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Session 6. Wine quality and innovation: where to next?

Tracks
Plenary Program
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Halls C & D, ground level, Adelaide Convention Centre

Speaker

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Louisa Rose
Head Of Winemaking
Yalumba

Chair introduction

10:45 AM - 10:50 AM

Biography

Louisa completed a BSc majoring in physics at the University of Melbourne before relocating to South Australia to study winemaking at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy Campus. She joined the Hill-Smith family and Yalumba in 1992. 31 vintages later, Louisa has worked alongside many legends of the wine industry, being involved in almost every facet of viticulture, winemaking and management taking on the role of chief winemaker in 2006. Louisa is involved in the greater wine industry as wine show judge and as the Grand Master of the fraternity The Barons of Barossa. She is Chair of the Board of the Australian Wine Research Institute and Chair of the University of Adelaide Alumni Council. Despite her other roles, Louisa is most at home in the vineyard or cellar, tasting grapes and ferments and crafting wines with the Yalumba winemaking team, or at home on the farm in the Eden Valley.
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Ellie King
US Sensory Director
MMR Research

Trends in sensory and consumer research

10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Abstract

MMR researchers help multinational FMCG companies power up their innovation to create more memorable brand experiences by bringing consumers insights to the forefront.
With more tech-savvy consumers, and rapidly evolving tech advances, the pace of research is moving faster than ever. In her presentation, Ellie will talk about the importance of innovation to address real consumer needs, and how new technologies are changing the world of consumer research, as well as innovation processes.
She will discuss how research is embracing these developments and deep dive into methodologies and tools that MMR has been exploring and piloting, many of which are powered by AI and ML. She will share specific example applications of new research tools such as video, chatbots, voice technology and augmented reality stimuli. The presentation will end with some tips on navigating innovative technologies to improve consumer product research to harness better consumer insight.

Biography

Ellie King studied as a winemaker at the University of Adelaide, and worked several vintages around the world, including South Africa and France. She has a PhD in wine science from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wine Research Institute, and a post-doctorate at INRA (France) and UC Davis (California), specializing in sensory science, flavor chemistry and multivariate statistics. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers and has over 1200 citations. She has worked as a sensory consultant for the past 10 years in California and New York. She is now Director of the US sensory team at MMR in New York, delivering high quality research by blending scientific rigor with flexibility, creativity and commercial reality. Ellie also works very closely with MMR’s innovation team, to help clients improve the agility, efficiency and success of their sensory and consumer operations.
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Nicholas Garfield
Global Technical Director
Firmenich

Flavour innovations for alcoholic beverages

11:10 AM - 11:25 AM

Abstract

Winemaking is a very traditional production process, where little adjustment or consideration for consumer preferences is taken into deliberation, other than wine quality, grape variety, and the wine style. Firmenich has undertaken in-depth consumer research, in a number of target countries, to unearth the insights into what drives consumer preference and selection, to help understand how wine can become a more affable and desirable product choice for consumers. The results of the study bring into focus the competition that wine faces in multiple consumption settings, which leads to better understand what wines real opposition is and why and where it falls short in terms of consumer preference. This study has helped identify the strengths of wine and the elements of tradition that need to be retained to ensure its future growth.
The combination of this study and the breakdown of consumer preferences and the competition helps then to identify innovation and areas of opportunity that can be explored with wine to meet the consumers expectations, preferences and needs.
We introduce how Firmenich can support product development in this sector to diversify and address key areas of opportunity in an industry navigating through challenging times, with a brief introduction to some of our conceptual directions and technologies to help take wine into the future.

Biography

I have dedicated my career spanning more than 23 years to the field of alcoholic beverages, commencing with Pernod Ricard, South Australia, within the field of Quality Control, Yeast and Fermentation Management, Assistant Winemaking and New Product Development and Production Management for Spirits and Ready To Drink solutions. I was then invited to Join the flavor industry based in Singapore and China during a period of time when alcoholic drinks technical solutions and support were deficient. I have since spent the past 14 years specifically focused on the development and implementation of differentiating technical solutions that support the alcoholic drinks industry globally in a bid deliver upon customer needs and consumer trends.
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Dr Peter Cousins
Senior Principal Scientist
E. & J. Gallo Winery

Grapevine varieties for the future

11:25 AM - 11:45 AM

Abstract

Wine grape plant material innovation needs to accelerate in order to meet producer and consumer needs. Vineyard lifetimes are expected to decrease and variety specifications and utilization will narrow, paralleling the same trend in orchard production, which increases both the need for new plantings and the opportunity for new plant material. Wine grape yield and production efficiency will increase. Wine product choices will increase. Plant material will both lead and support those improvements. We are past peak innovation in table and raisin grape trellising and training; the transfer of these technologies to wine grapes is both available and foreseen. Wine grape vineyard mechanization innovations have not peaked and wine grape plant material improvement will support and interact with mechanization trends, such as whole cluster mechanical harvest, berry and cluster sorting, and compositional uniformity. New plant material will include both clones and varieties. New clones will be selected from within elite varieties and reflect genuine genetic and phenotypic diversification rather than merely lineage tracking or differential virus infection. They will be routinely and intensively identified by robust DNA fingerprints. New varieties will arise mostly from crossing and hybridization. Both new clones and varieties will be rapidly validated with viticultural and enological observations conducted in a mechanized vineyard context and using grape and wine chemistry and sensory analysis. Current wine grape diversity is driven by autochthony, tradition, and marketing regionalism. Future wine grape diversity can be consumer preference and satisfaction driven and will improve sustainability as well as wine demand.

Biography

Dr Peter Cousins is a grape breeder at E. & J. Gallo Winery, Modesto, California. The grapevine improvement program he leads focuses on the breeding, introduction, and evaluation of proprietary wine grape varieties and selections with enhanced quality. Before joining E. & J. Gallo Winery, Peter was grape rootstock breeder and geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, based at Geneva, New York, for more than 12 years. In that role he conducted grape improvement research and bred and introduced five grape varieties, including rootstocks and genetics research.
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Dr Natalie Curach
Senior Director Business Development
Ginkgo Bioworks

GM innovations for food and beverages

11:45 AM - 12:00 PM

Abstract

Wine makers have been productively exploiting the biochemistry and habits of microorganisms for thousands of years to deliver a product we all enjoy. Selective yeasts and fermentation are also the underpinning technology for the Biomanufacturing revolution and the wine industry is advantageously placed to exploit these modern opportunities.
The conventional assumptions on the abilities of yeasts and traditional uses are being turned on their head with Synthetic Biology technologies. High throughput genetic modification production lines and gene technologies such as CRISPR mean we are no longer constrained by traditional processes and products. This talk will present some examples of emerging opportunities across viticulture, fermentation, new products and beyond.

Biography

Natalie has been at the forefront of the growth of synthetic biology in Australia commencing with the establishment of the Synthetic Biology Research Priority at Macquarie University and then leading the synthetic biology investments for Bioplatforms Australia. Natalie was instrumental for the creation of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and co-authored the Australian Government’s Synthetic Biology infrastructure investment plan. Natalie conducted her PhD on recombinant protein production in filamentous fungi, has a Graduate Diploma in Business Management and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Natalie has been invited to present at numerous international meetings and is well published in peer review journals and thought leadership papers such as for the World Economic Forum. Natalie has worked as a scientist in biotechnology research within university and government laboratories as well as start-ups before transitioning into project management and business development for building a thriving start-up and biotechnology ecosystem. Natalie is Chief Scientific Officer at Eden Brew and Partnerships Manager for Bioplatforms Australia.
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