By: Alyssa Ochs
The cost of winery tanks tends to increase each year and can be heavily taxed in certain situations. So, it is wise to do your research and stay up-to-date about what types of tanks are available, effective and trending. Choosing a winery tank may seem straightforward enough, but there are a lot of factors and considerations to keep in mind before making a purchase.
Various types and styles of tanks are available to wineries today based on size, material, and function. Fortunately, there are businesses specializing in tanks and tank-related products for the wine industry. These companies can offer a wealth of information about the best uses for this vital piece of equipment.
An Overview of Winery Tanks
Tanks are used for many different purposes in a winery setting, including clarifying and removing tannins, proteins, and other solids. Tanks aid the prolonged aging of wine and assist with wine fermentation so that yeast grows properly and oxygen is controlled. Certain tanks can make wine smoother, fuller or fruitier in taste.
A variety of materials are used for constructing wine tanks, including steel, wood and concrete. Porcelain, oak, clay/amphorae and plastic are other tank materials used by wineries.
Pros & Cons of Stainless-steel Tanks
The type of tank chosen for your winery will depend on the purpose, budget and availability. For example, both general and multi-purpose tanks are used to make wine. Meanwhile, wineries use tanks for non-winemaking purposes, such as storing water for irrigation, collecting wastewater generated from winemaking, collecting chemicals for cleaning and having emergency water on hand for potential wildfires.
Stainless steel tanks are cost-effective and last a long time. They come in different shapes and don’t add tannins or flavors, which is desirable for many wines. However, lately, there has been more international demand for stainless steel bought in bulk, making the costs higher than in the past.
Scott Dapelo, the sales manager for Quality Stainless Tanks, told The Grapevine Magazine that enclosed, top fermentation and storage tanks are the most popular type that his company sells to wineries.
“We make them in sizes from 500- to 50,000-gallon capacities,” Dapelo said. “The most common are the 2,000- and 6,500-gallon versions.”
Based in Windsor, California, Quality Stainless Tanks provides custom-designed and ready-made tanks for wine, beer, spirits and special applications. The company hand-crafts its products in Northern California’s wine country and has the wine industry’s largest line of in-stock fermentation and storage tanks.
“The sanitation aspects of stainless is a great advantage, as is its unparalleled longevity when compared to wood, plastic or concrete vessels,” Dapelo said.
Julien Roussel from Algor, a stainless steel tank producer in Italy, told The Grapevine Magazine that his company’s most popular models are the FVPP and FCPT. These are pre-configured variable capacity tanks that come standard with welded legs, a sample valve, drain and racking ports and a complete floating lid kit.
“FVPP tanks have flat bottoms with sump and accommodate volumes of 230 to 1,500 liters, or 60 to 396 gallons,” Roussel said. “FCPT tanks come with dish bottoms and accommodate volumes of 2,000 to16,000 liters or 528 to 4,226 gallons. Additionally, FCPT vessels come standard with a man-way door, 360-degree cooling jacket, thermometer and pulley arm. These versatile lines offer aseptic environments and can be used for vinification and storage. Moreover, our customers value the fact that all the accessories are manufactured in-house for seamless integration and consistent quality.”
Roussel said Algor uses certified European AISI 304 and AISI 316 grade stainless steel alloys for its tanks. Both tanks offer high corrosion resistance and ease of cleaning, resulting in negligible product contamination.
“The 304 is perfect for most applications and budget-friendly,” Roussel said. “The 316 can be worth the expense if you need to have superior corrosion resistance, such as if the tanks live outside and in the proximity of the ocean or if you produce wine vinegar. Our customers also opt for 316 when producing some specific wines such as whites from the Burgundy and the Chablis regions in France.”
Pros & Cons of Other Types of Tanks
Wood tanks intentionally change the flavor and texture of wine. They are usually cylindrical and often used for decades; however, they offer the best sensory changes within the first two to three years of use. Wood tanks keep the fermentation at a warmer temperature, making it necessary to monitor that temperature closely and requiring more labor hours.
Meanwhile, concrete tanks are porous and let some oxygen in during fermentation. Concrete offers more gradual fermentation and a more authentic representation of the wine without adding oak. However, concrete tanks can be challenging because of sanitation difficulties and cracking due to temperature changes.
Amphorae is a nostalgic and historically used tank material that offers a natural approach to winemaking. These types of tanks come in various sizes but are not readily available and are more labor-intensive to use than the other options.
Plastic tanks started being more widely used for wine in the 1980s and are still cost-efficient today. They can help wineries maximize their floor space and allow oxygen to permeate through the tank walls because of the polymer construction. There have been concerns about the quality of wine produced in plastic tanks, the wine’s lack of character, and the plastic odors left behind in wine from the tanks. Yet the stigma of plastic tanks has been fading away with the emergence of higher quality polyethylene tanks that defy all of these concerns and are safe for food and beverage purposes.
Other Wine Tank Considerations
Cost is always a huge consideration when choosing wine tanks. Stainless steel tanks are often produced locally, making them easier to find and eliminating high shipping costs. Also, stainless-steel tanks tend to last considerably longer than oak and can save a winery money over time. Variable-capacity tanks commonly run between $500 and $5,000, based on size and features. But don’t forget about the costs of tank accessories and ongoing maintenance, so they don’t exceed the equipment budget for the year.
Another consideration is how to keep tanks and their contents safe and protected in case of an emergency or natural disaster. Onguard Seismic Systems is a New Zealand-based company that provides patented seismic systems for liquid storage tanks that protect the tank, its contents, the people and the environment from earthquakes.
“Losses suffered from earthquakes in global wine regions are numerous and include loss of product, loss of market share, insurance deductibles and compromised infrastructure,” Will Lomax, Onguard’s founder and managing director, told The Grapevine Magazine. “These losses can be avoided with the use of the Onguard seismic system. Unlike most incumbent anchoring methods seen in the U.S., Onguard’s energy-dissipating anchors also meet the U.S. building code’s seismic requirements for the design and construction of liquid storage tanks. The Onguard system can be installed on new tanks or retrofitted to existing tanks to improve seismic performance and resilience.”
Lomax explained that winery tanks are generally either mounted onto elevated stands or placed directly onto a concrete slab or elevated pedestal. He said that tanks on stands require a full engineering design of the stand and the tank, which often gets overlooked.
“Optimum seismic performance of tanks on stands is achieved by detaching the tank from the stand and installing the Onguard anchors between the two, rather than at the feet,” Lomax said. “Tanks mounted onto concrete are a simpler structural system, as loads are transferred directly from the tank to the concrete. In recent years, some owners in the U.S have elected to mount the tank onto a stainless steel ‘skirt’ which is then infilled with a concrete slurry after the tank has been placed on the concrete slab. This method is very common in New Zealand and results in a very clean and tidy facility, with no projections for hoses to catch on and easy wash-down.”
While some tank styles were once commonly used for winemaking, they are becoming less common now in modern times. For instance, concrete has been a less common material for wine tanks in recent decades due to safety concerns and the popularity of stainless-steel tanks. Yet more recently, concrete has become much safer to use and comes in egg shapes and square shapes to increase the surface area contact between the wine and yeast. Clay/amphorae tanks are rarely used today but are a historical relic and throwback to old times for wineries looking to tap into their customer’s sense of nostalgia.
“Historically, it was common to leave tanks unanchored or poorly anchored,” Lomax said. “Thankfully, things have changed, and more attention is now paid to improving seismic performance. Unanchored or poorly anchored tanks should be assessed and retrofitted. The investment is well worthwhile given the potential for significant losses and can also lead to preferential insurance terms.”
Choosing the Ideal Tanks for Your Winery
Stainless steel is timeless and long-lasting, so it is the material of choice for many wineries––at least at the start. Some wineries also prefer oak, but they need to be prepared for extra maintenance hours for cleaning, curing, topping off, emptying, and doing sulfur treatments.
Lomax from Onguard Seismic Systems said that the structural design of tanks is a complex exercise and should only be undertaken by engineers who have the knowledge and experience to provide functional and compliant designs.
“The tank, anchorage and foundation should be designed as one integrated system and should comply with the seismic requirements of the current building code,” Lomax said. “The code mandates ductility in the anchorage system and energy dissipation through the permanent stretching of the anchors in a seismic event. This is often overlooked, for example, when tanks are simply welded to steel plates embedded into the concrete foundation, which almost guarantees significant losses in a design-level earthquake.”
Roussel from Algor said that some wineries make the mistake of believing that more expensive is always better. For example, there are two bottom configurations for Algor’s large tanks: dish bottom and slope bottom.
“The dish bottom is rounded with a drain at the center and lowest point of the dome,” Roussel said. “Slope bottom vessels have a flat bottom that slopes at a 5 % angle towards the drainage outlet. This design is recommended if you are frequently draining your tank. It is generally understood that dish bottom tanks are better for white wines and slope bottom vessels for red wines. However—and this may sound obvious—if budget is a concern and the goal is to make great wine, it is more important to focus on the quality of the grape than going over your budget to get all the possible bells and whistles.”
Meanwhile, Dapelo from Quality Stainless Tanks told The Grapevine Magazine that a common mistake wineries make is buying cheap, imported tanks that are less durable and impossible to get repairs and parts when needed. He said wineries should “deal with a local provider that has a history of reliable performance, offers custom designs and keeps their promise on when you’ll receive your tanks.”
