Australian wine analysis services Vintessential Laboratories and Winechek are now trading as Winechek.

The name change follows the purchase of Vintessential by Winechek in 2021 which between them have laboratories in the Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Orange, Margaret River and Tasmania.

Dr Alana Seabrook, technical communications manager for Winechek, said the group has made significant capital investments in new equipment to conduct an increased number of specialised analyses in its major laboratories, giving customers easier access to these tests in the Western Australian, South Australian and Victorian wine regions.

“The original laboratories were built to support local winemakers in their regions. They sought to do this through the development of targeted analysis as well offering routine chemistry and wine testing,” she said.

Seabrook said the purchase of Vintessential Laboratories by Winechek had expanded the reach and expertise of the group.

“Merging the two businesses to help create a single trading Winechek group is the natural progression to create a well-resourced laboratory group that have a significant footprint Australia wide. The aim of the group is to provide precision-based expertise and offer context that comes with a number,” she said, adding the laboratory teams had an enhanced focus on highly specialised analysis including molecular techniques, volatile phenols via GC-MS, allergens as well as routine chemical and microbial analysis.

“Our aim is to build a knowledge base by leveraging our international resources in conjunction with the collective group expertise that can support the Australian wine industry both at a regional and national level.”

Are you a Daily Wine News subscriber? If not, click here to join our mailing list. It’s free!