The improvement of the quality of the produced wine passes from a careful and punctual analytical control carried out along the whole chain of the winemaking. But …
- What are the potential issues?
- How to make it easy to control vinification in the winery?
To answer these questions download the article “Complete control of vinification in a single analysis instrument”
Is setting up a quality control laboratory in the winery a determining factor for wine quality?
Improving the quality of wine produced requires the implementation of meticulous and accurate analytic controls along the entire vinification production chain.
The need for more effective quality control in the winery throughout the entire vinification process may be satisfied by setting up an internal chemical laboratory to detect the most useful parameters for oenologists, such as: sugars, L-malic acid, total and volatile acidity, pH, alcohol by volume, free and total sulphur, readily assimilable nitrogen, gluconic acid and total polyphenol index.
What are the potential difficulties in carrying out quality control in the winery
A chemical oenological analysis laboratory is typically equipped with numerous traditional instruments including:
- A pH-meter and a titrator to measure pH, total acidity and sulphur
- a photometer with UV lamp for common enzymatic analyses, Readily Assimilable Nitrogen and Total Polyphenol Index
- A distiller to analyse alcohol by volume and volatile acidity.
Time-consuming laboratory procedures
Traditional methods involve the use of glass equipment, requiring washing, chemical/enzymatic reagents, requiring continuous control and calibration.
We must also take into consideration the work required in the preparation of must samples, which present high levels of turbidity, and red wine samples characterised by high polyphenol content.
Good chemistry skills
Setting up an internal analysis laboratory requires in-depth knowledge of analysis methods and good chemistry skills.
Maintenance and calibration
The calibration of reagents and maintenance of equipment used to obtain accurate and precise results are inevitable procedures in carrying out vinification process analyses.
Economic investment
Obviously we must also take into consideration the high economic costs of purchasing equipment used to carry out numerous oenological analyses.
What are the solutions for simple vinification control?
For effective control of the vinification process, it is important to carry out all necessary chemical analyses directly in the winery, with easy-to-use systems which provide immediate results, so that oenologists can make rapid and timely decisions.
It is important to use analysis systems which drastically reduce all negative aspects typically encountered when setting up an internal oenological analysis laboratory, while also enabling personnel without any technical or chemical knowledge to carry out chemical analyses.