Recovering Higher Value Wine and Juice from Lees

Recovery of wine and juice from lees represents one of the most challenging forms of filtration faced by wineries. The high concentration and variability of the suspended solids limits the suitable filtration technologies, while strict environmental regulations and sustainability programs are increasing pressure to reduce waste volumes. The Oenoflow HS system is a new crossflow filtration system designed specifically for lees processing. The hollow fiber membrane system overcomes the typical drawbacks associated with the existing Diatomaceous Earth (DE) based lees filters, producing higher quality product more efficiently and economically.

The Lees Challenge

Lees, the sediment at the bottom of juice, fermentation or fining vessels, can represent up to 10% of a winery’s total volume. With solids concentrations typically in the range of 20 –30%, lees still contains a high percentage of recoverable product.

Traditionally, lees filtration is performed with DE based filtration systems like rotary vacuum drum (RVD) or chamber press filters. While these systems can handle high solids, the open design allows for oxygen pick up which can affect quality. Recovered wine often needs further processing, and is typically downgraded in value and used in blends instead of added back to the original batch. In many small and mid size wineries, the lees volume from a single batch is often too small for processing with an RVD. In such cases the wineries will delay processing the lees and wait to accumulate an appropriate volume, hence the potential to recover high value product is lost.

DE based technologies can also require large volumes of filter aid. This increases the winery waste, disposal, labor, and losses; all factors contributing to high operating costs.

Oenoflow HS System Benefits

The higher value of the recovered wine and juice combined with the operating benefits make the Oenoflow HS system a reliable and economical replacement for the traditional RVD or chamber press filters.

Feature	Benefit	Value
Three applications in one system	Flexibility to filter wine lees, juice lees and post fermentation wine	Less downtime Increased cellar capacity
No filter aid requirement (DE	Less labor and handling Lower disposal costs	Lower operating costs Environmentally friendly Improved working conditions
Enclosed system design	Higher quality, higher value wine and juice Minimal oxygen pick up Hygienic operation	Fast return on investment Brand protection
Low hold-up volume	Processing of small batches Reduced losses Higher product quality	Less downtime Brand protection
Bottom to top module flow path	Easier solids removal and faster cleanings Prevents module blinding	Less downtime Lower operating costs
PVDF membranes	Easily cleaned and regenerated Long module service life Consistent filtrate quality (low turbidity) Applicable for food contact	Lower operating costs Lower consumables No further processing before bottling/packaging filtration Regulatory documentation
Wide bore hollow fibers	Final concentration up to 80% solids	High yield
Flexible software with fully automated working cycles	Simple to use Unattended operation	Lower operating costs