One of the joys of winemaking is mastering the process itself — gaining enough knowledge to tweak it to create signature wines. It takes years to reach this level of expertise, and those years are filled with experimentation.
Many winemakers prefer to use precise measurements to guide their decision-making process.
Winemakers monitor sulfite levels following fermentation, typically every 4‒8 weeks, to ensure sulfite levels remain constant until the wine is bottled. Unfortunately, taking measurements like these can be tedious when done manually, often taking 12‒15 minutes per sample. For a winery with 50‒70 lots, these checks could require an entire week of dedicated lab work each month. Visual assessment of the meniscus in a burette means that the resulting data can lean toward subjectivity.
Most winemakers wouldn’t dream of skipping these important measurements. Yet, the time needed to do them manually and the risk of inaccurate results are impediments to a streamlined process.
Assistant Winemaker Sara Jablow faced this challenge at Far Niente. “We do a lot of barrel fermented Chardonnays and we run everything in-house, so having rapid malic results are important. We don’t go through ML, so we test almost every barrel right at the beginning of fermentation and make sure we’re not seeing any changes. We have about 1500 barrels and being able to quickly analyze those, make sure that the barrel fermented Chardonnay has gone through primary fermentation but not secondary. The overall health of our wines is important and with SPICA, I know exactly what’s going on and can make decisions quickly.”
Those 1500 barrels would take Jablow an exorbitant amount of time using manual paper chromatography. The way to obtain better accuracy and objectivity is through using a quantitative colorimetric assay. Manually, this method would require an impractically long wait time. For Jablow, neither of these approaches met her need for rapid, accurate malic acid measurements.
Far Niente’s solution to this dilemma is Admeo’s automated technology, which also creates an in-house reference lab.
Napa-based Admeo offers several automated analyzers supplied by its founding partner, BioSystems, including SPICA, Y15, Y200, and Y400. Using these instruments elevates measurement from subjective to objective, from indirect to direct. As a result, winemakers like Jablow can confidently assess the malic acid levels in their barrels in real-time and take corrective action.
Jablow is an enthusiastic fan. “I can direct SPICA to run a malic acid mid run and that’s changed my workflow as a winemaker to where the machine is working for me, I’m not working for the machine. It can do anything I need and help me make good decisions quickly, and I can run samples barrel-by-barrel, without it being cost prohibitive to send out. It increases quality because you’re not just deciding based on an assumption. You’re making a decision based on all the information that you could have. You don’t have to think about sending out for a $50 test or pulling 50 mills of a sample, you just need a tiny drop and will get your answer quickly. The training was thorough, and support is prompt and everyone at Admeo is so friendly and accommodating.”
Admeo’s CEO, Margit Svenningsen, explains the value of BioSystems’ technology. “We use direct measurements. It is an enzymatic reaction that is calibrated with traceable standards, meaning that when a reaction takes place with controlled standards and reagents, it creates an in-house reference lab. That is very different from indirect options. I have worked with all of them in my 30 years of doing these measurements. Indirect is fantastic. It’s an easy screening method, but it needs to be vintage calibrated. It also has limitations in that you cannot always get affirmation at the level of concentration you want. The direct metThe direct method is really very powerful because we provide each winemaking team with their own automated reference labhod is really very powerful because we provide each winemaking team their own reference lab with automation.”
Vivienne Ye, Senior Enologist at Charles Krug, agrees. “The SPICA and Y400 make my day a lot easier, I can load the samples and walk away instead of standing there need to watch it. We save water by washing less glassware and since it is automated, I have extra time to collect more samples for analysis. With the time saved, I get to participate more with trials, testing new products or helping the cellar. It freed a lot of time to work on other projects beyond the lab. Our analyses with SPICA and Y400 is precise, really, really fast, and one of the most important things that made us choose Admeo and BioSystems is the team behind it. Admeo’s customer support is fantastic, outstanding!”
Admeo’s analyzers measure a wide variety of analytes, including free sulfite, the analysis that strains wine lab resources the most, and 30 other analytes. In fact, Admeo’s solution is a cost-effective option that can provide in-house automated free sulfite analysis. The newest product line from Admeo includes SteroGlass’ EasyCheck for checking and calcium stability and FLASH2 auto titrator, which measures pH and TA.
To learn more about how Admeo’s technology can automate your wine analysis workflow, visit their website, connect on LinkedIn, or contact Admeo HQ directly at 707-965-9577.
