COVID-19 response

Since the last issue of eNews, the AWRI, like all Australian businesses, has made major adjustments to its work practices to help minimise the spread of COVID-19. Where possible, AWRI staff have been working from home, with laboratory-based and other essential staff remaining at the AWRI’s premises. Vintage 2020 experiments have been successfully completed and services to industry have been maintained. With the easing of restrictions in South Australia, increasing numbers of staff are now returning to the AWRI and steps are in place to ensure appropriate hygiene and social distancing practices. The AWRI’s COVID-19 webpage provides a collection of resources specific to grapegrowers and winemakers, including guidelines for pruning and information on winery sanitation. Please contact helpdesk@awri.com.au if you need further information.

New pruning resources and videos

• Webinar recording ‘A beginner’s guide to pruning’
• Three pruning demonstration videos, covering pruning basics, spur pruning and cane pruning
• Information pack of pruning resources
• Keeping safe – COVID-19 health and safety guidelines for vineyard workers (fact sheet developed in conjunction with Australian Grape & Wine)

For more information, please contact the AWRI helpdesk on 08 8 313 6600 or helpdesk@awri.com.au.

Smoke research in progress

During the 2019/20 bushfire season the AWRI established two trials with industry partners in the Hunter Valley and Adelaide Hills to better understand the impact of pre-veraison smoke exposure on green pea-size grapes, and the associated smoke taint risk to wine. In the Hunter Valley, Chardonnay and Shiraz grapes were sampled from four vineyards bi-weekly from mid-November to harvest. In the Adelaide Hills, grapes from 24 vineyards (with different levels of smoke exposure) across three varieties (Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinot Noir) were sampled from pre-veraison (approximately four weeks after the Cudlee Creek fire) to harvest in March. These experiments complement each other as the smoke exposure in the Adelaide Hills vineyards was limited to a single and relatively short smoke event in December 2019, while the Hunter Valley vineyards endured ongoing smoke exposure over four months from a number of surrounding fires.

Analysis of established smoke markers and taint compounds is currently being finalised to address the following key knowledge gaps about smoke taint:

1. Does significant early-season smoke exposure of pea-size green berries (E-L stages 29-31) lead to phenolic glycosides in grapes at harvest and smoke taint risk in wine?
2. How early can smoke exposure markers be detected in grapes prior to harvest?
3. Is the concentration of phenolic glycosides ‘diluted out’ during ripening by berry development and growth?

The first results from these projects will be presented on 30 June 2020 at the upcoming ASVO seminar ‘Winning the long game’. Experimental winemaking from the Adelaide Hills trial has been completed and wine sensory and chemical composition will be studied as part of a new Wine Australia project that has attracted significant co-investment from the South Australian Government through PIRSA.

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia – update on trust mark and research projects

Two research projects that support Sustainable Winegrowing Australia are also nearing completion or have recently been completed. Dr Mardi Longbottom recently gave a presentation on ‘Valuing nature in viticulture’ at the Food Agility symposium in Sydney. A collaborative project with the Food Agility CRC supported the incorporation of economic metrics into Sustainable Winegrowing Australia in 2019. Modelling of the data collected is being used to investigate a sustainability index and to apply artificial intelligence to assess the value of models to predict ‘sustainable’ vineyards. Three grower case studies developed through the project will be available online shortly. A project that is mapping data collected by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals recently concluded. This project has enabled international benchmarking of the program and identification of both strengths and opportunities for future improvement. For more information about Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, visit sustainablewinegrowing.com.au.

AWRI research on show at upcoming ASVO seminar

A number of AWRI staff are involved in the upcoming ASVO seminar ‘Winning the long game’, which is being presented in partnership with Wine Communicators Australia. Senior Viticulturist Mardi Longbottom is chair of the overall seminar program as well as a session on mitigating climate change, which also features a presentation from Eric Wilkes. AWRI Managing Director Mark Krstic is chairing a session on fire and smoke, which includes presentations from Markus Herderich and Julie Culbert on the latest AWRI smoke research. The seminar is being delivered online, with sessions scheduled from 29 June to 1 July.

Other talks of interest to those following the progress of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia include certified member, Shannon Sutherland of Rymill Coonawarra discussing steps taken to reduce energy usage, Jennifer Lynch from McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association discussing how the McLaren Vale region has successfully used its sustainability credentials in marketing the region and James Bentley from NAB, who partnered with the AWRI in the recent Food Agility, ‘Valuing nature in viticulture’ project. For more information about the seminar, visit the ASVO website.

Register now for future AWACs

17^th AWITC proceedings

If you haven’t downloaded them yet, don’t forget that the proceedings of last year’s 17^th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference are available online. As well as the proceedings papers, there are links to the conference webcasts and all the poster pdfs. This is a fantastic resource both for those who attended the conference and those who weren’t able to be there. Contact info@awitc.com.au for further information or assistance.

Order the latest AWRI staff publications online

Accessing the latest AWRI publications is easy. Visit the AWRI Publications web page to:

• View the 10 most recent AWRI staff publications and order the articles online from the AWRI Library
• Search the staff publications database
• Read the full-text of ‘Technical Notes’ from Technical Review (PDF format)
• Read the full-text of ‘AWRI reports’ and ‘Vineyards of the world columns’ published in Wine & Viticulture Journal (PDF format)
• Read the full text of ‘Ask the AWRI columns’ published in Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker

The AWRI’s most recent publications are listed below.

2139 Gawel, R., Schulkin, A., Smith, P.A., Espinase, D., McRae, J.M. Effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the sensory properties of still white and red wines. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 26(2): 172-179; 2020.

2140 Coulter, A. Ask the AWRI: Discrepancies in analytical results for volatile acidity. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (674): p. 64; 2020.

2141 Roach, M.J., Borneman, A.R. New genome assemblies reveal patterns of domestication and adaption across Brettanomyces (Dekkera) species. BMC Genomics 21: 194; 2020.

2142 Mosinska, M., Stepińska, N., Maniukiewicz, W., Rogowski, J., Mierczynska-Vasilev, A., Vasilev, K., Szynkowska, M.I., Mierczynski, P. Hydrogen production on Cu-Ni catalysts via the oxy-steam reforming of methanol. Catalysts 10: 273; 2020.

2143 Verdonk, N., Ristic, R., Culbert, J., Pearce, K., Wilkinson, K. Understanding the Australian wine consumers’ preferences for different sparkling wine styles. Beverages 6: 14; 2020.

2144 Kontoudakis, N., Smith, M., Smith, P.A., Wilkes, E.N., Clark, A.C. The colorimetric determination of copper in wine: total copper. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 26(2): 121-129; 2020.

2145 Teng, B., Petrie, P., Smith, P.A., Bindon, K.A. Comparison of water addition and early-harvest strategies to decrease alcohol concentration in Vitis vinifera cv. Shiraz wine: impact on wine phenolics, tannin composition and colour properties. Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 26(2): 158-171; 2020.

2146 Longbottom, M. Ask the AWRI: Promoting grapevine recovery after fire damage. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (675): 66-67; 2020.

2147 Scrimgeour, N., Almond, T., Wilkes, E. Is KPA the magic bullet for tartrate instability in wines? Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (675): 68-70; 2020.

2148 Petrie, P.R., Jiang, W., Bindon, K.A., Sadras, V.O. When do grapes stop accumulating sugar? Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 37–39; 2020.

2149 Culbert, J.A., Jiang, W., Krstic, M.P., Herderich, M.J. Evaluating activated carbons for removal of phenols and their glycosides from smoke-affected juice and wine. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 45–48; 2020.

2150 Bartel, C.E., Borneman, A.R., Curtin, C.D., Varela, C.A. Is Brettanomyces bruxellensis becoming more SO₂ tolerant in industry? Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 50–51; 2020.

2151 Sawyer, S., Longo, R., Solomon, M. Nicoletti, L. Westmore, H., Merry, A., Gnoinski, G., Ylia, A., Dambergs, R., Kerslake, F. Is it age or the autolysis? Pulling apart where sparkling wine character comes from. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 52–55; 2020.

2152 Pearson, W., Schmidtke, L., Francis, L., Li, S., Blackman, J., Carr, T. Understanding the role of regionality in Shiraz – sensory and chemical profiles of Shiraz wines from six different regions. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 75–77; 2020.

2153 Day, M.P., Capone, D.L., Kassara, S., Bilogrevic, E.O., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Watson, F.T., Francis, I.L., Bindon, K.A. Whole bunch fermentation of Shiraz and Pinot Noir: influence on ‘green’ characters and astringency. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 94–96; 2020.

2154 Bekker, M.Z., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Kulcsar, A.C., Faucon, A., Smith, P.A. Remediating ‘reductive’ characters in wine. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 97–99; 2020.

2155 Roach, M.J., Johnson, D.L., Bohlmann, J., van Vuuren, H.J.J., Jones, S.J.M., Pretorius, I.S., Schmidt, S.A., Borneman, A.R. Population sequencing reveals clonal diversity and ancestral inbreeding in the grapevine cultivar Chardonnay. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 111–114; 2020.

2156 Nordestgaard, S., Wilkes, E.N. Inspirations from the past and opportunities for the future. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 115–124; 2020.

2157 McRae, J.M. New techniques and technologies for wine protein stabilisation. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 125–126; 2020.

2158 Bindon, K.A., Teng, B., Smith, P.A., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Solomon, M., Petrie, P.R. Winemaking with high Baume juice: optimising fermentation and extraction. Beames, K.S., Robinson, E.M.C., Dry, P.R., Johnson, D.L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: Adelaide, South Australia, 21–24 July 2019. Urrbrae, S.A.; The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference Inc.: 131–133; 2020.

2159 Delgado, L., Parker, M., Fisk, I., Paradisi, F. Performance of the extremophilic enzyme BglA in the hydrolysis of two aroma glucosides in a range of model and real wines and juices. Food Chem. 323: 126825; 2020.

2160 Scrimgeour, N., Hirlam, K., Bey, L., Wilkes, E. Extending the shelf life of canned wines. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (674): 68-70; 2020.

2161 Carew, A.L., Kerslake, F.L., Bindon, K.A., Smith, P.A., Close, D.C., Dambergs, R.G. Viticultural and controlled phenolic release treatments affect phenolic concentration and tannin composition in Pinot noir wine. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. doi:10.5344/ajev.2020.19003: 1-29; 2020.

Acknowledgements

The AWRI acknowledges support from Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body, Wine Australia, with matching funds from the Australian Government. The AWRI is a member of the Wine Innovation Cluster in Adelaide, South Australia.