Grapes to Wine, June 01, 2015

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Canadian Grapes to Wine • Summer 2015 www.cdngrapes2wine.com

Editors NoteSpring was a whirlwind of activity. I was able to attend an event in Napa California that was fantastic. The first Women of the Vine Global Symposium was held at the Meritage Resort in Napa, California. After many years in this business and attending these kind of events I admit that I am jaded and therefore didn’t expect much. I was wowed at the quality of this two-day trade event. Women across all sectors of the wine industry from every part of the globe gathered to network, collaborate, mentor and share. It was fantastic. I 100% recommend you attend next year. The Second Annual Symposium will be held in Napa April 4 -6 2016. You can find out more at their website www.womenofthevine.com .

Travelling further south to Temecula, California, I visited my old stomping grounds. This is where my immersion into the world of wine all began. I worked for the most fabulous winery owners, Vince & Audrey Cilurzo. I learned everything from running a tasting room to doing pump over’s at 3 in the morning. I became president of the Vintners Association, met my husband, helped make the wine and became the DE filter queen of the valley. It was great to visit and see old friends and taste their delicious wines. Temecula’s wine country has grown beyond my wildest dreams.

Back in beautiful Canada the weather is warm and wine tourism is hitting its peak.

Looking forward to a spectacular summer. Enjoy. Let me know what your thoughts are by emailing me. Tari [email protected]

Southern California wine legends Vince and Audrey Cilurzo

www.cdngrapes2wine.com Canadian Grapes to Wine • Summer 2015

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Editors Note

Above - From left to right : Jo Terlato, Regional Manager, Terlato Wines, Christine Wente, Winegrower & President, Wente Family Estates, Cher-yl Indelicato, Proprietor, Artisan Collection, Kim Stare Wallace, Presi-dent, Dry Creek Vineyard, Cynthia Lohr Vice President Marketing, J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Susan Sokol-Blosser Founder, Sokol Blosser Wines.

Left to right: Assisitant Winemaker Erica Stancliff & CEO Rickey Trobetta Stancliff

Temecula Master winemaker Jon McPherson & enologist Tom Stolzer from South Coast Winery Resort & Spa.

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Growing GrapesPhoto by Judy Bishop.

Judy Bishop - The Travelling Eye is a veteran photographer, world traveler, writer and technology marketer. Judy Bishop has been a Getty Images photographer since 2007. She provides quality corporate and personal photographic services to select clients, and photographs our covers. Judy is applying her deep knowledge of oenology and the Okanagan Valley to a multi-year photo project in collaboration with one of Canada’s leading wine writers, she is capturing images for a book about the “four seasons of the Okanagan wine industry”, to be published in the not too-distant future. Judy is based in Vancouver and Kelowna BC. ([email protected])

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Canadian Grapes to Wine articles, columns, pictures and illustrations are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any other publication without the expressed written consent of the Publisher. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of information received and printed in Canadian Grapes to Wine, we cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions, E&OE.

It’s been a beautiful and early spring in the Okanagan Valley of BC (sorry Eastern Canada!). Spring always tends to bring a renewed sense of optimism, and for the BC Wine Industry, there seems to be good reason for cautious optimism for what lies ahead during the remainder of 2015. Here are a few questions and thoughts that come to mind as we look ahead to the coming months:

1. Will BC wineries be able to sell all that wine? Ideal growing conditions in 2014 led to one of the best grape harvests in recent memory. Not only were yields up, but the quality was also excellent. Many wineries were sent scrambling for extra tank space in order to take advantage of all the high quality grapes available. Virtually every winery we talked to over the winter indicated that they will be producing more than originally expected from the 2014 vintage. Increased production means increased up-front costs, so many wineries have been experiencing a cash crunch over the past few months. As all that wine starts finding its way into bottles, the focus will be shifting to selling and turning wine in to cash. As we have discussed in past articles, even a year or two of production exceeding sales can lead to a cash-sucking build-up of inventory, and financial troubles for smaller wineries without deep pockets. So keeping the inventory moving will be critical.This leads to our second question…

2. Will the Albertans come?It’s no secret that the province of Alberta provides a lot of the cash that fuels the local economic engine in the Okanagan Valley. So when oil prices collapsed this past winter, followed by concerns over lay-offs in the oil patch, the resulting nervousness has extended in to the southern BC Interior. This not a new situation. There were similar concerns in the spring of 2013 when severe flooding hit Alberta. But the Albertans still came that year and I expect this year will be no different. In fact, a weaker Canadian dollar combined with low oil prices might actually convince many to consider a driving “stay-cation” instead of a more exotic holiday.

However, strong traffic to the wineries does not always translate in to increased sales. During the recent recession, many BC wineries reported that visitor numbers increased but the average spend per visitor decreased. BC wineries will need to convince this year’s visitors that the 2014 vintage is an opportunity they don’t want to miss. Next question…

3. Will the Americans come?Economic conditions continue to generally improve for our neighbors to the south. A stronger US dollar means increased buying power for American visitors. That is a good thing, because most visitors from outside Canada experience some sticker shock when faced with BC wine prices, which are inflated by a combination of high production costs of production and a convoluted system of government mark-ups and taxes.There are encouraging signs that many Americans are starting to awaken to the quality wines and natural beauty of Canada’s wine regions. Last fall, USA Today readers ranked the Okanagan Valley #2 in a list of the top wine regions IN THE WORLD they most enjoy visiting or would like to visit. One of my colleagues from California, on a recent first visit to the Okanagan Valley described it as “a combination of Napa and Lake Tahoe… only better”!Out-of-province visitors will help buy some of that wine, but that leads us to our last question…

4. How effective will the new grocery store and farmers’ market sales channels be?The recent BC Liquor Policy Review recommendations have led to a flurry of changes to the regulatory landscape in BC. Back in February, the BC government issued its Policy Directive on the “Phased-in Implementation of Liquor in Grocery Stores”. On April 1, 2015 and with much fanfare, the first (and so far, only) grocery store added BC VQA wines to its shelves. A little over a month later the pioneer store, a Save-On in South Surrey, is reporting strong sales and good customer feedback.

But there are concerns about just how effective this new opportunity will be for BC wineries. For one thing, there are no new store licences available. Grocery stores that want to stock liquor must acquire an existing licence or team up with an existing licence holder. Secondly, I don’t see a lot of incremental convenience for consumers – I think most existing store owners figured out a long time ago that being located adjacent to a grocery store made sense. I think what most consumers had in mind when then asked for liquor in grocery stores is the type of bargain prices they see when they visit the large chain stores in the United States. Unfortunately, BC wineries simply cannot (and should not) compete on price with low cost imported wine. Still any new channel that has at least the potential to create more sales opportunities for smaller BC producers must be seen as a positive step for the industry. Another new sales channel opened up for BC wine producers last year when the BC government announced it would allow liquor sales of BC products at local farmers’ markets. According to the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, 39 local groups applied to allow liquor sales in the first year. Obviously, this is a great new opportunity for BC wineries to sell directly to both locals and visitors, and several took advantage. Selling direct-to-consumer is the name of the game for many smaller wineries and farmers’ market are a perfect fit for growing consumer trend of buying local. All in all, 2015 is shaping up to be an interesting year in the BC wine industry. There are lots of changes and new initiatives flowing out of the government Liquor Policy Review recommendations, and more to come. There are more new wineries all the time and lots of high quality wine to sell. If BC wineries can take advantage of new opportunities and if the tourists show up, it could be a very good year for many.


Wine Business

The Perfect Blend of Services and ExperienceEach winery is as unique as the wine they create. That’s why MNP’s business advisors offer a wide range of industry-specific services beyond traditional accounting and tailor them to your needs. By working closely with you, we help identify inefficiencies, control costs and enhance the performance of your operation to help you keep opportunities flowing.

Contact Geoff McIntyre, CPA, CA, Business Advisor, B.C. Wine Industry at 1.877.766.9735 or [email protected]

WHAT’S UP IN BC?THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS ON THE YEAR THAT LIES AHEAD FOR THE BC WINE INDUSTRY

Geoff McIntyre CAGeoff McIntyre is a Business Advisor to the Agri food industry and Chartered Accountant for MNP LLP.


On March 31, 2014, the legal ownership of the certification marks previously held by the Vintners Quality Alliance of Canada (VQAC) were transferred to the Canadian Vintners Association (CVA). As part of the transfer, it was agreed that the CVA would establish a National VQA Committee.

The new Committee has been created to include all necessary technical expertise to provide input and advice to the CVA Board of Directors, with a focus on VQA certification mark management, protection, and enforcement in domestic and international markets. The Committee, which is not based on CVA membership, is chaired by Bob Heiss (Gray Monk), and includes Laurie Macdonald (VQAO), Jeffrey Thomas (BCWA), Brian Schmidt (Vineland), Mark Sheridan (Hester Creek), Keith Bown (Constellation), Howard Soon (Andrew Peller), and Dan Paszkowski (CVA).

The Committee has been very active since established, addressing current challenges and identifying opportunities to strengthen and support the VQA and Icewine marks. For example, as VQA regulations are only in British Columbia and Ontario, the Committee is currently developing guidance materials to outline the basic standards for provincially mandated VQA systems. Once established, this would assist with other provinces in developing VQA regulation and use of the VQA mark.

IcewineAs trademark owners of “Icewine”, the CVA and its VQA Committee are firm in their position that all wine products labelled with “Icewine” in Canada must meet the CVA’s Canadian Icewine Standards of Production (see www.canadianvintners.com/canadas-industry/canadian-wines/canadian-icewine), upholding its premium value and reputation.

In Canada, provincial governments have the responsibility for on-farm production. British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia all have Icewine standards in place that meet the CVA standard and the federal standard (passed February 2014), which states that Icewine is made exclusively from “grapes naturally frozen on the vine”. On December 18, 2014, the Québec Minister of Agriculture approved the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Appellation “Vin de glace du Québec”. Unfortunately, the Québec certification standard permits cutting grape bunches after a “severe frost” and placing them in netting

until they are frozen at -8ºC or lower. This is not an accepted international standard, nor does it meet the threshold prescribed by federal regulations that requires grapes be “naturally frozen on the vine”. Since the temperature at which grapes freeze can be lower than the temperature at which a vine becomes

dormant. Allowing grapes to be detached from the vine after a “severe frost” is subjective and unclear and means that grapes could be detached from the vine before they are frozen.

The CVA and VQA Committee, as well as the Vignerons Indépendants du Québec (VIQ), have been working to raise awareness with federal and provincial governments that the “Vin de Glace du Québec” standard fails to meet the national standards.

Following our written letter of concern, the CVA received official correspondence from the federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, stating his department is reviewing the Québec announcement and will work closely with all stakeholders, so that a national Icewine standard is applied consistently. In support of Minister Ritz, the CVA has requested that all Icewine producing provinces and all Canadian Icewine producers write the government of Québec to ask that the “Vin de glace du Québec” certification standards align with the national and provincial Icewine standards.

Given Canada’s status as the world’s largest and best producer of Icewine, we believe it is essential to uphold the strictest levels of production authenticity.

For more information on Icewine and VQA, please visit www.canadianvintners.com/canadas-industry/canadian-wines/

The Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) is the national voice of the Canadian wine industry, representing more than 90% of annual wine production. CVA members are engaged in the entire wine value chain from grape growing, farm management, grape harvesting, research, wine production, bottling, retail sales and tourism. www.canadianvintners.com

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Canadian Grapes to Wine Fall 2012 www.cdngrapes2wine.comPage 6 Canadian Grapes to Wine • Summer 2015 www.cdngrapes2wine.com

Wine Business

Ken Davidson, CA, CPABDO Partner

Professionalize your Process

for many business owner-operators, one of the most difficult challenges is adapting their management style to the demands of a larger, more complex business. They may be used to an informal decision-making style, and a situation where they keep much of the organization’s knowledge inside their own heads.

However, there comes a point at which, for any company to continue growing, it needs to adapt to a larger playing field. Failure to do this may mean confusion, frustration for staff, and problems such as missed delivery schedules.

Preventing these problems may require putting in place the formalized business structures and management frameworks, which the owner-operator sought to avoid by starting his or her own vineyard or winery. Some owners can adapt to their business’ new needs. Some cannot or choose not to, and many of these people eventually go on to start another successful business – or end up limiting their company’s growth and success.

The experience of accounting and consulting firm BDO Canada LLP, is that there comes a time in the life of every business when the owner reaches a

saturation point and can no longer do everything alone. His or her proper role must shift from doing to leading. This means establishing vision and direction, and allowing others to tackle the more mundane, day-to-day activities.

Think of this as the difference between “entrepreneurial” and “professional” management styles. Using budgeting as an example, in the early years, budgeting may have been ad-hoc with no follow-up to discover why what was planned may not have worked out. Under the professional management style, however, budgeting is more formal with set standards and accounting for variances.

Similarly, an “entrepreneurial” organizational style may be informal, with overlapping and undefined responsibilities; a “professional” organization has formal, explicit job descriptions that are exhaustive and mutually exclusive for greater efficiency.

Some winery or vineyard owner-operators are able to determine when this change should occur. They recognize when their temporarily effective, untidy methods actually become counterproductive, and need to be replaced with a more formal structure. Other entrepreneurs can only sense that somehow, what worked before is not working now, but have no clear idea of what’s wrong and how to proceed.

Unfortunately, many business owners’ personalities work against them. They may tend to think that only they can do the work the way it should be done, and that employees are just “hired help” who cannot be trusted to make decisions in the company’s interest. Conversely, owner-operators may fear that the company could run quite well by itself, and that they will become non-essential to operating the business.

They may also be reluctant to try to tinker with business processes that have proven to be successful, perhaps for years.

In many cases, outside professional advisors like BDO accountants can help, in these ways:• They may be able to see issues more clearly than can people inside the

company, particularly the owner-operator;• They likely have experience with other companies facing similar issues,

and can suggest ideas that were found to work elsewhere;• They likely have experience implementing the best practices of

“professional” organizations, including a more formal accounting system, procedures, and job descriptions.

This means that in selecting a professional advisor, the company should look for someone with experience in owner-operated businesses, who has an understanding of the issues involved, and who can refer the company to a wide range of business advice, depending on the company’s situation.

There are no easy answers. Perhaps the most important factor is the owner’s willingness to change, the commitment to seeing it through, and having someone in the family able to lead the process.

BDO HELPS BUSINESSES AGE TO PERFECTION

BDO is a proud Platinum Sponsor of the 16th Annual Enology & Viticulture Conference held on July 20 – 21, 2015 at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.

Visit us at Booth 60, or attend our informative trade floor presentation at 1:00 pm on Monday, July 20th.

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On a recent tour of their impressive plant in Vernon, B.C., I was able to sit down with Steve Pelkey, President & CEO, as well as their very talented art department, and learn a lot more about the packaging industry. Wine bottles have always been designed with paper labelling, but silkscreened paints directly on the bottle and a myriad of other design ideas have been on shelves for years as well, opening up the designers mind to a lot of new possibilities. New trends, paints, reverse printing (inside the bottle image) and full wraparound graphics are all possible now. Universal also takes care of all your company needs, from bringing in the glass, to packing and shipping boxes. Q: Are you the only company silkscreening bottles in BC or Western Canada? A: Yes, Universal Packaging is the only bottle decorator in Western Canada.

Q: In regards to printing processes, it’s not just screen printing on the bottle that you supply, is that correct?

A: We do more than just screen printing. Universal Packaging is what wineries, breweries and distilleries see in the marketplace – for 30 years.

Q: The range of beautiful glass bottles you offer your customers is from all around the world? A: Yes, our main suppliers include: Diablo Valley Glass (California), Piramal Glass (Missouri), a number of different Asian and European glass manufacturers, Fusion Ceramic Paints, Johnson & Mathey Paints, Heraeus Paints + a number of local vendors/logistics companies.

The company is excited to share the growth of new innovations by their art department, led by Amy Haselman, who showed me some tinted ‘antiqued’ trials, which are gorgeous, and a nod to the early days of thick colored glass. Another design idea that has been used very effectively is the metallics, namely the precious metals. I had the pleasure of working on Okanagan Spirits’ GIN, Whisky and VODKA bottles, which incorporated a flux design on the glass to create an etched look, and then applying the gold precious metal paint to get the luxurious look we wanted, and period of the 50’s

glamour. Photo left, is the VODKA design printed.

Your packaging is so important, that first look on the shelves sells as much as price/quality and reputation. If your winery is new to the marketplace, that ‘look’ you want to achieve is possible through some very creative minds in the design departments, and finally to execution on the glass.

Go to www.thinkuniversal.com - it’s their new and very informative website to answer any additional questions.

by Corina Messerschmidt, owner Spitfire DesignB.C. Graphic Designer of Wine, Beer & Spirits Packaging

Spotlight on Business

Bottling line with bottles headed into the oven.

Display area of past bottle printings, is very impressive.

Continuous wraparound printing

Precious Metal Gold Ink

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PREPARING FOR BOTTLINGFining agents can be used on wine to deal with a variety of issues but it is important that treatments are done at the proper time. Fining can help enhance a wine’s clarity as well as improve filterability. In general, fining is recommended to take place 6-9 weeks prior to bottling.

FILTRATIONThe cleaner your wine is before filtration, the more cost effective that filtration will be. Limited contact and settling time for fining agents may result in incomplete effect and higher clogging during filtration. More clogging leads to higher filtration and labor costs.

FINISHING AND FINE TUNING WINESThe best time to make final adjustments to a wine is 6-9 weeks prior to bottling. This can include blending as well as tannin additions for fine tuning of aroma, fruit or mouthfeel.

HEAT AND COLD STABILIZATION PREBOTTLINGOnce a wine is blended, clarified and/or adjusted, it is often protein stabilized with bentonite and tartrate stabilized by one of several methods. It is recommended to heat (protein) stabilize prior to cold (tartrate) stabilization as bentonite additions may alter tartrate stability. It is important to use a bentonite that has good protein removal capacity. Sodium-based bentonites have better protein removal capacity than calcium based bentonites, while calcium based bentonites compact lees compact lees better. Sometimes a blend of the two can produce the best results. Bench trials for stability and compaction can save time and money.

Bentonite is an effective adsorption tool that is also indiscriminate between desired and undesired proteins. Strategies can be employed to mitigate large bentonite adds. Small additions (2g/hL) of FT Blanc help form tannin protein complexes reducing instability. Colloidal silica, such as Gelocolle, works on high molecular weight proteins while bentonite works on low molecular weight proteins. Colloidal silica/Gelocolle can be used to reduce total bentonite requirements. Bentonite should be added first then Gelocolle. Bench trials should be run to determine correct additions.

Performing a rough filtration prior to heat stabilization whether the wine was fined or not, will help create a clearer product to stabilize. For rough filtration we recommend using a 3-10 micron range depth filter media.

STABILIZATION BY REMOVALTraditional tartrate stabilization involves removal of the unstable crystals and their precursors The common methods used are cellar cold stabilization, electrodialysis and ion exchange. Cold Stabilization chills the wine to near freezing to lower the solubility of tartaric. Ideally micro-pulverized KHT (cream of tartar) is added to provide nucleation sites for crystal formation. Once the tartrate crystals have formed, the wine is racked and/or cold filtered. Cold stabilization often results in lower titratable acidity and may alter pH.

Electrodialysis machines pass wine through charged membranes that substitute stable ions for those that could cause instability such as K+ and HT+. This process lowers titratable acidity and may alter pH. Ion exchange machines use resin to substitute more stable ions (usually Na+) for the potassium in the wine. Both of these processes require special equipment and a great deal of water that results in salty effluent.

TARTRATE STABILIZATION BY INHIBITIONClaristar is a mannoprotein derived from wine yeast. It does not change the charge of your wine. It will not remove KHT. It will inhibit nucleation and crystal growth while increasing the solubility of the KHT in your wine. No final blending, acid adjustments or concentration additions may be added after Claristar has been added. It is important to note that adding a mannoprotein to a protein unstable wine may only further exacerbate the protein instability.

CMC is a well known synthesized chemical for food products. It is a etherfied cellulose obtained by alkaline carboxymethylation. It works on crystals by defacing them and restricting further growth. Generally the crystals are flattened. CMC should only be used in white wines. It may precipitate color in red and rose wines. If a wine is protein unstable, CMC may increase this instability and cause a haze. CMC should never be used in wines that have been treated with lysozyme as it will cause a protein precipitation haze. Bench trials should always be done for color loss and filterability.

Tartrate stabilizers such as Claristar or CMC are utilized just prior to bottling on protein stable wines.

Prior to adding Claristar or CMC the following should be adhered to:• Confirm protein stability using a hot bath and turbidity meter. • Claristar or CMC should be added 48 hours prior to bottling so it has enough time

to “seat itself” in the wine. • Before adding Claristar or CMC, wine should be filtered through 1-2 micron depth

filter media. The finer this filtration, the more crystal nuclei will be removed.

COLLOIDAL STABILIZATIONGum Arabic products act as colloidal stabilizers by using electrical charge attraction and repulsion. Gum Arabic is only effective in conditions of very low to no tartrate instability. They are often more effective at color stabilization by complexing with tannins and polyphenols.

WHEN ADDING GUM ARABIC THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE CONSIDERED:These products should be added 24-72 hours prior to bottling. Always check filterability after adding these products. Gum arabic should not be added to your wine immediately prior to filtration as it may clog membrane filters. Adding right before a crossflow filtration can also place undue pressure on the elements and cause long term damage.

BOTTLED WINEStabilizing your wine before bottling reduces the chance of haze or precipitation in the bottle. Wines that drop tartrates are subject to colloidal precipitation and vice versa. This can leave bottled wine prone to oxidation and microbial problems if filtration is not performed. For the final filtration, we recommend a .45 micron membrane filter.

Submitted by Scott Labs

Winemaking

Providing Canadian Grapevine SolutionsBRITISH COLUMBIA

Frank Whiteheadp. 250-762-9845c. 250-878-3656

[email protected]

ONTARIOWes Wiens/Tina Tourigny

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QUEBECAlexandre Jacquelp. 905-984-4324

[email protected]

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Research

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that drinking alcohol to fall asleep interferes with sleep homeostasis, the body’s sleep-regulating mechanism.

Alcohol is known to be a powerful somnogen, or sleep inducer, and approximately 20 percent of the U.S. adult population drinks alcohol to help fall asleep. The researchers, led by Mahesh Thakkar, Ph.D., associate professor and director of research in the MU School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology, have studied alcohol’s effects on sleep for more than five years. They found that alcohol interferes with the brain’s built-in system for regulating a person’s need for sleep.

“The prevailing thought was that alcohol promotes sleep by changing a person’s circadian rhythm — the body’s built-in 24-hour clock,” Thakkar said. “However, we discovered that alcohol actually promotes sleep by affecting a person’s sleep homeostasis — the brain’s built-in mechanism that regulates your sleepiness and wakefulness.”

Sleep homeostasis balances the body’s need for sleep in relation to how long a person has been awake. If an individual loses sleep, the body produces adenosine, a naturally occurring sleep-regulating substance that increases a person’s need for sleep. When a person goes to sleep early, sleep homeostasis is shifted and he or she may wake up in the middle of the night or early morning. The researchers found that alcohol alters the sleep homeostatic mechanism and puts pressure on an individual to sleep. When this happens, the sleep period is shifted, and a person may experience disrupted sleep.

“Based on our results, it’s clear that alcohol should not be used as a sleep aid,” said Pradeep Sahota, M.D., chair of the MU School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and an author of the study. “Alcohol disrupts sleep and the quality of sleep is diminished. Additionally, alcohol is a diuretic, which increases your need to go the bathroom and causes you to wake up earlier in the morning.”

In addition to studying alcohol’s impact on sleep homeostasis, the researchers explored how alcohol withdrawal affects sleep. The investigators found that after extended periods of frequent drinking, subjects would fall asleep as expected, but would wake within a few hours and would be unable to fall back asleep. When the subjects were not given alcohol, the researchers found that subjects showed symptomatic insomnia.

“During acute alcohol withdrawal, subjects displayed a significant increase in wakefulness with a reduction in rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep,” Thakkar said. “This caused insomnia-like symptoms and suggests an impaired sleep homeostasis.”

The researchers hope to use these findings to explore other effects of alcohol consumption.

“Sleep is an immense area of study,” Thakkar said. “Approximately one-third of our life is spent sleeping. Coupled with statistics that show 20 percent of people drink alcohol to sleep, it’s vital that we understand how the two interact. If you are experiencing difficulty sleeping, don’t use alcohol. Talk to your doctor or a sleep medicine physician to determine what factors are keeping you from sleeping. These factors can then be addressed with individualized treatments.”

The study, “Alcohol Disrupts Sleep Homeostasis,” is an invited article published in the international biomedical journal Alcohol. In addition to Thakkar and Sahota, the MU research team includes Rishi Sharma, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the MU School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology.

The research is supported by grants from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA020334 and AA0174720) and by resources from the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital.

About the University of Missouri School of MedicineThe MU School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri and beyond for more than 165 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and more Missouri physicians received their medical degrees from MU than from any other university. For more information, visit http://medicine.missouri.edu/.

ALCOHOL AFFECTS SLEEPALCOHOL INTERFERES WITH BODY’S ABILITY TO REGULATE SLEEP

( 8 0 0 ) 7 9 7 - 2 6 8 8 w w w . s c o t t l a b s l t d . c o mi n f o @ s c o t t l a b s l t d . c o m

Manufacturer of barrels, barriques, casks and vats since 1775.

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Equipment

Q: Hi Justin, we’ve been thinking a lot about our water usage in our facility and we’re wondering if there’s any changes we could make, equipment-wise, that would help us reduce the amount of water we send down the drain?

A: Once again, a great question, especially with the looming drought for the second year in a row in California and the increasing public pressure on manufacturers across the globe to reduce their water consumption. The equipment industry has been diligently working on solutions to help producers like you achieve their water and energy conservation goals. Let’s look at some of the production areas where there has traditionally been high water consumption and some solutions to help reduce it.

Cleaning tanks is likely one of the largest water-wasting procedures at your facility. Starting at the construction stage of the tanks, pioneering Italian manufacturer, ALBRIGI Technologie has implemented a “High Clean” mirror-polishing process to make the interior surface of their tanks much smoother than traditional stainless steel tanks. The highly polished surface makes it harder for solids to adhere to the interior surface and much easier to remove during the cleaning procedures. With recent ALBRIGI installations in Canada, our customers have reported up to a 50% reduction in water and cleaning chemicals needed to clean & rinse their tanks.

Now let’s look more closely at tank cleaning procedures. Typically, tanks are cleaned with a “spray ball” type of Clean In Place (C.I.P.) system which consists of a stainless steel, sphere-shaped ball with holes drilled around it and attached

to a feed pipe that’s either hung through the manway or permanently fixed the top of the tank. The premixed cleaning and sterilizing solutions are fed to the spray ball via pump and

hoses. The effect is basically that of a shower that cascades down the interior surface of the tanks carrying with it the cleaning chemicals for particle and stain removal. This method relies heavily on the concentration of the cleaning chemicals and the amount of time spent “showering” the tank’s interior. While somewhat effective, there are alternatives that are more effective.

Special tank cleaning heads like those designed and produced by GEA-Breconcherry greatly enhance tank cleaning efficiencies and thus reduce the time and amount of water required to clean your tanks. For instance, a simple Self-Rotating head will allow for better coverage and a higher impact force on the tank surface affording an average 25% savings in water usage vs. static spray balls. A Controlled Rotating head like the GEA Turbo model enables a higher impact force on the tank surface combined with better spray pattern coverage to save up to 35% more water than a static spray ball. At the top of the charts for water-conserving cleaning heads

are the Orbital Impingement heads like the GEA Cyclone, Twister, Typhoon and

Tempest models.

These orbital rotating heads are hydraulically driven with the cleaning water to deliver the highest impingement forces to the tank surface with a global spray pattern that ensures 100% coverage of the tank’s interior. These high impingement forces can ensure up to a 50% reduction in the amount of water and chemicals used to clean your tanks as they literally “blast” the dirt away from the tank surface.Continued...

Closed Top Fermenter

Justin SkladanEquipment Sales with Cellar•tek

ASK JUSTIN

Orbital Impingement Head

Ask Justincontinued...

Another big water-usage process is the general cleaning of the cellars and production areas to keep spoilage bacterial and fungal growth from flourishing in your facility. An innovative solution from McClain Ozone is to set up a regular schedule of room gassing from a mobile ozone cart in the cellars and production rooms during non-production hours. This ozone gassing will not only kill existing bacteria but also help to prohibit new bacterial and fungal growth and can allow an average facility to go up to 4 times longer between wash-downs. Not only does ozone gassing save large amounts of water by cutting down on the number of cleaning sessions, it also saves valuable employee time performing a task that is typically loathed in the industry.

The last water-usage area we’ll examine is your packaging line. Packaging lines are typically washed and then hot-rinsed with 80 degree Celsius water for a minimum of 20-30 minutes to sterilize all interior surfaces and tubing that come into contact with the product being bottled. The water temperature needs to be measured at the outlet of the bottling line and the timer doesn’t start until the outlet temperature reaches 80oC, which can often take an additional 10-20 minutes depending on how cold your filler was when you started. This can waste a tremendous amount of water, especially if you’re running it all down the drain…

In comes the SWASH ElectroSteam Cart to the rescue.By efficiently converting your input water to 97% “dry

steam”, the effect it has when it comes into contact with a cooler surface is that of instant condensation and all the latent heat is transferred into the material it touches.

This results in not only a much faster time to heat the surfaces up to sterilization temperatures, but also in substantial reductions of the amount of water needed to conduct the heat-sterilization process.

These are just a few of the ways that you can look at reducing the overall water usage in your facility but don’t be afraid to talk to your trusted supplier about other water-conserving

equipment ideas to help you in other processes around your facility like barrel cleaning.

Cellar•Tek Supplies Ltd. strives to search out innovative equipment and technologies for our customers that help to conserve our threatened natural resources like clean water and energy. Are you doing your part? We urge you to audit your facility’s processes involving water usage to determine and implement changes that will help to reduce your water-use footprint. If you want help, give us a call.

Justin Skladan has been a service tech to the industry for the last decade and is currently managing equipment sales at cellar•tek. He can be reached on his cell at (778) 215-8324 or by email at [email protected]


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“Cellartek demonstrates commitment to the success of each

individual winery as well as to the development of a professional

Canadian wine industry. They make our cellar problem theirs and

they are determined to find the right solution!”

Nikki Callaway & George Oake

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cellartek•comCommercial Winery, Brewery and Cidery Supply

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Canadian Grapes to Wine Fall 2012 www.cdngrapes2wine.com Canadian Grapes to Wine • Summer 2015 www.cdngrapes2wine.com

British Columbia

Stores are among those that have benefitted most in the first month of wine sales at the Wines of British Columbia Save-On-Foods South Point BC VQA Wine Store in South Surrey.

BC’s Wine Industry has made incredible advances in its first 25 years, winning awards and gaining respect around the world. However, the April 1st launch was the first time 100 per cent BC Wines (BC VQA), which are defined as grapes grown and bottled right here in British Columbia, have been available for sale alongside BC’s other great agri-products, such as seafood, beef, fruits and vegetables.

“In the first month sales have been high, as consumers embraced the convenience of grabbing a bottle of BC’s best wines as they pick up items for dinner or parties. Clearly, it just makes sense,” says Miles Prodan, President & CEO of the BC Wine Institute. “Wines of British Columbia Save-On-Foods South Point is one of 20 BC VQA Wine Stores operating in the province. Although this is a small number of stores in the liquor retail environment, they represent over 7% of provincial BC VQA Wine sales - with the largest selection of BC VQA Wines in one place.”

Of the 500 wine labels carried at BC’s first wine-on-shelves grocery store, half of them are not carried by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch’s BC Liquor Stores due to limited production.

“For smaller producers, especially new producers, you can’t always get listed by the LDB,” says Paul Martin, representing Backyard Vineyards in Langley, which is stocked at Wines of British Columbia Save-On-Foods South Point. “We’ve developed award-winning wines which aren’t being picked up by Government liquor stores. Any winery, large or small, needs strong distribution channels to give new wine products the momentum to succeed. Wines of British Columbia Save-On-Foods South Point in South Surrey has given us just the outlet we need as a smaller producer, and it’s been great for business, with increased awareness of our brand and sales increasing double digit in the first month.”

Last year, the BC Government undertook a comprehensive review of the province’s liquor laws, long lamented for their often-inequitable treatment of producers, retailers and especially consumers. Of the 73 recommendations referred to Government by Parliamentary Secretary for Liquor Reform Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap, the most widely endorsed public demand was for alcohol sales in grocery stores.

Josie Tyabji, who chairs the BCWI and represents five BC VQA wineries, spoke to the use of the BCWI’s unique, farm-direct BC VQA licenses in grocery stores. “There was an overwhelming response from consumers during the liquor review to see grocery stores open up to sales of liquor. When announced, the BC Wine Institute recognized the opportunity to pair our specialty, premium quality wines with local agri-food products in a complimentary and convenient way through this channel.”

In the early 1990s, the BC VQA retail sales license was established to offer an outlet for BC’s nascent grape growing agricultural industry, and of the 21 licenses issued, 19 were in use at the time the law change came into effect.

“This first license used for a grocery store was not a new license, but simply an inactive one without a home,” said Prodan. “At any time one of the BC VQA licenses becomes available, the BCWI will ensure that the license will provide the best possible opportunity and return for our member wineries, as our mandate demands. However, the locations approved must demonstrate good fit for the community, and if it’s a grocer, that they have a strong commitment to BC’s local agri-products.”

FACTS:• The BC Wine Industry’s $2.0 billion economic impact is a significant driver to the BC

economy. • For every bottle of wine produced in the Province, there is $42 of economic impact generated.• More than 10,000 people have jobs in BC as a result of the wine and grape industry.• British Columbians enjoy more than 234 million glasses or 47 million bottles of British

Columbian produced wine each year.• BC welcomes over 800,000 visitors every year through the wine economy, which is more than

the province drew for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.• The BC Wine Industry generates $476 million in tourism and tourism employment related

economic impact.• More than $298 million in federal and provincial taxes and liquor board markup is generated

by the wine industry in BC each year. In taxes alone, the BC Wine Industry contributes $222 million.

BC WINE ON GROCERY STORE SHELVESGREATER RETAIL DISRIBUTION ENSURES SMALL WINERIES SHINE

BC Wine Grape Council

16th Annual Enology & Viticulture

Conference & Trade Show

Monday, July 20 & Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Penticton Trade Show & Convention Centre

The Annual Enology & Viticulture Conference & Tradeshow is a premier wine

industry event which brings hundreds of wine and grape industry

professionals together to discover new products and services, to learn about

the latest technologies and research, as well as to network.

Highlights

Chicken wire science: Changes in phenolics during wine grape development

Dr. Markus Keller, Washington State University, Prosser, WA

Botrytis management…

Dr. Doug Gubler, University of California, Davis, CA

Grapevine cold hardiness research and strategies to mitigate freeze injury in Ontario

Dr. Jim Wilwerth, CCOVI, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON

Precision irrigation management using soil and plant based sensor technologies

Dr. Mark Greenspan, Advanced Viticulture, Sonoma, CA

Canopy Management and Vine Balance

Dr. Michelle Moyer, Washington State University, Prosser, WA

Italian Pinot Grigio Winemaking

Giordino Formenti, Lomberti, Italy

How to deal with fruit nutrition …

Dr. Charles Edwards, Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Crop Estimation and Management Automation …

Dr. Luis Sanchez, E&J Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA

There will also be a Vine Disease Clinic, Barrel Workshops, panels on Winter Hardiness and

Understanding Cluster Health, Tradeshow presentations and much more.

Visit the Tradeshow - Over 100 exhibitor floor displays

Sponsored by

For more information contact BC Wine Grape Council, Tel: 250 767 2534

E-mail: [email protected] or visit: www.bcwgc.org

For more information contact BC Wine Grape Council, Tel: 250 767 2534

E-mail: [email protected] or visit: www.bcwgc.org

Sponsored by:


The quick answer is NO. Sorry. There is no silver bullet. Unlike other weed problems where we have solutions, field horsetail is a plant where there is no easy answer. That’s probably the reason why field horsetail has been around since the Carboniferous age more than 300 million years ago. It is part of the ancient genus Equisetum, a prehistoric survivor and one of the toughest weeds to manage.

What is Field Horsetail?Field horsetail is a perennial that grows from a tuber-bearing rhizome. This root system comprises actively growing rhizomes that can penetrate to greater than 1 m in depth, from which green fern-like fronds grow each year (looks like a small pine tree). Attached to the deeper rhizomes are small tubers which remain dormant while the rhizome stays alive. When the rhizome dies or becomes detached due to cultivation or other means, the tubers initiate growth to produce new plants.

Controlling Field HorsetailIt is best to get field horsetail under control before you plant. Several herbicides provide some level of top growth control ONLY because it is difficult to get the active ingredient to depths deep enough to control the rhizomes and tubers. Few herbicides are registered and their use is dependent on the situation in which horsetail grows.

The most effective strategies are based on many years of repetitive attacks on the above ground plant in an attempt to deplete the reserves to the point that the plant dies. Repetitive attacks should include herbicides, shading, mowing and hand weeding. But, as noted earlier, killing the plant will release the tubers to grow and start the cycle again.

My best advice is to remove new stands of field horsetail immediately before they spread. Established stands will take a lot of persistence to manage. Cultivation should be kept to a minimum because in most cases it will spread the rhizomes and tubers around the field allowing plants to regenerate in new parts of the field or in new fields if you forget to clean your equipment between fields. Black plastic sheeting has been found to kill or suppress rhizomes in the upper layers of the soil, however; emerging stems can penetrate some woven polypropylene mulches. I guess we shouldn’t expect an easy way to manage a weed that has survived 300 million years!

The most effective strategies are based on many years of repetitive attacks on the above ground plant in an attempt to deplete the reserves to the point that the plant dies. Repetitive attacks should include herbicides, shading, mowing and hand weeding. But, as noted earlier, killing the plant will release the tubers to grow and start the cycle again.

My best advice is to remove new stands of field horsetail immediately before they spread. Established stands will take a lot of persistence to manage. Cultivation should be kept to a minimum because in most cases it will spread the rhizomes and tubers around the field allowing plants to regenerate in new parts of the field or in new fields if you forget to clean your equipment between fields. Black plastic sheeting has been found to kill or suppress rhizomes in the upper layers of the soil, however; emerging stems can penetrate some woven polypropylene mulches.

I guess we shouldn’t expect an easy way to manage a weed that has survived 300 million years!

Kristen Obeid, M.Sc. OMAFRA Weed Management Program Lead - HorticultureKristen is OMAFRA’s Weed Management Program Lead for Horticulture crops, she leads the development, coordination and implementation of various programs related to weed management issues in Ontario. She is a past recipient of the Deputy Minister’s Award for her work as a provincial vegetable specialist. She previously spent several years with the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers and in the private sector coordinating research trials in support of new product registrations.

Agronomy

Field horsetail In strawberries

Field horsetail rhizomes

IS IT POSSIbLe TO CONTROL FIeLd HORSeTAIL?

Is It Possible to Control Field Horsetail?Kristen Obeid, OMAFRA Weed Management Program Lead - Horticulture

The quick answer is NO. Sorry. There is no silver bullet. Unlike other weed problems where we have solutions, field horsetail is a

plant where there is no easy answer. That’s probably the reason why field horsetail has been around since the Carboniferous age

more than 300 million years ago. It is part of the ancient genus Equisetum, a prehistoric survivor and one of the toughest weeds to

manage.



Herbicides registered for field horsetail top growth controlHerbicide Trade Name

Active Ingredient

Herbicide Group

Crops Registered

Notes

Casoron dichlobenil 10 Woody ornamentals, such as Evergreensand Fruit trees, Grapes, Raspberries, High Bush Blueberries and Saskatoons.

Top growth control

glyphosate glyphosate 9 As a pre plant burn down application or in glyphosate tolerant crops.

Field horsetail is fairly tolerant to glyphosate. In glyphosate tolerant corn, the co-packs of GALAXY 2 (glyphosate + ultim) or BROADSTRIKE RC will provide the best top growth control of field horsetail. Do NOT tank mix glyphosate with MCPA and apply to emerged corn, as unacceptable injury will result.Glyphosate + BROADSTRIKE RC provides the best top growth control in soybeans.

Ultim + Distinct

rimsulfuron and nicosulfuron + diflufenzopyr and dicamba

2, 4, 19 Corn Top growth control

Various trade names

2,4-D 4 Many crops, roadsides, turf and non-crop

Top growth control

Is It Possible to Control Field Horsetail?Kristen Obeid, OMAFRA Weed Management Program Lead - Horticulture

The quick answer is NO. Sorry. There is no silver bullet. Unlike other weed problems where we have solutions, field horsetail is a

plant where there is no easy answer. That’s probably the reason why field horsetail has been around since the Carboniferous age

more than 300 million years ago. It is part of the ancient genus Equisetum, a prehistoric survivor and one of the toughest weeds to

manage.



Herbicides registered for field horsetail top growth controlHerbicide Trade Name

Active Ingredient

Herbicide Group

Crops Registered

Notes

Casoron dichlobenil 10 Woody ornamentals, such as Evergreensand Fruit trees, Grapes, Raspberries, High Bush Blueberries and Saskatoons.

Top growth control

glyphosate glyphosate 9 As a pre plant burn down application or in glyphosate tolerant crops.

Field horsetail is fairly tolerant to glyphosate. In glyphosate tolerant corn, the co-packs of GALAXY 2 (glyphosate + ultim) or BROADSTRIKE RC will provide the best top growth control of field horsetail. Do NOT tank mix glyphosate with MCPA and apply to emerged corn, as unacceptable injury will result.Glyphosate + BROADSTRIKE RC provides the best top growth control in soybeans.

Ultim + Distinct

rimsulfuron and nicosulfuron + diflufenzopyr and dicamba

2, 4, 19 Corn Top growth control

Various trade names

2,4-D 4 Many crops, roadsides, turf and non-crop

Top growth controlNote: there are also several Group 2 herbicides, including halosulfuron that list suppression of field horsetail. Tank mixes with MCPA are recommended, if MCPA is registered on the specified crop.

HerbicideGroup


Build Your Brand

Marketing

leeann FroeseLeeann Froese is co-owner of an agency based in Vancouver, BC, Town Hall, which does strategic marketing and communications, with a specialty on wine, food and hospitality. She has worked to market and publicize wineries for the better part of two decades. Outside of work and wine, Leeann is a Cub Scout leader & Les Dames d’Escoffier member. She is also into birding, running & community. See more of Leeann’s work on townhallbrands.com or chat with the Town Hall team on Twitter and Instagram @townhallbrands or Facebook at facebook.com/townhallbrands

it’s the high season and we all want our tasting rooms to be full of people enjoying wine and having a great get-away-from-their-every-day. We know that our country roads that lead to beautiful vineyards and tasting rooms don’t always make the easiest paths to navigate for the uninitiated, and we definitely don’t want anyone to drink and drive, so it’s as important as ever to support your local tour operators.

Tour operators bring visitors to your winery who are already in the mindset of looking forward to what you have to offer and making wine purchases; operators are literally delivering a customer right to your cash register. This fact cannot be overlooked, and because of this it’s important to build strong relationships with your local tour operators. In the last issue I talked about the importance of keeping tour operators in the loop about what you are doing at the winery, so that they can help their customers make decisions about what kind of visits they will do. This issue I’ll review some things that you should also do to work with your tour operator year round.

From the start, I suggest that you create a policy that you can share with tour operators so that everybody’s on the same page. You want to make sure that you create a policy so that any visiting group has a clear understanding as what the expectations and rules are when they arrive at the winery. The idea is for everybody to have a safe and enjoyable experience.

What can you handle?Can you accommodate groups of two or more, eight or more? Can you take a group of 45 off of a giant bus? It’s important to let tour operators know what size vehicles will actually fit on your property, as some driveways are not sized appropriately to accommodate large coaches.

What is the expectation that you have for where they should park? Do you have a specially designated area for buses and tour groups? You want to make sure that they are loading and unloading their groups safely and also not creating any kind of traffic snarls in your parking lot. If you do not have a special parking area, then this needs to be part of your stated policy so that local tour operators will know this.

are reservations necessary?When there are thousands of visitors coming through wine country each year those visitors are going to arrive in many different ways, and on busy weekends when you are hosting a wedding or a special event, or just have a generally full tasting room, the unexpected arrival of a tour can make for a very uncomfortable situation: for those on the tour, those already in the tasting room, and for your tasting room staff. I say a reservation requirement should be your policy.

Some wineries are large enough to accommodate an impromptu visit from a small limo or tour bus, but most wineries are smaller and cannot easily service that many visitors at once. The reason I like tour operators to call ahead and make an appointment is because of the gift it gives the winery in being able to find out

what kind of customers are going to be coming to their door, and the opportunity it presents for the winery to give an experience that exceeds expectations. Your tour operator, if they’re doing their job, will find out from their passengers what kind of wines they like, what they’re looking to get out of the experience, and what kind of other special perks or wines they might want to purchase. Then when they make the appointment with your winery they can share what they’re hoping to see on behalf of their visitors.

Party Bus?When I attended the Wine Tourism Conference last fall in Paso Robles I attended an interesting seminar for wineries about working with wine tour operators. Within the panel discussion I was amused but empathetic towards the wineries who stated to the tour operators how frustrated they were when rowdy vehicles full of inebriated ladies arrived during stagette parties. They bemoaned the fact that these groups had a common theme: already drunk ladies who just wanted to use the washroom and taste without a care as to what was being consumed, and then they leave without buying. What is your policy for stag parties, bachelor parties, a special birthday group, or any other kind of event? If a rowdy, drunk group arrives to a quiet tasting room, it definitely changes the vibe. This is not always a problem; it really depends on what kind of space you have, and what kind of experience you want people to enjoy. If your tone of your winery is quieter, small, family run, and you have a small tasting room, perhaps accommodating ruckus stagette parties is not the right fit; unless you plan this kind of visit outside of regular visiting hours with a special program. Again, this is getting to know your tour operator and working with them so that everybody can win.

and speaking of everyone winning…If a tour operator brings a vanload of people to you, will you be offering any kind of discount to the group or any kind of commission to the driver? All of these things are to be directly negotiated.

Making the Tour Group ViPsWhen tours arrive, if you have enough people on staff and are able to set up special programming, consider a program that for an additional fee gives access to the winemaker for private tasting; or why not plan a tasting that takes place after hours- 8 o’clock? 11 o’clock? If there’s a demand and willingness perhaps you could staff it and see how it works. Do you offer any kind of food pairing experiences or anything behind the scenes, or will you allow tour groups to come and join in on some special event activity? You can work with the operator to offer a special price to their tour for bringing a group to one of your special events?

And on the topic of events, be sure to include tour operators on your contact lists so they know about the news and events you have taking place throughout the year. What kind of experiences do you have working with tour operators? Send your ideas to me as above or send a note to [email protected]

WorkinG WiTh Tour oPeraTors For Fun and saFe Wine CounTrY exPerienCes


WORLD LEADERIN WINETECHNOLOGY

3rd—6th NOVEMBER 2015Fiera Milano (Rho) [email protected] / simei.it

26TH EDITIONINTERNATIONAL ENOLOGICAL AND BOTTLING EQUIPMENT EXHIBITION

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Oil will alsO play the lead at siMei 2015dedicated technOlOgies, eight theMed wOrkshOps, training and updatingfOr the re-launch Of a sectOr which is essential fOr “Made in italy”.

Tradeshow

In order to create a really remarkable program, rich in ideas and suggestions for the operators of the sector, Unione Italiana Vini, organizer of SIMEI, has re-newed the historical collaboration with the oil expert Luigi Caricato: this year he will work together with Olio Officina, the working group of which he is conceiver and president.

The agenda is full and interesting, as well as the discussed matter, which plays a very important role for “Made in Italy”, considering the level of excellence recog-nized for our production varieties.

During SIMEI 2015 eight workshops, two a day, will be organized about spe-cific themes.

Debates will focus on packaging innovation, which is very important for maintain-ing the organoleptic qualities of products, on technological improvement of oil presses, on solutions for preserving and transporting oils, on oil waste manage-ment, on aspects regarding the difficult issue of labelling and capping, on the nec-essary marketing actions for positioning the products at the large-scale retail trade, as well as the hot topic of sensory analysis, already discussed but still relevant and making up the basis for re-launching the whole sector.

There will be informative opportunities, such as the presentation of a new concep-tion of oil bar, in addition to more playful moments, such as the setting-up of an exhibition of pictures/cartoons dedicated to oil technologies.

The year 2014 turned out to be so disastrous as to bring Italian olive growing to its knees and therefore in 2015 the goal is a great recovery. The professionals of the sector should join forces to re-launch the sector by enhancing the excellent quality of the raw material and the amazing potential offered by technology to make the most of them. SIMEI will be the occasion for all the operators to take stock of the situation, highlight critical issues and opportunities and define the guidelines for

the future. SIMEI (International Enological and Bottling Equipment Exhibition) is the world leader tradeshow in wine technology and the only international bien-nial exhibition which presents, at the same time, machinery, equipment and prod-ucts for production, bottling and packaging of liquid food and beverages.

For more than 50 years of activity SIMEI has been playing the leading role among the international tradeshows: this event will take place this year from 3 to 6 No-vember 2015 at Fiera Milano.

The oil market in Italy. Italy has always been known for the excellence of its olive oil which it produces and exports all over the world: 29.7% of the export share is destined for the US market (with 11.2% increase), 10.9% for Germany, 7.9% for France, 6.1% for Japan, 6.8% for Canada, 3.4% for the United Kingdom and 1.7% for China. Istat data (Italian National Institute of Statistics) are showing the region Puglia in first place with 40.07% out of 1,144,422 olive-grown hectares in Italy, amounting to 60.65% of the total production made in Italy.

Despite its excellent quality and the enormous demand for domestic use, as well as for export, Italian olive growing has been experiencing a critical situation for several years, which reached its peak in the last season. Once again figures are proving the facts: in the 2014-2015 campaign, the most difficult ever, only 204,558 tons of oil production were registered, i.e. about the half of the quantity exported by Italian companies in the same period, to which the very relevant amount des-tined for domestic use is to be added.

To compensate for the shortage, 660,000 tons of oil had to be imported. It is a criti-cal situation which has to be faced by targeted investments in agriculture. It is on this premise that SIMEI 2015 will devote a very relevant part to this market and to the technological innovations that will improve it in the next years. If a rowdy, drunk group arrives to a quiet tasting room, it definitely changes the vibe.


Ontario

investing in ontario vineyardsAs the 4-year Ontario Vineyard Program (OVIP) launched in 2011 as part of the Ontario government’s Grape and Wine Industry Strategy comes to an end, the Grape Growers of Ontario reflects on benefits of the program and is looking forward to the new Marketing and Vineyard Improvement Program (MVIP). OVIP, a cost-share program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has been effective in encouraging growers to adopt best technologies and viticulture practices to transition to higher demand grape varieties and improve grape quality.

Through this very successful program, growers have invested $21 million in a variety of approved vineyard improvements, to leverage over $9 million of Ontario government funds for a total investment in Ontario’s vineyards of $31 million over 4 years.

The majority of investment has been in innovative equipment such as mechanical pruners and leaf trimmers and in cold injury reduction such as wind machines, hilling up equipment and insulating fabric.

A second component of the OVIP program, the Industry Support Component (ISC) funded by OMAFRA and administered by the Grape Growers of Ontario through a management committee, has assisted the sector as a whole with access to additional technologies and capacities to help improve vineyard production. The ISC projects provided an opportunity to address several issues affecting the entire industry such as examining light deterrent bird scaring devices, weather information, winter injury bud sampling, leaf roll and red blotch, brown marmorated stink bug, third party testing dispute resolution and investment in industry educational events: Insight Industry Conference and International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration.

In December 2014, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Honourable Jeff Leal, announced the Province’s five-year Grape and Wine

Strategy renewal which includes two programs to increase competitiveness and innovation. The new Marketing and Vineyard Improvement Program (MVIP) combines a number of supports previously provided through the Ontario Vineyard Improvement Program (OVIP) and the VQA Wine Marketing program, and is designed to help increase the sale of Ontario VQA wines and enhance the marketing of Ontario’s wine regions as tourist destinations.

The program will also support vineyard production improvements to adapt to

ongoing and emerging vineyard challenges, and enable growers to produce quality grapes to meet the growing demands of Ontario wineries. MVIP addresses two important issues to growers – improving production in the vineyard, and increasing sales.

“The dedicated grape growers across the province are passionate about growing quality grapes for Ontario VQA wines and welcome this ongoing commitment from the government. Growers continue to invest heavily in new infrastructure technology and innovation to build a stable industry.” Bill George, Chair, Grape Growers of Ontario

The MVIP program details were announced May 6, 2015 and will run for two years, in 2015–16 and 2016–17, and be overseen by Agricorp, an agency of the Ontario government.

MVIP will provide Ontario’s grape growers with up to 35% cost-share funding for eligible direct and necessary one-time vineyard improvement costs from the following categories:• Vineyard modifications or upgrades intended to enhance or improve grape

quality and production• The purchase of equipment or machinery intended to enhance or improve

grape quality and production. continued on page 17

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Eligible improvements for MVIP include: Wine Grape Vine Removal; Vineyard Preparation; Vine Trellis Systems; Consultation with a Viticulture Expert; Improved Viticulture Practices; Reducing Cold Injury; Improved Irrigation; Pest Management; and Improved Weather Sensing.

Grape Growers of Ontario Chair Bill George says he expects to see investments in weather mitigation technology and weather data monitoring as ways to improve efficiencies in vineyards. “Allowing us to invest in our vineyards will help us be more competitive on the world stage,” says George, “It’s an important industry as far as tax dollars are concerned, and investing in it shows the government has recognized that.”

The 2015 intake of applications opens May 19, 2015 and closes July 10, 2015 or when all of the funds are allocated, whichever comes first. There is a maximum funding cap for each

grower determined at the time of application and equals $1,000 for each acre under production of hybrid or vinifera wine grapes (classes 5 to 10f).

Program information and application forms can be found at www.agricorp.com. The Grape Growers of Ontario can assist with applications, and a computer is available at the office for growers to use.


Ontario

INVESTING IN ONTARIO VINEYARDS CONTINUED

Grape Growers of Ontario Chair Bill George

Wind machines help mitigate the rist of cold injury by pulling warm air down from high above the ground during strong temperature inversions.

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Debi Pratt was recently honoured at the 2015 Grape Growers of Ontario,

Annual General Meeting with the Award of Merit. This award is in recognition of Debi’s pioneering efforts in the Ontario grape and wine industry through her position as Inniskillin Estate Winery’s Public Relations Manager.

Beginning her career as an elementary school teacher, Debi joined Inniskillin founders Donald Ziraldo and Karl Keiser in 1975 when they received the first winery license in Ontario since prohibition. She worked at the newly opened winery organizing tours, events and retail sales. She was eager to see the winery succeed and was well-known for helping whenever needed.

Her previous experience as an educator shone through when customers asked questions about any new wine being created from Ontario grapes. Debi has always been excited to share her knowledge of grape growing and wine making techniques and her presence enhanced consumers’ experiences at the winery.

Trading in her career of teaching to work full time at the winery as the Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Debi became known to many as the “go-to” person for information about what was going on in the industry. Her passion for premium wine as well as her unbridled dedication saw the Niagara industry grow and many of the promotions, planning and programs that she had a hand in creating are still being carried on today.

Her vision of creating a marketing group allowing wineries to work together saw the creation of “Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake” which has grown from 7 wineries, to twenty-five member wineries of varying sizes and talents. Debi’s belief that in order for wineries to succeed in a new region they would need to work together, proved vital for the success of the Niagara Region wine tourism.

Debi’s efforts toward promoting the Ontario grape and wine industry have been recognized with her receiving many awards over the years including: Tourism Industry Association of Ontario Lifetime Achievement award in 2013; the Ontario Wine Society’s Exceptional Hospitality Award in 2009; the Women in Tourism Award at the Binational Star Awards in 2009; and the Business Citizen of the Year presented by the 2013 Niagara Grape and Wine Festival and RBC. Debi will never really retire as her love and appreciation of the Ontario grape and wine industry will always be her passion. In recognition of her contributions, Constellation Brands Canada has named 90 acres of their Inniskillin Riesling and Cabernet Franc vineyards, the Pratt Vineyard.

Ontario

DEBI PRATT RECEIVES GRAPE GROWERS OF ONTARIO 2015 AWARD OF MERIT

Matthias Oppenlaender, Vice Chair Grape Growers of Ontario

presents the Award of Merit to Debi Pratt

Wind machines help mitigate the rist of cold injury by pulling warm air down from high above the ground during strong temperature inversions.

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The Grape Growers of Ontario congratulate Niagara-on-the-Lake grape grower Don Forrer, who was honoured with the Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence Award, for his 2014 Gewürztraminer vineyard at Forrer Farms. He accepted the award on behalf of his father, Jack Forrer who passed away last year after dedicating 50 years to the industry.

The Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence award sponsored by BASF Canada Inc. is presented at the annual Cuvée Awards Grand Tasting to honour an Ontario grape grower who promotes excellence in their vineyard practices, and shows dedication to growing premium Ontario grapes. Organized by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), Cuvée is one of the largest celebrations of Ontario VQA wine which is made only of grapes proudly grown by Ontario’s grape growers.

The award rotates annually based on different varietal classes, this year recognizing the Best White Vinifera vineyard. The winner is chosen by an expert panel that makes field visits throughout the growing season to monitor quality. As part of his award, Don received a plaque in honour of his achievement to attach to his Grape Growers of Ontario vineyard sign.

Don accepted this award on behalf of the Forrer family and in his father’s honour, in part because Jack was one to give back to the community including donating land for the Niagara College Teaching Winery, aptly named the “Jack Forrer Teaching and Demonstration Vineyard”. Jack was named Grape King in 1972. In receiving the Vineyard of Excellence award, Don embodies his father’s adage “to have kids understand agriculture and teach youngsters how to grow grapes, and how to make and appreciate wine”.

Don farms 300 acres of vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario with his brother-in-law Ray Duc, growing 14 varietals of premium vinifera grapes. He has worked full time on the farm for the last 37 years and prior to that, after school and on weekends. Don calls the tractor his office, because there is always something to be done on the farm. Living on the family farm has allowed Don to see the industry change, commenting on how “everything is different than when I first started from how and what is grown, to canopy and trellis systems, technology and everything in-between.”

Forrer Farms was first planted in 1966 with Labrusca (grapes commonly used for table juice) after Jack Forrer immigrated to Canada from Switzerland in 1961. The farm was later replanted with hybrid grapes and again with vinifera varietals as the Forrers saw the quality and potential in the vinifera varietals for wine.

Don fondly remembers skipping school at 16 to drive truck and deliver grapes to the wineries. Growing up in the industry he remembers working at the wineries, hand corking wine bottles for local wineries such as Reif Estate Winery, Marynissen Estates Winery, Inniskillin Wines and the John Boese Canning Factory prior to the use of bottling lines with professional corkers to seal bottles.

Don has been called the “youngest old-timer here” by fellow grape growers because of his immeasurable experience in the Ontario grape industry. Don is exceptionally proud of his 2014 vineyard, which he describes as “picture perfect with the Gewürztraminer berries’ rosy red skin almost looking transparent, glistening in the midday sun… in my 37 years of farming I have never seen my vineyard look so beautiful, none compare”.

Ontario

VINEYARD EXCELLENCE RUNS IN THE FAMILY AT FORRER FARMS

Don Forrer, Vineyard of Excellence Award winner at Cuvée Grand Tasting

February 2015.

Laurie Macdonald, Executive Director VQA Ontario; Don Forrer and the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

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Supplier News

Cellar•tek Supplies is proud to announce the addition of John Sparreboom to its service department in the Okanagan Valley. John brings with him over 30 years of experience in mechanical and electronic controls from his previous career as the owner of KIMCO Controls. John is excited to be working in the vibrant Okanagan wine industry and is looking forward to meeting the winemakers from Oliver to Salmon Arm. John’s skill set will allow him to fix most of the equipment used in local wineries from the crushpad to the cellar including packaging lines, refrigeration, pumps and control panels. To book a repair or maintenance call with John simply contact the office at Cellar•tek Supplies in Kelowna.

During the week of April 21-24, Okanagan Crush Pad Winery and Henry of Pelham Winery played host to a demonstration seminar of new filtration technology co-sponsored by cellar•tek supplies and DIEMME Enologica from Lugo, Italy. Representatives from wineries in both regions attended to learn more about the new filter. The MicroFlex filter technology was introduced in 2014 after extensive testing in several large Italian wineries with red and white wines near the DIEMME manufacturing plant in Lugo.

The concept of the MicroFlex filter combines absolute rated membrane filter cartridges with proprietary software developed by DIEMME to provide gentle, one-pass filtration of a settled wine down to 1 micron. By using a large number of cartridges (12, 24 or 48 depending on the model) the MicroFlex filter is able to filter wines at a high flow rate with very low differential pressure (D.P.) across the membranes of the cartridges. This results in a filtered wine ready for bottling without any of the compromised organoleptic properties often associated with other methods of filtration. The software continually monitors the D.P. during filtration and can automatically speed up or slow down the flow rates to keep the D.P. very low. The software can also determine when the cartridges are too dirty for a gentle filtration, at which point it automatically stops the filter and pushes out the wine from the filter using inert gas to prevent oxidation. After emptying the wine it automatically performs either an intermediate rinsing or full washing of the cartridges before returning the wine to continue filtration. This all happens without operator input so the cellar staff are freed up to conduct other duties during the filtration process

George Oake from Quails’ Gate Estate Winery stated, “The Microflex allows me to filter our wines in a gentle and thorough manner from 42 NTUs down to 0.4 NTUs: ready for bottle in one pass without stripping colour, flavour or aroma. The low labour and material costs make this the ideal filter for our winery. The Microflex allows us to eliminate the use of DE in the cellar while improving the quality of filtration. Reduced cost, reduced labour, reduced time, reduced water, safer, more gentle, better end product. It’s a no brainer.”

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VINTAGE NURSERIES INTRODUCES ALL NEW ROOT STOCK!

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More proof that you, the growers, are first priority to Vintage Nurseries and that they keep growing for you. The Vintage Nurseries “Growers First” philosophy has really taken root. In fact, they’ve created the Vintage Root Sock system that is globally exclusive to Vintage Nurseries. They made it their mission to develop this innovation to save you time, money and hassles. But they didn’t stop there. You’ll be pleased to discover all of the added benefits that were designed into this root sock for you. They realized that, it couldn’t just be new, it had to be different.

The advantages of these new root socks are that they eliminate pots and trays in your fields, are palletized for quick and easy unloading and are adaptable to all programs adding fertilizer, Mycorrhizae and more. In fact, every single vine is inspected by hand, which results in savings on labor and costs. They also save time with a 15% faster planting rate and are 100% biodegradable and environmentally friendly. The Vintage Root Sock is exclusive to Vintage Nurseries (patent pending). Reserve yours today for 2015 as production is limited to 500,000.

For more information please call Vintage Nurseries at 800-499-9019 or email Dustin Hooper, Director of Sales at [email protected]. Vintage Nurseries is planning and planting the things you need for your success.

Renaissance Yeast Inc. is pleased to introduce Ossia Organic, the newest addition to its family of classically bred hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-preventing wine yeast strains, to organic winemakers worldwide. Ideal for red, white, and fruit wines, Ossia will be welcomed by winemakers as an exciting new advance in organic winemaking. Ossia (from the Italian phrase o sia or ‘let it be’) is a natural, non-GMO, wine yeast strain that has been selected for its inability to produce H2S during fermentation; simultaneously eliminating this potential source of H2S contamination and enabling the full aroma and complex character of the vintage to develop unhindered.

“Making an all-natural organic wine can sometimes present challenges. One of these is H2S and its associated character faults that cannot be minimized by conventional means,” said Dr. John Husnik, CEO of Renaissance Yeast. “Like all of Renaissance’s premium-quality wine yeasts, Ossia allows the organic winemaker to enhance their wine’s complexity and aroma while also preventing hydrogen sulfide contamination of the vintage.”

Husnik notes that even in small amounts, hydrogen sulfide can mask the wine’s flavor and aroma: “Hydrogen sulfide is a natural by-product of every yeast fermentation that, even at minute amounts undetectable by the winemaker, can mask the wine’s full flavor and complexity. Removing it opens the wine up to a level winemakers will notice and appreciate right away.”

In organic winemaking, traditional methods of remediating hydrogen sulfide, such as adding inorganic diammonium phosphate to the must or using inorganic copper sulphate, are not allowed. Ossia, therefore, is an innovative, all-natural solution to the hydrogen sulfide problem in organic winemaking.

Hydrogen sulfide is a well-known sensory contaminant resulting from traditional yeast fermentation that introduces otherwise avoidable remediation costs and quality challenges for winemakers and alcoholic beverage makers worldwide. Renaissance’s classically bred H2S-preventing yeasts are non-GMO and fully protected and patented by the University of California. Renaissance is the exclusive global license holder.More information at Renaissance Yeast Inc. (www.renaissanceyeast.com)

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During a weekend celebrating excellence in Ontario wine, eight individuals were recognized for their contributions to growing and promoting the province’s grape and wine industry.

The award winners were revealed at the Cuvée Grand Tasting Feb. 27 at Fallsview Casino Resort. Organized by Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), the event is one of the largest celebrations of Ontario VQA wine.

Niagara-on-the-Lake grape grower Don Forrer was honoured with the Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence Award sponsored by BASF Canada Inc. The award recognizes a grower who promotes excellence in their vineyard practices. The winner is chosen by an expert panel that makes field visits throughout the growing season to monitor quality.

The Tony Aspler Cuvée Award of Excellence was presented to Laurie Macdonald, executive director of VQA Ontario, for overseeing the development of a provincially regulated appellation system with grace and humanity.

The 2015 VQA Promoter Award winners were also announced at Cuvée with the awards being presented Saturday, Feb. 28 at CCOVI’s Experts Tasting held at Brock University. The awards acknowledge individuals who celebrate through promotion and/or education the Ontario VQA wine industry with unselfish enthusiasm, constructive input and unsolicited promotion.

Len Pennachetti, this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, took the Feb. 28th award ceremony as an opportunity to reflect back to 40 years ago when he was one of the first growers to start planting Vinifera vines in Niagara.

“Those of us who were already growing Vitis Vinifera in Niagara knew that it could be done,” Pennachetti said. “And sometimes I have to pinch myself when I come to events like last night (Cuvée) or here today and see what we have been able to achieve as an industry, and that’s because of innovation that we have completely transformed the Niagara peninsula.”

The 2015 VQA Promoter Award winners in each category are:

Education: Evan Saviolidis, sommelier and wine educatorSaviolidis was recognized as a dedicated educator who is passionate about Ontario VQA wines and has instilled this passion to a new generation of students through the courses he runs as well as his work educating consumers about Ontario VQA wine at the Wine Country Ontario events booth.

Hospitality: Darcy MacDonell, owner/operator of Farmhouse TavernMacDonell was recognized for taking the step of only serving VQA wine and Ontario craft beer at his restaurant the Farmhouse Tavern. Making such a commitment to VQA wine has created a robust offering of local selections strongly solidifying the case that great wine grows in Ontario.

LCBO: Ed Smith, Ontario wine leader customer service representative at the Ottawa-Orleans LCBOSmith was honoured for his tireless and selfless effort in promoting VQA wines at his Ottawa-Orleans LCBO store. He makes the annual “Taste Local, Love Local” campaign a major event by building large Ontario focused displays and offering pairing advice to consumers always with an emphasis on VQA wines.

Media: John Szabo, partner and principal critic at Wine AlignAlong with doing restaurant and private consulting, teaching, and speaking engagements, Szabo has become one of Canada’s key wine writers which is why he was honoured this year. Although he writes about wine regions all over the world, when he speaks about Ontario VQA wine he is a credible advocate for the industry.

Promoter-at-Large: Kimberly Hundertmark, executive director of the Niagara Grape and Wine FestivalHundertmark was recognized for twenty years of leadership in the wine industry and her dedication to making the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival a ‘go to’ event for lovers and supporters of Ontario VQA wine.

Lifetime Achievement: Len Pennachetti, president and co-founder of Cave Spring CellarsPennachetti was recognized for his dedication to the Ontario industry from his early days as a producer and advocate to his work today as one of the senior leaders at the Wine Council of Ontario. He has also worked tirelessly to establish Niagara’s Twenty Valley as a visitor destination, volunteering his time, his property and talents to guiding its development.

EducationTOP HONOURS HANDED OUT TO GRAPE AND WINE INDUSTRY PROMOTERS


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EIGHTEEN PASS THE ADVANCED SOMMELIER EXAM Jake Lewis of Momofuku in Toronto Takes Home the Rudd Scholarship

Three days of intense examination culminated with eighteen new names being added to the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas list of individuals who have passed the Advanced Sommelier Exam.

Two women and sixteen men passed the exam, which was held April 7-9 at the Hotel Monaco in Portland, OR. 66 candidates from 14 states and Canada sat for the exam, which is the third in a series of four increasingly challenging tests of knowledge and skill offered by the Court. At this level, candidates with a superior understanding of wine theory and beverage service, as well as a highly sophisticated tasting ability, are distinguished from the thousands of wine service professionals who attempt the Court’s exams on a yearly basis.

Of the eighteen passers, one rose to the top as the exam’s highest scorer: Jake Lewis of Momofuku in Toronto, Ontario earned the Rudd Scholarship, which is offered by the Guild of Sommeliers, providing $5,000 in funds toward the coursework needed to prepare for the Masters Exam and an invitation to attend the prestigious Rudd Masters Roundtable in Napa Valley, California.

By the time candidates reach the Advanced Examination, most have already invested years of study, in addition to significant time working in and around the beverage industry. From here, many will set their sights on the Court’s Master Sommelier Diploma Exam, which just 220 individuals worldwide have ever managed to pass.

“We are pleased and honored to welcome these eighteen exceptional professionals to the level of Advanced Sommelier,” said Andy McNamara, Chairman of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas. “It is a fantastic accomplishment, and they should all be extremely proud of their achievements.”

The complete list of candidates who passed the Advanced Exam in Portland follows:• Nicholas Barb,The Little Nell Hotel (Aspen,CO )

• Daniel Beedle, Juni Restaurant (New York, NY)• Ashley Broshious, Brix Restaurant & Gardens (Napa, CA)• Nick Davis, Canlis (Seattle, WA)• Kelvin DeBoer, Sidney Frank Importing Co. (Seattle, WA)• James Deleon, Kroger Company (Houston, TX)• Christopher Dooley, L’Espalier (Somerville, MA)• Michael Freeman, Vintner Select (Dayton, OH)• Brent Jones, Grill 23 (Boston, MA)• Brandon Kerne, Bar Italia Ristorante (Saint Louis, MO)• Jake Lewis, Momofuku (Toronto, Ontario)• Daniel Miller, Del Frisco’s (Fort Worth, TX)• Anthony Minne, Plum Market (Chicago, IL)• Nathaniel Munoz, Aubergine at L’Auberge (Carmel Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA)• Paul Ozbirn, Parkside Projects (Austin, TX)• Steven Robinson, Atelier Restaurant (Ottawa, Ontario)• Jennifer Schmitt, Everest (Chicago, IL)•Carl Villeneuve Lepage, Restaurant Toqué! (Montreal, Québec)

ABOUT THE COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERSThe Court of Master Sommeliers was established in England in 1977 to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants. The first Master Sommelier Diploma Exam to be held in the United States was in 1987. The title Master Sommelier marks the highest recognition of wine and spirits knowledge, beverage service abilities, and professionalism in the hospitality trade. Education was then, and remains today, the Court’s charter. There are four stages involved in attaining the top qualifications of Master Sommelier: 1) Introductory Sommelier Course; 2) Certified Sommelier Exam; 3) Advanced Sommelier Course; and 4) Master Sommelier Diploma. There are 140 professionals who have earned the title of Master Sommelier as part of the Americas chapter since the organization’s inception. Of those, 119 are men and 21 are women. There are 220 professionals worldwide who have received the title of Master Sommelier since the first Master Sommelier Diploma Exam. For more information, please visit www.mastersommeliers.org.

Formation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) by yeast during primary alcoholic fermentation has been well documented in wine, as well as in cider, beer, and other alcoholic beverages. H2S is typically described as having an odor like rotten eggs, garlic, or burnt rubber, which can—when left untreated in sufficient concentrations—result in complete spoilage.

Fortunately, innovative H2S-preventing technology, derived from a natural wine yeast discovered by researchers at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis), is now available in markets around the world. This yeast, which does not form H2S during fermentation, is the basis for a portfolio of H2S-preventing wine and cider yeast strains developed by Renaissance Yeast of Vancouver and available commercially worldwide. In addition, H2S-preventing beer yeast strains are in the final stages of development, and other yeasts for distilled spirits and sake are in the pipeline.

Being a volatile compound, H2S has traditionally been removed from beverages by post-fermentation aeration or the addition of chemicals such as copper sulfate. However, removing H2S after it forms is not ideal since it can potently react to form other defect-causing sulfur compounds such as mercaptans and disulfides. In comparison to H2S, these chemicals impart even stronger sulfurous aromas to the beverage and, more importantly, are not easily removed.

Current practices for the post-fermentation removal of H2S include aeration, inert gas stripping, and precipitation by copper, all of which often cause secondary problems. For products in the US market, copper in excess of 0.5 mg/L must be painstakingly removed.

Likewise, aeration and volatile stripping tend to remove desirable volatile compounds that contribute positively to the beverage’s aroma. Another technique to mitigate H2S contamination is to blend the tainted product with untainted product. This, however, does not actually address the root of the H2S problem. In some cases, remediation after H2S contamination can cause more cost and quality problems than it solves. In extreme cases, there is no choice but to discard product that is beyond remediation.

Importantly, all of these remediation processes increase production costs by requiring management and employees to spend time implementing the additional processes required for H2S removal in addition to the actual financial costs of implementing the remediation method.

H2S MASKS THE WINE’S FULL FLAVOR AND AROMAThe production of H2S is a fundamental part of yeast metabolism. As a result, H2S is present—to varying degrees—in every yeast-fermented beverage as a natural and, until now, unavoidable contaminant byproduct of fermentation. Interestingly, even at very low levels that are undetectable by the human nose, H2S creates issues. The situation in wine making best illustrates the problem that also faces cider and other alcoholic beverage producers.

In winemaking, it isn’t well known that trace amounts of H2S will cause a wine to underperform—“masking” and obstructing the expression of the wine’s full flavor, aroma, and personality. In contrast, “open” wines—those produced without any H2S—are more complex, fruit-forward, and balanced. The same phenomenon occurs to an even greater extent in cider, since H2S levels in cider are often much higher than those found in wine.

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Winemaking

USING YEAST TO PREVENT HYDROGEN SULFIDE CONTAMINATION OF WINE AND CIDER

BY STEVE CAMPBELL

“By preventing H2S from being

produced, our yeasts consistently

deliver an advantage in wine quality

control and reduce the risk of

potential spoilage costs.”

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) production by Renaissance Yeast’s Andante H2S-preventing yeast strain—as compared to another leading

commercially available strain—in fermentations of Chardonnay grape must (YAN 293 mg/L, free SO2 6.4 ppm, BRIX 22.4°).

“Hydrogen sulfide is one reason why your wine quality and aroma may vary from one production run to the next. Winemakers don’t realize that H2S is in their wines until they compare the same wine made with hydrogen sulfide-preventing yeast against their traditional yeast. You can easily smell the difference and the H2S becomes obvious once you experience the same wine with no H2S in it,” said Dr. John Husnik, the CEO of Renaissance Yeast, the company developing and selling these unique H2S-preventing yeasts. “It’s exactly the same for cider because cider makers often use wine yeasts—plus apple juice is nutritionally much more challenging for yeast than grape must. By preventing H2S from being produced, our yeasts consistently deliver an advantage in beverage quality control and reduce the risk of potential spoilage costs.”

“Even at extremely low levels, the hydrogen sulfide acts to mask the full aroma and complexity of the wine. Removing the hydrogen sulfide allows the wine to open up and deliver its full complexity and taste. It’s something that has to be tried to be fully experienced,” adds Husnik, who recommends wine makers perform a straight-up challenge of his yeast versus their usual yeast. “The H2S is unmistakable during this comparison test.”

WINE SPOILAGE FROM FERMENTATION ISSUES IS A COSTLY, ONGOING CONCERNThe H2S contamination issue is well known in winemaking. It has been estimated that up to 20 percent of wine fermentations globally are significantly compromised by H2S. Experienced American winemakers have been using Renaissance H2S-preventing yeasts for a number of vintages now, with great success.

“The harmful effects of hydrogen sulfide are often dismissed as easy to treat or simply part of the normal background of wine,” said Jason Burrus of Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, Virginia, who has been

using Renaissance’s H2S-preventing wine yeast for his recent vintages. “However, like TCA, even when present below detection threshold, it’s still damaging to the wine. These wine yeasts simply eliminate the threat from the beginning.”

“Fermentation is one of the most dynamic operations in winemaking,” adds Linda Trotta, winemaker at Swiftwater Cellars in Washington State. “While at times challenging, I find managing the myriad factors that impact fermentations in order

to achieve wine quality and stylistic goals hugely rewarding. When the situation calls for a reliable and clean fermenter, I choose a Renaissance H2S-preventing yeast strain. Renaissance has become a key resource in my fermentation tool belt.”


Winemaking

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“Even at extremely low levels, the

hydrogen sulfide acts to mask the

full aroma and complexity of the

wine. Removing the hydrogen sulfide

allows the wine to open up and

deliver its full complexity and taste.

It’s something that has to be tried to

be fully experienced.”

Fermentation kinetics for Renaissance Yeast’s Vivace H2S-preventing yeast strain—as compared to three other leading commercially available strains—in fermentations of Chardonnay grape must (YAN 364 mg/L, free SO2 5 ppm, BRIX 21.3°).


Winemaking continued

DEVELOPED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAThe H2S-preventing yeast technology was developed through research conducted at UC Davis by world-renowned yeast geneticist Dr. Linda Bisson under a grant provided by the American Vineyard Foundation. Bisson’s team discovered a yeast strain in their culture collection with the natural ability to prevent H2S formation during fermentation. This strain was originally isolated from a Lambrusco grape must from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. After UC Davis researchers characterized the yeast strain and its H2S-preventing trait, the University of California patented this unique ability and licensed it to Renaissance Yeast.

Over the last few years, Husnik’s team at Renaissance has used classical breeding to develop the UC Davis advance into a portfolio of commercially available H2S-preventing wine yeast strains. Fundamental to the success of these strains, Renaissance scientists have developed methods for classically breeding new premium-quality strains that are functionally similar to strains familiar to winemakers, except with the addition of the H2S-preventing trait—thereby making traditional wine yeasts perform even better.

Today, Renaissance offers six H2S-preventing yeast strains for wine and cider—all with the UC Davis H2S-preventing trait included. The Renaissance portfolio currently includes two white, three red, and one organic strain with additional beer, cider, sake, and distilled spirits yeasts in the works, according to Husnik.

“Beverage makers know H2S is a serious and costly problem,” notes Husnik. “We’ve had many inquiries about yeasts for specific beverages. We’re working on them, but developing these through the natural, classical breeding techniques used by all yeast companies does take time. We’re knocking them off one by one. Beer is first up and then we are working on sake and distilled spirits like whiskeys and brandies. We’re also investigating doing contract development of specialty yeasts for customers who want to contract us for that service.”

CLASSICAL BREEDING FOR EACH H2S-PREVENTING YEAST STRAINHusnik, a PhD microbiologist with expertise in yeast, oversees the breeding of the H2S-preventing yeast strains at Renaissance. The non-genetically modified (non-GMO) process starts with the crossing—breeding by sexual reproduction—of the UC Davis H2S-preventing yeast with a chosen parent oenological yeast strain. H2S-preventing hybrids are then backcrossed to the parent strain a minimum of six times to ensure their high performance in winemaking. At each crossing, hybrid strains are extensively tested and selected for H2S prevention, fast fermentation kinetics, low sulfur dioxide production, and a variety of other traits important to winemakers. After these traits are confirmed, the strain is ready for industrial-scale production and commercialization.

Strain X H2S preventing strain

Sporulation Mating

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Renaissance Yeast uses classical breeding techniques to develop its H2S-preventing yeast strains. The company’s R&D staff cross

a unique, patented, H2S-preventing yeast—initially discovered and isolated from Lambrusco grape must in a vineyard in the

Emilia-Romagna region of Italy—with any one of a variety of well-established commercial wine yeast strains. Once identified,

H2S-preventing hybrid offspring strains are repeatedly crossed with the parental wine yeast strain (“backcrossing”), all the

while maintaining the H2S-preventing trait. After a number of backcrosses, this process yields a final non-GMO yeast strain

that is functionally similar to the parent, except that it also prevents H2S formation. Using this methodology, the company

has developed a range of proprietary H2S-preventing strains that, collectively, are ideal for use in a wide variety of wine styles.

Additional strains are in development for beer, sake, cider, distilled spirits and other alcoholic beverages.


Winemaking

USING YEAST TO PREVENT HYDROGEN SULFIDE CONTAMINATION OF WINE AND CIDER CONTINUED...

CIDER PRODUCERS FACE UNIQUE H2S CHALLENGESCompared to grapes for wine, cider apples are a much more nutritionally challenging substrate for yeast to ferment. Typically, cider juice contains five to ten times less nitrogen than grape musts or beer worts. Although there is plenty of sugar to ferment, these low nitrogen levels force cider makers to use high levels of nitrogen supplementation in order to avoid stuck or sluggish fermentations.

ORGANIC PRODUCERS BENEFITOrganic wine makers are a subset of customers with unique challenges. Organic producers have a problem in that they are barred from using traditional methods (adding copper) to remediate H2S-contaminated organic wine. H2S is a real quality control challenge for them and Renaissance’s Ossia organic yeast has been well received.

Renaissance’s organic yeast is produced in a certified organic German facility that uses only certified organic nutrients, molasses, and sugar, and no chemical emulsifiers for its production. The organic product is fully certified under EU and USDA regulations and offers high viability with a two-year shelf life.

Looking ahead, Husnik notes the company will continue to develop additional H2S-preventing specialty yeast strains for beer, distilled spirits, whiskey, and even vinegar, in which hydrogen sulfide can also pose problems. With luck, in the future the rotten egg smell of spoiled, wine, cider and other beverages will only be a memory of the distant past.

©Judy Bishop

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Grapes to Wine, June 01, 2015

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