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WINEMAKING grapes much like the Pellenc optical sorter. Both machines distinguish whole grapes from stems and leaves, then pass the grapes across a row of ejection jets to separate the fruit from any extrane- ous debris. The challenge is to set the optical sorter to discard the jacks, raisins, seeds, stems and unripe fruit in favor of the grapes Dempsey and Sowalsky want to make into fine wine. Both machines permit the winemaker to select fruit by color, size and shape. To adjust the machine, the winemaker defines what to throw away and what to keep. With a digital camera that can be programmed to discern the difference be- tween wanted and unwanted berries, the sorter whisks the selected grapes into one bin and the unsuitable grapes and debris into another. "It's a balance between good grapes falling into the waste bin and jacks, stems, seeds and raisins from falling into the fruit bin," she said. For each load of grapes, the wine- maker evaluates the material from the receiving bins for the grapes and the debris, then resets the machine to refine the process. "We were able to accelerate harvest and improve quality. Hand-harvested and machine-sorted grapes are produc- ing amazing wines." —Winemaker Richard Sowalsky, Clos Pegase More challenging than peas Scientists have evaluated frozen vegetables and coffee beans with optical sorters for years. Bucher Vaslin and Pellenc devel- oped optical sorters for the wine indus- try in France, where they launched the equipment in 2008. A grape fresh from the harvest can pose challenges a pea does not. Technicians need to calibrate the Pel- lenc and Bucher Vaslin optical sorters to measure the difference between a blem- ished and unblemished grapes as well as whole berries vs. raisins. But reports from the winemakers testing the technology in the U.S. are favorable. Following a challenging growing season and unpredictable weather events, winemakers Sowalsky and Dempsey ac- celerated the harvest by sorting grapes at least three times faster with a machine than by hand. And they discovered that optically sorted fruit can elevate the qual- ity of their wines. "During the peak of the 2010 har- vest," Sowalsky said, "our workforce was stretched thin. The optical sorter was on par with a discerning eye, allow- ing us to sort much more quickly and with a much smaller crew than if we sorted by hand." "We were able to accelerate the harvest and improve quality," Dempsey added. "Hand-harvested and machine-sorted grapes are producing amazing wines." Thomas Ulrich has written news, features and advertising copy for Time magazine, the Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. He was a senior writer for Hewlett- Packard for many years and a contributing editor for Sun Microsystems. He teaches jour- nalism at San Jose State University. Reach him through edit@winesandvines.com. QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #I1 36 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #1020g