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1446 Industrial Ave. Sebastopol, CA 95472
+1 (707) 824-7905

WINE TAINT REMOVAL

TO MAXIMIZE WINE FLAVOR AND EXPRESSION

Aggressive winemaking where a winemaker is taking risks to maximize flavor and expression can often lead to various taints, including volatile acidity, high alcohol and Brettanomyces. Environmental conditions can also interfere in the winemaking process with ill-timed rain, the occasional forest fire or other sight specific contaminants. In any of these cases, Winesecrets’ tangential flow technology is available to restore those sought-after characteristics.
Reverse osmosis for volatile acidity (VA) and alcohol removal in wine received patent approval on January 2, 1996. It’s U.S. Patent No. 5,480,665. Since then, its use has been expanded to other tangential flow methods to remove off-aroma compounds from “Brett” and smoke, to concentration juice following rain events prior to fermentation and to improve red wine color or remove unwanted color from whites.
The selective nature of reverse osmosis allows for treatment of specific taint compounds. In the case of acetic acid and ethyl acetate (VA), only the taint components, water and alcohol are treated with ion exchange to remove the VA, leaving the aroma and flavor compounds untouched. Similarly, other taints are treated as they pass through a selective membrane, preventing the delicate sensory characters from treatment. With juice concentration, only water passes through the membrane, leaving sugar and flavor intact.

VOLATILE ACIDITY REMOVAL FROM WINE

WINEMAKING CHALLENGE: HIGH VOLATILE ACIDITY

Acetic acid concentration in your wine is elevated. This results in the following challenges:
My wine is not as expressive as I expected
The ferment will not go to dryness
This wine cannot legally leave the premises
  • Volatile acidity aromas are masking the desirable components of your wine.
  • You have a fermentation that cannot finish due to high volatile acidity (VA).
  • Your wine seems fine, but volatile acidity is higher than the legal limit.

WINESECRETS CAN GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS CHALLENGE

Winesecrets utilizes Reverse Osmosis (RO) for its targeted taint removal of VA.

  • Water, alcohol and acetic acid are separated from the rest of the wine.
  • Acetic acid removed.
  • Our process involves recirculation of the wine in a single tank, which reduces the risk of oxidation and manages the headspace of your wine. This gentle and selective handling keeps your intended aroma profile intact.

Winesecrets can remove 50% of the VA from a wine at rates up to 400 gallons per hour. With this efficient VA reduction technology:

  • Your wine demonstrates its intended flavor and aroma potential.
  • Stuck fermentations reinitiate and ferment to dryness.
  • Your wine is below the legal limit for volatile acidity.

Winesecrets’ RO system has the smallest impact on treated wine in the industry. Using Ionic RO pore size membrane (100MW), your benefits for choosing to work with us include:

  • Target Treatment: Only the offending acetic acid compound is treated and removed, leaving all other wine components intact
  • Selective Media: Our competitors use larger pore membranes, with more of the wine’s important sensory elements contacting the treatment media.
  • Smallest Impact: The competition’s method removes important wine acids, requiring acid balance (adding malic and tartaric acid) after treatment.

Winesecrets has conducted volatile acidity reduction on over 5 million gallons of wine throughout North America. Our highly trained, professional staff can return your wine to its intended flavor profile at your winery or at our central location in Sebastopol, CA.

Wine VA Reduction by Reverse Osmosis
Watch this short video to learn more
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BRETTANOMYCES & MICROBIAL TAINT REMOVAL

WINEMAKING CHALLENGE: BRETTANOMYCES (BRETT) BECAME ESTABLISHED IN YOUR WINE

In small amounts, Brett can add complexity to your wine. Once a critical concentration is reached, however, the spoilage yeast can exhibit undesirable characters or suppress desirable components
Hints of horse, copper penny
The lovely aromas the wine exhibited when young are muted
taint removal machine demo
  • If you can taste Brett in your wine, so can the critics.  You will need to remove its unwelcome influence.
  • Compounds from Brett below sensory threshold will mask attractive fruit aromas.

WINESECRETS CAN GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS PROBLEM

Start by experiencing the wine without the burden of Brett taint using Winesecrets’ Test Track. Verify your wine’s potential before full scale treatment.

Use Winesecrets Molecular Reverse Osmosis (200 MWC) for its targeted removal of phenolic microbial taints. How does this work?

  • Water, alcohol and small aromatic compounds including those responsible for taint are separated from the rest of the wine.
  • The taint compounds are selectively removed by adsorption with carbon.
  • The water and alcohol are recombined into the wine.
image of taint removal process

Winesecrets can remove Brett taint compounds from a wine at rates up to 500 gallons per hour. With this efficient taint reduction technology:

  • Free from the aroma suppression of Brett taint, your wine reveals the flavor and aroma you intended.
  • Dirty aromas are mitigated.
  • Blend rates to mitigate off-aromas are reduced.
  • Wines that might have suffered downgrading may retain their premium status.

Winesecrets’ Brett taint removal system employs 200 molecular weight, Molecular RO filters. Your benefits for choosing to work with us include:

  • Wine Integrity: Water, alcohol and the offending components are treated, leaving all other wine components intact.
  • Targeted Treatment: Our competitors use larger pore membranes, with more of the wine’s important sensory elements contacting the treatment media.
  • Superior Outcomes: Winesecrets uses a highly selective form of adsorptive carbon, which out-performs bulk carbon methods and organic ion exchange.

Winesecrets has conducted Brett taint removal on over 250,000 gallons of wine throughout North America. Many of these wines have gone on to garnish critical acclaim and rapid depletion. Our highly trained, professional staff can return your wine to its intended flavor profile at your winery or at our central location in Sebastopol, CA.

REMOVE UNKNOWN AROMAS & TAINTS FROM WINE

WINEMAKING CHALLENGE: THERE IS AN UNIDENTIFIABLE TAINT OR OFF CHARACTER NOT DESCRIBED IN WINEMAKING TEXT BOOKS

I don’t know what that is
This is not what we intended
  • There is an aroma in your wine you cannot identify. You don’t know what it or how it got there, but you will need to eliminate it.
  • The unknown aroma is not unpleasant, but it is not consistent with house style.

WINESECRETS CAN GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS SITUATION

Winesecrets has a history of developing customized treatment processes to restore impacted wines. We may not find the source of the taint or identify its cause. We will, however, use our entire arsenal to find a treatment solution that meets your requirements.

Winesecrets will utilize its unique bench scale trial system Test Track to determine the impact of each treatment on your particular problem. After an initial evaluation by our experience laboratory and cellar experts, small scale treatment trials can begin to determine the best course of action.

The bench trial coupled with Winesecrets’ l5 years of experience in restoring distressed wine will allow you to determine the best course of action before committing large volumes of wine to an unknown issue.

image of wine bottles

Winesecrets can remove unknown taint from a wine at rates up to 500 gallons per hour. With this efficient Quality Recovery technology, your wine is:

  • Clean with unknown taint removed.
  • In line with the intended flavor profile.

The Test Track is a unique bench scale trial system to determine the impact of several treatments on a wine. Your benefits for choosing to work with us include:

  • Decision Control: With Test Track results, you decide the optimal taint mitigation to bring out the desired characters of your wine.
  • Minimal Intervention: Bench trials allow you to determine just the right treatment volume to improve a wine lot. Treat no more than is necessary.
  • Superior Outcomes: Winesecrets uses a highly selective form of adsorbtive carbon, which out-performs bulk carbon methods and organic ion exchange.

Once you decide on a treatment regime, Winesecrets has the equipment to scale up the process from individual barrels to lots in excess of 100,000 gallons. Using our insightful defect reduction system results in wine that is freed from foreign and off-putting sensory elements, free to express a more elegant profile.  Our highly trained, professional staff can return your wine to its intended flavor profile at your winery or at our central location in Sebastopol, CA.

CONTACT US FOR YOUR TAINT REMOVAL PROBLEM

Ready to take the first step? By filling in the request below, we will begin the process of preparing a customized solution to your winemaking challenge. Our team of professionals is ready to share decades of wine production knowledge with you. We love a challenge! And will do our best to ensure you are realizing superior results.