The FRESHWINES R&D project to improve the freshness of Spanish wines and boost their international competitiveness begins
Madrid, April 2, 2019 - The Board of Directors of the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) has approved and launched the R&D consortium project FRESHWINES under the title 'Ecological and technological strategies to improve the freshness of Spanish wines'. This initiative starts with a budget of more than 2 million euros, co-financed by the CDTI with FEDER Funds of the European Union within the framework of the Interconecta call, and has the purpose of increasing the value of Spanish wines through their freshness. Thus, it aims to boost its competitiveness and satisfy a growing international demand that is oriented towards the consumption of this wine profile.
The FRESHWINES project arose as a response to recent market studies that revealed the existence of a clear discordance between the wine profiles preferred by international consumers and the standard profiles of Spanish wines from different areas. This discrepancy found its raison d'être in the freshness factor, which is rare in Spanish wines. In order to overcome this deficiency, the FRESHWINES consortium has set itself the objective of launching this R&D project that promotes the development of new knowledge and technologies aimed at improving the freshness of Spanish wines, both bottled and in bulk.
For its implementation, FRESHWINES will be based on a series of ecological viticultural strategies in the vineyard and biotechnological strategies in the winery. With respect to the former, the project will apply a series of techniques and technologies to improve grape ripening through a unique and hitherto unknown approach. On the other hand, from the oenological point of view, FRESHWINES will develop a series of biotechnological tools to modulate the freshness of wines, thus developing new wines with profiles according to the current international demand, as well as new biotechnological products focused on the same purpose.
The biotech company Lallemand Bio leads the FRESHWINES consortium, in which Bodega González Byass Jerez, Bodegas Altosa, Bodegas Fontana and Bodegas Comenge also participate as partners. In addition, it has the following collaborating entities: the ENOTEC Research Group of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas (Fundación Premio Arce de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), the Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC) and the Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITA CyL).
The project is expected to last 30 months, from 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2020. It also provides for the creation of 14 direct jobs during the implementation phase of the initiative and 23 indirect jobs to apply the results of the initiative.
ABOUT FRESHWINES
FRESHWINES is an R&D consortium project whose main objective is to promote new knowledge and technologies aimed at improving the freshness of Spanish wines, both bottled and bulk. Through the implementation of ecological viticulture strategies in the vineyard and the application of biotechnology in the winery, this initiative aims to increase the value and competitiveness of Spanish wines by adapting them to the profiles that correspond to the growing international demand.
The company Lallemand Bio leads this consortium in which Bodega González Byass Jerez, Bodegas Altosa, Bodegas Fontana and Bodegas Comenge also participate as partners. The actions planned within the framework of FRESHWINES will take place between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2020. The project has a global budget of €2,312,796 and is co-financed by the CDTI with ERDF funds from the European Union.