Western Australian winemakers have sampled their way through a series of white wine trials in the name of industry research and development.
Hosted by the Department of Agriculture and Food, the second annual tasting forum attracted 24 winemakers from across the Geographe, Margaret River and Great Southern wine regions.
Department wine and grape research officer Richard Fennessy said the event provided the perfect opportunity for winemakers to share information amongst their peers.
“Winemakers regularly experiment at their own wineries with different techniques to improve wine quality and value,” Mr Fennessy said.
“Peer review can be a really valuable part of the trial process.
“The forum allowed winemakers to bring along their trial wines, discuss production techniques they had experimented with and invite feedback in an informal setting. In essence, this forum is a ‘show and tell’ for winemakers.”
Mr Fennessy said there was plenty of interest and discussion from participants about the various trials.
Trials being taste-tested focused on a number of innovative winemaking techniques.
“Participants shared their experiences and opinions on the different techniques presented,” he said.
“The trials are all white varieties from the 2015 and 2016 vintages. The winemakers tasted nine different trials featuring the varieties Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Fiano.”
There was particular interest in the trials involving Chardonnay, particularly how clonal selection can influence wine’s style, the role yeast selection has on sensory attributes and how levels of juice solids can impact style.
“Also featured was a trial demonstrating the efficiencies and sensory influence of a juice clarification technique known as ‘floatation’,” Mr Fennessy said.
“The panel discussed how this technique has potential to improve production efficiencies in clarifying juices of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon without affecting quality when compared to conventional processes.”
Dave Johnson, chief winemaker at Credaro Family Estate, who attended the forum for the second time, said it was a great initiative to get WA winemakers together in an informal setting to discuss ways to be innovative and creative.
“We need to ensure we are dynamic in the way we approach winemaking,” Mr Johnson said.
“We need to embrace technology and tradition and identify production efficiencies while maintaining or improving quality. This forum offers a great platform to demonstrate and discuss this.”
The forum was held at the Margaret River Education Campus on 30 June.
The department intends to hold the workshop on a regular basis to provide winemakers with the opportunity to share experiences, to seek their colleagues’ feedback on production trials, and to identify research and information needs of WA winemakers.
Media contact: Jodie Thomson/Dionne Tindale, +61 (0)8 9368 3937