Cryomaceration or Kryomaceration? Case study in rosé winemaking
Great challenges await wine producers, chief among them: environmental sustainability and the enhancement of native grape varieties to attract and satisfy increasingly attentive and demanding consumers.
The key is to develop innovative and specific winemaking models to enhance product characteristics, working in a network with a renewed multidisciplinary approach.
In this, the use of food gases is essential in order to protect against oxidation at all stages of production, from must to bottling, limiting the use of sulfur dioxide as much as possible.
It is when obtained from experimentation carried out by Il Cascinone of Araldica Castelvero Group,based on the use of liquid carbon dioxide in the cryomaceration of crushed grapes. Let’s analyze the winery’s successful case study.
Founded in the 1920s, Il Cascinone is one of the leading estates in Acqui Terme (AL). In 2001, the company was purchased by the Araldica Castelvero Group, which decided to resume and enhance its former glory, making it a flagship of the area.
The experimentation in question focused on Piedmontese grape varieties,including Cortese, Sauvignon and Nebbiolo.
With a view to producing more sustainable wines with a reduced sulfite content, our client found that it was necessary to intervene in the production model to overcome some critical issues related precisely to the aforementioned olfactory component, predominantly of fermentation origin, a characteristic that did not fully enhance the potential of the Piedmontese grape variety.
As explained by Alberto Caudana, a professor in the Food Technology degree program at the University of Turin and coordinator of the working group that carried out the study, a new application solution of cryomaceration with the intention of extracting more and preserving the primary aromatic component from oxidation. The experimentation focused on short-term cold maceration of the crushed grapes,starting from the assumption that precisely because of the peculiarities of these grapes, protection from oxidation is essential through the use of inert gas from the time the grapes are crushed.
Immediately after crushing, time in the press was exploited to achieve a release of soluble compounds into the must, limiting the passage of phenolic substances.
The use of CO2, dispensed on the crushed grapes through SIAD’s innovative Kryos system, allows for rapid cooling, a slightly cauterizing action on the skin tissues capable of promoting crashes, a limitation of the presence of oxygen and, as a result, a strong slowdown in oxidative activities.
There is evidence of an effective and sudden lowering of the must temperature, favoring the prefermentative extraction stages with an increase in the color fraction and greater protection of the must from oxidation immediately after crushing, a particularly critical moment since there is still no carbon dioxide produced by fermentation.
The use of liquid CO2 with Kryos technology, compared with other cooling methodologies, proves particularly advantageous in several respects:
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SIAD Group, a century of history in gas production
Among Italy’s leading chemical groups, SIAD is a leader in the production and commercialization of the full range of industrial, specialty, and medicinal gases and related services. The business extends to sectors in synergy with that of gases, including Wine, Food and Beverage.
