Control of the oxygen supply during the conditioning. Part 2 : bottling and bag-in-box

The rationalization of operatory conditions, the taking into account by material producers of oxygen protection notably thanks to inerting-filling-stoppering monoblocks and the judicious use of inertion gases throughout the conditioning chain from the reception of the wine up to the filling and closing have allowed for certain installations to obtain levels of trapped oxygen lower than milligrams. The closure by screwcaps or by stoppers becomes a primordial element for the control of the oxygen supply post conditioning thanks to the taking into account of the OTR and of its reproducibility from one production lot to another However, these precautions only constitute an initial response to the problems linked to oxidation phenomena. The conservation temperature always comes up as a primordial element in the evolution of conditioned wines (5, 18). But only a superior comprehension of the reaction mechanisms in place is susceptible to bring reasoned solutions in accordance to the different oenological situations. Presented at the UFOE Congress Limoux, 30 May 2008, Published in the Revue Française d’Œnologie n°229