Insight into an Innovative & Sustainable Winemaking
Solution
As the temperatures in many winemaking regions continue to rise, both the wine’s pH and the increase in potassium levels are presenting more of a challenge for winemakers, particularly those for which consistent, high-quality sensory profiles and color are critical. Many winemakers have found the solution with Oenodia STARS®
In OENODIA’s recent WIN Educational webinar, “STARS®— A Solution for Modern Winemaking”, Damien Monnet, Sales Manager for Oenodia North America, is joined by 3 winemakers, to outline the technology and discuss their specific experiences with the STARS® Line of Equipment, the impact it has had on their operations and why they would recommend it as a sustainable solution.
“I wanted to show that STARS® is not a black box,” said Damien. “We know exactly why everything happens and why and when you can use each feature.” Damien presents an outline of the membrane-based technology, which utilizes STARS® Electrodialysis to remove wine tartrates, and highlights some of the key benefits such as enhanced wine quality, zero wine loss, zero additives, power and water savings as well as its role in pH management.
After the presentation, the winemaker panel discusses each of their own experiences with the technology and gives some insight as to why they choose this technology over the more traditional options. Each presents a different viewpoint both from stationary units to Mobile Service, still wines to sparkling and from a mid-size winery to a custom-crush or global brand. STARS® isn’t just for custom crush and sparkling wines; it benefits all winery sizes and white, Rosé and red wines.
Cameron Parry is the Director of Winegrowing at Groth Wines and a STARS® Mobile Service customer for over 10 years. “Prior to coming to Groth,” he says “we had used STARS® Electrodialysis on Chardonnay at my previous winery. With traditional cold stabilization, we had to run our chillers in July, the hottest month of the year, which resulted in high energy usage. Moving to STARS® allowed us to keep the wine in the cave longer and stabilize in a single pass right before bottling in August. Here at Groth, it keeps Sauvignon Blanc in barrel for an extra month, sitting on its lees and getting a little more creaminess from yeast autolysis.” Cameron adds, “we also saw significant savings of product not being lost in the slurry.”
Manveer Sandhu, an award-winning Director of Winemaking at Rack & Riddle Custom Wine Services where a stationary unit has been in place for over 8 years. “I can attest to the growth in our bottling capacity year after year,” says Manveer. “STARS® saves time and allows more flexibility in planning and scheduling. We’re bottling 1.7 million cases of sparkling and still wine, and that would not have been possible without being able to process them quickly and efficiently through the cellar.” He adds “Education on how it works is essential for our clientele because it is very different than what winemakers are used to seeing. Once they understand and witness the marvels of this machine, we have them hooked for life.”
Ludovic Dervin, of The Essentialist Winemaker, closes out the panel with a more global perspective and 20 years of experience working with Electrodialysis units. His advice? “Whether you are designing a new facility or expanding an existing structure, you should look into Electrodialysis. You can significantly boost cost-benefit and ROI by using it as your primary tartrate stabilization process. It lowers the refrigeration system load requirement, allowing you to use a smaller unit, less expensive tank jacketing coverage, and fewer tanks.” Like Cameron, Ludovic espouses the benefits relating to wine loss, noting, “It varies from winery to winery, but wine saved ranges from 0.5% – 1.5%. The best way to determine your potential savings is to work through a few treatments with a mobile service.”
“Oenodia is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to innovative solutions to challenges faced by the winemaking community,” says George Christie, President and CEO of Wine Industry Network, “and the STARS® system is certainly an incredible example of that.”
Oenodia will be in attendance at the UNIFIED Virtual Conference and Tradeshow in January so stop by for more information or contact Damien Monnet directly at 707-302-4554. www.oenodia.us
Watch the STARS®— A Solution for Modern Winemaking webinar for more details.
