The Wine Studies network is a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers in humanities, social sciences and natural science.

Irma Dupuis on how blockchain applications could shape wine consumer trust.

We engage with industry and other organisations to:

  • Collaborate with communities to build local capacity, social connectedness, and a sense of belonging.
  • Contribute to improving the wellbeing of our communities
  • Find solutions for the use of natural resources and the development of new technologies.
  • Grow our local wine industries and drive investment into the future
  • Our network extends across the College of Human and Social Futures and the College of Engineering, Science and Environment.

Since the 1990s wine growing, winemaking, trade, consumption, and tourism have emerged as drivers of regional economies globally and cultural signifiers of social status in a globalised world. Our researchers create new knowledge about the role of wine in society, especially social equity in the industry. We bring new perspectives to industry problems.

Wine producing businesses and employees are often clustered in regions. Our industry collaborations aim to achieve better futures for regional communities. The proximity of the University of Newcastle's Callaghan, Ourimbah and Port Macquarie campuses to the Hunter Valley and Hastings Valley vineyards and wineries enables a regional focus and we welcome inter-regional, national and international collaborations in wine studies.

Industry and community partnership

Vines, Wine and Identity: The Hunter Valley NSW and Changing Australian Taste was supported by the Australia Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project scheme. This project was undertaken in partnership with the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association (HVWTA) and the Newcastle Museum.

HVWTA

HVWTA is a non-profit incorporated association and the peak body for Hunter Valley wine businesses. The association values our research – as it recorded and preserved the oral history of Hunter wine industry elders, produced an intellectually grounded and reliable history of Hunter wine, and identified heritage sites and vines. We brought also brought these stories together in a significant exhibition at Newcastle Museum (August 2018 to January 2019). The exhibition audience was over 64,000 visitors.

Newcastle Museum

The Newcastle Museum is one of Australia's leading regional museums with a mission to collect, preserve and interpret objects and stories for and about Newcastle and the Hunter; providing access to these in an innovative, inspiring, and engaging way.

The Museum values our collaboration to provide knowledge of the region's wine industry and its history. Our project provided an opportunity for the Museum to actively collaborate as a Partner Investigator and benefit from an untapped archive of artefacts at their doorstep.