For Canadian wineries, producing a consistent, high-quality wine is becoming more challenging. That’s because warmer temperatures and increasingly unpredictable growing seasons can change the sugar, acids and other compounds in grapes.
For Volta Estate Winery in Prince Edward County, and other Canadian wineries, meeting this challenge goes beyond just doing more testing. It involves getting the right information at the right time.
Benoît Lessard, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Engineering and head of the Lessard Research Group, sees an opportunity for his field to support winemakers.
“Climate change is making it harder for wineries to produce the same high-quality wine year after year,” says Lessard. “By giving winemakers real-time information, they can make better decisions, adapt to changing conditions, reduce waste and not only maintain quality but continually refine their processes to produce even better wines.”
“Working with Volta Estate from the very beginning has ensured that we’re solving real problems faced by winemakers, not just developing technology in a laboratory.”
Dr. Benoit Lessard
— Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at uOttawa
A clearer picture of what’s happening in the wine
At the centre of this work is Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, paired with complementary lab analysis at uOttawa. FTIR can rapidly measure key components in wine, including sugar levels, acidity, alcohol content and phenolic compounds, without altering the sample.
Most winemaking decisions today rely on periodic lab testing. These tests provide valuable information, but they’re snapshots of a process that’s constantly changing.
Lessard and his research team are developing a technological system that could give winemakers a more complete, real-time picture of those changes. He describes it as “almost like a fitness tracker for the winemaking process.”
By continuously monitoring key chemical markers, the system could help wineries identify changes earlier, make adjustments when they matter most and better understand how decisions during production affect the final product.
Harvest and production happen in a compressed window, with different grape varieties, vineyard blocks and fermentation lots moving through different stages at once. For Volta Estate, earlier insight could mean fewer reactive moves and more informed decisions.
“The greatest opportunity is to become more proactive rather than reactive,” says the team at Volta Estate, describing how the technology could change their approach. “Earlier insight into the trajectory of key production processes gives us greater confidence to make small adjustments at the right time, before potential issues become noticeable through sensory evaluation or require larger interventions later.”
Using engineering in winemaking
The collaboration with Volta Estate began with a shared interest in using data and technology to better understand wine production in Prince Edward County’s unique cold climate. For Lessard, having the winery involved from the beginning helps ensure the research addresses practical challenges for winemakers.
“Working with Volta Estate from the very beginning has ensured that we’re solving real problems faced by winemakers, not just developing technology in a laboratory,” he says.
Funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada made the project possible.
The partnership brings together different kinds of expertise. Researchers contribute engineering methods, analytical technologies and scientific rigour. Meanwhile, the winery brings years of experience in agriculture and winemaking, along with a detailed understanding of the realities of commercial production.
For Volta Estate, that combination has been one of the most valuable parts of the collaboration.
“Engineering brings a systematic way of asking questions, designing experiments and validating results that complements the practical knowledge developed through years of farming and winemaking,” say partners at Volta Estate on what stood out most about working with engineers and researchers throughout the project.
The goal isn’t simply to collect more data. It’s to turn data into information that can help winemakers make better decisions while preserving what makes the region’s wines distinctive.
“Every vintage teaches you something, but better information allows you to learn earlier and act with greater confidence,” says Chris Thompson, winemaker at Volta Estate. “If research helps us make fewer interventions while allowing the vineyard and the wine to express themselves more naturally, that’s a win for both quality and the character of Prince Edward County wines.”
From Prince Edward County to Canada’s agri-food sector
While the current project focuses on wine, the analytical approaches the Lessard Research Group is developing have uses across agriculture and food production.
The group has developed chemical sensors to help cannabis growers monitor crop development and make more informed harvesting decisions. Future projects include sensors to rapidly characterize bitter acids in hops for brewing and point-of-care sensors that could help detect livestock diseases earlier.
The broader goal is to develop practical analytical tools that help producers respond to changing conditions, reduce waste and identify problems earlier.
For Volta Estate, research partnerships like this could also strengthen Canada’s wine industry by helping producers gain knowledge that can be shared across vineyards.
“Research is one of the most meaningful investments we can make in the future of Prince Edward County wine,” says Sean Keith, vice-president, strategic partnerships, at Volta Estate. “By bringing together producers and researchers, we’re building knowledge that extends well beyond a single vineyard or vintage.”
That knowledge, ultimately, is in service of something older than any technology.
“Wine has always been a conversation between people and place. Science doesn’t replace that — it enriches it,” says Gianni Del Degan, founder of Volta Estate. “Every new insight helps us better understand our vineyards, our climate and our region so future generations can continue telling the story of Prince Edward County through the wines they produce.”
