A world-first in McLaren Vale

A McLaren Vale winery is among the first in the world to have purchased a new oak fermenter from Seguin Moreau (SM). Called the Radical New Oak Fermenter (NOF), the fermenter is assembled traditionally, but includes a stainless steel doorway assembled ‘sandwich-style’ with no bolts or joints, and which fits level with the fermenter’s base.

This makes it possible to empty the tank through its front door and without having to enter the tank, while the lack of screws or joints aids hygiene and maintenance. 

Gemtree Wines winemaker Mike Brown was already a SM customer before buying the NOF.

“We have been using oak opens for four years now and SM approached us with this unit,” he said.

“It looked the Rolls Royce so we thought we would give it a crack.”

SM oak vats are made using French oak from the forests of Futaies and Haute Futaies.

Using first-quality oak with straight-grain and tight-grain, the oak is dried in open air and excludes using any crown flat cut, which can cause deformations of tanks in various conditions of humidity.

Staves are bent on an open wood-fire, and after the bending, long heating is provided on an open wood-fire as well to ensure heat goes right through the thickness of the staves.

Heating lasts between five to eight hours, depending on the thickness of the staves and the tank dimensions.

The NOF’s stainless steel front doors are assembled at the same time as the staves of the vat, so no bolts or screws are used in fitting the door.

Because the door is fitted level with the floor of the vat, it allows for easy extraction of the grape skins after fermentation.

SM Australia national sales and marketing manager Graeme Little says there are other cooperages available that have a similar design, but they use bolts to hold the door in place.

“These bolts protrude into the inside of the vat making it difficult to maintain a hygienic environment for fermentation,” he said.

The door’s dimensions are 316×424 millimetres, while the base of the vat is 195 centimetres in diameter, the top is 160cm in diameter, the vat’s height is 160cm and the thickness of the wood is 54mm.

All fittings are stainless steel and the stainless steel top, with complete opening, is 1520mm in diameter and fully electro-polished with Bellot thread.

“Oak vat manufacturing at SM has developed to a point where we can produce a vat to suit any purpose, with a number of options, so the vat is not just aesthetically pleasing but practical,” Little said.

“We currently sell approximately 10 vats per year in Australia, but this number is growing as winemakers look for new options for fermentation and maturation.

“This fermenter [NOF] is the best available, with options normally associated with stainless steel vats.”

Brown says he has seen SM vats “in the best cellars of the world” on his travels to Spain, France and Italy, and that helped his decision to buy the NOF.

“I was attracted to the complete unit, in the age of the timber and the practicality of the vessel for fermentation and aging,” he said.

He will use the NOF to ferment his Shiraz for the first two years, and then Tempranillo from there on.

“2010 was the first year we have used the NOF so results thus far are small,” he said.

“But the wine that was fermented and currently being aged is looking terrific.

“It has better colour and tannin extraction, and the wine has finesse and very good structure … fingers crossed that will continue.”

Little says Gemtree Wines was one of the first wineries in the world to use the new fermenter, and was indicative of what winemakers were seeking by using the NOF.

“The winemakers using these vats are looking for softer integration of oak in their wines, better extraction during fermentation due to the thermodynamics of the wood with a gentle oak influence, and an increase in wine quality that is developed during maturation in large format vats,” he said.

“The knowledge that Seguin Moreau has crafted over many years can be used to produce a vast range of vats in various sizes and shapes to suit the winemakers’ requirements, starting from 10 hectolitres through to 1200hl, and using all the latest advancements developed by the Seguin Moreau’s Large Vat Team in France.

“These latest developments in design are giving winemakers further options to meet their requirements.”