Introducing one of Vinmetrica’s newest products: the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Probe, a tool for fast and accurate measurement of dissolved oxygen in your wine. Why measure DO in your wine? Oxygen plays a major role in winemaking, having both good and negative effects on the final product. Dissolved oxygen is helpful in small amounts, but too much could lead to an undesirable bottle of wine. By just taking a few measurements you can quickly take control of that. Keep Reading More!
My career has been one of analysis. Yes, I’m one of those analytical types who dissects much of his daily experience into subjects for further investigation. Never could really get the hang of politics, religion or film criticism, but I do take an almost indecent interest in the technical workings of things. That curiosity led me into a career as a Ph.D. analytical chemist – and ultimately, into wine analysis, and making products for that endeavor.
As a 20-year veteran amateur winemaker, I knew there were better ways for home winemakers (and small wineries) to get the basic chemistry information they need for their craft. High on the “annoyance list was sulfite analysis. From desperately slogging my way through color test strips and unreliable Ripper set-ups, both commercial and homemade, I was motivated to find a better way to get that information. Keep Reading More!
Malic Acid Test Kit
Vinmetrica is focused on quality, low cost, easy-to-use products for winemakers. That is why we are proud to be introducing our next product this summer. Malic acid testing is notoriously tedious, but we have a better answer. Get ready to free yourself from paper chromatography! Vinmetrica is currently moving into beta testing for the new Malic Acid tester, which will be an add-on for the Vinmetrica SC-300 (and we are working on compatibility with our other units as well). How much time will it save you? In 30 minutes, you will have a quantitative result that lets you know how your malolactic fermentation is going. How easy is it to use? Put your wine sample in our container, cap it and shake, set it aside for 30 minutes and then come back and take a measurement. Simple as that! No toxic volatile chemicals, no waiting to develop paper chromatography, and no mess!
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Product Pipeline
What’s coming up next from Vinmetrica? Research and development is always ongoing and we have new products in the pipeline for measuring alcohol by volume and residual sugar. Make sure to check out our blog for the latest updates here on our blog, or sign up for our newsletter on the left
At Vinmetrica, our products and services come with a personal touch: we’re winemakers ourselves. With our background in analysis and our passion for making great wine, we believe we can provide the best products and services that any home winemaker or winery could need. Feel free to call us if you have any questions; our technical support and sales team is standing by Monday through Saturday 9am to 6pm (PST)!
A lot of people have asked me, “Hey Rich I have my Free SO2 results, now what do I do with it?”
Now that people are more often testing their sulfite levels in their wines, the results need to be used to the winemaker’s full advantage in protecting their wine from oxidation and spoilage. I would like to bring up the sulfite (SO2) adjustment process since the results gathered from the SC-100, SC-100A or SC-300 need to be crunched by hand or by a calculator to determine how much, if any, sulfite needs to be added to your wine.
How to adjust your sulfite levels: testing and calculating.
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In the effort to create high quality wines, it is critical to maintain proper free sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels during all steps of the winemaking process. Keeping SO2 levels at optimum values is key to preventing the discoloration, off-flavors and unpleasant aromas resulting from oxidation and microbial contamination. Suffice to say that all those award winning wines going for $200 a bottle or more have the correct levels of sulfites added to them!
The problem with the task of maintaining SO2 levels is the tendency for this component to disappear over time. The SO2, typically added as a sulfite like potassium metabisulfite, undergoes an equilibrium between free and bound forms which is pH- and temperature-dependent. In addition, oxidation by atmospheric oxygen continually reduces SO2 levels especially when the wine is briefly exposed to air as occurs during racking and bottling. Therefore it is important to have a reliable method handy for measuring free SO2.
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…continued from “How It All Began“.
In July of 2008, a year after my former company (Molecular Devices) was acquired, my position as Vice President of reagent R&D was phased out. Soon after that I was able to wrap up my affairs in Palo Alto and join my wife Marcia in Encinitas near San Diego, where we had conducted a commuting marriage for the last 7 years.
Jobs were not plentiful at that time, especially in my field. I started Sportsman Consulting and had a few clients, but it wasn’t much. I also worked on a startup called Ascent Biosciences, but in December of 2009 the company moved away.
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I founded Vinmetrica in December of 2009 on the belief that I could put together products that would help winemakers like me.
This belief crystallized over several years and several events. In 1993 I moved to Palo Alto with my family after living in Indianapolis for 8 years working as a research scientist at Eli Lilly.
We bought a house that had a venerable apricot tree in the back yard. This tree was probably a remnant of the fruit orchards that used to occupy most of the Silicon Valley area in the early part of the 20th century.
It was a very productive tree, and after making several cases of apricot jam one summer, I still had several pounds of apricots.
It occurred to me to try to make wine out of them. It wasn’t long before I was fussing over 5 gallon batches of apricot wine, and gradually I found myself learning the ropes of fermentation chemistry.
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