13. Emerging and Alternative Varieties: Considerations, challenges and choices

Libby Tassie

Tassie Viticultural Consulting

The area of alternative and emerging varieties is an optimistic and exciting part of the industry. This paper will look at the reasons for consideration of alternative varieties and at the challenges and choices involved in the decision making. Some of the material comes from the Alternative Varieties Research to Practice workshop book that I co-authored with Dr Peter Dry and Marcel Essling from the Australian Wine Research Institute.

Introduction

The definition of an alternative variety given by the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show (AAVWS) is any variety other than Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Shiraz, Riesling and Verdelho…and Pinot Grigio as of 2010. This definition is a changing one—for example, in the 1970s Chardonnay was considered to be an alternative or unusual variety; in the 1990s it was Pinot Gris; and now Vermentino and Fiano, among others, are the new alternatives.

Over this time there have been a number of steadfast champions of alternative varieties, such as Brown Brothers, Yalumba, Mark Lloyd (Coriole) and Gary Crittenden, who have trialled and promoted new varieties to the industry. In the past decade in particular, there has been a significant increase in the production of alternative varieties. An important impetus was the importation of 70 clones and varieties in the late 1990s by Bruce Chalmers (Chalmers Nursery) with Rod Bonfiglioli.

There are a huge number of varieties around the world: more than 10 000 named varieties in international germplasm collections, with this number estimated to be reduced to about 5000 following DNA fingerprinting identification in the process of sorting out varieties known under different names. Recent studies have also shown large numbers of unique or autochthonous varieties in regions of Europe—for example, 28 just in the southern Italian region of Calabria (Schneider et al. 2009).

There is increasing interest in alternative varieties due to globalisation, with greater travel and awareness by winemakers and viticulturists, as well as by consumers. In addition, improved winemaking and viticulture techniques have shown the true potential of some varieties over the past 20–30 years. Some varieties were also poorly acknowledged historically, as traditionally many European wines were identified by region rather than varietal make-up.

Considerations

Some considerations for a producer when looking at adopting alternative varieties include the changing market, changing climate, climate suitability, viticultural and winemaking characteristics and the practicalities of the time required to put the wine on the shelf; marketing is a significant topic that will not be covered here.

Changing Markets

As Phil Ruthven outlined in the Fourteenth Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (Adelaide, 2010), the traditional markets of the United States and the United Kingdom are changing, with Asia becoming more prominent. There is also a general increasing interest in different flavours and lower-alcohol wines in the marketplace.

Climate Change and Implications

Implications of climate change include increasing temperatures and thus changing environments for grape-growing. In Canberra, for example, the current mean January temperature (MJT) of 20.4ºC is predicted to increase by 0.3 to 1.2ºC by 2030 and 0.6 to 2.9ºC by 2050 (Leanne Webb, Personal communication).

There are also implications for phenology, with earlier budburst and earlier and warmer harvest and a subsequent compression of harvest, as well as more extreme weather events and higher carbon dioxide concentrations. These will have impacts on vine growth and quality and also on management logistics. One of the adaptation options to climate change is to use new varieties, either to cope with greater heat in warmer regions or as an addition to the varietal portfolio in cooler climates where they previously were not able to ripen. Some varieties that might show more heat and drought tolerance are the two southern Italian red varieties Nero d’Avola and Negro Amaro. Adequate ripening of some of the later-maturing varieties such as Aglianico, Nero d’Avola and Montepulciano might need to be trialled in cooler regions such as Canberra. Use of early ripeners such as Savagnin, Albarino and Gruner Veltliner also has the advantage of reduced water use.

Climate Suitability

Consideration needs to be given to the climate of origin and the suitability of the variety in the new climate—that is, homoclime assessment, which can be quite a complex area. Typical temperature indices used are MJT (or mean July temperature in the northern hemisphere) and heat degree-days (HDD) or growing degree-days (GDD)—that is, the effective heat days per month in the growing season. However, these do not distinguish regions by continentality—that is, the difference between the warmest and coolest months of the year. Further consideration is given to this topic by McKay et al. (1999) and Gladstones (1992, 2011).

The challenges of equating regions with just MJT data, for example, are illustrated in Table 1, which looks at regional climatic comparisons. This illustrates the differences in regions that might have equal MJT—for example, Turin and Mildura—but significantly different ripening season temperatures and GDD. Canberra and Turin, with close GDD, have very different MJT and continentalities, thus different temperature regimes during berry ripening stages.

Table 1 Regional Climatic Comparisons, Looking at MJT in Degrees Celsius, Temperature Two and Three Months after the MJT, GDD in Degrees Celsius and continentality.

Region	MJT	2 months + (3 months)	GDD	Conti1
Rioja, Spain	21.3	18.7 (13.7)	1386
Sienna, Chianti	23.6	19.9 (14.3)	1477	18.3
Turin, Piedmont	23.7	19.4 (12.8)	1429	23.3
Ararat	20.5	17.3 (13.5)	1335	11.7
Clare	21.3	19.2 (14.8)	1594	13.3
Mildura	23.3	20.9 (16.2)	2244	13.7 (Mer)2
Canberra	20.4	17.6 (13.0)	1424	14.7
Coonawarra	19.3	17.4 (14.5)	1337	10.1 (Kyb)3

1 Conti refers to continentality.

2 (Mer) refers to data from Merbein.

3 (Kyb) refers to data from Kybybolite.

Source: Dry and Coombe (2004); Gladstones (1992).

 

When looking at overseas climatic data, location of the climate station and the elevation of the vineyards need to be taken into account, as there is a decrease of 0.6º per 100 m of altitude that might not be reflected in available weather station data, as they are often located at sea level. For example, the white variety Fiano is grown between 300 and 400 m at Avellino outside Naples in southern Italy and Agiorgitiko, a red Greek variety, is grown in the Nemea region at 450–650 m.

Another consideration is whether the region of origin is the optimal location for the variety—that is, is the variety versatile? Chardonnay was originally grown in a very narrow climatic range in Europe, but has proven to be very versatile, performing well in a range of regions. Aglianico is grown in one region in Italy but initial wine from Langhorne Creek and the Riverina in Australia indicates it might be more versatile. Regional trials are really required to answer this question.

Viticultural Characteristics

Viticultural characteristics to consider are phenology (budburst and harvest timing), susceptibility to pests and diseases, growth characteristics (vigour, growth habit and bunch structure), adaptability (to climate, soils and rootstocks), suitability to mechanisation and fruit composition (acid, pH and potential quality). The main limiting factor for regions such as Canberra is a relatively short growing season and spring frosts, so late budburst and early to midseason ripening varieties would be most likely to succeed.

Winemaking Characteristics

Overseas, many varieties are typically blended. Sangiovese in Chianti Classico is blended with a maximum of 20 per cent other varieties, Tempranillo in Rioja is generally blended with Grenache, Mazuela, Graciano and Viura, and, in Sicily, the DOC wine Cerasuolo de Vittoria is made from Nero d’Avola and at least 40 per cent Frappato. In Australia, winemaking trials and varietal assessment are generally only on the single variety, which might be limiting the true potential of a variety. Tempranillo is one example of a variety that people are now trialling in blends. Winemaking characteristics to consider include susceptibility to oxidation and wine composition—that is, tannins, phenolics and colour—that might differ from varieties with which we are familiar. The white varieties of Verdejo from Spain and Assyrtiko from Greece typically have problems of oxidation and require non-oxidative handling. Some reds—for example, Aglianico—have good tannin and aroma but low colour in comparison with Shiraz or Cabernet; this is a phenomena with which producers of Nebbiolo will be familiar.

Challenges

Information

There are more sources of information from both overseas and Australia emerging as interest in varietals increases. Peter Dry has compiled a list of monographs, websites and periodicals available on the GWRDC website. More comparative data on varietal performance would be useful, as it is sometimes difficult to equate interpretation of disease susceptibility, for example. For comparative Australian information there is only one varietal trial, at Manjumup in Western Australia, with another trial being planted in a second climatic region of that State. Some regional groups are collating and providing information on the performance of alternative varieties in their regions—for example, Riverland Alternative Variety Group with a particular focus on Vermentino and Adelaide Hills Vine Improvement with a focus on Gruner Veltliner.

Ensuring Varietal Trueness to Type and Correct Naming

It is critical to ensure that the alternative variety is true to type and to avoid costly mistakes such as the recent Albarino/Savagnin Blanc debacle. This mistake affected nurseries, growers and producers, with up to 50 producers affected, some contracts cancelled or the price per tonne significantly reduced, and marketing strategies had to be adjusted. This experience has dramatically highlighted the importance of ensuring varietal identity is verified by DNA fingerprinting and/or ampelographic inspection.

Recent interest in Grenache Blanc has revealed via DNA testing that some vines assumed to be Grenache Blanc in South Australia were in fact Biancone—a mistake first flagged by Truel in 1976 (Antcliff 1976).

There are now commercial DNA testing facilities in France, the United States and Australia. In the development of the DNA database, it is important to use ampelographically verified reference vines, which still needs to be done with the Australian collections. There is currently a small-scale coordinated Variety Verification Project partly funded by GWRDC, Wine Australia, some vine-improvement bodies, nurseries and VINA, which aims to ensure via DNA testing that some of the alternative varieties currently being planted are indeed true to type.

The use of synonyms in Europe can be confusing; the variety of Vermentino, for example, is known as Rolle in Provence, Pigato in some parts of Liguria, Favorita in Piedmont and Malvoisie in Corsica. Nero d’Avola of Sicily is also known as Calabrese in Calabria.

When exporting wines, the varietal name on the Australian section of the OIV list of wine varieties and synonyms must be used. Some names, however, are not permitted in Europe due to the protection of geographical indications, such as Prosecco and Montepulciano.

Time Required to Develop a New Variety

Development of a new variety takes time. The planting material might be in the country or might need to be imported, with quarantine processing taking about two years. Getting the vineyard into production and to second crop has been estimated by Brown Brothers to take nine years, if importation is required, and more than five years if the material is already in the country (Walpole 2008). With wine production and trials, the time to get a new variety on the shelf could be at least seven to 10 years.

The development of a new variety, however, is no guarantee of success. After trying to ensure the correct site, appropriate vineyard management practices to optimise production and winemaking to produce the required wine style, the wine still has to sell!

Choices

To determine the options available after some research the ultimate answer lies in onsite trials. The good news for cool climates under predicted climate change scenarios is that they expand the varietal possibilities. For the Canberra region the viticultural requirements are for the varieties to ripen adequately and avoid spring frosts—that is, to use late budburst, early to midseason ripening varieties.

In his recent book, Gladstones (2011) has compiled a list of grape maturity groups and estimated maturity dates for Canberra (Table 2). It is assumed anything in the later maturity groups of eight and nine would not currently ripen. The ability of the varieties to ripen depends also on aspect, altitude, soil type, and so on, and can vary somewhat from this table—for example, Sangiovese ripens before Cabernet Sauvignon in parts of the Barossa Valley.

 

Table 2 Grape Maturity Groups and Estimated Maturity Dates for Canberra.

Maturity group	Effec ºC days	Varieties	Est. date reached
1	1020		27 Feb
2	1080		6 Mar
3	1140	Chard, Gewürztraminer	13 Mar
4	1200	G. Veltliner, Riesling	21 Mar
5	1260	Arneis, Shiraz	20 Mar
6	1320	Cab Sauv, Sangiovese	10 Apr
7	1380	Garganega, Carmenere, Graciano Nebbiolo	30 Apr
8	1440	Montepulciano, Aglianico	-
9	1500	Negro Amaro	-

Source: Gladstones (2011).

White Varieties

There are obviously more options for early ripening with white varieties. Some alternative whites that are currently being planted in Australia are Gruner Veltliner, Fiano, Arneis, Vermentino, Prosecco, Savagnin and Gargenega. This paper will look at just a few of these.

Gruner Veltliner

Gruner Veltliner is the most widely planted variety in Austria. The wines can be full bodied with complex aromas and characteristics of spice, pepper, apple, pear, pineapple and quince, fruit and savoury. Styles vary with region, climate and winemaking in Austria. In Australia there are six producers including Lark Hill in Canberra and Hahndorf Hill Winery in the Adelaide Hills, according to the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory, 2011.

It has early budburst and ripening, tends to be vigorous, has a good tolerance of Botrytis and is not particularly susceptible to downy or powdery mildews. Table 3 shows relative ripening dates and fruit composition at harvest from two wineries in different regions.

 

Table 3 Budburst and Harvest Data for Gruner Veltliner and Chardonnay in Canberra and the Adelaide Hills.

Variety	Budburst	Har	Be	pH	TA	t/ha
Chardonnay: Canberra Lark Hill	5 Oct	5 Apr	12.2	3.2	8.7	5.0
Gruner Veltliner: Canberra Lark Hill	12 Oct	15 Apr	12.5	3.3	8.2	3
Gruner Veltliner: Adelaide Hills; Hahndorf Hill	As Chard	Mid Mar	11.5	3.3	6.9	3.5

Source: Sue Carpenter, Lark Hill, and Larry Jacobs, Hahndorf Hill, Personal communications.

Fiano

Fiano is a very old white variety from the southern region of Campania, Italy, grown at altitudes of between 300 and 500 m. The Fiano d’Avellino has been shown to be different from the Fiano and Minutolo from Bari. The wine has appealing texture and great freshness—like fresh viognier, pomme fruits, florals and honey (Mark Lloyd; Anon. 2010). Fiano has midseason budburst and early to mid ripening—late for a white variety—and retains high acidity. In Australia there are 26 producers—up 63 per cent from 2010—for example, Ducks in a Row, Coriole and Chalmers.

Arneis

Arneis is one of Italy’s distinctive white wines from Piedmont in the north of the country. The wine can be made into a range of styles with a variety of aromas and fruit—for example, peach, almonds and pears. It has early budburst and early to midseason ripening. The vine tends to be quite fruitful and vigorous with thick-skinned berries.

Vermentino

Vermentino is a white variety found in Liguria, Sardinia, Piedmont, Italy, and Corsica and Provence in France under various synonyms. The wine is aromatic, with crisp, dry, lemony acidity and minerality. It has early to midseason budburst with midseason ripening and is high yielding. There are 41 producers in Australia—an increase of 58 per cent from 2010.

Savagnin

Savagnin is grown in France, northern Italy and Austria. The wine has Riesling-like acidity and citrus, a Pinot Gris-like palate with a crisp, spicy finish (Darren Golding, Personal communication) and was favourably equated to Albarino when it was known under that name. It has early season budburst with early to midseason ripening and is generally a robust variety to grow. In Australia there are 35-plus producers—for example, Tscharke, Crittenden and Golding Wines.

Red Varieties

Tempranillo

Tempranillo is possibly about to emerge out of the alternative variety category in Australia. It is widely grown in Spain and Portugal, and makes great young wines, aged wines and fortified wines. The flavour of the wine has been described as a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir with wonderful fruit.

It has early season budburst, early to mid-season ripening and tends to have low acidity. There have been reports of sensitivity to drought. In Australia there are currently 286 producers—up 45 per cent from 2010—for example, Mt Majura, Yalumba and Crabtree Watervale.

Dolcetto

Dolcetto is from Piedmont, northern Italy. The wine is medium bodied, fresh, deep-crimson red, with typical cherry flavours, and often prunes and liquorice. It has early season budburst and early to midseason ripening. It might need careful management with crop and shoot thinning and possibly early harvest to avoid bunch split. Australia has 38 producers, including Bests (where it was known as Malbec) and Crittenden.

Sagrantino

Sagrantino is from Umbria, central Italy. The wine has great structure, high colour, phenols and tannins, with forest fruits, violets and vanilla (Walpole 2008). It has mid to late-season budburst and mid to late-season ripening. In Australia there are 12 producers including Coriole, Olivers and Chalmers.

What Will the Canberra Region Produce in 2050?

With current predictions of climate change, does one’s planning include a gradual changing of the varietal mix, as ability to ripen expands the possibilities? This could include planting Tempranillo and Dolcetto now, Sagrantino in 10 years, and later-maturing varieties such as Nero d’Avola and Aglianico in 30 years.

Conclusion

Interest in alternative varieties is increasing in Australia, and it appears that there is great potential in the current economic and climatic environment—a changing scenario. We have some information about the varieties, but to assist good, informed decision making by growers, Australia needs more comparative information and trials in regions established to determine the best fit for these new varieties. There is no guarantee of success in the development of a new variety, and careful consideration and research as to the appropriate variety for a specific area still need to be undertaken.

References

Anonymous, 2010, ‘Fiano’, Australia New Zealand Wine Industry Journal, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 69–73.

Antcliff, A. J., 1976, ‘Variety identification in Australia. A French expert looks at our vines’, The Australian Grapegrower & Winemaker.

Dry, P. R. and Dry, N. S., 2010, Emerging varieties from the Mediterranean workshop, Fourteenth AWITC, Adelaide.

Dry, P. R. and Coombe, B. G., 2004, Viticulture. Volume 1: Resources, [Second edition], Winetitles, Adelaide.

Gladstones, J., 1992, Viticulture and Environment, Winetitles, Adelaide.

Gladstones, J., 2011, Wine, Terroir and Climate Change, Wakefield Press, Adelaide.

McKay, A. D., Crittenden, G. J., Dry, P. R. and Hardie, W. J., 1999, Italian Winegrape Varieties in Australia: Exploring the potential of Barbera, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Dolcetto and Arneis, Winetitles, Adelaide.

Schneider, A. et al., 2009, ‘Contributo all’identificazione dei principali vitigni’, Calabrese Frutticoltura, nos 1–2, pp. 46–55.

Tassie, L., Dry, P. R. and Essling, M., 2010, Alternative Varieties: Emerging options for a changing environment. Research to practice, AWRI, Australia.

Walpole, M., 2008, The viticultural challenges of alternative varieties, Presentation to Queensland College of Wine and Tourism, <http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/>