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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-03 Daily Xml
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No-Alcohol and Low-Alcohol Wine Research Facility

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister please inform the chamber about the world's first no and low-alcohol investment led by South Australia?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in this sphere. I recently had the privilege of launching the no and low-alcohol wine trial-scale research facility (known as NOLO for short, for obvious reasons) at the Hickinbotham Roseworthy Wine Science Laboratory at the University of Adelaide Waite campus, and it was an excellent event.

South Australia is indisputably Australia's wine state, producing 50 per cent of all bottled wine and 80 per cent of all premium wine. Adelaide is also home, of course, to world-class wine education through an important cluster of research bodies, including the University of Adelaide, the Australian Wine Research Institute and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).

I am advised that the global NOLO wine market is valued at over $1.5 billion, and it is rapidly growing across the globe. Currently, Australian wine producers have about 5 per cent of that market share, but there are clearly great opportunities to be able to expand that further. For this reason, and many others, the Malinauskas Labor government is proud to partner with the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wine Research Institute to invest $1.98 million into the creation of this NOLO trial-scale facility.

The trial-scale facility will provide opportunities for South Australian wine producers to undertake product development in what is a low-risk setting and will enable them to commercialise their products sooner. One of the particular benefits of this trial-scale facility is that producers will be able to experiment on as little as 150 litres of wine, whereas the current existing facilities require 10,000 litres of wine, which is very difficult for smaller producers to avail themselves of. Being able to use this facility for as little as 150 litres will be a big step forward.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wine Research Institute now also have the best opportunity to make strong progression in the flavour, in the aroma and in the texture retention of NOLO products. I had the great pleasure of being able to sample some of the products that were already there, and I must say the 7 per cent alcohol white wine was very, very pleasant, and I can see some great commercial opportunities happening around that one, but there is still clearly more work that needs to occur for the no-alcohol options.

With research and development of NOLO wines taking place here in South Australia by researchers and our innovative wine producers, the South Australian wine sector can capitalise on this generational opportunity to diversify the wine product range to expand markets and build resilience both in traditional but also in non-traditional markets. The facility is open to wine businesses now. Anyone who wants to learn more and register can visit pir.sa.gov.au/nolo.

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