Sign Up
Photo: Ewen Bell / Wine Australia

Wine Australia and University of Adelaide sign multi-million-dollar partnership

Photo: Ewen Bell / Wine Australia
11 Dec 2018

Wine Australia and the University of Adelaide have signed a four-year, multi-million-dollar agreement to support and stimulate longer term strategic wine research and development that will enable the Australian grape and wine sector to benefit from world-leading innovation.

The agreement is intended to bolster technical capabilities in key areas and to stimulate further long-term wine research and development initiatives by the University that deliver value to the sector.

Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said the arrangement would give the University greater flexibility to pursue promising research results within an overall agreed framework.

‘We see this as an opportunity to secure and further develop the University’s strength in teaching through excellence in research, ensuring the next generation receives world class education in all aspects of wine production,’ he said.

University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mike Brooks said, ‘This new partnership recognises the leading role the University of Adelaide plays in Australia's agriculture, food and wine sectors.

‘Under our agreement, the University will further strengthen its contribution to wine science and production. Our world-leading expertise, aligned with the needs of industry, will provide innovative solutions for Australian grape growers and winemakers alike.

‘We are tremendously grateful to Wine Australia for this strategic partnership.’

The University’s portfolio of vine and wine research funded by Wine Australia includes projects to:

  • deliver tools to measure and understand the relationship between canopy architecture (including fruit exposure) and fruit and wine quality. This will enable practitioners to more confidently invest in proactive management options.
  • provide knowledge on the causes and impact of berry cell death in wine grapes. This will enable better prediction of the problem and cost-effective mitigation strategies.
  • provide new tools to schedule irrigation based on real-time measurements of vine water status.
  • answer key questions surrounding undervine cover crops, so they can be used with greater confidence.
  • improve the wine microbial tool kit available for fermentation, by providing the sector with robust and tailored yeast and bacteria specifically targeted to address sector requirements.
  • produce resources describing global beverage markets, varieties by region, a model of the Australian economy with pertinent regional detail and an analysis of the impact of trends and policies affecting these markets.

The Agreement, which involves $4.1 million in cash funding from Wine Australia, and $885,000 plus a substantial in-kind contribution from the University of Adelaide, will also allow additional investment from other partners to be leveraged for the wine sector.

For example, the organisations are in talks with Riverland Wines about a project to deliver an open-access, digital advisory and monitoring system for grapegrowers that provides real time information and clear and trusted advice to optimise production.

The agreement, which concludes in 2022, is the last in a series of bilateral partnerships between Wine Australia and major research institutions, including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the National Grape and Wine Industry Centre (NWGIC) through Charles Sturt University.


For media enquiries please contact

Anita Poddar, Corporate Relations Manager Twitter: @Wine_Australia
Wine Australia Instagram: @WineAustralia
Phone: 0417 819 978 Facebook: WineAustralia
Email: anita.poddar 'at' wineaustralia.com Website: www.wineaustralia.com
David Ellis, Deputy Director Media and Corporate Relations Twitter: @uniofadelaide
The University of Adelaide Facebook: Uniofadelaide
Phone: 0421 612 762 Website: www.adelaide.edu.au
Email: david.ellis@adelaide.edu.au  

 

About Wine Australia

Wine Australia supports a competitive wine sector by investing in research, development and extension (RD&E), growing domestic and international markets, protecting the reputation of Australian wine and administering the Export and Regional Wine Support Package.

Wine Australia is an Australian Commonwealth Government statutory authority, established under the Wine Australia Act 2013, and funded by grape growers and winemakers through levies and user-pays charges and the Australian Government, which provides matching funding for RD&E investments.

About the University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide is a world-class research and teaching institution, centred on discovering new knowledge, pursuing innovation and preparing the educated leaders of tomorrow. Australia’s third oldest university, the University of Adelaide is proudly ranked in the top one percent of universities in the world. Adelaide has over 100 Rhodes Scholars among its distinguished alumni and is associated with five Nobel Laureates. We attract academic staff who are global leaders in their fields, along with the best and brightest students. The University of Adelaide is a leading Australian university in the field of agriculture, food and wine.

This content is restricted to wine exporters and levy-payers. Some reports are available for purchase to non-levy payers/exporters.

Levy payers/exporters
Non-levy payers/exporters
Find out more

This content is restricted to wine exporters and levy-payers. Some reports are available for purchase to non-levy payers/exporters.