Wine & Viticulture Journal - September/October 2016

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 · Volume 31 Number 5

COOL CLIMATE WINE PRODUCTION

• Machine harvesting Pinot Noir • Competitiveness of cool climate wine regions in global markets • The challenges in developing strong regional identities • Snapshot of Australian Chardonnay production practices • Tasting: Cool climate Chardonnay

The �rench oaks. Naturally diverse.

Origins, species, climate, soils, silviculture.

The notion of terroir.

At Dargaud & Jaeglé we understand and respect this diversity.

We offer our �rench oak barrels by reqion and sub-region of origin, to further personalise your wine.

In Australia contact Geoff Henriks 0412 947 090 | geoff@djbarrels.com.au www.dargaud-jaegle.com/en

Creating barrels for winemakers since 1921

IN THIS ISSUE

C O NN ET W E N S T S

V I T I C U LT U R E

R E G U L A R F E AT U R E S

8 WFA (TONY BATTAGLENE): The Australian election and what it means for the local wine sector

41 Investigating the potential for resistance to grapevine trunk diseases

9 WINE AUSTRALIA (ANDREAS CLARK): VinSites: Insights from vine to glass

47 Breeding the next-generation disease-resistant grapevine varieties

10 ASVO (MARDI LONGBOTTOM): ASVO prepares for November Awards Night following ‘one of the best Tech Conferences ever’ 11 KEY FILES (TONY KEYS): Wine through time: A parallel walk through two decades of The Octavius and significant events in the Australian wine industry

51 The impact of machine harvesting with and without optical berry sorting on Pinot Noir wine composition and quality

W I N E M A K I N G

17 CATHY HOWARD: Times are a-changing – the effects of climate change on wine production practices

57 SOIL HORIZON (GEOFF KEW): Defining Barossa Valley foothills clay 58 ALTERNATIVE VARIETIES: Fiano

BUSINESS & MARKETING

25 Malolactic fermentation in barrels vs steel tanks

60 The marketing challenges involved in developing strong regional identities

27 Snapshot of Australian production practices for Chardonnay wine

63 Competitiveness of cool climate regions in global wine markets

33 Integrated strategies to moderate the alcohol content of wines

66 A health check-up: how are Australia and its regions trending in China?

39 AWRI REPORT: A rose by any other name: novel wine yeast that impart floral aromas

68 MARK ROWLEY: Australian wine exports to China – beyond the headlines

W I N E TA S T I N G

74 Cool climate Chardonnay

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

3

Established 1985 Published bi-monthly Publisher: Hartley Higgins

Sonya Logan, Editor

General Manager: Peter Muscet Editor Sonya Logan Ph (08) 8369 9502 Fax (08) 8369 9501 Email s.logan@winetitles.com.au Editorial Advisory Panel Gary Baldwin Peter Dry Mark Krstic Armando Corsi Markus Herderich EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Lauren Jones, Write Lane CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kym Anderson Matthew Ayres Sue Bastian Tony Battaglene Karen Block Charles Brenneman Darren Burke Andreas Clark Justin Cohen Toni Cordente Armando Corsi Chris Curtin Peter Dry Susan Ebeler Rudolf Eibach Joanne Gambetta Esteban García-Romero Peter Godden David Hendrickson Hildegarde Heymann Anna Hjelmeland Helene Hopfer Cathy Howard Ana Hranilovic Pedro Izquierdo-Cañas David Jeffery Vladimir Jiranek Dan Johnson Geoff Kew Tony Keys Larry Lerno Sijing Li Larry Lockshin Rocco Longo Michael McCarthy Adela Mena-Morales Kym Milne Gerald Naef Anita Oberholster Mike Paul Duc-Truc Pham Bora Qesja Renata Ristic Mark Rowley Olaf Schelezki Eileen Scott Sam Scott Mark Solomon Mark Sosnowski Reinhard Töpfer Trevor Wicks Advertising Manager: Dan Brannan Ph (08) 8369 9515 Fax (08) 8369 9529 Email d.brannan@winetitles.com.au Production and Design: Luke Westle Subscriptions One-year subscription (6 issues) Australia $77.00 (AUD) Two-year subscription (12 issues) Australia $144.00 (AUD) To subscribe and for overseas prices, visit: www.winetitles.com.au Published by Winetitles Media ABN 85 085 551 980 Address 630 Regency Road, Broadview, South Australia 5083

Telephone and Fax Ph (08) 8369 9500 Fax (08) 8369 9501

Email

General info@winetitles.com.au Editorial s.logan@winetitles.com.au Subscriptions subs@winetitles.com.au Advertising widsales@winetitles.com.au

Website

www.winetitles.com.au Printed by Lane Print, Adelaide, South Australia.

T

here was no escaping wet matters on the day this issue of the Journal went to print. Not only was rain a feature of the weather in Adelaide for the umpteenth time since the start of winter (OK, maybe I exaggerate just a smidge!), but the WET rebate and the proposed changes to its eligibility criteria were being discussed in Melbourne at the first of six consultation meetings being held around the country between invited wine industry representatives and the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Anne Ruston, and senior department officials.

With the deadline for industry to respond to the Government’s proposed approach to implement the tightened eligibility criteria on 7 October, we will know soon what recommendations O’Dwyer and Ruston will take to Cabinet.

If you haven’t noticed already, this issue of the Journal has a special focus on cool climate wine production featuring articles based on presentations at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium (ICCWS) in England back in late May (and a couple were presented at the recent Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference too).

The first of these articles is found on page 51, where researchers from the University of California Davis report on their study which used Pinot Noir – a variety best suited to cool climates to bring out its best - to determine whether combining mechanical harvesting with optical berry sorting technology leads to wine of comparable quality to that made using hand-harvested Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

ISSN 1838-6547

www.facebook.com/WineAndVitiJournal

Conditions

@WineVitiJournal

The opinions expressed in Wine & Viticultue Journal are not necessarily the opinions of or endorsed by the editor or publisher unless otherwise stated. All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher.

All material in Wine & Viticulture Journal is copyright © Winetitels Media. All rights reserved.No part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, the published will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published.

fruit. AWITC attendees may recall one of the researchers, Anita Oberholster, presenting on this study.

AWITC delegates may also remember Reinhard Topfer, from Germany’s Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof at the Julius KuehnInstitute, talk about his organisation’s work into breeding new grapevine cultivars with resistance to pathogens.

As he also revealed in his presentation to the ICCWS, this work has resulted in cultivars that not only have an increased resistance to powdery and downy mildew but have performed well in the field (page 47).

Then on page 63 we have a revised version of the paper that The University of Adelaide’s Kym Anderson was invited to present at the ICCWS on the competitiveness of cool climate regions in global wine markets. Kym discusses the various supply and demand forces affecting the competitiveness of such regions.

Finally, on this issue’s theme, we have Mike Paul’s presentation in which the UK-based business and marketing consultant shared his thoughts to ICCWS delegates on the pros and cons of regional marketing – something I’m sure many regions in Australia both cool and otherwise, will be keen to read about (page 60).

And then there’s our cool climate Chardonnay tasting, the results of which can be found on page 74.

Enjoy this issue’s read and be sure to send me an email if there’s anything you’d like covered in a future issue: s.logan@winetitles.com.au

Cover: Ben Heide REGULAR FEATURES

News 6 WFA 8 Wine Australia 9 Tony Keys 11

4 www. wi n e t i t les.com.au

AWRI Report 39 Alternative Varieties 58 Varietal Report 70 Tasting 73

WINE & V ITICULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPT/O C TO BER 2016

V31N4

®

USING LIQUID COPPER COULDN’T BE EASIER.

For more information, contact your local Nufarm Area Sales Manager. nufarm.com.au © 2016 Nufarm Australia Ltd. All trade marks (®,™) are owned by Nufarm Australia Ltd or used under license.

Tri-Base Blue® gives you the simplest most effective way to apply a copper fungicide.

Tri-Base Blue provides a strong armour of copper protection against fungal diseases.

N E W S

S N I P S

WET REBATE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA A STEP CLOSER TO BEING FINALISED

WGGA BECOMES AUSTRALIAN VIGNERONS

Members of Australia’s wine industry have until 7 October to respond to the Federal Government’s proposed approach to implement the tightened eligibility criteria for the wine equalisation tax (WET) rebate.

The Government released its proposed position on the criteria in an implementation paper on 2 September. This followed meetings between Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Senator Anne Ruston and industry representatives in various regions to gauge some initial feedback about the criteria as outlined in the 2016-17 Budget. In addition to reducing the WET rebate cap from $500,000 to $350,000 from 1 July 2017 then to $290,000 from 1 July 2018, the Government also announced in the Budget that it would tighten the eligibility criteria from 1 July 2019, restricting it to wine producers who own or lease a winery and sell branded, packaged wine domestically.

The implementation paper, which only seeks industry feedback about the proposed tightened eligibility criteria, proposes limiting the WET rebate to producers who own 40% or more of a facility or lease such a facility where fermentation, clarification, blending or ageing occurs, and processes five or more tonnes of grapes a year, with the resulting wine sold as branded product in containers not exceeding five litres, as explained in an alert issued by law firm Finlaysons.

Consultation meetings with invited industry participants on the implementation paper were due to be held in Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide in late September, with a final meeting with representatives from the national and state wine associations to be held in Adelaide on 29 September. Due to represent the Government at these meetings was the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, and Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, and senior department officials. The Government said industry would also have an opportunity at the meetings to put forward their thoughts on how the Australian Grape and Wine Association (AGWA) should spend the $50 million grant over four years also announced in the Budget to grow the demand for wine.

The implementation paper is accessible at: www.treasury.gov.au

Members of Wine Grape Growers Australia voted in favour of accepting a new constitution at a special general meeting in Adelaide on 8 September, meaning the organisation will now trade as Australian Vignerons.

Aside from the new name, which the organisation believes reflects the diversity of the modern wine industry where many participants are growers, winemakers and wine sellers, the changes to the constitution also include the election of an independent, skills-based board. The board will fulfil the governance functions of Australian Vignerons, which will be elected and represented by a council of general members who will determine the issues and policy framework for the board to implement. A change to the grower body’s membership structure is also included, with general members now being representative of industry bodies, rather than the current mix of bodies and individual members.

WGGA executive director Andrew Weeks said the restructure followed a “hardnosed analysis” of the obstacles that were preventing the organisation from gaining national support from all wine-producing regions. He explained that its sources of income had been declining due to reduced support from member contributions, particularly following the resignation of the Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board and Murray Valley Winegrowers from the organisation this year. He said WGGA was faced with a choice to either “change or perish”.

“This is not the end of a period of hard work – it is the start of it,” Weeks said.

“We have support in principle, but now we need to ensure financial support from those who intend to be members of this refocussed national grower body.”

“In reality there were few alternatives,” said WGGA independent chair Joanna Andrew.

“WGGA was not seen as offering value to all Australian growers, so there was limited financial support, and that position was not sustainable. If not for these changes, we would be facing wind-up proceedings instead of proposing a new direction”.

Under the new constitution, Australian Vignerons will focus on national priorities such as grower advocacy, addressing

6

www.win eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR N A L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

the biosecurity responsibilities for the wine industry, providing grower input into research, development and marketing programs, and assisting with market access for Australian wine.

The current executive committee of WGGA will act as the interim board of Australian Vignerons and will immediately start work on implementing the new structure, and rejuvenating the national grower organisation.

AWITC WRAPS UP The 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) attracted more than 1150 delegates from around the world to Adelaide on 24-28 July.

Forty-two local and 16 international speakers spoke on topics ranging from terroir, climate change adaptation strategies, vineyard diseases, clonal diversity, wine flavour, wine fraud counter measures and improving vineyard and winery efficiency. Held in conjunction with this year’s AWITC was the Australian Wine Industry Trade Exhibition, the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia’s Outlook Conference and the McWilliam’s Maurice O’Shea Award Dinner. Two sessions were also held as part of the formal conference program in which the researchers behind a selection of the technical posters on display presented their work to delegates.

Conference chairman Dan Johnson said this year’s AWITC had exceeded expectations across all fronts, with a sold-out trade exhibition, high quality presentations and excellent audience participation and feedback.

The conference included 12 formal sessions over the four days, 38 workshops and more than 180 posters.

Presenters from Session 1 of the Outlook Conference, which was held as part of this year’s Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference.

V31N5

N E W S

VINTAGE 2016 RECORDS INCREASE IN CRUSH AND AVERAGE PRICE The Australian wine industry recorded increases in the average purchase price of winegrapes and its overall crush this year, according to the Vintage Report 2016 released recently

by Wine Australia, the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and Wine Grape Growers Australia.

There was an increase of 6 per cent in the national crush to an estimated 1.81 million tonnes and a rise in the average price paid for winegrapes of 14 per cent to $526 per tonne across Australia - the highest average price since 2009.

The increase in the weighted average purchase price was supported by an increase in the amount of fruit sold in the top graded categories of above $1500 per tonne.

Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said it was encouraging to hear reports of outstanding quality translated into an increase in the average purchase price.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve seen Australian wine exports grow to $2.11 billion and the strongest growth has been in wines of $10 or more per litre FOB. This increased enthusiasm for our fine wines internationally is helping to support a stronger demand for premium fruit in Australia,” Clark said.

The report shows that the amount of premium fruit sold for more than $1500

per tonne increased to account for 7 per cent of the total crush this year.

Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Andrew Weeks said the increase in average prices was a positive development for the Australian grape and wine community.

“There is still much work to do, but with recent improvements in key markets and firming in wine grape prices across the nation, there is reason for cautious optimism. It is vital that this positive trend continues and that all in the wine sector are focused on continuing to build demand in key markets,” he said.

The report shows that the average purchase price (APP) for winegrapes increased across most Australian wine regions in vintage 2016. In the warm inland wine regions the APP increased 8 per cent to $313 per tonne while in cool/ temperate regions it grew 4 per cent to $1196 per tonne.

The data for the Vintage Report 2016 was collected by Wine Australia through the Wine Sector Survey 2016 and gathered responses covering an estimated 88 per cent of the crush.

The report provides price dispersion read-outs and average purchase prices for varieties in more than 40 Australian wine regions.

Vintage Report 2016 is available to download from www.wineaustralia.com/ winefacts

Also manufacturers of

• S G Spur Pruners • Single Side Pruners • Vine Cane Sweepers • Hydraulic Power Packs • Double Acting Cutter Bars

S N I P S

VALE TREVOR WICKS Trevor Wicks, a plant pathologist who made a significant contribution to the Australian wine industry over several decades through the development and evaluation of many new fungicides and fungicide application programs, has died aged 70.

During his career at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Wicks contributed to research on disease identification and management in all areas of horticulture, and was considered one of the best potato and onion researchers in Australia. He won the prestigious Graham Gregory Award for horticulture in 1995 in acknowledgement of his contribution to the Australian onion industry.

Wicks’ contribution to the wine industry included a number of investigations into fungicide resistance, working closely with crop protection companies and growers.

He was also interested in alternatives to conventional fungicides and brought his extensive knowledge of the biology of diseases and pathogens to bear in targetting weak points in the disease cycle.

He was also an affiliate senior lecturer at The University of Adelaide where he mentored students undertaking Honours, Masters and PhD research projects on diseases of horticultural crops and grapevines.

A memorial service will be held for Wicks WVJ on 3 November in Adelaide.

SUMMER TRiMMing

AUSTRALIAN MADE PRUNERS

For further information visit our website at www.spagnolo.com.au or contact: Ph (03) 5021 1933 Fax (03) 5021 5233 Email sales@spagnolo.com.au Mildura Victoria Australia V3 1N 5

Summer Trimming • Smooth cutting action • Unique quick-change blade system • Sizes available from 600mm to 2100mm • Cutter bars can be used for summer trimming and winter pruning

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Vineyard & Orchard Sweepers • Single and double sided • Spring-loaded head enables it to glide around posts and vine trunks.

• Optional hydraulic lift, tilt and side shift cylinders.

• Ideal for cleaning up uneven terrain • Durable powdercoated finish

www.winetitles. com . au

7

W FA

The Australian election and what it means for the local wine sector

By Tony Battaglene, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Winemakers’ Federation of Australia

INTRODUCTION The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia and Wine Grape Growers Australia’s primary reason for being is their ability to influence the Government on policy. WFA maintains a strong presence in Canberra, allowing us to engage in a positive day-to-day interaction with Government departments and with politicians on all sides of politics. However, the ability of the peak bodies to influence the debate depends on several factors. One is the strength and capability of our staff.

Secondly, the ability to demonstrate to Government that we are representative and supported by a significant proportion of the industry through financial membership. Thirdly, the make-up of the Government as decided at the Federal election. It is this final element that I wish to talk about here.

now announced, so we will be able to target advocacy. However, given the closeness of the election it is likely that the backbenchers in seats with wine interests will also be active to ensure the coalition makes politically-sensitive decisions.

“The government is expert in taking a divided industry position, or even a vocal minority as a reason to support its policy positions.

WFA is investing in better communications with the wider industry to mitigate this risk.”

ISSUES Successful advocacy depends on clear messaging to the industry and politicians. This requires clear communication channels to our members and, importantly, state and regional associations and WGGA. The Government is expert in taking a divided industry position, or even a vocal minority as a reason to support its policy positions. WFA is investing in better communications with the wider industry to mitigate this risk.

The structure and make–up of the House of Representatives and Senate also bring a new dynamic into play to advocate successfully on behalf of the wine sector. The Turnbull Government has a wafer-thin majority with 76 seats in the 150-seat Parliament.

Labor has 69 seats in the House of Representatives, two independents, one Green, one Nick Xenophon Team and one Katter Australia party. The result maintains the balance of power for the Coalition. The new Ministry is

8

www.win eti tl es .c om.au

The strong showing of the National Party meant it was rewarded with additional positions in the Ministry.

Given its traditional strong support for agriculture and the role of Barnaby Joyce as Minister for Agriculture, it becomes a key target for advocacy.

The make-up of the 76-seat Senate has 30 Coalition Senators and 26 ALP Senators. The Greens secured nine Senate spots; Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party secured four seats in the Upper House, with Nick Xenophon’s NXT Party closing on three. The remainder of the cross-bench line-up includes Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, Family First’s Bob Day, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie and media identity Derryn Hinch.

The Coalition will need to attract nine votes to pass legislation through the Senate, a tall order with such a large and unpredictable crossbench. This will make the passage of legislation through the Senate a much harder

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR N A L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

task for the Government, and will likely see compromise from Turnbull and his Ministers on a range of key issues including foreign investment, trade and support for Australian industry.

While the Senate remains a strong lever to put the WFA position into legislation, it is also likely that the Government will not want to test the Senate over (what, for them) are minor issues. WFA, therefore, attempts to get public support from Senators of our position.

Advocacy over the next months will concentrate on the Budget measures around changes to the WET rebate, including the message of eligibility, the cap reduction and the effects on rural and regional Australia.

During this time WFA will actively seek to engage in direct meetings with politicians of all parties regarding eligibility and cap reduction. We will emphasise the importance of the measure to remove the eligibility for bulk and unbranded wine from the rebate and how the distortions occurring in the marketplace from the ability of such products to capture the WET rebate are damaging the industry as a whole.

CONCLUSION The make-up of the Federal Parliament builds enormous complexity into the process of successful advocacy.

While the presence of a minority Senate suggests the ability to influence Government policy is greater, this is not necessarily the case. It also provides opportunities for trade-offs to result in less-than-desirable outcomes for the industry. The wine sector is well-placed to navigate these complexities as we have considerable experience and a strong Canberra presence. However, as always, loud and disunited voices can derail sound strategy and advocacy.

WVJ

V31N5

WINE AUSTRALIA

VinSites: Insights from vine to glass

By Andreas Clark, Chief Executive Officer, Wine Australia

Wine Australia launches a free web-based tool to allow growers to measure their business performance and compare themselves against others.

A

ccess to accurate and timely data is important for all businesses.

Currently, the Australian grape and wine community has many disparate data repositories that collate slightly different content and often provide out-of-date information.

For many years, the main source of collective data for the wine sector has been the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

While the ABS is a reliable source for this information, data for the wine sector is only collected through an expensive fee-forservice option. This is a costly route for our sector’s data collection and requires significant investment.

With this in mind, Wine Australia embarked on an ambitious project to collect the required data and also make it available for all wine producers and grapegrowers to access freely to help their businesses.

The system is VinSites, a free-touse, web-based tool where winegrape producers can store their vineyard and vintage information, and measure and compare their performance against regional aggregates over time.

A VinSites pilot is currently under way in Western Australia and the Riverland, in South Australia. The first step was identifying and mapping each vineyard in the Riverland and Western Australia using satellite technology. Also, wineries provided production data about their intakes during vintage 2016, including grower identification numbers but not the growers’ names or addresses or any other identifier.

Vineyard owners in the pilot areas are now ‘claiming’ their vineyard in VinSites and entering their own specific varietal, harvest, rootstock, block and water information.

They can also link their vineyard information with the relevant production data from the wineries and known crush information. This will provide grapegrowers and winemakers with accurate and timely information about yields by variety and by region.

Entering data into VinSites is not mandatory. It is up to each individual how

V3 1N 5

A new generation of yeast protection

Vineyard block boundaries are automatically detected with VinSites.

Every vineyard row is detected and identified within VinSites for the appropriate varietal and rootstock information to be entered by the vineyard owner. much extra information he or she wishes to enter for his or her vineyard. However, the more information that is entered, the more accurate and valuable the reports and comparisons become for the owner. It will give grape and wine producers an insight into their position in the sector.

VinSites maintains strict privacy measures that are also customisable. For example, the user can choose who sees what: what the public see, what other growers see and what Wine Australia can see.

Wine Australia will review the pilots in Western Australia and the Riverland before the national rollout, which is planned for 2017.

Winegrape producers across Australia are encouraged to register to receive regular updates and participate at VinSites. wine or by scanning the QRcode.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Increase yeast vitality Increase yeast ethanol tolerance The highest level of sterols within the GO Ferm product range No more oxygen addition worries with white and rosé ferments Improves yeast aroma precursor use WISA winner

Supplier of the Year

2014

Lallemand Australia Pty Ltd 23-25 Erudina Ave, Edwardstown, SA 5039 AUS Tel: +61 8 8276 1200 | Fax: +61 8177 1802 Email: australiaoffice@lallemand.com Lallemand Oenology: Natural Solutions that add value to the world of winemaking

www.winetitles. com . au

9

A S V O

ASVO prepares for November Awards Night following ‘one of the best Tech Conferences ever’

By Mardi Longbottom, President, Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology

T

he Australian Society of Viticulture & Oenology is very proud to have been part of the recent 16th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) and Trade Exhibition held in Adelaide. The conference attracted more than 1150 delegates and there was a distinct feeling of optimism in the plenary sessions, workshops and in the crowds milling amongst traders’ booths. ASVO members stood out in the crowd wearing their true colours (ASVO scarves) and made the most of the triennial meeting to reconnect with colleagues and forge new partnerships while hearing from the leaders of viticulture and oenology research. The 2016 AWITC will go down as one of the best Tech Conferences ever.

The ASVO sponsored two prizes for ‘Fresh Science’ research presented at the AWITC. Each presenter underwent two rounds of judging with two prizes being awarded for the best viticulture and oenology research. Dr Keren Bindon, senior research scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), was awarded the viticulture prize for her research on objective measures of grape quality. Dr Bindon’s research assessed the ability to predict grape grading allocations using targetted and non-targetted chemical measurements. The prize for best oenological research presentation was awarded to Marta Avramova, a PhD student at the University of Bordeaux, France, and The University of Adelaide. The judges were impressed with Marta’s work which focusses on the ability of different strains of the wine spoilage organism ‘Brett’ to survive in the presence of sulfur dioxide.

One of the highlights of the AWITC was the student forum ‘In the Wine Light’, also sponsored by the ASVO. Fourteen post-graduate students presented their research in a rapid-fire format with just one slide and three minutes to communicate their work. To add to the challenge, each student was appraised by an esteemed judging panel and also by the audience which included many of the international speakers from the AWITC. The winner of the

From left, executive director of Wine Grape Growers Australia, Andrew Weeks; chair of the Australian Wine Research Institute, Louisa Rose; chair of Wine Australia, Brian Walsh; chief executive of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, Tony Battaglene; and president of the ASVO, Mardi Longbottom during a break in the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference.

10

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Standing out from the crowd at the recent Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference wearing their distinctive yellow ASVO scarves were (from left) ASVO vice president Brett McClen, admin officer Chris Waters, treasurer Kristy Bartrop, president Dr Mardi Longbottom, Dr Tony Robinson, David Wollan and Tony Proffitt judges’ prize was Jasmine Peter, a final year PhD scholar from The University of Adelaide, who presented her research into the use of a yeast gene deletion library to identify genes that positively and negatively influence fermentation under limited nitrogen conditions. The people’s choice award was presented to Chen Liang, also a PhD scholar from The University of Adelaide. Chen charmed the audience with her presentation on a new technique involving magnetic imprinted polymers to eliminate excessive methoxypyrazines from wines. In addition to a $500 cash prize, all prize winners also received a complementary membership to the Society and a coveted ASVO scarf.

The ASVO and Seguin Moreau Australasia recently announced Stewart Byrne as the second recipient of the Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC) Scholarship. The $4500 scholarship will allow Stewart, the assistant winemaker at Josef Chromy Wines, to refine his palate and sensory skills. Stewart wants to become a key player in Tasmania, driving quality-focussed wines, and stamping the region on the global stage as a leader in cool climate winemaking. Stewart will be recognised at the upcoming ASVO Awards Night which will be held in Adelaide on Thursday 17 November.

The ASVO Awards Night will adopt the fast-paced presentation style experienced at ‘In the Wine Light’ and will have special guests including the prize winners from the AWITC and some of the wine industry’s best toastmasters. On the Awards Night the ASVO will announce the Viticulturist and Winemaker of the Year with a new perpetual trophy. The best viticulture and oenology research papers from the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research will also be awarded on the night. Keep an eye out for the line-up of speakers at the Awards Night when it is announced later this month – it is sure to be a night of entertainment and insight.

WVJ

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

K E Y

F I L E S

Wine through time A parallel walk through two decades of The Octavius and significant events in the Australian wine industry

By Tony Keys

Tony recently took part in a tasting of Yalumba’s The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz spanning vintages across two decades. Inspired by the impressive tasting booklet that accompanied the event, Tony has paired his notes on each vintage with his take on the significant events that happened in the industry during those corresponding years to provide an interesting look back at its evolution. The first decade is presented here, with the second to follow in the next issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal.

I

n May this year I was invited to taste 20 vintages of Yalumba ‘The Octavius’. The tasting booklet was a work of art in itself - high quality photographs and the story of the wine. A clever part of the booklet was that each vintage was accompanied with notes of significant events, both domestic and globally, outside of the business of wine, for example: Significant events in 1992 The first Nicotine patch is introduced and DNA Fingerprinting is invented.

The continuing Balkan War prompts UN intervention. In France, Euro Disney opens and the first McDonalds opens in China. In the US Bill Clinton becomes

V3 1N 5

president and the largest mall in America, Minnesota’s Mall of America, is constructed (spanning 78 acres).

Paul Keating makes a Royal faux pas by putting his hand on Queen Elizabeth’s back during her visit to Australia.

This year has also seen the Wine & Viticulture Journal mark its 30th anniversary. Add to this particular time span the fact that it has also been the most attention-grabbing period in the history of Australian wine, it’s an era worth writing about.

It’s not usual for me to present tasting notes in the Journal but as the idea grew it bubbled into an article on the tasting plus significant Australian

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

wine events during the period. I must pay tribute to Pippa Merrett and the team at Yalumba for starting the fermentation process.

Be warned, a lot is included, but at least twice or three times as much has been left out due to space. If you remember a significant event for one of the years covered that you feel should have been included please let us know.

Simon Adams made Octavius up to the 1998 vintage; Kevin Glastonbury from 1999 to the present day. Eight vineyards in the Barossa and Eden Valleys provide the fruit for the wine, two of them Yalumba owned.

▶

www.winetitles. com . au

11

K E Y

F I L E S

1990 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1990: Old dry dust nose (good). Light on entry and interesting on its journey but the fruit is falling away and there is little perfume at the end. The return is also short. Considering its age it’s a fascinating taste experience, but lacks pleasure. 89 points.

Hindsight being both wonderful and impossible, 1990 is a good year to start this hindsight diary. The year started with Penfolds acquiring Lindeman’s for $140 million (around $263 million today with inflation). The year ended with SA Brewing acquiring Penfolds for $375 million plus $48 million debt, a total today worth $793 million.

Two of Australia’s most famous brands, along with a host of others, were sucked into the world of beer, and not good beer at that. One wonders what would have happened if Lindeman’s and Penfolds remained fierce rivals and the brewers stuck to insipid and indifferent brews.

Also flexing its muscle was the Hardy Wine Co not yet merged with Berri Remano - that was still two years away.

Wayne Jackson was CEO, later to become CEO of the AFL Commission in 1996. He instigated the acquisition of two UK wine importers and distributors, Whiclar Wines and Andrew Gordon Wines. These two companies were merged and took over the UK distribution of Hardy’s brands plus other agencies.

Jackson also thought Hardy’s should be a global wine company so went on the hunt in Italy and France. In Italy he bought Casa Vinicola Barone Ricasoli and in France Domaine La Baume in the Midi. These would be imported into the UK and sold via the renamed distribution company Whiclar & Gordon. It wasn’t a one-way street as Verve Clicquot bought into Margaret Riverbased Cape Mentelle while Moët Hennessy established Green Point (Domain Chandon) in the Yarra Valley in 1987.

The 1990 vintage produced 547,000 tonnes, down from 634,000 tonnes in 1989.

The concern was, with Australian wine going for world dominance there wouldn’t be enough grapes, so many more hectares of vineyard started to be planted.

Looking back it was exciting times. Little did we realise at the time the Australian wine industry was not just running but sprinting before it had learnt to walk.

Like the 1990 Octavius, some parts of the industry are tired and others have

12

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

disappeared altogether. On the upside, lessons have been learnt and, as with Octavius which was dubbed Oaktavius because of the heavy use of oak in the early days, much of the industry has come to realise a focussed, steady approach pays better dividends.

1992 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1992: This contained 15 per cent Coonawarra Cabernet. Faint on the nose but very clean. The wine made little impression as it traversed the palate, lacking depth and length. 87 points.

Paul Clancy takes control of the Wine & Viticulture Journal, then called Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal, and the annual Wine Industry Directory.

The Australian Wine Export Council (AWEC) was launched in February. It’s predicted the 1992 or 1993 vintage will exceed 1 million tonnes for the first time.

It’s also predicted export value will be $356 million between 1996-97.

Exports to the USA were in growth reaching 6.9 million litres worth $28 million. Domestic sales were running around 315 million litres although worth noting, white wine in cask accounted for 135 million litres whilst bottled white wine was another 43.5 million litres.

Hardy Wine Company merges with Berri Renmano and becomes BRL Hardy Ltd. The combined companies had sales of $154 million with an $8.8 million profit.

Family companies were either listing on the ASX, being absorbed as brands to the large producers or were realising there needed to be change, the highly complex shareholding of the McWilliams family an example: four branches of the family, three holding 28 per cent each the fourth with 14 per cent. Family feuding meant the company wasn’t going far. They also still believed in fortified wine which had built the fortune in the first place.

Common sense prevailed and they hired Kevin McLintock as CEO, the first outsider to head the company.

This year also saw the beer division of the South Australian Brewing Company sold to Lion Nathan. The wine assets would be renamed Southcorp Holdings the following year.

1993 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1993: Lifted nose, not attractive but not

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

nasty. Has a depth of flavour but also exhibited a bitter edge and was short on the finish. 87 points The Australian wine industry was hot. Red hot money was flowing into the industry from all directions. The South Australian Government tipped in $1.5 million to help facilitate wine exports from the state. This prompted the Australian Wine Export Council (AWEC) to apply for a loan of $1.5 million (interest free for three years) via the Austrade International Trade Enhancement Scheme. The game was on.

Ironically, the mantra of the day was to get away from the boom-bust cycle.

Part of the boom was the statistic; the average price of a bottle of wine in the UK was £2.98 but the average for a bottle of Australian wine was £4.11. With inflation that translates to around £7.60 today. The average price of a bottle of wine in the UK is now £5.11 and Australian wine is just above the average at around £5.30, so it has not kept pace with inflation.

A meeting held by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia was attended by around 120 winemakers bolstered with the excitement of the possibility of export sales reaching $1 billion by the year 2000.

Richmond Grove opened a 242 hectare vineyard in Cowra, a region at the time touted for greatness. What happened?

Peter Lehmann (the man) acquired Peter Lehmann the company/brand from MS McLeod Holdings. Grant Burge went for the Basedow brand, stock and winery from McLeod. In Tasmania, Pipers Brook Vineyard announced a share issue of 1.25 million shares at $1.20 to finance expansion. This made Pipers Brook a public company, but it was not listed on the stock exchange.

Penfolds Wine Group announced it would invest $100 million in expanding vineyard holdings and winery infrastructure and is renamed Southcorp Holdings.

The vintage was 583,000 tonnes.

1994 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1994: Dusty nose with faint red fruit character. Sits pert at the front of the palate then travels in a stately fashion.

Hint of tannin still showing but not enough to be intrusive. Disappointed on the finish; what it had to offer was the journey not the arrival. 89 points.

The Australian wine industry is so fired up it’s well on the way to orgasm.

The optimism and positive speak is

V31N5

K E Y

overwhelming. No word of dissent would be tolerated. Any query of intent was treated as hearsay and the protagonist (often myself) was rebuked and treated as an idiot who didn’t understand what was happening. As any adult knows or should, a quick sexual liaison often does not turn into a lifetime partnership.

This was the year some would say the industry blossomed. In reality it was a fevered, frenzied, ugly scramble for money. Wine itself got somewhat lost in the process and the consumer, well they were just dumb buggers who would buy anything the large Australian wine companies threw at them.

Not all were sucked in. In February Dr Richard Smart presented to the SA Wine Press Club. He informed the audience complacency could be the downfall of the industry. He said some people in the industry were acting as if there was no end to the success Australian wine would achieve in the global market.

“There seems to be an opinion that we have it easier than the rest of the world, however, Australia has no sustainable or unique advantage that other countries cannot adopt,” he said.

Dr Smart said a lot more, a great deal of it positive and encouraging. Looking back it appears the audience listened with one ear and properly scoffed at his warning. In hindsight he was right, there were cracks appearing. Certain aspects just didn’t add up but the exports continued to grow so what could possibly be wrong?

One of those cracks was exemplified by the prosecution of The Vales Wine Company. The prime allegation with respect to each of the 11 counts was the company sold wine that was not true to description. One example was a wine said to be 100 per cent Shiraz and sold to Chateau Yaldara as being from the 1991 vintage. It was found to be less than 80 per cent variety requirement and less than the 95 per cent vintage requirement.

This could have been just outright deception or it could have been because wine supply was getting tight. In the UK all sorts of strange blends were appearing. There simply wasn’t enough Chardonnay to go around so ‘Semillon Chardonnay’ appeared on the shelves. The consumer focussed on the second word, Chardonnay, not realising the majority was Semillon. Legal, but the consumer was being conned and it wouldn’t take

V3 1N 5

long before the mouse would roar at the lion.

Orlando Wyndham was named Australian Exporter of the Year, a first for the wine industry. Its success was based on sales of Jacob's Creek, especially in the UK. Rothbury acquired the assets of Barossa-based Saltram Winery from Canadian company Seagram which retained a 20 per cent stake in the combined venture, becoming the company’s largest shareholder. Rothbury only had another two years to go before it was taken over by Mildara Blass in 1996.

1994: This was the year some would say the industry blossomed. In reality it was a fevered, frenzied, ugly scramble for money. Wine itself got somewhat lost in the process and the consumer, well they were just dumb buggers who would buy anything the large Australian wine companies threw at them.

Penfolds gave group chief winemaker John Duvall a brief to develop a white wine program, the first release being an Adelaide Hills Semillon.

Australian Vintage, trading as Austvin, released a prospectus to raise $10 million aimed at processing 5 per cent of the Australian crush.

For the half year to December Brian McGuigan Wines reported a 66 per cent increase in profits to $589,000 on sales of $4,515,000.

Brian McGuigan Wines was one of several companies floated since 1990, along with Petaluma, Peter Lehmann, BRL Hardy and Simeon Wines (Orlando Wyndham). Petaluma acquired Mitchelton Wines for $19.4 million. Normans listed in December.

Allied industries such as ACI Glass were also expanding to meet demand and new larger bottling lines were being installed all over the country.

Southcorp announced it had broken the $100 million barrier for export sales.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

F I L E S

Those who had doubts were naysayers and considered lacking the ability to imagine Australian wine could dominate the universe.

Total Australian wine exports for the 1993-94 year totalled $358.6 million, $160 million of it going to the UK. 1995 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1995: Powerful nose but not a good one.

The wine has some presence but it was all over the place with raw tannin/acid and a bitter finish. 84 points The heat was becoming intense; onwards, upwards and greater profits were the talk of the town. The seven publicly-listed wine companies recorded profits of $87 million for the 1994-95 financial year; this was up from $55 million in 1992-93.

Vineyards were either bought, sold or being established.

Southcorp invested $6 million in two vineyard enterprises in Victoria: 36 hectares at Coldstream in the Yarra Valley and 100ha at Elmhurst in the Pyrenees.

Orlando Wyndham went big in Langhorne Creek with 560ha.

Tyrrells made the bold decision to move away from New South Wales, investing in vineyards in McLaren Vale in South Australia and Heathcote in Victoria. They also bought a controlling interest in the 84ha St Mary’s Vineyard in Coonawarra – well, it was Coonawarra then but when the boundary was redrawn it became Penola, then that was taken away and it’s now Limestone Coast.

BRL Hardy increased its Coonawarra holdings by 26ha bringing the total to 120ha.

UK wine writer Hugh Johnson MW visited Australia and spoke at the SA Wine Press Club, his message being Australia needed to do more with its regionality and less with cross regional blending.

Although great news for Southcorp at the time, in hindsight Penfolds Grange 1990 being named ‘Wine of the Year 1995’ by the influential WSA Wine Spectator spurred on many in the industry.

As the fever intensified many invested in one way or another in the Australian wine industry; many were to lose considerable amounts of money.

Between 1991 and 1995 vineyards totalling 19,054ha were planted, 5806ha ▶ to Chardonnay and 4201 to Shiraz.

www.winetitles. com . au

13

K E Y

F I L E S

1996 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1996: Light on the nose but the aroma was clean and pleasant. Consistent in its journey, short on the finish but enough there to show it’s a wine of quality. 93 points This was the year the Strategy 2025 document was published. The document was insightful, well written and made sense. It was a ‘could be’ analysis of the industry up to 1996 and possibly could be by 2025.

Unfortunately it was taken as what would be and the wine industry, along with banks, brokers and the wealthy, went wild. The paragraph that lit the fuse to the rocket was: “The vision is that by the Year 2025 the Australian wine industry will achieve $4.5 billion in annual sales by being the world’s most influential and profitable supplier of branded wines, pioneering wine as a universal first choice lifestyle beverage.”

Clever money men were coming up with ideas for vineyard expansion via managed investment schemes (MIS).

MIS were not new. The Great Southern Group was established in 1987, listed on the ASX in 1999 and started MIS for wine between 2004 and 2008. In 2008 Wine Grape Growers Australia estimated MIS vineyard plantings at not less than 16,000ha, or 10 per cent of plantings, amounting to more than 200,000 tonnes of existing or potential winegrape production.

In 1996, serious wine MIS were in the future but the success of the Australian wine industry combined with a shortage of grapes had opportunity. Strategy 2025 was released and that document unintentionally kick-started MIS into action.

Towards the end of the year Australian wine had 8.6 per cent of the UK wine market.

The big company makeup of Australian wine producers was starting to receive criticism from UK wine media. Jancis Robinson, writing in the Financial Times on 16 November, points her readers towards wines from Languedoc and Roussillon.

The increasing exports to the UK and USA blinded Australian producers; they could only see the upside, the murmurs starting to emerge from the UK about analogous style wines falling on deaf ears.

Predictions from the Strategy 2025 document included:

14

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

• Australia will supply 120 million litres to the UK representing an 11 per cent market share by 2025 • Australia will achieve export sales of 88 million litres to the USA, a 4 per cent market share by 2025 • Australia will supply Germany 80 million litres for a 4 per cent market share in 2025 • Australia’s share in Japan is expected to grow to 7 per cent to 50 million litres in 2025 • Overall, Australia’s exports by 2025 are expected to grow to 600 million litres equating to $2.5 billion in sales annually.

This was the year profitable brewer Fosters made one of its biggest mistakes, acquiring Mildara Blass for $500 million.

Ray King, CEO of Mildara Blass, presented a paper at the ABARE Outlook Conference saying the wine industry needed to address the problem of poor profit to capital investment.

Despite all the optimism and hubbub there wasn’t enough money being made to continue to reinvest. Although the veil was lifting, few would come to fully understand the real issues of the industry until too late.

Hazel Murphy, head of The Australian Wine Bureau in the UK, is chosen as the recipient of the Maurice O’Shea award.

1997 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1997: The first wine to show black fruits character on the nose along with a hint of mushroom and other interesting aromas.

Good balance throughout the journey with both upper and lower notes working in harmony. 94 points The industry is still in full flow and positivity is all over Australia but not so much in the UK. Jane MacQuitty writes in The Times on 8 February 1997 about Australia being at a crossroads on what grape varieties should be planted where. She wonders if Tempranillo or Sangiovese will make it and criticises the use of Sultana and Muscat Gordo in cheap bottled and box wine. She says, “the single vineyard, single region route has to be the road to take.”

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph on 16 February Robert Joseph says most Australian Chardonnay is just fresh and fruity, one step up from Black Tower and Mateus Rosé. The growing homogenisation of Australian wines is becoming clearer to the wine media and to the knowledgeable consumer.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

That same homogenisation was attractive to the non-wine interested consumer, providing the price was right. Supermarkets started to work out it was more profitable to sell a case of Chardonnay a day under £4 earning 75p on each bottle than sell one bottle a week of £12 wine earning £5. For them the price had to be right and pressure was starting to be put on suppliers to make sure it was. Therefore, producers sacrificed margin for increased turnover.

What they didn’t realise was the pressure from supermarkets would continue for years and each increase in duty would have to be absorbed so the supermarkets could keep the same retail price and their margin.

Jacob's Creek made a brave move: it pushed through the £5 barrier, losing some accounts in the process.

Unfortunately, other producers would not follow Jacob's Creek and eventually it could be found once again under £5.

Back in Australia murmurings could also be heard, although the cry was still positivity. Paul Clancy wrote in his editorial in the Wine Industry Journal, “The Australian wine industry could be at risk of developing into an uncontrolled juggernaut. Amber lights are already flashing about an oversupply of fruit as early as 2000. In addition, high prices for grapes are having a significant effect on the profitability of small and medium producers.”

How could Australian producers take heed of murmurings, mutterings and warnings based more on gut reaction than fact when the export figures for 1996 were released showing value of $551.2 million, up 35.5 per cent, and volume up 29.9 per cent to 148.2 million litres. The UK was lapping up Australian wine continuing to increase its market share. Hazel Murphy and her team were basking in the glory as the Australian Wine Bureau (UK) celebrated its tenth anniversary. Adding to the glory, Decanter magazine voted Len Evans ‘Man of the Year’.

Riverina-based Cranswick Estate, the seventeenth largest producer and seventh largest wine exporter, listed on the ASX. The company is valued at $27.46 million. Mildara Blass picked up Cellarmasters for $120 million. Orlando Wyndham announced plans to invest $66 million over the next four years predicting sales of Jacob's Creek would top four million cases in 2001. The company also

V31N5

K E Y

F I L E S

announced the largest single shipment of Australian wine - 103 containers (1.5 million bottles) of Jacobs Creek destined for the UK. During the calendar year 1997 exports reached 171.9 million litres, up 16 per cent on 1996, worth $688.8 million, up 25 per cent, with the price per litre an incredible $4.01. The UK leads with 78 million litres followed by the USA at 27 million litres. The interesting difference is in price per litre: UK $3.80, USA $5.03.

1998 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1998: Hints of damp earth on the nose. A slow journey with flavours gently unfurling and giving pleasure all the way. Drinking delightfully, now at its peak. 96 points.

Australia is exporting so much wine it’s running short for the domestic market. It increases its imports which is blended with local wine destined for cask.

Morris cask was one that had a Spanish/ Australian blend.

This led to articles saying Australian wine exported to the UK was, in fact, not all Australian and UK consumers were being deceived.

Ian Sutton, CEO of the Australian Wine Export Council, wrote to The Times in June of that year saying no Australian wine exported to the UK was blended and total imports of wine into Australia was less than 1.5 per cent of local wine produced.

In April Penfolds released the much anticipated white Grange which turned out to be an Adelaide Hills Chardonnay named Yattarna. There was much talk at the time it really should have been an aged Hunter Valley Semillon but the company thought that Semillon wouldn’t attract attention or the price it wanted for a premium white wine overseas.

BRL Hardy invested $18 million in building the Stonehaven Winery in Padthaway. Much faith was put into the future of the Stonehaven brand. Where is it today?

This was the year Southcorp realigned its business. It put up for sale its Riverland vineyards. The intention was to concentrate on owning premium vineyards. In a conversation with a Southcorp executive at the time I was told there was so much warm climate fruit going into the ground grape prices would drop and Southcorp could buy as much as it needed without the expense of running vineyards. It also announced

16

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

plans to invest $14.2 million developing new vineyards at Bordertown, in South Australia, and Gundagai, in New South Wales.

Ray King, CEO of Mildara Blass, is hooked on wine clubs believing the best way to get the biggest return on wine is selling direct to the consumer. Having acquired Cellarmasters he goes after Bourse du Vin International, based in the Netherlands but also doing business in Belgium and France.

When the export figures came out in January covering 1998, even the cynical such as myself had to admit they were impressive.

Pipers Brook listed fully on the Australian stock exchange. At the time, Pipers Brook accounted for 35 per cent of Tasmanian wine production.

The National Wine Centre is under construction and scheduled to open in 2000. Brian Croser, at the time president of the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, says, “As the Louvre is to the art world, the National Wine Centre will be to the Australian wine industry.” Little did he realise at the time what a fiasco it would turn into.

There is a glut of Australian Chardonnay and some growers are not having their contracts renewed.

1999 Yalumba ‘The Octavius’ Barossa Shiraz 1999: Not a good nose and tannin dominating the fruit which I fear is unlikely to emerge. 85 points.

To the horror of the industry the Federal Government announces the Wine Equalisation Tax will be set at 29 per cent.

The WFA had put forward 24.5 per cent and was confident the Government would accept that.

Factions of the industry wanted an ad valorem tax. It’s a debate that still rages today.

When the export figures came out in January covering 1998, even the cynical such as myself had to admit they were impressive. Volume was up 16 per cent at 199.5 million litres and value had

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

increased to $885 million, up an incredible 28.5 per cent. Better still, the price per litre was also up 10.7 per cent to an average of $4.44/litre.

But even the positive people were seeing trouble ahead. Chairman of the AWBC Dr John Keniry warned at the AGM grape prices were likely to fall due to the vast amount of plantings during the decade. The vintage was forecast to be around 950,000 tonnes but it topped one million tonnes at 1.07MT. There were warning signs for grapegrowers. Nick Bullied said in Southcorp’s vintage report that growers who had been getting top prices received a rude shock. Paul Clancy covered the boom in plantings in his editorial in the July-August Wine Industry Journal, “An unexploded bomb lies ticking within the Australian wine industry in the form of unbridled vineyard plantings, particularly by investment fund companies.”

In the first half of 1999 it was announced the Australian Tax Office had approved 2975ha of plantings, most without contracts. As Clancy said, plantings were 15 years ahead of Strategy 2025 predictions.

The warning signs, or as Clancy said “red light”, were showing but the majority involved in the industry refused to see it.

The first three months of 1999 saw the value of exports increase to $932 million for the 12 months. Would the magic billion fall within that year? The Strategy 2025 document had said $4.5 billion by 2025 and here Australia was 26 years early already approaching $1 billon. The Australian wine industry was truly the feted calf of global wine production. Did it realise the feted calf would ultimately be sacrificed?

Who cared as by the end of June the 12-month export figures showed value at $991 million and volume at 216 million litres. Australian wine was indeed becoming the global dominant player.

A new millennium was approaching and Australian wine was the wine for that millennium, but was it? Stay tuned for the second decade in the next issue of the Journal.

Wine industry commentator Tony Keys has spent more than 30 years in the wine industry including the retail sector in the UK and roles with the Australian Export Council and the Australian Wine Bureau in London. He is author of The Key Report, a weekly report containing news, views, analysis and opinions on the wine industry: www.thekeyreport.com.au WVJ

V31N5

CLIMATE CHANGE

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Times are a-changing – the effects of climate change on wine production practices

By Cathy Howard

Inspired by a presentation at the recent International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in England, Cathy asks, what is happening in vineyards around Australia to adapt to the varying challenges of a changing climate?

I

n May this year, the 9th International Cool Climate Wine Symposium (ICCWS) was held in Brighton, England, and its theme was ‘Successful Wine Production in Changing Climates’. The program for Day 1, titled ‘Facing a Challenging Climate’, featured guest speaker Professor Cornelis van Leeuwen who presented on ‘Managing climate based variability in the vineyard, winery and glass’. As summarised on the ICCWS website, van Leeuwen’s presentation noted, “The major resources provided by the climate to vines are temperature, water, light and carbon dioxide…The climate is changing, resulting in greater variability, higher temperatures and increased water deficits.

These changes do not always have a negative impact on wine quality but they change the style of wine produced. Adaptation to a changing climate necessitates modifications to plant material and management techniques.”

The mere fact that this symposium was held in England and, in addition, England was described on the ICCWS website as “one of the newest and most dynamic wine regions of the world” highlights the changes that are happening in wine growing regions globally and the move into areas previously deemed unsuitable, marginal or high risk for planting a vineyard but now producing premium quality wines. The wine industry globally is changing and evolving due to a changing climate.

An internet search on wine production, vineyards and climate change yields a huge number of research papers, blogs, newspaper articles, books and various opinion pieces on the current trends being experienced in vineyards and wineries globally with regard to climate change. There is increased variability in climate patterns, warming temperatures, more severe weather events such as floods, frosts and bushfires.

The variability of changing weather conditions from year to year is resulting in early harvests and maximum temperatures

V3 1N 5

Although the risks of climate change to Tasmanian viticulture are less severe than those faced by many mainland regions due to its cool climate and generally good access to irrigation water, one concern is the effect warmer weather may have on the state’s existing varieties, such as Pinot Noir which requires relatively cool growing conditions to produce good quality wine. being earlier and hotter than previous years, with the potential for climate change to have long-term effects on global wine production. Various mitigation strategies are also discussed and suggested ranging from short-term, year-to-year strategies out to long-term structural changes such as the relocation of grapegrowing enterprises into cooler areas and the replanting to new varieties that are more drought and heat tolerant in existing winegrowing areas.

Mozell and Thach (2014) conducted an extensive literature review that is well worth reading. The aim of the literature review was to explore the various impacts of climate change on global wine production and the potential challenges it could bring. “It is not just warming temperatures and a reduction in fresh water that may result in enormous losses in land suitable for premium grape production, but with climate change predicted to have major effects on ocean temperatures the loss of the Gulf Stream, for instance, would chill Bordeaux and parts of Spain, forcing a replanting toward cooler climate grapes. Southern England, (and Tasmania) by contrast, will benefit from climate change having more favourable, reliable seasons and have them more often, due to warmer temperatures which previously made them marginal,” they noted.

Mozell and Thach stated, “Minor shifts in seasonal temperature can make the difference between a poor, good,

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

17

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

CLIMATE CHANGE

Table 1. Comparison of growing season data (days from or excellent vintage. An upward shift in seasonal temperature budburst to harvest) across four blocks of four varieties at De will dramatically shift the growing season thereby changing the Bortoli, Yarra Valley, 2002-2016. Source: Rob Sutherland Phenolgy Index Combined Days normal pattern of grape development toward an earlier onset of Average A8 Shiraz A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard A1/A2 S.Blanc Total Growing season budburst, flowering, veraison, and harvest. The timing of veraison 2002 173.3 188 181 175 149 693 2003 167.0 179 178 176 135 668 may be of particular importance, because earlier veraison 2004 174.3 176 180 192 149 697 implies that the critical ripening period shifts towards the hotter 2005 184.5 192 177 192 177 738 2006 175.3 183 171 184 163 701 part of the season.”

2007 175.3 183 173 181 164 701 2008 167.3 166 172 171 160 669 The review also covered the impact of a rising sea level on the 2009 172.0 183 165 176 164 688 loss of vineyard acreage and the increase in insects and insect2010 176.3 189 171 183 162 705 borne diseases as their temperature limits move poleward, 2011 179.3 185 177 188 167 717 2012 177.0 190 174 183 161 708 with many regions long believed to be climatically protected 2013 170.8 181 162 175 165 683 from certain pests potentially finding themselves now open to 2014 179.3 197 166 179 175 717 2015 172.3 188 173 174 154 689 infestation. One aspect that I hadn’t considered is, “the change 145 2016 166.5 174 172 175 666 in the quality of oak due to increasing atmospheric CO2 which Average Bud burst to harvestmay daysaccelerate the production of tree mass”. Faster tree Table 2. Budburst days from the 1 August each year to 50 growth yielding coarser-grained oak and also oak with a lower 190.0 per cent budburst across four blocks of four varieties at De concentration of ellagitannin will have an effect on wine quality Bortoli, Yarra Valley, 2002-2016.

Sutherland 184.5 Source: Rob Phenolgy Index Combined Days 185.0 with a lessening of tannins released into the finished wine.

Bud Burst days Average A8 Shiraz A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard A1/A2 S.Blanc Total In other research, Webb (2011) reports grapes in Australia 2002 62.0 57 54 59 78 248 179.3 179.3 180.0 2003 53.5 51 47 42 74 214 are ripening between one and two days earlier each year due 177.0 176.3 2004 52.5 48 43 39 80 210 175.3 175.3 2005 37.5 41 34 30 45 150 174.3 to climate change in a trend viticultural experts say could see 173.3 33.5 175.0 2006 38 29 23 44 134 172.3 172.0 some traditional varieties abandoned in warmer areas. In the 2007 32.3 35 28 24 42 129 170.8 2008 36.0 41 31 28 44 144 study, Webb examined the vintage records of 44 vineyards, some 170.0 2009 32.5167.0 31 28 28 43 130 167.3 166.5 2010 25.0 24 22 19 35 100 of which went back as far as 115 years, and found that grapes 37 54 2011 46.0 51 42 184 165.0 had ripened at a rate of 1.7 days a year earlier between 1993 and 23 46 2012 34.0 36 31 136 29 48 2013 39.3 39 41 157 2009. The same trends have been observed in Europe, where 160.0 22 43 2014 31.8 33 29 127 records have been kept by generations of winemakers since the 22 48 2015 33.3 37 26 133 22 2016 36.5 39 36 49 146 1500s.

155.0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 Earlier harvests have 2014 been widely reported within the Table 3. Flowering days fromChange the 1 in August each year to 50 Australian wine industry for a number of years now, with each Average Bud Burst Day After 1st of August per70.0 cent budburst across four blocks of four varieties at De Page 4 vintage bringing a new record broken in the start date for vintage.

62.0 Yarra Valley, 2002-2016. Source: Rob Sutherland Bortoli, Phenolgy Index Combined Days The concern from a wine quality point of view is that varieties 60.0 53.5 Flowering Days Average52.5A8 Shiraz A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard A1/A2 S.Blanc Total in some regions are ripening more quickly and many are doing 123.8 122 122 115 136 495 46.0 50.0 2002 this now in the hottest months, with negative impacts on flavour 2003 118.0 119 117 107 129 472 39.3 37.5 36.5 118.8 121 112 11136.0 131 475 40.0 2004 development.

Pressure 34.0 33.5 33.3 is also increasing on winery intake 32.5 31.8 2005 117.5 120 114 32.3 111 125 470 logistics with compressed vintages and compromises continually 104.8 106 96 95 122 25.0 419 30.0 2006 2007 102.0 106 94 94 114 408 being made, with grapes not necessarily being harvested at 105.0 108 100 100 112 420 20.0 2008 optimal times, which inevitably has a negative flow-on effect on 2009 101.8 104 99 97 107 407 104.3 106 102 100 109 417 10.0 2010 wine quality.

2011 115.8 119 113 112 119 463 So, the question arises, what is happening now on the ground 104.5 107 101 99 111 418 0.0 2012 111.8 2004 115 108 2007 106 118 2010 447 20022013 2003 2005 2006 2008 2009 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 in2012 vineyards around Australia to adapt to the varying challenges 2014 106.3 114 99 99 113 425 2015 103.3 107 99 95 112 413 of a changing climate?

2016

95.8

98

93

91

Page 1 101

383

ROB SUTHERLAND, VITICULTURIST & VINEYARD MANAGER, DE BORTOLI WINES, YARRA VALLEY, VICTORIA Veraison Days 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Average 196.3 183.8 194.3 183.3 173.8 177.3 172.5 179.3 171.3 186.3 174.0 181.8 177.5 169.5 168.8

A8 Shiraz 195 183 195 187 177 182 177 191 178 194 180 185 188 177 172

A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard 191 195 182 181 193 193 177 181 165 171 175 172 167 163 173 173 171 167 182 184 170 170 179 179 168 175 167 162 166 166

A1/A2 S.Blanc 204 189 196 188 182 180 183 180 169 185 176 184 179 172 171

PageDe 2 Rob Sutherland, viticulturist and vineyard manager for Bortoli Wines in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.

18

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Total 785 735 777 733 695 709 690 717 685 745 696 727 710 678 675

Rob Sutherland states, “A lot of climate change research regarding viticulture has focussed on the growing season and the future modelling of mean temperatures, in particular mean maximum temperatures. There are a few problems with this, and I believe the changes in mean minimum temperatures could be having more of an impact than mean maximum temperatures. Our data shows that earlier picking dates are more aligned to budburst date [Table 1 and Figure 1] than other phenological date changes [Tables 2 to 5, - see page 20 for Tables 4-5 - andFigures 2 to 3].

“We use the 1 August as a reference point and refer to days past that day to compare the data. You will notice that the average day past the 1 August for budburst has decreased by roughly 25-35 days since 2002. The harvest date graph [Figure

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

175.3 175.3 167.3 172.0 176.3 179.3 177.0 170.8 179.3 172.3 166.5

183 183 166 183 189 185 190 181 197 188 174

171 173 172 165 171 177 174 162 166 173 172

184 181 171 176 183 188 183 175 179 174 175

163 164 160 164 162 167 161 165 175 154 145

701 701 669 688 705 717 708 683 717 689 666

CLIMATE CHANGE

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Average Bud burst to harvest days 190.0 184.5

185.0

179.3

180.0 175.3

174.3

173.3 175.0

179.3 177.0

176.3

175.3

172.0 Phenolgy Index Combined Days 170.0 Bud Burst days Average A8 Shiraz A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard 167.3 A1/A2 S.Blanc Total 167.0 2002 62.0 57 54 59 78 248 53.5 51 47 42 74 214 165.0 2003 2004 52.5 48 43 39 80 210 2005 37.5 41 34 30 45 150 160.0 2006 33.5 38 29 23 44 134 2007 32.3 35 28 24 42 129 2008 36.0 41 31 28 44 144 155.0 2009 32.5 31 28 28 43 130 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2010 25.0 24 22 19 35 100 37 54 2011 46.0 51 42 184 23 46 2012 34.0 36 31 136 Page 4 29 48 2013 39.3 39 41 157 22 43 2014 31.8 33 29 127 22 48 2015 33.3 37 26 133 22 2016 36.5 39 36 49 146

172.3 170.8 166.5

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Figure 1. Average growing season data from budburst to harvest days at De Bortoli, Yarra Valley, 2002-2016. Note trend line is fairly stable. Source: Rob Sutherland Change in Average Bud Burst Day After 1st of August 70.0 62.0 60.0

53.5

52.5 46.0

50.0 37.5

40.0

39.3

36.0

33.5

30.0

31.8

33.3

2014

2015

36.5

25.0

20.0 10.0 Harvest Days 2002 0.0 2003 2004 2002 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

34.0

32.5

32.3

Phenolgy Index Combined Days Average A8 Shiraz A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard A1/A2 S.Blanc Total 235.3 245 235 234 227 941 220.5 230 225 218 209 882 226.8 2004 2242005 223 229 907 2003 2006 2007231 2008 2009 2010 222.0 233 211 222 222 888 208.8 221 200 207 207 835 207.5 218 201 205 206 830 Page 1 203.3 207 203 199 204 813 204.5 214 193 204 207 818 201.3 213 193 202 197 805 225.3 236 219 225 221 901 211.0 226 205 206 207 844 210.0 220 203 204 213 840 211.0 230 195 201 218 844 205.5 225 199 196 202 822 203.0 213 208 197 194 812

2011

2012

2013

2016

Figure 2. Average budburst days from1 August to 50 per cent budburst at De Bortoli, Yarra Valley. Note trend line shows decrease of 30-35 days from 2002 to 2016. Source: Rob Sutherland Average Harvest days from 1st of August 240.0 235.3 230.0

226.8

225.3 222.0

220.5 220.0

208.8

210.0

211.0

210.0

211.0

207.5 203.3

204.5

2008

2009

205.5 203.0

201.3

200.0

190.0

180.0 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Page 3 Figure 3. Average harvest days from 1 August to harvest at De Bortoli, Yarra Valley. Note trend line shows the same decrease of 30-35 days as average budburst days. Source: Rob Sutherland

2] also shows the same relationship as the budburst graph and has decreased by 30 to 35 days after the 1 August. The budburst to harvest days graph [Figure 3] confirms this relationship (even with the management impacts) with the trend line remaining essentially horizontal indicating that the length of the growing season is not changing significantly.

“This has led us to conclude that the time of budburst is the reason other phenological dates are moving forward as budburst becomes earlier, and this is the reason we are targetting our efforts towards the delay of budburst date to help adjust to a warming climate.”

Sutherland continues, “We have found that budburst dates in the Yarra are determined generally by the level of ‘chilling’ in winter, but when we drilled down into the daily temperature data there was no hard and fast rule regarding a budburst date.

What we did find, however, was a correlation between a frost or near frost event just prior to budburst, and further repeat frost events prior to budburst after the first event which had the biggest impact on the eventual budburst date. We are not entirely sure why, but these vine stress events must be causing perhaps a hormonal response in the vine to pause or to delay

V3 1N 5

For further information, please contact Kauri AUS Tel: 1800 127 611

NZ Tel: 0800 KAURIWINE

Email: info@kauriwine.com

Website: www.kauriwine.com

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

19

2006 104.8 106 2007 102.0 106 2008 105.0 I NEE M MA G108G WW I N A KKI N I N 2009 101.8 104 2010 104.3 106 2011 115.8 119 2012 104.5 107 2013 111.8 115 2014 106.3 114 2015 103.3 107 2016 95.8 98 Table 4. Veraison days from

96 95 122 94 94 114 100 100 112N G E CLIMATE CHA 99 97 107 102 100 109 113 112 119 101 99 111 108 106 118 99 99 113 99 95 112 93 91 101 the 1 August each year to 50

419 408 420 407 417 463 418 447 425 413 383

Veraison Days 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard 191 195 182 181 193 193 177 181 165 171 175 172 167 163 173 173 171 167 182 184 170 170 179 179 168 175 167 162 166 166

Total 785 735 777 733 695 709 690 717 685 745 696 727 710 678 675

per cent budburst across four blocks of four varieties at De Bortoli, Yarra Valley, 2002-2016. Source: Rob Sutherland Average 196.3 183.8 194.3 183.3 173.8 177.3 172.5 179.3 171.3 186.3 174.0 181.8 177.5 169.5 168.8

A8 Shiraz 195 183 195 187 177 182 177 191 178 194 180 185 188 177 172

A1/A2 S.Blanc 204 189 196 188 182 180 183 180 169 185 176 184 179 172 171

Table 5. Harvest days from the 1 August each year to 50 per cent budburst across four blocks of four varieties at De Page 2 Bortoli, Yarra Valley, 2002-2016. Source: RobPhenolgy Sutherland Index Combined Days Harvest Days 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Average 235.3 220.5 226.8 222.0 208.8 207.5 203.3 204.5 201.3 225.3 211.0 210.0 211.0 205.5 203.0

A8 Shiraz 245 230 224 233 221 218 207 214 213 236 226 220 230 225 213

A6 Pinot Noir A5 Chard 235 234 225 218 223 231 211 222 200 207 201 205 203 199 193 204 193 202 219 225 205 206 203 204 195 201 199 196 208 197

A1/A2 S.Blanc 227 209 229 222 207 206 204 207 197 221 207 213 218 202 194

Total 941 882 907 888 835 830 813 818 805 901 844 840 844 822 812

Sutherland said a third strategy was to use planting material suited to particular sites.

“We use rootstocks that have a delayed maturity characteristic. We select varieties that prefer the temperature and UV exposure of each site. If replanting, it is with the staples for De Bortoli which are Chardonnay and Pinot Gris on the southern and eastern slopes. If planting on ridges, and on the north and western slopes, we plant Cabernet, plus a little Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. We are lucky here in that we have the flexibility of being able to utilise various different aspects due to the slopes, and we can tailor what we replant to the varying topography.

“Planting with alternative varieties is a consideration, and the Portuguese varieties of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cão are being considered a possibility for future plantings, but we are cautious with planting these as the market currently can only absorb so much.”

HOLLY RATCLIFF, OWNER & PARTNER, RICCA TERRA FARMS, RIVERLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Holly Ratcliff reports, “We are not really seeing any dramatic or significant changes in the timings of budburst, veraison or harvest. Our earlier vintages appear to be directly related to yearly variations in crop levels, with the earlier vintages resulting from lighter crop levels.

“One of our major risks is around water and annual allocations. Earlier this year, it was shaping up to be possibly Average Harvest days from 1st of Augustanother millennial drought, but following a wet winter, the budburst.

As yet, we do not know what that hormone is.

Murray-Darling catchments are now full and that threat has 240.0 235.3 “We also place very little emphasis on the changes to harvest abated.” date230.0 over time due to226.8 altered management decisions from year 225.3 When asked about Ricca Terra’s strategies for adapting to to year, both in the vineyard222.0 and in the winery, and much more climate change, Ratcliff explained: 220.5 220.0 emphasis on changes to the other phenological stages that are “Our first strategy is planting the appropriate varieties 211.0 211.0 210.0 more definitive.” for climate change.

The balance is to find varieties that can 208.8 207.5 210.0 205.5 204.5 When asked about De Bortoli’s top three strategies for its withstand extreme heat, that 203.0 are less likely to rot if vintage 203.3 201.3 Yarra Valley vineyards, Sutherland said, “Our first strategy is rains occur, that make good wine and, finally, are what our 200.0 to delay the onset of budburst. Prune as late as possible, and customers want to buy. Another consideration regarding the keep190.0 the soils as cool as possible for as long as possible prior variety mix is ripening time. Having a winery’s fermentation to budburst. In other words, do the opposite of what you would capacity full to the brim with mountain loads of grapes 180.0 do for frost protection, and keep the soils under vine routinely ready to harvest is a challenge for everyone. The grower 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 covered with grasses, mulch or compost. suffers due to crop losses, the winemaker suffers as he/she “Our second strategy is to minimise UV and heat exposure cannot harvest grapes at the optimum time and, ultimately, Page 3 to the grape berries. This is a combination of trellis design, customers suffer as they do not get the best possible wine. managing heat events, and maintaining vine vigour and health.

We have been planting a spread of varieties that ripen early Trellis orientation, ideally, is north-northwest to south, so that through to late. For example, Tinta Barroca, a Portuguese at midday the sun is over the tops of rows. We avoid east-west red variety, seems to ripen very early (early February). This rows. We also have moved the cordon wire to the eastern side of is a good thing as there is plenty of red fermentation space posts. available at that time. On the other end of the scale, we have “We are very mindful of the impact of heat events on berry Aglianico which is a late-ripening variety. exposure so we spray Surround kaolin reflective clay spray once “Our second strategy is water. In the Riverland we are just prior to veraison when the berry skins are still taut but juicy always thinking about water, and how we can do more with inside. less. We have found some varieties perform better than others “We manage our canopies to incorporate more dappled light. when it comes to limited water. Higher vigour varieties work We keep healthy canopies for as long as possible during the well here, and we can control their vigour by applying less season through irrigation and fertigation. water. Nero d’Avola is a great variety for growing a reasonable “We do have challenges with downy mildew with six to 10 yield with less water. The key here is a reasonable yield. primary downy events in an average season, and 15-20 downy This means not growing traditional Riverland crops of 10-12 primary events in a bad season such as 2011 and 2012. Hail tonnes/acre, but aiming for red yields of 5-6 tonnes/acre. damage to canopies is something sadly out of our control.”

This doesn’t add additional stress to the vines during extreme

20

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

CLIMATE CHANGE

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Holly Ratcliff, from Ricca Terra farms, and her three children. heat. The other management approach we do in our vineyard in the region is canopy management. All of our premium vineyard blocks are grown on a single cordon wire using catch wires and they are also hand pruned. The traditional canopy management system in the Riverland is to have two cordon wires. We believe our canopy management system works better during heat as the fruit is tucked up in the canopy protected from the heat.

“Our third strategy is rootstock selection. We want rootstocks that can produce vigour, and Ramsey and Ruggeri are our choice rootstocks. By using these two, we manage yield by applying less water. What best suits our region is using a combination of high vigour rootstocks and varieties, then managing the crop level to a reasonable level by judicious application of water and fertiliser. The use of drought-tolerant rootstocks also mitigates water costs.”

Ratcliff concludes, “Growers in inland areas know how to handle the heat, when to irrigate, and use water to lower crops, to produce bigger canopies and to improve wine quality.”

DAVID SANDERSON, INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT & EXTENSION OFFICER, AND SHERALEE DAVIES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WINE TASMANIA David Sanderson says the risks of climate change to Tasmania are “less severe than those faced by many mainland regions due to our cool climate and generally good access to irrigation water”.

He said there were some concerns with climate change for Tasmanian wine, the most serious being weather variability, the effect of warmer weather on current varieties and the possibility of pests currently unable to establish an overwintering population eventually becoming able to do so in a warmer climate.

“Tasmania has very variable weather and many vineyards are subject to frost risk to a greater or lesser extent. This leads to the risk of frost increasing due to earlier budburst, a change in seasonality of rain increasing disease pressure, a change in seasonality of rain impacting on fruitfulness and fruit set, and increased pressure on irrigation resources ▶ limiting access for vineyards,” Sanderson said.

V3 1N 5

For further information, please contact Kauri AUS Tel: 1800 127 611 Email: info@kauriwine.com

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

NZ Tel: 0800 KAURIWINE Website: www.kauriwine.com

www.winetitles. com . au

21

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

CLIMATE CHANGE

Regarding the concerns for the effect of warmer weather on existing varieties, Sanderson pointed out that Tasmania was currently planted to about 44% Pinot Noir, “a variety that requires a relatively cool growing season to produce exceptional quality wine”. The island state’s other major varieties are Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling “which also benefit from the long, cool growing season”, he said. He added 30-35 per cent of Tasmanian production goes to high quality sparkling wine, “a style that benefits from the high natural acidity that the Tasmanian growing season offers”.

Sanderson said the state’s strategies for the next five years to address these concerns included: • understanding the soil, climate, current frost risk and aridity for the current and potential grapegrowing land in Tasmania, as this will enable projection of the suitability of sites for continued and future production of current varieties and wine styles • ensuring Tasmanian growers and winemakers are aware of the risks of climate change and understand the issues facing their site or sites; this site-specific approach is critical for Tasmania as there is great variability across Tasmania and within sub-regions • keeping abreast of biosecurity issues in Tasmania and on the mainland, and maintaining Wine Tasmania’s excellent relationship with Biosecurity Tasmania.

Sheralee Davies offers, “In regard to any noticeable significant changes to the timing of phenological points such as budburst and veraison and harvest, the changes noted are relatively small. Tasmania does have a high degree of variability from year to year. More research and monitoring is required to establish a definite connection between climate change and changes in these phenological timings.

She adds, “There have been only small plantings of alternatives. The mainstays are Pinot Noir (44%), half of which is destined for sparkling, Chardonnay (25%), three quarters of which is destined for sparkling, with the other main varietal plantings being Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.

Interestingly, more Shiraz is now being planted, possibly due to a combination of the Jimmy Watson win a few years ago and the increasing demand for cool climate Shiraz styles. Gruner Veltliner, Nebbiolo and Pinot Blanc have been planted and are being trialled by individual growers.”

GRAEME WELLMAN, VITICULTURIST, DORRIEN ESTATE, BAROSSA VALLEY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Graeme Wellman says his company’s main strategy in managing the impact of climate change in the vineyard is delaying budburst by delaying pruning and pruning lighter, leaving more buds on and “giving the vines more to do”.

“If the season conditions change, then go through and fruit thin if necessary later in the season. This is combined with keeping the canopy healthy, and keeping water on to maintain vine vigour and health. Budburst is related to soil temperatures at 50cm, so strategies are also being used to keep soil temperatures as cool as possible for as long as possible. This year, budburst timing is looking ‘normal’ following a wetter and colder winter.”

Delaying veraison is another strategy, Wellman says.

22

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

“When veraison is earlier, ripening is occurring at the hottest time of the year. Controlling veraison is down to crop and canopy management, and perhaps also the use of sunscreen kaolin clay sprays that could be utilised to assist here. More work needs to be done on the application and timing of these specifically, looking at them perhaps to be used not so much as a sunscreen but as an aid to slow veraison.”

Wellman acknowledges though that these extra vineyard management strategies do lead to added costs for growers to manipulate their vines.

“There is no big push currently in the Barossa to move away from the mainstay varieties of Shiraz, Cabernet and Chardonnay. There is currently not enough demand from consumers to drive more plantings of alternative varieties.

In warmer inland areas there are more alternatives being planted, and ones that hold onto their acids better in warm to hot growing conditions. There is replanting happening through the Barossa, mainly due to eutypa, and these replantings have been matched to meet consumer demands, so more Shiraz and Cabernet, and less white.”

CONCLUSIONS Climate change means just that, a change - a change from the reasonably predictable seasonal weather patterns from the years prior to the early 1990s to weather patterns now that are less predictable, and are changing at a rate not experienced before. Vines and their key phenological markers of budburst, veraison and harvest are all indicating a change globally, and how individual growers and wineries manage this on an annual basis as well as in the long term (10, 20 and 30 years hence) will be the challenge and also the key to a sustainable wine industry. This challenge will require a combination of various mitigation strategies which will be quite site specific. But, if handled with thought and positive action, it could signal an exciting future for grapegrowers, winemakers and consumers.

REFERENCES Cabbage, M. and McCarthy, L. (2016) Climate change is shifting wine grape harvests in France and Switzerland, 21 March 2015. http://climate.nasa.gov/ news/2418/climate-change-is-shifting-wine-grape-harvests-in-france-andswitzerland/. Accessed 8 September 2016.

Hannah, L.; Roehrdanz, P.R.; Ikegami, M.; Shepard, A.V.; Shaw, R.; Tabor, G.; Zhi, L.; Marquet, PA and Hijmans, R.J. (2013) Climate change, wine and conservation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(17):6907–6912.

Mozell, M.R and Thach, L. (2014) The impact of climate change on the global wine industry: challenges & solutions. Wine Economics and Policy 3(2):81–89.

Webb, L.B.; Whetton, P.H. and Barlow, W.R. (2011) Observed trends in winegrape maturity in Australia. Global Change Biology Journal 17(8):2707-2719.

Webb, L.B.; Whetton, P.H.; Bhend, J.; Darbyshire, R.; Briggs, P.R. and Barlow, E.R. (2012) Earlier wine grape ripening driven by climatic warming and drying and management practices. Nature Climate Change 2:259-264.

Cathy Howard is a winemaker and, together with her husband Neil, proprietor of Whicher Ridge Wines, near Busselton, Western Australia. She has been making wine for more than 20 years and also consults part-time to some wineries in the Geographe region.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

WVJ

V31N5

RE F RI G E RATI O N

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Choice of refrigerant becomes natural as plant fault detection gets smarter

By Sonya Logan

At the Winery Engineering Association conference held in McLaren Vale in early September, delegates heard how synthetic refrigerants are nearing their use-by date, but were cautioned about switching to refrigeration systems using natural refrigerants just yet, while an Australian-based company revealed it had developed a system that predicts plant faults involving smart technology.

W

inery engineers and their support teams gathered at Serafino in McLaren Vale for two days in early September for this year’s Winery Engineering Association Conference.

A program of presenters talked on a variety of subjects, including grape sorting, winery sanitation, filtration, fermentation, and energy efficiency, with two presentations addressing winery refrigeration: the first was by Aucklandbased Adrian Dickison, of Beca, while the second was by Michael Bellstedt, of Sydney-based refrigeration consultancy Minus40.

SYNTHETIC REFRIGERANTS ON THE WAY OUT, BUT DON’T GO CHANGING OVER YOUR COOLING PLANT JUST YET While the natural refrigerant ammonia is typically used in refrigeration plants found in Australia’s larger wineries, the packaged chillers used by most smaller wineries tend to use a synthetic hydrofluorocarbon (HFC).

Natural refrigerants – so named because the substances such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and propane also occur in nature - have been used as refrigerants for many years, but their use in recent decades has been outweighed

by synthetic versions which were first developed in the 1930s as a safer alternative to the then highly flammable natural refrigerants.

However, synthetic refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were found to be contributing to a depletion of the earth’s ozone layer and in 1987, 197 countries signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, with developing countries agreeing to phase out CFC-based refrigerants by 2010 and hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2020. Companies subsequently developed HFCs to replace CFC and HCFCs, but now even their days of use are numbered

The Climate Wizard Supercool air conditioner reduces ‘Angels’ share’ by controlling temperature and humidity.

Sorry Angels, not much to share.

Higher yield, better quality and savings on energy.

The Climate Wizard gives winemakers control of barrel hall temperature and relative humidity with fresh air. Less ‘Angels’ share’ means less top up, and

Download your free guide Includes more about the Peter Lehmann Wines case study climatewizard.com/angels 1300 991 245

disturbing of the wine.

Feedback from Peter Lehmann Wines, “there's a noticeable difference, with improvement in colour and flavour intensity.”

The hyper-efficiency of Climate Wizard means that it cuts cooling costs by 80%*, which means no costly power upgrades are necessary for your barrel storage. *Compared to conventional systems, performing the same duty.

climatewizard.com V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

23

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

REFRIGERATIO N

with all the signatories to the Montreal Agreement working towards adding an amendment aimed at reducing the production and consumption of HFCs. “Although HFCs have overcome concerns about the contribution of synthetic refrigerants to ozone depletion, they still have a global warming potential (GWP),” Dickison told the conference. A greenhouse gas’s GWP refers to how much heat it traps in the atmosphere compared with carbon dioxide.

“Standard HFCs have a GWP 14004000 times that of carbon dioxide itself.

While the manufacturers of synthetic refrigerants have been making new products that are coming down in global warming potential, they are still well off from having a zero GWP, so a more appealing solution is to use natural refrigerants, which have no or negligible impact on the climate.” Dickison said.

He told the WEA conference it was inevitable that synthetic refrigerants would undergo year-on-year price increases as both a function of the marketplace and, most notably, greenhouse gas emission reduction measures implemented by governments, such as carbon taxes.

“So, we could continue to use synthetic refrigerants before any phase-out agreements come into operation, but in my view it is really just rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic by doing so.

At some point we will stop using them because the natural ones will simply be cheaper and just as good,” Dickison said.

He said in recent years there had been incremental advances in chillers and equipment that use natural refrigerants

New Zealand-based Adrian Dickison, of Beca.

24

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

such as ammonia, CO2 and propane.

However, he stopped short of urging wineries to install systems such as these as a matter of urgency, saying from an economic perspective they would be better off waiting until their existing systems reached the end of their life. He said for wineries running HFC chillers at the moment, environmental regulations in Australian and New Zealand, such as carbon taxes, and the cost of purchasing the refrigerant did not make up a significant component of the total annual cost of running the units.

Dickison said his company had done a cost analysis of a 5000-tonne winery in New Zealand running a HFC chiller compared with a unit running on natural refrigerant given current refrigerant costs and NZ’s current rate of carbon tax.

He said the ‘sweetspot’ for replacing existing HFC units with systems using natural refrigerants would occur when doing so was advantageous for safety, economic and marketing factors.

THE THING WITH FINDING FAULTS IN REFRIGERATION PLANTS Michael Bellsteadt, of Minus40, revealed during the WEA conference how his company, in conjunction with a Californian-based software developer, had developed a system for predicting faults in refrigeration systems utilising the internet of things (IoT) – the ability to connect multiple devices via the internet.

While it will be a little while before the system will be readily available to wineries, with a rollout to refrigeration manufacturers beginning shortly before a broader rollout to industry, its application has the potential to save both time and money.

“Most refrigeration plants these days monitor for faults. Most plants will consist of a PLC or similar device which is hooked up to sensors within the plant that monitor things like head pressure or whether a pump has gone down. And alarms can be created within the system to alert the plant manager when something has gone wrong,” Bellstedt explained.

“While PLC/HMI plants can work very well, it is very hard to go to the next step with this type of technology to enable it to perform sophisticated fault diagnoses.

Conventionally, such diagnoses are done using human-defined alarms that are triggered when conditions an engineer

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Michael Bellstedt, of Sydney-based refrigeration consultancy Minus40, with an example of the hubs that make up the fault-predicting system his company has designed using smart technology. feels he or she should be informed about have arisen – a reactive alarm. But it would be better if these alarms were proactive so faults could be prevented.

Otherwise plant operators run the risk of over-maintaining their plants...or they simply wait for the plant to breakdown.

“There is a middle ground and that’s a predictive alarm – a system that learns how a plant runs over time and can predict when the system is about to have a hiccup in its operation and triggers an alarm.”

He said the predictive system his company had developed was non-invasive, didn’t replace any of the existing controls on a plant and was capable of being retrofitted to refrigeration plants new and old and of any size. It comprises a series of sensors and pressure gauges which can be installed at various points throughout the system to not only monitor temperature but also line pressures, humidity and power consumption among nine indicators. This information is then uploaded to the internet where it is logged and undergoes a predictive diagnosis where is can also be accessed via a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

The technology in the hubs that collect data directly from the plant is robust enough to withstand a lost connection to the internet with their memories capable of storing data for up to week without a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.

The system will be available on a rental basis on a 12-24 month extendable WVJ contract.

V31N5

W I N E M AT U R AT I O N

I NEE M M AAKKI N G G WW I N I N

Malolactic fermentation in barrels vs steel tanks

By Pedro M. Izquierdo-Cañas1,2*, Esteban García-Romero1 and Adela Mena-Morales3 1 Instituto de la Vid y el Vino de Castilla-La Mancha, Crta. Toledo-Albacete s/n. 13700, Tomelloso (Ciudad Real), Spain ²Parque Científico-Tecnológico de Castilla-La Mancha, Paseo de la Innovación, 1, 02006 Albacete, Spain ³Instituto de Investigación Científica Aplicada de Castilla La Mancha, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Camilo José Cela, s/n. 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain *Corresponding author: pmizquierdo@jccm.es

Spanish researchers compared Cabernet Franc wines subjected to malolactic fermentation in steel stanks and then aged in oak with those that had undergone MLF in barrels.

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION In addition to alcoholic fermentation, red winemaking also requires malolactic fermentation (MLF) and ageing in barrels and/or in bottles. MLF reduces wine acidity by transforming the malic acid into lactic acid. Moreover, some volatile compounds are also produced during this process that enrich the wine’s aromatic quality, while modifying colour and phenolic composition.

When MLF is complete, the wine is subjected to different clarification and stabilisation treatments and/or is stored in oak barrels for ageing for a variable period of time. This practice modifies wine composition due to the compounds extracted from the wood and to the chemical reactions that take place when oxygen passes through wood pores or staves.

In an attempt to obtain more complex quality wines with their own distinguishing personality, another production method employed consists of carrying out the MLF process in the oak barrels where the wine is stored for ageing. Barrel MLF modifies the aromatic sensory profile of wine to varying degrees. However, only a few articles have looked closely at the changes that occur in the concentrations of the different volatile compounds when MLF takes place in barrels. This study compares the chemical composition, colour, volatile composition and sensory qualities of two groups of red wines aged in French oak barrels: one in which MLF was carried out in tanks and the other in barrels.

FERMENTATION Cabernet Franc was fermented at 25±2ºC using the commercial yeast Uvaferm VN® (Lallemand).

After alcoholic fermentation, the wine was divided into two batches to carry out MLF in tanks and in barrels, respectively, by triplicate. Fifty-litre stainless steel tanks were used for one batch and 32-litre French oak barrels for another. Upon completion of the MLF process, the wine held in the tanks was transferred to barrels for 45 days so that it would have the same contact time with the oakwood as the other batch.

A commercial Alpha strain (MBR®) was used for MLF according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Lallemand).

MLF development was controlled by monitoring the L-malic acid content of the wines. When malic acid content reached values ≤0.2g/L, the wines were sulfited until a final free SO2 concentration of 30.0mg/L. When MLF was finished, the wines were left for a total of 45 days in barrels and were then stabilised, filtered through 0.2μm filters and bottled.

V3 1N 5

Figure 1. Sensory analysis MLF in tanks and MLF in barrels.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS The wines were analytically characterised following official analytical methods. Volatile compounds were analysed by GC–MS. Sensory analyses were performed to identify the differences among the two different MLF procedures.

RESULTS Wine composition A comparison of the tank and barrel MLF trials suggests that the basic structure of the wines is virtually identical. The only differences are those related to colour. When MLF was carried out in barrels, colour intensity was greater and luminosity lower.

These results could be due to two events occurring simultaneously.

The rise in pH due to MLF causes a decrease in the percentage of coloured anthocyanins, which is why MLF typically results in a reduction in colour intensity. Furthermore, a micro-oxygenation process takes place in barrels but not in stainless steel tanks, which may favour anthocyanin polymerisation reactions among anthocyanins and tannins, compensating for the loss of colour described above.

Volatile composition Ethyl lactate is the most important ester typically playing a role in MLF, resulting from esterification of the lactate produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and the ethanol produced during alcoholic fermentation (AF). Ethyl lactate concentrations rise significantly during MLF. It provides the milky notes in wine and is responsible for the feeling of volume. Our results show similar concentrations of ethyl lactate in wines in which MLF was carried out in tanks and ▶ barrels, coinciding with the similar values of lactic acid produced.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

25

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

W I N E M AT U R AT I O N

Acetaldehyde is one of the most important sensory carbonyl compounds formed during alcoholic fermentation and is associated with herbaceous and oxidative notes in wines. A decrease in acetaldehyde concentration was observed in wines after MLF, with differences depending on the malolactic culture used. In our study, declines were higher when MLF was carried out in tanks. Two facts could explain these results. On the one hand, it could be the influence of the micro-oxygenation that occurs when MLF takes place in barrels. It is worth considering that MLF time is three days more in tanks. Thought must also be given to the presence of lactic bacteria for a few extra days in the tank wines possibly allowing for the metabolisation of more acetaldehyde. In cases in which the initial concentration of acetaldehyde is excessive, the reduced concentration could have a positive impact on the aroma of wines given its oxidative sensorial properties.

2,3-butanedione is another important aromatic compound produced by LAB which, at low concentrations, makes a positive contribution to wine aroma supplying buttery notes and adding complexity, but at high concentrations has an adverse effect on quality. The concentration of 2,3-butanodione in barrel MLF wines is half that of the tank wines, but 3-hydroxy-2-butanone levels are identical.

Diethyl succinate also contributes to the aroma of wines, supplying fruity and melon notes to the wine and has on odour threshold of 1.2mg/L. Wines obtained from barrel MLF have higher levels of succinate derivates except for ethyl monosuccinate.

In relation to volatile phenols, no significant differences were observed between the two groups of wines. In both cases, 4-ethyl phenol, 4-vinyl guaiacol and 4-vinylphenol increased slightly after MLF whatever the process. These compounds have an unpleasant animal odour, described as leather and even as horse sweat, and are a serious defect in wine when they exceed the perception threshold, but the final concentrations did not negatively affect the wine.

Only small differences were observed in the content of the lactones group between the two MLF methods. However, barrel MLF produces wines with higher levels of γ-butyrolactone, 4-ethoxy-γ-butyrolactone and a lower amount of δ-decalactone.

There are three groups of compounds that, while found in low concentrations in the initial wine, increase in concentration during the process due to their presence in barrel wood. However, if this were the only factor, and bearing in mind that both wines were in contact with the oakwood for the same period of time, the two trials should contain similar concentrations of methoxyphenols, whisky-lactones and furanic compounds. This is the case for most compounds from these groups.

After spending time in barrel, the wines have higher concentrations of some methoxyphenols. This led to an improvement in the aromatic characteristics of the wines since this group of compounds contribute highly appreciated spicy aromas. Vanillin, together with acetovanillone, acetosyringone and propiovanillone, for example, contribute to the characteristic vanilla smell of wines aged in oak barrels. Our results show that in the case of MLF in barrels, the concentration of acetosyringone, vanillin and homovanillyl alcohol is lower than MLF in steel tanks but guaiacol concentration is higher.

Whisky-lactones give a characteristic coconut aroma to aged wines. The presence of whisky-lactones in wines is exclusively due to ageing in oakwood. The barrel MLF wines had a higher concentration of these two compounds, particularly three times more trans-isomer. The cis/trans whisky-lactone ratio is above five

26

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Table 1. Wine composition MLF in tanks and MLF in barrels.

Wine composition Units

Mean values MLF in tanks

MLF in barrels

Alcohol content Colour intensity

(%v/v)

13.25 5.77

13.21 6.33

Ethyl lactate Acetaldehyde 2,3-butanodione Diethyl succinate Lactones Volatile phenols Methoxyphenols Whisky lactones Furanic compounds

mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L µg/L

33.46 19.18 7.19 1.84 1.14 81 408 101 144

37.57 24.58 3.73 4.15 1.28 79 351 210 326

for American oak and around two for French oak. However, there are a great many factors affecting this ratio such as the degree of toasting, age of the oak and duration and type of wood drying. In our case we would note that the cis/trans ratio of the lactones extracted from the oak by the tank MLF wine is 2.6, while barrel MLF wine not only increased the amount extracted but also lowered the ratio to 1.3. The action of the glycosidic enzymes of LAB on oakwood extracts could liberate these lactones, but this effect is greater in the case of the trans-isomer.

Furanic compounds are responsible for almond, caramel and toasted aromas in aged wines. Barrel MLF wines had more than double the concentration of these compounds compared with tank MLF wines. The greater extraction of furanic compounds in barrel MLF could be due to two factors. First, the lower pH of the initial wine when introduced into the barrel and, second, to the less oxidant atmosphere since the micro-oxygenation from the air supplied through the wood counteracts the CO2 produced during MLF in these wines, thus favouring the extraction of these compounds.

Sensory analysis Tasters detected slight but statistically significant differences in the colour, aroma and taste of the two types of wines. The two types of wines were very similar with only slight differences attributable to the type of MLF. Barrel MLF wines were characterised by more aromatic intensity with significant differences regarding MLF tanks.

In addition the tasters appreciated slight increases in the duration and persistence of barrel MLF wines.

CONCLUSIONS MLF occurs easily in large tanks, simplifying control of the process to produce wines with differentiating characteristics.

However, the wines undergo MLF faster and lose less colour intensity in the process. It has also been shown that there are important variations in some volatile compounds; in general terms, fewer methoxyphenols and more whisky-lactones and furanic compounds. The effects on colour and these volatile compounds both have a positive effect on the sensory profile of the wines produced.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Pedro Izquierdo is grateful to the INCRECYT program and the WVJ European Social Fund for financial support.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

C H A R D O N N A Y

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Snapshot of Australian production practices for Chardonnay wine

By Joanne Gambetta, Sue Bastian and David Jeffery, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine - Waite Campus, The University of Adelaide

How does your winery’s handling of Chardonnay in the vineyard and winery compare with the rest of the Australian wine industry?

A

PhD project titled ‘Development of quality assessment tools for Chardonnay in relation to grape, juice and wine composition’ began in 2013 with the main aim of determining objective parameters that could be measured in Chardonnay grapes and used to predict the final quality of the ensuing wine. As part of the initial scoping for the project we published a review on factors that influence Chardonnay wine aroma composition (Gambetta et al. 2014).

We chose to focus on Chardonnay due it being an important grape cultivar in Australia. According to the 2015 Vintage Report published by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, Chardonnay continues to be the main white grape variety crushed.

It accounts for 22.54% of the total of all varieties, or 376,339 tonnes; from 2014 to 2015 it saw an increase of 28,726 tonnes, and is second only to Shiraz (23.46% of total, 391,649 tonnes). In relation to the quality aspect of the project, there is impetus to

build Australia’s reputation as a fine wine producer (Gartry 2016), which necessitates the development of objective measures of wine quality and a better understanding of how quality can be managed, starting in the vineyard. As an initial activity of the PhD project, a survey of industry stakeholders was conducted to gain insight into current vineyard and winery practices associated with producing Chardonnay wines. The survey that was used may be viewed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Chardonnay_wine_ quality_survey DISTRIBUTION OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS Only wineries and vineyards producing Chardonnay were contacted, and more than 150 responses (around 10% of all Chardonnay producers (Major 2013)) were received from participants across Australia’s wine-producing regions.

▶

In a crowded market: don’t fit in; stand-out.

Enoplastic is Australia and New Zealand’s only manufacturer of hoods, polylam and PVC capsules, and we are in the business of delivering competitive advantage to all of our customers in today’s dynamic business environment.

Our priority is understanding the detail that unlocks an ability to compete and stand-out in the market place, and most importantly, in the eyes of the consumer.

At Enoplastic, these details are best expressed through our locally-produced, affordable and premium-crafted solutions.

If you are looking for the ultimate in luxury design, we can help you capture that aspiration in terms of colour tones of black, gold, bronze and silver; crafted embossing and foiling; and an integrated finish that is rich in quality, texture and refinement.

Adelaide: +61 8 8347 0455 | Auckland: +64 9 83 64 974 www.enoplastic.com.au

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

ENO166633/WVJ-4

Enoplastic – start at the top.

27

24.7% VIC

18.0% NSW 2.7% QLD

14.7% WA 6.7% TAS

32.0% SA

Figure 1. Distribution of Survey Respondents

Figure 1. Distribution of survey respondents.

47%

50%

47%

100% 80%

40% 30%

25% 19%

20% 10%

% response

1.3% ACT

C H A R D O N N A Y

Average % of total Chardonnay crush

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

92%

92% 75%

68%

66%

60% 40%

23%

20%

10%

11%

5%

0% 4%

2%

0% Icon

Ultra Super Premium premium premium

Popular

Basic

Figure 2. Proportion of Chardonnay quality levels.

Approximately 57% of respondents were concentrated in South Australia (SA) and Victoria (VIC) and another 33% were located in New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA) (Figure 1). Our data roughly mirrors that published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the years 2014-15, which shows that 42% of all Chardonnay grapes grown in Australia were produced in SA followed by NSW (31%) and Victoria (24%). More specifically, 108,630 tonnes (32%) were produced in the Riverland (SA), 61,583 tonnes (18%) in Murray Darling (NSW/VIC) and 58,709 tonnes (17%) in the Riverina (NSW).

WINE QUALITY SEGMENTS The ultimate quality of a wine encompasses a number of different dimensions – quality of raw materials, winemaking operations, sensory properties, packaging, etc that are often determined according to the market segment the wine is destined for. These different quality levels are usually related to price, where the Chardonnay wine allocation has been roughly segmented into icon (>$50), ultra-premium ($25-50), super premium ($15-24), premium ($10-14), popular ($5-9), basic (>$5) and cask wines. Any one producer will decide upon a mix of quality of their products which, in turn, will determine the types of operations carried out in the winery and sometimes also in the vineyard. Figure 2 shows that the Chardonnay offerings in Australia are dominated by the ultra and super premium range ($10-24), which accounted for 47% each. Cask (bag-in-box) only represented 2% of the respondents’ total offerings, which indicates that Chardonnay production is already aimed at a higher quality configuration. This seems to correspond to both an adaptation in Chardonnay wine offerings, which had been experiencing a multi-year decline in domestic sales, and to profitability issues.

According to Wine Australia’s Annual Report (2012-13), the decline in sales (at least in the reported period) was centred in the lower end of the price spectrum, while the sales of Chardonnay wines priced over $20 were growing at double digit figures. Additionally, Keys (2010) explains that the production of low end Chardonnay wines is unsustainable due to production costs.

Cask

Figure 3. Harvesting criteria

Figure 3. Harvesting criteria.

equally rely on berry tasting to determine when to harvest. Other criteria used include, in order of importance, pH (75%), titratable acidity (TA, 68%), weather forecast (66%), viticultural advice (23%), tank availability (11%) and the sanitary condition of the grapes and vineyard (5%).

Unlike red varieties, where strong correlations have been shown between the content of polyphenols and anthocyanins and final wine quality (Somers and Evans 1974), predicting the potential quality (at least in terms of harvest decision) of white wines remains a more complicated (and costly) task. The extent of berry tasting reveals that Chardonnay producers are looking at other characteristics, such as aroma profile, to complement their decision-making rather than relying on sugar content and other classic parameters (pH, TA) alone.

Berry tasting is carried out in the vineyard – however, with great variability in how this practice is conducted by each producer – and there is no way to quantify or compare results between different tasters. In the last decade, however, institutions like the Institut Cooperatif du Vin (ICV), Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin (IFV), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and the Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture d’Angers (ESA) have developed a more structured approach to this practice, which includes a scoresheet (Rousseau and Delteil 2000, Guyot and Dupraz 2004, Le Moigne et al. 2011) that enables the grape producer to qualify the degree of ripeness for each block of grapes assessed (Le Moigne et al. 2011). Correlations have been found between seed colour and berry ripeness (Olarte et al. 2012), and the ease of detaching the pedicel as well as skin thickness, amongst other variables, can be indicative of maturity (Rousseau and Delteil 2000). Different producers focus on different aspects of the berry and we were curious to know which of these were perceived as the most important. The responses show they are mostly concerned by the fruit’s flavour intensity (98%), seed colour (60%), berry colour (56%), tannin ripeness (36%), pulp consistency (comprising the level of integrity of the pulp as well as its overall texture, which can go from firm to watery, 32%), skin thickness (28%), acid balance (9%) and flavour profile (8%) (Figure 4).

ALLOCATION OF FRUIT TO QUALITY LEVEL

ASSESSMENT OF GRAPE MATURITY One of the main drivers of wine quality is the condition of the fruit used for production. This, in turn, depends on critical decisions made in the vineyard, including the question of when to harvest. Measurement of sugar content continues to be one of the main criteria used in industry to determine Chardonnay berry maturity (92% of respondents, Figure 3). However, producers

28

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Understanding how fruit is allocated to each quality bracket could perhaps allow us to appreciate the factors surrounding berry and juice composition that are most relevant to wine producers. Figure 5 shows that the predominating criterion used to allocate fruit is historical parcel records (56%), closely followed by the result of berry tasting (51%), and then wine style quotas (39%), acidity (26%) and sugar content (20%). However, a number

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

C H A R D O N N A Y

98%

60%

20% 0%

60%

56% 36%

32%

% response

% response

40%

80%

51%

63%

50%

80% 60%

56%

28% 9%

8%

39%

40% 30%

26% 20%

20%

60% 36%

40%

13%

20%

10%

0%

0% Historical parcel records

Berry tasting

Wine style quotas

Acidity

Sugar content

Figure 5. Fruit allocation criteria

4. Imporant aspects berry assessment Figure 4. Figure Important aspects ofofberry assessment. Figure 5. Fruit allocation criteria

of respondents indicated that allocations were made only on the final wine, which means that no different considerations are made between parcels of fruit with regards to quality. Other criteria mentioned were market, vineyard location and management, wine style, and clone.

NITROGEN MANAGEMENT DURING FERMENTATION Chardonnay has been cited as having frequent problems with sluggish and stuck fermentations, which can generate off-odours or microbiological instabilities that decrease the quality of the wine (Sommer et al. 2015, Ingledew and Kunkee 1985). This tendency is due to a combination of variety-related factors including higher amounts of octanoic and decanoic acids (toxic fatty acids), higher affinity for copper than magnesium, and a higher content of proline compared with other varieties that decreases the overall yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) available for yeast (Sommer et al. 2015). The simplest way to avoid sluggish or stuck fermentations seems to be ensuring an adequate nitrogen supply (140mg/L YAN when sugar content is moderate) prior to fermentation (Ingledew and Kunkee 1985).

However, determination of nitrogen can be an onerous process, especially for smaller wineries that do not have high throughput instruments such as WineScan® during the hectic time of vintage. Over 60% of producers who participated in the survey do not determine nitrogen content, 15% determine YAN, 4% assess amino acid (AA) content and 17% determine both YAN and AAs. However, conscious of problems that can be caused by a lack of nitrogen, 73% of those producers who do no measurements still supplement YAN in their musts by adding either ammonium salts (diammonium phosphate, DAP), nutrients and vitamins, or inactive dry yeast. Amongst all participants, the preferred method of YAN supplementation is DAP addition (63%), whereas 36% use nutrients and vitamins, and 13% add inactive dry yeast (Figure 6). A number of alternative yeast supplements were mentioned by some producers, such as Nutristart®, GO-FERM®, and FermControl® – these combine ammonium salts, vitamins and inert yeasts, and are also commercialised under organic alternatives. Unlike DAP, use of vitamins, inactive dry yeast or alternative yeast supplements may have the additional benefit of contributing essential minerals such as magnesium and zinc to the juice as well as long chain fatty acids and sterols, which may help prevent the other problems associated specifically with Chardonnay fermentations (Sommer et al. 2015). From a quality perspective, it should be mentioned that the type and level of nitrogen supplementation has a complex effect on the final composition of the wine – too little nitrogen and few

V3 1N 5

% response

100%

DAP

Nutrients and Inactive dry vitamins yeast

Figure 6. Nitrogen supplementation

Figure 6. Nitrogen supplementation.

or no desirable esters will be formed, but too much nitrogen leads to increased ethyl acetate, acetic acid and higher alcohol concentrations. Ultimately, it is always better to correct musts where the nitrogen concentration is known (Torrea et al. 2011).

These considerations also become important when selecting a yeast to work with as different strains have different YAN requirements and tolerances to high proline levels.

YEAST STRAINS AND WILD FERMENTS The yeast selected will have a large impact on the final aroma profile (Gambetta et al. 2014) and, therefore, quality of the wine. Different yeasts exhibit diverse behaviour in relation to fermentation capabilities, ethanol formation, temperature tolerance, nutrient requirements, and other properties. Some yeasts are known to release more glycosides and/or thiols

Manage Brettanomyces bruxellensis in-house

Proactively test for and manage BRETT, using Veriflow technology - bringing same-day analysis to your vineyard “Game Changer In The Vineyard: Streamline The Process With Molecular Diagnostics” - Forbes magazine

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Results in

4

HOURS

Talk to AMSL Scientific today about BRETT risk management.

P 02 9882 3666

W www.amsl.com.au

www.winetitles. com . au

29

I NEEM MA GG WW I N A KKI INN

C H A R D O N N A Y

160

38 brands

140

60%

120

Barrel ageing

100

Oak alternatives

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Lalvin Lalvin CY3079 QA23

Lalvin Lalvin Lalvin EC118 Enoferm DV10 ICV D47

PDM

60 40 0

Others

Icon

100%

80%

80%

Average % response

100%

60% 40% 20% 0% Icon/Luxury

Ultra premium

commercial yeast

Super premium

Premium

winery starter culture

Popular

W/CY

Basic

CY/SC

W/SC

Cask

W/CY/SC

Figure 8. Choice of yeast according to product type

Figure 8. Choice of yeast according to product type.

whereas others can enhance ester production or be considered relatively neutral. A particularly marked trend amongst respondents was the higher use of wild yeast (uninoculated fermentation) in the production of the most expensive brackets of wines. Figure 7 shows that 58% of all icon wines are produced exclusively with wild yeast (W), 24% with a combination of wild and commercial yeast (CY) and only 9% exclusively with commercial yeast. Unlike fermentations inoculated with commercial yeast, wild fermentations are conducted by a combination of nonSaccharomyces and indigenous Saccharomyces yeasts that work in relay as the fermentation progresses and alcohol content increases (Egli et al. 1998). In concert with the greater variety of species involved, a greater complexity of aromas (positive and negative) is obtained than with commercial yeast.

However, the mix of strains is variable from year to year, can be affected by viticultural and winery factors including harvest and fermentation conditions, and usually leads to longer lag phases and fermentation times than with commercial yeast (Egli et al. 1998, Varela et al. 2009). On the other hand, according to respondents 56% of Chardonnay cask wines are produced solely with commercial yeasts and 33% with a winery starter culture (SC) (Figure 7), ensuring complete fermentations and consistent product profiles.

Based on frequency of citation, the preferred choices for commercial yeasts are CY3079, QA23, EC118 and Enoferm ICV D47 (Figure 8). In accordance with the varied types of Chardonnay wine styles available in the market (fresh and fruity, barrel-fermented and complex, etc), these yeasts have varied profiles (Table 1) and are adequate for very different styles of winemaking. CY3079 is better suited to barrel-fermented wines and aged sur lie wines, whereas QA23 is better for lighter and fruity Chardonnays

30

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Ultra premium

Super premium

Premium

Popular

Basic

Cask

Figureof9.oak Method of oak incorporation Figure 9. Method incorporation.

Figure 7. Commercial yeast choice.yeast choice Figure 7. Commercial

wild

Unoaked

80

20

0%

Average % response

Barrel fermentation

70% No. of responses

% response

80%

60% 40% 20% 0% icon

ultra super premium premium premium 0%

1-25%

26-50%

51-75%

popular 76-99%

basic

cask

100%

Figure 10. Proportion of oaked wine according to price bracket Figure 10. Proportion of oaked wine according to price bracket.

(Table 1). Although producers are still predominantly using S. cerevisiae strains (73%), 18% of respondents are also using S. bayanus and some are even opting for non-traditional yeasts in a quest for more aroma diversity, using products such as Prelude and Zymaflore Alpha (Torulaspora delbrueckii) in a sequential inoculation with S. cerevisiae, or natural hybrids between S. cerevisiae and S. kudriavzevii (e.g. AWRI 1503) or S. paradoxus (e.g. Anchor Exotics).

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION AND OAK USAGE Icon and ultra-premium wines were the biggest groups to be barrel fermented (97% and 95%, respectively) and aged in barrels (73 and 77%, respectively) (Figure 9). Cask wines are fermented in stainless steel tanks and/or using oak alternatives according to the answers obtained and only 8% and 18% of the popular and basic wines, respectively, are barrel fermented. A very limited amount of the higher priced wines were made with oak alternatives (staves, chips, dust, etc) or without any oak contact at all.

Accordingly, a higher proportion of the final icon wines had contact with oak (Figure 10). As expected from the answers to the previous question, this proportion decreases markedly with price.

When it comes to Chardonnay wine, there is a clear preference for French oak (88% of respondents) over American oak, and 85% of respondents indicated that they prefer a medium toast irrespective of the origin, and only 2% choose a heavy toast.

Unlike other white wine varieties, Chardonnay wines often undergo malolactic fermentation (MLF), particularly when the wines are fermented and/or aged in oak barrels. MLF contributes aromas of caramel, honey and butter as well as a fuller

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

C H A R D O N N A Y

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Table 1. Commercial yeast characteristics (Lallemand 2016).

Strain Killer factor Lag phase Fermentation vigour Desirable T° limits Nitrogen demand Alc. %(v/v) tolerance* MLF Foam production

CY3079 S. cerevisiae neutral short-moderate moderate 15-25 moderate-high 14.5 unfriendly low

QA23 S. cerevisiae active moderate high 14-28 low 16 low

EC1118 S. bayanus active short high 10-30 low 18 neutral low

Other characteristics

Early onset of post fermentation autolysis

High in ß-glycosidase

-

Recommended for

white wines, barrel fermentation, sur lie ageing

white wines

white, rose and red wines and secondary fermentation

*Depending on fermentation conditions

40%

% response

mouthfeel to the wine that are mostly desirable in styles that have undergone fermentation and/or aged with oak contact (Gambetta et al. 2014). Figure 11 shows that 34% of respondents do not allow their wines to undergo MLF, whereas a total of 36% conduct MLF (of which 9% indicated that it was reserved for higher quality wines), and 30% undertake partial MLF.

34%

30%

30%

D47 S. cerevisiae active short moderate 15-30 moderate 15 friendly low High in ß-glycosidase, high polysaccharide producer barrel fermentation of white wines

27%

20%

9%

10%

CHARDONNAY WINE STYLES Australia produces many conceivable Chardonnay styles. In their study of the positioning of Australian Chardonnay wines in the flavour map, Saliba et al. (2013) recognised wines that could match styles from every different Chardonnay producing region in the world. Wine style drives many of the choices described above - where to source fruit from, when to harvest, type of yeast, etc and a word cloud was generated using the individual responses of the surveyed producers (Figure 12). Although wine style tends to change with target market and price bracket, a predominant number of producers described their wines as ‘fruit-driven’ followed by ‘meant to age’ or with ageing potential. Oak aromas, although still important to the overall Chardonnay wine concept, seem to have taken a back seat to fruit, adding complexity and subtle oak notes to the wine (Figure 12).

CONCLUSIONS The quality of a wine is the result of both the operations used in its manufacture and the quality of the fruit. A look at the decisions made by winemakers during the production process gives us insight into the different considerations that weigh into this process and that ultimately determine the quality of a wine.

Many of the decisions made in the winery, from the fruit that is purchased to the supplements used, will be decided depending on the market segment targetted. From the results of the survey, production of Chardonnay wines is now concentrated in the ultra ($25-50) and super-premium ($15-24) categories and potentially reflects a move away from the lower price points (due to lack of profitability), with only 1% of production destined for cask wine (bag-in-box). Harvest affects the quality of the fruit as it determines the final composition of the berries. The most important criteria used by respondents to determine grape maturity are °Brix and berry tasting, followed by pH. When

V3 1N 5

0% no

partial

yes

only for higher quality products

Figure Use of malolactic fermentation Figure 11.

Use of11. malolactic fermentation.

Figure 12. Chardonnay wine style word cloud derived from survey responses. tasting grapes, producers are primarily looking at the grapes’ flavour intensity when determining when to harvest and grading the quality of the grapes. Once harvested, fruit is allocated into different quality levels in the winery based mainly on historical parcel records, but also on the results of berry tasting. Conscious of the importance of YAN management, 73% of producers who do not determine YAN or AA content still correct YAN levels. Overall, DAP addition is the preferred method to supplement YAN (63% of respondents) but some producers add vitamins and minerals or inactive dry yeast, or a combination of the three. Together with a higher interest in flavour intensity in the field, the use of wild yeast appears to have a common theme amongst wine producers to create a more unique aroma profile; evidently from our survey the use of wild yeast was predominantly amongst the higher priced wines (58% of icon wines are solely produced with wild yeast). Of those producers that are using commercial yeast, 18% use S. bayanus and some are even using sequential inoculations and hybrids. Together with wild fermentations, icon wines were also the category most likely to be barrel-fermented and aged

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

31

I NEEM MA GG WW I N A KKI INN

C H A R D O N N A Y

Ingledew, W.M. and Kunkee, R.E. (1985) Factors influencing sluggish fermentations of grape juice. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 36(1):65-76.

in barrels followed by ultra and super-premium wines. Superpremium wines also had a higher percentage of wines produced with oak alternatives or no oak compared with those other two categories. These results appear to reflect changes in drinking trends, where consumers are no longer seeking the traditional oaky, buttery Chardonnay, but are valuing more the expression of the fruit, whilst still seeking an oak backbone.

Keys, T. (2010) Chardonnay Part 1: The numbers’ game. The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal 25(5):48-52.

Lallemand (2016) Product catalogue, accessed 12 July 2016, http://www. lallemandwine.com/australia-newzealand/products/catalogue Le Moigne, M.; Symoneaux, R. and Jourjon, J. (2008) How to follow grape maturity for wine professionals with a seasonal judge training? Food Qual. Pref. 19(8):672-681.

Major, M. (ed) (2013) The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory: 31st annual edition. 31st ed. Winetitles, Adelaide.

Olarte Mantilla, S.M.; Collins, C.; Iland, P.G.; Johnson, T.E. and Bastian, S.E.P. (2012) Review: berry sensory assessment: concepts and practices for assessing winegrapes’ sensory attributes. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 18(3):245-255.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author acknowledges the financial support provided by the Turner Family Scholarship from The University of Adelaide, and Wine Australia (GWR Ph1210).

REFERENCES

Rousseau, J. and Delteil, D. (2000) Présentation d’une méthode d’analyse sensorielle des raisins. Principe, méthode et grille d’interprétation. Revue française d’Œnologie. 183:10-13.

Saliba, A.; Blackman, J.; Bullock, J. and Schmidtke, L. (2013) The position of Australian Chardonnay in the world-wide flavour map. Wine & Viticulture Journal 28(4):67-70.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015) Vineyards Estimates, 201415, accessed 30 June 2016, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ DetailsPage/1329.0.55.0022014-15?OpenDocument

Somers, T.C. and Evans, M.E. (1974) Wine quality: Correlations with colour density and anthocyanin equilibria in a group of young red wines. J. Sci. Food Agric.

25(11):1369–1379.

Australian Grape and Wine Authority. (2015) Strategic Plan 2015-2020, accessed 12 June 2016, https://www.wineaustralia.com/en/About%20Us/~/media/AGWA%20 Strategic%20Plan%202015-2020.ashx Egli, C.M.; Edinger, W.D.; Mitrakul, C.M. and Henick-Kling, T. (1998) Dynamics of indigenous and inoculated yeast populations and their effect on the sensory character of Riesling and Chardonnay wines. J. Appl. Microbiol. 85(5):779-789.

Gambetta, J.M.; Bastian, S.E.; Cozzolino D. and Jeffery D.W. (2014) Factors influencing the aroma composition of Chardonnay wines. J. Agric. Food Chem.

62(28):6512-6534.

Ristic, R. and Iland, P. (2005) Relationships between seed and berry development of Vitis vinifera L.cv Shiraz: developmental changes in seed morphology and phenolic composition. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 11(1):43–58.

Sommer, S.; Wegmann-Herr, P.; Wacker, M. and Fischer, U. (2015) Rationale for a stronger disposition of Chardonnay wines for stuck and sluggish fermentation. S. Afr. J. Enol. Vitic. 36(1):180-190.

Torrea, D.; Varela, C.; Ugliano, M.; Ancin-Azpillicueta, C.; Francis, I.L. and Henschke, P.A. (2011) Comparison of inorganic and organic nitrogen supplementation of grape juice – Effect on volatile composition and aroma profile of a Chardonnay wine fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Food Chem. 127(3):1072-1083.

Gartry, L. (2016) Australian wine exports value surges to $2.1 billion, accessed 30 June 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/value-of-australian-wineexports-surges/7105778

Varela, C.; Siebert, T.; Cozzolino, D.; Rose, L.; McLean, H. and Henschke, P.A. (2009) Discovering a chemical basis for differentiating wines made by fermentation with ‘wild’ indigenous and inoculated yeasts: role of yeast volatile compounds. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 15(3):238-248.

Guyot, C. and Dupraz, P. (2004) Déguster les baies pour suivre la maturité du raisin. Rev. Suisse Vitic., Arboric., Hortic. 36(4):231-234.

Wine Australia (2013) Annual Report 2012-13, accessed 30 June 2016, http://www. ozwinereview.com/2015/02/cheap-australian-chardonnay-is-it-dead.html WVJ

Want the latest wine business information at your fingertips?

NEW 2016!

Contract Winemakers Comprehensive and up-to-date grape and wine industry resource Includes report of the industry thorough annual statistical overview Trusted resource for over 30 years.

Now available in PRINT and ONLINE! If you’re involved with any facet of the industry, The Directory is an essential reference for sourcing information To order your copy: Ph: +618 8369 9522 E: orders@winetitles.com.au Visit: www.winetitles.com.au

32

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

A L C O H O L

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

Integrated strategies to moderate the alcohol content of wines

By Renata Ristic1,2, Ana Hranilovic1,2, Sijing Li1,2, Rocco Longo1,3,4, Duc-Truc Pham1,2, Bora Qesja1,5, Olaf J. Schelezki1,2 and Vladimir Jiranek1,2 ¹The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production ²Department of Wine and Food Science, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia ³National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 4 School of Agriculture and Wine Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 5 The University of Adelaide Business School, 10 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, South Australia

The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production reports on some of the outcomes from trials it undertook during the 2014-15 vintage using techniques designed to moderate the alcohol content of wines.

W

ine alcohol levels have been steadily increasing over recent decades, possibly due to a hotter climate and consumers’ preferences for full-bodied wines, in addition to improvements in viticultural and winemaking practices (Pickering 2000, Wilkinson and Jiranek 2013). For example, in the last three decades, there has been a rise of more than 9% in the alcohol content of Californian wines (Alston et al. 2011). Likewise, in Australia the average alcohol level for red wines has risen from 12.4% up to 14.4%v/v (Godden et al. 2015, Varela et al. 2015). This increase in alcohol content has adverse financial implications for the wine industry, such as additional taxation and higher retail prices. A concurrent growing interest in beverages with lower alcohol content has been observed among wine consumers (Bruwer et al. 2014). This is possibly driven by health and social concerns associated with greater consumption of alcohol (e.g. feeling out of control, hungover, or unable to safely drive after drinking), as well as wine and food pairing (Meillon et al. 2010, Saliba et al. 2013, Bruwer et al. 2014).

The above points demonstrate the need to produce and introduce to the market lower alcohol wines. Currently, the wines of decreased alcohol content that can be found are designated reduced alcohol (1.2–4.5%v/v) and lower alcohol wine (4.510.5%v/v), although countries may have their own legislation and terminology (Pickering 2000, Schmidtke et al. 2012, Saliba et al.

2013). Unfortunately, some of the products already launched have not been very successful (due to alterations in taste and, thus, quality perceptions), highlighting a need for investigating new strategies to decrease the level of alcohol in wine. Importantly, the study by Saliba and co-authors (2013) found that almost 50% of Australian wine consumers showed some interest in low-alcohol wines and 80% considered them acceptable if the taste was the same as standard wine.

The research of the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production (ARC TC-IWP) focusses on strategies to reduce the alcohol content of wine through an integrated, whole-of-production-chain approach that starts in the vineyard, continues through fermentation and postfermentation and finishes with wine consumers. The ARC TCIWP projects investigate early harvest and blending regimes, the use of Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces yeast strains, the individual or combined addition of commercially available winemaking additives, and the effects of reverse osmosis/ evaporative perstraction (RO/EP) treatment on wine composition

V3 1N 5

and sensory properties. Research into the alcohol ‘sweet spot’ phenomenon and consumers’ acceptance of lower alcohol wines is also being conducted. This article describes a selection of outcomes from viticultural and winemaking trials undertaken during the 2014-15 vintage.

EARLY HARVEST REGIME AND BLENDING One approach to managing wine alcohol involves controlling the accumulation of sugars in grape berries. Several viticultural practices can be used to accomplish this by manipulating the leaf-area-to-fruit-weight ratio, including shoot trimming,

Premium American Oak H E I NR I C H C O O PER AG E Year after year, it is our passion and promise to deliver top quality barrels that complement your wine style. Creating a premium barrel demands expertise, precision, consistency and repeatability for every specification and every flavour. Our team uses proprietary technology involving the most advanced systems available to ensure each barrel we craft will meet our high standards.

59 Basedow Road • Tanunda, South Australia 5352 +61 (08) 85631356 • www.heinrich.com.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

33

MA A KKI INNG G WW I NI NEEM

A

A L C O H O L

B

AROMA INTENSITY 70 60 HOTNESS

FLORAL ASTRINGENCY

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

50

20 10 DARK FRUIT

0

RED FRUIT

4

30

ASTRINGENCY

DARK FRUIT

6

ALCOHOL

40

8

DRIED FRUIT/JAM

B1

B2

B3

Bw1

Bw3

AROMA INTENSITY

D

10

RED FRUIT

AFTERTASTE

8 4

CONFECTIONARY

SPICE

FLAVOUR INTENSITY Alpha Flavia H2 PDM

EARTHY FLORAL Biodiva Melody Prelude

12

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

DARK FRUIT

4

Concerto H1 PDM Wild

0

SURFACE COARSENESS

CONFECTIONARY FLAVOUR INTENSITY

ASTRINGENCY

cold soak enzyme_manno tannin

PALATE FULLNESS

SWEETNESS H1 control H2 control tannin_manno

modified irrigation regimes and pruning regimes (Keller 2010, Martínez De Toda and Balda 2013, Martínez De Toda et al. 2013, 2014, Palliotti et al. 2014). Ultimately, the most effective practice in terms of decreased alcohol content (by up to 3%v/v), seems to be an early harvest regime, which consists of harvesting grapes at relatively low sugar concentrations (15-20°Brix). However, grape aroma composition is unfortunately often shifted towards compounds such as methoxypyrazines and/or C6 alcohols and aldehydes, with these volatiles being responsible for undesirable ‘vegetal’ and ‘grassy’ wine flavours (Kalua and Boss 2009, 2010).

In addition, high levels of acidity and lack of yeast-contributed flavour compounds can also cause the wine to be perceived as less appealing (Pineau et al. 2011, Bindon et al. 2013). To overcome this issue, unripe grapes can be used to produce a low-alcohol (5-7%v/v) but highly acidic (pH2.5-2.8) blending material that can be legitimately incorporated into riper ferments, in order to dilute juice or must and produce wines with moderate alcohol levels and more balanced sensory profiles (Kontoudakis et al. 2011). As an alternative, the use of water as a blending component simplifies the task of diluting a juice or must. Regulations in Australia and other wine-producing countries, including the USA, have changed (or will change) in favour of water additions in greater proportions than previously permitted during winemaking. This offers another way by which lower wine alcohol levels can be achieved, but may also have implications for wine sensory properties due to dilution.

Two ARC TC-IWP projects are investigating possible deleterious consequences of early and ‘double’ harvest options (i.e., the same variety being harvested at two different times within a single vintage) by examining the outcomes of different blending regimes on wine quality attributes, in addition to the potential to efficiently decrease the alcohol content of the original wine.

In one trial, Cabernet Sauvignon fruit was sourced from a McLaren Vale vineyard, South Australia. The first harvest occurred at mid-veraison (approximately 50% colour change) and was processed into the ‘green harvest’ blending material that was highly acidic, but low in alcohol. The remaining fruit was

34

RED FRUIT

10

2

0

0

FLORAL

ACIDITY

TROPICAL GRASSY

HAY/STRAW H1

Blend

6

HOTNESS

2

PALATE FULNESS

H2

8

6

ASTRINGENCY

TOMATO LEAF

AROMA INTENSITY

E

12

HOTNESS

CAPSICUM

H1

C

PEAR/APPLE

PLUM

PEPPER Bw2

ROCK MELON

6

SWEETNESS

GREEN OLIVE

GREEN

8

4

ALCOHOL

CHERRY

0

MENTHOL BODY

CITRUS BITTERNESS

2

2

ACIDITY

C

enzyme manno

H2

Blend

Figure 1. The sensory profiles of: (A) Cabernet Sauvignon, (B) Petit Verdot and (C) Verdelho wines from the early harvest trial; and Shiraz wines made with (D) different yeast strains and (E) the addition of winemaking supplements.

subsequently harvested at total soluble solids (TSS) of 20.5, 23.9 and 27.4°Brix. A control treatment was harvested at commercial maturity (30.4°Brix), and was used in the blending trials with additions of either ‘green harvest’ wine (B1, B2, B3) or water (Bw1, Bw2, Bw3) (Table 1, Cabernet Sauvignon). A commensurate amount of juice was run off from the must to compensate for the addition of either blending material, thereby maintaining the original solid-to-liquid ratio prior to fermentation.

Fermenting Cabernet Sauvignon wines with a ‘green harvest’ fraction and water did not affect wine colour density or the content of total anthocyanins and phenolics and only when higher percentages of blending fractions were incorporated (i.e., 43.7% and 32.0% of the ‘green harvest’ and water, respectively), polymeric pigments (i.e., stable forms of red wine colour) decreased by approximately 20% compared with the control (data not shown).

However, the water blending treatments did not change the pH of the resulting wines, whereas the ‘green harvest’ wine addition decreased final wine pH to levels similar to those of the consecutive harvest wines, implying that additional acidification may be recommended in that case.

A trained descriptive sensory panel, convened from 11 members, provided detailed flavour profiles of all wines, following the procedure by Lawless and Heymann (1999). As expected, intensities of the overall aroma and flavour attributes were perceived to be higher in wines from the later harvest, with ‘grass’, ‘green’ and ‘capsicum’ notes much lower, while the control wine was perceived as ‘hot’ as a result of its high alcohol content (18%v/v) (Figure 1A). Based on these results it can be concluded that sequential harvesting or fermentation with ‘green harvest’ fractions or water can be successfully employed to produce lower alcohol wine. While fermentation with a water portion (less than 20%) decreased the wine alcohol content from approximately 18% down to 16%v/v without any significant impact on wine composition (for the measures undertaken) or sensory properties, the addition of a higher proportion of water before fermentation (i.e., 32%) lowered the wine alcohol content even further (to 14.7%v/v), with

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

A L C O H O L

Table 1. Basic chemical composition of grapes and wines used in the early harvest regime trials. % v/v green harvest

% v/v water addition

Treatment

TSS (°Brix)

H1

20.5

11.4

H2

23.9

13.5

H3

27.4

15.1

C B1 B2 B3 Bw1 Bw2 Bw3

30.4

18.2 14.4 15.8 17.0 14.7 16.0 17.4

Petit Verdot

PV H1 PV H2 PV B

19.3 22.7

9.4 12.4 11.2

Verdelho

V H1 V H2 VB

14.6 19.1

7.2 8.7 10.3

Cabernet Sauvignon

43.7 27.3 13.6 32.0 19.9 10.1

Wine (% ABV)

Cabernet Sauvignon: B1-B3: blends with ‘green harvest’ wine; Bw1-Bw3: blends with water.

Petit Verdot and Verdelho wines made from two harvest dates and their blend (50:50).

the only negative outcome observed being a lower concentration of polymeric pigments. However, the effects on long-term colour stability of the wine need to be clarified.

In the other trial, grapes from Petit Verdot and Verdelho cultivars were sourced from two adjacent vineyards located in Rylstone, New South Wales, when berries reached TSS of 14.6 and 19.1°Brix for Verdelho, and 19.3 and 22.7°Brix for Petit Verdot. As with the Cabernet Sauvignon winemaking, the Petit Verdot juice was subjected to the saignée practice in which approximately 25% of the total juice volume was removed after crushing operations.

Prior to bottling, wines of each variety from first and second harvests were blended in equal proportions (50:50) (Table 1).

Petit Verdot and Verdelho blended wines exhibited middle values in most of the chemical components analysed. For example, wine colour density, concentration of anthocyanins and phenolics in Petit Verdot blended wines measured approximately 30% less than PV H2 wines, although higher than PV H1 wines (data not shown). A sensory evaluation of wines was performed using triangle tests and modified descriptive sensory analysis according to Blackman and Saliba (2009). A trained 14-member panel was not able to easily distinguish between H2 wines and blended wines; positive identification 8/13 (P<0.05) was counted for Petit Verdot and 9/14 for Verdelho (P<0.05). Petit Verdot blend produced wine with similar intensity of ‘acidity’ and ‘alcohol’ perception, but surprisingly, significantly lower ‘astringency’. On the other hand, there was a marked difference between the first harvest and blended wines, with a significant increase in ‘dark fruit’, ‘plum’ and ‘alcohol’ attributes in addition to a decrease in ‘red fruit’, ‘tomato leaf’ and ‘acidity’ (Figure 1B). Verdelho H1 wines were rated higher for ‘citrus’, ‘grassy’ flavours and ‘acidity’, while lower for ‘rockmelon’, ‘pear/apple’ and ‘tropical’ attributes compared with other treatments (Figure 1C). Indeed, even in this case, the blended wines (V B) were similar to the second harvest (V H2) and the wines were perceived as less ‘bitter’ and ‘alcoholic’, but more ‘acidic’.

As a conclusion, post-fermentation wine blending in

V3 1N 5

I NEE M M AA KKI N G G WW I N I N

association with an early harvest regime may result in a moderate (approximately 1.5%v/v) alcohol reduction without any substantial impact on the sensory attributes. However, a double harvest approach can only be feasible in certain years when growing conditions are appropriate. While preliminary results look promising, more research is being conducted to further investigate any limitations of these blending approaches. Extensions to the current work will also be required to determine the extent to which this method can be adapted for different varieties in different wine regions.

As lower alcohol wines are sometimes perceived as inferior in taste and quality, another approach undertaken by the TC-IWP in the 2014-15 vintage was to use early harvest grapes and enhance wine complexity and possibly quality by the use of either different yeast strains or the addition of winemaking supplements. Two TC-IWP projects made a variety of wines from earlier harvested grapes (~24oBrix) and compared them to the later, commercial harvest wine (~29oBrix), intended as a full-bodied, full-flavoured McLaren Vale Shiraz. Comprehensive chemical analyses were undertaken and descriptive sensory analysis performed using a trained sensory panel.

USE OF NON-SACCHAROMYCES YEAST STRAINS FOR ETHANOL MANAGEMENT AND FLAVOUR ENHANCEMENT The use of yeasts strains capable of yielding lower ethanol in the fermentation remains of high interest, as it is simple to adopt, does not require additional labour, equipment or handling, while having the potential to increase rather than decrease

THE ART LIVES ON… Our barrels are works of art, crafted with expertise and perfection to honour wine.

Partner with Tonnellerie Quintessence to create your masterpiece. www.tonnelleriequintessence.fr

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

35

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

A L C O H O L

wine quality. To date, strains of the conventional wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have not shown promising differences in ethanol yielded during fermentation (Palacios et al. 2007, Varela et al. 2008, 2015). Genetic and evolutionary engineering techniques have been used to alter this trait to a certain extent in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (for review, see Tilloy et al. (2015) and the selection has extended to other so-called non-Saccharomyces species (Metschnikowia pulcherrima, for example Varela et al.

2015). Originally regarded as wine spoilage organisms, these yeasts are now being re-evaluated as potential contributors to wine quality. Non-Saccharomyces are generally characterised by limited sugar consumption and are therefore unable to ferment to dryness under standard winemaking conditions. They are also generally out-competed by Saccharomyces yeasts. This is often rather simplistically explained by their poor ethanol tolerance.

However, it has been confirmed that other physicochemical factors, such as absence of oxygen, may also impair their growth as well as complex microbial interactions that affect species growth and metabolite production in wine fermentations (Fleet 2003). Despite an increasing number of studies focusing on characterisation of different non-Saccharomyces, the potential in ethanol and wine sensory profile management of various species and indigenous strains remains largely underexplored.

This TC-IWP project therefore focusses on the characterisation, selection and improvement of nonSaccharomyces yeasts that can lead to lower ethanol yield and acceptable wine sensory properties. Performances of commercially-available non-Saccharomyces with sequentially inoculated S. cerevisiae were assessed in Shiraz wines made from earlier harvested fruit (24°Brix). Non-Saccharomyces inocula included the following: three Torulaspora delbrueckii strains (Alpha, Biodiva, Prelude), Lachancea thermotolerans (Concerto), Metschnikowia pulcherrima (Flavia), naturally present microflora (further referred to as ‘wild’), a commercial blend of Torulaspora delbrueckii, Lachancea thermotolerans and S. cerevisiae (Melody), and a S. cerevisiae control (PDM).

All treatments, excluding PDM and Melody, were sequentially inoculated with S. cerevisiae strain PDM after 60 hours. The resultant wines were subjected to extensive chemical and sensory analysis.

Interestingly, while there were no obvious differences in alcohol content, some differences in wine composition, i.e., colour density, total anthocyanins and tannin concentrations between yeast treatments, were observed (data not shown). The wines were characterised by ‘palate fullness’, ‘fruit sweetness’, ’red fruit’, ‘floral’, ‘confectionary’ and ‘spice’ aromas, whilst H1 PDM control tended towards descriptors such as ‘acidic’ and ‘green’ (Figure 1D). The sensory descriptors obtained for Torulaspora delbrueckii strain (Alpha) showed promising capability of this strain to increase the intensity of overall aroma and flavour, ‘red fruit’ and ‘confectionary’ to the same or higher level than the late harvest control, while retaining ‘palate fullness’ high, and ‘astringency’ and ‘hotness’ low. This particular stain was selected for further evaluation in ferments of different varieties in the subsequent vintage. In conclusion, observed differences in wine composition and sensory profiles in this study suggest the potential applicability of non-Saccharomyces yeasts to enhance the quality of earlier harvested grapes and thereby become a complementary, rather than alternative approach in microbiological management of wine ethanol.

36

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

SELECTIVE AND DELIBERATE USE OF WINEMAKING SUPPLEMENTS TO MODULATE SENSORY PROPERTIES IN WINE Tannins and polysaccharides are the main macromolecules in red wine. Research has shown that wine quality can be significantly influenced by the concentration and composition of these classes of compounds which are, in turn, influenced by both vineyard management practices and winemaking techniques. The aim of this project was to explore to what extent three commercial winemaking additives (a maceration enzyme, an oenotannin and a mannoprotein) could modulate the composition and sensory properties of red wine. These commercial additives were added to Shiraz ferments, either individually or in combination, and compared with the control wine, which was made without additives. Furthermore, as harvest time may have a significant impact on the wine macromolecule composition, i.e., wine made from more mature grapes have higher concentrations of tannins and mannoproteins, which were positively associated with astringent and viscous mouthfeel perception (Bindon et al. 2014), Shiraz wines were also made of later harvested grapes from the same vineyard and compared with the wines modified with additives.

Descriptive analysis enabled experimental Shiraz wines to be differentiated on the basis of their sensory profiles (Figure 1E).

Wine made from later harvested grapes exhibited higher ‘flavour intensity’, particularly ‘dark fruit’ and ‘jammy’ flavours, as well as higher ‘hotness’ and ‘palate fullness’ mouthfeel attributes.

Wines made with the addition of macerating enzymes exhibited the highest levels of ‘astringency’ and ‘palate coarseness’.

Interestingly, the oenotannin addition did not result in higher tannin concentrations or any significant modification in tannin composition. Furthermore, tannin addition did not enhance wine ‘astringency’, but instead, wines were rated higher in ‘red fruit’ and ‘confectionary’ aromas. Wines made with mannoprotein additions exhibited lower ‘astringency’ and ‘palate coarseness’, albeit effects were small when used in combination with tannin or enzyme. However, wines made with mannoproteins had the lowest tannin concentrations; this might reflect the formation of mannoprotein-tannin complexes, which could then have precipitated during stabilisation and/or bottle ageing. It remains unclear if the effects observed for tannin and mannoprotein products in this study were product-specific, since commercial mannoprotein and tannin products can be diverse in composition, which will affect their interactions with wine components. The results from this trial indicated that there is a need for greater understanding of the compositional consequences of tannin and mannoprotein additions, including any interactions between tannin and mannoproteins. This was therefore the focus of trials undertaken in the subsequent vintage.

REVERSE OSMOSIS–EVAPORATIVE PERSTRACTION (RO-EP) Demand for reduced alcohol wines (RAW), as well as the range of treatments employed by the wine industry to reduce wine ethanol levels, has been increasing. However, there is a lack of research on the chemical composition and sensory profiles of RAW derived from the latest membranebased technologies such as reverse osmosis coupled with evaporative perstarction (RO-EP). In general, ethanol reduction processes have complex impacts on the composition of RAW

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

20

20 10 0

10

A L C O H O L

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

ACIDITY

ASTRINGENCY

HOTNESS

BITTERNESS

W 16.9% pre

AROMA INTENSITY 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

DARK FRUIT RED FRUIT

DARK FRUIT

DARK FRUIT

30

RED FRUIT

DARK FRUIT

20

RED FRUIT

10

ACIDITY

ASTRINGENCY

W 16.9% pre

RED FRUIT

50

W 16.9 blend

40

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

HOTNESS

BITTERNESS

60

DARK FRUIT

0

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

W 16.9 blend

ACIDITY

ASTRINGENCY

HOTNESS

BITTERNESS

BODY

W14.5% post

W 15.5% pre

BODY W 15.5 blend

ASTRINGENCY

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

W14.5% post

W 15.5% pre

W 16.1% pre

BODY W 15.5 blend

W 13.0% post

AROMA INTENSITY RED FRUIT

DARK FRUIT

60

RED FRUIT

50 40

DARK FRUIT

30

RED FRUIT

DARK FRUIT

20

10

ACIDITY

ASTRINGENCY BITTERNESS

W 13.0% post

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

HOTNESS

BITTERNESS

BODY

AROMA INTENSITY

AROMA INTENSITY RED FRUIT

0

ACIDITY WWI INN E M M AAKKI NI GN G

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

HOTNESS BODY

W 16.1% blend

0

FLAVOUR INTENSITY

ACIDITY

ASTRINGENCY

BITTERNESS W 14.2 post

W 14.8% pre

HOTNESS

BODY W 14.8 % blend

W 13.0% post

AROMA INTENSITY

Figure DARK 2. FRUIT Sensory profiles of Cabernet Sauvignon wines before (pre) and after (post) treatment with RO-EP. Blend represents DARK FRUIT RED FRUIT RED FRUIT mixture 1:1 of pre-treatment and post-treatment wines.

AROMA INTENSITY

RED FRUIT

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

60

50 40

DARK FRUIT

RED FRUIT

30 20

DARK FRUIT

(for review, see Longo et al. (2016). A loss or reduction of FLAVOUR INTENSITY ACIDITY FLAVOUR INTENSITY volatiles during the dealcoholisation process is considered ACIDITY to beASTRINGENCY a major drawbackHOTNESS of this technique.

Since ethanol isHOTNESS ASTRINGENCY BITTERNESS BODYin wine, when ethanol levels essentially a solvent reduced, BITTERNESS areBODY the concentration compounds, W 14.8% pre W 14.8 and % blend some W 13.0% post W 16.1% pre W 16.1% of blend most W 14.2non-volatile post volatile compounds, can increase, irrespective of whether or not the absolute volume of these compounds changes (Belisario-Sanchez et al. 2009). Ethanol is also directly involved in the acid-ethyl ester equilibrium (Fan et al. 2011), so when ethanol levels are reduced, the concentration of ethyl esters (i.e., volatiles that positively influence wine aroma) may also decrease (Makhotkina and Kilmartin 2012). The esters present at concentrations close to detection threshold levels, and the complexity of interactions within the wine matrix mean that modest changes in ethanol concentration might have dramatic effects on wine aroma and flavour and, thus, wine quality.

Moreover, the optimal ethanol level for RAW remains unclear, as well as any scientific basis for the ‘sweet spot’ phenomenon.

Trials were conducted to investigate the impact of ethanol removal on the composition of four red wines, involving chemical and sensory analysis of wines before and after treatment with reverse osmosis–evaporative perstraction (RO-EP) apparatus. Cabernet Sauvignon wines, sourced from different wine regions in South Australia in the 2014 and 2015 vintages, were partially dealcoholised by reducing the alcohol content by 1.0–2.4%v/v. Wines were analysed at three different stages: (i) pre-treatment, (ii) post-treatment and (iii) posttreatment following alcohol adjustment (i.e., addition of ethanol to achieve the original alcohol content).

Preliminary data indicated that RAWs were slightly more concentrated than pre-treatment wines, which affected wine colour density and the concentration of polymeric pigments.

RAWs therefore appeared darker in colour, and exhibited slightly higher density, but lower viscosity. Interestingly, no significant effect on wine phenolics was observed (data not shown). The levels of low molecular weight volatile compounds present in RAWs, particularly ethyl esters, may have been affected due to increased ester hydrolysis. For example, in RAWs a 41–53% loss of butanoic acid was observed, whereas a loss of only 1–2% was observed for octanoic acid. Ethyl butanoate loss in RAWs was 4–20% and for ethyl decanoate was 27–44% (data not shown).

Triangle tests were conducted to determine ethanol detection thresholds in RAWs. Wine samples were blended at 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0% v/v alcohol increments by mixing pre- (high alcohol) and post-treatment (low alcohol) wines. There were no significant differences between the reduced alcohol (14–15% v/v) samples; 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0% alcohol differences yielded only 5, 6 and 5/18 correct responses, respectively. However, in the

V3 1N 5

10

0

higher alcohol content sample set (15.3–16.3% v/v), the number of positive identifications increased (up to 9/18) with increasing alcohol content. However, descriptive analysis showed that the RO-EP treatment had only a small effect on aroma and flavour sensory attributes (Figure 2). Wine ‘mouthfeel’ and ‘hotness’ were the most affected, and in some cases, ‘acidity’ and ‘bitterness’ were reduced. Although ‘wine body’ was perceived to be lower, the difference was less than 7%, which is an encouraging result for the use of RO-EP in the production of lower alcohol wines.

CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR LOWER ALCOHOL WINES Products are continuously innovated to meet consumer expectations. However, with a success rate of under 50%, it is hard to introduce innovative products and even harder to innovate traditional ones (Katz 2003, Taylor and Bearden 2002). A factor influencing the success of these products could be authenticity, as it is argued that it becomes a pressing problem when under threat (Peterson 2005). However, there is no conceptual explanation of how consumers react when a traditional product, like wine, is innovated and how culture, situation, congruence of innovation as well as consumers’ characteristics moderate any trade-off between gained functional benefits and loss of authenticity. This study addresses this gap through the development of a conceptual framework, examining whether the innovation of wine will elicit a stronger influence on perceived authenticity when wine is considered traditional rather than not traditional.

In order to provide support for the conceptual paper to be empirically investigated in a later stage of the overall research project, a preliminary exploratory approach, involving nine focus groups and wine tastings, was conducted in two diverse wine markets: one where wine is a traditionally consumed product (Australia), and one considered an emerging wine market (Indonesia). The innovation was related to a substantial lowering of the alcohol level. The wine products tested varied in alcohol levels, varietals and styles. Participants were asked about their perceptions of the products before and after finding out about the alcohol level. Overall, results support the conceptual model, showing that while dealcoholised wines ranked last, Indonesian participants are more open to consuming lower/no alcohol wine and still considered the product to be wine and authentic. In contrast, Australian participants reacted in a more negative way to the product innovation. Females were more open to the idea of consuming no alcohol wines on occasion. The exploratory approach was followed by a pre-test of the survey in Australia, which demonstrated good reliability and validity of the scales ▶ used in the quantitative study.v

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

37

I NEE M MA G G WW I N A KKI N I N

A L C O H O L

CONCLUSIONS A range of techniques for production of lower alcohol wines were evaluated by TC-IWP researchers in the 2014-15 vintage. Early harvest and blending regimes are relatively simple options that may have their limits depending on grape juice/wine composition, nevertheless, the production of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Verdelho wines showed encouraging results with significant decreases in wine alcohol without any substantial impact on sensory attributes and a range of wine quality measures. The biodiversity of non-Saccharomyces yeasts has yet to be fully explored for their use to decrease wine alcohol, but show much promise. A variety of winemaking additives, in particular, mannoproteins and oenological tannins may induce modifications in wine composition and affect astringency and wine body. As such, there is a need for greater understanding of the consequences of their additions and interactions. As a post-fermentation technique, the application of RO-EP demonstrated potential to correct alcohol levels without detrimental effects on wine sensory properties, but the concept of an alcohol ‘sweet spot’, where the ‘ideal’ amount of alcohol for a given wine is fine-tuned, still remains to be defined.

In conclusion, the use of early targetted and sequential harvest, and adoption of alcohol-lowering techniques and technologies by the wine industry can allow customers to enjoy lower alcohol wines with satisfactory sensory profiles. It is important that a combination of sensory and chemical analyses are used to validate techniques and the ‘optimum’ alcohol level, in order to provide clear guidelines for winemakers to produce lower alcohol wines tailored to wine consumers’ preferences.

Fan, Y.; Xie, Z.; Zhang, H. and Qian, J. (2011) Kinetic resolution of both 1-phenylethanol enantiomers produced by hydrolysis of 1-phenylethyl acetate with Candida antarctica lipase B in different solvent systems. Kinetics and Catalysis 52:686690.

Fleet, G.H. (2003) Yeast interactions and wine flavour. International Journal of Food Microbiology 86:11-22.

Godden, P.; Wilkes, E. and Johnson, D. (2015) Trends in the composition of Australian wine 1984-2014. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 21:741753.

Kalua, C.M. and Boss, P.K. (2009) Evolution of volatile compounds during the development of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57:3818-3830.

Kalua, C.M. and Boss, P.K. (2010) Comparison of major volatile compounds from Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) from fruitset to harvest.

Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 16:337-348.

Katz, R. (2003) Managing technological innovation in business organisations. In: The International Handbook on Innovation, Elsevier Science Ltd., 775-789.

Peterson, R. A. 2005. In search of authenticity. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 1083-1098.

Keller, M. (2010) Managing grapevines to optimise fruit development in a challenging environment: a climate change primer for viticulturists. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 16:56-69.

Kontoudakis, N.; Esteruelas, M.; Fort, F.; Canals, J.M. and Zamora, F. (2011) Use of unripe grapes harvested during cluster thinning as a method for reducing alcohol content and pH of wine. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 17:230-238.

Lawless, H.T. and Heymann, H. (1999) Acceptance and preferance testing. In Sensory evaluation of food: principles and practices. D.R. Heldman (ed.), pp. 430-479.

Chapman & Hall, International Thomson Publishing, New York.

Longo, R.; Blackman, J.W.; Torley, P.J.; Rogiers, S.Y. and Schmidtke, L.M. (2016) Changes in volatile composition and sensory attributes of wines during alcohol content reduction. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.7757.

Makhotkina, O. and Kilmartin, P.A. (2012) Hydrolysis and formation of volatile esters in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine. Food Chemistry 135:486-493.

Martínez De Toda, F. and Balda, P. (2013) Delaying berry ripening through manipulating leaf area to fruit ratio. Vitis - Journal of Grapevine Research 52:171-176.

Martínez De Toda, F.; Sancha, J.C. and Balda, P. (2013) Reducing the sugar and pH of the grape (Vitis vinifera L. cvs. Grenache and Tempranillo) through a single shoot trimming. South African Journal of Enology and Viticulture 34:246-251.

Martínez De Toda, F.; Sancha, J.C.; Zheng, W. and Balda, P. (2014) Leaf area reduction by trimming, a growing technique to restore the anthocyanins: Sugars ratio decoupled by the warming climate. Vitis - Journal of Grapevine Research 53:189-192.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank principal supervisors Associate Professor Kerry Wilkinson, Dr Roberta Crouch, Dr David Jeffery and Dr Leigh Schmidtke, and supervisory panels for their valuable input and guidance in the above projects. The authors also acknowledge industry partners for the donation of grapes, wines and winemaking products, and the winemakers, research staff, students and consumers who participated in the sensory trials. The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production (www.adelaide. edu.au/tc-iwp/) is funded as part of the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Program (Project No. IC130100005) with support from Wine Australia and industry partners.

REFERENCES Alston, J.M.; Fuller, K.B.; Lapsley, J.T. and Soleas, G. (2011) Too much of a good thing? Causes and consequences of increases in sugar content of California wine grapes. Journal of Wine Economics 6:135-159.

Belisario-Sanchez, Y.Y.; Taboada-Rodriguez, A.; Marin-Iniesta, F. and LopezGomez, A. (2009) Dealcoholised wines by spinning cone column distillation: Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity measured by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57:6770-6778.

Meillon, S.; Viala, D.; Medel, M.; Urbano, C.; Guillot, G. and Schlich, P. (2010) Impact of partial alcohol reduction in Syrah wine on perceived complexity and temporality of sensations and link with preference. Food Quality and Preference 21:732-740.

Palacios, G.A.T.; Raginel, F. and Julien, A.O. (2007) Can the selection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast lead to variations in the final alcohol degree of wines?

Australian and New Zealand grapegrower and winemaker 71-75.

Palliotti, A.; Tombesi, S.; Silvestroni, O.; Lanari, V.; Gatti, M. and Poni, S. (2014) Changes in vineyard establishment and canopy management urged by earlier climaterelated grape ripening: A review. Scientia Horticulturae 178:43-54.

Peterson, R.A. (2005) In search of authenticity. Journal of Management Studies 42:1083-1098.

Pickering, G.J. (2000) Low- and reduced-alcohol wine: A review. Journal of Wine Research 11:129-144.

Pineau, B.; Trought, M.C.T.; Stronge, K.; Beresford, M.K.; Wohlers, M.W. and Jaeger, S.R. (2011) Influence of fruit ripeness and juice chaptalisation on the sensory properties and degree of typicality expressed by Sauvignon Blanc wines from Marlborough, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 17:358367.

Saliba, A.; Ovington, L.; Moran, C.C. and Bruwer, J. (2013) Consumer attitudes to low alcohol wine: an Australian sample. Wine and Viticulture Journal 28:58-61.

Schmidtke, L.M.; Blackman, J.W. and Agboola, S.O. (2012) Production technologies for reduced alcoholic wines. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 77:25-41.

Taylor and Bearden (2002) The effects of price on brand extension evaluations: the moderating role of extension similarity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 30(2):131-140.

Bindon, K.; Varela, C.; Kennedy, J.A.; Holt, H. and Herderich, M. (2013) Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv.

Cabernet Sauvignon 1. Grape and wine chemistry. Food Chemistry 141:147-147.

Tilloy, V.; Cadiere, A.; Ehsani, M. and Dequin, S. (2015) Reducing alcohol levels in wines through rational and evolutionary engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

International Journal of Food Microbiology 213:49-58.

Bindon, K.A.; Madani, S.H.; Pendleton, P.; Smith, P.A. and Kennedy, J.A. (2014) Factors affecting skin tannin extractability in ripening grapes. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 62:1130-1141.

Varela, C.; Dry, P.R.; Kutyna, D.R.; Francis, I,L.; Henschke, P.A.; Curtin, C.D. and Chambers, P.J. (2015) Strategies for reducing alcohol concentration in wine. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 21(S1):670-679.

Blackman, J. and Saliba, A. (2009) Sensory characterisation of Hunter Valley Semillon using descriptive analysis. Flavour Fragrance J. 24:238-244.

Varela, C.; Kutyna, D.R.; Henschke, P.A.; Chambers, P.J.; Herderich, M.J. and Pretorius, I.S. (2008) Taking control of alcohol. Australian and New Zealend Wine Industry Journal 23:41-43.

Bruwer, J.; Jiranek, V.; Halstead, L. and Saliba, A. (2014) Lower alcohol wines in the UK market: some baseline consumer behaviour metrics. British Food Journal 116:1143-1161.

38

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Wilkinson, K. and Jiranek, V. (2013) Wine of reduced alcohol content: Consumer WVJ and society demand vs industry willingness and ability to deliver. Red 15:16.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

WAIWNREI MR E A PKOI RNT G

A rose by any other name: novel wine yeast that impart floral aromas

By Toni Cordente, Mark Solomon, Peter Godden, Chris Curtin and Dan Johnson The Australian Wine Research Institute. PO Box 197, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia

Managing director Dan Johnson

While there is substantial variation amongst existing wine yeast strains in their capacity to influence wine style, some desirable flavour compounds are not produced at concentrations where they significantly impact wine style. As part of ongoing yeast strain development projects at the Australian Wine Research Institute, novel wine yeast that make ‘floral’/’rose’ aroma compounds have been generated.

INTRODUCTION

AT A GLANCE • Substantial variation is present amongst existing wine yeast strains in their capacity to influence wine style.

• Some desirable flavour compounds are not present in wine at concentrations where they significantly contributed to wine style.

• Novel wine yeast that make ‘floral’/’rose’ aroma compounds have been generated.

• This will enable winemakers to 'dial up' these aromas as desired.

u .a sit om Vi t.c s du op st

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (William Shakespeare). While varietal ‘floral’ aromas in wine are typically the product of grape-derived terpenoid flavour compounds, products of yeast metabolism 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) and 2-phenylethyl acetate (2-PEA) are considered important contributors to ‘rose’ aroma (Vilanova et al. 2013).

That’s not to say that yeast are what make roses smell like roses, but that they can enhance the ‘floral’ sensory properties of wine and other fermented foods and beverages (Fukuda et al. 1990, Dueñas-Sánchez et al. 2014).

This is but one of several examples where plant and yeast metabolism overlap and make the same or similar compounds. In this case the metabolic pathway involved is named after German biochemist Felix Ehrlich, who noted that various flavour-active fusel alcohols had similar chemical structures to amino acids, therefore, he proposed they were derived from them (Hazelwood et al. 2008). During winemaking, flavour compounds formed by yeast via the Ehrlich pathway confer a range of aromas and flavours that contribute to the overall bouquet of wine (Cordente et al.

2012).

Generally, in white varietals the concentrations of 2-PE and 2-PEA in finished wines are below their aroma perception thresholds (Vilanova et al. 2013), meaning their contribution to wine style would likely be minimal.

A ROSE AMONGST THE THORNS To generate a novel yeast that imparts floral aromas, a well-known and widely utilised wine yeast strain, AWRI796, was exposed to a chemical selection process previously applied to saké and baking yeast (Fukuda et al. 1990, DueñasSánchez et al. 2014). A toxic analogue of the amino acid phenylalanine was incorporated into solid agar plates that a large number of AWRI796 cells were spread onto, and a separate set of plates were used for AWRI796 cells that had been previously exposed to a mutagenic agent. Only cells that carry mutations in key phenylalanine biosynthetic pathway genes (that enable the cell to make more of its own supply of this essential amino acid) can grow in the presence of this toxic analogue. The mutagenic agent increases the frequency of isolating cells that carry such a mutation. While it may be harsh to refer to AWRI796 as a thorn, cells carrying

V3 1N 5

Got a dust problem in your vineyard?

You need Road Con Polo Citrus Australia would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to their exceptional new product. Road Con has been designed to suppress dust on unsealed road surfaces for the medium to long term.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Ph (03) 9364 9700 www.polocitrus.com.au

www.winetitles. com . au

39

WAIWNREI MR E A PKOI RNT G

AWRI 796

AWRI 2940

Stonefruit A ns

Astringency *

Citrus A ns

Hotness ns Acid ns

Apple A ns

10

5

1 0

O d o u r th r e s h o ld

2

-P

E

A

Confectionary A ns

Viscosity ns

15

E

Tropical A ns

-P

Overall Fruit A ns

2

Bitter *

A W R I 2940

O d o u r a c tiv ity v a lu e (O A V )

Fruit AT ns

A W R I 796

20

Yellow colour ***

Floral A ***

Floral F ns

Confectionary F ns

Green A ns Nutty A ns

Citrus F ns Stonefruit F ns

Sweaty/cheesy A ns

Aroma Palate Appearance

Tropical F ns Overall fruit ns Pungent A ns

Figure 1. Mean ratings for aroma and flavour attributes for Chardonnay wines (20L scale) produced using AWRI 796 and the ‘rose’ strain AWRI 2940 (n = three fermentation replicates × 10 judges). ns, not significant; *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001 Aroma and flavour attributes are shown in green, and red, respectively. mutations that allow them to overproduce phenylalanine do indeed smell like roses. A by-product of cells making large amounts of phenylalanine is that more is available for biosynthesis of the flavour-active compounds 2-PE and 2-PEA. All yeast derived using this and related protocols are not genetically-modified (GM) and are suitable for immediate application by the wine industry.

The AWRI screened 153 AWRI796 mutants for floral aromas, and 17 of those were used to conduct fermentations in the laboratory. The resultant wines were analysed for a suite of volatile aroma compounds. Ten mutants that produced significantly higher concentrations of 2-PE and 2-PEA had their whole genomes sequenced and, importantly, six of these were ‘spontaneous mutants’ that had been derived without use of the mutagenic agent, which means they carried a small number of changes (<10 nucleotides out of 12 million) in their genomes. This enabled identification of two genes in the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway that harboured possible causative mutations.

A pilot-scale winemaking trial was performed with one of the ‘spontaneous’ mutants (AWRI2940) using a high quality Adelaide Hills Chardonnay juice. There was no difference observed between the mutant and parent strain AWRI796 with regard to fermentation kinetics and overall wine chemistry.

Sensory assessment revealed that the wines made with AWRI2940 were rated significantly higher in the floral aroma attribute (Figure 1), and contained 7- and 37-fold higher concentrations of 2-PE and 2-PEA (Figure 2), respectively.

Less clear are the drivers for perceived differences in palate terms ‘astringency’ and ‘bitter’, or the apparent slight increase in ‘yellow colour’; the flow-on impact of altered amino acid metabolism during wine fermentation is currently being investigated.

40

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Figure 2. Odour activity values (OAV) for the ‘rose’ aroma compounds 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) and 2-phenylethyl acetate (2-PEA) in Chardonnay wines (20L), produced using AWRI 796 (black) and the ‘rose’ strain AWRI 2940 (blue). Data is expressed as the mean and standard deviations of three fermentation replicates. An OAV higher than one (odour threshold) indicates a possible contribution of the compound to the final aroma of wine.

CONCLUSIONS By harnessing classical yeast strain development techniques, yeast that impart floral aroma during wine fermentation have been isolated and characterised. These strains have the potential to provide a tool for winemakers to produce more floral wine styles, and tailor new products to appeal to consumers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge Petaluma winery for the supply of high quality Chardonnay grapes for the winemaking trial. This work was financially supported by Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body, Wine Australia, with matching funds from the Australian Government. The AWRI is part of the Wine Innovation Cluster.

REFERENCES Cordente, A.G.; Curtin, C.D.; Varela, C. and Pretorius, I.S. (2012) Flavouractive wine yeasts. Appl, Microbiol. Biotechnol. 96: 601-618.

Dueñas-Sánchez, R.; Pérez, A.G.; Codón, A.C.; Benítez, T. and Rincón, A.M. (2014) Over-production of 2-phenylethanol by industrial yeasts to improve organoleptic properties of bakers’ products. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 180:7–12.

Fukuda, K.; Watanabe, M. and Asano, K. (1990) Altered regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in b-Phenylethyl-alcohol-overproducing mutants of Sake yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Agric. Biol. Chem. 54:31513156.

Hazelwood, L.A.; Daran, J.M.; van Maris, A.J.A.; Pronk, J.T. and Dickinson, J.R. (2008) The Ehrlich pathway for fusel alcohol production: a century of research on Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolism. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.

74:2259-2266.

Vilanova, M.; Genisheva, Z.; Graña, M. and Oliveira, J.M. (2013) Determination of odorants in varietal wines from international grape cultivars WVJ (Vitis vinifera) grown in NW Spain. S. Afr. J. Enol. Vitic. 34:212-222.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

PESTS & DISEASES

V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E V

Investigating the potential for resistance to grapevine trunk diseases

By Mark Sosnowski1,2, Matthew Ayres1, Michael McCarthy1, Trevor Wicks1 and Eileen Scott2 1 South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), GPO Box 397, Adelaide, South Australia 5001 2 School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064

A study was undertaken in a germplasm collection at the Nuriootpa Research Centre to evaluate Vitis vinifera winegrape cultivars for their susceptibility to pathogens that cause eutypa and botryosphaeria dieback. The results showed a significant variation in the extent of fungal growth within woody tissue, suggesting possible resistance or tolerance of some cultivars.

INTRODUCTION Eutypa and botryosphaeria dieback are the most widespread and devastating trunk diseases of grapevines throughout the world, reducing vineyard productivity and longevity and threating the sustainability of the Australian wine industry. Spores of the causal fungi land on, germinate in and colonise exposed pruning wounds, causing dieback and eventual vine death.

There have been limited reports of resistance or tolerance of Vitis vinifera cultivars to trunk diseases. Carter (1991) cited a report on the resistance or susceptibility to eutypa dieback of cultivars typically grown in France (Dubos 1987) based on foliar symptoms in the vineyard. Of 32 cultivars assessed, five were categorised as resistant (cvs Aligote, Grolleau, Merlot, Semillon and Sylvaner) and all others were listed as moderately to highly susceptible. Based on three surveys conducted in South Australia over the past 40 years (Wicks 1975, Highet and Wicks 1998, Loschiavo et al 2007), the cvs Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz were recorded to have the highest incidence of eutypa dieback foliar symptoms and cvs Merlot, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon the least. The growth of the eutypa dieback pathogen Eutypa lata in grapevine wood also varies, for example, the growth rate in cvs Merlot, Gamay, Grenache and Semillon was half that recorded in cvs Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz (Sosnowski et al. 2007).

For botryosphaeria dieback, studies of lesion length in canes of several cultivars of V. vinifera and other Vitis

V3 1N 5

spp. following inoculation indicated variation in susceptibility (Savocchia et al. 2007, Pitt et al. 2013, Travadon et al.

2013, Billones Baaijens et al. 2014, Qiu 2014).

A germplasm collection at the Nuriootpa Research Centre in the Barossa Valley, comprising a broad range of V. vinifera cultivars and clones sourced from around the world, was used. Trunk disease severity based on symptoms observed in the vineyard, and rate of pathogen colonisation in canes

by E. lata (eutypa dieback) and Diplodia seriata (botryosphaeria dieback) were assessed. The aim was to identify resistant or tolerant cultivars in order to provide recommendations for future plantings to reduce susceptibility to trunk diseases.

METHODS The germplasm collection consists of 83 red and 95 white own-rooted winegrape cultivars (V. vinifera) planted between 1977 and 1982 with one panel of three or four vines per cultivar. All vines have been cordon trained and spur pruned, with no specific strategies to control trunk diseases. In spring 2012 and 2013 vines were assessed for percentage of (i) grapevine trunk disease-associated cordon dieback (Figure 1) and (ii) foliar symptoms of eutypa dieback.

For subsequent experiments, 18 cultivars were selected from the germplasm collection to represent the least symptomatic, and compared with susceptible cultivars Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc.

In July 2014, one-year-old canes on vines of the 20 selected cultivars were

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Figure 1. Grapevine trunk disease cordon dieback severity assessment scale.

www.winetitles. com . au

41

V V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E

PESTS & DISEASES

pruned to at least 20cm length. Wounds were inoculated with spores of either E. lata or D. seriata. Cane material removed from the vines was taken to the greenhouse to establish detached cane assays (Ayres et al. 2011). Canes were cut into single-node sections and placed into holes in polystyrene boards which were floated on water in plastic tubs. Wounds on top of canes were inoculated with spores of either E. lata or D. seriata. Non-inoculated controls were included.

For assessment, canes were harvested four weeks (detached cane assay) or 12 months (vineyard experiment) after establishment. Bark was removed using a sharp knife and the exposed wood was surface sterilised and then rinsed in water. Starting immediately below the inoculation point, cuts were made using sterile secateurs every 2mm along the canes for a distance of 30mm (detached cane assay) or 2mm discs were taken at 10mm intervals up to 100mm below the inoculated wound (field experiment). Segments were placed sequentially on agar and incubated for a week. Each wood segment was then assessed for the presence or absence of growth of E. lata or D. seriata emerging from the wood, and the distance the fungus extended from the inoculation point recorded. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, and least significant difference (LSD) at the 5% level was used for all pairwise comparisons, with standard error of the means calculated.

RESULTS The severity of cordon dieback and foliar symptoms of eutypa dieback varied substantially between the cultivars (Figure 2). No symptoms were observed on four white wine cultivars but all red wine cultivars had symptoms. The mean severity of cordon dieback was greater than 80% for 13 red and five white wine cultivars.

However, 15 red and 26 white cultivars exhibited less than 10% cordon dieback, and 18 of these were selected for subsequent experiments.

In the detached cane assay, canes of all cultivars were colonised between 4mm and 22mm (E. lata) and 15mm and 27mm (D. seriata) from the

42

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Figure 2. Severity of cordon dieback and foliar symptoms of eutypa dieback (stunted shoots, yellowing with cupped and necrotic leaves) of red and white varieties in 31â&#x20AC;&#x201C;36 year old vines in the Nuriootpa Research Centre germplasm collection in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. wound site (Figure 3, see page 44). In the susceptible cultivars Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc, both pathogens were recovered 20-21mm from the wound site. Of the 18 least symptomatic cultivars, 13 were colonised by E. lata and five by D. seriata to significantly less mean distance than the susceptible cultivars. Canes of the cvs Petit Meslier, Petit Verdot and Auxerrois were colonised the least by E. lata, which was only recovered up to 7mm from the wound. Canes of the cvs Sangiovese and Muscadelle were colonised the least by D. seriata, which

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

was recovered less than 16mm from the wound. E. lata or D. seriata was not recovered from non-inoculated canes.

In the vineyard experiment, E. lata colonised canes (22-161mm) significantly further than D. seriata (4-30m, Figure 4, see page 44). In the susceptible cultivars Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc, recovery distance from the wound site was 80-84mm for E. lata and 20-21mm for D. seriata.

Of the 18 least symptomatic cultivars, seven were colonised by E. lata and six by D. seriata to significantly less mean distance than the susceptible

V31N5

MILES AHEAD

THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Over 20 years of proven hands free growth straight to the wire, with quick and easy assembly using our Zip-Safe seal. It’s no wonder GroGuard is Australia’s biggest name in vine establishment technology.

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

Contact your local rural store or

freecall 1800 644 259 www.groguard.com.au

V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E V

PESTS & DISEASES

cultivars. Canes of the cvs Petit Verdot, Muscadelle, Muscat a Petit Grains Rouge (apgr) and Riesling were colonised the least by E. lata, which was only recovered up to 36mm from the wound. Canes of the cvs Petit Meslier, Melon, Petit Verdot, Ughetta, Muscadelle and Green Veltliner were colonised the least by D. seriata, which was recovered less than 9mm from the wound.

The lightest shading of bars in Figures 3 and 4 indicates the cultivars found to be consistently least colonised by each of the pathogens in both the detached cane assay and vineyard experiment.

DISCUSSION Assessment of the germplasm collection indicated that the severity of trunk disease symptoms varied considerably amongst the cultivars in the 31-36 year old vines. Results were generally consistent with previous reports from eutypa dieback surveys in Australia, France and the USA. Forty-one cultivars were recorded with less than 10 per cent severity of trunk disease, suggesting resistance or tolerance to trunk pathogens may exist.

All vines were subjected to natural infection and, based on previous studies at the Nuriootpa Research Centre, up to 12 per cent and 33 per cent incidence of natural pruning wound infection has been reported for eutypa and botryosphaeria dieback pathogens, respectively. However, isolation of fungi from vines will be required to confirm the cause of symptoms and whether species responsible for botryosphaeria dieback are also involved.

Results from the detached cane assays and vineyard experiments indicate that susceptibility to the two pathogens E. lata and D. seriata differs between cultivars. Seven cultivars appear to have the greatest potential for resistance or tolerance to E. lata, and three to D. seriata. Muscadelle and Pinot Noir were the only two cultivars that were consistently least colonised by both pathogens.

In a recent study, Hamblin (2015) further evaluated several of the cultivars shown to be least susceptible in the current research and found that some had smaller xylem vessel

44

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Figure 3. Recovery distance of Eutypa lata (eutypa dieback) and Diplodia seriata (botryosphaeria dieback), four weeks after applying spores to the cut surface of canes detached from selected cultivars in the germplasm collection. Bars represent standard error of the mean. Darkest shading – susceptible cultivars, lightest shading – cultivars consistently colonised least by each pathogen when both experiments are considered.

Figure 4. Recovery distance of Eutypa lata (eutypa dieback) and Diplodia seriata (botryosphaeria dieback), 12 months after applying spores to the cut surface of canes on selected cultivars in the germplasm collection. Bars represent standard error of the mean. Darkest shading – susceptible cultivars, lightest shading – cultivars consistently colonised least by each pathogen when both experiments are considered. diameter and greater content of lignin than the susceptible cultivars tested, which was consistent with findings by Rolshausen et al. (2008) and Pouzelet et al. (2014).

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

These detached cane assays and vineyard experiments are being repeated and will confirm that some cultivars are less susceptible to colonisation by trunk disease

V31N5

PESTS & DISEASES

pathogens than others. With better knowledge we will be able to ensure the longevity of vineyards. There is also evidence of variation amongst clones and rootstock/scion combinations in susceptibility to trunk diseases, which will be the focus of future research.

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Carter, M.V. (1991) The status of Eutypa lata as a pathogen. Monograph – Phytopathological Paper No. 32. (International Mycological Institute, Surrey, UK).

This research was funded by Wine Australia, with additional support from Nufarm Australia, Adelaide Hills Wine Region, Barossa Grape and Wine Association, McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association and Clare Region Winegrape Growers Association. The authors acknowledge Roger Maywald and Treva Hebberman for access to and maintenance of vines at the Nuriootpa Research Centre, and thank Ian Bogisch, Cathy Todd, Lee Bartlett, Bruce Henderson and Georgina Elena for technical assistance.

V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E V

Pouzoulet, J.; Pivovaroff, A.L.; Santiago, L.S. and Rolshausen, P.E. (2014) Can vessel dimension explain tolerance toward fungal vascular wilt diseases in woody plants? Lessons from Dutch elm disease and esca disease in grapevine. Frontiers in Plant Science 5:1-11.

Ayres, M.; Sosnowski, M. and Wicks, T. (2011) A rapid technique for evaluating treatments for eutypa dieback control. Wine & Viticulture Journal 26(6):50-53.

Qiu, Y (2014) The biology and epidemiology of the grapevine trunk disease pathogen Botryosphaeriaceae spp. PhD Thesis, Charles Sturt University.

Billones-Baaijens, R.; Jones, E.E.; Ridgway, H.J. and Jaspers, M.V. (2014) Susceptibility of common rootstock and scion varieties of grapevines to Botryosphaeriaceae species.

Australasian Plant Pathology 43:25-31.

Rolshausen, P.E.; Greve, L.C.; Labavitch, J.M.; Mahoney, N.E.; Molyneux, R.J. and Gubler, W.D. (2008) Pathogenesis of Eutypa lata in grapevine: identification of virulence factors and biochemical characterization of cordon dieback. Phytopathology 98:222-229.

Dubos, B. (1987) Mise au point sur les maladies de dépérissement dans le vignoble français. Le Progrés Agriculture et Viticulture 104:135-140.

Savocchia, S.; Steel, C.C.; Stodart, B.J. and Somers, A. (2007) Pathogenicity of Botryosphaeria species isolated from declining grapevines in sub-tropical regions of eastern Australia. Vitis 46:27-32.

Hamblin, J. (2015) Factors affecting grapevine susceptibility to Eutypa dieback. Honours Thesis, The University of Adelaide.

Sosnowski, M.R.; Wicks, T.J.; Lardner, R. and Scott, E.S. (2007) The influence of grapevine cultivar and isolate of Eutypa lata on wood and foliar symptoms. Plant Disease 91:924-931.

Highet, A. and Wicks, T. (1998) The incidence of eutypa dieback in South Australian vineyards.

The Australian Grapegrower & Winemaker Annual Technical Issue 441a:135-136.

Travadon, R.; Rolshausen, P.E.; Gubler, W.D.; Cadle-Davidson, L. and Baumgartner, K (2013) Susceptibility of cultivated and wild Vitis spp. to wood infection by fungal trunk pathogens. Plant Disease 97:1529-1536.

Loschiavo, A.; Sosnowski, M. and Wicks, T. (2007) Incidence of eutypa dieback in the Adelaide Hills. The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker 519:26-29.

Pitt, W.M.; Huang, R.; Steel, C.C. and Savocchia, S. (2013) Pathogenicity and epidemiology of Botryosphaeriaceae species isolated from grapevines in Australia. Australasian Plant Pathology 42:573-582.

Wicks, T. (1975) The dying arm disorder of vines in South Australia. Agricultural Record 2:14-20.

WVJ

JULY

201 6

More than journals 34 th

As publisher of Australia’s leading industry journals, it would be easy to think we are only ink on paper.

But these are more than journals. They are brands.

und M er-v id-r ine ow a opt nd ion s Spa

Wine industry brands that readers and suppliers trust, quote and repond to. Brands that are growing across all platforms.

It’s become a two way relationship online industry offerings, including search, news, blogs, weather, published articles and Directory Buyers’ Guide.

And we are adding so much more in Wine Shows, Events, Classifieds, including Jobs, Real Estate, Sales of Grapes and Wine, Used Barrels and Equipment, Services and Suppliers.

Take a new look at Winetitles Media’s services today and ask about our FREE Classifieds offer.

For business solutions across all platforms, call +61 8 8369 9500 or visit www.winetitles.com.au

V3 1N 5

Ann ual Editi on

rklin g

en p

wine explo red

rim Aus eur tral pro ian jec t LWD

SHO

P

2016

Aust Indu ralian & Distr stry Sup New Ze ala ibuto p rs & liers | B nd Win Reta e Pro uyers ilers | Wri ’ Guide | ducers | Orga Aust ters nisa & M Brands tion s, Te | Ov ralian Gra e achin dia | C ervie p a g& w, Fa egrowe Rese lendar, rs cts & W arch Fig Insti ine Sho ws & ures tutio ns Cou rses

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

45

Realise every precious drop.

Producing the perfect Grape takes time, effort and energy. So when yours are attacked by chewing pests you need to strike back. DuPont™ Avatar® insecticide works with your integrated pest management strategy to control Light brown apple moth and Grapevine moth caterpillars, Garden weevils, European earwigs and Wingless grasshoppers. And it’s friendly to some key beneficial bugs.

Visit www.cropprotection.dupont.com.au for more information

ALWAYS REFER TO THE LABEL BEFORE USE. Copyright © 2014 DuPont. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™ and Avatar ® are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.

Du Pont (Australia) Pty Ltd. 7 Eden Park Drive, Macquarie Park NSW 2113. ACN 000 716 469. All rights reserved. DUPONT0036/GW/FP.

PESTS & DISEASES

V V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E

Breeding the next-generation disease-resistant grapevine varieties

By Reinhard Tรถpfer* and Rudolf Eibach Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof, Julius Kuehn-Institute (JKI), D 76833 Siebeldingen, Germany *Corresponding author: reinhard.toepfer@julius-kuehn.de

The following article is based on a presentation given to both the International Cool Climate Conference, in England, in May, and the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, in Adelaide, in July. In it, the authors outline how grapevine breeding in Germany has resulted in cultivars that not only have an increased resistance to powdery and downy mildew but have performed well in the field.

INTRODUCTION Since the end of the 19th century plant protection against powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) and downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) has been obligatory in a wide range of vineyards in Europe and around the world. Preventively, winegrowers apply fungicides in order to avoid disease formation and mildew epidemics. Breeding for mildew resistance is considered to be one possible contribution that keeps the mildews in check and reduces the risk of crop failure, as well as the demand of plant protection efforts. Recent success in breeding fungus resistant cultivars shows that, generally speaking, more than 50 per cent of the plant fungicidal treatments can be reduced. First reports of downy mildew strains overcoming resistance (Peressotti et al. 2010, Delmas et al. 2016), as well as experiences gained for other crops (e.g. Mundt et al. 2014), show that further efforts are required to reduce plant protection requirements.

During the last decade breeders have received considerable support from the scientific community by developing markers for marker assisted selection (for summary see www.vivc.de > database search > data on breeding and genetics).

For downy mildew more than a dozen loci have been reported. The loci Rpv1, Rpv3, Rpv10, and Rpv12 for downy mildew have been introduced into elite genetic background, i.e., introgressed into V. vinifera, and genotypes show good wine quality as well as good viticultural performance. Such elite genotypes or newly-selected cultivars can directly be used as crossing parents for the selection of new cultivars. Similarly, almost a dozen loci have been identified for powdery mildew. The loci Run1, Ren1, and Ren3 are in elite genetic background. The loci Ren4 (Mahanil et al.

2012) and Ren6 (Pap et al. 2016), which seem to be interesting loci for powdery mildew resistance, need some further

V3 1N 5

adaptation to elite genetic background.

However, breeders today are in a rather comfortable situation as they can make use of several resistant loci. It is their challenge to combine (stack) several loci to achieve more durability of resistances and combine this trait with other characteristics required.

FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH NEW CULTIVARS IN GERMANY It took about 120 years for Alexis Millardet's postulate to become reality.

He proposed that it should be possible to combine the quality of the European winegrape with the resistance of American wild grapes. Generations of breeders around the world followed his suggestion and created resistant interspecific hybrids from wild species of American as well as Asian origin and V. vinifera cultivars. Changing the V. vinifera parent to avoid inbreeding depression by consecutive pseudobackcrosses (pBC) is necessary to remove

the undesired wild characteristics. In Germany the first convincing cultivars were introduced into the market in 1995.

Since then German breeders developed and released more than 30 new cultivars.

Table 1 (see page 49) shows these cultivars and the resistance loci found.

This list indicates the very narrow genetic basis of resistance which resulted from using continuously advanced breeding lines and new cultivars to improve wine quality. To keep these breeding programs focussed on quality, introgressions of new resistance loci were not developed. Thus, only single loci are found in the current cultivars (1&1, Figure 1). As far as marker analyses can tell for downy mildew either Rpv3 or Rpv10 and for powdery mildew only Ren3 were used. Comparing the ratings of the official German variety list (2015) (Table 1) there is a tendency for plants carrying Rpv10 to be slightly more resistant compared with plants that carry Rpv3. This observation is supported by a comparison of leaf disk assays of plants

Figure 1. Categories of cultivars and the resistance loci identified therein which are on the German market. Coloured circles indicate the presents of resistance. Only single loci (1&1), one for downy mildew (green) and one for powdery mildew (blue), are found in the cultivars. Traditional cultivars instead do not show resistant loci (classified as 0&0).

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

47

U LL TT U U RR EE VV II TT II CC U

PESTS & DISEASES

carrying the individual resistance loci which are currently available (Eibach, unpublished).

For a perennial crop like grapevines, disease resistance becomes increasingly important. New cultivars on the German market are a great achievement from breeding and environmental perspectives as they permit a reduction in plant protection treatments of more than 50%. Reflecting on 30 years of breeding experience and using new cultivars in Germany, one can summarise (i) winegrowers have accepted the new cultivars but (II) they are still hesitating in widely using them due to a lack of consumer demand. A major reason is that consumers lean towards buying known varietal wines instead of unknown products e.g. Riesling versus Felicia. As a result, new grapevine cultivars need some marketing efforts. Many boutique wineries are successful in selling wines from new cultivars as they can provide more explanation and have more time to create consumer attention. To get the information widespread is, however, a long process. From this lesson, breeders have identified both the scientific and the market challenges.

The most recent cultivar from JKI Geilweilerhof is the breeding strain Gf.1993-22-6, denominated as Calardis Blanc (Figure 2) according to the historical description Calardiswilre for Geilweilerhof. It is a white wine variety with a decent aroma between Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer, which attracts consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; taste. The winegrower finds improved downy mildew resistance due to two resistance loci, one powdery mildew locus (2&1), black rot resistance, as well as high botrytis resilience favoured by small and tight berries and loose cluster

Figure 2. Calardis Blanc (from the historical description Calardiswilre for Geilweilerhof) is a new cultivar showing combined resistances and is a prototype for some trait combinations. architecture. A later ripening grape, similar to Riesling, makes Calardis Blanc the appropriate answer to climate change demands compared with the previously selected new cultivars.

Calardis Blanc is the starting point of the second generation of resistant cultivars in Germany which will show combinations of resistances (e.g. 2&2) and provide answers to problems coming up due to climate change.

NEW APPROACHES IN BREEDING METHODOLOGY Marker assisted selection opens up new vistas for grapevine breeding. It

Figure 3. Loci for downy (green) and powdery mildew (blue) and the rating of resistance (1 = resistant, 9 = susceptible) analysed on leaf discs or detached leaf assays. The species origin of resistance is indicated.

48

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

provides the opportunity to combine and monitor resistance loci throughout the breeding steps. Figure 3 shows the mildew resistance loci are currently available in elite genetic background. Interestingly, the ratings for powdery mildew are better compared with the ratings for downy mildew loci. A further strong locus for powdery mildew resistance was recently described as Ren6 from V. piasezkii, an Asian species so far not used in grapevine breeding (Pap et al. 2016). Breeders expect that it will be possible in the long term to build up genotypes with high resistance against powdery mildew. In contrast, the rating indicated in Figure 3 clearly shows

Figure 4. Increased breeding efficiency is expected from locus specific homozygous (LSH) lines. These lines show resistant loci in a homozygous state (2-2&2-2). The entire offspring can be screened and selected for genotypes showing good yield, viticultural performance and quality traits. The resistances are found in the entire offspring and consequently need not be selected for mildew resistance.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

PESTS & DISEASES

Helios

2004 2005

Prior

2004 2008

Villaris Pinotin Calandro Muscaris

2004 2007 2009 2012

Bronner

1997 1999

Solaris

2001 2004

Cabernet Carol Cabernet Cortis Monarch Souvignier Gris Rondo Cabernet Carbon Baron

2004 2004 2004 2012 1997 2004 2005

Merzling

1995 1995

Hibernal Prinzipal Saphira Reberger Allegro

1997 1997 1999 2004 2006

Bolero

2006 2008

Accent

2007 2010

Piroso

2005 2010

2011 2014 2011 2013

2008 2008 2008 2013 1999 2008 2012

1999 1999 2004 2011 2009

Bacchus x Villard Blanc Optima x Villard Blanc Diana x Chambourcin Bacchus x Villard Blanc Bacchus x Villard Blanc Weisser Riesling x (Seyve Villard 12481 x (Pinot gris x Weißer Gutedel) Merzling x (Seyve Villard 12-481 x Müller Thurgau) (Joannes Seyve 234-16 x Pinot Noir) x Bronner Sirius x Vidal Blanc Cabernet Sauvignon x Regent Domina x Regent Solaris x Gelber Muskateller Merzling x (Zarya Severa x St. Laurent) Merzling x (Zarya Severa x Muscat Ottonel) Cabernet Sauvignon x Solaris Cabernet Sauvignon x Solaris Solaris x Dornfelder Cabernet Sauvignon x Bronner Zarya Severa x St. Laurent Cabernet Sauvignon x Bronner Cabernet Sauvignon x Bronner Seyve Villard 5-276 x (Riesling x Pinot gris) (Chancellor x Weisser Riesling)F2 Hibernal x Ehrenfelser Arnsburger x Seyve Villard 1-72 Regent x Limberger Chancellor x Rondo (Rotberger x Reichensteiner) x Chancellor Kolor x Chancellor (Portugieser x Heroldrebe) x (Deckrot x Freiburg 589-54)

that for downy mildew, further good sources of resistance are missing.

Having in hand the loci indicated in Figure 3, breeders have started to combine different loci (Eibach et al.

2007). Not knowing the mechanisms they combined two resistances from different origins for each of the two mildews (2&2).

Lines showing 3&3 loci are envisaged.

In one step further from these activities plant lines with homozygous resistance loci (LSH-lines) have been selected at Geilweilerhof (2-2&2-2) and offer the possibility to create large offspring generations which are uniform in terms of resistance (Figure 4, see page 48). In combination with markers for the flower sex locus (Fechter et al. 2012) breeding lines can be selected that simplify crossing schemes based on female genotypes which need no emasculation prior to crossing. As a consequence, hand work is reduced although the number of seeds V3 1N 5

2 2 3 2 2

4 5 3 5 5

6 5 4 5 4

X X X X X

X X X X X

B

2

3

4

X

X

B

3

3

4

X

X

N

2

3

3

X

X

B N N B

2 2 3 2

4 3 4 3

5 3 7 4

X X X X

X X X X

B

2

4

3

X

X

B

3

3

5

X

X

N N N B N N N

2 2 2 2 3 2 2

3 3 4 3 5 5 -

6 4 3 2 4 3 3

X X X X X X X

X X X X

B

4

4

4

X

B B B N N

6 7 7 5 3

5 5 6 4 3

3 3 4 5 3

X X X X X

N

3

3

4

X

N

3

4

3

N

2

4

4

Ren3

1997 2001

B B N B B

berry DM PM color

parents

Rpv10

Johanniter

Rpv3

Phoenix Orion Regent Staufer Sirius

year of protection/ admission 1992 1992 1994 1994 1994 1995 1994 1994 1995 1995

cultivar

botrytis

Table 1. Cultivars registered in the German variety list (2015). Plants were rated for resistance (1 = resistant, 9 = susceptible) in the vineyard upon cultivation with reduced fungicide application. Listing follows the resistance loci to downy and powdery mildew which were found according to marker analyses. Rating for botrytis resilience is given, too.

X n.t. n.t. n.t.

can be increased. This finally raises the chances of selecting superior genotypes.

Grapevine breeding at the beginning of the 21st century offers unprecedented opportunities. Marker development for mildew resistance is a milestone, but markers for other traits like botrytis resilience, phenology, yield, and quality parameters are still to be identified.

Techniques of genome sequencing and genome analysis (genotyping tools) have proven to be crucial for progress in grapevine breeding. Marker assisted selection permits the combination of resistance loci on demand. Currently techniques for phenotyping plants are a rapidly evolving field which need to be elaborated and adapted to the specificities of grapevines (e.g. Kicherer et al. 2015).

In combination with genome analysis they will result in new markers and, thus, selection schemes for speeding up grapevine breeding.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E

CONCLUSION Grapevine breeding has resulted in cultivars that have shown good field performance, even with a reduced plant protection regime (reduction potential >50%). The new tools of marker assisted selection have paved the way to combine resistant loci. They will soon result in cultivars that show 2&2 mildew resistance loci which are a good step towards greater durability of resistance - a crucial trait for a perennial plant. A combination of more loci (3&3; e.g. Rpv1,10,-12&Run1, Ren1,-3) is possible and will be a function of time. Furthermore, the stacking of different resistant loci within the category 3&3 (e.g. Rpv3-2,10,-12&Ren1,-4,-6) in another cultivar is envisaged. Such diversity is expected to additionally contribute to durability of resistance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully thank BMEL (Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft) for funding the breeding activities at JKI. We also thank the organising committees for inviting Reinhard Töpfer to the ICCWS, in Brighton, and to AWITC, in Adelaide, both in 2016.

REFERENCES Delmas, C.E.L.; Fabre, F.; Jolivet, J.; Mazet, I.D.; Cervera, S.R.; Deliere, L. and Delmotte, F. (2016) Adaptation of a plant pathogen to partial host resistance: selection for greater aggressiveness in grapevine downy mildew. Evolutionary Applications 9:709-725 Eibach, R.; Zyprian, E.; Welter, L. and Töpfer, R. (2007) The use of molecular markers for pyramiding resistance genes in grapevine breeding. Vitis 46:120124 Fechter, I.; Hausmann, L.; Daum, M.; Sörensen, T.R.; Viehöver, P.; Weisshaar, B. and Töpfer, R. (2012) Candidate genes within a 143kb region of the flower sex locus in Vitis. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 287:247-259 Kicherer, A.; Herzog, K.; Pflanz, M.; Wieland, M.; Rüger, P.; Kecke, S.; Kuhlmann, H. and Töpfer, R. (2015) An automated field phenotyping pipeline for application in grapevine research. Sensors 15:4823-4836 Mahanil, S.; Ramming, D.; Cadle-Davidson, M.; Owens, C.; Garris, A.; Myles, S. and Cadle-Davidson, L. (2012) Development of marker sets useful in the early selection of Ren4 powdery mildew resistance and seedlessness for table and raisin grape breeding.

Theoretical and Applied Genetics 124:23-33 Mundt, C.C. (2014) Durable resistance: a key to sustainable management of pathogens and pests. Infect Genet Evol. 27:446-455. doi: 10.1016/j. meegid.2014.01.011.

Pap, D.; Riaz, S.; Dry, I.B.; Jermakow, A.; Tenscher, A.C.; Cantu, D.; Oláh, R. and Walker, M.A. (2016) Identification of two novel powdery mildew resistance loci, Ren6 and Ren7, from the wild Chinese grape species Vitis piasezkii. BMC Plant Biol. 16:170. doi: 10.1186/s12870-016-0855-8.

Peressotti, E.; Wiedemann-Merdinoglu, S.; Delmotte, F.; Bellin, D.; Gaspero, G. di; Testolin, R.; Merdinoglu, D. and Mestre, P.(2010) Breakdown of resistance to grapevine downy mildew upon limited deployment of a resistant variety. BMC Plant Biology WVJ 10:11. www.winetitles. com . au

49

Buying or Selling - Check out the industry site

FREE POSTING & SEARCH FOR

Grapes & Bulk Wine Used Barrels Used Equipment Real Estate Services & Supplies Looking for the right person for the job?

THE LEADING ONLINE WINE INDUSTRY JOB SITE Post your classified listings on the leading website for the wine industry T: +618 8369 9500 F: +618 8369 9501 E: classifieds@winetitles.com.au W: www.winetitles.com.au

M AC HINE HARV E STING

U LL TT U U RR EE VV II TT II CC U

The impact of machine harvesting with and without optical berry sorting on Pinot Noir wine composition and quality

By David Hendrickson1, Larry Lerno1, Anna Hjelmeland1, Susan Ebeler1, Hildegarde Heymann1, Helene Hopfer1, Karen Block1, Charles Brenneman1 and Anita Oberholster1* 1 Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. * Corresponding author: aoberholster@ucdavis.edu

In spite of their efficiency and economic advantages, there remains resistance to using machine harvesters to pick grapes intended for premium wine production. The following article, based on a presentation to the recent International Cool Climate Wine Symposium and the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, outlines a US study that aimed to confirm whether combining mechanical harvesting with optical berry sorting technology led to wine of comparable quality to that made using hand-harvested fruit.

INTRODUCTION Labour shortage is a key issue for the grape and wine industry and there has been a renewed focus on the automation of vineyard and winery operations, including the use of machine harvesters. Some of the concerns associated with mechanical harvesting include: 1) physical damage to the fruit resulting from the rapid shaking required to separate berries from rachis 2) the inclusion of undesirable second crop, overripe or mouldy clusters, and material other than grapes (MOG) 3) the increased risk of oxidation and enzymatic activity 4) the development of microbial populations in the broken and therefore vulnerable fruit during transport from the vineyard to winery 5) the loss of juice in the vineyard.

Some of the new mechanical harvesters include an on-board picking head that eliminates pieces of rachis, leaves, and shoots. However, these mechanisms are not capable of excluding mouldy or overripe berries. Typically, sorting is done at the winery to eliminate undesirable fruit. Hand sorting is slow and requires extensive resources to inspect individual berries. Optical sorters, however, are well suited for rapidly sorting destemmed grapes and their use has become more common

V3 1N 5

Figure 1. Pinot Noir grapes utilised for the study. in wineries. Sorting is based on a variety of parameters including berry size, colour and shape, while also eliminating foreign material.

Despite the high efficiency and economic advantages of machine harvesters, there is some resistance to their application for premium wines based on a belief that wines made from mechanically harvested grapes are inferior to those made from hand

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

harvested fruit. It has been proposed, however, that coupling mechanical harvesting with optical berry sorting technology may lead to wine that is as good as wine made from hand harvested grapes. The objective of this study was to determine the possible synergistic effects, if any, of using machine harvesting in conjunction with optical berry sorting on Pinot Noir â&#x2013;ś grape and wine composition.

www.winetitles. com . au

51

V V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E

STUDY DETAILS

M ACH I N E H A R V E S TI N G

Table 1. Treatment definitions.

HHNS: Hand-picked, not sorted

HHVS: Hand-picked, Vistalys sorted

Pinot Noir grapes from the Russian PSNS: Pellenc Selectiv’, not sorted PSVS: Pellenc Selectiv’ Vistalys sorted River Valley AVA in California were MHNS: Mechanical harvest, not sorted MHVS: Mechanical harvest, Vistalys sorted harvested during the 2014 season (Figure 1). There were three harvest treatments: one tonne was hand harvested (HH), one tonne was mechanically harvested with a Pellenc over-row tractor 8590 with a Selectiv’ Process On-Board picking head (Pellenc America, Santa Rosa, CA, USA) (henceforth referred to as ‘Selectiv’, PS) and one tonne was mechanically harvested with the same Pellenc harvester with the on-board picking head disengaged and thus operated like a standard bow-rod machine harvester (henceforth referred to as ‘machine’, MH). The grapes were in good condition with no rot or mould visible. For each harvest treatment, half the grapes received no sorting at the winery (NS) and half were sorted with a 2011 Delta Vistalys R1 optical sorter (Bucher-Vaslin, Chalonnes sur Loire, France) (VS) set2016-09-05T12:21:15+10:00 to a stringency BCH1006WVJAL_FA level of four out of five, resulting in Figure 2. Pinot Noir grapes (Russian River Valley AVA, California) that were handsix total treatments (Table 1). The picked (left) or machine harvested (right).

You can’t trust the dog...

BCH1006WVJ AL

52

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

M AC HINE HARV E STINGV I T V II C T IU CL UT LU TRUE R E

Table 2. Brix, pH, and titratable acidity of grape musts and wines at bottling for all treatments. Treatments sharing a common letter do not differ significantly at p£0.05 (n=3).

Grapes

Wines

Brix

pH

TA(g/L tartaric acid)

%EtOH (v/v)

pH

TA(g/L tartaric acid)

HHNS

24.6 ± 0.1 a

3.7 ± 0.0 a

HHVS

24.3 ± 0.2 b

3.7 ± 0.0 a

5.3 ± 0.0 a

13.9 ± 0.1 a

3.7 ± 0.0 ab

4.9 ± 0.1 ab

5.3 ± 0.0 a

13.2 ± 0.3 b

3.7 ± 0.0 b

5.0 ± 0.1 a

PSNS

24.5 ± 0.0 a

3.8 ± 0.0 b

5.1 ± 0.1 a

14.4 ± 0.0 c

3.8 ± 0.0 a

4.6 ± 0.0 c

PSVS

24.6 ± 0.0 a

3.8 ± 0.0 b

5.1 ± 0.1 a

14.0 ± 0.2 a

3.8 ± 0.0 a

4.8 ± 0.1 bd

MHNS

24.5 ± 0.1 a

3.8 ± 0.0 b

5.1 ± 0.1 a

14.4 ± 0.0 c

3.8 ± 0.0 c

4.5 ± 0.1 c

MHVS

24.3 ± 0.1 b

3.7 ± 0.0 a

5.2 ± 0.1 a

14.4 ± 0.0 c

3.7 ± 0.0 b

4.6 ± 0.0 cd

Treatment*

*HHNS = hand harvested, no sort; HHVS = hand harvested, Vistalys sort: PSNS = Pellenc Selectiv’, no sort; PSVS = Pellenc Selectiv’, Vistalys sort; MHNS = mechanical harvest, no sort; MHVS = mechanical harvest, Vistalys sort.

rejection rate was 9 ± 1% of the fruit treatments reached the winery, as based on a weight-per-weight basis. can be seen in Figure 2. The two Wines were made from each treatment mechanically harvested treatments (PS in triplicate using 200L stainless steel and MH) were visually similar. There fermentation vessels and whole berry were only minor differences in Brix, pH, fermentation1. The grapes, wines at and titratable acidity among the grape bottling, and wines after three months musts of the different treatments even of bottle ageing were analysed by UVthough the Brix values for the optically Vis spectroscopy (Adams-Harbertson sorted hand and machine harvested assay), RP-HPLC and HS-SPME-GC-MS treatments were significantly lower for colour expression and phenolic and than the other treatments (Table 2). aroma profiling2-4.

The removal of overripe and raisin-like BCH1006WVJAR_FA 2016-09-05T12:17:28+10:00 There was a clear difference in berry berries from the product stream by the intactness when the different harvested optical sorter, both of which have high

sugar content, could be responsible for the lower Brix in these treatments.

The differences in must chemistry were small from a practical perspective and would likely have had minimal or no impact on the wine’s sensory or future reaction chemistry.

There were also small but significant differences among the resulting wines at the time of bottling.

For the most part, differences in ethanol content were driven by sugar content differences in the grapes following treatment. Discrepancies in

You can trust Teldor.

“We’ve always used it,” says John Evans, the viticulturist at Rochford Wines. “We’ve tried all the newer products and still keep coming back to Teldor.” For effective protection against botrytis – in rotation with other fungicidal modes of action – you can always trust Teldor fungicide.

Bayer CropScience Pty Ltd, ABN 87 000 226 022 Level 1, 8 Redfern Road, Hawthorn East, Vic 3123 Teldor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. crop.bayer.com.au BCH1006WVJ AR

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

53

VV I I TT I I CC UU LLTT UU RR EE

M ACH I N E H A R VE S TI N G

mg/L

grape sugar and final ethanol content 800 a a b a c b d c bd c a c in the wines could be explained by larger sugar differences due to soak 700 up than is reflected in the grape Brix measurements at harvest. Ethanol 600 differences in the final wines were 500 taken into account during sensory evaluations of the wines. Lower TAs Total Phenolics 400 in the machine harvested treatments Anthocyanins could be the result of more potassium 300 leaching from the damaged skins, which combined with tartaric acid 200 precipitated as potassium bitartrate.

Further discussion will focus on the 100 wine data obtained three months post 0 bottling when descriptive sensory HHNS HHVS PSNS PSVS MHNS MHVS analysis took place.

Figure 3 shows the total phenol and Figure 3. Total phenol and anthocyanin concentration in wines three months postfree anthocyanin content of the wines bottling as determined by the Adams-Harbertson assay. Treatments sharing three months after bottling. Results common letters do not differ significantly at p<0.05 (n=9). indicate that optical sorting led to a decrease in total phenolics except for the machine treatment (MH). MOG can subsequent transport of the fruit to more consistent with the other contain high levels of phenolics and it the winery and during fermentation, treatments, which may indicate that has been shown that musts fermented since all treatments underwent whole the sorter effectively removed damaged with MOG can result in wines with berry fermentation. Cerpa-Calderón berries from the process stream, greater phenolic content that those and Kennedy6 investigated the effect thereby limiting extraction. that were not5. It is thus possible that of using different percentages of Similar to the total phenol the general decrease of phenolic crushed fruit during fermentations on measurement, PSNS treatment compounds observed in the opticallytannin extraction using Merlot grapes. had the highest concentration of ccolade Wines Australia Estate, Australian sorted treatments is due to Limited, the removal Aravina They found that the final wine tannin Vintage anthocyanins at the time of bottling. d, Barwick Beltunga, Bests Wines Great Western, Bremerton of MOG byWines, the sorter.

Treatment PSNS amount increased with the percentage However, at three months post bottling, ines, contained Brown the Brothers Milawa Pty most phenolics, likely Vineyard of crushed fruitLtd, used, Campbells with a maximumWines, anthocyanin differences decreased asamadueGroup Pty Group, Charles Melton to the fact thatLtd, duringCellarmaster this harvest reached at 75% crushed fruit.

Thus, weWines, among treatments with a simultaneous over method Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Vineyards, Delegats Wine Esthe grapes experienced an Coriole can assume that a higher percentage of increase in polymeric pigments7. The te, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanseadditional physical process due to the crushed or damaged fruit in a ferment initial higher anthocyanin concentration w Bell, FiveProcess Star on-board.

Wines, This Fowles Fuse Wine Services Pty Ltd, Selectiv’ could Wine, will result in an increase in extraction in the PSNS treatment can be the emtree Glenlofty Harryduring Jones Wines, Henry’s haveVineyards, led to greater berry damage. Wines, of phenolics fermentation. result of greater extraction from less rive Vignerons Pty Ltd, Hentley HopeSelectiv’ Estate, Hospitality ReDamage that occurred during harvest Farm, The Pellenc sorted (PSVS) intact berries during fermentation, uitment Park Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, as In-discussed earlier6. Optical sorting wouldSolutions, lead to greaterHoward extraction during treatment had phenolic concentrations ewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack Rabbit Vineyard, did not lead to large differences in anthocyanin concentrations in the hand m Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, and machine harvested treatments. rrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier The aroma profiles of the different , Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Make WInes Australia, McWilwines were determined by GCMS and am’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity VIneyards, of the 51 wine aroma compounds oxon Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Oenotec Pty Ltd, Options Wine identified, 45 and 40 were significantly erchants, Orlando Wines, Ozpak Pty Ltd, Patrick of Coonawarra, Plandifferent among treatments at zero genet Wines, Portavin Integrated Wine Services, R&D VITICULTURand three months of bottle ageing, L SERVICES PTY LTD, Robert Oatley Vineyards, Rymill Coonawarra, respectively. Thus, the volatile ville Estate, Stella Bella Wines, Streicker Wines, The Gilbert Family composition of the different wine ine Co, The Lane Vineyard, The Scotchmans Hill Group Pty Ltd, The treatments became more similar alumba Wine Company, Tintara Winery, Tower Estate Pty Ltd, Treaswith ageing. A PCA of the volatile y Wine Estates, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Two Hands Wines, Tyrrell’s composition of the different wine ines, Vinpac International, Warburn Estate Pty Ltd, WebAware Pty treatments indicates that no specific d, Wine and Vine Personnel International,Wines Overland, Wingara aroma compounds were responsible for Ine Group,Wirra Wirra Vineyards, Zilzie Wines, Accolade Wines Austhe separation among wine treatments alia Limited, Aravina Estate, Australian Vintage Ltd, Barwick Wines, (Figure 4, see page 56), although the eltunga, Bests Wines GreatbyWestern, Bremerton Wines, Brown Brothcreated & managed hand-picked treatments had more s Milawa Vineyard Pty Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, ▶ similar aroma profiles. llarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, Clover Hill Wines, Csulting,

The Wine Industry’s Leading Online Job Site

oppity VIneyards, Moxon Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Internaonal,Wines Overland, Wingara WIne Group,Wirra Wirra Vineyards, www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016 54Wines, Zilzie Accolade Wines Australia Limited, Aravina Estate,

V31N5

Realise protection from Powdery mildew.

DuPont™ Talendo® fungicide provides greater flexibility and offers you a wide range of benefits.

• Talendo® delivers long lasting protection from the damage caused by Powdery mildew • It protects against disease by preventing new infection and reducing existing spore load • Talendo® fungicide feature translaminar, vapour and local systemic activity, which means the leaves on your crop will have excellent fungicide protection • Comes in an easy to use liquid formulation making mixing and handling simple

For more information on successful fungicide programs, visit www.cropprotection.dupont.com.au

ALWAYS REFER TO LABEL BEFORE USE Copyright © 2016 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates. All rights reserved. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™ and Talendo® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates. Du Pont (Australia) Pty Ltd. 7 Eden Park Drive, Macquarie Park NSW 2113. ACN 000 716 469.

V II TT II C CU U LL TT U UR RE E V

M ACH I N E H A R VE S TI N G

Figure 4. Score (left) and loadings (right) plots of a principle component analysis (PCA) of scaled data of the significant (p<0.05) volatile compounds analysed by GCMS in wines after three months of bottle ageing (n=9).

SENSORY ANALYSIS Descriptive analysis of the Pinot Noir wines was performed with a panel of 13 judges. A comprehensive list of attributes was generated and reduced through group discussion and consensus to 12 aroma attributes, five taste and mouthfeel descriptors, and one visual assessment of hue saturation intensity1.

Wine attributes were rated on an unstructured line scale anchored by the words ‘low’ and ‘high’. Wines were evaluated in triplicate using a randomised block design and presented in black tasting glasses to eliminate biases introduced by possible colour differences. Panellists evaluated the hue saturation intensity of the wines in a Macbeth light box. Of the 18 attributes, only tropical fruit and hue saturation were significantly different among treatments, with treatments HHNS and PSNS having significantly higher tropical fruit aroma than the other treatments. Interestingly, a previous study on optical berry sorting found greater tropical fruit character in wines made from Chardonnay sorted fruit8. Even though tropical fruit was significantly different among treatments, it was not a predominant characteristic, with the highest rating at only 2.47 on a 10-point scale. This is not surprising as tropical fruit is a relatively uncommon descriptor for Pinot Noir and most other red wines.

Optical sorting led to a significant decrease in hue saturation for each harvest treatment. This makes sense in

56

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

the context of this study since the grapes were not crushed prior to fermentation.

The optically-sorted treatments would have more intact fruit due to the removal of damaged berries, thus limiting extraction of phenolics during fermentation and leading to wines of lighter colour. It is safe to assume that the wines made from different harvest and sorting treatments were quite similar in taste and flavour profile as only two attributes differed significantly, of which one was a visual assessment.

So we can conclude in the context of this study that mechanically harvested fruit did not produce inferior wines, as they were mostly indistinguishable from the wines made from hand-picked grapes.

Similarly, wines made from opticallysorted grapes were seen as similar to wines made from non-sorted fruit.

Pinot Noir was chosen as a potentially more sensitive variety to investigate the potential impact of mechanical harvesting due to its lower phenol content compared with varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Mechanical harvesting is not recommended in years with high rot or mould. As mechanical harvesting and optical sorting become more commonplace in wine production, future studies of a similar nature using other grape varieties are merited.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the Napa Valley Vintners, Walsh Vineyard Management, Wine Spectator, the

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Leon D. Adams Research Scholarship, the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine, the Richard and Saralee Kunde Scholarship Fund, the Horace O Lanza Scholarship, Silverado Premium Properties, Pellenc America, Inc. and Bucher Vaslin for financial and material support.

REFERENCES 1 Hendrickson, D.A.; Lerno, L.A.; Hjemeland, A.K.; Ebeler, S. E.; Heymann, H.; Hopfer, H.; Block, K.L.; Brenneman, C. A. and Oberholster, A. (2016) Impact of mechanical harvesting and optical berry sorting on grape and wine composition. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, DOI: 10.5344/ ajev.2016.14132.

2 Harbertson, J. F.; Picciotto, E. A. and Adams, D.O. (2003) Measurement of polymeric pigments in grape berry extracts and wines using a protein precipitation assay combined with bisulfite bleaching.

American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 54:301306.

3 Hjemeland, A.K.; King, E.S.; Ebeler, S.E.; Heymann, H. (2013) Characterising the chemical and sensory profiles of United States Cabernet Sauvignon wines and blends. American Journal of Viticulture and Enology 64:169-179.

4 Peng, Z.; Iland, P.G.; Oberholster, A.; Sefton, M. A. and Waters, E.J. (2002) Analysis of pigmented polymers in red wine by reverse phase HPLC. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 8:70-75.

5 Huang, P.D.; Cash, J.N. and Santerre, C.R. (1988) Influence of stems, petioles and leaves on the phenolic content of Concord and Aurora Blanc juice and wine. J. Food. Sci. 53:173-175.

6 Cerpa-Calderon, F.K. and Kennedy, J.A. (2008) Berry integrity and extraction of skin and seed proanthocyanidins during red wine fermentation. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56:9006-9014.

7 Fulcrand, H.; Dueñas, M.; Salas, E.; Cheynier, V. (2006) Phenolic reactions during winemaking and aging. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 57:289-287.

8 Falconer, R.; Liebich, B. and Hart, A. (2006) Technical brief: automated colour sorting of handharvested Chardonnay. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 57:491-496.

WVJ

V31N5

S O I L

H O R I Z O N

V V II TT II C CU U LL TT U UR RE E

Defining Barossa Valley foothills clay

By Geoff Kew Kew Wetherby Soil Survey, PO Box 23, Yankalilla, South Australia 5203. Email: geoff@soilprofile.com.au

The soils of South Australia’s Barossa Valley wine region are varied and the Barossa Grounds project (www.barossa.com/wine/barossa-grounds) has attempted to define the factors that contribute to the wines of the sub-regions within it and the Eden Valley region. Continuing his occasional column, Geoff describes one example of soil within the foothills of the Barossa Valley wine region.

T

he soil profile described herein is north of Light Pass, on Light Pass Road. The geology of this area is described as Pooraka Formation, which consists of red-brown sandy clay with Loveday soil (soil carbonate layers formed within the profile). The Barossa Grounds soil group map for this site describes the soil as ‘hard red-brown texture contrast soils with alkaline sub-soil’. This description indicates that soil carbonate is a major component of the soils at this site, but for vineyard development more detail needs to be collected. For example, how deep is the topsoil? What is the soil texture? At what depth is the soil carbonate, and will it impact on root growth and soil pH? Is there a slowly permeable clay layer, and what is the waterholding capacity?

The topsoil in this soil profile is a clay loam (25cm thick) and overlies slowly permeable medium clay to 50cm. Vine roots will penetrate the prismatic clay, but at 50cm there is more slowly permeable clay with shiny ped faces (slickensides). This second clay layer is 40cm thick. The shiny peds indicate the clay when moist will swell, reducing soil permeability and pore size, equivalent to the plug in the bath. There is limited physical room for plant roots or oxygen supply, and plant roots will not readily penetrate this type of structured clay. The predicted vine rootzone depth for this soil is then 50cm. Vine roots will stop at the second slowly permeable sub-soil clay horizon. The corresponding readily available water-holding capacity (RAW) is 31mm. In this profile, the soil carbonate is below 90cm and as vine roots are not expected to penetrate to this depth, its presence will not physically reduce vine root growth. The soil is alkaline at depth.

This profile will require amelioration prior to planting. Ripping along the planting row could be as deep as 90cm, that is, to the depth of the soil carbonate. This may, in some circumstances, be impractical and costly. The swelling clay at 50cm could be partly sodic and the addition of gypsum (calcium sulphate) in the

A soil profile from Light Pass Road, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley wine region. ripping line at depth will assist with maintaining the fractures caused by the ripping operation. Ripping fractures can also be maintained by the addition of fine mulch which will spread through the fractured clay.

Soil analysis for this site showed soil salinity was less than 1dS/m and will not impact on vine root growth. Soil boron can be high in these soils but was, in this case, less than 5mg/kg (hot CaCl2 method) and not limiting. The limitations for this soil profile were, therefore, soil physical characteristic in the form of slowly permeable sub-soil structures such as prismatic and lenticular clay. This type of soil shows the need to identify the soil structure of each soil horizon to determine its impact on vine WVJ root growth.

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

An innovative solution for processing pruned canes from the vineyard floor

V3 1N 5

SUPERIOR HEDGING SYSTEMS

 Hedger Bar Systems  Cane Rakes  Masts and Mounting Systems Designed and manufactured in AUSTRALIA

by Whitlands Engineering Call 1800 702 701 for a colour brochure/DVD or to find your nearest dealer

• Affordable modular system - add as you go • Available in four lengths and multiple configurations • Medium or heavy duty • Between the post and minimal pruning systems • Easy mounting to tractor with hydraulic masts • Versatile – Use or pruning or trimming • Robust construction, low maintenance

www.whitcovinquip.com.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

The extra edge in productivity and canopy management

www.winetitles. com . au

57

V II TT II C CU U LL TT U UR RE E V

ALTERNATIVE VARIETIES

Falling for Fiano

By Sam Scott, Scott Wines, Adelaide Hills, South Australia

F

iano is certainly a white grape variety for our future. It reflects the evolving culture of how we use wine; more is consumed at the table, it is a foodie wine, and it has the adaptability to thrive in our changing climate with crazy variable vintages and extreme weather events. It also suits our soils and complements our lifestyle.

The inherent characteristics of Fiano, wherever it is grown, are its textural and savoury palate, trademark pithy phenolic grip, chalky minerality and medium to full flavours often featuring citrus, hazelnuts, florals and spice. The warmer years and/or regions can show waxiness to the palate while cooler years and/or regions can produce greater citrus characters. It lends itself to making different styles of wine too, ranging from steely Riesling-esque wines to full-bodied textural, rich wines.

Fiano was pioneered in Australia, by Mark Lloyd of Coriole, in McLaren Vale, and the Chalmers Nursery, Mildura. It first appeared in Australia in 1978 at the CSIRO and sat around in a cool room until the early 2000s when an enquiry from Mark Lloyd, who had just returned from a scouting mission in Italy searching for white varieties with great potential for McLaren Vale, got the ball rolling. Both Coriole and the Chalmers family made wine from Fiano for the first time in 2005.

It is a hardy, thick-skinned, loose-bunched grape that loves heat and sunshine yet can handle wet and humid conditions. So it is an all-rounder. This is epitomised by the range of regions and conditions where you will find it grown in Australia. In diminishing order of vineyard area it is found in the Murray Darling, Riverland, Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek, Adelaide Hills, Hunter Valley, King Valley, Barossa Valley, Riverina, McLaren Vale, Great Southern, Margaret River and then, in no particular order, Heathcote, Rutherglen, Bendigo, Griffith, Coonabarrabran, Fleurieu Peninsula, Geelong, Sunbury, Avoca, Swan Hill and the Alpine Valleys. There are also wines appearing in California, USA and Mendoza, Argentina.

Fiano ticks many boxes. As already mentioned, it grows well, tastes great, consumers like (love!) the flavours (particularly as palates mature/move on from overt varieties) and it can be pronounced without embarrassment!

It has many key viticultural advantages including very good resistance to disease (with the exception of being prone to powdery mildew), great acid retention even in extreme heat, moderate vigour, manageable semi-upright habit, achieves a good canopy early, and medium size bunches with loose berries and thick skins. The things to watch out for are powdery mildew, a second crop and clumping in the bunch zone when spur pruned.

58

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

During our search for a textural and savoury grape variety, Fiano just happened to be the variety that popped up on our radar. Caj and Genny Amadio had planted a pilot block of six short rows in 2005 at their visionary Amadio Vineyard at Kersbrook and I was fortunate enough to snap it up in 2009. Subsequently, more vines have been either planted or grafted to Fiano in their vineyard. We have been making Fiano under our Scott wines label since 2010 and in 2015 we re-branded the Scott Fiano into our specialist Italian variety range, La Prova.

The Amadio Vineyard at Kersbrook, in the northern Adelaide Hills, has an elevation of 250-300m and an annual rainfall of 550-650mm. The soils are predominantly welldrained grey loamy sands, with a topsoil of mottled yellow and red medium clay subsoil.

We take fruit from three blocks of vineyard which are all planted to SAVII 01 with a row and vine spacing of 2.7m x 1.5m, respectively.

The pilot block and the 1ha block of Fiano (which is grafted onto 1997 Chardonnay roots) resembles a Winter Olympics ski-jump and has an easterly aspect. The vines are trained to a single wire VSP and spur pruned to two buds with a decent hand spacing between them, leaving four more buds per vine at the bottom of the hill as it is more vigorous. The third block we take fruit from has a northerly aspect and is on deeper red sandy loam. We have been trialling cane pruning in this block and wrapping four canes onto two cordon wires to good effect for an open canopy, a consistent 9-10 tonne/ha (compared with 8-9t/ha with spur pruning), welldistributed bunches and a reduced need for shoot thinning.

All blocks are shoot thinned early to open up the canopy, allowing light penetration into the bunch zone and increasing air movement to reduce powdery mildew pressure. With two wire lifts we aim to catch more shoots on the morning sun side of the canopy and leave more shoots out in a Lazy Ballerina fashion on the afternoon sun side. Fiano seems to love getting sun-kissed and bronze, but in heatwave years direct afternoon sun exposure does shrivel some bunches, so more protection on that side is good. Once again, trimming is tight on the morning side, less so on the afternoon side. In some years a bunch thin is required to reduce clumping (or yield) and in extreme conditions, like the wet 2011 season, basal leaf removal was employed for maximum sunlight penetration and airflow.

While it handles heat, even extreme heat, very well it does require available soil moisture, so top up irrigation shifts are scheduled if there has not been adequate rainfall. And in extreme heat, two 30L/vine/week shifts are applied to maintain leaf function.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

ALTERNATIVE VARIETIES

V II T T II C C U U L LT T U U R R E E V

FIANO

By Peter Dry Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute

Some of the Fiano vines in the Amadio Vineyard at Kersbrook in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills – the source of the fruit for Scott Wines La Prova Fiano.

Harvest typically begins just after Shiraz has finished in the third to fourth week of March. The earliest harvest on record occurred in the hot and dry 2016 vintage when picking began in the third week of February. The latest fruit to come off was in the cool, wet 2011 vintage when the ‘ski-jump’ was picked at the end of April. The cooler easterly slope of this ‘ski-jump’ block ripens seven to 14 days later than the blocks with more sun exposure.

The picking decision is triggered by flavour, when hard greenness dissipates and sherbet starts to move in. Flavour accumulates slowly and, except in unusually hot and dry years, you do not feel pushed into picking, as the sugars move at a sedate pace. A typical juice analysis will range from 12-12.8 Baume, 3.00-3.25pH and 7.0-8.5TA. We handpick the fruit as a preference and chill it overnight before whole bunch pressing. I find this dials in a nice pithy grip to the free run juice. With the hard pressings we fine and hyperoxidise the juice. In 2016 we crushed and destemmed to the press due to the very small berry sizes, when whole bunching would not have yielded any juice. Both methods have given good results.

Experiments with skin contact of six to 12 hours have revealed a lovely fresh pithy palate with a greater spice component while after several days the spice moves to heady clove/spice aromas and flavours.

Between 20-40% of the juice is run straight off the press tray for a full solids wild ferment in old French oak. The balance is cold settled then racked with the fluffy lees to tank for fermentation where it is inoculated with QA23. The barrel ferments look so good that each year this component has been increasing.

The wine sits on lees until June/July when it is blended, stabilised and bottled.

REFERENCES Chalmers, K. (2016) pers. comm.

BACKGROUND Fiano (fee-AH-no) is an old variety from Campania (southern Italy), recorded as early as the 13th century. It is best known in the DOCG Fiano di Avellino. In the past it was not widely grown despite a good reputation for wine. Since the 1970s it has had a modest revival and the planted area has expanded. It is seen throughout Campania and also grown in parts of Basilicata and the Marche. There are relatively recent plantings in Sicily (more than 250ha). The global area in 2010 was 1377ha, most of which is in Italy. Synonyms include Apiana, Apiano, Fiana, Fiore Mendillo and Foiano. DNA analysis has shown the variety grown in Puglia named Fiano Aromatico or Fiano di Puglia is distinct from Fiano (di Avellino) and there is a proposal to rename the former as Minutolo.

In Australia, there are 111ha at present and the tonnage has doubled since 2012. There are currently more than 50 wine producers, mainly in McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Riverland and Barossa Valley.

VITICULTURE Budburst is mid-season and maturity is mid-season (relatively late for a white variety and similar to Shiraz at McLaren Vale). Vigour is moderate to high and growth habit is semi-erect. Bunches are small to medium, wellfilled with small to medium thick-skinned berries. Yield is moderate. Spur pruning is used in Australia but cane pruning is used in Italy. In Australia, Fiano has average susceptibility to mildews. Risk of bunch rot is low. Fruit hangs well on the vine and has good acid retention. Fiano has proven to be one of the best new varieties for warm to hot climates.

WINE Fiano wines are fresh, well-structured with attractive texture and good natural acidity. Descriptors include pear, lime, lemon peel, melon, hazelnut and spices. In Italy, Fiano is used for both varietal wines, e.g., DOCG Fiano di Avellino, or as a blending component in DOCs such as Irpinia and Sannio. Fiano can be used for a range of wine styles with excellent consumer acceptance.

For further information on this and other emerging varieties, contact Marcel Essling (marcel.essling@awri. com.au or 08 8313 6600) at The Australian Wine Research Institute to arrange the presentation of the Alternative Varieties Research to Practice program in your region.

Halliday, J. (2015) Varietal Wines: A guide to 130 varieties grown in Australia and their place in the international wine landscape. Hardie Grant.

Lloyd, M. (2016) pers. comm.

Robinson, J.; Harding, J. and Vouillamoz, J. (2012) Wine Grapes: a complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origin and flavours. Penguin Group.

Tassie, L.; Dry, P. and Essling, M. (2010) Alternative varieties: emerging options for a changing environment. AWRI Research to Practice workshop.

WVJ

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

59

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

REGIONAL MARKETING

The marketing challenges involved in developing strong regional identities

By Mike Paul*

UK-based business and marketing consultant Mike Paul shares his thoughts on regional marketing as he presented to the recent International Cool Climate Symposium, in England.

T

his discussion represents an attempt, from a UK market perspective, to consider the question of whether it is worthwhile for producers to spend significant time and effort on generic or regional initiatives.

I present a number of bullet points on each side of the argument, starting with the negatives.

Markets are built largely by the efforts of individual producers developing their own identities or brands. Any time they spend helping to build a regional brand in a market could arguably be better spent on home soil.

Generic or regional bodies don’t plant vines, make wine or sell it. While they can occasionally create impressive ‘halo effects’ this is, arguably, just the icing on the cake; the proverbial cake itself is baked by individual producers. In addition, given many wine producers are under-staffed, and short of resources, it makes sense to focus those resources available on producers' own brands.

THE HASSLE, TIME AND EFFORT INVOLVED IN BUILDING A REGIONAL BRAND MAY FAR EXCEED THE BENEFITS The impression from the trade media is that every week, somewhere in the world, some new collective initiative is launched: a new appellation or a GI, or possibly a less formal association.

Every time I read of such initiatives, I feel their pain! I am a natural collaborator and, over the years, have devoted a

*Mike Paul has worked in the UK wine industry for nearly 40 years and managed a number of successful companies in that time, including Southcorp (Europe) throughout the 1990s. He has also been closely involved in generic initiatives with Wine Australia, Wines of South Africa and, more recently, English Wine. Currently, he works as a business and marketing consultant and mentor and has a blog (mikeakpaul.com) that covers related issues.

60

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

great deal of time as a brand owner and, more recently, as a consultant, to generic initiatives but I cannot believe I’m alone in occasionally wanting to scream, ‘Why am I bothering ?!’ It is not that the initiatives I have been involved with have been unsuccessful (although some have), it is simply that too often the effort required to take quite small steps is substantial.

There are few examples of regions with a strong brand identity. Many regions, it could be argued, simply add to the ‘white noise’ in the marketplace and, therefore, to the confusion in the mind of too many consumers.

There are few examples of regions with a strong brand identity. Many regions, it could be argued, simply add to the ‘white noise’ in the marketplace and, therefore, to the confusion in the mind of too many consumers.

Few regional brands are strong, certainly if one judges strength by the extent of their international franchise.

Rioja, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne come immediately to mind, and along with more recent additions such as New Zealand and Prosecco.

Many more work on a domestic or local level but I would surmise that very few regional names resonate with the consumer, or even the trade, to a level that those involved in their development would judge acceptable. If so, then much of the effort involved in such initiatives is wasted.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

The danger is that as regional brands proliferate (and I can’t really see an end to such proliferation) then it will be increasingly difficult for each individual region to gain ‘cut through’. Then, there is a further issue.

SUCCESS CAN BRING ITS OWN PROBLEMS Successful regional brands may encourage ‘laziness’ amongst producers: it is possible to hide behind the regional brand name and use it, in effect, as an ‘excuse’ to produce indifferent wines or wines of poor value.

Another related problem is that the regional name may become so successful that the region becomes, in marketing terms, unbalanced.

An example of this might be Prosecco. Brand Prosecco is a phenomenon, one of the greatest success stories of the century so far. If we were to go out now into the streets of Brighton and ask wine drinkers to name their favourite brand of wine, Prosecco might well be the winner.

However, if we were to then ask them to name an individual brand, I would suggest we are likely to draw a blank.

What this implies is that Prosecco in the UK is, in effect, a highly successful commodity. Producers selling Prosecco in the UK at around the average price and making an acceptable return may have no problem with this but for producers who desire to sell premium Prosecco then it is another story, as interviews with such producers testify.

In addition, Prosecco has ‘overflowed’ its regional boundaries. Our research would probably also conclude that it is seen by many as a style of wine as opposed to a region. This makes it easier for producers outside the region to market lookalikes.

V31N5

REGIONAL MARKETING

Now let’s compare Prosecco with Champagne. Champagne has also overflowed its boundaries in that, to many, it is simply a term which is synonymous with fizz. However, even the average Champagne drinker, may I suggest, would be aware of a hierarchy of brand names stretching up from the entry point Champagnes on the supermarket shelves. Thus, Champagne as a region is inherently more balanced as a proposition.

SUCCESS MAY NOT TRANSLATE TO THE NEXT TIER A regional brand’s success in one sector of the market may make it more difficult for it to be successful elsewhere.

Take Chile, for example. Chile has come from nowhere in the last 20 years to be a major player in international markets. One problem Chile has now, however, is that it has been so successful in the mainstream sector of the market that its attempts to persuade wine drinkers to move ‘up the ladder’ and buy premium Chilean wines are not having the success the Chileans would like, despite the fact that the wines themselves are better than ever. Chile, therefore, has the same problem that besets individual producer brands that have been successful in the mainstream market and attempt to launch a premium range: the more successful you are at the lower levels, the more difficult it is to trade up.

Another point to consider is that within a country, the success of one region may make it more difficult for other regions to develop their own identities. This is a more complex point but Spain is perhaps a good example.

Rioja represents one of the most successful attempts to build a strong regional identity, yet its very success is making it more difficult for other Spanish regions to thrive. Rioja, it might be said, casts a long shadow which takes away the sustenance from the other premium regional ‘plants’.

THE WEAKNESSES INHERENT IN GENERIC OR REGIONAL BRAND MARKETING Generic marketers have no direct control over the key elements of the marketing mix. This may well imply

V3 1N 5

a disconnect between the generic message and the reality.

Some argue that regional brands are not true brands as generic marketers have no direct control over the individual wines that are sold, their presentation, their pricing or the promotional mechanics. All they can do is seek to influence producers and come up with generic messages that hopefully create a ‘halo effect’. Therefore, the positive generic message may be let down by the reality when consumers purchase the wines. Successful brands should represent a seamless blend of substance and style; it is clearly difficult for generic marketers to control the substance of their brand.

For the premium wine drinker in particular, regional names represent important ‘signposts in the maze’. Retailers tend to segment their ranges by region, so a strong positive regional identity represents a shortcut to busy or confused consumers

Generic marketing inevitably implies marketing by committee. This may well reduce its impact and can imply an unhealthy focus on the short term, and tactical as opposed to the long term and strategic plans.

In my experience, marketing people are much more comfortable when discussing tactical as opposed to strategic matters. This tendency is likely to be exacerbated when the marketing is handled by a committee. The strategic issues, the ones that really matter, can too often be put in the ‘too difficult to handle file‘.

CONSUMER INTEREST On the negative side is a much broader point. The majority of consumers are not nearly as interested in wine as we in the industry like to believe, so the regional provenance of a wine may not be relevant to their decision.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

This implies, first, that your market may be significantly smaller than you think it is and, secondly, that your message may be going straight over the heads of many people you had considered to be your target market.

BUILDING STRONG REGIONAL IDENTITIES Moving on to the other side of the argument, why should producers attempt to build strong regional identities?

For the premium wine drinker in particular, regional names represent important ‘signposts in the maze’.

Retailers tend to segment their ranges by region, so a strong positive regional identity represents a shortcut to busy or confused consumers (i.e., the majority).

The converse is true for regions with a weak or negative identity.

Imagine a typical consumer walking along the wine aisle or flicking through a wine list. Whole swathes of that aisle or list may well be dismissed by the consumer’s preconceptions of a regional name. All that effort you have put into your wine and your brand could well go unnoticed because you are in the ‘wrong’ region. And some other producer who has developed a much less interesting brand may be performing better because their regional name is a ‘stopping point’ for this consumer.

We have trained the consumer to use regional (and varietal) names to segment the wine range. Consumers have far less knowledge of regional names and far less understanding of the differences between a regional, varietal and individual producer brand than we tend to think, but all that does is to benefit the ‘names’ that they do know, however poor their understanding of what these names represent.

Brands (either collective or individual) get summed up by consumers in ‘one sentence’. It makes sense to try to ensure that the sentence for a regional brand is positive.

I would suggest the trade have preconceptions too. However great our experience with wine, we are all ‘prisoners of our history’, and are influenced by the strength or weakness of regional identities.

I would wager that if I was to present you with a Pinot Noir and say it was from Bulgaria, and then somehow remove that

www.winetitles. com . au

61

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

REGIONAL MARKETING

experience from your mind and tell you that it came from Burgundy, you would judge it in a very different way.

wines, then conflicts of interest can arise. If the two sectors are moving forward pretty much in harmony, then a national brand can be very powerful: an example of this would be Brand Australia in the 1990s. However, Australia is also a classic example of a devalued mainstream sector (caused by oversupply and resulting over-promotion) having a detrimental effect on premium sales, given they are perceived by consumers as being part of the same brand.

INDIVIDUALITY, PERSONALITY AND REGIONALITY When I broadly consider the marketing of premium wines, three key words come to mind: individuality, personality and regionality.

Individuality is about the brand. It is about what separates the producer from the competition. Personality is about the outward face of the brand (ideally the winemaker). Regionality is about provenance.

Individual brands that use all three are more likely to be successful. This implies that if your regional provenance is not working for you, then you have to compensate by being significantly better in the other two areas.

So, to take an extreme example, if you are a producer of Chardonnay in Chablis you have a significant advantage over a Chardonnay producer in Languedoc Roussillon. In fact, so strong is the identity of Chablis that the vast majority of consumers are not even aware that it is Chardonnay: it has succeeded, therefore, in significantly reducing its competitive set. A Chardonnay producer in the south of France on the other hand is, to a far greater extent than they would like, competing with Chardonnays from all over the world.

Finally, let’s turn our attention to another phenomenon in the wine industry.

As a rule of thumb New World generic brands tend to be national, while Old World generic brands tend to be regional.

The trend in some New World countries is to go regional (viz Australia, New Zealand and Chile). Why? Segmenting the national brand is a way of differentiating the premium proposition from the mainstream proposition in order to protect and develop the former.

A problem with national brands is that they encompass everything marketed by that country and if the range marketed covers mainstream as well as premium

A problem with national brands is that they encompass everything marketed by that country and if the range marketed covers mainstream as well as premium wines, then conflicts of interest can arise.

In the regionally-based Old World model, things work differently. Thus, the over-promotion of Beaujolais Nouveau may have had a catastrophic effect on premium Beaujolais sales in the UK but it had no effect on the value of Burgundy, its next door neighbour. Even though they are both elements of Brand France, they have very separate brand identities.

Hence, this is one fundamental reason why in Chile and Australia there is so much talk of ‘going regional’ despite the substantial challenges. A few years ago I spoke on this subject at a conference in Australia. A fellow speaker was the head of Brand Barossa who spoke passionately about his regional brand. He then noted he had recently met a leading Canadian buyer and asked them how their Barossa sales were going. The buyer responded that he didn’t know, they didn’t segment their Australian range by region, but said that while Australian sales were acceptable, sales of the premium wines

BUY • SELL • NEW • USED

62

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

were disappointing. The conclusion was that Barossa producers were being held back by the performance of the national brand.

The logic of this argument has relevance to those English producers looking to develop Brand Sussex. Aside from the positive reasons for this initiative, it is also a defensive move.

Should the image of English Wine become demeaned through over-supply or the activities of cowboy producers, then Sussex producers, if their brand has developed appropriately, will have the option of distancing themselves from the parent brand.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, I make three points.

Building successful regional brands is fraught with problems. If you are not going to do it properly, then it is best not to start.

Doing it properly, of course, depends on your success criteria: you may have largely local or domestic ambitions rather than international ones. For the latter, the task is much more complex as not only is it beneficial to have a highly focussed proposition, which may be difficult to achieve in regions where the range of styles is broad, but also ideally each region within a country would have a clearly perceived point of difference from other regions. So, to take Chile as an example, if Casablanca, Maipo and Colchaqua, etc are all going to promote internationally the same range of varietals, then the cut through is likely to be sub-optimal.

However, a strong regional brand can add real value to the efforts of individual producers. The converse is equally true.

Finally, what does the ideal wine region look like from marketing point of view? The ideal wine region to me is one with a positive regional identity that creates a ‘halo effect’ for a diverse range of strong individual producer brands.

All producers would be broadly in tune with an agreed long-term vision linked to a set of key objectives and marketing strategies for their region.

WVJ

Ba The best place to sell your wine industry listi sic n products and services 100 gs are %F www.winetitlesclassifieds.com.au is simple to navigate with REE specific categories that make posting and searching a breeze

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

COOL CLIMATES

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

Competitiveness of cool climate regions in global wine markets

By Kym Anderson, Wine Economics Research Centre, School of Economics, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5006 Email: kym.anderson@adelaide.edu.au

This article is a revision of an invited paper presented at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in Brighton, England, in late May.

G

iven that winegrape production is generally considered riskier in cool climate regions than in warmer ones, why are more producers looking to invest in such regions? A commonly stated reason is to hedge against global warming, but there is more to it than that. This paper examines some of the other supply-side drivers, but also some drivers from the demand side of the wine market.

It begins before that by defining what might be considered a cool climate region and their risk profile; and it ends by drawing implications for the economic future of such regions in Australia vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

WHAT DEFINES A COOL CLIMATE WINE REGION? There is no widely agreed definition 4500 of a cool climate wine region. Obviously

average temperature over the growing season is important (October-April in the Southern Hemisphere, April-October in the Northern Hemisphere), but such aspects as months of growing season, rainfall distribution, wind exposure, frost prevalence, sunlight hours and the like also might be included in some people’s definition of a viable cool climate wine region. Jones and Schultz (2016) believe an average growing season temperature (GST) should be between 13oC and 15oC: below 13oC means only non-Vinifera (hybrid) varieties will prosper, and above 15oC leads to significantly less acidic wines in their view. In Australia it is more common to think of the upper limit GST as 16oC, which is 1 degree cooler than Bordeaux.

Growing winegrapes in such regions is both riskier and more costly than in warmer regions, for several reasons. If cool regions also have higher rainfall

because they are near the coast, disease pressure is greater; or, if they are far inland they face a higher risk of spring or fall frosts that could kill the weakest vines. The shorter growing season raises the risk that grapes won’t ripen sufficiently in the coldest vintages. Also, yields will tend to be lower on average (raising production costs per tonne), and more variable from vintage to vintage (adding to marketing challenges) – especially when compared with those warmer regions that can use irrigation.

If the prevalence to hand prune and pick is greater in cooler regions, that too would make them costlier. One of the few offsetting factors is that the longer daylight hours in the summer can contribute more to photosynthesis.

How significant are cool climate wine regions in the world’s vineyard area?

This again depends on which regions are ▶ classified as cool and the year chosen.

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 UK

Tas

Adelaide Hills

NZ (x 0.1)

Figure 1. Vine bearing area in a selection of cool climate regionsa, 1986 to 2015 (hectares). a Note that New Zealand’s area is 10 times that shown on the above scale. Source: Author’s compilation from national sources.

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

63

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

COOL CLIMATES

One set, listed in Appendix Table 1 of Anderson (2016), has been crudely compiled with the help of Peter Dry, of the Australian Wine Research Institute.

It may include some regions that are slightly warmer than what Jones and Schultz (2016) consider cool but, even so, it suggests they account for just 13 per cent of the world’s winegrape bearing area in 2010. That list for Australia suggests cool regions are 15 per cent of the national area in 2010 if Coonawarra, Wrattonbully and Robe are included, but just 9 per cent if they are excluded.

These regions are more important economically than just those area data suggest. In Australia, for example, average winegrape prices in cool climate regions are twice those of warmer regions, although yields per hectare are 30 per cent lower (Anderson 2015). If those same differences apply in other countries, this suggests cool climate regions account for about one-fifth of the value of winegrapes globally. Their wines may have an even larger share of the global wine market if the wine to grape price ratio is above average in this high-priced segment of the market.

Are these regions expanding?

Certainly they are in Australia and New Zealand, and famously also (albeit from a very low base) in England (see Figure 1). But globally the area of the regions listed in the Appendix to Anderson (2016) fell by one-sixth between 2000 and 2010, while the bearing area of warmer regions fell only one-tenth.

The varieties planted also might define whether a region is cool. There is a clear ranking of premium quality wine varieties in terms of their climatematurity ripening potential in different climates, according to Jones (2006, Figure 1). That manifests itself in a quite different mix of varieties in cool as distinct from warmer climates: among the top 10 varieties globally in those two sub-sets of regions, there are only three that are common, namely Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (Figure 2).

Warm vs cool Airen Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Tempranillo Garnacha Tinta Syrah Chardonnay Trebbiano Toscano Bobal Sangiovese

Chardonnay Pinot Noir Riesling Cabernet Sauvignon Sauvignon Blanc Merlot Mu ller Thurgau Cabernet Franc Gruner Veltliner Grasevina 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Figure 2. Shares of the top 10 varieties in the bearing area of the world’s cool and warmer regions, 2010 (per cent; bars for cool regions are shown below the set for warmer regions).

Source: Derived from Anderson (2013) using the regional classification in the Appendix to Anderson (2016).

WHAT DETERMINES THE COMPETITIVENESS OF COOL CLIMATE PRODUCERS? As with most economic questions, the answer is a mixture of supply and demand forces. Given the higher costs of producing cool climate wines, a higher price is necessary if they are to be economically viable. But how are the pertinent supply and demand forces changing over time?

Supply-side investment drivers Global warming is typically thought of as a major driver of new investment in cool climate wine regions, including from producers in warmer areas seeking to supplement supplies that can help them maintain their current styles of wines as well as add new ones (Ashenfelter and Storchmann 2016).

An opposite development took place between 1200 and 1600: the average temperature in Southern England fell about 1.3oC over those four centuries,

and the gradual disappearance of England’s vineyards after 1200 is often attributed to that cooling (Lamb 1982, Grove 1988) – although the British takeover of the Bordeaux region of France may have been the main reason for their demise.

Over time with global warming, the warmest of cool regions would no longer be capable of producing cool climate wine styles. However, that would be more or less offset by new plantings in areas at higher altitudes or latitudes that were previously too cold to grow winegrapes profitably. Evidence to support this expectation is provided

by Ashenfelter and Storchmann (2010a,b). They examine economic data from the Mosel region of Germany and find that a 1oC rise increases gross earnings from Riesling by 30 per cent.

Data compiled for Australia by Webb (2006), by contrast, suggest that in our hot winegrape regions greater warming leads to lower prices and profits. This would add to a strengthening of the

Accolade Wines Australia Limited, Aravina Estate, Australian Vintage Ltd, Barwick Wines, Beltunga, Bests Wines Great Western, Bremerton Wines, Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard Pty Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, Cellarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, Clover Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Coriole Vineyards, Delegats Wine Estate, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanselow Bell, Five Star Wines, Fowles Wine, Fuse Wine Services Pty Ltd, Gemtree Vineyards, Glenlofty Wines, Harry Jones Wines, Henry’s Drive Vignerons Pty Ltd, Hentley Farm, Hope Estate, Hospitality Recruitment Solutions, Howard Park Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, Inglewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack Rabbit Vineyard, Jim Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, Kirrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier by, Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Make WInes Australia, McWilliam’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity VIneyards, Moxon Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Oenotec Pty Ltd, Options Wine Merchants, Orlando Wines, Ozpak Pty Ltd, Patrick of Coonawarra, Plantagenet Wines, Portavin Integrated Wine Services, R&D VITICULTURAL SERVICES PTY LTD, Robert Oatley Vineyards, Rymill Coonawarra, Seville Estate, Stella Bella Wines, Streicker Wines, The Gilbert Family Wine Co, The Lane Vineyard, The Scotchmans Hill Group Pty Ltd, The Yalumba Wine Company, Tintara Winery, Tower Estate Pty Ltd, Treasury Wine Estates, Turkey Flat Vineyards, Two Hands Wines, Tyrrell’s Wines, Vinpac International, Warburn Estate Pty Ltd, WebAware Pty Ltd, Wine and Vine Personnel International,Wines Overland, Wingara WIne Group,Wirra Wirra Vineyards, Zilzie Wines, Accolade Wines Australia Limited, Aravina Estate, Australian Vintage Ltd, Barwick Wines, Beltunga, Bests Wines Great Western, Bremerton Wines, Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard Pty Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, Cellarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, Clover Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Coriole Vineyards, Delegats Wine Estate, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanselow Bell, Five Star Wines, Fowles Wine, Fuse Wine Services Pty Ltd, Gemtree Vineyards, Glenlofty Wines, Harry Jones Wines, Henry’s Drive Vignerons Pty Ltd, Hentley Farm, Hope Estate, Hospitality Recruitment Solutions, Howard Park Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, Inglewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack Rabbit Vineyard, Jim Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, Kirrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier by, Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Make WInes Australia, McWilliam’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity VIneyards, Moxon Oak, Nadalie australia, Nexthire, Oenotec Pty Ltd, Options Wine Merchants, Orlando Wines, Ozpak Pty Ltd, Patrick of Coonawarra, Plantagenet Wines, Portavin Integrated Wine Services, R&D VITICULTURAL SERVICES PTY LTD, Robert Oatley Vineyards, Rymill Coonawarra, Seville Estate, Stella Bella Wines, Streicker Wines, Accolade Wines Australia Limited, Aravina Estate, Australian Vintage Ltd, Barwick Wines, Beltunga, Bests Wines Great Western, Bremerton Wines, Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard Pty Ltd, Campbells Wines, Casama Group Pty Ltd, Cellarmaster Group, Charles Melton Wines, Clover Hill Wines, CMV Farms, Coriole Vineyards, Delegats Wine Estate, Delegat’s Wine Estate Limited, DogRidge, Edgemill Group, Fanselow Bell, Five Star Wines, Fowles Wine, Fuse Wine Services Pty Ltd, Gemtree Vineyards, Glenlofty Wines, Harry Jones Wines, Henry’s Drive Vignerons Pty Ltd, Hentley Farm, Hope Estate, Hospitality Recruitment Solutions, Howard Park Wines, Hungerford Hill Wines, Inglewood Wines Pty Ltd, Innocent Bystander, Jack Rabbit Vineyard, Jim Barry Wines, KarriBindi, Kauri, Kingston Estate Wines Pty Ltd, Kirrihill Wines Pty Ltd, Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard, L’Atelier by, Aramis Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Make WInes Australia, McWilliam’s Wines Group, Memstar, Mondo Consulting, Moppity VIneyards, Moxon Oak, Nadalie

The Wine Industry’s Leading Online Job Site

64

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Go with the site that leading wine industry companies use.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

created & managed by

V31N5

COOL CLIMATES

competitive edge of cool climate regions over hot ones.

Research and development can, of course, affect competitiveness. If cool climate regions have different research and development needs from warmer regions, it is a question of how funding is allocated. Traditionally Australia has paid relatively little attention to cool climate viticultural research, in contrast to Germany and northern France (from whose research institutes more northern European regions can borrow).

Australia’s cool climate regions may, therefore, need to develop strategies to boost pertinent R&D investments, perhaps in collaboration with New Zealand.

One other influence on cool climate competitiveness is trade costs.

Shipping small quantities of premium wine half way around the world was unfeasible historically, which is a key reason why cool climate regions in the Southern Hemisphere had little presence in the main markets for fine wine – which have always been in the Northern Hemisphere. Technological changes in ocean transportation of wine have helped to lower trade costs substantially over the past three decades, and not only for commercial premium wines that are increasingly being shipped in bulk. That is reducing the competitive disadvantage that Southern Hemisphere producers of fine wine, including from cool regions, have had to suffer until recently. Falling information and communication costs have also helped in speeding the pace of technology transfer from the established centres of cool climate grape and wine research in Europe to the antipodes.

Demand-side investment drivers As already mentioned, it is relatively expensive to produce cool climate wines, so they need to be able to command relatively high prices. The demand for them, therefore, depends on a rise in incomes of those wine consumers with a preference for that style of wine, or a preference shift toward that style. If both things happen simultaneously, prices of cool climate wines would rise even more than otherwise would have been the case.

Regional marketing by cool climate producers may be able to reinforce

V3 1N 5

such a preference switch, provided it is not countered by generic promotion by other regions.

Fine wines from cool regions have been produced since at least the 19th century, but only the elite could afford them. Unprecedented rises in per capita incomes since the 1980s, however, have boosted the demand for all luxury products, including wines. More specifically, higher incomes are raising the demand for higher-quality wines at the expense of low-quality wines, and for more styles and novel varieties.

Also accompanying higher incomes is a greater tolerance – even a desire –

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

Tasmania, in addition, has exceptional transport costs. But as New Zealand has shown, these handicaps need not be insurmountable. On the contrary, as producers in the relatively new cool regions gradually discover the varieties, clones and styles they can produce most profitably, so investments in their region could expand. That is especially so in Tasmania, where vines account for just 1% of the total crop area on the island (only twice the mainland’s average), compared with 3 per cent in Austria, 4 per cent in France and 6 per cent in New Zealand.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Fine wines from cool regions have been produced since at least the 19th century, but only the elite could afford them... higher incomes are raising the demand for higher-quality wines at the expense of lowquality wines, and for more styles and novel varieties.

Assistance from Peter Dry and Gregory Jones in defining cool climate regions is greatly appreciated, but they bear no responsibility for the selection chosen.

for vintage variation in still wines of the sort that is more common in cool climates. So even though there has been a halving in global consumption of wine per capita since the 1950s, the demand for finessed wines from cool regions can still grow. The challenge will be to be able to attract high-income customers in the wake of efforts by warmer regions to emulate the styles of cool-region wines, both still and sparkling.

Anderson, K. (2016) Competitiveness of cool climate regions in global wine markets, Wine Brief 14, Wine Economics Research Centre, University of Adelaide, August. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ wine-econ/pubs/wine_briefs/

IMPLICATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA’S COOL CLIMATE REGIONS In addition to the above forces altering the competitiveness of cool climate wine regions in general, producers in Australia’s cool regions face the challenge of being relatively small both individually and collectively in each region. Smallness matters because it means the costs of focussed R&D and of brand or regional promotion are subject to diseconomies of scale.

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

REFERENCES Anderson, K. (with the assistance of N.R. Aryal) (2013) Which winegrape varieties are grown where?

A global empirical picture. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. Freely available as an ebook at www.adelaide.edu.au/press/titles/winegrapes.

Anderson, K. (with the assistance of N.R. Aryal) (2015) Growth and cycles in Australia’s wine industry: A statistical compendium, 1843 to 2013.

Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. Freely available as an ebook at www.adelaide.edu.au/ press/titles/austwine

Anderson, K. and S. Nelgen (2011) Global wine markets, 1961 to 2009: A statistical Compendium.

Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press.

Ashenfelter, O. and Storchmann, K. (2010a) Using a hedonic model of solar radiation to assess the economic effect of climate change: The case of Mosel Valley vineyards. Review of Economics and Statistics 92(2):333-49.

Ashenfelter, O. and Storchmann K. (2010b) Measuring the economic effect of global warming on viticulture using auction, retail and wholesale prices. Review of Industrial Organisation 37:51-64.

Ashenfelter, O. and Storchmann, K. (2016) Climate change and wine: A review of the economic implications. Journal of Wine Economics 11(1):10838.

Grove, J.M. (1988) The little Ice Age. London: Methuen.

Jones, G. (2006) Climate change and wine: Observations, impacts and future implications.

Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal 21(4):21-26.

Jones, G. and Schultz, H. (2016) Emerging cool climate regions. Invited paper presented at the 9th International Cool Climate Wine Symposium, Brighton, England, 26-28 May. Lamb, H.H. (1982) Climate, history and the modern world. London: Methuen.

WVJ

www.winetitles. com . au

65

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

C H I N A

A health check-up: how are Australia and its regions trending in China?

By Armando Maria Corsi, Justin Cohen and Larry Lockshin, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science

A

year or so ago we talked about the status of the Chinese wine market in the pages of this journal (Cohen et al. 2015). We discussed the importance of mental availability (i.e., the ability of a brand, region, country, etc to be thought of in a buying situation) as a proxy to understand the health of a ‘brand’, and we specifically focussed on the status of various wineproducing countries and regions in China.

We revisit this now.

The results come from the China Wine Barometer (CWB), a bi-annual tracking program that measures the brand health of Australian wines against its major competitors across nine cities in China.

The program is generously funded by Wine Australia, and it is executed by the authors at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science. This article focusses on the insights from Wave 5 of the CWB, and the full report is freely available for download from http://research. wineaustralia.com/resources/, as well as our previous reports.

In terms of prompted awareness, France continues its dominance (90% of awareness – i.e., 90% of our sample regular drinkers of imported wine being aware that France is a wine-producing country), with China not far behind (81%). Italy holds third place (69%) with Australia stable in fourth place (66%). As we look at these results over time we see that the haemorrhage of awareness we noted last year has stopped. We still haven’t rebounded to 2013 values, most likely due to the growing competition from other producing countries which are eroding awareness from each other (Cohen et al.

2015), but the scenario is certainly more positive than a year ago (Table 1).

Regions exhibit a similar trend. After the sharp decline registered in October 2014, regions have resurged, with an average increase of awareness of 13%. Bordeaux is still the most known region (85%), but Ningxia closely follows (83%) (Table 2).

We then observe a mix of French and Italian regions – such as Provence (70%), Sicily (62%), Burgundy (59%), etc – before encountering what is still the most known Australian region of origin in China: Barossa Valley (48%).

Australia still struggles to impose itself

66

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Table 1. Evolution of country awareness.

Table 2. Evolution of region awareness.

Table 3. Evolution of region awareness – focus on Australian regions.

as a country with distinctive regions, but the latest results are encouraging. Australian regions recorded double-digit increases for almost every region, peaking at +19% increases for Margaret River (now at 46%) and McLaren Vale (now at 44%). Other Australian wine regions are within five percentage points (Table 3). We should note that we haven’t measured awareness levels W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

for all 62 Australian wine regions as we focus on what is currently relevant to the China market, but, from other secondary data we observed in the past few years, we expect their awareness levels to be lower than 30%.

Awareness is an important precursor of choice. A product cannot be chosen if it is not considered. It is important to check V31N5

C H I N A

Figure 1. Wine country perceptions.

Figure 2. Commercial versus premium wine country perceptions.

Figure 3. Australian wine perceptions. how Australia and its wine regions track in terms of awareness. The next step in brand management is to understand the perception consumers have of a brand. The CWB has measured country perceptions for the last three years, focussing, in particular, on the ‘premium’ or ‘commercial’ perception of Australia and eight of its main competitors as wine-producing countries.

The results demonstrate that France continues to elicit the most associations to wine among Chinese consumers. Australia is a strong performer but lags far behind France, as does the competition. The average number of associations across the nine countries increased by almost 30%, suggesting that Chinese consumers have developed more country-feature linkages V3 1N 5

compared with the previous year (Figure 1).

This is a positive result for operators in the Chinese market. The increased linkages impacts the probability of being considered which, at a more macro level, means Chinese people have a greater chance of buying wine in the future.

Let’s now focus on the premium/ commercial perception of the various producing countries. In line with previous waves of data collection, France and Italy are solidly perceived as premium producing countries, while China and South Africa are still thought of as commercial wine producers (Figure 2). The scenario for Australia is particularly intriguing. Two years ago Australia was at a watershed between a premium and commercial W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

perception; now the balance has tipped towards premiumness. As Corsi and Rowley (2016) noted, Australia shouldn’t run a race to the bottom, otherwise it will enter (or most likely never leave) the spiral of volume, where there will always be a new competitor able to sell a commodity wine for one cent less than the previous commercial market leader. At the same time, this result shouldn’t authorise us to sit back and relax as, after the considerable jump Australia did in 2014, the country’s premium perception plateaued in 2015. We need to make sure we refresh the memory structures that would make Australia be perceived as a premium wine producer, as these countryfeature links are not innate and do not exist indefinitely (Sharp 2010).

What are the elements that could help Australia build and reinforce this premium perception? Some of them, such as going well with food and being exciting, are already part of the top-five cues Chinese consumers associate with Australia (Figure 3). However, differently from France and Italy, Australian wines are still not perceived as elegant or complex wines, nor as wines suitable to be drunk at fine dining restaurants or to be given as a gift. These elements, together with a growth of the fame of our wine regions will represent a solid base on top of which a premium perception can be built upon.

In light of these insights, we provide a couple of recommendations: • Keep pushing: China is a vast market, which every wine-producing country wants to enter. This means more opportunities, but also more competition.

We need to keep pushing to build Australian wine awareness in the minds of Chinese consumers, and make our wines available where consumers look to buy them.

• Use it or lose it: You’ve seen what Australia stands for in the mind of Chinese consumers. Given that in the wine sector consumers have clearer and stronger perceptions about countries and regions than what they have for brands, make sure you leverage on these elements when promoting your brand in China.

REFERENCES Cohen, J.; Corsi, A.M. and Lockshin, L. (2015) A show system approach for better marketing of Australian wine in China. Wine & Viticulture Journal 30(4):62-63.

Corsi, A.M. and Rowley, M. (2016) The only way is up.

Wine & Viticulture Journal 31(1):59-61.

Sharp, B. (2010) How brands grow. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. www.winetitles. com . au

WVJ

67

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

C H I N A

Australian wine exports to China – beyond the headlines

By Mark Rowley, Senior Analyst, Wine Australia

Feel like you are missing out on the seeming bonanza in China for Australian wine that the current headlines are suggesting? Mark explores why not all wineries may be experiencing such heady growth.

A

ustralian wine exports to China have surged in 2015– 16, with the total value of Australian wine exports increasing by 50 per cent to A$419 million. Headline figures like these give the impression of a bonanza. However, business is never that straightforward. Across the country similar questions emerge from businesses that may feel they are missing out on the opportunity that China presents. ‘Why aren’t my sales growing at that rate?’ is a common question I hear. A dig behind the headline figures sheds light onto why this may be the norm, not the exception.

The first reason is a matter of mathematics combined with a slowdown in the pace of exports in the second half of 2015–16.

In the past six months, the value of exports increased by 33% compared with the first half in 2015. Comparatively, this figure is less than half the rates recorded in the lead up to the 2016 Chinese New Year (Figure 1). With over a quarter of wine exported to China in the two months leading into the festival,

this period has an over-weighted effect on the annual figures.

The other simple fact is that there is a higher base rate in 2016, and increasing large absolute growth is required to maintain the rate of development. However, the slowdown in absolute growth is a much larger factor than the higher base rate.

There are another two major factors at play that have reduced the average rate of growth recorded for the bulk of individual wine export businesses. This is additional competition and also an element of consolidation amongst Australian exports.

Figure 2 illustrates the exporter category that is driving growth in the Chinese market. Each exporter to China has been classified as: businesses with Chinese equity, major wine exporters (top 10 Australian exporters), medium wine exporters (top 11 to 30 exporters), traders, new exporters (enter), exiting exporters (exit) and other (the bulk of Australian exporters).

Who are you looking for?

AUSTRALIAN WINERIES SEARCH AND FILTER FUNCTIONS

• Geographic Indication Zone & Region • Wine producer name & brands • Average annual Tonnes Crushed • Varieties used in production • Export markets

ORDER TODAY: Visit: www.winetitles.com.au Call: +618 8369 9522 Email: orders@winetitles.com.au

www.winetitles.com.au/widonline/wineries Access your Wine Industry Directory ONLINE by purchasing the 2016 Directory

68

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

BUSINESS & & MARKETING MARKETING BUSINESS

C H I N A

100%

Million AUD $500

Half yearly growth

80%

Quarterly value growth Annual value growth

+++

$450

60% 40%

-100%

$400

14%

20%

105%

$350

26%

40%

0%

$300

-20%

41%

$250

2015

May

June

April

March

January

February

December

October

November

September

July

August

May

June

April

March

January

February

December

October

November

September

July

2014

August

May

June

April

March

January

February

-40%

$200 2016

2014-15 Chinese Equity Major

Medium

Trader

Other

Enter

Exit

2015-16

Figure 1. Chinese growth rates by period length.

Source: Wine Australia export approval database

Figure 2. Growth in exports to China by exporter category.

Source: Wine Australia export approval database

Consolidation among Australia’s major wineries has been responsible for the largest segment of growth. This is illustrated by the ‘major’ segment, which contains Australia’s 10 largest exporters to the entire world. As a group, their exports increased by 105% during the past year. These 10 wineries now account for 35% of the value of wine exports to China – up from 29% the year prior and 20% in 2013–14. Although strong growth has been recorded by these businesses, there has been an element of artificial growth as some of these businesses have taken a more direct route to market. This is also a major factor in the tapering of export growth in Singapore and Hong Kong in particular. As a group, the medium-sized exporters (defined as Australia’s top 11 to 30 exports) recorded growth at a slower rate, up 26% through the year.

The second largest contribution to growth in Australian exports is the net effect of additional exporters. New exporters brought in an additional A$61 million worth of revenue. If factoring in the effect of businesses exiting the market, the net effect exporters entering the market was an additional A$38 million in exports. In this group, 512 exporters joined the ranks while 266 exited the market for a net increase in exporter numbers of 246. This surge in exporter numbers inflate the headline figures and means that the existing exporters would need to outperform their peers to meet the headline growth figures.

Chinese equity commonly makes the headlines in Australia and the strengthened relationships would logically be beneficial for those wineries’ exports. Although by no means an exhaustive list, nine wineries with some form of Chinese equity were identified. As a group, their exports increased by 41% during the year.

Another group identified has been categorised as ‘traders’.

These exporters have been identified as those that export big brands, but do not own those brands. This trade is commonly known as ‘grey trade’. Again, this is not an exhaustive list but gives an indication of the size and performance of this cohort of exporters. These products can be sourced as simply as purchasing online or through the domestic retail channel. The 70 exporters that were identified shipped A$45 million (up 40%) worth of wine during 2015–16.

This leaves the bulk of the Australian wine exporters, which have been labelled as ‘other’. These exporters have been in

the market for at least two years and are the small to medium enterprises. There are 589 exporters in this category and as a group their exports increased by 14% to A$163 million. There is also a large distribution of export performance in this group with 330 recording an increase in revenue, while the remaining 259 recorded a decline in export revenue. For a SME, this would be the most relevant growth rate for benchmarking purposes.

A standalone statistic can rarely tell the full story, even if it is the headline. Encouragingly, in the case of exports to China, the headline figure is not misleading. The opportunity for Australian WVJ wine in China is in no doubt.

V3 1N 5

Creating brands with integrity

communicate. collaborate. create.

We’d love to collaborate with you! tel +61 8 8232 3577 info@gldesign.com.au www.gldesign.com.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

Graphic Language DESIGN

www.winetitles. com . au

69

VA R I E TA L R E P O R T

Chardonnay - the coolest of the cool The makers of three of the top four wines in our recent cool climate Chardonnay tasting share the background on each of their first-rate styles.

GERALD NAEF, GROWER/WINEMAKER/ OWNER PATINA ORANGE, NEW SOUTH WALES Wine: 2013 Patina Reserve Chardonnay (RRP$45.00/bottle)

VITICULTURE The grapes for this wine are estategrown at our vineyard 5km southeast of Orange, off the Mitchell Highway. The vineyard has an elevation of 850-900m, with a northeast to northwest aspect.

The soil is a red and grey decomposed basalt.

In an average season the vineyard would typically experience 14 days over 30°C, with it rarely reaching more than 34°C. It also typically receives three light snowfalls a season with the minimum in winter dropping to as low as -4°C to -6°C. Frosts can be an issue and as I don’t protect against frost the vines have suffered some damage a couple of times.

Gerald Naef, winemaker and proprietor of Patina in Orange, New South Wales.

70

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Wind usually isn’t an issue except during storms. Unofficially, winds seem to range between 10-25km/hour.

Seventy-eight per cent of the Chardonnay vines used in the wine are clone I10V1 and the remaining 22% V5 which are on rootstocks.

The vines are trained to a VSP with row and vine spacings of 2.8m and 2.0m, respectively. They are routinely shoot thinned to 10 canes per metre and are drip irrigated with bore water for an average of 25 hours in December and four hours in January via 4L/hr/vine drippers.

The vine midrows were sown to rye and fescue in 1999 with clovers allowed to dominate in spring. A one-metre strip under-vine is kept clean.

All the vines are hand pruned to 20buds per metre with the aim to achieve a two-bud spur every 10cm.

As far as pests and diseases are concerned in this vineyard, scale is an ongoing concern. We also have rain during the growing season and

ripening so downy and powdery mildews and botrytis need to be managed.

We will shortly be introducing sheep to this vineyard to assist with weed control. We also plan on paying more attention to canopy management to allow more sunlight to reach the grapes while avoiding sunburn.

The vines yield an average of 7.5 tonnes per hectare.

WINEMAKING The grapes are hand harvested and whole bunch pressed, with a high percentage of new oak fermentation, maturation and lees ageing carried out.

MARKETING Our Patina Chardonnay is currently sold on-premise, primarily in Sydney, and at our cellar door and via our wine club and online store.

The Patina vineyard, southeast of Orange, typically receives three light snowfalls a year.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

VA R I E TA L R E P O R T

Leura Park Estate winemaker Darren Burke.

DARREN BURKE, WINEMAKER LEURA PARK ESTATE GEELONG, VICTORIA Wine: 2014 Leura Park Estate Block 1 Reserve Chardonnay (RRP$45.00/bottle)

VITICULTURE The vineyard is located on the Bellarine Peninsula in Geelong in the Curlewis area.

Soils are of the sandy loam spectrum with vines trained to a VSP with a north-south orientation. The block has a gentle north-facing aspect.

The block was planted to clone I10V1 in 1995-96 in a traditional configuration of around 2400 vines per hectare from a row spacing of 2.2 metres and vine spacing of 1.5 metres.

Being on a peninsula surrounded by water there is a significant maritime

SEARCH N W WID16_Directory online buyers guide 43x185.indd 1

V3 1N 5

Chardonnay vines in the Leura Park Estate vineyard on Geelong’s Bellarine Peninsula.

influence with no threat of frost and nice cooling breezes at night. Disease risk is low for us due to balanced canopy management and regular wind and breezes.

The vines are spur pruned to two-bud spurs of approximately eight spurs per arm.

We produce our own compost mainly derived from grape marc and as required spread under vine.

The block generally yields around 5-6 tonnes per hectare.

WINEMAKING Fruit is generally picked between 11.5 and 12.5 Baume depending on flavour. Our preference is to pick earlier as flavours at harvest usually progress to the next spectrum as a wine.

Grapes are handpicked and whole bunch pressed to around 600 to 650

litres of juice per tonne. Settled overnight, the cloudy juice is then transferred to 300 litre French oak barrels (around 30% new) for ambient ferment. The ferment is allowed to progress naturally with temperatures getting up to 25°C. Post ferment malolactic fermentation is not encouraged with barrels being topped fortnightly to monthly and then sulfured in late May. The wine is tasted frequently with barrels only stirred if there is any evidence of ‘staleness’.

The wine resides in oak from March to January then it is prepared for bottling. It is heat and cold stabilised with little or no fining then cross-flow filtered prior to bottling. Free SO2 at bottling will be around 25-30mg/L. The wine has had the volume turned down very slightly in the last few years.

Online Buyers’ Guide Equipment, Supplies & Services for the wine & grape industry

www.winetitles.com.au/guide W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

26/11/2015 11:27 am

www.winetitles. com . au

71

VA R I E TA L R E P O R T

A view of the Bird in Hand estate vineyard at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills.

The vineyard contains the Chardonnay clones of Bernard 76, 95 and 96 which go into the Nest Egg label Chardonnay when good enough.

MARKETING The Block 1 Reserve Chardonnay is our flagship wine and is sold through cellar door, our website, fine wine retailers and on-premise outlets in local and other Victorian venues. We are building currently to extend our presence up the eastern seaboard and we export small amounts of wine to Asia, primarily Singapore.

Bird in Hand chief winemaker Kym Milne.

vintages we will include some clone 95 from our Woodside vineyard.

At havest we look for clean fruit and even ripening with the fruit not too exposed. We aim for clean citrus flavours, with ripe seeds and no greenness in the skins.

Yields have been variable over the last five years but on average range from 4-6 tonnes per hectare.

Since 2012 weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been picking the fruit a little earlier than previous vintages. Apart from that we have generally remained consistent with a particular style with no major changes to our winemaking techniques.

However, each vintage we do undertake trials using different techniques to gauge potential improvements.

MARKETING WINEMAKING

KYM MILNE MW, CHIEF WINEMAKER BIRD IN HAND WINERY ADELAIDE HILLS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Wine: 2015 Bird in Hand Nest Egg Chardonnay (RRP$79.00/bottle)

VITICULTURE The fruit for this wine was contracted from a vineyard in Mt Torrens in the central Adelaide Hills, and is around 500m above sea level. Some vintages have also included fruit from another cool vineyard at the winery in Woodside, but not in 2015.

The contracted fruit comes from two blocks: one is on a south-facing slope and comprises Bernard clone 96; the other is on a west-facing slope and is made up of Bernard clone 76. In some

72

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Grapes are hand-picked in the early morning and delivered to the winery where they are processed immediately.

They are whole bunch pressed into French oak barriques of which 30-40% are new. A high-solids, wild ferment follows, taking between 10-20 days to complete. Daily stirring takes place in the latter stages of primary ferment.

The majority of the barrels are left unsulfured to go through a natural malolactic fermentation, with a small percentage singled out and sulfured early as a blending component. The lees are stirred weekly for six months before sulfuring. After nine months in oak, all barrels are graded by the winemaking team, with the best barrels selected and blended for the Nest Egg label.

The wine is then fined, stabilised and filtered prior to bottling.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

The Nest Egg label is our top tier of wines. It is the only white wine in this tier. A Nest Egg wine will only be produced in outstanding vintages that exhibit the finest qualities Nest Egg Chardonnay was first produced in 2008. The 2012 vintage has been our most successful wine (red or white) to date with eight trophies and 16 gold medals culminating in the Australia and New Zealand Wine of the Year in 2015 (Winestate magazine).

The 2015 was released in January 2016 and has already picked up four gold medals.

We predominantly sell our Nest Egg wines through the cellar door, online and at our restaurant. A few select restaurants and independent off-premise wine stores stock it domestically and in several export markets.

WVJ

V31N5

TA S T I N G N O T E S

Cool climate Chardonnay Following our recent tasting of cool climate Australian Shiraz and in keeping with this issue’s focus on cool climate wine production, we put the nation’s ‘cool’ Chardonnays to the taste test.

A

ustralia’s producers of cool climate Chardonnay were recently invited to take part in the latest tasting by Wine & Viticulture Journal, resulting in a total of 30 wines being entered.

The regions represented in the line-up consisted of the Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Cowra, Geelong, Pyrenees, Beechworth, Orange, Mornington Peninsula, Macedon Ranges, and Coonawarra. The youngest wines were from the 2015 vintage and the oldest from 2012.

Making up our tasting panel were Penfolds senior white winemaker Kym Schroeter, Wines by Geoff Hardy winemaker Shane Harris, and winemaker for Wicks Estate Leigh Ratzmer.

“Chardonnay is still one of the key varieties to reflect the region in which it’s grown and it adapts to different regions quite well,” Shane Harris said just prior to the tasting getting under way.

He added that it was more than appropriate for a winemaker to leave his or her footprint on Chardonnay as long as the influence was “acceptable”.

Kym Schroeter agreed saying, “Chardonnay is the white variety in which you can most pick the winemaker’s signature.

74

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

The panellists for our cool climate Chardonnay tasting were (from left) Kym Schroeter, Penfolds senior white winemaker; Shane Harris, winemaker for Wines by Geoff Hardy; and Leigh Ratzmer, winemaker for Wicks Estate.

“The thing I like about Chardonnay is that there’s a myriad of styles you can make with it. A lot of people say Riesling is a noble variety, but I reckon Chardonnay is a noble variety too as you can do so much with it; it make so many different styles and you can use so many different techniques on it as well. It’s my favourite white variety.

Ratzmer added, ”By adjusting things

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

you can coax certain elements out of Chardonnay, such as its sense of place.”

He said a good Chardonnay from any region should have “a nice vein of acidity to balance the fruit flavours and the varying levels of winemaking artefact. A good example will show an integration and balance of those components,” he said. “Freshness is also a big thing to watch for. Good Chardonnay should have an innate amount of freshness to it as it really holds it together.”

The panel agreed a few of the wines in the line-up lacked freshness, while the winemaking had not complemented the fruit in others.

“Winemakers need to ensure their handling techniques are appropriate.

The fruit weight wasn’t up to the techniques thrown at them in some of the wines. When the fruit starts to wither and the winemaking artefact remains, that’s where you can lose your freshness,” Harris said.

The panel’s top picks of the tasting were: Patina 2013 Reserve Chardonnay, Indigo Vineyard 2015 Secret Village Chardonnay, Leura Park 2014 Block 1 The Reserve Chardonnay and Bird in Hand 2015 Nest Egg Chardonnay.

WVJ

V31N5

GRAYSWINE, YOUR ONLINE SALES PARTNER

GraysOnline, Australia’s leading online wine auctioneer and retailer now has a new address www.grayswine.com.au We bring together talented Aussie & NZ wine growers with our wine lovers and collectors. Why you should sell through us: • We attract 1.3M monthly unique visitors • Offer fast payment to vendors • Provide warehousing & logistics • Marketing value-add to lift your brand • We’re the 3rd largest online wine destination in Australia

Contact us to discuss how we can help grow your business.

Simon West, General Manager simon.west@grays.com.au | 0412 913 120

TA S T I N G N O T E S

LEURA PARK 2014 BLOCK 1 THE RESERVE CHARDONNAY Geelong, Victoria 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$45.00/bottle Best of tasting: Great colour. A lovely, fresh nose of oyster shell, brine and white stone fruit. Palate is rich and full-flavoured, has a lovely mouthfeel, great length and subtle phenolics. “A classy offering with good styling and complexity; a really solid wine,” said one taster, adding, “good balance of artefact and fruit.”

PATINA 2013 RESERVE CHARDONNAY Orange, New South Wales 12.7%v/v – screwcap RRP$45.00/bottle Best of tasting: Fantastic colour. Great primary fruit characters still apparent on the nose, including apples, lemons and stone fruits, with notes of hazelnut, vanilla, lemon curd, a touch of honey and some lovely gun flint.

Palate is rich, textural and creamy with great intensity of fruit, and good length, weight and persistence. “Best varietal expression of the tasting,” noted one taster.

INDIGO VINEYARD 2015 SECRET VILLAGE CHARDONNAY Beechworth, Victoria 12.4%v/v - screwcap RRP$50.00/bottle Best of tasting: Great colour – light and bright. Lovely fresh nose featuring fruits in the greener spectrum, white stone fruits, grapefruit and a touch of gun flint; “good artefact” noted one taster. Lovely creamy mouthfeel; palate is lean and tight where white stone fruits and grapefruit have followed through from the nose and a subtle cashew nuttiness is apparent.

Good level of complexity.

“Acid is well handled even though the wine is high-tensioned,” said one taster. Lovely phenolics on the finish.

Good length. “A modern, New World style,” noted another taster.

BIRD IN HAND 2015 NEST EGG CHARDONNAY

WICKS ESTATE 2015 CHARDONNAY

DEVIL’S CORNER 2015 CHARDONNAY

Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$79.00/bottle

Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.5%v/v – cork RRP$18.00/bottle

Tasmania 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$19.00/bottle

Best of tasting: Great colour. White stone fruits on the complex nose including peaches and nectarines; smoky, charry oak also evident along with barrel ferment characters.

Great complex palate which is rich and has mouth-filling flavour, with white stone fruits again dominating; great length; lovely acid line. “A really well-made wine with great artefact,” said one taster. “A fairly big style with powerful fruit and layers of complexity,” said another.

A touch golden in colour. Fresh nose with hints of citrus and lemon peel. One taster thought the nose was vegetal and skinsy, with notes of bruised apple and fig. A full palate with mineral notes but is quite phenolic and showing evidence of a late acid addition which has led to chalky acid and a disjointed palate; a flinty, sulfided palate.

Finishes a touch short with the fruit driven by oak complexities. A bold, full style

Bright white gold in colour. Sweet, perfumed and creamy nose with some tropical notes, including mango and pineapple, and hints of citrus, such as lemon and grapefruit; one taster detected some H2S. Good freshness of fruit on the palate which has sweet fruit characters and although has medium complexity it lacks texture; some time on lees apparent with a doughy character that proliferates the palate. Good length.

Lacks intensity.

WE BRING TOGETHER TA

76

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

TA S T I N G N O T E S

INDIGO VINEYARD 2015 COWRA CHARDONNAY

LEURA PARK 2015 ESTATE CHARDONNAY

MOUNT AVOCA 2015 ESTATE CHARDONNAY

ROSS HILL 2015 MAYA & MAX CHARDONNAY

Cowra, Victoria 12.2%v/v – screwcap RRP$25.00/bottle

Geelong, Victoria 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$28.00/bottle

Pyrenees, Victoria 13.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$32.50/bottle

Simple yet fresh nose featuring crisp apple, white peach, hints of tropical fruit, some grapefruit and a smoky barrel ferment note. Good mouthfeel and nice length; palate is in the riper spectrum with white stone fruit characters predominant; fruit overall lacking punch.

Touch of warmth on the finish. “Oak feels a little forced,” noted one taster.

The colour of this wine is a little forward with some gold evident.

Nose has a nice French oak character along with vanilla, nougat, honey, some tropical notes, including mango, passionfruit, melon and pineapple, yellow stone fruits, almonds, and lanolin; some creaminess; an ‘old school’ style, noted one taster. Great power and palate presence which is creamy upfront followed by good texture and great length; peach, melon, white stone fruit and a faint touch of tropical fruit evident. “Great ripeness level showing flavour concentration without alcohol heat,” noted one taster.

Colour of this wine is perhaps a little forward being a deep yellow-gold. A creamy, malo nose featuring vanilla essence, malt and tinned fruit; one taster also detected popcorn. Vanilla a dominant character on the palate, specifically vanilla confectionery characters; hint of yellow fruit; very creamy and buttery with lots of malo characters. Good length. “A big leesdriven style,” noted one taster. “Lacks interest and complexity” noted another.

Orange, New South Wales 13.1%v/v – screwcap RRP$20.00/bottle Water white in colour.

A somewhat muted nose which is tight and restrained; stone fruits, lemon rind and sea spray evident along with a hint of bubblegum.

Palate is slightly simple, restrained and characterised by sweet fruit; nice entry but mid-palate is lacking; good acid length and line (although one taster thought the acid was a touch aggressive); subtle flint nuances; lacks intensity.

BIRD IN HAND 2015 ADELAIDE HILLS CHARDONNAY Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$35.00/bottle Creamy and complex nose which is cheesy and leesy with characters of oatmeal and quince and hints of gunflint. Quite a complex palate which is creamy and flavoursome, rich and full, with vanilla, quince, green apple, crab apple, hazelnut and smoky, oak-driven length; lacks a little fruit. Lovely mouthfeel.

“A very solid, worked style; lots of winemaker intervention,” noted one taster. “Great texture from lees without excessive weight,” said another.

YES SAID THE SEAL 2015 CHARDONNAY Geelong, Victoria 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$35.00/bottle

Golden in colour.

Nose is dominated by tropical fruits and is slightly simple with an alcohol lift. Palate is rich and ripe and features sweet fruits; not particularly complex but is nonetheless clean, rounded and fullflavoured.

ALENTED AUSSIE & NZ WINE GROWERS WITH OUR WINE LOVERS.

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

77

TA S T I N G N O T E S

SIDEWOOD 2015 MAPPINGA CHARDONNAY Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$35.00/bottle Very light, delicate nose featuring white stone fruits, citrus rind, oyster shell, a touch of white flowers and some leesy notes. Lovely, finelystructured palate but lacks varietal definition; chalky acid and a hint of honeydew melon. Oak finishes a touch broad/ coarse and dominates the fruit. “All the elements present but lacks some finesse,” noted one taster.

MT LOFTY RANGES 2015 OLD APPLE BLOCK CHARDONNAY Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$30.00/bottle Great colour but a somewhat simple, non-descript nose of sea spray, some tropical fruit and lemon and lime rind.

Palate is a touch watery and lacks intensity and flavour; white stone fruits evident. A solid wine with good palate flow and juicy acidity but lacks interest. A touch bitter on the finish.

TOP NOTE 2015 ADELAIDE HILLS CHARDONNAY Adelaide Hills, South Australia 12.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$25.00/bottle Great colour. Characters on the nose tend to the citrus spectrum, including lime peel/zest; red and green apples also apparent along with a faint touch of vanilla and herbs. Palate is fresh and light with cider apple tannins and is very tightly wound (one taster wondered if the wine was experiencing bottle shock). Some positive fermentation/malo characters but these have somewhat subdued the fruit. Touch of oak, lees and solids with nothing in particular dominating.

Some phenolics on the back palate. Good mouthfeel. “Plenty of room to grow with further cellaring,” noted one taster.

“A solid commercial wine,” said another.

NAZAARAY 2015 CHARDONNAY Mornington Peninsula, Victoria 14.0%v/v - screwcap RRP$45.00/bottle Colour a little golden showing some development. Some nice gunflint notes on the nose along with some smoky/charry barrel characters, stone fruits, green olives, and brine; secondary characters dominate the fruit; lacks concentration. Stone fruit characters also on the palate which has a lovely acid line, good mouthfeel and lovely phenolic grip adding length to the wine; mid-palate a bit thin; fruit weight not integrated with the secondary characters. “Winemaking artefact done well but doesn’t really suit the wine,” noted one taster. “A well-made wine, just a bit developed,” noted another.

ROSS HILL 2015 PINNACLE SERIES CHARDONNAY

HANGING ROCK 2015 JIM JIM CHARDONNAY

Orange, New South Wales 12.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$35.00/bottle

Macedon Ranges, Victoria 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$40.00/bottle

Somewhat simple nose featuring some tropical fruit notes, including mango and pineapple, and perhaps some volatile acidity. Good flavour on the simple palate, predominantly tropical fruits.

Great colour. Nicely perfumed nose with some citrus, white peach, jasmine, pear and white flowers; quite oaky; pencil shavings also evident. Citrus, stonefruit, pear, red apple skin and floral characters on the slightly simple palate; lacking some richness and intensity. “Not overly varietal,” noted one taster. “The oak used seems like it might have been a bit sappy,” noted another. “Lighter, delicate style which is lean with well-balanced acid,” he added.

WE BRING TOGETHER TA

78

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

TA S T I N G N O T E S

SIDEWOOD 2015 CHARDONNAY

CURLY FLAT 2014 CHARDONNAY

Adelaide Hills, South Australia 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$20.00/bottle

Macedon Ranges, Victoria 13.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$50.00/bottle

Good colour. A complex nose of lemon and lime, seaweed, flint, quartz, barley and seaspray with a mineral edge. Finelystructured palate which is fresh, vibrant and clean; good lees work without using malo; good balance and phenolics.

“Tightly wound but shows good varietal character,” said one taster.

Colour shows slight development. Nose exhibits clean, fresh fruit, including orange rind and citrus fruits, but lacks complexity and interest; hint of butterscotch and caramel. Rich palate of tropical fruits; lacks varietal character and freshness. Good acid line.

BRANGAYNE OF ORANGE 2014 ISOLDE RESERVE CHARDONNAY Orange, New South Wales 13.0%v/v - screwcap RRP$30.00/bottle Great colour. Nice stone fruit characters on the nose but lacks freshness, is slightly dirty and has a plastic note. Simple and light palate which lacks richness and weight.

Good creamy finish.

JOSHUA’S FAULT 2014 CHARDONNAY Gundaroo Valley, New South Wales 13.0%v/v - screwcap RRP$28.00/bottle Colour somewhat poor.

Nice sulphide complexity on the nose which features hessian, lanolin, almond meal, custard apple, lemon curd, burnt toffee and charry oak.

Apple, red apple skin, lemon butter, quince, limestone, cashews and burnt caramel on the palate which has great texture.

MOUNT AVOCA 2014 MOATE’S LANE CHARDONNAY

COONAWARRA JACK 2014 JACK ESTATE CHARDONNAY

Pyrenees, Victoria 12.5%v/v - screwcap RRP$15.00/bottle

Coonawarra, South Australia 13.5%v/v - screwcap RRP$22.00/bottle

Slightly developed colour. Simple fruits, confectionery and artificial vanilla characters on the nose.

Palate is light, lean and somewhat simple with slight floral elements; oak is a touch planky; lacks varietal definition.

Finish lacks focus.

Good colour. Tropical notes on the nose, including citrus rind/zest, as well as confectionery notes. Palate is light and lean with hints of citrus and tropical fruits; a touch bitter; lacks weight and finishes slightly short.

ALENTED AUSSIE & NZ WINE GROWERS WITH OUR WINE LOVERS.

V3 1N 5

W I N E & V I T I C ULTUR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

www.winetitles. com . au

79

VA R I E TA L R E P O R T

LYONS WILL ESTATE 2014 CHARDONNAY

SEE SAW WINES 2014 CHARDONNAY

Macedon Ranges, Victoria 13.5%v/v – cork RRP$34.00/bottle

Orange, New South Wales 12.7%v/v - screwcap RRP$20.00/bottle

This wine is showing a fair degree of development. Tropical fruits, green olives and fly spray on the nose along with some charry notes. Palate is watery, somewhat hollow and lacks freshness. One taster questioned whether the wine had suffered random oxidation.

Great colour. Peaches and nuts on the nose which is doughy and leesy. Peach and some tropical fruits on the palate which lacks varietal characters and freshness; good acid line and a nice phenolic grip. “Looking a bit tired,” noted one taster.

“A clean, well made wine but lacks interest and complexity,” noted another.

CURLY FLAT 2013 CHARDONNAY Macedon Ranges, Victoria 13.0% v/v - screwcap RRP$50.00/bottle Good colour. Nose is slightly developed – one taster described the nose as being reminiscent of ‘old school’ Chardonnay with notes of saline, sea spray, lemon, popcorn, oyster shell, some stone fruit and flint.

Finely-textured, creamy palate which has tight acid, good flavour and nice oak; characters of buttered popcorn, caramel, lemon curd and riper yellow stone fruit. “Showing some maturity so the oak elements dominate the fruit as a result, but a solid drink,” noted one taster.

DEVIL’S CORNER 2013 RESOLUTION CHARDONNAY Tasmania 13.5%v/v – screwcap RRP$30.00/bottle Fresh nose of oatmeal, almonds, fennel seeds, stone fruits and some tropical fruits, including mango. Citrus curd, fennel and some tropical fruits evident on the palate. Complexities brought about by oak and barrel work on show. A touch forward yet still has freshness.

“Good use of solids and malo,” noted one taster.

“Somewhat light and simple,” said another.

HANGING ROCK 2013 JIM JIM CHARDONNAY

PATINA WINES 2012 CHARDONNAY

Macedon Ranges, Victoria 13.0%v/v – screwcap RRP$40.00/bottle

Orange, New South Wales 12.7%v/v – screwcap RRP$30.00/bottle

Dull nose which is doughy and lacks interest. Palate is light and lean and slightly dirty.

Vibrant colour. Hints of gun flint and stone fruits on the nose as well as a touch of burnt caramel. Palate has good mouthfeel, weight, phenolics and length.

“Holding firm,” said one taster, adding, “but the combination of oak and fruit lacks some finesse.”

GRAYSWINE, YOUR ONLINE SALES PARTNER To turn your liquid asset into cash, contact Simon to find out how.

E. simon.west@grays.com.au M. 0412 913 120

80

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

PRODUCTS N E &WSERVICES S

Major energy savings for premium wineries with Climate Wizard Supercool

W

ith installed systems already reducing winery energy cooling costs by up to 80% compared with refrigerated systems, Climate Wizard’s Supercool Indirect/Direct Evaporative Cooling (IDEC) configuration is clearly working.

Energy-minded wineries in the Barossa, Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale have installed Climate Wizard with exceptional benefits.

From a pure dollar cost, Climate Wizards IDEC technology has lower power requirements and low operating costs from a modest capital investment.

As a stand-alone system, or adapted into existing barrel and tank storage cooling, Climate Wizard Supercool adds a small amount of moisture to the air so the amount of angels’ share is minimised. Plus, the need for extra humidification equipment is negated, with 100% fresh, outside air cooling the storage space and wine.

With a growing proliferation of organic and eco-sustainable wineries, the need for consistent, cost effective and low impact energy supply for ‘off the grid’ vineyards is critical.

Indeed energy consistency is important, especially for wineries that have expanded into remote locations.

Whether a stand-alone system, or adapted into existing barrel and tank storage cooling, Climate Wizard Supercool adds a small amount of moisture to the air, minimising the angels’ share.

The further energy needs to travel regionally, the more unpredictable the power supply becomes, so the benefits offered by Climate Wizard’s new cooling system is turning winemaking heads who need to utilise plant and equipment that draws minimal power.

An indirect core with an evaporative process afterwards gives Supercool the edge. Climate Wizard supplies a much lower temperature than direct evaporative cooling, while giving sustainable wineries vital temperature and humidity control.

For more information about Climate Wizard Supercool, contact Michael Hamilton, Commercial Sales General Manager, Seeley Commercial at commercial@seeleyinternational.com or on 0416 222 460.

It’s dirty work, but Polo Citrus does it!

P

olo Citrus Australia has been supressing dust emissions for 25 years both in Australia and internationally.

Commencing in the early 1990s, the company targetted the mining and quarry industries with crushing and screening systems, and also supplied products for haul road dust suppression.

Being an innovative company, Polo Citrus Australia developed several other products for a variety of industries where production and environmental dust issues cause concern and create havoc.

As an Australian company that knows Australian conditions and material types, Polo Citrus Australia is the leading dust suppression company in the country; it develops products for Australian conditions and gets far better results because of that fact.

Road Con is one such product that was developed for the agricultural sector with one purpose in mind, stop dust in the medium to long term. Designed for production areas, access roads, and any other unsealed surface where dust is an issue, Road Con was first trialled in the grain industry with instant and positive results and has been in the market for several years since that initial trial.

Last year Road Con was introduced to the winemakers and grapegrowers of Australia with trials all over the country in

82

www.w i n eti tl es .c om.au

Dust suppression product Road Con, made by Polo Citrus Australia, was introduced to the nation’s winemakers and grapegrowers last year with trials in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales with the same results as the grain industry but with added benefits: • reduces dust on fruit which can hinder the spraying process amongst other things • dust free fruit makes a better product • a dust free environment when processing makes for a cleaner product, free of contaminants.

If you have a vineyard and experience dust contact Polo Citrus Australia, phone 03 9364 9700 or visit www.polocitrus.com.au.

W I N E & V I T I C ULT UR E JO UR NA L SEPTEMBER/O C TO BER 2016

V31N5

BETTER PROTECTION, LESS COPPER... GREENER FOOTPRINT There was a time in vineyards when a “greener footprint” may have been because of this. Today you can do it with DuPont™ Kocide® Opti™ fungicide.

The elemental copper in Kocide® Opti™ is so active you only need a fraction of the amount used in other copper formulations. In fact when you use Kocide® Opti™, you’re protecting your crops with a fraction of copper per unit area.

Kocide® Opti™ not only gives superior protection with less actual copper, it is also easy to handle, mix and pour and keeps foaming to a minimum. All this while leaving a far smaller footprint on the environment. Everyone wins.

Kocide® Opti™ - designed for this season, with a step to the future.

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. Copyright © 2016 DuPont. All rights reserved. DuPont and Opti are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates. Kocide® is a registered trademark of Kocide LLC. Du Pont (Australia) Pty Ltd. 7 Eden Park Drive, Macquarie Park NSW 2113. ACN 000 716 469.

Melbourne

Adelaide

WA

New Zealand

EXCITING

NEW TECHNOLOGY

FROM

SMART LEES SMART LEES is a tangential cross flow unit utilising spinning ceramic discs for the filtration of Lees from Juice and wine.

It is suitable for the filtration of products with a high suspended solids including those with Bentonite. The action of the filter ensures a high quality permeate and allows for a recovery of up to 97%.

MMR PLUS – DEGASSING The Juclas MMR Plus enables the control of gases including the reduction and impregnation treatment of gases in wine… the reduction of oxygen and carbon dioxide in young wines, deoxygenation of wines prior to bottling or addition of carbon dioxide to refresh whites or roses when bottling. The MMR Plus can also be used for dealcoholisation.

For further details, contact us on: Melbourne 59 Banbury Rd, Reservoir Ph. 1300 882 850 Adelaide 12 Hamilton Tce, Newton Ph. 08 8365 0044 Western Australia 5/1 Ostler Dve, Vasse Ph. 08 9755 4433 New Zealand 3M Henry Rose Place, Albany, Auckland Ph. 0800 699 599 E. sales@winequip.com.au www.winequip.com.au www.winequip.co.nz