Single Use Liner Reduces Use of Water, Sulfites. Eliminates the press.
The GOfermentor is used by many commercial wineries all over the world. One of the interesting features is the ability to add fermentation capacity within days. If a winery is suddenly faced with a larger than planned amount of grapes they can simply get a GOfermentor shipped to them and be running in just days from order.
Meera and Vijay Singh
The GOfermentor ferments the grapes to wine in a single-use plastic liner. The liner is supplied new each time and no washing is necessary. Punching is done by periodically inflating a separate chamber with air. This can be done on a user-set schedule reducing labor. Up to one ton of grapes can be processed per batch. The pressure and motion of the inflating air bladder during the automated punch disperses the cap during fermentation, keeping it moist. It also provides more uniform temperatures reducing the possibility of “reductive” odors.
On completion of the fermentation, the wine can be pressed out using the built-in press. No external press is needed. The inflation chamber simply squeezes the must, 150 gallons/ton, through a perforated screen leaving the waste pomace in the liner which can be used as compost.
There is no exposure to air during fermentation or pressing. Minimal water (90% less) is required for cleaning and little waste water is generated. The liner itself is disposed of in an environmentally responsible fashion, where it biodegrades in a landfill. For the next fermentation, a new liner is used.
The advantages of the cost-effective GOfermentor are numerous:
- No installation is required.
- There is 90% less water usage with no cleaning involved.
- The machine contains a labor-saving, built in press; pomace remains in liner for easy disposal.
- The punch and press are completely automated and available on a smart phone app.
- The machine provides homogeneous mixing, there are no temperature variations from center to side, therefore no reductive smells.
- Quality of wine is enhanced, producing superior color extraction, flavor and aromatics.
The GOfermentor was developed to bring 21th Century processing techniques to winemaking. It was invented by Dr Vijay Singh, an expert in pharmaceutical bioprocessing. He used his background in fermentation and disposables to make a winemaking machine that requires no cleaning with the objective to eliminate waste water generation. The resulting device is simple to use and inexpensive – a complete system capable of processing 1 ton is less than $ 2000. Another objective was to eliminate the need for a costly and labor-intensive press. However, ultimately the machine had to make superior wine. This was ensured by his wife Meera, a WSET Level 3 sommelier.
Development of the GOfermentor begun in 2013 and a number of trials were performed in the US, Italy, Australia, and Spain. The ability of the GOfermentor to produce superior wine has been validated in our own winery – Sky Acres Winery – which has won more than 50 prestigious wine awards, including Best in Class at the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle wine competition for their Sky Acres Winery, Black River Red. All made in the GOfermentor.
“Our wine contains no sulfites because the process happens in closed liner; it does not react with air,” Singh confirms. “And one of the best things is that – our system doesn’t require infrastructure. It takes up only a 4×4 foot floor space.”
For information and orders go to: www.gofermentor.com.
