Low pH red wine At our laboratories we service a wide array of winemaking clients, from large wine companies through to backyard hobbyists. We also see a wide variety of wines, from finished products through to works very much ‘in progress’. Recently we encountered a red wine from a very small producer with an unusually […]
Update: Now available – Water testing in Hobart, Tasmania. Is your rainwater safe to drink? Many gastrointestinal illnesses are caused by bacteria in drinking water. Whatever the age or size of your tank, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) recommend regular testing to ensure it does not contain harmful levels of bacteria. Water from your […]
Natural wine To quote wine writer Max Allen (1) “The hottest wine trend of the decade? That’s easy: all things natural. Grapes grown with a minimum of sprays, preferably organic or biodynamic; nothing added in the cellar except perhaps a small amount of sulphur dioxide preservative at bottling. Just wine. It’s also been the […]
Stuck Ferments Every vintage and every region has its own particular issues. So there is always something to keep us interested in the lab. Often the issues are minor or sometimes they are region-wide and a bit of a pain. One problem that appears to some degree, in some place, every year, is the issue […]
Winery tank issues – for water that is! Vintage is the time when we typically see lots of winemaking fermentation problems – but we thought you might need a break from all that. So in case you’re sick of thinking about wine at the moment, this month we take a look at an interesting issue […]
Smoke taint concerns from February bushfire in Orange (Image Credit: Christina Bos) Our NSW manager, Christina Bos, knew it was a bad sign for the local wine industry when she saw the columns of smoke rising off Mt Canobolas from her front veranda in Orange one weekend in February. For those that know this gorgeous […]
Chinese Exports requirements We receive many requests for a variety of tests for wines destined for China. These vary amongst clients and we often find that we are doing special tests for some exporters and not others. Added to this are some unusual tests that have been requested by the Chinese authorities over the past […]
PATULIN What is patulin? Patulin is a mycotoxin (a toxic fungal metabolite) that is produced by certain moulds such as Penicillium and Aspergillus. These moulds can grow on many fruits and are commonly found on apples. Patulin is often associated with storage diseases and there can be a higher risk in fruit from longer term […]
MLF and holidays Would you think there is a connection between vacations and malo-lactic fermentation (MLF)? Here is an example of such a connection. Recently we received a problem sample of wine that had not completed MLF. The winemaker, who had been away for a winter holiday, had added a large dose of sulfur dioxide […]
We are pleased to now offer Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) analysis in addition to our extensive range of wastewater tests. Need quicker results than the industry standard 5 day BOD test can provide? COD testing can give you a good indication of the oxygen demand in your sample much more quickly. We have implemented the […]
This year Vintessential is proud to sponsor the following charities:
