Trialing times. Finding out more about English wine

Over the years I have been teaching winemaking at Plumpton College, I have slowly but surely been setting assessment tasks which can engage the students.  One of the assessments that I particularly enjoy setting is the vinification trials. Here year 2 students team-up to make wine that explores a set of vinification treatments using English grapes. They need to research the treatments, help design the trial, carryout the winemaking & analysis and then finally conduct a tasting of the trial wines with the class.

Muller Thurgau

This year we are investigating the following areas:

• Protecting and enhancing aroma in Muller Thurgau wine using enzymes and yeast derivatives.
• Examining the influence of maceration times on Dornfelder red wines
• Investigating the role of yeast strain on Acolon Rose wine
• Investigating new yeast strains on Reichensteiner white wine
• Developing thiol aroma in Bacchus white wine
• Assessing the impact of cold maceration and enzymes on Dornfelder red wines  

Acolon Rose yeast trial

Most of these trials are now underway, with just Reichensteiner to inoculate

Besides examining the impact of the treatments the students get a taste of managing wine ferments which include making correct additions, taking timely and accurate measurement as well as ameliorating potential problems such as hydrogen sulphide and volatile acidity.

Beside the vinification trials we also have a few student project wines being made.  So we also have trials underway that look at different vineyard planting densities of Regner vines, Non-sacchromyces in Pinot Noir to name a couple.

Pressing Regner planting density grapes

So the Rathfinny research winery is being well utilised, with students popping in and out all hours of the day and on weekends tending their ferments, and getting them used to the demands of a vintage.

Jack Ward laboratory at Plumpton College

A tweet by  Dr Belinda Kemp an ex-Plumpton student and more recently ex-lecturer who is now senior scientist at CCOVI Brock University, led me to a recent paper about English & Welsh Winemaking.  In Hugh Clout's article, he outlines some of the important history of the local wine industry.  It makes mention of Jack Ward and the Merrydown drinks company and the important role they played in bring viticulture/oenology back to Britain after it had died out in the early 20th Century.

Fast forward to September 2013 and the Plumpton College wine department is about to expand into its new wing.  The new building has been under construction for just over a year, and will incorporate two significant spaces.  The first is the Rathfinny research winery, a new micro-vinification facility for conducting trials by students and researchers.  This new area was funded by generous donations from Sarah & Mark Driver of Rathfinny Estate, who also gets a mention in Hugh's article.

Rathfinny research winery 

The second area is a newly expanded laboratory for teaching and research, which was made possible by a donation from the Merrydown trust.  This laboratory will be named the Jack Ward laboratory to honour his contribution.

Jack Ward laboratory

Along with these new additions, the changes inspired by the construction have also allowed some additional expansion to the HE student area of the College.  So our students will soon be benefiting from a larger common room, group study rooms and enlarged computer suite.

New HE Computing suite

So the HE students will be here shortly and they will get to study in this area that links to the past with the future, which has all be made possible through the generosity of their predecessors.    

For more information on the project, as well as information how you can assist please go to the Plumpton College Wine Research Centre homepage