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80 WINES&VINES August 2016 WINEMAKING WINE EAST Another result of this fermenta- tion was intensity of flavors was stated by Bruce Regalia, head winemaker at Materra | Cunat Family Vineyards, Napa, Calif. "The wine tasted good. It was a little more intense. I have made Caber- net Franc from the vineyard (we used in this study) before; I would have to say that it was a little more intense. The automatic punch is the biggest advantage." (See page 50 for more information about Ma- terra's new winemaking facility.) Research Vitec Parc Tecnologic Del Vi in the Priorat region of Spain harvested Tempranillo, Grenache Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon and fer- mented them in GOfermentors and in traditional tanks. Their findings showed the GOfermentor had a fermentation curve that was virtu- ally a straight line from start to finish, whereas the standard fer- mentation had a longer lag phase then rapidly sped up to a faster drop in Brix, only to slow down toward the end. They both finished fermentation on the same day. Vitec also constructed spider graphs from wines made during the harvest from both methods of fermentation. Their report stated: "GOfermentor wine obtained higher ratings for almost every attribute evaluated, except for both petroleum and vegetative descriptors. GOfermentor wine obtained a better overall rating." The parts and pieces The bag has a screwcap fitting that allows CO 2 to escape but also al- lows for introduction of amend- m e n t s i n t o t h e b a g d u r i n g fermentation. The temperature probe inside the bag keeps tabs on the fermentation's temperature; a glycol switch is activated if needed, based upon the set point of the temperature probe. While the bag is obviously the implementer of this new means of fermentation, the controller is the invention that manages the opera- tion of the bags. (It hangs on the side of the specially designed bin that holds the bag.) The device is simple to set up. It has an LED screen for input and choices for op- eration. The controller pumps air into the bag and exhausts the air from the secondary compartment. This forces the juice in the primary compartment to move from under the cap to fully infuse the cap. When reviewing a developing product, many questions can arise about the direction the project is going. One of the first questions that came up was the relative cost of the controller per unit versus the product that could be pro- duced. A solution proffered by wineries using the device was that one controller should manage more than one fermentor bin to spread the cost of operation to more than 1 ton of fruit at a time. The concept envisions a manifold that connects the pumping of air into the compression compart- ment. In this way, multiple totes could be controlled. GOfermentor will sell the con- troller, bags and various accesso- ries needed to control the bag. The bins can be leased for a harvest season if the winery does not want to own them. Conclusion From my experience working with GOfermentor, I believe there is a significant place in the wine indus- try for this product, because it al- lows such a degree of control over your fermentation that even in poor years, decent wines are likely to be vinted, and in good years, a winery can get more out of its fruit. Dr. Richard Carey is a wine consultant with Tamanend Wine Consulting in Lancaster, Pa. He has written numerous articles about new technologies for the grape and wine industry as well as a series of articles on laboratory analyses in Wine East. Bird Netting EASTERN WINE LABS Serving the Analytical needs of East Coast Wineries WWW.EASTERNWINELABS.COM Ph 609-859-4302 Cell 609-668-2854 chemist@easternwinelabs.com AOAC Member The quantity of fruit at harvest is never completely predictable. GOfermentor bags give winemakers containers to ferment additional lots of wine.