AWRI management 2013-2017

Abstract

This Final report summarises the management, extension and capability enabling projects associated with AWR1306. It includes;

• Project 2.2.1       Collecting and disseminating information regarding agrochemicals registered for use and maximum residue limits in Australian viticulture
• Project 2.2.3       Informing Australia’s wine consumers through understanding issues of wine consumption, health and nutrition
• Project 2.2.4       Increasing Australia’s influence in market access, safety, regulatory and technical trade issues
• Project 3.2.5       Safeguarding and realising the potential of the Australian wine microbial germplasm collection
• Project 4.1.1       The staging and conduct of extension programs
• Project 4.1.2       Specialised technical troubleshooting and responsive helpdesk services for the Australian wine sector
• Project 4.1.3       Library service
• Project 4.1.4       Communication with stakeholders
• Project 5.1.3       Efficient management and administration.

Summary

Project 2.2.1       Collecting and disseminating information regarding agrochemicals registered for use and maximum residue limits in Australian viticulture

The aim of this project was to enable grape and wine producers to manage agrochemical residue levels in wine. This was achieved by collating and providing accurate and timely information on regulatory and technical aspects of chemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture, and the maximum residue limit (MRL) requirements of those chemicals in domestic and key export markets.

Project 2.2.3       Informing Australia’s wine consumers through understanding issues of wine consumption, health and nutrition

This project was funded by Wine Australia from January 2015 to June 2017, and followed on from National Wine Foundation (NWF) projects funded between July 2013 and December 2014. The aim of this 30-month project was to generate and disseminate evidence-based and scientifically sound information regarding wine and health/nutrition to facilitate informed decision-making by the wine and associated industries, policy makers and consumers. Alcohol’s place in society is being robustly debated, particularly in Australia. That debate has the potential to lead to major changes to the wine sector’s trading environment, through increased regulation in areas such as taxation, pricing, advertising, dietary guidelines and associated public health policies and strategies. The project’s approach to inform debate and decision-making was three-fold:

• generation and provision of scientific information such as reviews, reports, critiques and briefings;
• communication to stakeholders via publication of peer-review papers and industry articles; and
• provision of submissions to government on behalf of the WFA and ABA.

Project 2.2.4       Increasing Australia’s influence in market access, safety, regulatory and technical trade issues

Maintaining market access or opening markets for Australian wine, nationally and internationally, is facilitated by managing and reducing current and potential barriers to trade. Accordingly, the Australian wine industry needs to anticipate, facilitate and influence regulation of wine composition, production, labelling and marketing. The purpose of this project was to identify and mitigate any impediments to market access. The approach taken has been two-fold:

• Provision of readily-accessible regulatory-related scientific and technical advice and assistance for the activities of key industry stakeholders; and
• Representation at national and international industry forums,

Project 3.2.5       Safeguarding and realising the potential of the Australian wine microbial germplasm collection

The AWRI wine microorganism culture collection (AWMCC) is the largest repository of wine-associated yeast and bacteria in the southern hemisphere. It provides the Australian wine industry with novel, non-commercially available yeast and bacterial winemaking strains for efficient and reliable fermentations and as a means to shape and diversify wine style. The AWMCC is also essential for capturing the value of Australia’s investment in microbial strain isolation and development, especially given the current focus on bioprospecting and generating uniquely Australian isolates. It is also fundamental to the success of Wine Australia-funded biological research projects, which depend on ready access to correctly identified strains.

The collection contains:

• more than 3,000 natural yeast isolates and laboratory-modified yeast strains for research
• a wine yeast genome deletion library of more than 1,700 strains
• a laboratory yeast genome deletion library of around 4,800 strains
• more than 1,100 bacterial strains, the majority of which are malolactic bacteria.

Project 4.1.1       The staging and conduct of extension programs

The objective of this project was to provide a multifaceted and centralised extension platform to deliver research outcomes, innovations and practical solutions to Australian grape and wine producers. Face-to-face events were delivered through the long-standing Grape and Wine Roadshow program. Roadshow seminars delivered content prepared by researchers from the AWRI, affiliated WIC partners and other organisations. Relevant content was chosen by the local regional association on each occasion, giving an indication of which topics were most relevant in their region at that time. Similar content was also delivered electronically via a webinar platform. Roadshow workshops delivered tailored practical solutions to prevailing wine sector challenges with content prepared by AWRI viticulturists and winemakers. Written extension included preparation of Technical Notes and collation of articles for the bi-monthly AWRI Technical Review, preparation of articles for AWRI eNews, Wine Australia R&D@Work and RD&E news, Ask the AWRI columns and other channels, as well as preparation of content for the AWRI website. eBulletins were also prepared when required to provide the wine sector with rapid, early warnings of emerging trends and associated recommendations, based on observations from the AWRI helpdesk.

A total of 117 Roadshow events were delivered over the four years reaching 3,132 attendees, averaging 27 attendees per event. A total of 90 webinars were delivered to 1,463 attendees, averaging 16 attendees per event. A total of 237 articles and webpages were prepared and published.

A total of 97,923 webpage views/year and 20,993 downloads of fact sheets and other packaged material were recorded for the winemaking and viticulture areas of the AWRI website since the new AWRI website structure was updated in 2014, demonstrating the wide reach of this platform.

Project 4.1.2       Specialised technical troubleshooting and responsive helpdesk services for the Australian wine sector

The AWRI helpdesk provides timely and confidential support for technical problems encountered by Australian grapegrowers and winemakers. Services include identifying the root causes of problems, and providing research-based, practical, up-to-date remediation solutions, as well as future prevention strategies. The service also ensures that Australian grapegrowers and winemakers are competitive on the world stage, by having the latest technical information readily to hand. Investigative services, including analysis of problem grapes or wine, are conducted when a problem cannot be solved through discussions with the producer.

Project 4.1.3       Library service

The AWRI helpdesk also provided an early warning system for emerging technical issues, generating information which was applied to prioritisation of research and extension activities. A number of the trends observed in helpdesk enquires during the investment period were related to extreme weather events or climate change and included issues such as earlier harvest dates, higher sugar levels and stuck fermentations, vintage compression, agrochemical issues and smoke taint.

During the investment period helpdesk staff responded to and confidentially answered 7,647 queries, and performed 860 winemaking investigations.

Project 4.1.3       Library service

The John Fornachon Memorial Library (JFML) holds the largest knowledge base of grape and wine resources in the southern hemisphere and offers specialised information services and resources to the Australian grape and wine sector. Since 2013, most of the items sourced have been in digital format and the search tools that are offered are available online at all times via the AWRI website.

The library collection comprises 87,800 items covering ‘vines to wines’ and this valuable industry-owned resource is the backbone of a suite of information services available to the Australian grape and wine sector. More than 90% of the 9,569 articles delivered by the project over the investment term were provided from the library’s own collection and the remaining requests were fulfilled via inter-library loans. Library services are used by levy payers as well as government, research organisations, students, suppliers and other participants working across the Australian wine sector.

Project 4.1.4       Communication with stakeholders

This project’s primary purpose was to deliver timely and accurate communications to Australia’s grape and wine producers in order to enhance awareness and adoption of R&D outcomes. It was designed to work closely with, and complement, the activities in Projects 4.1.1. (Extension), 4.1.2 (Helpdesk) and Project 4.3.1 (Regional nodes).

Activities in this project included production of a large range of electronic and hard-copy industry publications such as the AWRI website, Annual Report, eNews and eBulletins, Technical Review, the AWRI Report, ‘Ask the AWRI’ column, ‘Alternative varieties’ column and other trade articles. An active presence in social media, management of the AWRI’s interactions with traditional media and promotion of the AWRI webinar program were also included.

Project 5.1.3       Efficient management and administration

The AWRI’s research, development and extension activities are underpinned and enabled by leadership and essential services provided by the Corporate Services group. The group works closely with the AWRI Board to provide an appropriate mix of strategic, commercial and scientific leadership, guidance and support to all AWRI staff, and increases the efficiency of all Wine Australia investments at the AWRI by allowing operational staff to focus on their core activities with minimal administrative and commercial demands.

While predominantly supported by Wine Australia, the costs of delivering the Corporate Services function over the four-year agreement term were significantly defrayed by contributions made by the AWRI’s Commercial Services group, projects not funded by Wine Australia, or otherwise underwritten by the AWRI, which together contributed more than $3.3 million.