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January 2016 WINES&VINES 37 WINEMAKING tential positive effects on wine quality. For this column, we spoke to several winemakers cur- rently using these products in order to share their real-world experiences. Electrodialysis (STARS) Pauline Lhote has 13 years of winemaking experience and serves as the winemaker for Domaine Chandon in California's Napa Valley. Chandon makes a wide range of sparkling wines and a substantial amount of still wine. With annual case production of 450,000, Chandon has possibly the most experience of any wine operation using STARS, having started in 2007. Lhote noted that its use has grown to the point that it is the only way Do- maine Chandon tartrate stabilizes its wines. She points out that first effect is on quality, as STARS produces wines with better mouthfeel and balance. Keeping wine at cellar tempera- ture avoids potential oxygen pickup associated with chilling. Lhote said that Oenodia provided excellent training, though it is an easy machine to learn and use. Chandon runs clean, post-cross-flow filtered wine and attains both potassium and calcium stability in one pass. She said the technology has evolved since Chandon ac- quired its unit in 2007 and is now much more automated. Operationally, Lhote likes the immediate stability, saving weeks over chilling methods, and the elimination of lees losses. STARS gives greater certainty to bottling schedules; if you know the exact date that the wine will be cold stable, you can plan your bottling schedule with a high level of certainty. Environmentally, STARS is much more en- ergy efficient and green than mass chilling. The only downside is the water consumption associated with it, which will soon be improved by the acquisition of reverse osmosis equip- ment to recover a substantial amount of the water. At Chandon, 20% of the water is recov- ered, and the balance is treated and used for vineyard irrigation and landscaping. Lhote says electrodialysis is "a great tool for pH adjustment" in place of tartaric acid addi- tions. She explains that California grapes used in sparkling wine have higher pH than French grapes. Electrodialysis allows Chandon to ad- just pH without increasing TA, making grape must more similar to what is found in France. Now the winemaking team adds much less tartaric acid at harvest. Heidi Barrett, owner of the La Sirena and Barrett & Barrett brands in Napa Valley and an independent winemaker for several other world-class boutique wineries, also has used STARS for pH adjustment. Recently she had two lots of Syrah with pH greater than 4.0, plus high TA. The wines would be way too tart if more tartaric acid was added to lower pH. STARS was able to remove the potassium ions Double inside bar 1.5" x 2" bar BIG FOOT has more than double the footprint of a standard two-barrel rack. The BIG FOOT allows you to stack barrels 6 high. With over twice the base, your barrel stacks are more stable. The extremely durable BIG FOOT barrel rack can be powder coated in your favorite color. Contact us for our complete brochure on barrel room layout design. Stockton, CA 95205 209.944.0921 westernsquare.com WESTERN SQUARE I N D U S T R I E S We don't sell forklifts. We just keep them very busy. Why we call it B IG FOO T a product of Western Square Industries