Why Chappellet opted for the VitiSort

CHAPPELLET Vineyard & Winery is a renowned maker of Cabernet Sauvignon and other ultra-premium wines in Napa Valley. It is also amongst the first to invest in the VitiSort®, an optical sorter for wine grapes developed by Key Technology.

 

VitiSort is the most affordable optical sorting system available, considering it capabilities, according to Key. It has a two-stage system that combines a patent-pending mechanical MOG (material other than grape) removal shaker and optical sorter with an integral juice recovery system. Compact and mobile, this stainless steel sorter can roll into position under the destemmer so fruit automatically flows from one machine to the other.

 

The machine sorts up to 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) of red grapes per hour, making it suitable for wineries that produce 5,000 to 50,000 cases per year. It helps control the quality of the must by separating unwanted objects such as insects, skins, raisins, shot berries, stem jacks, petioles, and leaves from the good berries.

 

“VitiSort allows us to elevate the quality of all of our lots. With it, we can bring a B+ lot up to an A. We can take something that may have just missed the mark, take the MOG out, and decrease the chance that the wine is rustic instead of refined,” said Phillip Titus, Winemaker at Chappellet. “Five years ago, this kind of technology seemed ahead of its time. Now it’s highly desirable. I believe we will all be using this kind of technology as the wine industry modernizes,” he added.

 

“We really put VitiSort through its paces last year. We sorted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. Not every varietal is easy to run, but VitiSort worked well for all of them,” said Daniel Docher, assistant winemaker at Chappellet. “The shaker table is the best I’ve ever seen. It does an amazing job removing small MOG and spreading the fruit for presentation to the optical sorter, which optimizes its performance.”

 

The machine has a colour touchscreen control panel and graphical user interface where the winemaker can adjust the sort parameters to remove more or less MOG to meet his exact needs. Product settings can be stored in VitiSort’s memory and easily retrieved. “VitiSort allows us to make very subtle changes to the settings to adjust MOG removal,” explained Mr Docher. “This versatility enables the sorter to be tailored to work with any red grapes in any region.”

 

“Compared to manual sorting, VitiSort is far better at removing MOG, and it’s allowed us to increase our capacity. With it, we typically run three to four tons an hour with only two people – one driving the forklift and the other overseeing everything else,” he said. “Without an optical sorter, it would take a dozen people or more to hand-sort at that throughput but they couldn’t match the quality of VitiSort, because there is a limit to what humans can do.”

 

VitiSort begins with a vibratory conveyor that gently shakes the grapes to perform an initial mechanical separation of MOG, which falls through slots along with juice. MOG is accumulated on a sloped surface for disposal, and juice is automatically recovered for reintroduction to the must. Singulated grapes freefall from the end of the conveyor into the optical sorter, presenting a “sheet” of product that allows a camera to inspect each grape. The sorter quickly analyzes the images, comparing each object to user-defined accept/reject standards. When unwanted objects are identified, the sorter activates the ejector system, which is made up of a series of air jets that span the width of the system. While still air-borne, the air jets pinpoint MOG to remove it from the product stream. Good grapes pass from the sorter into a trough or screw conveyor for delivery to the fermentation tank.

 

VitiSort inspects product on a vertical plane, which dramatically simplifies the operation while achieving optimal inspection results. The simplicity of this gravity-fed system creates a smaller footprint while easing sanitation and maintenance with the elimination of the belt and bearings.