Beginning of a new era for wine production

Great results with wineCEPT®, creating world-class wines in a more sustainable and efficient way
WineCEPT blog post
The wine industry is facing many challenges, climate change being one, but we are strong believers in an exciting future. A lot of changes are taking place globally and new ways of growing, extracting, and producing wine are emerging. Technological progress is finding its way into a traditional market. The incredible progress and results being made in several technological fields, winemakers are beginning to see the benefits of innovating.
 

wineCEPT® – a new generation of technology for winemaking 

In 2021, OptiCept announced two signed evaluation agreements for the wineCEPT® application for wine treatment. Now the first results have been reported from the French wine producer Vinovalie. A significant impact has been demonstrated which confirms last year’s good results. 

The wines have a greater intensity of color and precursors of aromas due to the increased level of bio components extracted from the grapes. 

Treated wine must, was compared with untreated both before and after fermentation. The tests were compared on different grapes, two white, Sauvignon and Loin de l´Oeuil, as well as three red, Duras, Negrette, and Fer-Servadou. 

For all grapes, increased extraction of wine was noted by up to 8%, slightly higher for white grapes than for red ones. In addition, most of the qualitative properties have been heavily affected. After treatment with wineCEPT®, white wine contains significantly higher levels of polyphenols, phenolic acids, tannins, potassium, and substances that affect color, taste, and aroma. 

Red wines show the same results and up to + 70% higher Anthocyanins. The improved quality has also been achieved in a more efficient process. Maceration could be reduced by half with improved results. 

The next step in the evaluation is a taste test of wine bottled that will be carried out after 6 months of storage. 

 
 

PEF, the European Commission gives its thumbs up. Better technology = better wine?

The European Commission has recently amended Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934 as regards authorized oenological practices thus accepting the use of PEF – Pulsed Electric Field – in the wineries.

At OptiCept we are well prepared having developed the wineCEPT® platform during the last couple of years.

During harvest season 2020 we established a scientific protocol , at INRAE, one of the most worldwide recognized and respected institutes for oenological applications. We tested a CEPT® unit model on the site of Peche Rouche at INRAE, Montpellier, France.

The great results led to an industrial evaluation, that, as mentioned also had a great impact, and we are ready for commercialization.

One big macro factor that has really burst into the public consciousness over the past few years has been the impact of climate change on the wine industry. In some cases, this is the leading to the creation of entirely new wine regions at latitudes once thought unsuitable for making wine. Case in point: Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands are starting to develop world-class wines.

Elsewhere in the world, wineries are heading to higher altitudes. We are firm believers that technologies like CEPT will contribute to a more sustainable world.

Embracing more sustainable methods

Winemakers have spent more of their resources and time reviewing how to improve their production in climate change. On different farms, different techniques are used, depending on the local climate or geography, only certain methods can be used to get a good outcome, eg solar power. A common purpose is to reduce its climate footprint.

With a consumer market that is becoming increasingly climate-conscious and sees benefits in producers who take action to be as climate-neutral or positive as possible, they will continue to be an important player/factor in future wine production. With the wineCEPT® technology, we streamline production and get the most out of every grape, produce less waste, and the result is accordingly a better product. Everyone wins.

With the wineCEPT® technology, we streamline production and get the most out of every grape, produce less waste, and the result is accordingly a better product. Everyone wins.

Two worlds become one

In all forms of development work where you work with an existing product, it is important not to degrade the end product, in most cases, it’s more important to refine it. Make the taste, color, durability, or whatever it may be, better. This is exactly how our work has turned out. We never compromise on refining the end product and our goal will be to never compromise taste. For winemakers, it may seem like an abstract idea to turn to a Swedish high-tech solution. The cultural and historical roots are deep, but we are convinced that with the wine producers’ expertise, knowledge and love for their wine and with our tireless technological progress, together we can change the industry, one machine at a time.

More wine at better quality with wineCEPT®

The wineCEPT® deploys a treatment technology that can be advantageous in several parts of the wine-making process. The treatment targets cell membranes in biomass, rupturing the containing layer and thus releasing the intracellular content.

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