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38 WINES&VINES January 2016 WINEMAKNG without touching the acidity. Barrett was skep- tical at first but now thinks STARS is "pretty cool. It doesn't harm the wine; there are no off, cooked or synthetic flavors or aromas. It simply lowers pH." Oenodia processed the wine in half a day, and Barrett said she would definitely use it again, adding, "The wines are happily aging in cave right now." Petar Kirilov is the winemaker for Mead- owcroft Wines in Sebastopol, Calif., producing between 20,000 and 25,000 cases per year. He uses electrodialysis to decrease processing time, improve wine quality, and for sustain- ability. Kirilov pulls wine out of the barrel, gets it heat stable and then brings in Oenodia to pro- vide cold stability, noting, "Everything can hap- pen in one week." The method improves wine quality by "bringing the fruit up" and providing a fresher flavor, plus pH can be adjusted at the same time, if needed. He sees STARS as relatively green. It saves a lot of energy. It does use some water, but when compared to the amount of water and chemicals needed to clean tartrate-encrusted tanks, it may not be worse. Maintaining wine purity is important to Kirilov, who notes that STARS avoids an "ad- dition" to wine. (He tries to avoid fining agents for the same reason.) When evaluating a piece of new equipment like STARS, I recommend avoiding the trap of looking at it as a capital equipment purchase. Like most expensive systems, it can be brought in as needed, along with an experienced techni- cian. You pay only a per-liter fee. Compare your "rental" cost to the total cost of chilling (elec- tricity, wine losses, labor to clean tanks, etc.) Tartrate crystal inhibitors Since 2009, Hoss Milone has been the wine- maker at Brutacao Cellars, which produces 60,000 cases of estate wines in Hopland, Calif. Their brands include Brutocao and Bliss. Milone says cost and sustainability are seri- ous issues, noting, "I don't own PG&E (electric company) stock, so standard cold stabilization just isn't an option." He started inhibitor trials four years ago and now uses CMC (Celstab) for all Chardonnay and rosé wines, and man- noproteins (Mannostab) for Sauvignon Blanc. He observes that CMC flattened out acidity, whereas Mannostab did not, and that CMC adds to mid-palate mouthfeel. For reds, abso- lute cold stability isn't critical, so Brutocao will simply chill for 24 hours at 40° F to remove excess tartrates. The winemaker says Brutocao went through a learning curve, noting that wines must be heat stable and filtered prior to treatment. Milone had great support from Laffort, which assisted with trials to determine addition levels and quality effects. Milone has observed that he needs to add these products at least 48 hours before bottling to prevent polish filters from getting clogged. He suggests that wine- makers new to tartrate stabilization additives send wines to an outside lab for tartrate stabil- ity testing. Milone notes that using crystal inhibitors simplifies cellar operations by saving two to four weeks of getting wines ready for bottling. While the mannoprotein product is about four times more expensive than CMC, it's still much Consumers often find chilled bottles emerge from the refrigerator with tartrate crystals as souvenirs. 707 486 4651 domingo.rodriguez@oenodia.com www.oenodia.com 96 Sustainable innovative wine processing solutions for TARTRATE STABILIZATION & pH ADJUSTMENT Immediate & Guaranteed Tartrate Stability Enhanced Wine Quality Additives Wine Loss Waste % Energy Savings % Water Usage ZERO