Removing tartrate crystals from wine prior to bottling has become a vital link in the production. The most accepted way of doing so has been to cold stabilise down to minus 3 or 4 degrees, for a period of seven to 10 days. A long and costly expense. But now there is an alternative.

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• Saves wine
• Saves energy
• Saves time

Electrodialysis (ED) is a viable and proven alternative to conventional cold stabilisation that is greatly reducing winemakers’ energy consumption and wine losses. ED is a rapid in-line process which replaces the method of cold storage and tartrate lees disposal.

The recent fires in and around Victoria have thrown vintage plans into chaos. Now that the immediate fire danger has passed, many growers and winemakers are disturbed by the risk of smoke taint. Timely harvest decisions are being delayed while grapes are analysed and in many cases, fruit is being rejected on the basis of fear and poor information.

With climate change predictions indicating more bushfires in future the Australian wine industry is worried it may literally go 'up in smoke'. Wineries around the world have only recently woken up to the damaging effect of bushfire smoke on their vintages. Fires in Victoria a couple of years ago cost the industry more than a $100-million.

(By Tim Treadgold, 16 November 2009)

An Australian company's technology fixes flaws in grapes. Will purists approve?

Taking alcohol out of wine seems a bit like taking the fun out of a day at the beach--and certainly very un-Australian. But that is how Memstar, a Melbourne business, is making money. Memstar uses high-tech membranes (hence the first part of its name) to remove unwanted elements in wine, right down to the molecular level. Removing alcohol is the major use of the technology, but with a switch in the process other unwanted elements can be removed, including smoke taint from forest fires. Both problems, rising alcohol levels in wine caused by excess sugar in grapes, and smoke from such fires, have been blamed on a warming climate.