Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/766392
58 WINES&VINES January 2017 Viewpoint R everse osmosis machine sales are suddenly going crazy—up an order of magnitude from past years. Three decades after the introduction of reverse osmosis (RO), wineries are now prosper- ous enough to afford their own machines, and they are at last getting hip to the technology's many quality-enhancing powers. An onsite RO machine with the proper ancillary equipment can adjust juice Brix (an unusual practice in California) or wine alcohol either up or down, thus uncoupling the harvest decision from Brix and freeing up winegrowing decisions to focus on desired flavor, color, tan- nin and fruit character. RO is the core technol- ogy in systems that remove a variety of taints: acetic acid, ethyl acetate, Brett, smoke taint and ladybug taint, and it can be pressed into service to reclaim tartrates and other valuable byproducts as well as purify water. Properly configured machines also can perform some ultrafiltration tasks. Applications that drive RO purchase are alcohol adjustment (in dry climates) and juice concentration (in wet zones). Occasional ap- plications such as VA, Brett and smoke taint don't drive purchases for the same reason that you don't buy a hospital in case you have a heart attack. Since my former company Vino- vation in the early 1990s pioneered many of the membrane applications now in use in Cali- fornia, it's a good time for me to share my advice to wineries considering a purchase. (Don't worry, I have had no financial connec- tion to reverse osmosis equipment sales or production services in nine years.) Before I dive in, I want to clarify my inten- tion. I find no villains in the winemaking game. Most have healthy egos, and many are KEY POINTS Purchasing a reverse osmosis unit requires sophisticated technical understanding. Equipment should be selected with your specific applications in mind. Membrane characteristics are the buyer's single most pivotal choice. n CLARK SMITH Selecting a Machine for Reverse Osmosis