Presentations at MacroWine 2021 virtual and In Vino Analytica Scientia 2022 conferences
Abstract
The Wine Australia Travel Bursary facilitated Xingchen Wang’s engagement with academic colleagues at two international conferences. Part of the travel grant was utilised to present at the MacroWine 2021 conference, which was held online between 23rd and 30th of June 2021. The conference consisted of 6 plenary sessions and 5 round table sessions, with Xingchen’s oral presentation in the “Advances in vinification processes, novel compounds and novel reactions” session. A poster presentation of the work was also delivered. The remainder of the grant was used to present in person at the In Vino Analytica Scientia 2022 conference, held between 3rd and 7th of July 2022 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany. The conference was organised in 7 sessions, with Xingchen delivering a poster presentation addressing the application of accentuated cut edges grape-crushing technique on the release of varietal thiols and their precursors during Sauvignon blanc wine production. Besides, Xingchen also visited research labs and different wine regions after the conference. In summary, this Wine Australia Travel Bursary was an essential and invaluable part of Xingchen Wang’s PhD project and professional development. It enabled him to present his research outcomes to international peers, gather the latest knowledge of the research field from other researchers, and interact with top scientists in the field from all over the world.
Summary
Topic 1 – Oral presentation at the MacroWine 2021 virtual conference
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the MacroWine 2021 conference was held online from 23rd to 30th June 2021. The conference consisted of 65 oral presentations and 280 posters covering research fields ranging from grapevine and viticulture, microbiology, wine longevity, and sensory. The oral presentations were divided into 6 plenary sessions and 5 round tables of flash talks. Keynote speakers for the plenary sessions included Professor Steve Tyerman, Professor Francisco Carrau, Dr. Maria Nikolantonaki, Professor Fernando Zamora, Professor Philippe Darriet, Associate Professor Alejandro Giorgetti, and others such as Professor Cornelis Van Leeuwen, Associate Professor Wessel Du Toit, and Dr. Dimitra Capone, who are among the top scientists from the grape and wine research field. Their informative and inspiring presentations provided the latest technical and scientific outcomes addressing research questions related to wine industry. Xingchen gave a five-minute presentation revealing the latest outcomes of his PhD research related to the topic of reactivity of varietal thiols in wine in the “Advances in vinification processes, novel compounds and novel reactions” round table session. Besides, Xingchen also presented a poster entitled “Novel fate of polyfunctional thiols in wine” at the conference.
Topic 2 – Poster presentation at the In Vino Analytica Scientia 2022 conference
In Vino Analytica Scientia (IVAS) was firstly started by the Divisions of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry of the EuChemS and IVAS 2022 is the 7th edition, hosted by DLR Rheinpfalz at Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany, from 3rd to 7th of July, 2022. There were 7 sessions comprised of 90 lectures including keynote speakers, full talks, short communications, and 150 poster presentations covering research fields of wine chemistry, wine aroma analysis and wine sensor technology, wine authenticity and artificial intelligence. Keynote speakers including Professor Ulrich Fischer, Professor Maurizio Ugliano, Dr. Carole Camarasa, Professor Kerry Wilkinson, Dr. Joana Oliveira, Assistant Professor Panagiotis Arapitsas, Dr Dario Cantu, and Professor Vicente Ferreira, along with a number of important researchers delivered outstanding presentations. The conference also provided research facility and winery tours near the conference venue, providing the opportunity to gain insight about the local industry. A poster addressing the impact of accentuated cut edges on the release of varietal thiol precursors in grape juice and varietal thiols in the resultant wine of Sauvignon blanc wine was presented by Xingchen. Additionally, after the conference Xingchen visited the research labs at DLR Rheinpfalz, Weincampus Neustadt, hosted by Professor Ulrich Fischer and Dr. Jochen Vestner, and at IUVV, University of Burgundy, hosted by Dr. Maria Nikolantonaki and Dr Florian Bahut. Xingchen took advantage of the trip to Europe to visit famous wine regions including Pfalz in Germany, and Champagne and Burgundy in France.