A $6,000 filter has been donated to the WSU research winery by Carlson North America.
Located at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, WSU’s research winery is the largest in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to small-lot research winemaking, the facility also is used to provide students with technical training in winery setup and equipment management.
The 20-cm plate and frame filter will be useful in small-lot research projects, said WSU enologist Kerry Ringer.
“We’re really grateful for the donation,” she said. At a recent wine camp, students from all over the country learned to set up the filter.
“It allowed us to give the students hands-on experience,” she said.
Ringer and her colleague, enologist James Harbertson, designed the research winery to meet the needs of Washington’s premium wine industry. In the near future, Harbertson and Ringer plan to conduct filtration experiments in order to address industry concerns about filtration removing flavor. They’ve prepared by obtaining pad, cross-flow and sterile filtration systems.
“The perception among winemakers is that filtration removes the volatile compounds that give wine its flavor and nose,” said Harbertson. “We want to find out if that’s true or not.”
Sterile filtration, which Harbertson described as the “gold standard” in filtration systems, removes microorganisms.
“Not filtering wine risks Brettanomyces outbreaks,” Ringer pointed out. Brettanomyces is a type of yeast that can cause off odors and flavors.
“For the facility to remain state-of-the-art and to stay current with equipment being used in the industry, donations of equipment are really important,” Ringer said. “Barrels and other consumables are really important right now, as is equipment used in small-lot winemaking, such as a membrane press and pump.”
