Page 16 - Grapevine Jan-Feb 2020

In The Winery

DTMA machine, DTMA being
the acronym for Della Toffola
Maceration Accelerator.

This machine was evaluated
as a prototype by Angela in
Australia, New Zealand and
Italy in 2016 and 2017. The
DTMA machine is now com-
mercially available in a range
of capacities through the inter-
national dealerships of Della
Toffola (see www.dellatoffola.
Figure 1. Pinot Noir musts one hour after processing. Left, it.).
crush only, note flattened spheres. Right, Crush plus skin frag-
mentation, note better color extraction. The machine is shown in
Figure 2. It is relatively small
Confirming the Results and portable, and is connected by hoses between
the crusher and the fermenter.
The intensive study by Angela of grape skin frag-
mentation for her PhD created a considerable
number of scientific publications, including both
wine chemistry and sensory evaluation verification
of the concept. Angela developed the term “ACE”
to describe the process, the acronym standing for
Accentuated Cut Edges. The first paper in the series
was published in the American Journal of Enology
and Viticulture in 2016. It was entitled “Reducing
skin particle size affects the phenolic attributes of
Pinot Noir wine. Proof of concept.” Other papers
followed including wine chemistry and sensory
evaluation. Always ACE shone through, producing
better Pinot Noir wines.

For the next six years Angela’s studies progressed
from small ferments to those in commercial win-
eries, helped in part by an industry research grant.
A prototype machine to achieve ACE was designed
and developed, and allowed ACE evaluation at
commercial scale.

Enter Della Toffola and DTMA

The machine, the scientific results and wine
samples were shown to Giacomo Della Toffola in Figure 2. Dr Angela Sparrow beside the
Tasmania. The large Italian winery equipment com- DTMA machine at its launch at SITEVI,
pany Della Toffola then proposed a joint venture Montpellier, France, November 2017.
with Richard Smart and Angela Sparrow to further
the development commercially. The result is the Coriole winery of McLaren Vale, South Australia

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