But to what extent could Hunter wineries encourage consumers to scan a QR code or unique fingerprint on bottle labels to learn more about where the grapes were harvested, if pesticides or additives were used and the production method?

French-born University of Newcastle student Irma Dupuis is exploring this in her PhD about marketing technology.

The title of her thesis is Blockchain applications: a new era for wine consumer trust. Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to hack, change, or cheat the system.

"When you have a simple label you only have so much space and it's really difficult to communicate everything about your brand, especially if it's things like organic, which is a little bit more complicated," Ms Dupuis said.

"Blockchain is a way of giving people more information about the wine, how it's been made, where the grapes were harvested, the kind of production method, things that have gone into the wine, when it was packaged and when it got to the store."

Scanning labels can bring up written information about certification, tasting notes and food pairing suggestions, as well as videos, images, ways to provide feedback and in the future, interactive maps and virtual reality experiences.

Ms Dupuis said in an Australian context, there were advantages for already-well-educated consumers who want to make even more informed decisions, as well as companies to build brand awareness and customer engagement.

"But it's especially important in countries where you have things like counterfeiting," she said.

"Because consumers in those countries don't really have a lot of reassurance that the products they buy are genuine. It's very difficult to certify wines because there's so many actors in the supply chain that it could be tampered with at any stage, really."

Ms Dupuis has teamed up with industry sponsors, producers Tamburlaine Organic Wines that already use the technology, bottlers First Creek Wines, MCC Label and LAVA Technology Services.

She will do an 'in store' study at the end of the year, using online surveys about what often-time-poor consumers are looking for and gathering anonymous data from label scans, including how long customers spend on a page and what they click on.

"We'll be having a look at how people interact with the technology and see what works and what doesn't and what we need to do to provide the information people want."

Ms Dupuis has completed an undergraduate degree in Chinese studies, a double masters of management and masters of wine business management in Burgundy, plus a Wine and Spirit Education Trust diploma.

She first visited the Hunter in 2016 as an exchange student. She was required when writing her first thesis - about how to communicate with consumers about sustainability in the wine industry - to do a six month internship and contacted Mark Davidson at Tamburlaine, who agreed to take her on as an intern.

She returned to Australia in July 2017 and worked in Tamburlaine's marketing department and did thesis research for six months. She stayed as its marketing manager for the next two years.

Ms Dupuis is one of 17 finalists in UON's Three Minute Thesis competition.

Participants hope to attract collaborators, improve their communication skills and be awarded a share of more than $8000 to advance their research.

Voting for the People's Choice award will close at noon on Tuesday.

Winners will be announced at 5pm on Wednesday