Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/235941
WINEMAKING Innovations Unveiled at SIMEI The latest winemaking technology on display in Italy By Wines & Vines staff The exposition floor at the biennial SIMEI-Enovits show sprawls across four large halls located in an expo center outside of Milan, Italy. T he global wine industry convened near Milan, Italy, in November for that country's largest exposition of winemaking and viticulture equipment. SIMEI-Enovitis 2013, held Nov. 12-16, featured more than 600 Highlights • ertain exhibitors at Italy's SIMEI– C Enovitis trade show were acknowledged for their innovations in winery and vineyard technology. • wards went to products ranging from A barrels with measured oak components to advances in closures to improved vineyard sprayers and more. • isitors to the giant fair and conference V had easy access to Milan, the country's finance and design center. 82 W in es & V i ne s january 20 14 exhibitors, including 140 visiting from other countries. Organizers estimated more than 50,000 people attended the five-day exhibition that also featured seminars about the global and European wine industries. Fiera Milano in Rho, the site of SIMEIEnovitis on the outskirts of Milan, is a sprawling metropolis in its own right. The center features 16 halls, each the size of the main floor of the Sacramento Convention Center (where the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium takes place), lined up in two parallel rows of eight stretching more than 3,000 feet. SIMEI occupied four expo halls. Because of the spacious exposition floor, vendors set up complete bottling lines, displayed their largest tanks and a wide assortment of barrels, bottles and vineyard equipment. Nearly every booth was staffed with supplier representatives fluent in English. In September, the Unione Italiana Vini, which organizes SIMEI, announced the 23 companies that had won awards in the show's Innovation Challenge. A panel of winemaking experts reviewed new technology and equipment submitted by companies and then recognized suppliers that have invested in developing the most inno- vative products. The winners were honored during the official SIMEI opening ceremony Nov. 12 and singled out as some of the highlights at the trade show. Barrel innovations Italian cooper Garbellotto won a technological innovation award for its specific near-infrared technology that measures with a non-destructive method the lactones, vanillin and polyphenol content of barrel stave wood. The process can also determine the aromatic profile of the wood. The composition of all three can vary widely, as will the effect of each on the final product. Garbellotto's export manager, Antonio Carlucci, said by determining the relative concentrations of these wood components the company can find "the right wood and the right staves according to your expectation" for your wines. He said the company can now guarantee the aroma profile of a barrel. Winemakers also will be able to order comparable barrels if they like the results from working with Garbellotto's new scanned barrels. Carlucci said it puts more accurate "science into the selection of wood" and allows "greater consistency in your barrels." Garbellotto barrels are disSee us at Unified booth #15034