OPACIFIED SPARKLING WHITE WINE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME

Abstract

The invention relates to a bottled sparkling white wine and to the method for producing same. The bottled wine contains a measured amount of an opacifying agent that does not alter the organoleptic properties of the wine; said measured amount, added prior to final corking of the bottle, consists of a suspension of finely divided oenological activated carbon in a food-grade liquid.

Claims

1. A sparkling white wine packaged in bottles, characterized in its containing a dose of activated carbon not altering the organoleptic properties of the wine consisting of a suspension in a liquid food of finely divided oenological activated carbon with a particle size of 5 μm or less.

2. A sparkling white wine according to claim 1, characterized in that the finely divided oenological activated carbon has a particle size of less than 3 μm for 90% of the carbon particles.

3. A sparkling white wine according to claim 1, characterized in that the liquid food is distilled water or wine.

4. A sparkling white wine according to claim 1, characterized in that the concentration of finely divided oenological activated carbon of a dose is between 5 and 50 mg.

5. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. A method for the preparation of finely divided oenological activated carbon having a particle size of less than or equal to 5 μm, consisting of preparing (E1) an initial suspension (S1) of finely divided oenological activated carbon (E12) in powder form in a liquid food (E11), homogenising (E2) the suspension (S1) by mechanical agitation to distribute the finely divided oenological activated carbon in powder form in the liquid food, breaking up (E3) the finely divided oenological activated carbon into a suspension by ultrasonic sonication, the suspension (S3) being centrifuged three times (E41-E43) collecting the supernatants (S41-S42) after each centrifugation step then: collecting the final supernatant S4, and concentrating the final supernatant containing suspended finely divided oenological activated carbon.

10. A method of preparation according to claim 9, characterized in that the step (E4) for the separation of the finest possible particles by centrifugation consists of centrifugal action in three successive stages (E41-E43), and collecting the supernatant at the end (E41-E42) of a centrifugation step and subjecting it to the next centrifugation step, repeated at least three times.

11. A method of preparation according to claim 9, characterized in that the final supernatant collected at the end of the final stage of evaporation (E5) and collecting the concentrate (S5).

12. A method of preparation according to claim 11, characterized in that the concentrate (S5) is subjected to sonication (E6) in an ultrasonic bath.

13. A method of preparation according to claim 12, characterized in that the concentrate (So) resulting from sonication (E6) is filtered (E7) with a 5 gm filter.

14. A method of preparation according to claim 13, characterized in that a liquid food consisting of water or wine is added (E8) to the filter concentrate to obtain the dosage liqueur at a concentration of between 0.01 and 10 g/L of finely divided activated carbon.

15. Oenological activated carbon characterized in that it is composed of finely divided oenological activated carbon particles having a particle size of less than 5 gm.

16. Oenological activated carbon according to claim 15, characterized in that the finely divided oenological activated carbon has a particle size of less than 3 μm for 90% of the carbon particles.

17. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the suspension consists of a suspension of a concentration of 1 to 100 g/l of activated carbon in a liquid food.

18. Finely divided oenological activated carbon obtained by the method of claim 9.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

[0057] The present invention will be described below using an example of a process for the production of a sparkling white wine according to the traditional method, opacified as illustrated by the accompanying drawings:

[0058] FIG. 1 diagram of the production of a sparkling white wine.

[0059] FIG. 2 diagram of the process for preparing the dosage liqueur.

[0060] FIG. 3 diagram of a variance of the preparation process of the dosage liqueur.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

[0061] In FIG. 1, the traditional method of making opacified, bottled sparkling white wine 1 consists of first fermenting the must A1 and then bottling still wine A2 with the addition of a tirage liqueur and yeasts A21 and a fining or stirring additive. The bottled wine ages for at least fifteen months. At the end of this ageing period, the deposits accumulated in the neck of the bottle following the riddling stage are eliminated during the disgorging process A4. Before the final corking, the expedition liqueur (or dosage liqueur) A51 is added before putting the product on sale.

[0062] According to the invention, before the final corking A6, a dose of opacifier A52 is added at the same time or with the dosing liqueur A51, which does not alter the organoleptic properties of the wine. The bottle is then corked.

[0063] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a typical method for preparing an oenological activated carbon and a process for preparing the dosage liqueur for opacifying a sparkling white wine.

[0064] Method 2 starts with the step of preparing an initial suspension E1 of oenological activated carbon E11 in a liquid E12 like distilled water or preferably wine.

[0065] The activated carbon is of vegetable origin comprising a powder of fine particles measuring between 1 and 100 μm. This oenological activated carbon meets the requirements of the international oenology CODEX (INS 153 OEN07/2007; OIV-OEN 604/218). This suspension of oenological activated carbon S1 prepared in this way will undergo several treatments to obtain a suspension of finely divided oenological activated carbon forming the finest possible dosage liqueur before filtering the concentrate resulting from the sonication with a 5 μm filter.

[0066] The initial suspension Si is made up with a concentration in the range of 1 to 100 g/L.

[0067] The initial suspension Si is then first homogenised E2 by mechanical agitation for instance.

[0068] The homogenised initial suspension S2, undergoes ultrasound sonication for three hours E3 to obtain a de-fragmented CAO-based suspension S3.

[0069] All the liquid is collected and put through successive centrifugation steps E4.

[0070] During a first centrifugation step E41 carried out at a speed of rotation of about 1200 RCF for a period of about 30 minutes, the supernatant S41 is collected, i.e. part of the suspension in the upper part of the centrifuge vessel.

[0071] This supernatant is subjected to S41 a further centrifugation step E42 to collect a new supernatant S42.

[0072] These centrifugation steps E41, E42, E43 are performed successively and end with the final supernatant S4.

[0073] Since the centrifugation steps E4 reduce the volume of liquid, several centrifugation sessions are carried out in parallel to obtain a final supernatant volume S4 by adding their results.

[0074] The filter supernatant is then reduced by evaporation ES producing a reduction rate of between 1 and 2% of S5 concentrate.

[0075] The centrifugation steps are carried for around 30-180 minutes at speeds of about 500-2200 RCF. The supernatants are checked by measuring their optical density OD at 620 nm.

[0076] The concentrate S5 is goes through ultrasound sonication for three hours E6 to obtain a final defragmented concentrate S6. The final concentrate S7 derived from this stage E7 is filtered with a filter retaining particles larger than 5 microns.

[0077] The analysis of the resulting finely divided oenological activated carbon was carried out by laser particle size measurement. It revealed that the average diameter by volume Dv of the finely divided oenological activated carbon particles was less than 3 microns for 90% of the particles. The average diameter by volume is, by definition, the diameter of the envelope sphere or a sphere circumscribed around an analysed activated carbon particle. Tests have shown that the finely divided oenological activated carbon of the invention remains suspended in a particularly stable manner in the wine.

[0078] For the preparation of a dosage suspension for opacifying a sparkling white wine, the concentrate S7 thus collected is added E8 to a complement of liquid food to obtain the dosage suspension S8 (dosage liqueur).

[0079] This dosage suspension S8 is added A5 to the bottle and disgorged white wine before final caulking, in parallel to or with the dosage/expedition liqueur.

[0080] The concentration of oenological active carbon in a dose is included between 5 and 50 mg.

[0081] The concentration of dosage liqueur is advantageously included between 0.1 and 10 g/litre of finely divided oenological carbon.

[0082] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a variant of the oenological active carbon preparation method a process for the generation of the dosage liqueur for the opacification of a sparkling white wine.

[0083] Process 3 begins with a stage for preparing and initial suspension E′1 of oenological Active carbon E′11 in a liquid food E′12 such as distilled water or, even better, wine.

[0084] The oenological active carbon is of vegetable origin, in the form of a powder comprising fine particles measuring between 1 and 100 μm. This oenological active carbon meets the requirements of the international oenological CODEX (SIN 153 OENO7/2207; OIV-OEN 604/218). This oenological activated carbon suspension S′1, prepared in this way, will go through several treatments to obtain a finely divided oenological activated carbon suspension forming the finest possible dosage liqueur.

[0085] The initial suspension S′1 is prepared with a concentration of between 50 and 1000 g/l. The initial solution S′1 is then finally ground or micronized E′2 using a horizontal micro bead grinder, for instance a Netzsch Labstar grinder, using metal micro beads or metal oxides having a diameter included between 100-1000 μm. The filling factor of the grinder is included between 10-90% of its capacity and the rotation speed is between 1000-5000 RPM. The grinding time is included between 1-24 hours to reach a final factor of the carbon in the initial solution S′2 included between 1-20% mass concentration.

[0086] The micronized initial suspension S′2 is diluted E′3 in liquid food E′13 such as demineralized water.

[0087] The micronized and diluted initial suspension S′3 is broken up by ultrasound homogenization for a time included between at least 1 to 15 min E′4 to obtain a defragmented activated carbon-based suspension S′4.

[0088] All the defragmented liquid is collected, and a sufficient quantity of liqueur E′S is added, the total volume of which S′S is reduced by evaporation by 30-60% of its initial volume E′6.

[0089] The resulting concentrate S′6 is further broken up by a first ultrasonic homogenisation step for a period of 1-15 min E′7 and the resultant product S′7 is again subjected to a further sonication step in ultrasonic baths for a period of 1-3 h E′S. The ultrasonic homogenisation time is relatively short due to the energy supplied by the probe, to avoid any caramelisation of the liqueur.

[0090] The concentrate obtained S′8 is finally filtered on 5 μm filters E′9 retaining particles larger than 5 μm in order to obtain a filter concentrate S′9 with particles smaller than 5 μm.

[0091] The filtered concentrate is subjected to E′10 centrifugation to collect a final supernatant S′10.

[0092] The centrifugation stage is carried out at a speed of rotation between 2000-4000 rpm for a period of about 30-180 minutes.

[0093] The supernatant S′10 is collected, i.e. a suspension volume in the upper part of the tube used for centrifugation. Finally, the opacifying liqueur is obtained.

[0094] Analysis of the size distribution of the finely divided activated carbon was carried out by laser particle inspection. It shows that the arrange diameter in volume Dv of the finely divided oenological activated carbon particles was less than 0.33 microns for 50% of the particles (the volume average diameter is, by definition, the diameter of the envelope or circumscribed sphere of an analysed activated carbon particle). Tests have shown that the finely divided oenological activated carbon of the invention remains suspended in a particularly stable manner in the wine.

[0095] This dosing liqueur is added to the bottled white wine and disgorged, before final corking, in parallel or together with the expedition dosing liqueur.

[0096] The final concentration of carbon is between 1 and 50 mg in a 750 mL bottle.

[0097] The concentration of the dosage liquor is advantageously between 0.01 and 50 g/L of finely divided oenological carbon.