Product News
by Andrew AdamsProduct News
November 2017Product News
Analysis for antioxidant capability
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Product News
August 2017Next-Generation DO Measurement
Yeast blends for aromatic reds
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Product News
March 2017Product News: Latest offerings and announcements
‘Smart Press’ now available in United States
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Product News
February 2017Irrigation Management Systems
HORTAU IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
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Product News
January 2017Concrete Tanks
Part of what seems to be fueling winemakers’ increasing interest in concrete tanks is the wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles that suppliers now offer. Most new wineries seem to have one or two concrete tanks, and eggs and cubes continue to be the most popular concrete styles for fermentation. Suppliers say most tanks are sold unlined, as that ensures the benefits of micro-oxygenation and gives wine the subtle mineral nuances that also make concrete popular. The tanks can be washed with a sodium percarbonate solution and then sanitized with a rinse of aqueous ozone. Steam and water hot enough to sanitize (180° F) are not recommended, as the heat can cause cracking, especially if the tanks have embedded glycol coils, which can expand when hot.
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Product News
December 2016Power-Assisted Pruners
Power-assisted pruners are designed to make the tedious task of pruning easier, safer and also help ensure the last vine is cut as well as the first. The pruners reduce the action of making a cut to a simple pull of a trigger, relieving stress on the operator’s hand and reducing the chances of a repetitive motion injury. By reducing fatigue, the manufactures also claim the pruners help ensure consistency throughout an entire pruning job, as less tired workers can focus on making the best cuts in the cleanest and most consistent manner possible.
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Product News
November 2016Peristaltic Must Pumps
When your winery is ready to make a major expansion, it’s also probably time to invest in a large-capacity pump for transferring must from the crush pad. Peristaltic pumps have become a popular choice for moving must because the pumps don’t expose the berries to air, are self-priming, can run dry, are easy to operate and are gentle on the grapes. In addition to moving must, the pumps can also be used for pumpovers, tank transfers and barrel racking.
The peristaltic pumping action is created in a circular chamber, where two to three rollers apply pressure on a heavy-duty rubber tube. As the tube is continuously squeezed and released, it draws berries through the machine and out to wherever they need to go. Since the grapes don’t come into contact with any mechanical apparatus, peristaltic pumps are considered one of the gentler options on the market to move high volumes of must.
Richie Allen, winemaker at Rombauer Vineyards in Napa Valley, uses the pumps for moving must, pumpovers and racking wine out of barrels. He believes they’re the gentlest pumps on the market, and he also appreciates that they can run dry. While not the easiest pumps to move in the cellar, Allen said they’re useful for pumpovers when the cap hasn’t separated and for racking because the pump’s action doesn’t produce any foaming.
Jim Frost, owner and winemaker of AuburnJames winery in St. Helena, Calif., said he uses a peristaltic pump for moving grapes from the destemmer to the tank. “We whole-berry destem and do not use rollers to crush the grapes. The peristaltic is the only pump I have found that can retain the integrity of the berries to any extent. We get about 70% to 80% whole berries in the tank,” he said.
Suppliers typically offer an additional hopper with a screw auger as an option that is pretty much required if one wants to move must, pomace or lees. Berries fall from the crusher, destemmer or vibratory sorting table into the hopper that then meters a steady flow of processed grapes into the pump’s inlet opening.
A few suppliers said the pumps can only pump must a certain distance, and this can be further reduced if the fruit needs to travel along curves or gain elevation. The pumping action can also be less gentle at the upper ranges of each pump’s flow capacity. Prices vary by pump capacity and options, so it’s best to check with suppliers for current prices.
TCW Equipment
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Product News
October 2016Product Focus: Wet-Strength Labels
The creator of the above label, Avery Dennison, says wet strength starts with the adhesive.While not as bad as a corked wine, having a wine label slip off, lift at the corners or wrinkle after the bottle has spent some time in an ice bucket can detract from a consumer’s experience with a wine brand.
That particular risk has become increasingly rare, however, as more wineries invest in label stocks that feature special liners, adhesives and reinforced materials to ensure labels stay in place, remain legible and don’t wrinkle while submerged in an ice bucket or when exposed to wet, damp conditions during bottling or shipping.
Wet-strength materials have been common in the industry for more a decade, but suppliers are now offering label materials that can spend all day in an ice bucket and still look perfect.
Trysk Print Solutions is a Seattle-based label provider that worked with paper manufacturer Wausau Coated Products in Wausau, Wis., to create a stronger wet-strength label. Stephan Martinez, Trysk founder and CEO, said he had been hearing complaints about wet-strength labels that were still failing, especially on sparkling wine bottles. “What really starts the ball rolling on defects is water on the inside of the label,” he told Wines & Vines.
Martinez said he went to Wausua and pushed them to develop something even stronger for the wine industry. “We told them, ‘If you give us something better, we’ll sell the lights out of it,’” he said. “The first several years was pushing them, letting them know there’s a need there.”
That led to four years of research and trials as the company perfected a proprietary process to treat the label material to be water resistant and create an adhesive known as Aqua Loc 100. Trysk had the license to be the sole supplier for six months and dubbed the new material Ice Breaker. Martinez said it’s not a new paper but a new lamination process that can make any material impervious to water. “It’s everything we hoped it would be, and I’m serious that’s pretty rare for a project that took so long,” he said. “We are all collectively very proud of it.”
Wausau Coated now sells the same material under the Ever Opaque brand, and a few other label suppliers sell the material under different brands. A few other label printers also have developed their own brands of different wet-strength label materials by working with manufacturers.
Run the bucket test
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Product News
September 2016Product Focus: Winery Hoses
GoodallPerhaps the most basic yet vital piece of cellar equipment, hoses are required for nearly every winemaking task. While they may be simple products, suppliers offer a range of hoses in various sizes to accommodate any type of winemaking style or budget. Manufacturers typically sell the hoses in 100-foot lengths without stainless steel barbs for tri-clover clamps. Other suppliers that specialize in winemaking equipment sell standard lengths (10 feet, for example) of hose equipped with barbs.
The heavy-duty hoses listed here feature a central tube of food-safe plastic wrapped with reinforced, rugged rubber. Another option (for smaller wineries, or different types of cellar jobs) is a lighter hose constructed with transparent food-safe PVC plastic that is reinforced with a rigid PVC helix. Prices vary based on order size as well as supplier and typically are charged per foot length.
Details provided with each hose type listed here include the interior diameter, outside diameter, maximum working pressure, weight per pound and the minimum bend radius.
TUDERTECHNICA
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Product News
August 2016Product Focus: Racking Wands
Two of the industry’s leading pressurizing racking wands were developed on California’s Central Coast. The more recent of the two was the Rack-It-Teer, invented originally to solve a brewer’s problem, but the pioneer in the field was the Bulldog Pup, which turns 30 this year.
The Bulldog Pup
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Product News
August 2016Product Focus: Weather Stations
Western WeatherWeather stations provide vital data for making irrigation decisions, managing vine growth and integrated pest management. Most can be incorporated into wider networks that monitor conditions like soil moisture and evapotranspiration, and they can be customized for which weather data are recorded. Several of the stations listed here transmit data to a secure website where it can be downloaded to a desktop or mobile device. Solar panels are standard on some stations and an optional feature on others. Prices vary due to the type and sophistication of the sensors on the station, functionality and how data is collected, logged and disseminated. Several units also issue alerts when triggered by certain weather conditions.
TEXAS WEATHER INSTRUMENTS
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Product News
July 2016Product Focus: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Yamaha Motor Corp. recently opened an office at the airport in Napa County, Calif., for spraying agricultural land in Napa and Sonoma counties with its RMAX.Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have great promise in viticulture, but grapegrowers are just beginning to put them to use.
These small aircraft can be used to assess the condition of vines using visual, infrared and near-infrared cameras more economically than manned aircraft and have other advantages such as being able to fly closer to vines or being used regularly to provide a pattern of vineyard development. Most UAVs can operate automatically, scanning a vineyard using GPS to specified coordinates.
Images by themselves aren’t very useful, and most companies that sell UAVs or UAV imaging services also offer software to help extract information that can help growers make decisions from when to apply treatments or water to when it’s time to pick different blocks.
One larger version, the Yamaha RMAX remote-controlled helicopter, can even spray vines with pesticides and fungicides more quickly than a person can, and the downdraft from the rotors encourages even coverage such as under leaves.
Yamaha Motor Corp. recently opened an office at the airport in Napa County, Calif., for spraying agricultural land in Napa and Sonoma counties with its RMAX. On May 18, it performed the first U.S. commercial crop spraying by UAV on a Napa Valley vineyard, applying a fungicide for Silverado Farming Co. to stave off powdery mildew.
Yamaha has been using RMAX helicopters internationally for 19 years, but it had to wait several years to get approval in the United States.
UAV suppliers say the machines are safer, faster and provide more reliable application of treatments with no soil compaction.
The nascent UAV market includes airframe suppliers, service providers, imaging equipment and software suppliers and expertise for analysis. Some companies offer only one element, but most prefer to provide more comprehensive services.
The following pages contain a summary of UAVs for the viticultural market. Specifications and prices are subject to change. Check with suppliers for details.
Many other companies offer imaging services and analysis—including those based on manned aircraft and satellites—but some of these are starting to offer or investigate the use of UAVs.
Note that the Federal Aviation Administration views all agricultural activity of UAVs as commercial drone operation. This means the operator must have a Section 333 exemption to fly as well as a pilot’s license
YAMAHA/PRECISION AGRICULTURE
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Product News
June 2016Product Focus: Sorting Tables
Bucher Vaslin
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May 2016Product Focus: Tasting Room Point-of-Sale Systems
Credit: Ryan GrantYour tasting room cash register should be doing more than just ringing up sales. The point-of-sale (POS) systems available today can be utilized through a terminal or mobile device and offer myriad other functions that range from marketing to inventory management. Several suppliers offer POS systems that are fully integrated with wine club management, e-commerce, warehouse and shipping as well as bookkeeping. The price of a POS service varies from supplier to supplier and typically involves a monthly service fee as well as one-time fees for hardware and software.
NEXTERNAL
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April 2016Product Focus: Oak Barrel Alternative Products
The days of raw-cut oak chips and discarded stave wood are long gone. Oak barrel alternative products are now available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, toasts and even wood types. Wines & Vines checked with oak suppliers about the latest batch of alternative innovations.
BOISE FRANCE
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March 2016Product Focus: Soil Moisture Sensors
A soil moisture sensor is programmed to relay data to a smartphone.One can safely assume that in coming years water will continue to get more expensive, more scarce or (most likely) both.
Yet the technology to measure soil-moisture content has continued to improve, and today growers can choose from a variety of sensors. The data from such sensors is vital to ensure an irrigation program is using water as effectively and efficiently as possible and can be incorporated into a precision-agriculture system to help growers make even better vineyard-management decisions.
Several companies sell individual sensors as well as other equipment for data logging or to download and interpret data. Other firms like Hortau, Fruition Sciences and Ranch Systems use soil moisture sensors as part of broad networks that provide extremely detailed irrigation reports, analysis and recommendations.
When it comes to just moisture sensors, there are two main categories: those that measure the water content of soil and those that measure water tension or how easy it is for roots to take up moisture. Moisture content, volumetric or capacitance sensors use time domain reflectometry (TDR) and transmissometry (TDT) while water tension is determined with tensiometers and matric potential sensors.
Neutron probes are another option that are quite accurate and draw data from a large area, but they are expensive and require extra permits and training because they use radioactive material. Most companies that use neutron probes either have the resources to train someone to use them full time or work with a consulting firm that uses them.
First, find the right spot
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Product News
February 2016Product Focus: Barrels
Wines & Vines contacted cooperages about new barrels and toast options on the market or newly available for the 2016 vintage. Several coopers reported they’re offering more toasts designed to provide a restrained oak presence to accentuate and frame fruit flavors rather than dominate the wine profile.
WORLD COOPERAGE
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January 2016Product Focus: Destemmers
The next generation of destemmers features new methods for removing MOG as well as variable settings for speed and motion that enable winemakers to further customize how they process grapes on the crush pad. Many of these machines feature optional crushers and additional sorting capabilities.
Armbruster Rotovib
The Armbruster Rotovib employs a patented vibratory movement to “pluck” grapes from the stems, allowing thorough berry removal at slower speeds. Destemmed berries fall onto the next stage of sorting, while unripe grapes and raisins stay affixed to the rachis and move into the waste stream. A new “Rollersorter” add-on feature provides additional mechanical sorting with interlaced silicon rubber spools that carry berries toward the collection point while allowing MOG to fall through as waste. The machine is available in three models with throughput rates of 10-30 tons per hour. Distributed through Scott Laboratories. Price for Rotovib 10 with Rollersorter: $32,500.
scottlab.com
Bucher Vaslin
The Delta Oscillys machine by Bucher Vaslin uses inertia to separate grapes from the stems. Grapes enter the machine through a small hopper and fall into cylindrical cages that swing back and forth. The movement forces berries to separate from the stems, and they then fall onto a rolling sorter table. The manufacturer claims the Oscillys produces a grape stream of just 0.2% to 0.5% MOG. Throughput is 2 to 16 tons per hour and can be adjusted by the size of the cage holes and swinging speed. Price for Oscillys 100: $42,000; Oscillys 200 with two destemming cages: $56,000.
buchervaslinusa.com
C.M.A. Dream
C.M.A. unveiled its new Dream machine in 2015. The Dream is fed through a hopper and uses a swinging cage system to separate whole berries, which fall onto a rolling sorting table that further separates out MOG. The holes of the sorting cage and the swinging speed can be adjusted for grape size and quality. Throughput of the Dream is between 1 and 15 tons per hour. Distributed through Prospero. Starting price: $39,000.
prosperoequipment.com
Dinamica
Dinamica expanded its line of crusher-destemmers this year. The company now offers a range of models that can process from 3-6 tons per hour to 18-25 tons per hour. The destemmers feature adjustable legs to fit into any crush pad system and optional crushing rollers. The crusher is powered by a separate motor and can be operated independently from the destemmer, allowing it to be placed at the end of a sorting table. Distributed by TCW Equipment & Systems. Starting price: $5,995.
tcwequipment.com
IMMA
The new i10 by IMMA can be adjusted in multiple ways, depending on grape size, berry condition and winemaking goals. The speed of the beater bars and cage revolutions can be adjusted as well as the height of the cage and distance between the bars and cage. Other features include a crusher that can operate as a separate unit and an interior jet system to make cleaning and sanitizing easier. Throughput is 10 tons per hour. Distributed by The Vintner Vault. Price: $21,500.
thevintnervault.com
Milani Estasi
The belt-fed Estasi machine by Milani “brushes” berries off stems by coupling the forward motion of the belt with a “transverse oscillating screen.” The machine is designed to be gentle to preserve as many whole berries as possible. The machine also features rubber rollers to be used as an optional crusher.
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Product News
January 2016Enhancing Wine Quality, Reducing Waste
The innovation awards at the 2015 SIMEI conference and trade show put the spotlight on machines and other new technology designed to help winemakers improve their wines while reducing resource consumption or improving energy efficiency.
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Product News
December 2015Product Focus: Narrow Vineyard Tractors
Designed to operate between vineyard rows, these tractors can carry implements such as vine trimmers or haul trailers carrying half-ton bins. Many manufacturers offer narrow models with varying horsepower and other options. This report did not include narrow, tracked tractors or over-the-row machines.
NEW HOLLAND
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Product News
November 2015Product Focus: Wine Pumps
Pumps are necessary to perform a variety of winemaking tasks, making them an invaluable piece of equipment in the cellar. Wines & Vines contacted pump manufacturers about popular or new pumps for transferring wine, performing pumpovers, filling and emptying barrels and other functions. Prices vary based on pump model and dealer options such as carts and control panels.
Inoxpa
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October 2015Product Focus: Glass Bottles
Global Package
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Product News
September 2015Product Focus: Filters
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
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August 2015Product Focus: Screwcaps with Variable OTR
Several suppliers now offer screwcaps with liners that allow varying rates of oxygen permeability.
VinPerfect Smartcaps.VINPERFECT
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July 2015Product Focus: Stainless Steel Tanks
Wines & Vines surveyed tank manufacturers to find the latest shapes, sizes and new features for stainless steel tanks. Prices vary according to tank sizes, options and current pricing for labor and materials.
ALBRIGI
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June 2015Product Focus: pH Meters and Sensors
Hanna Instruments
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May 2015Product Focus: Anti-Counterfeit Systems
Selinko and Inside Secure
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April 2015Product Focus: Yeast
AB Mauri
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January 2015Optical Sorters
VISTALYS
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March 2014Winery & Vineyard Product News
Hi-res printing for corks
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February 2014Winery & Vineyard Product News
Sulfur dioxide-free wines with SurePureREAD MORE »
Product News
January 2014Winery & Vineyard Product News
‘The Cube’ destemmerREAD MORE »
Product News
December 2013Winery & Vineyard Product News
Hot Spotter by Shur FarmsREAD MORE »
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November 2013Winery & Vineyard Product News
Vin65 adds hardware to mobile POS systemREAD MORE »
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October 2013Winery & Vineyard Product News
G.W. Kent offering Syntek closuresREAD MORE »
Product News
September 2013New Winery and Vineyard Developments
New NOPA test kit by Randox
Randox Food Diagnostics is offering a new NOPA test kit for the 2013 harvest. Randox claims its new assay offers the widest ranges in the market: It has a minimum detectable concentration of 5.1 mgN/L and is linear up to a concentration of 500 mgN/L. Test results are ready within seven minutes. Details: randoxfooddiagnostics.com.READ MORE »
Product News
August 2013Winery & Vineyard Equipment
Titration system uses touch-screen displayREAD MORE »
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June 2013Winery and Vineyard Equipment
Hand truck with powered liftREAD MORE »
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May 2013Product News
New Velcorin dosersREAD MORE »