Testing of ultrasonic vibration to speed up the remuage operation in sparkling wine production

In order to expedite the remuage process, the research tests the application of ultrasonic vibrations directly induced into the bottles with the goal of offering a novel method. This ultrasonic method creates vibrations that speed up the lees’ movement down the slanted bottle’s slope, accelerating their accumulation in the bottleneck. Additionally, image analysis was used to gauge the method’s effectiveness, and sensory analysis was used to assess how the procedure affected the wine. The tested system was put into practice, and it saved a lot of time (2.5 hours) during the remuage process without affecting the wine’s sensory qualities (no statistically significant differences were found at 99.9% when compared to traditional remuage methods). Moreover, the manuscript addressed the advantages and disadvantages, both external and internal, that the research outputs face during the possible implementation of the prototype for ultrasonic for ultrasonic remuage. One can envision a future replacement prototype – a conversion kit for current riddling machines, for example – that is capable of handling several batches of bottles. This would provide wineries aiming to maximize their production of sparkling wine with a practical and economical solution.