New research from Adelaide University suggests technology used to remove alcohol from wine can be combined with established remediation methods to reduce the impact of smoke taint while preserving sensory qualities.
Spinning cone column distillation is used in dealcoholisation for no and low alcohol wines.
Research from Adelaide University found that when combined with activated carbon, a method used to remove impurities, spinning cone column distillation produced better results than activated carbon alone.
“The global wine industry is navigating many climate-related challenges, including the occurrence of smoke taint resulting from vineyard exposure to smoke from bushfires,” said Professor Kerry Wilkinson, from Adelaide University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.
“Adelaide University PhD student Ysadora Mirabelli-Montan’s research has shown that this combined treatment method remediated the impacts of smoke taint in wines while preserving desirable fruity characters in the end product.”
Spinning cone column distillation separates ethanol and aroma compounds using steam and centrifugal force, leaving behind a stripped wine containing water, acids, sugars, colour and tannins.
“When a smoke-affected wine is processed in this way, most of the compounds associated with smoke taint remain in the stripped wine,” said Wilkinson, whose study was published in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research.
“We can then be more targeted, only applying activated carbon to the stripped wine without also stripping out desirable aroma compounds.”
The condensate and treated stripped wine are then recombined, resulting in improved fruit expression and reduced smoke characteristics.
“While small but significant changes in alcohol concentrations were observed following treatment, this didn’t impact the sensory perception of the wines,” Wilkinson said.
The trial also found a decrease in sulfur dioxide, which can be addressed after treatment. Wilkinson said further trials at commercial scale are needed to confirm the findings.
“We treated around 100 litres using our pilot-scale SCC distillation system, but the commercial scale systems used for dealcoholisation in industry can treat much larger volumes,” she said.