Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1787
T here's been a shift in the appli- cation of leading-edge tech- nology to winemaking, and in Bordeaux, a place where innovation thrives, the technologies that are driving the greatest advances in wine quality can be found parked just outside the cellar door. In the quest for quality, equipment manufacturers have focused their attention on one particular point in the post-harvest process: triage, or sorting. While the sorting systems being used in the U.S. rely on vibra- tion, forced air and hand labor to filter out damaged fruit and foreign matter (referred to by the homely acronym MOG—material other than grapes), winemakers in France, Italy and Chile are using technologies that not only filter de- bris, but are able to sort and isolate fruit based on quality and levels of ripeness. Some go even one step farther in an effort to insure the complete integrity of the berries during the de-stemming and sort- ing processes. Clean as a Whistle When Vincent Cruège, winemak- er at André Lurton in Bordeaux, talks about innovation in winemaking, he's referring in part to the three La Tribaie density-sorting machines that the company has used since 2005. "Even in an ideal vintage like 2005, we saw improvements in wine quality with the La Tribaie. In more difficult vintages, we might lose as much as 30 percent of our yield to sorting; but the wines are cleaner, and the quality of both our first and second wines continues to improve," said Cruège. The La Tribaie system is being used on hand- and machine-harvested de-stemmed fruit at several châteaux in Bordeaux, with excellent results. The two most innovative aspects of the La Tribaie include a drum that separates whole berries from split ber- ries and debris, and a density-sorting tank where berries pass through a juice or sugar- water bath set at a specific Brix level. As the fruit passes through the tank, ripe berries (those with a Brix level greater than the Innovation PHOTO: DEBORAH PARKER WONG Techno Trends Vincent Cruège, winemaker at André Lurton in Bordeaux. Bathing, imaging and freezing your way to better wine The signature pagoda-shaped tower at Château Cos d'Estournel; the winery is one of the first to use liquid nitrogen to protect the integrity of harvested fruit. by Deborah Parker Wong 74 / the tasting panel / august 2009