Thursday 14 November

14:30 – 15.20

Conference Room - Hall 1 

Technologies, processes and future wineries, between climate change and the search for new styles of wine

After years of calm in the wine world, three significant factors of change - with opposing effects - are challenging architectural design and the use of materials in wineries around the world. On the one hand, climate change that yields increasingly ripe grapes with higher pHs and a higher alcohol content as well as, in some cases, grapes hit by excessive heat waves. On the other, the demand for increasingly fresh and easy-to-drink wines together with the search for single-vine varieties and, in countries such as Italy, a growing use of native grape varieties.

To manage this new scenario, producers around the world find themselves having to redesign not only the ways to obtain wines, in all stages of the production process, but also the environments, materials and equipment necessary to produce them. A commitment that confirms the continuous dynamism of the global wine sector and the need for constant investments in this sector to produce and communicate contemporary wines.

During the conference, different aspects of the production process have been examined and not only.

The discussion started from the trends and modernisation of presses to improve the freshness of white wines and leaded to the changes in the use, size and shape of the steel tanks used to produce important red wines but also fresh, light-bodied yet complex wines from increasingly mature grapes.

Then, it was the turn of concrete, whose use is growing in many wine regions around the world, both in the vinification and storage phase instead of steel and as a tool for ageing instead of wood, also talking about how today innovative closures help preserve greater freshness for sparkling wines.

Finally, the chapter on dealcoholized wines, a segment experiencing a surge in growth on markets around the world. A segment where technological innovation can play a leading role in the search for new quality levels and better cost-effectiveness of the production process.

White wines: Trends and modernisation the presses to improve the freshness of native Italian wines
Pressing in white wines is becoming a more and more crucial phase of production. Since we are increasingly dealing with very ripe grapes, it becomes necessary to exchange ideas in order to correctly programme the presses as well as keep up to date with the new technologies and updates that an important producer such as Diemme has already foreseen and the future aspects on which it intends to work. Aspects that must also be considered in terms of a greater interest in the use of native varieties such as Vermentino, Grillo, Timorasso, Verdicchio.

Speaker: 
Diemme Enologia

Great Reds: how the use, size and shape of steel tanks is changing
In recent years, the topic of steel winemaking tanks is becoming once again one of great interest. The need to produce important reds but also fresh, light-bodied yet complex wines from increasingly mature grapes requires us to undertake new horizons in winemaking by drawing up new guidelines for pre-post fermentative maceration as well as in the level and method of extraction. The type, size and shape of the tanks are therefore boundaries to be redesigned for the future of red wines in many Italian regions.

Speaker: 
Laurent Guillemain, Sales Director Defranceschi

Concrete: if, when and why?
The use of concrete is gaining strong impetus in many wine-growing regions around the world, both in the vinification and storage phases instead of steel and as a tool for ageing instead of wood. The report analyzed the reasons behind the return of concrete and the evolutions and improvements for this material that are currently being worked on.

Speaker: 
 Nico Velo

Dealcoholized wines and beverages in search of quality improvement
Interest in de-alcoholic products is constantly growing in markets around the world, both in terms of zero-alcohol products but also wines where producers prefer to moderate the alcohol content stemming from increasingly hot and short growing seasons. Recent innovations in this area are necessary to solve the quality and cost problems of these practices.

Speaker: 
Massimo Pivetta, Omnia Technologies Wine Business Unit Leader

Innovative stoppers to preserve greater freshness in sparkling wines
The search for greater freshness in wines is of interest in all phases of the production process. Recent innovative developments have led to the creation of stoppers for the world of bubbles which until recently were available only for the world of still wines. The report highlighted the development path of this innovation and the technical and qualitative guarantees that this technology offers to the sparkling wine sector as well as which kinds of bubbles these innovations adapt to.

Speaker: 
Antonino La Placa Sales Director Italy Vinventions

Moderator:
Andrea Lonardi, MW