Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/197145
W I N EM A K I N G lio nel trudle Highlights • asic cleaning, regular sanitation B and sterilization are three key steps for winery cleanliness. • inery design and choice of cleaning W materials can facilitate sanitation. • ince they're designed to carry materials S downward, gravity-flow systems need to receive vigorous upward cleaning. The fermentation cellar at Culmina Family Estate Winery south of Oliver, B.C., features high-density floor tiles and galvanized steel wall panels. Clean Wineries for Quality Wines Winemakers reveal their strategies for building and sanitizing the cellar By Peter Mitham C onsumers rely on the process of pasteurization to keep milk and fruit juices fresh, but for winemakers, fermentation is a must. Sanitation and clean premises are still key concerns, however. Winemakers don't want just any kind of fermentation taking place, they're maitre d's at a bacterial banquet ensuring the finest experience for their guests' last supper. "The risk is that if we have a problem in the wine—the bacteria's response, the yeast's response—you spoil the wine, you've lost the wine," said Pascal Madevon, winemaker at Culmina Family Estate Winery south of Oliver, B.C. "We want to produce high-quality wine, so it's very important that the cleaning is good, because we don't want any fear or deviation. The process needs to be very clean, to be sure we have exactly what we want: no bacteria, no development of what we don't want." 34 W in es & V i ne s Nov e m be r 20 13 Design can help Design and the choice of equipment can help foster and facilitate effective sanitation in the winery cellar. Adequate lighting and ventilation, specific areas for cleaning barrels and building systems that deliver reliable hot water are key, as are subtle elements such as sufficient slope to the floors so that liquids flow toward a trench drain rather than pooling in corners and crevices where they can harbor colonies of microorganisms. Culmina and many other wineries specify high-density, non-porous concrete for their crush pads and cellar floors. At Culmina, the fermentation cellar features high-density tiling from Germany's Agrob Buchtal GmbH, while the barrel cellar is coated with Sika PurCem polyurethane from the Sika Group of Switzerland. It is easy to clean, shock-resistant and also anti-microbial in nature. "It means in the cellar the floor is always clean, because the surfaces are perfect for that," Madevon said. Walls also receive attention at Culmina: They're clad with galvanized steel fabricated at Samson Metals Inc. in Surrey, B.C. The covering ensures that splashed wine washes off easily without stains or residues. A similar, easy-to-clean approach informs the choice of cellar purchases. "Cleaning is an important consideration when I choose the equipment," Madevon said. A vibrating sorting table from Bucher Vaslin lacks a belt, eliminating moving parts that can catch berries and MOG, all of which are organic matter than can create breeding grounds for microorganisms. It's efficient at sorting and saves time at clean up (though Madevon estimates the winery's crew spends three hours per day during crush cleaning equipment). Similarly, the destemmer is a Delta Oscillys destemmer crusher that has fewer moving parts than older models and reduces the effort required to clean the equipment from organic material and residues.