Plant and Food Research has been granted an extra NZ$12 million to build on its Sauvignon Blanc research programme to provide winemakers with “the ability to create novel flavour combinations and sensory experiences, in a way that maintains the quality and consistency of supply needed to consolidate New Zealand’s global reputation as a wine producer”.
The comments are from Dr Roger Harker, team leader of the project, who added, “The wine industry knows that they have only just scratched the surface of the commercial opportunity that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc presents”.
A release from Plant and Food Research declared, “The integrated nature of the Sauvignon Blanc programme is designed to exploit opportunities at all stages of the wine production pathway – from grape growing to winemaking. Areas of research include the interactions between environmental factors (site, canopy, nutrition) and grape harvest maturity; developing new means of predicting the flavour potential of grapes and juice; and developing pre and post-harvest treatments, including NZ-derived yeasts, to deliver new flavours.”
The funding will be delivered in $2 million payments over the next six years, and according to Plant and Food Research is “… supported wholeheartedly by the New Zealand wine industry through significant research partnership and co-funding investment from New Zealand Winegrowers”.
foodnews spoke with three leading winemakers who have been producing sophisticated, premium Sauvignon Blanc wine styles for some years, and they had no knowledge of the programme. As such they were unable to comment, much less to offer their “wholehearted support”.
They may find out more at the Romeo Bragato wine industry conference at the end of August, when a group of speakers will present the programme parameters.
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