A Process for Producing Wine
Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing wine. More specifically relates to a process of mobile mass wine production continuously throughout the year.
Background of the Invention
Traditional methods of wine making may be simple, but many of them have several disadvantages. Among these is the fact, as it required the grape juice to be made into wine immediately after picking of grapes, at wine production centers which are sited in a relative close proximity to where the grapes are grown, resulting in restricted geographical spot for wine production.
Yet another weakness of ordinary wine making processes is that the high cost of end product resulted by the higher labor cost countries and the high duties paid when liquor is imported into countries with high import due to the restricted geographical spot for wine production.
This is not, however, an ideal way of producing wine because it is restricted to two to three weeks only of the year. During this short time everyone in the wine cellars has to work hard, so that any improvements which are devised in the wine making must generally be put aside until the wine making season of the following year. It also required a long period of time to achieve the finished product from grape juice with an average time of two years.
A further disadvantage is that the production of inferior wine resulted by altered flavor, ripens and sugar content when trying to transport grapes, caused of cooked taste produced by the process of heat extraction to produce concentrate when grape juice is transformed
into must and transformed into treatment already done by supplier of the concentrate, and when solids tannins are removed by a centripetal extraction to produce a concentrate.
The ordinary wine making processes are not applicable in tropical countries as the ambient temperature is too high causing a too rapid fermentation by the yeast of the fructose and a flat non-complex taste. The heat also causes rapid evaporation of alcohol into the atmosphere and a loss of value.
An additional disadvantage is that during transportation the skins of the grapes which are required for color extraction as freshly pressed juice from red grapes is clear, will contained 'wild' yeasts and causes fermentation to occur, unless heavy levels of sulfur dioxide are added. The levels required are so high that the wines will not ferment when required. This requires the addition of peroxide for the removal of the sulfur which in turn will bleach the color out and the resulting wine will be brown causes an unacceptable color for the sales and marketing of the product.
The existing wine making processes require a massive commitment in bottled inventory which is sold over the period of the year or years.
Summary of the Invention
The invention provides a process for producing wine which overcomes the above problems, and according to the invention a process of wine production comprises subjecting fruit juice and tannins, which are separated using different processes, to a cold temperature preferably -12°C to -60C which is maintained by keeping them in refrigerated containers for a predetermined period of time so as to prevent or inhibit fermentation of the must during that period of transportation, wherein said fruit juice is preferably grape.
Fermentation of the fruit juice can thus be begun at any time simply by reconstitute the juice concentrate with purified water back to its natural state. Tannins additive is added so as to
bring the solids level back up to a pre-concentrate level and toasted oak chips is added at the beginning of the ferment to replace the need and time required for aging in wood barrels.
Regardless of the ambient temperature of the country of time of the year, the winery is maintained at tropical ambient temperature, with a process for the removal of atmospheric humidity.
Fermentation reading will be done on the wine to ascertain the levels of malic acid.
When fermentation stop, settling occur and the level of CO? is maintained so as to prevent oxidation and to maintain brilliance of color and maintenance of fruit on the nose and palate.
During clarification, the wines are settled in cold temperature preferably about -4°C to about -2°C and fining agent preferably bentonite is added. Fining agents are used to clarify wine before bottling or long-term storage. When added to wine, bentonite settles to the bottom carrying with it any suspended particles.
By using this process, aging is not necessary or encouraged and twist on top or synthetic corks is preferred. Inert gas may be used and preservatives at the correct levels may be added during bottling. This invention allows wineries to set up for fermentation only and a single bottling plan mounted on a vehicle to go from winery to winery.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The preferred embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, with reference to the following figure, wherein like designations denote like elements and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of wine production according to the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
According to the invention, a process for producing wine comprising subjecting fruit juice and tannins, which are separated using different processes, to a cold temperature which is maintained by keeping them in refrigerated containers preferably about -12°C to about -6°C for a predetermined period of time so as to prevent or inhibit fermentation of the must during that period they are transported, wherein said fruit is preferably grape.
The fruit juice is supplied to an apparatus near the harvest area to be separated from the seeds, residual stems and skins for the best production of wine quality juice. Centrifugal separation with or without a combination of low heat is regardless as particularly favorable as it prevent cooked flavors coming through. As previously mention, cooked taste is produced by the traditional process of heat extraction to produce concentrate when grape juice is transformed into must and transformed into treatment.
The tannins is processed from the left over skin and seeds waste product of the wine making process by a separate method. The process recovered grape alcohol, grape seed oil and tartrates from wine by-products to enhance the quality of the traditional wine making process. The separating process use SO2 and water from by-products of turning grape juice into concentrate as a materials. The bacteria are used to consume malic acid in the materials and the excess water is then removed.
Figure 1 illustrates the flow diagram of wine production according to the present invention. The grape juice and tannins are transported separately in a cold temperature preferably about -12°C to about -60C which is maintained by keeping them in refrigerated containers. This remains the quality and fruit levels required for above average standard wine production.
After transportation, the grape juice concentrate is reconstituted with purified water back to its natural state of the grape juice before concentration to preferably about 14° Beaume so as
to achieve a level around 14% alcohol by volume post ferment, and tannin additives are added to the tannins concentrate so as to bring the solids level back up to a pre-concentrate level. The grape juice and tannins is then recombined before they are supplied for fermentation.
Fermentation can thus be begun by adding toasted oak chips preferably both American and French toasted oak chips, to replace the need and time required for aging in wood barrels. During fermentation, sterilization of vats, pumps and pipes is controlled to prevent bacteria contamination. Additionally, added yeast supplements are controlled to encourage healthy yeast growth and to prevent unwanted characteristics due to the starvation of the yeast.
Regardless of the ambient temperature of the country of time of the year, this invention enables winery to be maintained at tropical ambient temperature, preferably at about 230C, with a process for the removal of atmospheric humidity due to the energy transfer to create condensation. In addition, it is needed to maintain high levels of hygiene as humidity encourage bacterial growth. Fermentation of white wines and red wines are started separately at about 18°C to about 240C to encourage healthy yeast growth and is manually decreased gradually daily preferably I0C per day to control a slow fermentation process until about 8°C to 10°C. With this invention, the red wine is fermented at the same temperature as the white wines as no color extraction required and is fundamentally different to the traditional method of wine making.
During fermentation, inert gases such as nitrogen and CO2 are used as a 'blanket' over the juice to prevent oxidation of the fermenting juice. With this invention, the alcohol levels are remained within acceptable levels and do not required additional sugars to supplement the alcohol that dissipates during the fermentation, due to strict temperature controls and humidity reduction. Fermentation readings are applied on the wines to ascertain the levels of malic acid on whether to trigger malolactic fermentation which turned malic acid into lactic acid during fermentation so as to soften the wines.
When fermentation stop, settling occur, after which the supernatant is separated from the lees by decantation in to a clarification vessel, carefully kept topped to minimize the exposure of oxygen. The level of CO? is maintained so as to prevent oxidation and to maintain brilliance of color and maintenance of fruit on the nose and palate. Timing after complete of fermentation is important to avoid problems caused by autolysis of the yeast cells.
During clarification, the wine is settled in cold temperature preferably about -5°C to about - I0C to effectively force the solids to 'drop' out of the finished product, saving on filtration costs and time. In addition, it allowed the wine to be cold stabilized which prevent the wine from 'throwing' tartrate crystals if the wine is refrigerated. Tartaric acid is added to increase the speed of this process by adding the crystals and thereby attracting the crystals trapped in the wine. Bentonite is added during clarification to heat stabilize the wine and to prevent the wine from clouding. In place of natural aging and maturing of the wine, toasted oak chips, preferably both American and French are added at the beginning of ferment. This is constantly monitored so as not to overpower the other characteristics of the juice, but only to compliment. Aging is not necessary or encouraged in this invention where the wine is designed to be consumed 'young' which save money on holding costs and marketing the wine with fruit intact.
During bottling, inert gases are used again to prevent oxidation of the wine. Additionally, the correct levels of preservatives can be added with the equipment and chemicals on hand according to the acceptable levels of international wine making so as to prevent bacterial spoilage and oxidation. Corks preferably twist on tops or synthetic corks are used to prevent the slow entering of oxygen into the bottle.
It is therefore be seen that the process of this invention allows for making of consistent flavor branded multiple vintages per year, continuously throughout the year reducing inventory and holding costs without being restricted as now to carrying out fermentation for two or three weeks only during each year, which is the present wine making methods.
A further consideration is that, because the existing wine making processes depends on fermentation being started as soon as possible after the grapes have been picked, wine production centers at present have to be in relative close proximity to where the grapes are grown. Now however it is possible to preserve the grape juice by this new invention which allows it to be stored without detrinent or alteration, the actual wine production can be done in any geographical spot desired, as the raw material (the grape juice and tannins) can easily be sent over. This is important, because wine production centers may then be sited more conveniently near big wine-consumption centers where selling of the wine takes place. In addition, it allows the making of consistent flavor branded of wine in location of high tariffs and duties, which allow the grape juice concentrate to be brought into the countries at substantially lower rates and quality wine can be produced in lower cost of end product resulted by the lower labor cost countries and capital intensive investment for example in vineyards or juice extraction can be eliminated.
This invention also allows wineries to set up for fermentation only and a single bottling plan mounted on a truck to go from winery to winery locally or through country region, preferably with all the vintages timed to end in a predetermined sequence to follow the best routing of the bottling plant. This invention allows wineries to set up for fermentation only and a single bottling plan mounted on a vehicle to go from winery to winery.
It is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms and is not limited to the sole embodiment described above. However modification and equivalents of the disclosed concepts such as those which readily occur to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the claims which are appended thereto.