Mapping microbes in the winery
Sustainable Winegrowing Australia – membership is growing
AWITC – program themes revealed
Register now for spring webinars
Order the latest staff publications online
Video tips for SO2 analysis |
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Analysing wines for SO2 is a very common in winery labs – but are you following best practice? The AWRI YouTube channel has three demonstration videos on SO2 analysis by the aeration/oxidation method, with tips and tricks for the analysis itself, quality assurance and troubleshooting. Check them out now and make sure your SO2 analysis is up to scratch.
For more information, visit the SO2 analysis page on the AWRI website. |
Mapping microbes in the wineryHave you ever wondered about the yeast and bacteria in your winery? Are there different species in different areas and do they change throughout the year? AWRI Principal Research Scientist Dr Cristian Varela asked himself these questions and in response designed a project using metagenomic techniques to investigate the microbes in the Hickinbotham Roseworthy Wine Science Laboratory on the Waite Campus. That project has now been completed, with results published in the open access journal Fermentation. Key findings were that microbial communities changed over time and space, and that some populations persisted over several months. It was also possible to identify locations inhabited by spoilage microorganisms, which could be targeted with cleaning procedures to reduce the risk of wine spoilage. The full text of the article, including maps of where microbes were found, can be accessed at https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/7/3/134/htm. |
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Sustainable Winegrowing Australia – membership is growing |
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The past two months have been very busy for Sustainable Winegrowing Australia team, supporting members entering their annual sustainability data metrics and completing their online workbooks. The data entered will be used to create benchmarking reports for members as well as regional and national reports. Excitingly, more than 125 businesses have joined the program since 1 July 2021, including 100 new vineyard sites and 25 wineries.
The team presented a webinar on 5 August, with updates from the three partner organisations Australian Grape & Wine, Wine Australia and the AWRI. The webinar covered information on the global environment and Australian policy developments, a marketing update and technical aspects including certification, membership types and use of the trust mark. If you didn’t have a chance to catch it live, the webinar is available now via the AWRI’s YouTube channel. For more information about Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, visit sustainablewinegrowing.com.au or contact the AWRI helpdesk team on helpdesk@awri.com.au. You can also sign up to a short email series to help you get started with membership. In addition, the new Annual Operating Report was published last Friday outlining the strategic goals and key performance indicators for the year ahead with a focus on three key strategies: attract and retain members, deliver extension and continuous improvement of the program and raise Australia’s sustainability credentials. You can read it here. |
AWRI events update |
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The AWRI has a range of events planned for the rest of 2021 in regions across Australia, including workshops, tastings and webinars. Given the current COVID-19 situation, the decision has been made to present all events in locations outside South Australia online. The AWRI events team has developed a range of successful online formats (including for tastings) to ensure a smooth transition from face-to-face to virtual. While it is disappointing not to be able to visit regions across Australia in person, this decision allows certainty for participants, associations and presenters that the events will be able to proceed. Stay up-to-date with all of the AWRI’s planned events for 2021 via the Events Calendar or contact the AWRI events team on events@awri.com.au for further information. |
ShowRunner upgradeThe AWRI’s all-in-one show management software has been given a new lease of life and is now entirely web-based. This update makes it much simpler for wine shows to run the software themselves (with the ShowRunner team assisting virtually when needed). A further exciting milestone is that now more than half of the wine shows in Australia have adopted the platform. For more details, visit the ShowRunner page or contact showrunner@awri.com.au. |
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AWITC – program themes revealed |
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With the 18th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference locked and loaded for 26-29 June 2022 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, the program themes for this major wine industry event are now taking shape. The program outline can be viewed here.
While the world and all our lives have changed significantly since the last conference, the importance of coming together to discuss the key issues for our industry remains as important as ever. This 18th program will explore the ever-present challenges of supply and demand, the latest in wine quality, technology, vineyard health and market trends, as well as innovations of significance for the whole sector. New and emerging themes will include wine’s social licence, a focus on carbon and water and a sustainability roadmap for the industry. The 18th AWITC will be run in a COVID-safe manner but will still include ample opportunities for networking and social interaction. If you haven’t already marked the dates in your calendar, do it now! Visit the AWITC website for more information and sign up to our mailing list to keep in touch. |
Register now for spring webinarsThe AWRI’s spring webinar series kicks off on Thursday, 2 September, with a presentation on non-chemical weed control from Chris Penfold, Dr Thomas Lines and Robyn Dixon. This will be followed through September and into October by webinars on smoke testing, organic and sustainable production, building soil carbon and improving the shelf life of wines in cans. Visit the AWRI webinar page for more details and to register for upcoming webinars. |
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Order the latest staff publications onlineAccessing the latest AWRI publications is easy. Visit the AWRI Publications web page to:
The AWRI’s most recent publications are listed below. 2236 Taraji, M., Haddad, P.R. Method optimisation in hydrophilic-interaction liquid chromatography by design of experiments combined with quantitative structure-retention relationships. Aust. J. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1071/CH21102 2237 Modesti, M., Szeto, C., Ristic, R., Jiang, W.W., Culbert, J., Catelli, C., Mencarelli, F., Tonutti, P., Wilkinson, K. Amelioration of smoke taint in Cabernet Sauvignon wine via post-harvest ozonation of grapes. Beverages 7: 44; 2021. 2238 Wu, Q., Kehoe, M. A., Kinoti, W. M., Wang, C. P., Rinaldo, A., Tyerman, S., Habili, N., Constable, F.E. First report of grapevine rupestris vein feathering virus in grapevine in Australia. Plant Dis. 105(2): 515; 2021. 2239 Godden, P. Ask the AWRI: Effects of fermentation temperature on red wine composition. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (690): 50, 52; 2021. 2240 Bartel, C., Roach, M., Onetto, C., Curtin, C., Varela, C., Borneman, A. Adaptive evolution of sulfite tolerance in Brettanomyces bruxellensis. FEMS Yeast Res. 21:36; 2021. 2241 Nicolotti, L., Hack, J., Herderich, M., Lloyd, N. MStractor: R workflow package for enhancing metabolomics data pre-processing and visualization. Metabolites 11, 492; 2021. 2242 Varela, C., Cuijvers, K., Borneman, A. Temporal comparison of microbial community structure in an Australian winery. Fermentation 7, 134; 2021. 2243 Dixon, R. Getting the most out of your water. The importance of irrigation system efficiency. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (691): 40-42, 44-45; 2021. 2244 Coulter, A. Titratable acidity increase during fermentation. Aust. N.Z. Grapegrower Winemaker (691): 68, 70; 2021. 2245 Cordente, A.G., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Solomon, M., Schulkin, A., Kolouchova, R., Francis, I.L., Schmidt, S.A. Aromatic higher alcohols in wine: implication on aroma and palate attributes during Chardonnay aging. Molecules 26: 4979; 2021. 2246 Ntuli, R.G., Saltman, Y., Ponangi, R., Jeffery, D.W., Bindon, K., Wilkinson, K.L. Impact of fermentation temperature and grape solids content on the chemical composition and sensory profiles of Cabernet Sauvignon wines made from flash détente treated must fermented off skins. Food Chem. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130861 52p.; 2021. |
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AcknowledgementsThe 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. |
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