Several new filters on the market can better handle high-solid lees and juice to enable wineries to save more wine, while other firms have new, specialized filters for specific applications. Prices vary based on the filtration medium or technology as well as capacity.

DIEMME
The MicroFlex from Diemme is automated direct membrane filtration that can be applied to finished still, sparkling or clear juice. Controlled by patented software called “IntelliFlex,” the system filters at a rate of about 100 to 500 liters per hour per cartridge. Unlike cross-flow filtration, the system does not require recirculation or back flush, provides a higher quality filtrate, uses less energy and places “less stress” on the wine, according to the manufacturer. A self-priming pump ensures an isobaric filtration cycle and also powers the automated wash cycles that regenerate the cartridges. The MicroFlex is available with 12, 24 and 48 cartridges. The 24 and 48 models are completely automatic for filtration and wash cycles. Available in the United States through Collopack Solutions. 
collopack.com

TMCI PADOVAN
Manufacturer TMCI Padovan claims its Dynamos filters are the first dynamic rotary cross-flow filters with a new “calibrated back-wash system” that enables them to filter wine, lees, juices and concentrates. The filter employs self-cleaning, cross-flow disks that can filter for up to 72 hours and recover up to 95% of usable wine. The filters are available in 1 m2 to 80 m2 capacities and custom size. Distributed through American Tartaric Products in Windsor, Calif.
americantartaric.com

DELLA TOFFOLA
Windsor, Calif.-based Della Toffola USA released its OMNIA ceramic cross-flow filter in the United States in 2014. The new filter provides a juice-recovery rate of more than 90% and can be used to separate wine from lees as well as juice from solids and to extract clean juice from cold-settled lees, according to the manufacturer. The ceramic filters are up to five times more durable than organic membranes, according to Della Toffola. The supplier also reports that the filter takes wines with a turbidity of 25 to 1,000 NTU (nephelometric turbidity units) down to 0.00 NTU.
dellatoffola.us

ANDRITZ SEPARATION
In 2013, Andritz Separation released its “dynamic” cross-flow filtration units. The filter employs overlapping rotating disks that create differential speeds to “generate a cross flow without requiring a pump to circulate the slurry and without any circulation line at all.” Andritz, which has a U.S. office in Arlington, Texas, describes the new units as “a plug-and-play” solution for recovering lees or fining wines.
andritz.com

MIO VIGNETO
Mio Vigneto in San Ramon, Calif., distributes the M7 and M7+7 “Rocket” filters, which use a patented filtering system that employs rotating membranes. The supplier reports the system operates at low pressure using ceramic discs that rotate and collect particulates from the wine. Designed for small to medium wineries, the M7 model can filter 4,200 liters in a 15-hour cycle.
miovigneto.com

CRIVELLER
Criveller California Group in Healdsburg, Calif., released a vertical diatomaceous earth (D.E.) filter earlier this year. The new filter has D.E. cake on both sides of the screens, making the filter smaller and more maneuverable. Washing vertical filter elements is easier than with a horizontal filter, and discharging D.E. material is simpler because the exhausted cake is detached from the screens through vibration and can be recovered through a large opening at the bottom of the unit.
criveller.com

TANGENT MEMBRANES
Grass Valley, Calif.-based Tangent Membranes produces smaller filters that are designed for bench-top analysis or to prepare small amounts of wine for use as samples of the finished product. The company just released its RO Mini, which can be used as a small-volume cross-flow filter as well as to reduce alcohol, ethyl acetate, Brettanomyces, smoke taint and other compounds. Each treatment requires an additional piece of equipment such as a resin canister or carbon block.
tangentmembranes.com

PALL
Scott Laboratories of Petaluma, Calif., is now the sole U.S. distributor for SUPRApak filter modules from Pall. The modules are designed for high-volume wineries that need to filter large amounts wine that are being shipped out or delivered to the winery—or to prepare wines for bottling. The modules can be used to treat wines that have already gone through a cross flow but have undergone some “decay” in which the colloids regroup and potentially clog pre-bottling filters. Pall filter housings can be loaded up with up to six modules to provide filtration at 100 gpm via “Edgeflow” that sends the wine on a longer route around the medium and not just perpendicular to the filter media.
scottlabs.com