Wine Symposium

The wine research symposium in September, which followed on from last year’s successful inaugural event, included presentations by researchers from the University of Auckland, Lincoln University, Plant & Food Research, Otago Polytechnic and EIT.

Sue Blackmore, the Head of EIT’s School of Viticulture and Wine Science, says the intent of the gathering is to provide established and emerging researchers from across New Zealand research organisations an opportunity to present in a formal setting “and gain feedback from each other and the wine industry”

Professor Paul Kilmartin, from the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, was one of two keynote speakers. He says it was a great event for EIT and that people like Sue and Dr Rory Hill, Programme Coordinator and Lecturer – Wine Business and Innovation, should be congratulated, “because there is a real need to have this for our researchers to be able to meet and interface with the wine industry".

Paul presented on pre-fermentation additives that enhance varietal thiols in Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines. His work centred on New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and how what happens during harvest can change the style of wine.

Hirini Matunga (Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu and Rongowhakaata), Professor of Māori and Indigenous Development and Professor of Indigenous Planning at Lincoln University, spoke on ‘Whenua – Terroir by another name?’ “I’m really drawing attention to the fact that sense of place within the context of Aotearoa can’t be seen in an a-historical way; it’s got to be seen through the prism of colonisation as well and land confiscation and the Treaty of Waitangi,” he says.

Three current EIT researchers also presented papers. Viticulture and Wine Science lecturer Dr Chandré Honeth presented on the ‘impact of using undervine clover to manage mealybug and leafroll virus on vine physiology and metabolism in a Merlot vineyard planted on the Gimblett Gravels’. Dr Victor Ye spoke about ‘sensorial characterisation by polarised partial napping and ultraflashing profiling’, while another EIT lecturer in Viticulture and Wine Science, Jane Qin, presented on the ‘characterisation of commercial Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay wines – chemical composition and winemaking intentions’.