Milan – 12 September, 4 innovation prizes were awarded by the technical-scientific Committee, appointed by Unione Italiana Vini for the assessment of the works, presented by the companies exhibiting at SIMEI-ENOVITIS and taking part in the first edition of the "Viticultural and Enological Innovation Prize”.
The prize-winning works are:
-“Cane Pruner VITECO”, presented by ERO,
- “Automatic, integrated bottle handling system for filling”, presented by Gruppo Bertolaso,
- “WineScan S02” presented by Foss,
- “Dynamic, rotary cross-flow filter for filtering must and wine lees without filter aids” presented by TMCI Padovan co.
Hereafter are the reasons for the Committee’s decisions.
The award of honour certificates will take place on Tuesday, 22 November 2011, at the Congress Centre, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of SIMEI-ENOVITIS, scheduled from 22 to 26 November 2011 in the new FieraMilano Fairground in Rho (Milan).
Besides the 4 prize-winning works, there were also 12 “Honourable Mentions” for machines or technologies that will be shown at the next SIMEI-ENOVITIS:
These are the works judged as “worthy of mention” and their relevant companies:
- Leaf remover with contra-rotary rollers, Solaris, Colombardo Mauro,
- Extension for higher vegetated walls for vineyards, Nuovo Mollificio Astigiano snc,
- Improved interaction between bentonite and wine flavours by an innovative technology of use to optimize efficiency and organoleptic impact, Dal Cin Gildo spa,
- Danfoss VLT® FlexConcept™, eco-efficient solution for food and bottling industry, Danfoss srl
- Flottoplus 2.0, Enologica Vason srl
- Fireafix TX- R, Filtrox AG
- Universal star system for bottle transport in bottling plants, including a wide series of grippers, suitable for different bottle diameters, GAI spa
- ONDA tank, Ghidi Metalli srl
- Anti-condensation industrial heater with rotating wheel, Microwine srl
- Pneumatic, rolling head, Nortan srl
- Vacuum- system press, technological improvement, Siprem International srl
- Glastwister, Syncor e.k.
The prize has been instituted by Unione Italiana Vini for Italian and foreign companies exhibiting their products at the next SIMEI-ENOVITIS. In particular the contest was addressed to the companies operating in the sector of enological and viticultural machines and equipment, with the purpose of promoting and enhancing the technological novelties, of which the wine-making chain is expression.
In this first edition the competing companies have presented a total of 36 technological solutions, which have been evaluated by the Committee from the point of view of technical innovation, efficiency, sustainability, handiness and possibility of industrial application capable of determining a competitive advantage for the enterprises that will use it.
The assessment committee is composed of technical specialists from some of the most important Italian companies, members of Unione Italiana Vini, assisted for the scientific part by a renowned parterre of university professors and researchers. Beside the President of UIV, Lucio Mastroberradino, there are Giancarlo Prevarin, President of the Association of Italian Enologists and Enotechnicians, Serge Dubois – President of Union Internationale des Oenologues, The scientific world is represented by Luigi Bavaresco from CRA Centro di ricerca per la viticoltura (Viticultural Research Centre) of Conegliano Veneto (TV), Antonella Bosso from CRA (Viticultural Research Centre) of Asti, Roberto Ferrarini from the University of Verona – Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, Cesare Intrieri from Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna – Faculty of Agriculture, Luigi Moio from Federico II University of Naples – Faculty of Agriculture, Michele Pontalti from Centro Trasferimento Tecnologico (Technological Transfer Centre) Fondazione Edmund Mach – Agrarian Institute of S. Michele all’Adige (TN), Attilio Scienza from the University of Milan, Faculty of Agriculture, Marco Vieri from the University of Florence – Faculty of Agriculture, Roberto Zironi from the University of Udine – Faculty of Agriculture.
The member companies of Unione Italiana Vini are represented by Tommaso Bucci from Banfi Società Agricola srl, Stefano Biscaro from Tenute Sella&Mosca spa, Carlo De Biasi from Casa Vinicola Zonin spa, Francesco Iacono from Arcipelago Muratori, Andrea Lonardi from Gruppo Italiano Vini, Loris Vazzoler from Santa Margherita spa, Giordano Zinzani from Caviro società agricola cooperativa and Christian Zulian from Marchesi Antinori srl.
“The trade exhibitions Simei and Enovitis – stated the President of Unione Italiana Vini, Lucio Mastroberardino – are to be considered not only a business opportunity, but also a precious occasion for exchanging information and for discussing the topical themes of widest interest, with a perspective of growth and training for the sector. For this reason, the “Innovation Prize”, the great novelty of this edition, has been instituted with the purpose of acknowledging the best technological innovations in this field and encouraging the enterprises to achieve more and more advanced, new targets”
“In this first edition of the prize – went on Mr. Mastroberardino – all the companies have presented solutions with a high level of technological innovation and it has not been easy to choose those that stand out more. The commitment and the professional competence showed by the competing companies represent a further spur for Unione Italiana Vini to find and offer new exciting challenges for the future editions.”
"VITICULTURAL AND ENOLOGICAL INNOVATION PRIZE”
REASONS FOR THE PRIZES
ERO GMBH from Niederkumbd Germany ENOVITIS Exhibitor
Work: VITECO Cane Pruner
VITECO Cane Pruner presented by the company ERO is a machine which optimizes the pre-pruning operations of vineyards cultivated in Guyot or arched cane systems by the use of two contra-rotary tyres, seizing and chopping the fruiting wire that has already produced and its vine-shoots, after carrying out a preliminary manual pruning of fruiting wires and leaving the renewal spur intact or shortened. A particularly innovative lifting system has been conceived for horizontal wires, to which the greenery to be removed is attached. After pulling out the supporting wires from the stakes, they are put into the shredder head when beginning the work and then they are completely cleared of canes and tendrils which fall down to the ground and are immediately shredded.Therefore, VITECO Cane Pruner allows to automatically perform all operations of removal, pruning of vine shoots and chopping of the wooden material of the previous year. After the completion of the work, wires are re-positioned and the new fruiting cane is fixed. According to the Committee, VITECO Cane Pruner enables to considerably reduce manual work in vineyards cultivated in Guyot or arched cane systems and thus it deserves the Prize “SIMEI 2011”.
GRUPPO BERTOLASO S.p.A from Zimella (VR) Italia SIMEI Exhibitor
Work: Automatic, integrated bottle handling system for filling
Gruppo Bertolaso has presented a new filling system integrated with the other packaging phases including, in its most complete version, rinsing machine, corking/capping machine for different seals (cork/screw or crown cap) capsulating and labelling machines. The assessment of the Committee has considered the innovation level and several other parameters, such as functionality, productivity increase, consumption reduction, improvement of product quality, of safety and many others. It turned out that some technical solutions of the bottling system proposed by Gruppo Bertolaso named Superblock have been judged as highly innovative; in particular, the avoidance of springs and other devices on the tap in contact with wine, the system versatility (possibility of operating with sparkling or still wines, with glass or PET bottles), the solutions employed to improve the cleanliness of circuits and to limit the risks of pollution and of oxygen inlet.
A particularly innovative character has been recognized with regard to the control system of the process management, which is highly integrated and capable of giving traceability to each single bottle for all packaging phases.
TMCI Padovan from Vittorio Veneto (TV ) - Italy SIMEI Exhibitor
Work: Dynamic, rotary cross-flow filter for filtering wine and must lees without filter aids”.
TMCI PADOVAN has developed a particular technology of cross-flow filtration for enological applications, whose innovation consists in a back-pulse system: back-wash of filtered output or of an inert gas. This filter enables to filter lees without damaging the product and without using filter aids.
It is changing in this way the cross-flow filtering that has been dominating the enological scene for the last two decades and that at first allowed only to filter liquids with low solid content, i.e. pre-filtered wines and musts. In addition the concentrate or retentate had then to be treated with vacuum filters or press filters with the use of filter aids. The evolution of geometries and materials in the filtering membranes, proposed by TMCI Padovan, has expanded the application fields. The development of the new membranes allowed the technology of rotary plates. The turbulence of the plate overlap areas match with the effect of cross-flow force moving the membrane rather than the liquid to be filtered. The Committee recognized that, thanks to this innovative system, it is possible to filter even hardly pumpable liquids, such as lees, that have a high viscosity due to their high solid content.
FOSS from Padua - Italy SIMEI Exhibitor
Work: WineScan S02
The development of the automatic, analytical system WineScan SO2 by FOSS, based on the FTIR principle, allows the determination of free and total sulphur dioxide in wine in a very short time. Therefore, this is a considerable advance with regard to the analytical control of wines, in the production phase, as well as in those of refining, of bottling and of marketing. This innovation offers new and interesting perspectives for the improvement of wine quality, especially in the current situation of public awareness of ethical and health problems connected with the use of sulphur dioxide in enology. The availability of an extremely rapid and precise system for determining sulphur dioxide content is very advantageous, as it enables a targeted and controlled use of this important and historical antiseptic, essentially in the critical steps of the wine-making process, with the result of reducing the contents to the minimum necessary levels.
Press Office Simei-Enovitis
