Innovative Drying Technology for the Production of Appassimento Wine

最近，大西洋加拿大，特别是新斯科舍省，已被确认为一个新的葡萄酒产区 因其独特的气候条件。新斯科舍省是生产优质葡萄酒的主要地点。 然而，短的生长季节意味着葡萄生产商要达到适当的糖度有很大的风险。 内容这种风险可以通过引进酿酒技术来减轻。Appassimento是 北方意大利的一种古老的传统做法，即收获后干燥，以浓缩糖和风味。 近似酿酒技术可能特别有利于大西洋加拿大保持 葡萄酒的一致性，由于控制葡萄收获后干燥，特别是如果天气不好 在田间完全成熟我们的工业合作伙伴Luckett Vineyards一直在探索这一优势 自2010年以来，使用小型热干燥室的技术。Appassimento葡萄酒的商业成功 鼓励公司增加葡萄酒产量。Luckett的问题是，目前使用的 热干燥不具有成本效益并且对葡萄质量有负面影响。由于干燥是最关键的步骤， 生产appassimento葡萄酒，Luckett表示有兴趣开发新的干燥技术 技术.这是Luckett Vineyards和Alex Martynenko博士（达尔豪西）首次合作 他在干燥技术方面拥有丰富的专业知识。这个项目的目标是测试新的 电流体动力学（EHD）技术用于非热葡萄干燥。以前的实验表明，EHD 该技术具有成本效益，适用于水果干燥，但从未对葡萄干燥进行过研究。在 本研究将于六个月内，探讨EHD对葡萄品质及乾燥效率之影响。的 在这个项目中获得的知识将用于EHD干燥的进一步发展。预计在 EHD干燥的商业应用将使Luckett在生产中获得竞争优势， 为国内和国际市场提供寒冷气候的葡萄酒。

Recently, Atlantic Canada and in particular Nova Scotia, has been recognized as a new wine producing region for its unique climate conditions. Nova Scotia is a prime location for the production of premium-quality wines. However, the short growing season implies significant risk for grape producers to reach appropriate sugar content. This risk could be mitigated by introducing appassimento wine-making technology. Appassimento is an old traditional practice in Northern Italy of postharvest drying in order to concentrate sugars and flavor. Appassimento wine-making technology could be particularly beneficial for Atlantic Canada to maintain consistency of wine due to controlled postharvest drying of grapes, especially if the weather was not favorable for full ripening in the field. Our industrial partner Luckett Vineyards has been exploring the benefits of this technique since 2010, using a small-scale thermal drying chamber. Commercial success of appassimento wines encouraged the company to increase appassimento wine production. Luckett's problem is that currently used thermal drying is not cost efficient and negatively affects grape quality. Since drying is the most critical step in the production of appassimento wine, Luckett has expressed interest in the development of new drying technology. This is the first time partnership between Luckett Vineyards and Dr. Alex Martynenko (Dalhousie University), who has significant expertise in drying technologies. The goal of this project is to test novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technology for non-thermal grape drying. Previous experiments showed that EHD technology is cost efficient and suitable for fruit drying, but it has never been studied for drying of grapes. In this 6-month project we are going to study the effects of EHD on the grape quality and drying efficiency. The knowledge gained in this project will be used for the further development of EHD drying. It is expected that commercial application of EHD drying will allow Luckett to gain competitive edge in the production of cold-climate appassimento wines for domestic and international markets.