Saccharomyces interspecific hybrids: a new tool for sparkling winemaking
Research presented at the ninth international cool climate wine symposium in May 2016 by Jenny Bellon of the AWRI’s yeast breeding programme showed the results of working with new interspecific hybrids of Saccharomyces yeast. The aim of the research was to identify new wine yeasts which ferment efficiently and which offer different flavours and aromas.
Controlled phenolic release – microwave maceration
Controlled phenolic release (CPR) is a phenolic extraction technique that combines pre-fermentation maceration of fruit by microwave heating to 70°C, with a hold time during which the must is held at that temperature.
English and Welsh wine industry comes of age
The 9th international cool climate wine symposium took place in Brighton, UK, last month – “the first serious academic wine symposium to take place in the British Isles” said keynote speaker Jancis Robinson MW.
Exton Park, Pinot Meunier Rosé
This 100% pinot meunier bubbly from Hampshire vineyard Exton Park is jolly tasty. It’s very unusual to find a traditional method sparkler made using just this grape variety.
Ten top cool climate locations
Top coolest climates according to GST. Growing season temperature (GST) does exactly what it says on the tin. It is the average temperature for each month of the seven month growing season (October to April in the southern hemisphere; April to September in the northern hemisphere), divided by seven.
Sustainability credentials of different closure types
It’s more than a decade since the WWF and the cork industry tried using the endangered Iberian lynx to emote consumers into using cork stoppers in preference to rapidly emerging synthetic and screwcap options. Since then, sustainability performance has become a key business indicator, and environmental sustainability (along with economic and social sustainability) is increasingly regarded as an essential part of a product’s passport to business. Where are the different closure options at?
Ernst Loosen – barrel-aged, dry riesling
Barrel ageing dry riesling sounds like a quirky new thing to try to broaden the appeal of one of the wine industry’s (but not consumers’) best-loved grape varieties. In fact, Ernst Loosen, of Dr. Loosen in Germany’s Mosel valley, has been revitalising riesling in the fashion that was the norm for his grandfather.
Tasmania – a masterclass with Michael Hill-Smith MW
Michael Hill-Smith MW is the co-founder of Shaw and Smith in Adelaide Hills, and of Tolpuddle Vineyard in Tasmania. He put together a masterclass to show what Tas is doing best, namely sparkling, riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir.
Old vines – do they make the best wines?
“Many growers say their best wine is produced from their oldest plots … [and] oenologists are convinced the best tank they get every year comes from the old plot – from Château Ausone, from Château Mouton Rothschild, and in many Languedoc vineyards, especially about carignan” said Alain Carbonneau, professor emeritus of viticulture at Montpellier SupAgro Carbonneau. Authoritative anecdotes abound that regale us with the glory of wines from old vines, but science has yet to illustrate that experiential appreciation is based on measurable parameters.
Old vines – defined only in the new world?
There is a real or imagined cachet for old vines. In Europe the various monikers – vieilles vignes, viñas viejas, alte reben etc. – are used solely at the quality discretion or implied marketing intention of the producer. The new world is taking a different approach.
