STARS- Guaranteed Tartrate Stabilization without Additives

Have you ever wondered why you sometimes find red or white crystals in your bottle of wine? This is due to the existence of tartaric acid, which is naturally occurring and helps to maintain the PH level of the wine and protect it from spoiling. Tartaric acid is susceptible to temperature fluctuations and can therefore change state from liquid to solid crystals (tartrates) if the wine is not kept at a consistent temperature.

Usually, stabilization of tartrates in wine is achieved by chilling the wine to just above freezing point and holding it at that point until the tartaric acid changes state to crystalline deposits, which settle at the bottom of the tank. The wine is then transferred to another tank, leaving the solids behind. This process can take days or even weeks.

At Frind Estate Winery, we use Oenodia STARS technology to stabilise our wines. STARS uses electrodialysis technology, which in simple terms means wine is passed through membranes that have had an electric field established between them. The electric field facilitates the transfer of ions, which results in a highly accurate method of removing tartrates from wine. The benefits of STARS technology over traditional cold stabilization are manifold:

• The delicate flavour nuances in our wines are preserved.
• We are able to exercise extreme precision in removal of just the right amount of ions to prevent the formation of tartrate crystals.
• We can achieve a major reduction in stabilization time, and therefore energy consumption is greatly reduced.
• Zero additives to the wine are necessary with this process.
• Wine loss is reduced to zero, which means more wine available for our customers!