Weeds can have detrimental impacts on agriculture and the environment, and effective detection of individual plants is a crucial component of weed management. An emerging detection tool is the use of dogs (Canis familiaris) trained to recognise a weed?s scent. Scent-detection dogs are well established as a tool in other disciplines but deploying dogs within weed management poses novel challenges. It can be difficult (or even illegal) to source a large number of live target weeds for training and evaluation purposes, due to the risk that these targets will create further detrimental impacts. We investigate whether invasive weed samples could be processed into inert and therefore bio secure dried or frozen forms for use in training. There is currently limited understanding of whether training dogs on frozen or dried plant targets can transfer into successful detection of the live target. We trained four dogs to detect frozen plant samples and four dogs to detect dried plant samples and exposed all eight dogs to scent boards containing frozen, dried and/or live plant targets. All dogs detected the three target types with high precision (100 %) and sensitivity (>85 %). Only one dog showed a statistically significant preference for the frozen odour. Our findings support the use of frozen and dried plant matter as an effective training and evaluation tool for dogs, in cases where the live target cannot be safely used at a broad scale.

Learning to objectively evaluate wine sensory properties (such as appearance, aroma, flavour, taste and mouthfeel attributes) features prominently in wine education programs. Formal, structured sensory classes that involve recording detailed observations and perceptions is the traditional approach to build perceptual and linguistic learning. This research explored students’ behaviour in maintaining wine tasting notes and their perceptions of wine sensory classes by survey across four Australian institutions (n=109) and by focus groups (n=24). International students were not as confident in class room discussions or describing wine, and did not perform as well in sensory exams, suggesting that language ability and/or cultural/life experience is important for technical wine assessment. Given that 98% of students surveyed owned a smartphone, mobile learning may provide an opportunity to enhance and facilitate learning of wine sensory analysis outside of the classroom. The My Wine WorldTM App (developed for smartphones) was evaluated by academic staff and students as a potentially valuable e-learning tool for the development of perceptual and linguistic memory of sensory attributes.

Defoliation is a commonly used viticultural technique to balance the ratio between grapevine vegetation and fruit. Defoliation is conducted around the fruit zone to reduce the leaf photosynthetic area, and to increase sunlight exposure of grape bunches. Apical leaf removal is not commonly practiced, and therefore its influence on canopy structure and resultant wine aroma is not well-studied. This study quantified the influences of apical and basal defoliation on canopy structure parameters using canopy cover photography and computer vision algorithms. The influence of canopy structure changes on the chemical compositions of grapes and wines was investigated over two vintages (2010–2011 and 2015–2016) in Yarra Valley, Australia. The Shiraz grapevines were subjected to five different treatments: no leaf removal (Ctrl); basal (TB) and apical (TD) leaf removal at veraison and intermediate ripeness, respectively. Basal leaf removal significantly reduced the leaf area index and foliage cover and increased canopy porosity, while apical leaf removal had limited influences on canopy parameters. However, the latter tended to result in lower alcohol level in the finished wine. Statistically significant increases in pH and decreases in TA was observed in shaded grapes, while no significant changes in the color profile and volatile compounds of the resultant wine were found. These results suggest that apical leaf removal is an effective method to reduce wine alcohol concentration with minimal influences on wine composition.

Sparkling wines, which contain dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) are economically important for Australia, France, Spain, Italy, USA, and Chile among other countries. Climate change is expected to influence the final quality of sparkling wine due to predicted increments in ambient temperature during grapegrowing. This effect which will likely produce: i) flavour and aroma changes of grapes and wines, ii) decrease protein concentration and iii) increase alcohol content in wines. Balanced protein and alcohol concentration are related quality traits of sparkling wines as foamability and foam stability are affected by these parameters. Quality of sparkling wines can be assessed visually using parameters such as colour, bubble behaviour, appearance (bead) and foam persistence (mousse). Robotics allows consistent repeatability of assessment, by standardising pouring style, speed, angle, shape and type of glass as well as wine ambient temperature. When combined with chemometrics and standardised assessments, robotics can be correlated to traditional measures of quality. This paper discusses the development of a robotic bottle pourer to standardise time and wine volume of pouring into a glass. Images from foam dynamics in glasses were collected automatically with a digital video camera attached to the pourer and transferred to a computer. Data were then analysed by image analysis algorithms, which convey the information into bubble size, foamability (ability of the wine to produce foam), foam persistence and stability, and collar stability. Results showed that the automated robotic pourer and image analysis techniques are comparable to most common chemometrics and sensory panel results to assess quality of sparkling wine.

A survey of 92 vineyards, representing 10 winegrowing regions in south-eastern Australia, soon after exposure to a severe heatwave, revealed variation in the reported heat-related impact. This variation was observed between regions, within regions and within vineyards. Notably the estimates of losses were not always related to the amount of heat above a certain threshold but to the management practices employed in the lead-up and through the event. Applicable and achievable recommendations for managing severe heat events have resulted from this assessment. We believe this method of capturing information from the diverse knowledge-base of managers is a very effective way to reveal potential adaptive capacity to a changing climate. Acknowledgements We wish to thank all the vineyard managers who so willingly participated in the interviews during a busy time of the season. We also wish to thank Graeme Russell (Macquarie University) who assisted with development of the survey questionnaire, Adam Peitch (CCW, Riverland) and Ian Smith (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research) for helpful suggestions. Thanks also to Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC) for funding the project. Notes This work was presented at the 14th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference held in July 2010 in Adelaide, Australia. It was included in the session addressing the topic ‘Adapting to climate change and reduced water availability’. While a slightly longer version of this article will be published in the conference proceedings, permission from the conference secretariat has been granted to also publish in this special issue on climate change for the Journal of Wine Research.