Making Premium Wine And Tea

Abstract

The South African government sees agriculture and the processing of agricultural products as a promising avenue for creating jobs and boosting the economy. It is investing in research projects to get farmers in South Africa interested in growing emerging products such as honeybush, a plant used to make a sweet, floral, honeylike tasting tea. But when it comes to more established products, such as wine, industry provides the lion’s share of R&D money, with the government kicking in a small amount of funds. From dark, velvety pinotage to fruity, lip-puckering chenin blanc, South African wine is growing in popularity worldwide. The industry takes quality seriously and, along with the government, is investing in scientific research to find out what tastes and aromas consumers prefer. At Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Wine Biotechnology, in the heart of South Africa’s wine-growing region, researchers are integrating chemical profiling of wine with analysis of the ...