Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/122527
PACKAGING With our in-house 750ml glass bottled wines under either natural corks, synthetic closures, Zork or screwcap, we normally bottle at approximately 0.8 parts per million (ppm) DO2 and 400 ppm DCO2 for reds and 800 ppm DCO2 for whites. With the first run, we achieved DO2 levels of less than 0.5 ppm and DCO2 of approximately 250 ppm. The O2 pickup when manually bagging wine is about 0.5 to 1.0 ppm. The wines gracefully maintained this level fairly well for some time. Research on this packaging format indicated good quality for 12 months. Upon evaluation of the boxed wine, our research indicated that it holds up well for approximately eight to nine months, showing degradation approaching the one-year mark. Utilizing our own equipment, we are making adjustments to our fill times to keep the DO2 pickup to 0.5 ppm or less and expect to observe improved results in 12 months with an increase in life expectancy in the boxed wine. The Pepperwood Grove bag-in-box line now includes a non-vintage Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Moscato (seen at right), Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Old Vine Zinfandel. Regarding shelf-life expectancy, due to the short window for consumption we are a little lighter on SO2 additions prior to BIB production. For our 750ml line, we normally target about 30 ppm free SO2. But with BIB, we dropped that number to between 22 and 25 ppm so that the wines show better when they hit the market upon release. We have not noticed much of a "bottle shock" effect with the wines after going into the bag. There is a little window of awkwardness when the wines accept a little DO2 and appear to be affected by the movement involved in filling a BIB. We have noticed that the product bounces back pretty quickly. Based on our experience, we have determined that boxing runs of 500 12-liter cases is best, while smaller boxing runs seem to cause more damage to the wine. Due to the size of our equipment for processing, each run is most efficient and best for quality at 1,500 gallons minimum. Microbial stability of the boxed wine is very important. Filtration of these wines is a must to prevent microbial problems. Value wines tend to be exposed to more microbes Tanks 225 to 4500 Gallons QUALITY WINE ALWAYS TOP PRIORITY St. Regulus Automatic Fermentor patented managed red wine fermentation, self-pressing KiLR-CHiLR™ Temp Control managed white wine fermentation, storage, and stabilization patented Pioneers in Polyethylene for Wine 25 Years of Experience Thousands of Tanks in Use 208-549-1861 • www.pascopoly.com wine S & vine S M AY 20 13 43