In The Winery

Glass Apparatus for the Wine Laboratory

Acclaimed by enologists across the continent!

The RD80 Volatile Acid Still, which now is the Wine Industry standard, is an improvement on the Cash Still for determination of volatile acids in wine. It features an aspirator pump to remove the spent sample, which speeds testing, saves water, avoids repair bills and prevents cross contamination of samples.

The R&D SO2 Apparatus uses the Aeration Oxidation Method to maximize testing accuracy. It was specifically designed for this mandated test in consultation with enologists.

Flexible spherical joints and interchangeable flasks facilitate simple operation and minimize breakage. We manufacture a full line of wine laboratory equipment, and also provide Glassware Design Engineering, Custom Fabrication & Repair Services. CONTACT US FOR OUR CATALOG

Research & Development Glass Products & Equipment, Inc.

“Suppliers of Lab Glassware to the Wine Industry since 1967” 1808 Harmon Street • Berkley, CA 94703

Phone: 510-547-6464

Email: RD1967@aol.com

• Fax: 510-547-3620

• Website: http://go.to/RandD

Double Checking the Results

From experience, one can get so creative in a lab it can be difficult to trace exactly how one arrived at a certain desired concoction. Copious notes should be taken throughout the complete process in the lab. Given a tank of juice or wine can often equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more it may be prudent to run the selected trial a second time, and compare, to confirm any addition rates before performing the final action in the cellar.

Action in the Cellar

This is often the simple part. Using the above KHCO3 addition as an example, weigh the desired amount of KHCO3 in a bucket or appropriate container. Start mixing the wine and start slowly adding the product. Be sure to make note how full the tank is and to make sure that gassing may not be an issue. Continue to mix until the addition is fully integrated based on your knowledge of your tank size and/or pump speed and then select a sample from the sample valve for tasting, a pH and titratable acidity analysis. This will confirm the task was achieved and on target to the lab results.

Some winemakers, especially when using CaCO3, will split the wine volumes and treat only a portion with the full amount of the CaCO3 and then blend the two wines back together after the reaction has taken place. This could be roughly a 50-50 split. Potentially less chalkiness is detected and the pH shift may be advantageously less.

Summary

Given time and experimentation with this system many pH-raising trials with additions will become easy and systematic. Trials will often take less time to prepare and one may taste at several points during the day.

Other Helpful Tips

Caution: Using CaCO3 may result in excess calcium and the potential for calcium tartrates to form. Be sure to monitor this since these tartrates do not react the same as potassium-bi-tartrates. There is no affordable way to test a calcium excess instability known at this time.

Make sure the wine samples are not too cold, during the lab additions, since this may slow the reaction and delay the gassing off that may occur making the 375 bottles, after filling, popping their corks or T-tops. Make sure the reactions are complete before filling the 375’s.

Makes sure all solids are dissolved and dispersed equally into any solution.

When a wines pH is raised it may lower the amount of free SO2 available in that wine. Be sure to monitor the free SO2 very closely after performing a de-acidification.

Winemakers may also be able to blend two trials in 50% to 50% solutions to get an example of a trial in the middle without having to make one up specifically to match the amount desired. An example may be blending the 0.5 gram per liter with a 1.0 gram per liter to understand what a 0.75 gram per liter addition may result.

Always remember your palate may become desensitized while tasting and to step away from tasting for an hour or two and then return to taste ones preference. You may be shocked you had become used to certain levels because of tasting such extremes.

Keep in mind not to over scrutinize your accuracy in the laboratory. By this I mean make sure that if we measure something very exactly in the laboratory make sure this action will be able to be replicated outside the lab in the cellar. It is not uncommon, early on, for winemakers to get extremely exact in the lab only to step into the cellar with sloppy control over what they had just experimented with.

Best of luck, take your time and be sure to review all angles before taking action in the cellar. That is what trials are all about!