terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 Inert gases persistence in wine storage tank blanketing

Inert gases persistence in wine storage tank blanketing

Abstract

It is common to find tanks in the winery with wine below their capacity due to wine transfers between tanks of different capacities or the interruption of operations for periods of a few days. This situation implies the existence of an ullage space in the tank with prolonged contact with the wine causing its absorption/oxidation. Oxygen uptake from the air headspace over the wine due to differences in the partial pressure of O2 can be rapid, up to 1.5 mL of O2 per liter of wine in one hour and 100 cm2 of surface area1 and up to saturation after 4 hours. The industrial solution consists of inerting the gas space by means of an inert gas blanket to avoid contact with air. This procedure can be done with automatic systems that generate an overpressure of inert gas and are able to respond to variations in the filling level of the tanks. This is not common in most wineries and in order to propose an easy and effective system, nitrogen (N2), argon (Ar), and carbon dioxide (CO2), the commonly used inert gases in the wine industry, together with their mixtures, have been compared. The persistence of a gaseous blanket of the inert gas (O2<0.5%)2 in the ullage space of the tank and its ability to reduce the uptake of atmospheric O2 into the wine were analyzed.

In addition to checking which of the five gases tested provided the best protection over time with a simple application, two different application methods were compared. In a third phase, the economic optimization was studied by reducing the amount of gas on the basis of the ability of almost all of these gases to form blankets due to their higher density than air.

Acknowledgements: ITACyL for their financial support to Actividades de Investigación, Promoción de la Innovación y la Transferencia del Conocimiento en Sectores Estratégicos de Castilla y León: SECTOR VITIVINÍCOLA

1 Peynaud E. (1981) Knowing and Making Wine. Wiley

Dharmadhikkari, M. (2016) Use of Inert Gases. Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute

DOI:

Publication date: October 13, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Poster

Authors

Ignacio Nevares*, María Asensio-Cuadrado, Rubén del Barrio-Galán, Elena Pérez-Cardo, Ana Martínez-Gil, Luis Miguel Cárcel and Maria del Alamo-Sanza

Grupo UVaMOX-Universidad de Valladolid. Avda. Madrid 50. 34001 Palencia, Spain

Contact the author*

Keywords

inert gases, blanketing, oxygen, ullage space

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Effect of pH and ethanol on Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in red must fermentation: potential use of wine lees

Wine is the result of the alcoholic fermentation (AF) of grape must. Besides AF, wine can also undergo the malolactic fermentation (MLF) driven out by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Among LAB, Oenococcus oeni and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum are the dominant species in wine. Even if O. oeni is the most common LAB undergoing MLF in wine, due to its high tolerance to wine conditions, L. plantarum can be used to undergo MLF in must. The moderate tolerance of L. plantarum to low pH and ethanol, may compromise the fermentative process in harsh wines.

A phylogenomic study reveals the major dissemination routes of ‘Tempranillo Tinto’ in the Iberian Peninsula

‘Tempranillo Tinto’ is a black-berried Iberian cultivar that originated from a hybridization between cvs. ‘Benedicto’ and ‘Albillo Mayor’ [1]. Today, it is the third most widely grown wine grape cultivar worldwide with more than 200,000 hectares of vineyards mostly distributed along the Iberian Peninsula, where it is also known as ‘Cencibel’, ‘Tinta de Toro’, ‘Tinta Roriz’, and ‘Aragonez’, among other synonyms. Here, we quantified the intra-varietal genomic diversity in this cultivar through the study of 35 clones or ancient vines from seven different Iberian wine-making regions. A comparative analysis after Illumina whole-genome sequencing revealed the presence of 1,120 clonal single nucleotide variants (SNVs).

Effect of rising atmospheric CO2 levels on grapevine yield and composition by the middle of the 21st century: what can we learn from the VineyardFACE?

Atmospheric CO2 levels have been rising continuously since the industrial revolution, affecting crop physiology, yield and quality of harvest products, and grapevine is no exception [1]. Most of previously reported studies used potted plants in controlled environments, and explored grapevine response to relatively high CO2 levels, 700 ppm or more. The vineyardFACE, established in Geisenheim in 2012, uses a free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) system to simulate a moderate (ambient +20%) increase in atmospheric CO2 in a vineyard planted with cvs. Cabernet-Sauvignon and Riesling grafted on rootstock 161-49 Couderc and SO4, respectively.

Adsorption of tetraconazole by organic residues and vineyard organically-amended soils 

Spain is the country with the largest wine-producing area in the EU and its productivity is largely controlled applying fungicides. However, residues of these compounds can move and contaminate surface and groundwater. The objective of this work was to evaluate the capacity of bioadsorbents from different origin to adsorb and immobilize tetraconazole by themselves or when applied as organic soil amendment, and to prevent soil and water contamination by this fungicide. The adsorption of tetraconazole by 3 organic residues: spent mushroom substrate (SMS), green compost (GC) and vine pruning sawdust (VP), as well as by vineyard soils unamended and amended individually with these residues at 1.5% (w/w) was evaluated using the batch equilibrium technique.

Foliar application of urea improved the nitrogen composition of Chenin grapes

The nitrogen composition of the grapes directly affects the developments of alcoholic fermentation and influences the final aromatic composition of the wines. The aim of this study was to determine the effect and efficiency of foliar applications of urea on the nitrogen composition of grapes. This study was carried out during 2023 vintage and in the Chenin vineyard located in Estacion Experimental Mendoza (Argentina). Three urea concentrations 3, 6 and 9 Kg N/ha (C1, C2, and C3, respectively) and control (T) were applied in this vineyard at veraison.