Chr. Hansen in new EU-funded project to characterize the community of microorganisms that lies at the heart of wine production

A new four-year project has received a grant of € 4 mill. from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions European Training Network within the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation.

In the project an international collaboration of scientists from a wide range of universities, research institutions, vineyards and private companies aims to characterize the community of microorganisms that lies at the heart of wine production. An improved understanding of the wine microbiome (exploring the relation between terroir and grape micro flora) will have significant effects on the wine industry.

Potential commercialization
“Chr. Hansen is the major industrial partner in this grant and the only one specializing in microbial solutions. One of the outcomes of this study might be the identification of microorganisms with novel application in the wine industry which can potentially be commercialized in future,” says Dr. Hentie Swiegers from Chr. Hansen’s Wine Innovation department.

Dr Swiegers moreover holds a seat on the executive committee of the project, which is led by Professor Lars Hestbjerg Hansen of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Aarhus University, DK.

Chr. Hansen’s role in the project will be to host training sessions for the 15 PhD students from six countries that are studying the vine (grapes) and wine microbiome to characterize it, thereby eventually providing science-based knowledge that can help winemakers control the processes optimally.  

“We take pride in being a partner in this project. Not only does it give us a sharp competitive edge in the industry, it is also a blue stamp of our high scientific profile,” notes Dr Swiegers.

Chr. Hansen is a leading global supplier of wine ingredients. Only last September the company was presented with the 2014 Frost & Sullivan Global Award for New Product Innovation Leadership in wine ingredients. The prestigious award was a recognition of Chr. Hansen’s recent product and technology launches that represent landmarks in enology.

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