Rigorously controlled, independently conducted winery trials
During harvest, in-house wine trials are often overlooked or take up too much valuable time and tank space. That’s where we come in – our team can design and carry out complete trials to meet your needs and budget, all conducted independently in our world-class Research Winery.
Winery trials “from grape to glass”
Our team can conduct winery trials all the way from processing fruit, to bottling, to sensory analysis – all within our purpose-built Research Winery.
Our custom designed fermentation vessels can be configured as variable capacity tanks holding up to 200 litres. They can also be set up to house four separate 17-litre tanks to run four individual fermentations side-by-side, all controlled at the same temperature. This is an important aspect of the tank design, reducing variability between fermentations and providing greater validity to results.
As an independent provider of winery trials, the data and results gathered from our work can be considered and assured unbiased and can be used in marketing collateral or published by the customer.
Why use tonnes of fruit, when we can use just kilograms?
With smaller ferment sizes, we can find out more, without sacrificing significant production volumes.
We offer the convenience of commercial-level trials, designed in collaboration with your team, yet conducted independently.
We operate under scientifically rigorous conditions within our world-class research winery – the only one of its kind in New Zealand.
We provide in-depth reporting of any trials including objectives, methodology, results and recommendations.
Conduct multiple small-batch ferments run side by side in identical conditions to get more data, with less variables
- Our custom-designed tanks can house sets of four individual fermenters (just 17l) each maintained at an identical temperature for directly comparable fermentation data sets.
- Our small fermenters are also designed to mimic the fermentation kinetics and outcomes of commercial winery vessels.
Winery Trial Options
Ingredients & Additives
We can test anything you’re curious about adding to your wine, whether it’s a new yeast, a nutrient, a fining product, or an enzyme.
As these products are almost always developed entirely overseas, we can investigate efficacy with New Zealand wines, from New Zealand grapes, grown in New Zealand conditions. The idea being “test before you invest”
Winemaking Techniques
Usually the “What” the “Where” and the “When” are nonnegotiables in a winery. The most important variable is the “How”. If you’re thinking about doing something a little or a lot differently within your winemaking process – we’re keen to explore new techniques and styles for you.
Viticulture Trials
Testing wine quality after the application of various viticultural treatments. Sprays, Pruning or Cultivation Methods – compare different treatments back-to-back in small-scale ferments with directly comparable data sets.
New Technology
If you are a seller or distributor of winemaking equipment that could be used within our research winery – we’d love to talk about how we can showcase the results from your product.
Get independent sensory analysis on your finished wine
We offer entirely independent, non-biased sensory analysis on your finished wine utilising panels of experienced tasters under rigorous conditions.
Our expert tasting panels can provide accurate evaluation of a wine’s attributes for the presence of off-flavours or determine whether certain external influences are discernible within the finished wine.
We can also conduct comparison testing for quality levels or selected sensory properties.
As wine is so incredibly subjective, sensory analysis is often a real focal point when it comes to research winemaking, so the majority of our trials have this step built-in.
When it comes to assessing the outcome of your trial, it’s important to get a broad spectrum of opinion to help establish an accurate picture of each trial’s results.
Typical commercial sensory services include quality assessment, difference test assessment, descriptive analysis and preference studies.
To discuss sensory analysis – or to learn more about our range of services, please contact us.
Grape-to-glass winery trials customised to your needs.
Hear what one of our clients has to say.
