Economic evaluation of alternative technologies for tartrate stabilisation of wines

Abstract

Cold stabilisation is a widely used industrial process to prevent tartrate instability in bottled wines. In this article, current knowledge regarding performance and cost of cold stabilisation and alternative technologies for tartrate stabilisation is reviewed. Whilst there have been occasional cost comparisons between cold stabilisation and alternative technologies published in the literature, existing data is not satisfactory to permit an accurate economic evaluation of the different process options. Therefore, alternative technologies to cold stabilisation, including the Westfalia process, nanofiltration and electrodialysis were compared for both technical and economic performance. The engineering calculations and conceptual cost estimates were based on real world data from an Australian winery. Product loss was a key cost driver in differentiating tartrate stabilisation processes. Cold stabilisation was found to be the most economic treatment process irrespective of scale or winery size. Westfalia process and nanofiltration were the next most cost effective options.