From new methodologies capable of make the aromas more intense by means of cold maceration, deoxygenation models of the press to reduce the use of sulphur dioxide, up to the implementation of new techniques for sustainability in the winery, improving at the same time the quality of the wines. The SIAD International Award, launched in 2019 in collaboration with OICCE (Interprofessional Organisation for the Communication of Knowledge in Oenology), in these early years has already achieved the important goal it had set itself: encourage innovation in the use of technical gases in viticulture and oenology, concretely supporting the research.
The first winning projects, as we will see in this article, laid the foundations for creating new protocols in the wine supply chain. But the potential of the application of food gases still has a lot to express.
For this reason, the fifth edition of the prize has been opened.
SIAD-OICCE International Prize 2024: what is it?
The SIAD-OICCE International Prize promotes research into the use of technical gases in viticulture and oenology, financing projects aimed at identifying innovative solutions to improve the quality of the final product and the production processes.
It is addressed to the international community working in the production chain, in particular to:
- University researchers
- Oenologists and technicians
- Students
- Companies
- Consortia
In particular, the prize aims to recognise the value of projects, whether they are in the start-up phase, under development or completed, capable of expressing:
- Originality and innovation
- Environmental Sustainability
- Improvement of wine quality and production processes
- Ratio of expected benefits to costs
- Applicability on an industrial scale.
To ensure the value of the initiative the Technical-Scientific Committee called upon to evaluate the projects, composed of internationally recognized experts.
The prize is awarded to the winner, whether an individual or a working group, a contribution of six thousand euros and a SIAD Medal.
Winemaking and Viticulture Prize 2024: how to participate
To participate in the fifth edition of the SIAD and OICCE Award in Oenology and Viticulture, you must submit your project, with a detailed description, by 29 February 2024.
Applications should be submitted to the Chair of the Scientific and Technical Committee by sending the application form by e-mail to submission_siadprize@siad.eu.
Each candidate will receive a reply confirming access to the selection from the Technical-Scientific Committee by 29 March 2024 and will receive the official documentation to be completed.
Download the participation form here.
For further information, please write to info_siadprize@siad.eu
Food gases in oenology, a future yet to be written
In recent years, edible gases have become increasingly important in the wine chain for their ability to enhance the characteristics of the final product, but also to improve many technical aspects of processing and overcome some critical issues.
For this reason, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon and oxygen are no longer complementary in cellar operations, but essential throughout the whole process, from the separation of the grapes in the vineyard to the bottling of the finished product.
To date, some of the potentials of food gases are known:
- CO2 is the most used from harvest to fermentation
- Nitrogen and Argon intervene in the phases from fermentation to bottling
- oxygen is used in micro- and macro-oxygenation and wastewater treatment
But these are just a few examples.
The projects submitted during the first four editions of the SIAD-OICCE Awards have identified new ones.
Funded projects and innovations
The prize has, for example, made it possible to identify a new way of processing grapes: “Deoxygenating the press to reduce the use of SO2”, the title of the project developed at the Cantina Sociale “La Guardiense” in Guardia Sanframondi, Campania, envisages the implementation of a treatment capable of completely removing the oxygen from the press, decreasing the sulfur dioxide needed for subsequent processing.
The research “Valorization of Cortese-based wines by pre-fermentation maceration with cryogenic gas”, implemented at the Il Cascinone winery of Gruppo Araldica Castelvero, in Piedmont, by a working group that involved the winery and the University of Turin-DISAFA, focused on a method of winemaking capable of extract more of the component of primary aromas of grapes by effective and short-lived cold maceration.
And again, “Quality improvement of red wines, with a low environmental impact, thanks to the use of technical gases”, carried out at the experimental cellar of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Pisa, used carbon dioxide and nitrogen in winemaking in reduction of red grapes, to have high quality wines, from a sensory point of view, and a low impact working process.
Finally, the project “Use of technical gases for the production of rosé wines in the Mediterranean environment”, made operational in the harvest 2023 by a team composed of researchers from the University of Salento and Cantina Crifo in Ruvo di Puglia , allowed a comparison between the potentials related to the use of CO2 and N2 for the process of film cryomaceration in press in the rosé vinification of Bombino nero.
