Wine is as much a visual experience as it is about taste and aroma. The color of a wine plays an important role in shaping consumer perceptions, influencing purchasing decisions, and defining quality standards. In today’s evolving wine industry, color management is more critical than ever. Here are five key trends shaping the way winemakers approach wine color in 2025 and beyond.

1. Consumer Expectations: The Color of Quality

When it comes to red wine, consumers have a deeply ingrained expectation of what the color should look like. From vibrant ruby hues in youthful reds to deep garnet tones in aged wines, color is often associated with quality. Whether purchasing a high-end bottle or an everyday table wine, consumers instinctively assess the color before taking their first sip. For winemakers, ensuring a wine’s color aligns with these expectations is key to maintaining brand trust and market appeal.

2. Varietal Typicity: Color Must Match Variety and Region

Wine drinkers don’t just want to taste and smell terroir—they want to see it. A Pinot Noir from Burgundy should not have the same depth of color as a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. The ability to maintain varietal typicity through precise color management helps reinforce authenticity and meets consumer expectations. As winemakers continue to refine techniques, color stability and vibrancy are becoming integral to maintaining regional and varietal identity.

3. Trading Up: Premiumization in Wine Consumption

Global wine consumption is shifting. While consumers may be drinking less wine overall, they are spending more on higher-quality, premium wines. With this shift, expectations around quality indicators - including color, are rising. A well-balanced, naturally rich color signals premium craftsmanship, making it crucial for winemakers to optimize phenolic extraction and stabilization to meet these higher expectations.

4. Climate Change: A Growing Challenge for Wine Color

Rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns are impacting grape development, often resulting in less phenolic ripeness on the vine. This leads to wines with less stable color and potential quality concerns. As climate change continues to challenge viticulture, winemakers must adopt innovative color management solutions to maintain consistency and stability in their wines. Attention to extraction techniques, fermentation conditions, and innovative technologies will be key to mitigating these effects.

“Winemakers are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change. Managing color stability is not just about aesthetics—it’s about preserving the wine’s integrity from vineyard to bottle.” Antonino Li Brizzi, CEO of Omnia Technologies USA

5. Ingredient Labeling: The Push for Transparency

Today’s consumers demand greater transparency in food and beverage labeling—including wine. With growing interest in ingredient disclosure, wineries are looking for ways to minimize the use of additives while preserving the integrity of their wines. Omnia Technologies’ color solutions provide a natural way to enhance and stabilize wine color, potentially reducing the need for additional additives and ensuring that winemakers meet consumer expectations for clean labeling.

Perfecting Wine Color with Omnia Technologies

As the wine industry navigates these evolving trends, the importance of color management continues to grow. Omnia Technologies offers advanced solutions to help winemakers achieve the perfect balance of stability, vibrancy, and authenticity in their wines. Whether it’s maintaining varietal integrity, adapting to climate challenges, or meeting premium consumer expectations, our expertise in color solutions ensures that winemakers stay ahead in a competitive market.

“At Omnia Technologies, we understand that color is a defining factor in consumer perception. Our mission is to provide innovative solutions that help winemakers create wines that not only look exceptional but also align with the highest standards of quality and authenticity.” Antonino Li Brizzi

Want to learn more? Connect with Omnia Technologies to discover how our innovative solutions can enhance your wine’s color naturally and effectively.

About Cheney Vidrine

Cheney Vidrine is the sales manager at Omnia Technologies USA, specializing in winery, brewery, and distillery equipment solutions. With over a decade of hands-on winemaking experience, Cheney brings a unique blend of technical expertise and industry insight to his role. Before transitioning into sales, Cheney cultivated a deep understanding of the winemaking process—from crush pad to bottling line—and earned recognition for producing award-winning wines. His background gives him a genuine appreciation for the craft and the challenges producers face. Today, Cheney leverages his knowledge to help winemakers, brewers, and distillers elevate their operations through tailored equipment solutions. Known for his client-focused approach, he builds strong, lasting relationships by listening closely and delivering technology that improves quality, efficiency, and profitability. Driven by a passion for the industry, Cheney is committed to supporting winemakers, brewers, and distillers at every step of their journey.

At Enoforum, our colleague Davide Carlet I Global Product Specialist and Milena Lambri I Professor and Researcher, explored this question by presenting Libero – the innovative hashtag#dealcoholization solution developed by Permeare and Frilli.

Backed by research and test validation from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, we explored how Libero leverages thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and sensory analysis to gently remove hashtag#alcohol while hashtag#preserving the wine’s aromatic profile.

Discover more https://lnkd.in/dgdCpWSf

Maximizing Wine Quality and Efficiency for Every Size Winery

Why Wineries Need Mobile Filtration Services

Winemaking is both an art and a science, demanding meticulous control over quality and stability. Filtration plays a crucial role in ensuring wines achieve the necessary clarity and microbial stability without compromising their delicate flavors. However, acquiring and maintaining advanced filtration equipment can be prohibitively expensive, and in-house systems require significant resources.

For many wineries, mobile filtration services present an innovative solution. By bringing state-of-the-art filtration technology directly to the winery, these services eliminate the need for costly infrastructure while offering greater flexibility and efficiency. Wineries can take advantage of mobile filtration to refine their wines, reclaim product from lees and tank bottoms, and maintain quality without the expense of purchasing and maintaining specialized equipment. Moreover, mobile filtration solutions help reduce waste and environmental impact, allowing wineries to optimize their production processes with a more sustainable approach. Among the leaders in this space, Omnia Technologies offers mobile filtration services designed to enhance wine quality and maximize efficiency. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and factory-trained technicians, Omnia ensures a seamless process that supports the unique needs of winemakers.

Omnia Technologies: Bringing Advanced Filtration Straight to Your Door

Omnia Technologies is a globally recognized provider of automated solutions for the wine, spirits, and beverages industries. Their mobile filtration services offer wineries a hassle-free way to enhance wine stability and clarity, all while preserving its quality. With expert technicians operating advanced filtration systems, wineries can ensure minimal handling and oxidation throughout the process.

Omnia Technologies provides a suite of mobile filtration solutions tailored to winemakers’ specific needs. Their cross-flow filtration systems, available in both ceramic and organic membrane configurations, allow wineries to achieve microbial stability and a crystal-clear final product with minimal loss. These systems effectively filter unclarified wines, lees, and fermentation byproducts while maintaining the wine’s natural integrity.

For wineries looking to recover valuable product from lees, high solids crossflow filtration offers an efficient way to concentrate juice or lees up to 90% without relying on diatomaceous earth. This environmentally friendly method maximizes yield while preserving wine quality. Additionally, tartaric stabilization and pH adjustment services using ion exchange technology help maintain microbial stability, enhance color, and eliminate the need for excess acid additions. Omnia also provides batch clarification through Eco-Float technology, allowing wineries to refine their juice with minimal waste before fermentation. Their cold stabilization solution, the KRISTALSTOP 40, rapidly chills wine to near-freezing temperatures to facilitate tartrate crystallization. With a processing capacity of up to 1,000 gallons per hour, this innovative approach significantly reduces treatment time and improves overall efficiency.

Join Our Upcoming Webinar: Unlock the Power of Mobile Filtration

Omnia Technologies is hosting an exclusive webinar designed to highlight how mobile filtration services are revolutionizing the winemaking process. Industry experts will discuss the benefits of on-site filtration, share real-world case studies, and provide insights on how wineries can implement these solutions to enhance quality, efficiency, and sustainability.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how mobile filtration services can help your winery streamline production, maintain wine integrity, and maximize efficiency. Register today!

Date: February 19th, 2025 at 11:00 am (PT)
Register Now at omniawebinars.com

Exciting Trade Shows Ahead! 📅 
Check out our schedule for the next few months and plan your visit to our booth. We can’t wait to meet you!

Omnia Technologies Triumphs at SIMEI with Five Prestigious Awards

Omnia Technologies has sealed its reputation as a leader in innovation and sustainability by winning five distinguished awards at SIMEI, the world's leading exhibition for wine technology and enology solutions. The awards, spanning three categories, celebrate the company’s outstanding contributions to technology, sustainability, and digital transformation in the wine industry.

Among the award-winning innovations:

● Libero Wine and Libero Beverage under the Permeare brand, recognized in the “New Technology” category for their innovative approach to dealcoholization, combining Omnia’s decades of expertise in filtration and distillation to meet the growing demand for low- and no-alcohol beverages.

● Win&Fit Technology by Win&Tech, also in the “New Technology” category, for its automated wine filterability index measurement system, which improves efficiency and process stability for wineries.

● Low Emission Distillery by Frilli, a winner in the “Green Innovation” category, for its revolutionary distillation technology that reduces fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions through heat recovery.

● Recycling Gas System by Bertolaso, another “Green Innovation” winner, for its sustainable bottling solution that recovers up to 70% of gas during sparkling wine production.

● I-Get Platform, awarded in the “Technology Innovation” category, for its IoT-powered system that optimizes the efficiency, sustainability, and stability of production lines.

Antonino Li Brizzi, CEO, Omnia Technologies North America, commented:
"These awards are a testament to our commitment to innovation and our ability to support new trends like dealcoholization. Our solutions help customers stay at the forefront of industry trends, combining cutting-edge technology with sustainability to meet the evolving needs of the market. We are proud to be driving the future of the beverage industry."

Andrea Stolfa, CEO of Omnia Technologies Group, added:
"Omnia Technologies is made up of top automation specialists inspired by values of technology, sustainability, and service. The five awards received from SIMEI’s prestigious jury reward the extraordinary work our 400 engineers and technicians do daily to innovate and provide comprehensive solutions for our customers."

A leading automation and bottling technologies group for the food and beverage industry creates a new High-Speed Beverage Division with a combined turnover of €280 million

Omnia Technologies, a leading platform for automation and bottling technologies for the spirits, wine, beverage, dairy and pharma industries, launches a new high-speed beverage division focused on bottling-labelling-packaging technologies through the acquisitions of ACMI, SACMI Beverage and SACMI Labelling.

Headquartered in Fornovo di Taro (Parma, Italy), ACMI is a global leading designer and producer of complete packaging and bottling lines, mostly for the food and beverage industry, where it is often the primary contractor and line integrator. Founded in 1984, the company has five production facilities across Northern Italy and four commercial branches in Mexico, Poland, the UK and the USA. Its product portfolio includes palletisers and depalletisers, cartoning machines, wrappers, handlers, multifunctional robots and transportation systems. ACMI has a turnover of approximately €100 million and a workforce of approximately 420 employees.

As result of the significant strategic investments undertaken and know-how developed by SACMI in the high-speed beverage bottling and labelling sectors over the last decades, today SACMI Beverage and SACMI Labelling are among the most recognised players in the market:

• Based in Parma (Italy), SACMI Beverage provides standalone equipment and complete high-speed blowing and bottling lines for PET/rPET (virgin/recycled PET plastic), metal cans and glass packaging of liquid products. It also includes form-fill-seal technology for the dairy sector and bag-in-box solutions for the wine sector. SACMI Beverage has a turnover of approximately €110 million, a workforce of approximately 160 employees, and an installed base of more than 600 machines;
• Based in Verona (Italy) and Nanhai (China), SACMI Labelling provides automatic labelling solutions, suitable for glass, plastic and metal containers for the high-speed beverage, beer, food, detergents and wine sectors. SACMI Labelling has a turnover of approximately €70 million, employs approximately 300 workers and has an installed base of more than 1,700 machines;
• SACMI Beverage and SACMI Labelling share a global network of branches across France, Spain, Morocco, Nigeria, Singapore, UAE, Brazil, Mexico and the USA.

The creation of the new high-speed beverage division will significantly broaden Omnia Technologies’ portfolio within the bottling and packaging industry, enhancing its ability to offer state-of-the-art end-to-end solutions to clients in the high-speed beverage industry, specifically in combination with the beverage processing machineries and technologies designed and manufactured by TMCI Padovan and Della Toffola, brands already part of Omnia Technologies. Moreover, Omnia Technologies will be able to acquire and strengthen its local presence in highly attractive regions, such as the Americas, Africa and Asia, where its full product portfolio will be offered.

“Omnia Technologies’ strategic focus revolves around technology, sustainability and service for our customers. We share these values with SACMI and the Magri family, and the combination of these three businesses will now allow Omnia Technologies to provide even more customised and bespoke solutions, enhancing our ability to offer a first-class service in the market” emphasises Andrea Stolfa, CEO of Omnia Technologies. “The newly established division, operating in seamless synergy with our other segment brands – Ave Technologies and Z-Italia – will enrich and complement our extensive portfolio of solutions dedicated to the beverage industry. I would like to thank both SACMI and the Magri family for supporting the execution of such a strategic transaction”.

Omnia Technologies was created by investment subsidiaries of Investindustrial, the European investment firm, in November 2020 through the combination of Della Toffola, Bertolaso, TMCI Padovan and a number of other strategic and complementary businesses. Following these acquisitions, Omnia Technologies generates a consolidated turnover of approximately €700 million, with 36 production sites, 24 commercial offices in 16 countries and more than 2,300 employees.

In the world of wine, the expression “we eat with our eyes” holds true, but what about drinking? Wine enthusiasts understand the visual allure of a perfectly hued glass. We are excited to announce a live webinar focusing on "Perfecting Your Wine Color: The Next Level in WIne Color Adjustment" featuring industry experts Antonino Li Brizzi, Cheney Vidrini, and Elisa Bernaudo Stoppa from Omnia Technologies.

During this exclusive webinar, participants will gain insights into:

• Key factors that could lead to wine color spoilage: Explore the cutting-edge technologies available for wine color adjustment.

• How wineries use wine control adjustment equipment to craft wine: How wineries can make the most of this equipment.

• Practical tips on how to improve your wine color: Learn how wineries are leveraging wine color adjustment technology to craft high-quality, perfectly hued wines without compromising on taste or aroma.

• The latest scientific discovery: Key insights into the science driving this innovation.

• How the Permeare Technology helps you perfect your wine color: Harness the power of technology to take your wine to the next level.

This webinar is a must for wine producers, industry professionals, and enthusiasts eager to explore the future of wine color perfection and understand the technologies driving this evolution.

Event Details:

• Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2024

• Time: 11:00 AM PT

• Format: Live Webinar

• Registration: http://omniatechnologies.online/

Don't miss this unique opportunity to explore the fascinating world of wine dealcoholization and gain useful insights to elevate your winemaking process.

Registration:

Registration for the webinar is now open. Secure your spot today by visiting http://omniatechnologies.online or contacting info@dellatoffola.us

Are you a winemaker or enthusiast wanting to stay on trend? With the global demand for alcohol-free alternatives soaring, the wine industry faces a pivotal moment. Join us for this illuminating webinar on "Mastering Wine Dealcoholization: State of the Art and Evolution of Alcohol-Free Wine."

Featuring industry experts Antonino Li Brizzi, Cheney Vidrine, and Elisa Bernaudo Stoppa from Omnia Technologies, this exclusive event offers essential insights into the future of alcohol-free wines.

During the webinar, you'll learn:

- Key partial and total dealcoholization technologies available
- The no- and low-alcohol wine category boom and how can small and medium wineries make the most of this market opportunity
- How wineries use wine dealcoholization systems to craft wines
- Practical tips on how to select the right solution for your winery
- Get your dealcoholized wine sample
- How Omnia Technologies solutions help you perfect your wine and more.

To register: http://omniatechnologies.online/

Investindustrial’s project to create a leading group in automation and bottling technologies for the wine and beverage sector continues.

To expand its range of products and solutions, the group also acquired Progema Engineering and Mar.Co.

DT Holding, the project started by Investindustrial that includes, among others, the Della Toffola Group and Bertolaso, now takes on a new name – Omnia Technologies. At the heart of the Group’s mission is the strategy of becoming the preferred partner for integrated solutions for the wine, spirits, and beverage industry, driven by its values of technology, sustainability, and service.

Inspired by the Latin root meaning “all things”, the word Omnia expresses the multifaceted nature of the Group, which aims to be a qualified partner for integrated solutions for processing, bottling, and packaging.

The brand is supported by a payoff – enabling evolution – and a logo that reflect its orientation towards continuous evolution through automation and sustainability, in a constantly changing ecosystem.

With a team of over 1,000 people, 12 production sites, 8 sales offices around the world and a growth path that has led the Group to achieve a turnover of around EUR 250 million in 2022, Omnia Technologies benefits from its unique track record and a consolidated customer network in the wine and spirits industry, offering integrated turnkey solutions, from the first stages of the production process to the end of line packaging.

The two main pillars of the Group, led by Della Toffola for the processing and by Bertolaso for bottling, are supported by a pool of companies that deliver a complete equipment offering across several industry categories: Permeare - high-end filtration, Gimar and Sirio Aliberti - tanks, Frilli - distillation plants, Priamo - technologies for the dairy and cheese production, Ave Technologies - bottling, Zitalia, OMB and Ape Impianti - labelling and packaging.

A comprehensive spectrum of solutions, further expanded with the recent acquisitions of Progema Engineering, a leader in the production of complete plants for processing Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana cheese, and Mar.Co., a company specialized in the bottling sector and historically Bertolaso’s long-standing partner in cap feeding technology.

As Group CEO of Omnia Technologies - Andrea Stolfa emphasises, “Our vision is to be a technology leader, inspired by our great Italian heritage and our innovative vocation for sustainability, with the aim of always being at the service of our customers, our people and our communities”.

The wine industry’s innovation journey to solve winemaking issues begins with partnerships

The impact of wildfires on grapes, wine and the bottom line is a steadily growing worry for the West Coast wine industry. Recent heavy winter rains are refilling reservoirs and aquifers, which will help alleviate, but not eliminate, wildfire risk. On the other hand, there will be more “dry grass” — the perfect fuel for wildfires to propagate.

“Unfortunately, It’s very difficult to predict wildfires, and when they happen, one of the biggest problems is smoke taint in the wine, especially in California, Oregon, and Washington,” says Antonino Li Brizzi, CEO of Della Toffola USA, which serves the wine community. “Even half an hour of contact with the smoke caused by wildfires can be enough to contaminate the grape and the wine, making it unpleasant or frequently unsellable. Some of our customers have faced the risk of losing a vintage, which would impact the winery economically.”

Wineries and suppliers are using a variety of solutions to treat this complex event, from preventative treatments in the vineyard, such as coating the grapes with a protective film or washing them with sodium bicarbonate, and during winemaking, such as flavor-enhancing yeast or flash tank Biothermo Cooler technology.

Della Toffola USA’s solution was to develop a special reverse osmosis membrane loose enough to remove the volatile smoke-taint phenols and tight enough to retain the components that enhance the wine. The resulting permeate is treated with a food-grade absorbent targeted to the specific phenols that cause the smoke taint and then recombined with the wine. The entire process operates within Della Toffola’s self-contained and highly automated Moviro reverse osmosis system.

A few months ago, a Sonoma County winery turned to Della Toffola USA’s system to treat the smoke taint in over 140,000 gallons of Barbera, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, and as a result, all were bottled and sold with success. At the same time, the Della Toffola USA team treated an additional 40,000 gallons of Zinfandel, Syrah, Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon for four El Dorado County wineries, obtaining the same results. 

 

“There are other good solutions in the market,” says Li Brizzi, “but the reason we are so excited by our membrane is that aging did not impact the treated wine. Even after 22 months, the wine hadn’t presented smoke taint again. So, we successfully eradicated the problem.”

Wineries facing smoke taint are often hesitant to publicize the problem, which is also true when a wine has a microbial issue. However, when a winery works closely with a supplier, a relationship of trust develops, allowing them to collaborate on a solution. Li Brizzi shares a recent story of a customer who was open with them about this delicate subject of sterility. Della Toffola treated three red wine varieties with its cross-flow ceramic membrane technology, cleaning out the bacteria and leaving a sterile product. This solution achieved the initial goal of clarification and produced a wine that will remain stable in the bottle without further microbial activity.

Presses: Automated Press System “Ampelos” at Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards (South Africa). Also present at Constellation Brands (New Zealand), Boisset (France) 

Trusting relationships like these encourage companies to adopt innovative technologies to help them create better wines and grow their businesses. Even small wineries with limited capital availability can take advantage of these solutions through Della Toffola USA’s rental services. Talking openly about winemaking difficulties also encourages innovation, which Li Brizzi believes will move in three directions:

1. Reduce waste and consumption: Solutions such as using filtration to save smoke-tainted wines and reducing chemical and water usage.
    
2. Make equipment easier to operate: Employee turnover and a shrinking labor pool are growing problems across the wine industry. Easy-to-use solutions help wineries compensate for the loss of experienced workers.
   
   
3. Automation: Adopting and improving automation helps reduce operational costs and adapt to labor shortages. One of Della Toffola USA’s newest solutions, the Ampelos pneumatic presser, automates the entire pressing cycle. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) allows the winemaker to optimize the outcome by setting parameters such as color and turbidity while internal sensors monitor and report progress.

Intelligent pneumatic presses “Della Toffola USA’s innovation journey has three main directions,” says Li Brizzi, “and everything we develop goes in these three directions. I believe that AI will disrupt the industry, and our only choice is to take advantage of it to optimize our jobs and reduce operational costs.”

To help wineries adopt AI, Della Toffola is offering US customers the opportunity to test its new intelligent presser at no initial capital expense.

“We install it, you use it, and if you love it, you keep it; if not, we take it back,” says Li Brizzi. “It’s a significant investment, but we’re so behind this technology that we want to share the risk with our customers. We want to partner with medium or large wineries that want to improve their operations.”

To learn more about how to treat smoke taint, automate winemaking or take advantage of AI, view their website, reach out via email at antonino.librizzi@dellatoffola.com - or visit Della Toffola at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in booth #C4 this week.

The Italy-based Della Toffola Group, a well-known leading designer and manufacturer of processing equipment and complete line solutions for wine and beverages, has appointed Antonino Li Brizzi as the new CEO for their North American branch, Della Toffola USA.

In naming Antonino Li Brizzi as CEO, the Group brings a youthful visionary to Della Toffola USA and his passion for meeting customers, listening to their needs and translating them into solutions that help build their profitability. Li Brizzi’s experience in sustainability, innovation and service for the food and beverage industry will be instrumental in making Della Toffola USA the go-to solution for small and large wine and spirits producers.

Prior to Della Toffola, Li Brizzi’s broad background as an entrepreneur, certified project manager, and product development expert led him to Tetra Pak, a world leader in food processing and packaging solutions. Eight years ago, it also led him to the US when he assumed responsibility for Tetra Pak’s International and North American sales in the food and beverage industry, across many product categories including wine and spirits. 

“When I was offered the opportunity to live and work in the United States, I never imagined it would become my home,” says Li Brizzi, who became a US citizen this year. “I like the business culture in this country, the importance given to relationship and trust, and how open-minded American producers and consumers are toward innovation at every level. I see innovation and entrepreneurship in so many beverage start-ups in the US—countless new products and brands all aiming to deliver new experiences to consumers through healthier and more sustainable products, from low- and no-alcohol wine to crafted spirits and RTD canned cocktails.”

Li Brizzi joined Della Toffola USA as the Managing Director for North America, which includes the US, Canada and Central America, operating from his offices in Santa Rosa, California and Mexico City. After nine months of immersing himself in the company’s business before taking the reins as CEO, Li Brizzi embraces the opportunity to offer Della Toffola’s clients its comprehensive equipment portfolio and to build a local service-oriented culture.

“It's a great challenge, and what's happening with our company offers so much opportunity for our clients and our employees," says Li Brizzi. "I want to foster an organization of people who share strong core values. Loyalty, transparency and treating our colleagues and customers as you would treat your family—these are the things that matter. As we move from an equipment provider to a solution provider, we will hold to these values in all our relationships."

As has been true in the past, Della Toffola USA's future will remain rooted in its partnerships with wineries in California and throughout North America. Li Brizzi places great value on relationships, especially with those he considers part of his new family. Growing up in Sicily, surrounded by family and the Italian love of food and wine, placed family and community at the center of his worldview. It was perhaps inevitable that this rich blend of community and culinary would lead him to the US wine industry, where relationships lie at its heart, and its products grace the tables of so many gatherings of friends and family.

"I feel I'm stepping into a new family – the wine industry," says Li Brizzi, "I’m still meeting our clients for the first time and letting them know that our goal is to work even more closely with them in the future.”

More about Della Toffola Group and Della Toffola USA:

ABOUT DELLA TOFFOLA GROUP Founded in 1958, the Della Toffola Group is a world leader in the designing and manufacturing of machines and automated lines across a range of beverage sectors. The group is active in bottling, water treatment and packaging systems, as well as in the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage markets including water and dairy products. Della Toffola Group is headquartered in Trevignano, Italy, operates 12 production plants and 8 commercial branches in the most renowned global wine regions such as France, Spain, UK, Romania, USA, Australia, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Della Toffola Group has 1,000 employees, and its products are distributed throughout the world, with approximately 80% of sales achieved internationally. In September 2020, Della Toffola Group was acquired by an investment subsidiary of Investindustrial VII L.P. (“Investindustrial”). Thanks to the investment from Investindustrial, Della Toffola Group is expanding both organically as well as through add-on acquisitions (6 completed since 2021), maintaining its strong local roots and strengthening its positioning in existing markets, while also entering new business segments as well as expanding its local manufacturing presence into geographies with high potential. 

Some of Della Toffola Group’s most recent acquisitions include Frilli, a leader in distillation machinery and plants; Bertolaso, a leading brand in automated bottling systems andApe Impianti, known for its high-quality end-of-line machinery and packaging systems for wine & spirits. The merging of these companies under the Della Toffola Group umbrella deepens the end-to-end solution the Della Toffola USA team can offer their wine and spirits customers across North America, from filtration to bottling and packaging. It also enables the company to increase its focus on providing comprehensive local service to all aspects of its customers' machines and systems. 

Increasing wildfires and annual fire events are impacting the wine industry in a number of ways. Persistent exposure to smoke can compromise the quality and value of winegrapes, affecting wines made from smoke-exposed grapes, thus – driving the need for a better understanding of smoke taint chemistry and treatment.

In this webinar, we will be presenting innovations in smoke-taint removal, what steps you can take and equipment to use to recover your wines, and how sustainable these methods really are.

Register for this complimentary webinar and join to learn more about Smoke Taint Technology and join us on Thursday, June 30th at 11:00 am (PT)

Register Now

Webinar Presenter:

Lorenzo Forbice, Innovation Project Manager / Della Toffola USA   

Automation has long been a feature of press extraction, with intelligent programming integrated as a feature in the press range for many years. But artificial intelligence, or AI, integrated into juice extraction is something of another level when discussing the use of membrane press technology. 

This new pressing AI system automates every phase of production: from grape reception to washing system, up to pomace discharge after pressing. This makes the job easier for winemakers allowing for focus on other patterns that require their knowledge and skills.

In addition - the various peripheral technologies, such as automatic robotic ‘clean-in-place’ and retracting water collection trays, enables wash water to be harvested and treated for reuse - a feature that has long been integrated into various other Della Toffola press models.

Join us for this in-depth overview of how AI is being utilized in production as we demonstrate its benefits to winemakers.

Webinar Presenters:

 Yacine Amami, R&D Director / Della Toffola

 Lorenzo Forbice, Innovation Project Manager / Della Toffola USA

Register for the FREE webinar now!

OMNIA High Solids Ceramic Membrane Crossflow Filters have the ability to recover usable and saleable wine and juice from high-solids lees through a fully automated system, utilizing our award-winning ceramic membrane technology.

DELLA TOFFOLA’s CERAMIC MEMBRANE CROSSFLOW FILTER continues to lead the way with their ground-breaking cross-flow filtration system using ceramic membranes to provide superior durability that delivers longer filtration runs at more consistent flow rates.  The system is fully automated, with continuous operations and can significantly reduce production costs and impact on the environment while at the same time providing a wine quality advantage compared to other types of cross-flow filters.

DELLA TOFFOLA manufactures and distributes complete, all-round systems for wineries: from grape receiving through crushing, pressing, fermentation and filtration to bottling and packaging.  Over the past 60 years, they have introduced several innovations to the industry including the first vertical stainless steel press, the central membrane press, their Bio-thermo Cooler Vinification System (their version of a Thermoflash), their award-winning DTMA Maceration Accelerator, and of course their award-winning ceramic membrane filtration system outlined below.

• Ceramic membranes with titanium oxide
• Able to process filtration aids including bentonite and carbon
• Membranes guaranteed for 10 years
• Fully automated machine and program
• No water or air in contact with the product – uses inert gas for product discharges
• Membranes can be stored dry
• Automatic permeability test after each wash
• Able to filter sparkling products, up to 6 bar of pressure. PED certified.
• Ability to monitor and control remotely via smartphone or tablet.
  
  

DELLA TOFFOLA USA opened their doors in 2009 and the local DELLA TOFFOLA USA team will be on hand at both WIN EXPO (Booth #454) and the UNIFIED WINE & GRAPE SYMPOSIUM (Booth #C3) to answer questions and share information on all their state-of-the-art winemaking technologies.

To find out more, stop by their Booth or visit them online at www.dellatoffola.us

New winemaking invention cuts up grapes resulting in brighter fruit and smoother tannins

Richard Smart is a leading global consultant on viticulture and is renowned for his innovative work on canopy manipulation to manage its effects on vineyard yield and quality. When one of the world's top viticulturists comes to you with a fresh idea, you sit up and listen. That's what happened at DELLA TOFFOLA when Smart approached them in 2019 for help in developing a cutting-edge winemaking tool.

As a leader in wine and beverage equipment design and manufacture, DELLA TOFFOLA was well placed to join Smart in this venture.

Oenological consultant and author Clark Smith tells the story of collaborating with Smart and the DELLA TOFFOLA team to develop the DELLA TOFFOLA Maceration Accelerator (DTMA), which speeds up maceration to activate the pressing stage and significantly improves the extraction of polyphenols and anthocyanins from the grapes. 

"Richard called and asked me to join him at DELLA TOFFOLA. When I got there, he said, 'I’m a viticulturist, not a winemaker. I shouldn’t be schooling you guys on making wine, but I had this idea.’ His idea was based on the principle that you can get a more elegant wine with more aromatic integration if you can make short tannins.”

Smith asserts that the best wines have short tannins, maybe 5 units or 6 units long. He uses Syrah as an example, noting it has softer tannins than Pinot Noir because it has six times more polyphenols, the antioxidants responsible for red wine color and mouthfeel. If it has an intense color, it can get long, coarse tannins and be much dryer in the mouth. 

The task in front of Smart, Smith and DELLA TOFFOLA was to get more color out of the grape skins. To accomplish this, they had to overcome the grape’s natural wax cuticle exterior and the pectin coating the skin's interior. When crushing grapes, these barriers slow the migration of color into the wine, requiring several days to extract it. 

“Smart saw a little bit of color bleeding from the cut edges of the grape skin and said, ‘why don’t we accentuate the cut edges by chopping up the skins.’ That was his inspiration,” Smith continues. “I said, ‘but we don’t want to cut up the seeds when we do it.’  Together, we figured out a way to run a blender-like device to cut up the skins while using centrifugal force to push the heavier seeds away from the blade. That let us chop that skin into 8 or 10 pieces, increasing the surface area of the grape skins in contact with the must by ten times, which yields a much richer color — and does it faster.”

The team tested the new process at nine wineries and found that it strengthened the overall sensory characteristics in the resulting wine and significantly enhanced five of the principal phenolic characteristics. 

In December, the DELLA TOFFOLA management team and Rick Jones, Vinovation co-founder, will join Smith as he moderates the 2020 Studies on Accentuated Cut Edge Technology session at WIN Expo 2021. Participants will also be able to taste the DTMA impact on wine samples themselves.

“It’s fair to say that every winery should have access to this tool,” Smith concludes. “It’s inexpensive enough that they can buy it and do trials on all their wines to evaluate which are most improved.” 

For more information, visit the DELLA TOFFOLA team at BOOTH #454 at WINExpo in December 2nd, 2021 or check out their website at www.dellatoffola.us

DELLA TOFFOLA, has launched a new intelligent wine press, adding to their already impressive complement of award-winning winery equipment. “This technology combines all the benefits of our existing central membrane press, and utilizes artificial intelligence (AI), to create an even more efficient, time-saving, gentle fully automatic press.” notes Ken Kosmicki, Sales Manager for DELLA TOFFOLA USA.

“The technology turns our fast-acting central membrane press into an intelligent press, using a sophisticated set of analytics, based on the settings your winemaker programs into it,” he adds. “The AI programming takes the guesswork out of the first run quality and allows your staff to focus on other tasks.”

DELLA TOFFOLA has long been known for their unique central membrane press which covers 360° of the pressing area, unlike the lateral membrane design of their competitors. The press is faster and uses less pressure thus ensuring softer pressing for better quality. If you are a winery wanting delicately pressed fruit, the advantage is obvious. With the average pressing time also lower than if you are a winery that processes many tons per day, the time advantage is also clear.

The addition of a new AI brain to this already efficient press raises it further above its competitors. The press system now operates as a single program which is determined by the machine’s algorithm and neural network. “The formula,” notes Kosmicki, “is based on weight cells and on the ratio of weight, weight loss, and juice through a flow-meter and colorimeter.”

The algorithm determines when the press should rotate, thus creating fewer rotations overall, and providing a better free-run, with less suspended solids and lees. Add juice flow and color, and the program determines which should be the free run, stops, etc., and also diverts the next juice into a second run tank.

“Most press drums rotate more than they need to, and thus create suspended solids,” says Kosmicki. “our press only rotates when necessary, so the first juice quality is very high.”  

He explains, “The automatic juice quality selection system is a kind of meter to help with monitoring, so you can program it to cease once the juice is outside of the color range setting. The rest of the juice then goes to the second quality batch.” He adds, ”It is all based on what the winemaker selects for color on the meter,” and the intelligent programming can then assist with any additions the winemaker feels might be needed.”  

If a winery can think of the resulting juice as “first quality” and “second quality” (maybe tank 1 and tank 2), then the first quality is optimized. The second quality will inform you about the additions that you might want to make. Wineries in Europe and South Africa are now seeing these effects positively affecting the resulting product.

For some wineries, multistage usage is necessary to have continuous pressing capability. As an example, three presses operating on the same program, thus having automatic and continuous press cycles, could then take turns moving through cleaning cycles. A heavy production facility might have three large presses, whereas a smaller facility might have three smaller or mid-sized machines more suited to a smaller-sized facility. Setting upcycles in this way, limited personnel are needed in comparison with other press operations, as the CIP (cleaning) is fully automatic, which cuts down on personnel. You will still need an operator, but he does not physically have to clean machines or set press cycles.

Says Kosmicki, “Our focus is on tons per hour, as opposed to press size, and we encourage our clients to think in terms of flow. We offer different capacities to fit all ranges of production. DELLA TOFFOLA offers an opportunity for limited operator intervention, to remove human error.”

Presenting a full complement of grape receiving equipment, all of DELLA TOFFOLA’s pieces are modular, which offers a great variety of components to choose from. Besides the central membrane press, their equipment includes everything from crushpad equipment to packaging and almost everything in between.

DELLA TOFFOLA offers options that work for small, boutique operations all the way to the largest producers. As an authentic technological partner, they deliver a wide range of equipment for obtaining the best possible product, each step of the way.

DELLA TOFFOLA will be in attendance at the UNIFIED 2021 Virtual Trade Show, January 26 – 28. The full team will be available for virtual meetings and to answer any questions regarding Della Toffola products. Contact Della Toffola for more information at dellatoffola.us or call 707-544-5300.