By Annabelle Tukia
A new laboratory in Christchurch is promising to revolutionise New Zealand's wine industry.
Hill Laboratories have partnered with an American company to offer technology they say will aid the winemaking process from vine to vintage.
Winemaker Kirsten Creasy has over twenty years experience in the wine industry but it is her new job at New Zealand's first purpose built ‘winelab’ that has really got her excited.
“It gives winemakers that added confidence of knowing they can get the results quickly, that they’re as accurate as they can possibly be and they can go ahead and make quick decisions throughout the whole winemaking process,” says Ms Creasy.
The one-stop wine testing facility is the first of its kind in the country because it can conduct all of the tests that winemakers require under one roof.
“We’re able to provide analytical testing from the vineyard for soil through to the leaf, the grapes, the juice, right through to the wine and the finished product,” says lab manager, Sue Davidson.
The lab is also partnered with American company ETS Labs to access technology that Ms Creasy says will revolutionise the industry here.
She says the lab can now carry out rapid DNA testing for the first time.
“It means we can look at and identify and quantify exactly what bacteria or yeast are in our juice, on our grapes, and in our wines throughout the whole fermentation process,” says Ms Creasy.
Award winning winemaker Hennie Bosman says the Winelab is a welcome addition to the New Zealand wine industry, and says the lab will save him having to spend time carrying out testing in his own vineyard.
“To be able to just pick up the phone and have it picked up by a courier and a day or two later having your results, that means a lot,” says Mr Bosman.
It also means he can spend less time testing his riesling and more time tasting it.
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