Wine Innovation Cluster

Who We Are

The WIC is a partnership of four leading Australian grape and wine research agencies. Based on the Waite Campus, the WIC strives to build collaboration and create synergies in research and development across the co-located partner organisations for the benefit of Australia’s multi-billion dollar wine industry.

Collectively, the WIC partners cover the entire grape and wine research, development and extension spectrum and the WIC is continuously exploring opportunities for collaborative research projects. Since it was established in 2008, the WIC partners have worked on more than 35 collaborative projects that have attracted $27m+ external funding; strong industry partnerships on many of them attest to their relevance.

The WIC is governed by senior representatives from the four WIC partners, industry representatives, and an independent Chair which seek to develop and implement the long-term vision for WIC, and promote the success and capability of the WIC collaborations.

Synergy in Grape & Wine Research

With extensive research facilities on the Waite Campus in Adelaide, world-leading personnel and networks right around the globe, the WIC delivers results effectively and efficiently. Between them, the co-located partners possess more than 60% of Australian research, development, extension and education capabilities over the whole of the grape and wine value chain.

The WIC partners are:

• The Australian Wine Research Institute
• CSIRO
• South Australian Research & Development Institute
• The University of Adelaide

The WIC is also engaged with a number of other networks and organisations, including the National Wine Research Network and the National Wine & Grape Industry Centre in Wagga Wagga, NSW. All four WIC partners are also members of the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production.

Collaboration in Action

As a collaborative cluster, our philosophy is simple: in collaboration, we can achieve results for our stakeholders that would not be possible working as standalone agencies.

The collaborative ideals do not stop with the cluster partners. Each of them bring a substantial network of local, national and international links to the table, further enhancing the cluster’s ability to deliver on its mission and furthering their influence in the broader scientific community.

For industry and investors this means

• research effectiveness not before possible through the multi-disciplinary approach.
• delivery of end-user outcomes in shorter times.
• a single, efficient interface with the research community.

The attached list provides an example of the projects WIC partners are currently working on.

Supporting research and commercial projects, WIC also established WIC Winemaking Services to support the Australian wine industry with high quality small- and pilot-scale winemaking. More information can be found about this service on the WIC Winemaking Services page.

To foster collaboration WIC hosts the Crush symposium which is a forum for researchers and industry professionals to share the latest in wine and grape science knowledge.