Program 2 - Sparkling Wine

Program 2: Improving Sparkling Wine Quality by Manipulating Viticultural and Winemaking Techniques

2A Viticultural Techniques

In program 1, it was claimed that Pinot Noir grape and wine producers are operating in a void of information derived from Australian studies. This is more so the case for sparkling wine. Sparkling wine is made mainly from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes grown in very cool climates and harvested at a lower sugar level than for table wines. Pinot Noir is pressed immediately so there is no colour in the wine, and it is simply then fermented to produce what is called base wine. This wine is then added to a champagne bottle along with yeast and sugar for a secondary fermentation in the bottle which will produce wine with effervescence. The implications of all of these steps have not been studied in Australia.

In a commercial sense, there is a tendency to use those vineyards in Australia, which are carrying heavy crops for sparkling wine. There would appear to be no justification for this apart from commercial convenience. There is an urgent need to repeat the types of studies undertaken in program 1 above, in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards destined for sparkling wine, to study factors affecting the composition of sparkling base wine. There are many variables needing study, which include the effects of winter and summer pruning, shoot and cluster thinning and leaf area to fruit ratio. These trials need to be done with Australian clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Australian commercial vineyards. The pilot winery facility at Tamar Ridge Estates’ Kayena Vineyard has played an important part in these studies by providing a range of temperature controlled rooms for microvinification.   These wines will need to have secondary fermentation to produce sparkling wine for chemical and sensory analysis.

The current situation means that growers of premium sparkling wine fruit in Tasmania and elsewhere are given little practical guidance as to the best method to achieve quality.

Outcomes of this research will be protocols for managing vineyards of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce optimum quality of sparkling wine in very cool climate vineyards throughout Australia.

2B: Winemaking Techniques

In a similar fashion to the lack of knowledge about grape growing for sparkling wine production, there have been very few studies with winemaking practices for sparkling wine in Australia. Most local producers follow European procedures and guidelines. There is a need to compare these procedures against new yeasts and temperature conditions of secondary fermentation for Australian-grown fruit, as well as to develop appropriate chemical and sensory evaluation methods for base and final wine. This work will be carried out in the pilot winery facility and elsewhere and will be supervised by microbiologists and chemists of Australian Wine Research Institute (“AWRI”) and the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research.