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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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RECENT ARTICLES | WYNBOER HOME
A CLEAN AND GREEN WINE INDUSTRY
Environmentally friendly sanitation products for the cellar
Increasing international concern about water and energy consumption, together with pressure on wine cellars to display greater environmental awareness, compels wineries to consider alternative treatments. This obviously creates opportunities for the suppliers of such products.
Over the years the term “green revolution” has denoted conflicting issues in the USA. In 1968 it was used to describe an action that had already been initiated in 1945 and which referred to increased crop production on farms. This was obtained by the development of new insecticides (such as organophosphates) and cheap nitrogen fertiliser. This movement had several negative impacts on the environment. Some organophosphates, the most notorious of which is DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane), do not decompose into non-toxic compounds and they were eventually prohibited. Cheap nitrogen fertiliser was obtained by using atmospheric nitrogen as raw material, but the low price encouraged producers to fertilise excessively. Eventually the ground water of several areas was polluted with nitrate.
The new “green revolution”, on the other hand, emphasises environmentally friendly, sustainable practices, which do not cause any climatic changes. This approach calls for mindfulness in all respects from the vineyard to the bottle and aspects such as cellar practices, cellar facilities, winery buildings, distribution, transport, packaging and marketing are critically evaluated.
The calculation of a winery’s carbon footprint is one of the methods used to quantify its environmental impact (refer to the article in the March issue of WynLand, p 127) (Greenspan, 2009).
Wineries can be more environmentally friendly by applying simple principles, for example by using potash soda (potassium hydroxide) instead of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) to wash tanks and anorganic acids, such as phosphoric acid or sulphuric acid instead of citric acid, for the subsequent neutralising action.
An American company called Wise Solutions has developed a sanitation product range for cellars that contains no toxic chemical compounds and does not leave any trace. Their first product was a Wine Tank, Barrel & Pipe Cleaning Solution. The product is based on colloid chemistry, which is not a new technology, but has not been applied in the wine industry before. The active ingredients of colloidal chemistry are colloidal micelles, which are very small particles. When mixed with water, the highly active positively and negatively charged micelles will induce disintegration of compounds with carbon chains. As a result tartrates and proteins are broken down and unable to form a deposit again. This means they are subsequently removed in the washing water. The effectiveness of the product reduces the stages of the cleaning process, which in turn saves water and labour. It is effective at approximately 16°C and the product does not contain any toxic or corrosive ingredients. Application is most effective by means of high pressure, but any stirring action, even hand brushing, will initiate the reaction. Increased temperature, pressure and application time accelerate the process, but are not essential.
The Colloidal Bio-Pest Control is also a micelle colloidal product, but unlike other pesticides which affect the insect’s vital functions, this products breaks down the carbon in the insect's structure. Moulds may be destroyed in the same way, by penetrating the root zones of the moulds. Treatment of waste water with this product reduces its Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), which may result in algae-free catchment dams and pipes (Anonymous, 2009). More information about these products may be obtained on the website www.wisesolutions.net.
References
Anonymous. 2009. What’s Cool: Green Products for Winery Sanitation. Wine Business Monthly 16(2): 14 - 15. |
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