temperature control and are designed for variable

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May 2013 – Issue 592

capacity. Each must was then dosed with 50ppm of SO2. Three of the musts were then stored at 2oC, 6oC and 10oC during a period of cold soak for two weeks prior to inoculation. The control was immediately inoculated with Lalvin EC 1118 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae bayanus). The cold soaked tanks were also inoculated in the same fashion. The maximum fermentative temperature was 27oC and the tanks were completely pumped over twice daily.

Upon the completion of fermentation, each tank was then pressed using a specially designed hydraulic press. The wine was then inoculated with Viniflora Oenos (Oenococcus oeni).

Upon completion of MLF, 50ppm SO2 was added to attain a free sulfur dioxide content of about 30ppm and racked from its lees into stainless steel barrels with limited headspace. The wine was then kept in a cool room and topped with N2 gas biweekly.

The finished wines were bottled in the UC Davis winery.

After bottling, the wines were analysed for colour and phenolic concentration using a Hewlett Packard 8453 UV-Vis Spectrometer.

The wines were also analysed in a duo-trio test in which a panel of eight participants was asked to evaluate the colour of a reference wine and then choose the same wine from two other wines.

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Results Spectrophotometric readings were taken on all the finished wines in order to estimate phenolic content and colour and the results of which are summarised in Table 1.

Table 2. Duo-trio sensory analysis of treatments, analyzed for colour.

Temperatures incubated for cold soak indicated as well as the sample used for the reference (R).

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Significant (P <0.05)

Control (R) vs 2°C

33%

No

10°C (R) vs 2°C

87.5%

Yes

Control (R) vs 6°C

75%

No

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10°C (R) vs 6C°C

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Yes

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75%

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Discussion The cold soak at 6°C and 10°C but not 2°C resulted in an increase in anthocyanin extraction as evident by the increase in colour intensity measurement (Table 1). This suggested that the increased extraction was most likely the extraction of anthocyanin monomers such as malvadin 3-glucoside since the monomeric anthocyanins have been implicated in colour intensity (Gao et al. 1997). Since monomeric anthocyanins typically polymerise during aging, leading to increased colour stability (A420) but decreased intensity (A520), the results of the spectrophotometric data also suggest that the polymeric anthocyanins may have increased as evident by the increase in hue since polymeric anthocyanins absorb at 420nm. These results contradicted results in the literature. Gardner et al.

(2010) found that a cold soak treatment of Cabernet Sauvignon musts increased the polymeric anothcyanins, but had no effect on the monomeric anthocyanins as a function of colour intensity. It is possible that the extraction of anthocyanins is dependent upon variety and can be influenced by small differences in the vinification process.

The spectrophotometric data did not match the data obtained from the sensory trial. The only treatments that participants were able to correctly match to the reference with any statistical significance was the 10°C treatment compared to the 6°C as well as the 10°C treatment compared to the 2°C treatment (Table 2).

The expectation is that if there was a true difference between May 2013 – Issue 592

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

61

winemaking the higher temperature cold soak treatments and this difference was interpreted by the panel as either colour intensity or hue, then the most dissimilar wines would be the 10°C cold soak and the control, as there was the greatest difference in both categories (Table 2). There was no significant difference between the colours of these two wines, when analysed by the sensory panel, however. One would also expect that the wine produced by the 6°C cold soak would also be too similar to the wine produced by the 10°C to be differentiated when the spectrophotometric data are used exclusively, but this difference was detected by the sensory analysis. Since the wines were not filtered, it is possible that there was a difference in turbidity from the residual yeast lees carried over during racking, that may have been perceived by the panellists.

Since the cold soak treatment is supposed to increase overall phenolic extraction, the A280nm was measured in an attempt to quantify the total phenolics (Table 1). The A280 nm was measured and four absorbance units subtracted from it to account for the flavonoids naturally present as non-desirable phenolics. The A280 -4 measurement is a gross approximation for estimated total phenolic content by subtracting out what a study by Somers and Ziemelis (1985) found to be the average value for flavonoid concentration in commercial wines. It is likely that these wines had low flavonoid content, which resulted in the low total A280, and not that there is a complete absence of anthocyanins and other phenolics. The utility of this estimation is that it is a good comparison to use between wines produced in a similar manner from the same lot of must. It is surprising however that in this case the 10°C cold soak treatment wine did not have the highest phenolic content as determined by the methods employed in this study, even though the wine had the

highest colour intensity. It is possible that they simply were not extracted but this is anomalous, as temperatures for cold soak and fermentation were high and temperature has been shown to be the most important variable for phenolic extraction (Gao et al. 1997). The value of the A280 was low for a commercial wine as study by Somers and Ziemelis (1985) analysed 400 commercial red wines from Australia and found that the range in A280 -4 values was between 23 and 100 with an average of 50. The wines produced here were substantially lower most likely the result of immature fruit. Wines with values greater than 40 may benefit from aging, suggesting the wines produced here would likely need to be consumed early.

The current study demonstrated some consistencies as well as discrepancies with the previous research but the literature on cold soak itself is quite contradictory. A study by Busse-Valverde et al. (2010) found that a cold soak treatment was ineffective in extracting anthocyanins from Syrah seeds and skins but was effective with Carbernet Sauvignon and Monastrell varieties. Gardner et al. (2010) found that a cold soak treatment for Cabernet Sauvingnon was ineffective in extracting higher amounts of phenolics, but was successful in producing a wine with a higher hue but with no significant change in intensity. The results of our trial coupled with the results from the previous research suggest that a cold soak treatment may be effective in increasing total anthocyanin levels in young wines, but this phenomenon is most likely dependent on a number of variables including temperature and duration of cold soak, grape variety, vinification process and aging regimen.

Authors

Russell Moss, Viticultura Consulting LTD. Cromwell, New Zealand. Email: jamesrussell.moss@lincolnuni.ac.nz Phone: +64 (0)22 300 6381 Kelsey Daniels, Talley Vineyards. California, United States. Email: kdaniels7@msn. com +1 805 264 3355

We offer Premium Insulation Services to wineries Australia wide.

Jeff Shasky, UC Davis Extension. California, United States. Email: jeffsky7@gmail. com +1 530 758 0093

References

Busse-Valverde, N., Gomez-Plaza, E., Lopez-Roca, J., Gil-Munoz, R., FernandezFernandez, J., Bautista-Ortin, A. 2010. Effect of Different Enological Practices of Skins and Proanthocyanidins in Three Varietal Wines. J. Agr Food Chem. 58:1133311339.

Gao, L., Girard, B., Mazza, G., & Reynolds, A. 1997. Changes in Anthocyanins and Colour Characteristics of Pinot Noir Wines during Different Vinification Processes.J. Agr Food Chem. , 45:2003-2008.

Gardner, DM, Zoecklein, B.W., Mallikarjunan, K. 2011 Electronic Nose Analysis of Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) Grape and Wine Volatile Differences during Cold Soak and Postfermentation Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 62:81-90.

Gil-Muñoz, R. Gomez-Plaza, E. Lopez-Roca, J. M., Martinez-Cutillas, A., FernandezFernandez, J. 2001. Phenolic Compounds and Colour Stability of Red Wines: Effect of Skin Maceration Time. The American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 52:3 266-270.

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62 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Heatherbell, D., Dicey, M., Goldsworthy, S., Vanhanen, L. 1996. Effect of Prefermentation Cold Maceration on the Composition, Colour, and Flavor of Pinot noir Wine. In “Proceedings on the 4th International Symposium on Cool Climate Enology and Viticulture” T. Henick-King et al., eds, pp V1:10 -17. New York State Agricultural Experimental Station, Geneva, NY Koyama, K. Goto-Yamamoto, N. Hashizume, K. 2007. Influence of Maceration Temperature in Red Wine Vinification on Extraction of Phenolics from Berry Skins and Seeds of Grape (Vitis vinifera). National Research Institute of Brewing. Biosci.

Biotechnol. Biochem. 71:958-965.

Mansfield, A.K., and B.W. Zoecklein. 2003. Effect of fermentation, postfermentation, and postbottling heat treatment on Cabernet Sauvignon glycoconjugates. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 54:99-104.

Reynolds, A., Cliff, M., Girard, B., and Kopp, T. G., 2001. Influence of Fermentation Temperature on Composition and Sensory Properties of Semillon and Shiraz Wines. Am. J. Enol. Vitic., 52:235-240.

Sacchi, K., Bisson, L. Adams, D. 2005. A Review of the Effect of Winemaking Techniques on Phenolic Extraction in Red Wines.Am. J. Enol. Vitic.,. 56:197-211.

Somers, T. C.; Evans, M. E. 1979. Grape Pigment Phenomena: interpretation of major colour losses during vinification. J. Sci Food Agr. 30:623-633 Somers, T.C and Ziemelis, G. 1985 Spectral Evaluation of total phenolic compounds in Vitis vinifera grapes and wines. J. Sci. Food Agric. 36:1275-1284. www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

Megazyme rolls out wine analysis seminars this month

SEMINAR SCHEDULE Dr. McCleary will be giving free seminars in the following regions:

Enzymatic bio-analysis plays a vital role throughout the winemaking process. Book now for a seminar in your region.

BEFORE THE ALCOHOLIC fermentation begins, the nutritional status of the grape juice is determined. This includes an estimation of available nitrogen and the fermentable sugars D-fructose and D-glucose.

During the alcoholic fermentation, the level of acetic acid is monitored to detect infection by Acetobacter sp. and the level of urea determined to eliminate the risk of forming ethyl carbamate. During malolactic fermentation, the falling level of L-malic acid and rising level of L-lactic acid are monitored. The falling level of citric acid can also be determined.

Numerous analyses can also be performed to determine the quality, stability and authenticity of wine after fermentation is complete, and include enzymatic assays for: acetaldehyde, acetic

acid, L-ascorbic acid, ethanol, ethanol/ glycerol ratio, D-fructose, D-glucose, D-fructose/D-glucose ratio, glycerol, D-gluconic acid, D-gluconic acid/ethanol ratio, D-gluconic acid/glycerol ratio, Land D-lactic acid, L- and D-malic acid, D-sorbitol, succinic acid and urea.

Dr. Barry McCleary, the founder and chief scientist of Megazyme International, will be visiting Australia in May to give a series of free seminars on new developments in enzymatic test kits for the wine industry. Many of the Megazyme test kits for wine analysis are based on traditional enzymatic methods of analysis, but with improved reagent stability and more rapid reaction rates.

Megazyme also provide a range of test kits with new biochemistry for new analytes.

Griffith

Monday 13 May – afternoon

Mildura

Tuesday 14 May – morning

Renmark Wednesday 15 May – morning Barossa

Thursday 16 May – morning

McLaren Vale

Friday 17 May – morning.

To register interest please return the form below or contact Mike Watson at Deltagen Australia on 03 9801 7133 or email michaelw@deltagen.com.au.

Megazyme Wine Analysis Seminars Dr. Barry McCleary, founder and chief scientist of Megazyme in conjunction with Deltagen Australia, will be running FREE seminars to present current methods and new developments in enzymatic wine analysis.

Griffith Mildura Renmark Barossa McLaren Vale

- Monday 13th May, afternoon - Tuesday 14th May, morning - Wednesday 15th May, morning - Thursday 16th May, morning - Friday 17th, morning

The formal presentation will take around 60 minutes after which Barry will be happy to take any questions. Light refreshments provided.

To register interest, please contact: Deltagen Australia VIC - (03) 9801 7133 Email: info@deltagen.com.au

DELTAGEN A Member of the Marigot Group

May 2013 – Issue 592

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Australia

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Fancy a Free Trip To Simei

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Entry is open to new and existing Grapegrower & Winemaker subscribers located in Australia. To subscribe, visit www.winebiz.com.au/gwm or call 08 8369 9522.

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Oxidation a major winemaking concern in 1983 IN MAY 1983, Dr. Bryce Rankine’s column in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker was about oxidation.

His Q&A column went like this: Question: I am a small winemaker and am having trouble with oxidation in my table wines. I would be grateful for some advice please.

Answer: Oxidation is one of the major problems in Australian winemaking and we encounter it all too frequently in wine shows. Once a wine is oxidised its quality is permanently impaired. It cannot be redeemed, because some of the chemical reactions involved are irreversible. So prevention is more important than cure, and the key points are as follows:

antioxidant, but loses its effectiveness completely during fermentation.

Pre-fermentation treatment In spite of statements to the contrary, it is best to avoid aeration of must and juice wherever possible. If the juice is cool (less than 20°C), moderately acid, such as pH3.0-3.5 for whites, with some free SO², then it is fairly resistant to oxidation. Hot low-acid juice without SO² oxidises rapidly.

It's fast

Alcolyzer® M Series

Post-fermentation treatment

It is here that oxygen is most damaging, and the greatest care is needed.

Dr. Rankine also discussed the roles of acidity of the grape, free SO², temperature and bottling in potential oxidation of wine, before reaching this conclusion: Conditions of the grapes I have gone to some length in If the grapes are mouldy and hot the answering this question because of its oxidase enzymes produced by the mould importance. It can be seen that oxidation can damage the fruit before it is crushed. of wine can occur at various stages Therefore, try to obtain sound and during making, maturation and bottling. healthy grapes as soon as possible after The most important stages are after harvest. fermentation, and you need to check each stage and monitor SO², pH, temperature, SO² antioxidant level and inert gas usage.

For grapes in good condition, cool and If you do this as set out with sound moderately acid, only a little SO² is grapes you should not have problems required, such as 50ppm. More is needed with oxidation. if the fruit is damaged and hot. The In the same edition of the magazine, SO² acts both as a germicide and an the addition of sugar to wine was being strongly debated, with wine consultant Trevor Mast saying that laws forbidding 210x297.indd 1 the addition of sugar to grape juice would have to be relaxed if new vineyards in western Victoria were to realise their full potential.

“The practice of chaptalisation (as the addition of sugar is known) is widely used in the cooler regions of Germany and France so that alcohol levels in wine can be raised to acceptable standards,” Mast said at the First Victorian Wine Workshop, held in Great Western in April, 1983.

Part of Wine Australia’s ongoing education program in Victoria, the workshop was also attended by Viv Thomson from Bests Great Western, Max Lake from Lakes Folly and Peter Fergusson of Fergussons Winery in the Yarra Valley, among others.

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Grapegrower & Winemaker May 1983.

May 2013 – Issue 592

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18/02/2013 21:42

essential oenology

Vintage 2013 – what a sizzling summer!

Greg Howell

REPORTS FROM OUR winemaking customers indicate that, surprisingly, there were not too many problems caused by the summer heatwave or other extreme weather events.

The heat did lead to some areas picking earlier than usual, such as the Hunter Valley where white grapes were picked in time to beat the heavy rain that followed ex-tropical cyclone Oswald. The reds were not generally so lucky.

From the Granite Belt we were told: “The weather in the lead-up to vintage was excellent, with the whites and the early reds coming in in great condition and with good flavours. Then the weather started to play havoc, lots of rain and cold spells that slowed/stopped ripening and made disease management challenging. Producers on the northern side of town had an even more challenging vintage with some receiving almost three times the amount of rain that the town of Ballandean received”.

Of the problems we encountered in our labs this vintage, one of the major ones was stuck ferments. It appears that the heat

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wave contributed to this problem. Excess heat can cause fruit to over-ripen quickly and can also make it difficult to stop tanks and therefore ferments from becoming too hot. We have had some reports of the heat causing some ferments to get too hot and the high temperatures causing some slowing and sticking of ferments.

Some of the problem samples that we tested by enzymatic analysis for glucose and fructose generally showed at least 10 times the level of fructose to glucose. This is a sure sign that the yeast has metabolised glucose preferentially and that the ferment has slowed down and fructose remains predominant.

For a slow or stuck ferment it is difficult for most yeast to ferment strongly with this sugar composition.

Example: stuck wine One Mornington Peninsula winemaker experienced a stuck ferment and attributed this to high temperatures as he wasn’t able to effectively control the ferment temperature during the hot weather. Upon analysis of his wine, the high alcohol was also likely to be a factor as the pinots were very ripe this year.

Using a wild yeast for fermentation may also have contributed to this state.

It was interesting to note that the initial Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen (YAN) level was good, at 300mg/L. Analysis of the stuck wine showed the following: Alcohol: 14.4%v/v Glucose: 1.4g/L Fructose: 14g/L Acetic acid: 0.60g/L So although the alcohol was already over 14% there is still enough sugar to push this past 15% once fermentation is completed. This is certainly higher than is typical for this variety and this region.

We have noticed that there has been an increase in the products we sell for remediating a slow or stuck ferment this vintage. Sales of both DSM Extraferm and Fermichamp yeast have been increasing from our three sites – the Mornington Peninsula, Margaret River and the Granite Belt.

Extraferm is composed entirely of yeast cell walls (yeast hulls or ghosts). Even using this just on its own it is proving to be an effective remedy in some cases. The use of just yeast hulls can remove toxins in the must that allow the existing viable yeast to get on with the job of fermenting the remaining sugars.

The popular fructophilic rescue yeast Fermichamp is also being used in a number of regions this vintage, suggesting that stuck ferments are an issue this year.

Greg Howell is managing director of Vintessential Laboratories which operates consulting wine laboratories in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. He can be contacted by email on greg@vintessential.com.au. Vintessential Laboratories’ website www.vintessential.com.au has a number of articles on related topics.

T H E R E I S A N A R T T O G O O D W I N E. A N D A S C I E N C E. VIN_J000472

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May 2013 – Issue 592

Efficient tank cleaner removes stubborn residues from barrels and large tanks THE SPRAYING SYSTEMS Co. new TankJet 360 fluid driven tank cleaner, released in March 2011, has been found to outperform similar equipment by providing more consistent impact over the entire pressure range.

The TankJet 360 is equipped with a dual or triple-nozzle hub and highimpact solid stream nozzles that rotate 360° in horizontal and vertical planes.

The rotation creates a crisscrossing pattern to thoroughly clean tanks up to 100’ (30m) in diameter and remove the toughest and stickiest of residues. In addition, high-impact cleaning results in shorter cycle times so tanks are returned to service more quickly.

The units are customisable to the user’s operation and suitable for use in high-concentration chemical recirculation cleaning or low pressure, high-volume cleaning. All units are built to order. TankJet 360 is available with

May 2013 – Issue 592

three gearbox designs: food grade, oil lubricated or flow through.

With a compact, lightweight design, TankJet 360 tank cleaners can be installed permanently or moved from tank to tank.

The units fit in tank openings as small as 6.25” (158.7mm) and operate at flows up to 1135.6L/min.

TankJet 360 is ideal for cleaning tanks, tanker trucks and wine vats.

TankJet 55 tank cleaner Wineries can improve barrel cleaning or drum cleaning operations with the new TankJet 55 tank cleaner, which offers powerful and fast cleaning of barrels and drums up to 1.5m in diameter.

The TankJet 55 is a powerful cleaner using low flow rates, its narrow angled full cone spray rotates in multiple axes giving complete coverage adding to its overall efficiency. The fast cycle time means that a full cycle is completed

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within 16 rotations of the nozzle; saving time and energy as it is capable of cleaning multiple barrels in minutes.

Its compact size makes it ideal for a comfortable fit into openings as small as 44.5mm diameter, making it easy to insert into wine barrel bung holes. It is made from durable 316 stainless steel and perfect for wineries and chemical, food and beverage processing.

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More information is available at http:// tankjet.com or by contacting Spraying Systems directly on 1800 622 508.

Grapegrower & Winemaker

67

Winery Engineers Conference

WineEng 2013: ‘Tastes of the Future’ David Clark

THIS YEAR’S WINERY Engineering Association (WEA) Conference and Exhibition, WineEng 2013, will be held at Serafino Winery, located in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia, from 5-6 June. The conference is a significant and unique event on the wine calendar which concentrates on many aspects of wine production.

It is aimed at production operations personnel, including engineering and maintenance staff, winemakers, bottling and packaging management, and general management and winery suppliers whose goal is to ensure the Australian wine industry remains competitive both in the domestic and global markets.

The WEA Conference is important to the wine industry in the way that it keeps key operational staff up to date with the latest global technological advancements.

Registration for the conference and associated exhibition starts at 10am on Wednesday 5 June. The conference will

then commence at 11am and, following a welcome from WEA president Andrew Byles, a keynote address will be given by Steve Maglieri, CEO of Serafino Wines.

The presentation of technical papers will then follow.

This year’s Conference theme is titled ‘Tastes of the Future’, and will focus on production implications associated with processing alternative grape varieties and low alcohol wine. The conference will also cover new innovations and improvements in winery production techniques that have been developed in recent times and are either currently available or are about to be released.

Some of the key areas that will be addressed include: • alcohol and flavour • low alcohol wine production • small batch processing including fermentation and maturation options • protein instability in white wine production

• water treatment including winery wastewater • developments in reclaiming barrel oak including effective treatment • government funding for Clean Technology Investment programs • developments in gas application technology • development of new crushing technology.

Key speakers will address these issues over two days of presentations which will provide opportunities to share and improve knowledge for the entire winery team. The variety of presentations will also provide many choices for the conference delegate’s interests.

In addition to the conference and exhibition, there will also be two tasting sessions that will feature examples of new varietal and low alcohol wines produced by both Serafino Wines and Treasury Wine Estates. The tastings will give an interesting insight into products

WINERY ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Tastes for the Future For further information visit www.wea.org.au or contact Trevor Leighton 0417 597 956 tleighto@bigpond.net.au

SERAFINO WINERY, McLAREN VALE | JUNE 5th & 6th 2013 68 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2013 – Issue 592

associated with emerging and current marketing trends.

A further benefit for delegates planning to attend this year’s event will be the opportunity to participate in a full-day workshop covering effluent treatment facilities on Tuesday 4 June.

Being the day prior to the conference, this workshop will involve visits to a number of winery wastewater treatment facilities in the McLaren Vale area as well as a visit to the Willunga water recycling plant, which supplies water to a number of wineries in the McLaren Vale region.

John Constable and Mike Carson from JJC Engineering will be in attendance for the duration of this workshop to provide technical support and advice.

This year’s conference is a great educational and networking opportunity, however participant places are limited so those interested in participating should register as soon as possible by contacting Geoff Leighton on either geof f.leig hton@hot key.net.au or 0412 971837.

The 2012 conference held in the Barossa Valley was extremely well attended. Feedback from the conference

“The WEA Conference is important to the wine industry in the way that it keeps key operational staff up to date with the latest global technological advancements,” David Clark WEA program coordinator.

delegates and visitors to the associated exhibition was also very positive, with many of them commenting that they considered the event to be very beneficial to their business in the way that it allowed them to keep abreast of leading edge technological advancements and practices. The standard of this year’s event is expected to be even greater than

those previously held and of significant benefit to all of those in attendance.

An integral part of this annual event is the great display of products and services available from Australian and international providers. With the conference and associated exhibition being one of the few that is run on an annual basis, the event also provides an excellent opportunity for annual face-toface networking amongst key operational staff from small boutique operations to those representing large multinational wine companies. The number and quality of trade exhibitors gathered in one place at the same time also provides a similar opportunity to have face-to-face discussions with people who are experts in their field and willing to help.

The finale to the event will be the conference dinner to be held during the evening of the final day of the conference.

The WEA conference dinner is always well accepted and enjoyed by all in attendance. The dinner also gives the opportunity for important networking in a relatively informal environment and, as always, there will be a fundraising section to support the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

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Yarra Valley Chardonnay, Vintage 2012

Revolutionary on-board, high frequency linear destemmer and sorting table Removes more than 95% of petioles, MOG and green waste For more information contact: Pellenc Australia Pty Ltd P| 08 8244 7700 F| 08 8244 7788 E| admin@pellenc.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

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Grapegrower & Winemaker

69

Winery Engineers Conference

Winery Engineering Association 2013 National Conference Presentation List Presenters

Company / Organisation Represented

Presentation Title / Topic

Mr Steve Maglieri - CEO

Serafino Wines

Prof Vladimir Jiranek - Professor in Oenology

Adelaide Uni

Alcohol & Flavour - Frome Vineyard to Winery

Dr Bob Dambergs - Senior Research Scientist

AWRI - Tasmania

Small Batch Processing

Dr Cristian Varella - Senior Research Scientist

AWRI

Research into Low Alcohol Wine Production

Dr Matteo Marangon - Senior Research Scientist

AWRI

Managing the Risk of Protein Haze in White Wines

Ms Mary Nizamis - Deputy State Manager - SA

AusIndustry

Clean Technology Investment Program - What it means for You

Ms Josephine Horn - Business Development Manager

Australian & NZ Winemakers

The Re-birth of Cool - Development in Old School Fermentation Techniques

Mr Peter Warren - CEO & Dr Kerry Wilkinson - Senior Lecturer of Oenology

Ausvat & Adelaide Uni

Studies into Reclaiming Barrel Oak & Developments in Alternative Wine Barrel Maturation

Mr Leon Skaliotis - Sales & Marketing Director

Flavourtech

Lowering Alcohol Level in Wine through Spinning Cone Technologies

Mr Don Allen - Consultant; Wine Gas & Applications Gas & Systems Specialist

Gas with Panache

“The Winning Edge: back to the Future” - Re examining the Application of Gas technology in Winemaking

Mr Mike Carson - Operations Manager & Mr Craig Galletly

JJC Group & Treasury Wine Estates

Design & Operation of Biological Wastewater Treatment process

Mr David Wollan - Director

Memstar

Technical Options for Lowering the Alcohol Content of Wine

Ms Louise Fraser - Managing Director

Pellenc Australia

Development of New Crushing Technology

TBA

Rockwell Automation

OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency)

Dr Louis Wiart - Industry Manager Ozone & UV

Xylem Water Solutions

UV & Ozone for Water Treatment

Keynote Presentation Keynote Presentation - Tastes of the Future Technical Program

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Winery Engineers Conference

WineEng 2013 WEA National Conference & Exhibition 2013 Organisation Booth(s)

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72 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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Organisation Booth(s)

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Mr Paul Walter Branch Manager - SA 106 110 Bedford St GILLMAN SA 5013 Phone: 08 8249 3100 Fax: 08 8249 3199 Mobile: 0407 553 912 paul.walter@energypower.com.au Energy Power Systems Australia is Australia’s specialised Caterpillar engine dealer for any application, from marine to industrial engines, power generation and compressors. EPSA is also a solutions provider, offering design, engineering, procurement and construction for large turn-key projects. EPSA’s network of offices across Australia and PNG delivers you technically superior Caterpillar engines with unmatched engineering support, technical advice and after-sales support.

Caterpillar is your guarantee of ongoing dependability, reliability and efficiency.

Supplying Australia with the world’s best power systems.

Mono Pumps Australia

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Mr Leon Skaliotis Sales and Marketing Director Phone: 02 696 4322 Fax: 02 6964 4344 lskaliotis@flavourtech.com

6 GEA Westfalia Separator Aus P/L 17 Ms Grace Del Grande PA to Managing Director 47 Northgate Drive THOMASTOWN VIC 3074 Phone: 03 8877 9921 Fax: 03 9464 5455 grace.grande@geagroup.com www.winebiz.com.au

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Mr Jonathan Watson State Manager Unit 1, 280 Grand Junction Rd ATHOL PARK SA 5012 Phone: 08 8447 8333 Fax: 08 8447 8373 Mobile: 0417 327 966 jonathan.watson@nov.com

NHP Electrical Engineering Flavourtech (A&G Engineering)

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Mr Mark Johnson National Sales Manager PO Box 452, BERRI SA 5343 Phone: 08 8582 9500 Fax: 08 8582 3132 Mobile: 0408 822 434 mark@jmaeng.com.au JMA Engineering is a manufacturing company based in Berri, South Australia, who for 28 years has specialised in the manufacture and supply of Velo wine and brewery equipment, stainless steel wine and liquid storage vessels, stainless steel fabrication, structural steel and pre-cast construction, transport and crane hire. JMA Engineering has the resources to assist you with your project from design through to completion.

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Ms Nicky Hamilton Events and Promotions Coordinator Phone: 3 9420 4728 Fax: 3 9429 8587 Mobile: 0417 128 133 NHamilton@nhp.com.au

Oomiak 1 Ms Cate McGuire Chief Executive PO Box 156 NORTH ADELAIDE SA 5006 Phone: 08 8345 9900 Fax: 08 8346 0700 Mobile: 0431 080 007 cate.mcguire@oomiak.com.au May 2013 – Issue 592

The Oomiak team has extensive experience in concept development and installation of both straight forward and complex refrigeration plant for all types of food, beverage and industrial process applications. Our experience in the area of service and maintenance of all types of refrigeration systems is a major aspect of our company. Our Customer Support team offers a wide range of skills and a network of suppliers to ensure our clients have full support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Pall Australia Mr Tim Fox Territory Manager 1-2 Wandarri Crt CHELTENHAM VIC 3192 Phone: 08 8383 6561 Fax: 08 8366 6561 Mobile: 0488 488 146 tim_f_fox@ap.pall.com

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Organisation Booth(s)

Organisation Booth(s)

Programmed Property Services 20,21 Pellenc Australia

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Ms Louise Fraser Managing Director 14 Opala St REGENCY PARK SA 5010 Phone: 08 8244 7700 Fax: 08 8244 7788 Mobile: 0418 834 741 lfraser@pellenc.com.au Pellenc Australia will be exhibiting at the Winery Engineers Conference in June. We will be exhibiting our new Extractiv’ dynamic crusher which has recently been released and presenting a technical seminar on the unit. The crusher complements the Selectiv’ Process range which is available on the harvester and in the winery. This range has raised the bar in terms of fruit quality and is fast becoming the sought-after technology for harvest.

Ms Jo Stagg State Manager SA 604 Port Rd ALLENBY GARDENS SA 5009 Phone: 08 8346 9944 Fax: 08 8346 7455 Mobile: 0417 054 135 jo.stagg@programmed.com.au

Rockwell Automation

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Mr Ian Walsh State Sales Manager, SA & NT Wellington Centre 2 Portrush Rd PAYNEHAM SA 5070 Phone: 61 (0)8 8165 4003 Fax: 61 (0)8 8365 0322 Mobile: 61 (0)427 472 851 iwalsh@ra.rockwell.com

Storage - Fermentation Stainless and Mild Steel Fabrication Australian distributor for

processing equipment Jury Road, Berri SA. Ph 08 8582 9500 Ivan 0429 697 219 Mark 0408 822 434 jma@jmaeng.com.au www.jmaeng.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

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Winery Engineers Conference Organisation Booth(s) Superior Lubricants

Organisation Booth(s)

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Mr Aaron Crichton Phone: 02 9636 9399 Fax: 02 9636 9388 sales@superiorlube.com.au

The Beverage Food Group

Organisation Booth(s)

Travhotec Pty Ltd

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Mr Roberto Cea 24-26 National Boulevard CAMPBELLFIELD VIC 3061 Phone: 61 3 9924 4000 Fax: 61 3 9924 4001 robc@thebeveragefoodgroup.com

Mr Chris Travers Director 25 William St PO Box 2162 PORT ADELAIDE SA 5015 Phone: 08 8240 3029 Fax: 08 82403046 Mobile: 0407 976 033 trav@travhotec.com.au

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W.E. Ware & Co

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Ms Marjorie Ware Proprietor 19 Papagni Ave NEWTON SA 5074 Phone: 08 8365 3200 Fax: 08 8365 3247 Mobile: 0414 375 611 marjorie@weware.com.au

Xylem 4,5 Mr Keith Bowen Regional Manager Uit 3, 1 Federation Way MENTONE VIC 3194 Phone: 03 9540 5888 Fax: 09 9551 0320 Mobile: 0409 195 702 keith.bowen@xyleminc.com Aquatherm Australia

Winebiz Calendar Australia’s most comprehensive list of wine industry related local and international events and courses – available online FREE! Search for conferences, trade shows, competitions, courses, festivals & Australian & international wine shows. www.winebiz.com.au/calendar

we make it our business to understand yours

a good drop needs ideal conditions Oomiak serves up a fine blend of refrigeration engineering know-how and clever design with comprehensive services that cover: capital projects design and installation customer support plant & equipment maintenance 24/7 critical supplies spare parts and consumables equipment leasing short, medium and long-term consulting services design, energy, safety and efficiency second-hand equipment selection and installation 74 Grapegrower & Winemaker

13OO 731 699 customerservice@oomiak.com.au www.oomiak.com.au

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

sales & marketing Match message to both audience and medium This is Part 2 of a column that attempts to explain ways and tools for successful and cost-effective wine communication. The first column looked at why listening to your audience is the first step in smart communication. Part 2 continues on this theme and suggests ways to get the message right.

Jen Barwick

IN 2009, THE average Facebook user received about 23 monthly updates from pages and people they followed.

Four years later, they now receive 1440 updates per month.

This rather timely statistic landed on Wine Communicators of Australia’s Facebook page recently and reinforced how difficult it can be for brands to cut through the content clutter out there in the consumer world.

It also highlights the critical importance of making sure you get the message right from the start.

Most important considerations The three most important words to consider when doing any form of communication a re relevance, consistency and engagement.

Relevance harks back to making sure you’re listening to your audiences. A big part of this is matching your message not just to the audience but also the medium.

A little homework, at the start, into the way the medium (the tools) are valued and used will help ensure what you’re trying to say and how you want to say it is relevant to the audience. Research how the audience you want to attract uses and regards the medium you plan to use. Ask friends of similar age and colleagues; look at how other brands are doing it – it doesn’t have to be scientific.

Consistency is about knowing yourself, your story and brand and staying true to

its meaning. It can take time to develop successful two-way communication with your audience but ensuring all forms of your communication are consistent in their tone, style and content will help.

Finally, is what you’re trying to communicate interesting enough to encourage people to engage with you?

Will what you have to say compel people to want to find out more or seek you out again?

Few wine businesses can afford to take the scatter-gun approach to communicating, so understanding how to select the right activities for your brand and get a cumulative affect is paramount.

Stay focused You don’t have to do it all – the best option is to focus on one or two forms of communication, but do them well.

There is absolutely no value (or costeffectiveness) in attempting to do many things and doing them poorly.

Match the tools you use with the resources you have, the audience you want to connect with and make sure the message and story are worthwhile.

Wine Communicators of Australia is the national organisation for professionals who talk about – and talk up – wine for a living. Go to winecommunicators. com.au to find out more about events, programs and becoming a member.

Communication tools A good website

• clean, interesting content, refreshed regularly, easy to navigate, wine club signup on every page, social media links • consider adding video – film a new release tasting, interview key staff, show people your ‘home’.

Wine clubs

• make it worthwhile – communicate regularly and well – not just about discounts • research a method for acquiring customers.

Social media

• It’s not for everyone but it works to build engagement • commit resources as it’s a long-term dialogue • consider the options: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etc

Events/sponsorships

• confirm in writing all benefits/leverage up front i.e. mailing lists, direct sales opportunities, branding • logo on menus and PowerPoint are not enough • what’s the audience? Look beyond traditional – seek out your own events and sponsorship.

Media articles/reviews

• make sure it’s a story worth telling and that it suits the audience • consider its purpose • make sure all material is well written, engaging and professional • don’t pester the journalist or editor.

Advertising/print material

• think about where will it go/how it will be used • integrate it with other tools i.e. social media/website • make sure of quality images, smart content, professional design.

Convert your surplus stock into cash • We can quickly move large quantities of packaged wine to the domestic market.

• We can sell your excess stock quietly without damaging your brand.

• We are not a broker - we will purchase the wine directly from you.

For all enquiries please contact Philip Heyman P 1300 667 602 F 03 9415 9057 M 0418 555 655 E philip@destinywines.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

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label design

&

Label blends ancestry with upbringing to create evocative design

Just Add Wine is a specialist wine branding agency in Sydney run by creative director Zoe Green and design strategy director Max Harkness, with creative consultant Barbara Harkness in Adelaide. Just Add Wine specialises in strategic wine label design, naming and digital wine branding. Questions are answered by Zoe in relation to the brand, Andevine, by Hunter Valley winemaker Andrew Leembruggen.

What inspired you to work in design, and what aspect of label design do you enjoy the most or derive the most satisfaction from?

As a very visual person, growing up in London was the perfect match to my creativity and definitely my biggest inspiration. There are examples of great design everywhere you look, from the Union Jack to the London Underground map.

It is the storytelling that I derive the most satisfaction from in label design.

To be able to truly capture the story of a brand requires vision and emotion, building relevance and meaning into every part of the label. To do this requires the skill and experience to craft these elements with extra care and attention to detail, so they sing in harmony together for genuine ‘pick me up’ presence.

What was the inspiration or key branding message behind this particular wine label?

Andevine is a boutique wine brand created for Hunter Valley winemaker

Define Wine Marketing & Communications

public relations web social media packaging direct marketing T +61 2 6365 8141 M +61 414 736 342 E team@definewine.com.au

76 Grapegrower & Winemaker

Andrew Leembruggen. As a signature wine it was important for the design to reflect Andrew’s two biggest influences: his Dutch ancestry and his Australian upbringing. We illustrated this story with the national flowers of Holland, Australia and New South Wales, intertwining with the letter ‘A’ to create a memorable icon in the style of the Dutch masters. The brand is given further meaning with the name Andevine, a fusion of the winemaker’s first name and the very beginnings of the story, the grapevine.

What are the technical specs used in the production of the label, i.e., printing technique, processes and colours?

The label is printed digitally on a HP Indigo, on Fedrigoni Manter Tintoretto stock, finished with a silver foil logo.

Digital printing has come a long way and the HP Indigo digital press offers an excellent print finish. Digital is not right for every project but for Andevine it was ideal, given its CMYK imagery.

The Manter paper stocks are some of our favourite papers on the market. Made in Italy, they offer lovely finishes and a broad range to be creative with. Much like a well-made Italian suit, you notice the difference.

What are the most important labelling concepts to impact on wine sales and marketing success?

I don’t think you can pinpoint a particular aspect that makes a brand design successful. You need the whole package: a combination of a vision, a good brand story, immaculate typography, print finishing, the right bottle for the wine and of course a good product. Everything needs to work together.

Have you seen many changes in label designs over the past decade and what labelling trends do you see emerging into the future?

Over the past decade we have left behind the Australiana tourist label and are now showing a more sophisticated www.winebiz.com.au

image to the rest of the world. The new wine consumer has matured and they are looking for a wine with image and values that reflect their own. It’s not enough to create a generic looking wine label, as people spend their money more carefully to get a quality product. Good branding is the strongest way you can communicate that the product inside is worth buying, especially to a less knowing wine consumer.

To what extent do countries respond differently to labels and/or wine marketing images?

Some of our briefs at the moment read like this: ‘It has to work in Australia, China, Japan, the UK, the US and South America’ – a sign that the world is becoming more and more globalised.

With generations X and Y maturing, the wine market around the world is far more open to purchasing brands that are an extension of themselves and fit their own personal brand ‘me’. If it creates an emotional connection with the consumer then your brand has reached its objective.

How can label designers overcome the challenge of helping a wine bottle stand out as the market becomes increasingly congested?

The most important thing for a brand is to be true to itself in everything it does: its image, the product, the packaging, its tone, copywriting, the online experience and the marketing material.

May 2013 – Issue 592

Story of Australian wine told through Hunter Bottling Company history Bottling company recalls ups and downs in a dynamic wine industry.

Kellie Arbuckle

IT WAS THE year 1990 when Colin Peterson, proprietor at Petersons Bottling & Wines in the Hunter Valley, decided to start labelling his own bottling and labelling line.

Unsatisfied with the quality he was getting offsite, Peterson wanted more control over his packaged product and saw to establishing Hunter Bottling Company at his other winery, Calais Estate, located in the heart of Pokolbin.

The first machine was an Italian bottling line, capable of filling 2500 bottles an hour. Within the next 12 months, the company had its own labelling machine and was ready for a seamless operation.

May 2013 – Issue 592

By 1992, Hunter Bottling Company had started taking requests from neighbouring wineries that were keen to get their product bottled close to Sydney where they were selling.

In some ways, it was the calm before the storm: large increases in the area planted to grapevines in the ‘90s and improving yields saw a dramatic increase in Australian wine production.

Before long, Hunter Bottling Company was struggling to keep up with demand. In an effort to pick up the pace, the company moved its facilities to McGuigan’s premises, which provided the space it needed to bring in more equipment.

“By this time, we had much bigger demand and a much higher throughput

www.winebiz.com.au

– we were running all the time. We were probably running about half a million cases per year,” Peterson said.

The company expanded again in 1997, moving its operations and building its own warehouse facility at Hermitage Road. The existing filling machine was replaced with a new one, capable of running 6000 bottles an hour and, by 1999, Hunter Bottling Company had tripled its throughput from 200,000 cases to over one million cases a year.

Between 1990 and 2004, Australia had trebled the area under vines, putting the country at the forefront of the increased New World wine production.

Then, in 2000, Fosters – which at the time owned Vinpac wine packaging group – offered Peterson an offer for

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sales & marketing Hunter Bottling Company he couldn’t refuse.

“At the time business was buoyant. It was the good days. Business was viable and we had some major customers that Fosters were looking to make its own,” Peterson recalls.

“Fosters offered us an offer ... we couldn’t complain.”

Then, in 2005, Fosters offered Hunter Bottling Company back to Peterson.

“When we bought it back, it was a lot cheaper. Another bottling company had set up in the Hunter which had taken about 50% of our clientele. We went from having 90% of wineries in 2000 to having just 50%. And it’s the same today,” he said.

Today the company runs about 650,000 cases of wine a year, mostly from smaller wineries in the Hunter as well as wineries in NSW and south east Australia.

Russell Smith, general manager and co-owner of Hunter Bottling Company, says wineries are increasingly bottling close to market.

“We bottle for wineries all around Australia, depending on where their market will end up. A lot of the time their market is Sydney, so they’ll bulk ship to us and we’ll bottle and dispatch for them,” he said.

The Hunter Bottling Company site at Pokolbin, NSW, produces 650,000 cases a year.

“It’s about saving transportation costs.

It’s always cheaper to ship in bulk. Most of the time you ship in glass you’re shipping a lot of air, so a pallet of wine will cost you at least twice as much as the same volume in bulk.”

For the time being, Peterson says there are two challenges the business faces: challenging seasons, where the amount of wine produced affects the amount of throughput at Hunter Bottling Company; and the trend for wineries to bottle offshore for their export market.

“A lot of wine is being bottled overseas.

Fortunately most of our customers are smaller so it doesn’t affect us dramatically

due to their strong domestic base, but it may affect us in the future,” he said.

“The main challenge is the difficult seasons. For the past two years there have been no reds due to wet weather, which means we’ve lost about 30% of our throughput.

“I believe things are slowly turning around. We would have lost volume due to people only bottling on demand, which means that things are tight, but I believe it’s starting to stabilise,” Peterson said.

“We are fortunate to have a great team of people, all with a passion in the wine industry, which I believe reflects in the quality and service to our customers.”

Offering versatile service for the following • Wine bottling and packaging • Laboratory analysis • Wine storage and warehousing • Freight management • Packaging support • Labelling and reworking solutions • Bulk wine storage All delivered in a friendly and professional environment in the Clare Valley town of Auburn on the Main North Rd. Enquiries to Kent Johnstone PO Box 390, Clare SA 5453 Ph 08 8849 2340 Fax 08 8849 2360 enquire@bottlingdynamics.com.au www.bottlingdynamics.com.au

78 Grapegrower & Winemaker

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

business & technology World of wine and spirits looks to 2016 Introduction For the 11th year running, VINEXPO, the international wine and spirits exhibition, has commissioned a detailed study from the consultancy The IWSR (The International Wine and Spirit Research), containing in-depth analysis of world wine and spirits consumption, production and trade trends, as well as a five-year forecast, i.e. up to 2016 in this new study.

The study covers 28 producer countries and 114 wine and spirits markets.

Launched in 1971, the IWSR database constitutes the widest, most accurate and most detailed body of information on the world market of alcoholic beverages.

In 11 years, the VINEXPO study has become a standard reference for wine and spirits professionals. Every year, when actual consumption figures are compared to the forecasts, the very low margin of error demonstrates over and over again the reliability of this unique report initiated by VINEXPO.

World wine consumption on the increase Worldwide consumption of still, light wines (i.e. with less than 15% alcohol content) and sparkling wines increased by 2.8% between 2007 and 2011, reaching 2.679 billion 9-litre cases by the end of the period, the equivalent of 32 billion bottles.

VINEXPO’s market survey, the only one of its kind to anticipate changes in consumption, production and trade on a world scale over the next five years, forecasts that between 2012 and 2016, growth in worldwide consumption will become faster. It will return to the rates observed between 2000 and 2005 and reach 5.3% over the 5-year period.

By 2016, world consumption will attain 2.873 billion 9-litre cases or 34.481 billion bottles.

Faster growth in sparkling wines than still, light wines In 2011, sparkling wines accounted for 7.7% of all wines drunk in the world.

Between 2007 and 2011, the

consumption of sparkling wines grew by 4.17%, compared to the 2.72% growth in still, light wines over the same period.

Sparkling wine consumption is expected to grow by a further 8.52% between 2012 and 2016.

This increase is primarily due to expected rises in consumption in the top four sparkling wine markets worldwide: Germany, France, Russia and the US

hina, the US, Russia and C Australia drive growth in world consumption In 2011, these four markets drank 129 million more 9-litre cases than in 2007, an increase of 1.55 billion bottles.

In 2010, China became the fifth largest wine consumer in the world. In 2011, the US became the leading wine consuming nation and Australia joined the top 10 wine drinking countries, relegating Romania.

Europeans drink less, differently For the first time in 15 years, German and British wine consumption decreased

Some spills are worth crying over At MGA we understand that your winery requires specialist covers and that no two businesses are the same.

It’s that ‘hands on’ approach that sets us apart from the crowd.

We specialise in: • Contamination, spoilage & leakage • Property covers • Museum & maturing stock cover • Exports & product recall • Professional Indemnity cover • Public & Products liability • Vineyard & farm insurance covers • Management liability Contact MGA for a quote. It costs nothing to compare.

www.mga.com Ph: 1300 642 000 Branches throughout South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia

May 2013 – Issue 592

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business & technology between 2007 and 2011 by 2.73% and 4.07% respectively.

The French and the Italians also reduced their consumption: down 7.13% in the first case and 2.51% in the second.

In Spain, meanwhile, consumption collapsed, down 19.67% in the five years between 2007 and 2011.

The world wine trade continues to develop

The world still prefers red

France still leads the world with the value of its wine exports

Red wine accounted for 54.7% of all still, light wines drunk in 2011.

Between 2011 and 2016, world red wine consumption is expected to grow by 9.1%, driven especially by the Chinese, while white wine consumption should only increase by 2.75% over the same period.

The consumption of rosé wines on the other hand is expected to increase by 7.58% between 2011 and 2016, reaching a total share of 9.2% of all wines drunk.

World sales soar for wines priced higher than US$10 per bottle These wines accounted for 213.56 million 9-litre cases in 2011, i.e. 8.6% of all still, light wines consumed in the world, their consumption having grown by 12.59% since 2007, mainly in China, the US and Canada.

Their growth should continue between 2011 and 2016 by a massive 29.93%, while at the same time the consumption of wines priced from US$5 to US$10 per bottle is expected to increase by 9.99%.

Wines that sell for less than US$5 per bottle, which represented 69.92% of wines drunk in 2011 are expected to increase by 2.77% over the same five-year period.

A little more than one bottle out of four drunk somewhere in the world, 27% to be precise, is imported.

This segment continues to grow faster than the whole market, up 7.92% between 2007 and 2011, compared to 2.83%.

Having sold US$9.902 billion worth of its wine overseas in 2011, 5.24% more than in 2007, France consolidated its world position as the leading exporter of wine in value terms.

Italy and Spain came second and third, but the value of their sales grew less than the volumes they exported: revenue was up 24.31% compared to an increase in volumes of 47.62%, a clear sign that the average prices of their exported wines fell significantly.

The same could be said for Australian wines: up 13.3% in volume but down 20.94% in value between 2007 and 2011, while conversely, Chilean wines are pursuing a clear strategy to move up market in the worldwide arena: up 8.13% in volume and up 33.09% in value over the same five-year period.

Vinexpo will take place from June 16-20, 2013 at the Bordeaux Exhibition Centre in France.

For further details, see www.vinexpo. com.

EIT toasts top achievers TWO OF THE New Zealand wine industry’s brightest young stars gained winemaking degrees at the Eastern Institute of Technology, at Hawke’s Bay. The 2012 winner of the prestigious Markhams Young Viticulturist of the Year award, Braden Crosby was recently capped with his Bachelor of Wine Science. Making wine and running the vineyard for Borthwick Estate in the Wairarapa, Crosby is EIT’s first fully distance graduate for the degree.

Senior Auckland winemaker for Villa Maria, Nick Picone, is last year’s winner of The Wine Society’s Young Winemaker of the Year, Starting at EIT in 1996, Picone progressed to Bachelor of Wine Science studies and then worked vintages at Esk Valley Estate and in California.

Crosby joined Borthwick’s in 2008, primarily in an assistant winemaking role and also took on vineyard management in the following year. He enrolled as one EIT’s first cohort of distance students, and completed his degree a year ahead of his classmates.

“Once I’d started, I didn’t want to not finish,” he said. “It does take up time, but to be honest, if you can manage your time appropriately, you can definitely do it.”

EIT offers a comprehensive range of viticulture, wine science and wine business programmes, from certificate to graduate diploma level. Many provide options for studying part-time and by distance, which often suits those who are already working in the industry.

Premium winegrowing, world-class graduates

Get the career you want

0800 22 55 348 www.eit.ac.nz 80 Grapegrower & Winemaker

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May 2013 – Issue 592

Precision Viticulture offers workshops for grapegrowers FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS of the pilot workshops hosted during November last year, SPAA Precision Education Agriculture Australia, with support from the Australian government Caring for our Country Community Action Grants program, will host its next round of information sessions.

The workshops will demonstrate the potential of Precision Viticulture (PV) in addressing day-to-day challenges, along with the broader application of understanding variability within the vineyard.

SPAA EO Dr. Nicole Dimos said that as part of the project, SPAA has offered subsidised mapping services. “We can offer services such as EM38 soil, topography and plant cell density (PCD) mapping. The group sessions will focus on the interpretation of the information contained in these maps, to ensure that the benefits of informed management may be realised,” Dr. Dimos said.

As part of the project, SPAA collected data using two comparative techniques for assessing canopy density, PCD and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

(NDVI) as collected by the use of groundbased optical sensors. By mapping vine biomass/health variation across vineyard blocks, locations with canopy vigour changes can be determined. This information can be used by vineyard managers and winemakers to assist in selecting areas of vineyard blocks with different grape quality. This information can then be used for managing selective harvesting in the current season (where higher quality grapes within the vineyard are segregated from poorer quality grapes) or for targeted management and inputs in upcoming seasons.

The workshops will be filled with theory and practical information and will teach growers about the tools associated with EM 38 and topography mapping, aerial imagery, remote-sensing active sensors and finally yield mapping and harvesting for premium quality.

The workshops will include presentations from Dr Tony Proffitt (AHA Viticulture). Martin Peters (Farming IT) and Dr. Paul Dare (Specterra) and the team from precisionagriculture. com.au will also present the results of their comparative PCD/NDVI work, and will discuss some of the practical considerations of mounting sensors on

vineyard equipment. This represents a very rare opportunity for growers to be able to discuss PV with some of the national leaders in PV service provision.

“The project offers participants in the groups an opportunity to become familiar with PV technologies in a handson learning environment,” Dr. Dimos said. “We will also present information to the group using examples from the participants who took advantage of the tools in their regions, so it’s valuable to see local data used and make some defined management decisions.”

Having specialist advice in these topics will help growers target their resources in an informed way, improve wine quality, help to define terroir and ultimately assist them remain financially viable.

The project will be hosting two activities, on Monday 3 June in the Yarra Valley and on Tuesday 4 June at Seppelts at Great Western (Grampians wine region).

For more information or to register to attend the upcoming workshops, contact SPAA on nicole@spaa.com.au or Dr. Nicole Dimos on 0437 422 000 or visit www.spaa.com.au.

Training brings confidence and knowledge to staff Sydney Wine Academy is working across the country to advance wine education A SUCCESSFUL AND viable wine business must have the ability to provide knowledgeable advice to their customers and that is where the Wine and Spirit Education Trust qualifications can play a vital role. It’s an investment rather than an overhead, with team members becoming more confident in talking to clients and developing their ability to up-sell and increase value to the bottom line.

The globally recognised Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) has gained traction in Australia as a key industry qualification for working in the wine industry, while the Sydney Wine Academy has established itself as the leader in offering this qualification.

Course director Sydney Wine Academy, Clive Hartley said the academy was now offering training in three major city centres around Australia, as well as having a network of trainers to deliver courses and training, coast to coast.

“With four different ‘awards’ the courses can suit all levels of staff within an organisation,” Hartley said.

“It can be as simple as an onsite oneMay 2013 – Issue 592

day introductory course for new cellar door employees, or a more thorough threeday course for developing confidence in talking about and selling wine,” he said.

“More advanced courses increase a participant’s knowledge, understanding and tasting ability in identifying products and quality. The pinnacle qualification is the much sought after Diploma in Wines and Spirits which is regarded as a desirable prerequisite for Master of Wine.

“At the Sydney Wine Academy we developed what we call the WSET Plus approach to training in Australia. We overlay Australian wine knowledge together with the WSET global approach and compare the two side by side. We look at delivering a strong message in training which is increased profitability through knowledge. Supporting a client is critical and providing flexible delivery options as well as dedicated student websites are additional ways we ensure academy clients are always satisfied.”

More information at website www. sydneywineacademy.com.au or phone 02 9448 6301. www.winebiz.com.au

The

Wine educaTion

Specialists Do your winery and cellar door staff or sales reps need to upgrade their wine knowledge?

• Customised on-site training for wine companies Australia wide • On-line Certificate III in Events specialised for Winery/Cellar Door staff • All levels of WSET courses including Distance learning options • Diploma in Wines and Spirits – the benchmark qualification in the Global wine industry

www.sydneywineacademy.com.au Telephone: + 61 2 9448 6369

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business & technology

Supply and demand balances Peter Bailey

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2.5

16 Crush (leB-­‐hand axis) Yield (right-­‐hand axis)

14

2.0

10

1.5

8

1.0

6

Yield (tonnes per hectare)

Winegrape crush (million tonnes)

12

4 0.5 2

0.0

2001

2002

2003

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2006

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2008

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Figure 1. National wine grape crush and average yields over time.

Source: ABS Vineyards Survey

2.5

2.0

1.5 Billion litres

OVER THE PAST few years, the Australian wine sector has made adjustments to supply to better align it with demand.

Vineyard area has been reduced, yields have been lowered, less wine has been produced and wine inventories have been drawn down to more sustainable levels. This article takes a closer look at the adjustments that have taken place.

According to the ABS, bearing area in Australia peaked at 166,000 hectares (ha) in 2008 and had fallen to 145,000ha in 2012, a reduction of 21,000ha. Total vineyard area in 2012 was 149,000ha, meaning that notwithstanding additional plantings or removals, there is an extra 4,000ha to come on stream in the next few years. Furthermore, there were 12,000ha where the grapes were left on the vine or dropped to the ground in 2012. This, combined with the area not yet bearing, indicates that there is potentially another 16,000ha that can produce winegrapes in future.

In the five years to 2006, yields across Australia averaged 12.5 tonnes per hectare (t/ha). The severe drought in 2007 saw the yield drop to 9.3t/ha and in the five years since 2008 the average yield was 10.1t/ha. There has been a combination of factors that have contributed to lower yields over the past five years, such as seasonal influences, lower water availability, contract tonnage caps, vineyard management and the removal of some high-yielding vineyards.

Lower yields and less vineyard area have resulted in the national wine grape crush falling from a peak of 1.91 million tonnes in 2005 to around 1.6 million tonnes in 2010, 2011, and 2012 (see figure 1). However, with the additional area to come on stream/return to production and a boost in yields, there is still scope to produce a crop of 1.8 to 1.9 million tonnes. Expectations for 2013 are that the crop will be between 1.6 to 1.7 million tonnes.

National wine production has also fallen, from a peak of 1.4 billion litres in 2005 to 1.2 billion litres in 2012. Wine production was up slightly in 2012, after a difficult 2011 vintage that resulted in low extraction rates. Extraction rates returned to more normal levels in 2012.

Wine inventories have fallen from 2.4 billion litres in 2006 to 1.7 billion litres in 2012. The reduction in inventories has been due to lower production but also due to companies clearing stocks particularly through bulk exports priced at below

1.0 Wine produc;on Wine sales Inventory

0.5

0.0

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Figure 2. Australian wine inventories, production and sales over time.

Source: ABS and Wine Australia

A$0.50 per litre in 2009 and 2010.

Figure 2 illustrates that inventories are now at more sustainable levels and wine production and sales are relatively in balance. However, while the aggregate picture is in balance, there are still structural imbalances between supply and demand at the various market segments, particularly in the C and D segments1. A proportion of production remains unprofitable and this is one area that is being examined in detail as part of the industry review currently being conducted by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. The aim of the review is to www.winebiz.com.au

help the industry lift profitability and to ensure future decision making by and for the industry is underpinned by a strong evidentiary base.

1. C refers to wine grapes purchased at $600-$1500 per tonne and wine sold at a retail price of A$10-15 per bottle and D refers to wine grapes purchased at $300-$600 per tonne and wine sold at a retail price of A$7-$10 per bottle.

May 2013 – Issue 592

Australian Wine Export Market Snapshot The Australian Wine Export Market Snapshot is prepared by Wine Australia and provides the latest key statistics on exports of Australian wine.

Updated monthly, the snapshot looks at the movement in total volume and value

for the past 12 months and then drills down into more detail such as the top five destinations by value growth, movements in container type, colour, winestyle, and price point, and the top five varietal and regional label claims on bottles.

The main purpose of the report is to provide some high-level trends for the Australian wine category.

For more information please visit www. wineaustralia.com/winefacts, email to info@ wineaustralia.com or ring 08 8228 2010.

Highlights â&#x20AC;&#x201C; year ended March 2013 Key statistics Total

2013

Change

Volume ML

719

2%

Value A$M (fob)

1847

-1%

Destinations (by value growth)

$Am

Growth ($Am)

China, Pr

243

31

Hong Kong

69

15

New Zealand

69

7

Denmark

30

2

Philippines

5

1

Share

% point change

Glass bottle

Container type (by volume)

45%

-3.6

Bulk

54%

3.6

Soft-pack

1%

0.0

Alternative packaging1

0%

0.0

Share

% point change

Red

Still wine by colour (by volume)

60%

-3.1

White

40%

3.1

Share

% point change -3.1

Wine style (by volume) Red still wine

58%

White still wine

39%

3.1

Sparkling

2%

-0.1

Fortified

0.2%

0.0

Other

0.2%

0.1

Price points (by volume)

Share

% point change

A$2.49/L and under 2

56%

1.5

A$2.50/L to A$4.99/L

34%

-0.8

A$5.00/L to A$7.49/L

5%

-0.7

A$7.50/L to A$9.99/L

2%

-0.1

A$10.00/L and over

2%

0.1 Share

Top five varietal label claims on bottles (by volume)

ML

Shiraz and Shiraz blends

113

37%

Chardonnay and Chardonnay blends

62

20%

NOTES & DEFINITIONS

Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon blends

56

18%

Merlot and Merlot blends

28

9%

Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc blends

10

3%

Prepared: April 2013, updated monthly 1 Alternative packaging includes flagon, tetra, PET and other packaging types 2 The growth in this segment is due to growth bulk shipments as more Australian wine is being packaged overseas for a combination of reasons, including economic, environmental and scale rationale together with meeting the requirements of some customers.

The change in share represents percentage point change in share between the current twelve month period compared to the preceding 12 month period.

Based on data compiled from the AWBC Wine Export Approval System.

Average Value ($AUD) calculated on FOB value. Free on Board (FOB) value includes production and other costs up until placement on international carrier but excludes international insurance and transport costs.

Data is based on wine shipped from Australia to the country of destination - in some instances, wine is then transshipped to other countries for consumption.

Top five regional label claims on bottles (by volume)

ML

Share

South Eastern Australia

204

71%

South Australia

32

11%

Barossa

7

2.5%

McLaren Vale

6

2.0%

Riverland blends

4

1.3%

May 2013 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Issue 592

Disclaimer: While Wine Australia makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of information within this report, we accept no responsibility for information, which may later prove to be misrepresented or inaccurate, or reliance placed on that information by readers.

Provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 apply to the contents of this publication, all other right reserved.

For further copyright authorisation please see the www.wineaustralia.com website

www.winebiz.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

83

looking forward 2013 Australia & New Zealand

June

May

1 Margaret River Wine in Melbourne.

South Melbourne, VIC. www.margaretriverwine.org.au

16-17 The High Country Harvest.

Beechworth, VIC. www.highcountryharvest.com.au 16-19 Noosa International Food & Wine Festival. Noosa Heads, QLD. www.noosafoodandwine.com.au 18 Harvest Celebration in Beechworth.

Beechworth, VIC. www.nolanmediaevents.com.au 18-19 Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend.

Clare Valley, SA. www.clarevalleywinemakers.com.au/Gourmet 18-19 Lovedale Long Lunch. Lovedale, NSW. www.lovedalelonglunch.com.au 19 Vintage Wine & Beer Makers Fair.

Heathcote, NSW. www.heathcotehotel.com.au 23 The Hunter Valley Legends and Wine Awards Dinner. Hunter Valley, NSW. www.huntervalleyuncorked.com.au 23-26 Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival.

Cellar doors in Coonawarra & Penola, SA. www.artsfestival.com.au 24-25 Mildura Field Days. Mildura, VIC. www.mildurafielddays.com.au 25-26 (JD) Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland 2013 International Wine Show & Mediterranean Challenge.

Toowoomba, QLD. www.rasq.com.au 28 Margaret River Wine in Brisbane.

Brisbane, QLD. www.margaretriverwine.org.au 28-29 (JD) International Cool Climate Wine Show 2013. Mornington, VIC. www.coolclimatewineshow.org.au 29 Margaret River Wine in Sydney.

Sydney, NSW. www.margaretriverwine.org.au 29-30 Irrigation Australia 2013 Conference & Exhibition. Griffith, NSW. www.irrigation.org.au 29-30 WTC Irrigation Expo 2013.

Shepparton, VIC. www.wtcexpo.com.au 31 (CD) 2013 Cowra Wine Show. Cowra, NSW. www.cowrashow.com 31 Shiraz Club featuring Kalleske Wines.

Brisbane, QLD. www.barbarossa.com.au

84 Grapegrower & Winemaker

4 Australia's Wine Industry Design Competition. Surry Hills, NSW. www.boutiquewines.com.au 5-6 Winery Engineering Association National Conference & Exhibition 2013.

McLaren Vale, SA. www.wea.org.au

International May 15-17 (JD) Syrah du Monde 2013.

France. www.syrah-du-monde.com 18-21 National Restaurant Association Show 2013. Illinois, USA. www.restaurant.org 19-20 International Wine, Spirits & Beet Event 2013. Illinois, USA. iwsb.restaurant.org 19-22 MIWINE. Milan, Italy. www.tuttofood.it 20-22 The London International Wine Fair.

London, UK. www.londonwinefair.com 22-25 New Orleans Wine & Food Experience. Louisiana, USA. www.nowfe.com 23-25 BioFach China 2013. Shanghai, China. www.biofach-china.com 24 (CD) San Francisco International Wine Competition. California, USA. www.sfwinecomp.com 24 (CD) The Spiegelau International Wine Competition. Marlborough, NZ. www.thespiegelauiwc.co.nz 24-25 VINEX. Brno Exhibition Centre, Czech Republic. www.bvv.cz/vinex 24-26 Eat! Vancouver Food & Cooking Festival. Vancouver, Canada. www.eat-vancouver.com 25 (JD) Malbec International Competition.

Bordeaux, France. www.malbecompetition.com JD = judging date CD = closing date For a comprehensive list of events, visit www.winebiz.com.au/calendar www.winebiz.com.au

looking back We step back in time to see what was happening through the pages of Grapegrower and Winemaker this month 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

May 1983 The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation will be pressed to implement a national vineyard registration scheme.

The Riverland Grape Industry Committee, which represents both grower and winemaker sectors of the grape industry, will press the corporation for such a scheme as the basis for future planting.

Its chairman, Lou McCreanor, said: “While the Riverland now has the recently completed River Murray Horticultural Crop Survey upon which to use its longer term planning for the region, it is urgent that a national vineyard registration scheme be implemented.”

May 1993 Jacob’s Creek is now the biggest selling wine in the United Kingdom. Orlando Wyndham’s flagship brand has leapt into first place with retail sales in October and November equivalent to 392,000 cases a year. In second place, but more than 18,000 cases behind, was the US company Gallo, the world’s largest wine company which has a UK marketing budget more than 10 times Orlando Wyndham’s. No other Australian wine appears in the top 40 sellers, according to the figures released by the leading British liquor survey company Stats MR.

May 2003 One of the pioneers of Western Austraila’s Margaret River region, Di Cullen, of Cullen Wines, has died aged 80. Originally from Tasmania, Di studied physiotherapy at Melbourne University where she met her future husband, Kevin Cullen, a medical student from Western Australia. The couple married in the late 1940s and in 1948, following the birth of their first child, Rick, they moved to Busselton where Kevin established a general practice. In 1966, Di and Kevin planted the first trial vineyard in Margaret River at Willyabrup.

Five years later, the couple planted seven hectares of vines on their sheep and cattle farm.

May 2013 – Issue 592

Marketplace

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jobs .com.au

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more jobs, more winery positions, more viticulture positions, more industry positions MORE OFTEN… and listed with DailyWineNews For further information contact Andrew Dawson at widartwork@winetitles.com.au or by phoning +618 8369 9500 or post your ad online at winejobs.com.au

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May 2013 – Issue 592

www.winebiz.com.au

Grapegrower & Winemaker

85

Marketplace MALLEE POINT NURSERY Orders taken for 2013 plantings NOW. Phone 02 6968 1086 Fax 02 6968 1786 Mobile 0428 690 208 PO Box 438, Yenda, NSW 2681

MIA Vine Improvement Society Griffith, NSW Providers of certified, quality vine and prune material. Available in 2013 are rootstocks, vinifera and rootlings.

For your copy of our 2013 Order Form please contact us!

P 02 6968 1202 F 02 6968 1479 M 0412 699 476 E miavis@exemail.com.au

ADRO

GRAFTED VINES

Specialising in Grafted Vines and Rootlings

Vine Industry Nursery Assoc.

www.vina.net.au

Orders taken for 2013 planting now.

Mobile 0428 447 246

Quality Grapevines

For enquiries please contact Rosanna on

Paul Wright PO Box 180 Mt Pleasant South Australia 5235 Ph 08 8568 2385 www.vinewright.com.au

Ph/Fax 02 6964 4288 E-mail: adrografted@bigpond.com

WINE PRESS SERVICING • Preventative maintenance & breakdown repairs for all makes and models.

• 24/7 coverage during vintage • Large inventory of spare parts.

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BIRD NETTING • Permanent canopy or throw over net • Fully UV stabilised • Cable, wire and all canopy supplies in stock

OBLOMOV TRADING CO. PO Box 207, Rozelle, NSW 2039 Phone (02) 9660 6845 Fax (02) 9518 8372 e-mail: sales@otcobirdnet.com.au

Visit our website at: www.otcobirdnet.com.au

GRAPEVINES • Grafted Vines • Vinifera Cuttings • Rootstock Cuttings • Wine Sales

Marketplace

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ENQUIRIES TO PO BOX 292, Monash SA 5342 PHONE (08)8583 5366 FAX (08)8583 5504 EMAIL rvic@hotkey.net.au www.rvic.org.au

86 Grapegrower & Winemaker

s? a e s r e v o Vintage Talk to us!

www.bibber.com.au info@bibber.com.au 08 8374 077

www.winebiz.com.au

May 2013 – Issue 592

OUT NOW! NEW 2013 EDITION ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!!

NEW in 2013 print edition - Australian Grapegrower Listings – contact details, vineyard location, varieties grown and more!

Purchasing the 2013 Directory will give you access to your Directory information online at www.winebiz.com.au/widonline (Login ID and password will be dispatched with your Wine Industry Directory) The 31st annual edition lists Australian wineries (categorised by state) and New Zealand wineries. Also comprehensive listings of wine industry suppliers, a buyers’ guide, listings of personnel involved in the industry, distributors, retailers and brands.

In addition to listings for teaching and research institutions, courses (university, TAFE and other), industry organisations, wine writers and publications, and a calendar of events (including wine shows). PLUS an overview of the 2012 wine industry year which includes detailed statistical and graphical summaries.

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