Kim Chalmers is a Director of Chalmers Wines, where she is responsible for managing wine operations and also focuses on the company’s nursery business, bringing new varieties into Australia. Kim spoke to Drew about sustainable production, with a focus on efficient water use. EPISODE LINKS Techniques used at the Euston vineyard to dramatically reduce water requirement (video) Chalmers Wines sustainable viticulture webpage MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.AWRI/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_ ..read more

Dr Simon Schmidt is a biologist (and drummer!) who worked on plant disease resistance before changing his focus to wine yeasts. Simon chatted with Drew about the surprising benefits that come from adding oxygen to wine ferments, and how they differ between red and white wines. EPISODE LINKS Aeration of red ferments gets the thumbs up on wine quality (Wine Australia news article) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.AWRI/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_AWRI Subscribe to our newsletters: www.awri ..read more

Richard Leask is a Director of vineyard management company Leask Agri and co-owner of boutique wine label Hither and Yon in McLaren Vale, SA. Richard spoke to Drew about regenerative viticulture and its benefits for vineyard soils. EPISODE LINKS Is being sustainable enough for Australian wine? Regenerative agriculture can redefine what is best practice viticulture (Nuffield Australia Scholarship final report) Is being sustainable enough for Australian wine? Regenerative agriculture can redefine what is best practice viticulture (Nuffield Australia video) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www ..read more

David Allen is Transformation Manager – Viticulture for Pernod Ricard Winemakers in New Zealand. He spoke to Drew about new technology adoption and automation in vineyards and where this might lead viticulture in the future. EPISODE LINKS News article about self-driving tractors Article about autonomous vineyard vehicles developed in New Zealand Mission possible: Driving autonomous technology in New Zealand vineyards Oxin website (autonomous vineyard tractor producer in New Zealand) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: http ..read more

Chris Penfold is a Senior Viticulturist at the AWRI. He has had a long and distinguished research career, focusing on sustainable vineyard floor management since 2001. In this chat with Drew, Chris discussed his work on the many benefits of using cover crops to suppress vineyard weeds. EPISODE LINKS AWRI resources on non-chemical weed management AWRI resources on cover crops and Cover Crop Finder tool Non-chemical weed control (AWRI webinar) Wine Australia’s cover crop resources MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https ..read more

Professor Tim Cavagnaro is Professor of Soil Ecology and Deputy Head of School (Research) in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine of the University of Adelaide. Tim’s research focuses on soil ecology, with a strong interest in soil carbon sequestration. Tim chatted to Drew about soil carbon in vineyards and the benefits for growers of building up carbon stores. EPISODE LINKS Building soil carbon in vineyards (AWRI webinar) Cover crops and carbon stocks (Journal article – request copy from AWRI library) Sown undervine cover crops (AWRI webpage) The ins and outs of under-vine cover cro ..read more

Matt Zadow is Operational Winemaker at Yalumba’s Oxford Landing Winery. He has worked with the AWRI on implementing oxygen addition to ferments at a large scale. Matt chatted with Drew about why he has adopted this practice and the benefits he is seeing in his wines. EPISODE LINKS Delivering oxygen to ferments (fact sheet) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.AWRI/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_AWRI Subscribe to our newsletters: www.awri.com.au/subscribe ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This podcast is sup ..read more

Melissa Brown is viticulturist and co-owner of Gemtree Wines. Over the past twenty years, she has transformed how grapes are grown at Gemtree, with a focus on organic and biodynamic production. Her chat with Drew focuses how weed management has changed over that time. EPISODE LINKS AWRI resources on non-chemical weed management MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.AWRI/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_AWRI Subscribe to our newsletters: www.awri.com.au/subscribe ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This podcast i ..read more

Sheridan Barter grew up in the Barossa with strong ties to the wine industry. After studying forensic and analytical chemistry, she turned back to her wine roots by joining the research team at the AWRI. Sheridan chatted to Drew about her work investigating how pepper character in red wine forms in grapes in the vineyard. EPISODE LINKS Pepper flavour in wine (fact sheet) Mapping the origins of high rotundone and pepper flavour in wine (article) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.AWRI/ Twitter ..read more

Mark Skewes is Research Scientist – irrigation for the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), known for his expertise in irrigation and his clear communication style. He chatted with Drew about a collaborative project on best-practice irrigation currently underway in the Riverland. EPISODE LINKS Water management (AWRI webpage) Water management for wine grapes in a drying environment (Wine Australia booklet) Vineyard irrigation efficiency (ASVO podcast 11 October 2021) MORE FROM THE AWRI Website: www.awri.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theawri Facebook ..read more