Waite-based researchers scoop poster and Fresh Science awards at the 19th AWITC
The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) is the premier technical event for the Australian wine sector, held every three years. It serves as a vital platform for grapegrowers, winemakers, researchers, and suppliers to share knowledge, explore innovations, and address key industry challenges. First held in 1970, the conference has evolved into a collaborative forum that combines scientific research with practical industry outcomes.
Organised by AWRI and supported by Wine Australia and other sector partners, the AWITC offers a comprehensive program of plenary sessions, workshops, and poster presentations. It covers a wide range of topics including viticulture, winemaking, business, marketing, and sustainability.
Congratulations to the researchers who won poster prizes for:
- The Wine Science and Technology poster prize (sponsored by Wine Australia) awarded to Yiming Huo and colleagues for research titled: Can membrane filtration and adsorbent resin be used for remediation of smoke tainted wine?
- The Viticulture and Sustainability poster prize (sponsored by Wine Australia) awarded to Kerry Wilkinson, Renata Ristic, Julie Culbert, Andrea Matros and Udo Seiffert for research titled: Evaluating hyperspectral sending for rapid detection of smoke taint in grapes
- The Consumer, Sensory and Analysis poster prize (sponsored by Metabolomics Australia) awarded to Allie Kulcsar and colleagues from AWRI (and collaborative partners) for research titled: Struck by flint: how to form ‘struck flint’ character in Chardonnay wine
- The People’s Choice poster prize (sponsored by the Wine Innovation Cluster) awarded to AFW PhD student Yu Hou, and Marlize Bekker, Tracey Siebert and David Jeffery, for research titled: Understanding sulfur compound evaluation: Insights from accelerated ageing and real-time cellar ageing in wines
The Fresh Science awards went to:
- Dr Chris Ward from the Australian Wine Research Institute for research on Metagenomics for identifying grapevine pests and predators
- Agnieszka Mierczynska-Vasilev from the Australian Wine Research Institute for research on Nanotechnology applications for improving wine production and quality
Top photo from the AWITC Instagram post, photo of Yu Hou and Yiming Huo provided by Kerry Wilkinson.