Taste of Europe headed to the South West with three new wine varieties set to be produced on our doorstep

South West wine connoisseurs could be enjoying a taste of southern Europe as three new wine varieties are trialled in Bunbury. Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan last week visited the South West to back the development of three new wine varieties from the Mediterranean. Grown by grape growers in the Swan Valley, the varieties were made into wine samples for industry evaluation and consumer assessment at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Bunbury wine laboratory. Ms MacTiernan said the new varieties — prosecco and nero d’avola from Italy, and mencia from Spain — would improve the performance of the WA wine industry as the climate changes, and add a new “pizazz”. “The industry tells us they’re very interested in new varieties and consumers out there are looking for something new and contemporary ... but (the industry is) also very conscious that they need to have varieties that are more resistant to heat and require less rain,” she said. Ms MacTiernan said senior research scientist Richard Fennessi and his team trialled the varieties in small batch wine making, which would now be taken to industry workshops with wine producers. The new varieties were believed to be more heat tolerant and require less water making them well suited to the hotter, drier conditions growers were finding themselves in. “I’m a hugely strong believer in there always being a role for government in ag R&D,” Ms MacTiernan said. “We need to be there doing the science, helping growers in that early adoption phase. It’s never been more important than it is now with climate change, we have to make sure we’re doing the work to make sure we’re resilient.”