Application of Flash Detente on Untraditional Varietals and Smoke Tainted Grapes

These recordings will give you an insight into how Flash Detente can be applied to different grape varieties to help remove smoke taint, improve color profiles and consumer’s sensory perception such as an increase in mouthfeel, astringency and tannins.

First off, Rick Jones of Della Toffola USA, gives a brief introduction into the system itself and how the unit works. He describes the challenges the mid-western viticulture faces and how the use of the system can contribute to quality enhancement.

Then follows Andreea Botezatu of Texas A&M University – Brock University. Her collegues and her used Flash detente technology in this study in order to investigate its effects on Black Spanish (Lenoir) wine quality. In Texas, Black Spanish (Lenoir) is primarily grown in the Hill Country, South East, and along the Gulf of Mexico. The plant is unique in that it carries a natural resistance to Phylloxera and Pierce’s Disease (PD). Traditionally, Black Spanish wines have a "funky" aroma profile and  have low tannins, which in turn can lead to color instability. The wines produced using Flash-detente technology  had vastly improved color profiles  and the sensory consumer panel indicated that there was a decrease in Black Spanish funk and an increase in mouthfeel, astringency, and tannins in Flash treatments.

Then, Erin Norton of Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute – Iowa State University carries on with the presentation on the use of Flash Détente on Marquette that can increase tannin. In order to aid in tannin extraction and protein degradation, Marquette grapes were treated using a flash détente system.  Fermentations of untreated and treated must were performed and analyzed for protein, tannin and aroma compounds.  Protein concentration was decreased by 50% and tannin concentration was increased 6-fold.  Aroma compounds were characterized by more green aromas in the untreated wines and more fruity/caramel aromas in the treated wines.

Finally, Rick Jones again intervenes by introducing the application of flash detente on smoke tainted grapes reporting what has been done in the past harvests, results, projections and conclusions.

The papers reproduced in these videos were presented at the first edition of Enoforum USA (May 5th, 2021) within the session hosted by Presenting Sponsor, Della Toffola