A remediation method for smoke-affected wine that maximises the recovery of value from impacted fruit is being validated in the Australian marketplace as part of a 12-month collaborative project between Wine Australia, VAF Memstar and Amea, the New Zealand-based company behind the solution.
The method involves the use of a filtration media called molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) that remove the free volatile phenols and other smoke marker compounds related to smoke exposure. The MIPs only capture the targeted smoke molecules, leaving the desirable flavour and aroma compounds of the wine intact.
The filtration media technology is already approved for use in the United States, Canada and New Zealand and will be delivered in Australia by Barossa-based company VAF Memstar, a provider of filtration solutions to the beverage sector.
Although non-filtration treatments for smoke-tainted wine currently exist, they may also remove other compounds, negatively impacting the texture and sensory quality of the wine which may result in it being downgraded.
MIPs have been around for approximately 100 years but their use to date has mainly been restricted to laboratories where only small quantities have been required. Amaea, which specialises in molecular filtration solutions for the wine and food sectors, has developed the technology so that it is now able to be applied to commercial quantities of product.
Amaea VPx was developed especially for the treatment of smoke impacted wines and is essentially a bead containing a quintillion (1018) impressions of the molecules responsible for smoke taint.
Wine industry lead for Amaea, Jonathan Engle, explained that when the beads are inserted into a filtration system and wine is passed over them, the target molecules bind to them.
Amaea VPx had its first big test at a large US winery in response to the Californian bushfires in 2020.
“This is where we had some ‘A-ha moments’ for the technology and really got us to where we are now. Working with the winery’s research team, we were able to have the outcomes of the treatments with Amaea VPx subjected to sensory assessment,” Engle explained.
“The ‘A-ha moment’ came when we realised how little of the target molecules we had to remove for them to no longer be able to be perceived from a sensory perspective. We typically find that between 20-30% is all that is needed to be removed to unmask the natural aromas and flavours of the wine,” he said.
“This was a key finding as it allowed the winemaker the ability to tailor the treatments depending on the wine varietal and level of smoke impact. Not only did they have a solution that only targeted the compounds responsible for smoke aroma and flavour, it also meant they could remove just enough of the compounds to preserve the wine’s varietal character and body.
“What this meant for our US partner winery is they felt they could leave the wine within its intended wine program rather than downgrade it,” Engle said.
Since the work with the US winery, Amaea VPx has been used to treat over one million litres of commercial wine in the US and Canada.