New alcohol, taint removal process October 18, 2006
Frank Smith
An Australian company has invented a machine which can alter alcohol content in wine - amongst other handy applications.
The company, Memstar, demonstrated a device that can adjust the alcohol and volatile acid content of wine, as well as remove wine faults such as smoke taint from bush fires, and brettanomyces.
The system works by reverse osmosis, first separating low molecular weight components such as water, acetic acid and alcohol. These are removed as permeated matter or 'permeate'.
These components are then heated and passed over a membrane, which extracts some of the alcohol.
At the same time volatile acid is removed by passing the permeate over ion exchange resins (commonly used in water softeners).
Smoke taint is removed by passing the permeate over activated charcoal, which absorbs aromatic chemicals
The treated permeate is then recombined with the other components to reconstitute the wine.
Winemakers at the demonstration tasted samples of the same wine with varying alcohol content to pick a 'sweet spot' where mouth feel, nose, fruit expression and palate are at a optimum.
Memstar director David Wollan stressed that the wine lost none of its flavour components in the process and had nothing added to it.
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Maybe we should go the full distance and actually turn the 'adjusted' wine into powder. Think of the environmental savings of transporting packets of wine powder where the end consumer only has to add water to enjoy a glass of Bacchus' delight! Terence Lyons
There are some things that should be left alone. If you want lower alcohol, pick earlier. Is this another move to have wines around the world taste the same? One of the joys of wine and food is diversity of expression. That is why people like Italian food/wine; Spanish food/wine. Etc. If everything tastes the same and loses its individual character, why bother? We can make everything in a Monsanto factory, turn it into a powder, like Tang, and sell it in foil packets. Harry Haff, Georgia, USA
Industrial wine. Where is the skill, the art, the years of knowledge. David should go back to making wine with his hands and nose rather than with machines. Shame on you. Martin Cahnbley, Auckland, New Zealand
As the inventor of the Memstar alcohol adjustment process, I'm pleased to see our relatively technical process being explained to wine consumers. The technology involves a two stage membrane process for selectively removing excess alcohol from wine. It is one of a suite of techniques that your correspondent suggested, incorrectly, we apply simultaneously. In fact winemakers choose which, if any are appropriate for their wines. As a winemaker I am aware of consumer concern at yet another intervention in the winemaking process but frankly that is what winemaking is about. There is no such thing as 'non-interventionist' winemaking. Winemaking has always involved the application of current technology to arrest the natural spoilage process whereby micro-organisms turn grapes into vinegar. We intervene in this process to produce a drinkable beverage and not salad dressing. Specifically, if we think we should leave alcohol levels to Mother Nature then why are we prepared to accept the addition of non-grape sugar to musts as has 'traditionally' been practised for years. Maybe those producers who practise this should just leave their grapes to ripen naturally.
David Wollan, Director, Memstar, Victoria, Australia
This product is another means of improving or repairing your product. If the science is there then why wouldn't you use it to improve your product and make it more saleable? It is easy to say 'pick earlier to get a lower alcohol wine' but most of the time this is not practical for numerous reasons. Other things are out of our hands; like bushfires for instance. If I had a million litres of smoke tainted wine in tank, I would look seriously at using reverse osmosis if it meant the difference between selling the wine and pouring it down the drain. It's common logic. People inside the industry know that winemaking isn't as romantic as the public think and it comes down to the bottom line; the dollar. Some Australian wines are alcoholic because the grapes have been picked when they have been phonologically ripe and not at a particular sugar level. The choice is alcoholic wine versus green wine in this case. I also see a pattern of climate change and higher alcohols in Australia. This begs the question, Is Europe getting colder or warmer? I don't think the European wine industry is immune from using these kinds of tools in the future. Daniel Blenkiron, Australia
People buy what sells. Time and taste will decide what lasts. Invite intervention. If the wines are bad don't drink them. Stetson Robbins
As a sommelier a I can see people reacting to this in a negative way, for good reason. Human intervention, but get over it. It is those that know exactly how wine is produced and what the perils of production are that will see the need for a machine like this. As stated by others already, wine is romantic, production is hard work, costing lots of money.To those that think this will make all wine taste the same, wake up, most already do, if they didn't we would not be able to tell Marlborough Sauvignon from Sancerre. A select few can tell the difference from producer to producer in Marlborough, but they all taste of Marlborough, the same to a point. If we can drop the alchohol, retain the mouth feel and have balanced acid, then do it. This is no different than adding SO2, Fining, Filtering, Micro-oxidation, pasteurising, the list goes on. If people really want to know how wine is made, really made, they will learn the hardships of the winemakers....
Gerhard Steyn, Head Sommelier, Malmaison Birmingham, UK
This would be very good news for people who wants the benefits of resveratrol but are against the consumption of alcohol! Anon
This is just another technical breakthrough from the genius wine scientists of Australia, maybe we should just stop making wine here in Europe and get it shipped in powder form from Australia instead. Since most Europeans already drink factory produced aussie wine. Mads Kleppe, Norway
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Maybe we should go the full distance and actually turn the 'adjusted' wine into powder. Think of the environmental savings of transporting packets of wine powder where the end consumer only has to add water to enjoy a glass of Bacchus' delight! Terence Lyons
