Because of its mild microclimate, Windsor-Essex has developed a well-deserved reputation for excellence in wine making, but not all local vintners have access to the cutting-edge scientific technology that can take their product to the next level.

Enter the University of Windsor Agri-Food and Beverage lab: a newly established and globally unique facility under the supervision of chemistry professor John Trant.

The lab offers both an experiential learning opportunity and a service for winemakers, brewers, and distillers in the region.

“Along with standard measurements of wine content like alcohol, sulfur, and sugar, we are offering several services to our local industry partners,” Dr. Trant says. “Processes like heat and cold stabilization that will show unstable grape proteins which present as a cloudy wine or naturally occurring tartaric acids that fall out of solution forming ‘wine diamonds,’ which the average consumer does not want to see in their wine. We also offer custom research solutions to new problems where there are no off-the-shelf solutions.”

Students working in the lab participate fully in the work, handling samples, running machines, and understanding analyses, allowing them to grow as researchers and giving them in-demand skills.

Learn more in the full article, “Science in support of local business,” published in the Research and Innovation in Action report.