Wine-makers are facing multiple obstacles in providing exceptional quality products, with a continuous increase of a number of sophisticated tastes. They pay particular attention to micro-organisms found inside and around wineries: those include wild yeasts ( e.g. Brettanomyces ), bacteria ( such as Acetobacter ), and several kinds of moulds and fungi ( including Racodium cellare and Zygomycetes ), which can affect the wine quality.
Most wine-makers pay particular attention to 2,4,6 – trichloroanisoles ( TCA, also known as „cork taint“ ), which are considered to be coming from sources such as contaminated wine objects, transport ships, or bottling plants equipment, moulds in the air, or chlorine-based compounds. In the past fifteen years, ozone has been playing a significant role in wineries as a help in eradicating TCA, providing an efficient sanitization of surfaces with ozone-enriched cold water in almost every process in the winery. Thus eliminating the use of chlorine-based disinfection, kiling a wide spectrum of micro-organisms, and leaving no harmful by-products.
Ever since the USDA Organic approved the food supplements, ozone has been efficiently destroying all the known human pathogens and food pathogens. Including E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter, Pseudomonas, Aspergillus, Brettanomyces, Acetobacter, Trichophyton, Bacillus, Adenovirus, and Norovirus.
Through ozone systems, specialized for every phase of wine production, DEL can improve the product quality, as you increase the productivity in already ongoing activities, or in new objects. DEL Ozone provides sanitization solutions and products designed for inconspicuous integration into the activities in wine production and processing.
Ozone disinfection is usually applied at several points in wineries:
- Direct contact – on the grapes, as the first point of anti-microbe intervention
- Washing barrels and tanks – wooden or inox barrels and tanks ( inside and outside )
- Sanitization of surfaces – on any moist surface
- CIP as a support – as an additional point of intervention
- Ducts, transport lines, hoses, valves, transporters
