Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/74662
WINEMAKING At Cuvaison Estate Wines (center), clusters ascend into a Pellenc destemmer and optical sorter. the clusters, pulling debris from a fast- moving, vibrating stream of grapes. An incline belt hopper loaded the clusters into interconnected polyurethane baskets that fed the grapes to a Pellenc "berry by berry" sorting system. The destemmer detached berries from the stalks by moving clusters of grapes along a pair of vibrating inline berry separators. The fruit fell onto a notched roller sorting table that pushed the stems and other debris over the side of the machine and moved the berries into the optical sorter. A vibrating table carried them to a rope conveyor made up of 99 "Leaves are the biggest concern with hand sorting, but I can be as selec- tive as I want with an optical sorter." —Anne Dempsey, lead associate winemaker, Gundlach Bundschu Patent # 7357069 parallel cords that aligned what was left of the harvest for a final inspection. The optical sorter photographed the berries and extraneous debris as they moved towards the ejection jets located at the end of the rope conveyor. The jets fired as seeds, jacks, raisins and imperfect berries cleared the end of the conveyor, hurtling them toward a waste bin. Momentum from the rope conveyor carried the unblemished grapes past a threshold and into a bin set aside for collecting the harvest. "We did not have a day shift large enough to hand sort the amount of fruit Inspired Design Our spirals made from Premium, American or French Oak deliver 100% new barrel flavor (8 months) in as little as six weeks. Now you can boast authentic oak flavor using neutral barrels or tanks – with rapid, controllable and predictable results. www.InfusionSpiral.com (800) 201-7125 West Coast–New York–Texas Len Napolitano (805) 712-4471 len@thebarrelmill.com QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #F1 34 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 Four toast levels Economical Sustainable Time-saving QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #318