Project description
Smart, real-time analysis tool helps winemakers streamline wine production
Monitoring what is happening inside the vat while the wine is fermenting could help winemakers increase efficiency and productivity without incurring high costs. Normally, winemakers obtain limited information from analysing samples collected manually during fermentation. The EU-funded Winegrid project is supporting Portugal-based company WATGRID in developing a real-time and remote monitoring platform that will allow winemakers to have an eye inside the wine vat. Sensors placed inside the container will measure and continuously send data essential to evaluating the quality of the process and the final wine. Data regarding wine colour, turbidity, density and temperature will be directly communicated to a specially built online platform.
Objective
Vinification is the process of turning grapes into wine. Wine production is directly linked to vinification monitoring by measuring certain critical parameters. Buying the testing equipment is not an option for most winemakers: a spectrometer for wine applications can go up to €150k (high CAPEX) and requires highly qualified operating personnel (high OPEX). Therefore, the most common methods used by EU producers for vinification monitoring are sampling and offline testing which also still involve enormous costs to the wine producers. Indeed, in a worldwide market worth €261 billion, winemakers are spending yearly €667 million in Europe alone for vinification technologies.
Winegrid® is a real time and remote monitoring platform that will allow winemakers to have an eye inside the wine vat. Winegrid is a smart solution based on a network of innovative sensors placed in a container (barrel, tank, press) during the vinification process of wine. It is capable of providing, for the first time ever, real-time analysis and control the 5 crucial vinification parameters (level, colour, turbidity, density and temperature), sending information directly to a specially built online platform. It is the internet of things (IoT) for wine production.
This project fills a highly desired need in Europe by revolutionising the vinification process. Our commercialisation plan is to sell to European winemakers that want to reduce costs, improve efficiency and the quality of their wine. For this project, we intend optimise our equipment through miniaturisation and gain a greater understanding of different market segments within our target markets. Following this in phase 2 we plan to demonstrate our product’s benefits in a large scale in order to reduce the entry barriers in a traditional field as is winemaking.
Fields of science
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticultureviticulture
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternetinternet of things
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
3810-193 AVEIRO
Portugal
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.