A few weeks before the beginning of the harvest, wineries are looking to achieve the best results despite the uncertainty that comes with each year. Unforeseen events that arise every year can affect wine quality.
In this post, we intend to help all oenologists when it comes to planning for this coming year, with out knowledge and controls associated with improving the management of processes, the precision of treatments and planning.
The introduction of Industry 4.0 in the wine sector has facilitated automation and digitization. The installation of specific parameter sensors improves production processes. This gives us detailed knowledge on the needs of the wine, helping to maximize attention to the evolution of wine and minimizing the work necessary. Obtaining more natural wines is not only a demand of the market, but also benefits wine quality, making it possible to focus only on those operations or treatments that improve the wine.
The use of sensors makes it possible to monitor certain parameters such as the electrochemical potential or RedOx potential, especially important when we want to obtain a wine with a very specific aromatic profile. In addition to seeing precisely the state of oxidation (reduction of wine at any time of production), we can work on specific and critical points for its evolution:
- Nutrition management can be carried out from another point of view, associating each type of nutrient to the conditions of yeast development and not to the consumption of sugars.
- The oxygen inputs can be adjusted to the real needs of the wine and not to usual work protocols that do not assess their effect on each particular varietal.
- Knowledge of the processes and, therefore, their reproducibility over the years is facilitated.
- The benefits of carrying out specific treatments are valued, allowing to improve the management of inputs.
- All this, making it easier to obtain specific aromatic profiles sought by consumers.
In this video, Rebeca Lapuente, Agrovin Group Technical Consultant, gives us the details of how to do this with practical examples:
PARAMETER CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT
The Agrovin Group has the answer on how to accurately measure both the wine’s electrochemical potential, as well as other parameters during production, through two monitoring systems: Tank Control and Electrowine.
TANK CONTROL
This is a fixed multi-parameter system that allows real-time monitoring of electrochemical potential, as well as other parameters throughout the fermentation and conservation of wines.
Thanks to this system, we can obtain information on parameters such as density, temperature, level and electrochemical potential so that we can make the proper decisions regarding the oxygen supply during each phase.
Tank Control can be installed from scratch or applied to a previous installation in the warehouse thanks to the work and advice of the technicians of the group who perform a preliminary study to consider both possibilities.
Its advantages include:
- Optimizing resources:
- Optimization of human resources
- Energy savings of 35% or 40% in the use of pumps and cooling systems
- Optimization of material resources. The resources necessary will be used because we will be able to have optimized information on the process
- Solve problems because we can prevent and predict situations that can lead to a deviation
- Reduce sulphur content
- Avoid mistakes
- Improve wine quality
- Obtain information from each vintage to reproduce the same processes in the following years, and have the same linearity and homogeneity in the wine profile
It is a portable system that makes it possible to see the redox potential of wines in different types of containers, such as barrels or tanks, and, in addition, manage oxygen through the addition of oxygen while monitoring its effect on the wine profile.
Both systems are vital for controlling and monitoring the different production processes to achieve a quality wine with the desired profile, while serving to reduce costs and make the wineries increasingly responsible and efficient.
It is easily installed and can be coupled to installations in progress or commissioned from scratch thanks to our team of engineers who will take care of the assembly, commissioning and monitoring in real time to avoid any unforeseen events.
For more information, contact our technicians at emanuele.biondo@agrovin.com