Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/60007
WINEMAKING Among many high-tech filtration innovations, the humble but lovable eSan-Filtertuch pad is a durable, nonabsorbent lees filter cloth that hoses clean in seconds. retains no color, flavor, polysaccharides or bacteria. An aluminum/ titanium-oxide coating determines pore size, asymmetrically applied to facilitate cleaning. The Della Toffolla system employs 6mm ID tubes to accommodate high solids and automatically backflushes with filtrate using nitrogen pressure on a timer. Amazingly small and portable, these well-made workhorse systems come with a 10- year warranty and range from 30 to 170 square meters at a cost of $65,0000-$300,000. Filtrox AG, a Swiss outfit, got a special mention for their remarkable Fibrafix pad, which can reduce as much as 100ppt (that's a lot: the threshold is about 4ppt) of TCA or TCB down to less than 1ppt. Both an impressive analytical table and my own nose provided convincing evidence that the method is both effective and easy on the treated wine. Although normally associated with cork taint, TCA also occurs in wine cellars (there's a reason we call it a "musty" aroma), and if you bottle with screwcaps, the marketplace has near zero tolerance. The best news is that Fibrafix is distributed in California by Heyes Filter Products and in Oregon by Pacific Winemaking LLC. A new lees filter membrane doesn't sound very sexy, but this one blew me away. The revolutionary design of Erbsloeh AG's new monofilament septum, dubbed eSan-Filtertuch, costs no more than conventional cloths. However, it not only improves flow but yields far drier cakes, and in concert with its long-fiber VariofluxxP perlite/cellulose body feed, it is a snap to clean, all it takes is a quick rinse. Imagine a lees filter you can't smell from across the room! Bottling innovations The Gai family's GAI Macchine Imbottigliatrici has, since its inception in 1946, led the world in the manufacture of small bottling systems. "Our systems are built to last decades," explained Gugliemo Gai. "Nobody replaces a bottler because it wears out; they do it because there is some new thing they have to have. To survive, we have to innovate continually." After all these years, Gai has finally developed what we all really wanted all along: a universal system with no change parts. "Making things simple is a very complex undertaking," Gai said. The system includes spring-loaded stars and adjustable screws that can handle diameters from 60mm to 150mm. For systems of 4,000 bottles per hour and up, the adjustment is handled automatically, with adjustable fill and bottle height by PLC. For slower systems, adjustments must be made by the operator, but in much less time than changing out stars. The break-even point for large systems Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2012 63