PROJECT
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Bosman trials alternative
cooling solution for barrel room
By Ilana Koegelenberg
Koegelenberg
Bosman Family Vineyards in Wellington has always been at the forefront of technology and
recently installed two indirect evaporative coolers in its new barrel store, achieving low
temperatures and high humidity with low energy input.
Lelienfontein, home of Bosman Family Vineyards, is known for both its agricultural and winemaking side.
L
elienfontein, home of Bosman Family
Vineyards, was originally issued to
a French Huguenot in 1699. The first
generation of the Bosman family arrived
on the farm almost a century later in
1798. Here they produced wine on the
estate up until 1957, when the family
turned their focus to their vine nursery. In
2007, eighth-generation Petrus Bosman
returned to the long-held family dream
and released the first wines from their
newly renovated 260-year-old cellar.
26
THE “ANGELS’ SHARE”
Any wine lost during the production
process is a loss in profit. At various points
in the winemaking process, wine volume
is lost, and at each point, losses should be
minimised.
Apart from the occasional and
unforeseen human error in the cellar
leading to a wine loss, wine is lost through
carrying out routine operations such as
transfers, filtration, and bottling. Wine is also
lost through evaporation during storage in
oak barrels, sometimes referred to as the
“angels’ share”.
This loss can be as high as 10%,
depending on the conditions in the cellar
(temperature and humidity), and the
length of time the wine is stored in the
barrel. To manage this evaporation loss
and to maintain wine quality by minimising
the ullage in the barrel, the lost volume is
regularly replaced or topped up with wine
of similar quality.This is a significant added
cost to production, not only because
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
of the wine volume that has been lost,
but also due to the cost per litre of the
replacement-topping wine, as well as the
labour costs incurred when carrying out the
barrel-topping operations.
A NEED FOR COOLING
Winemaking literature suggests that the
‘ideal’ temperature for the storage of wine
is 13°C — a temperature that corresponds
closely to the typical underground cellar
temperatures found in countries like France.
COLD LINK AFRICA • January | February 2018