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              14
Australian WINE, BREWING and SPIRIT REVIEW
April 20, 1960
HUD OF BIG CAlffORNIAN VlflCMUl ENGINEERING FIRM IMS
Iff TRENDS IN GRAPE HARVESTING AND PROCESSING
By Our Adelaide Representative.
The gradually developing use—but within limits—of ion exchange in the Californian wineries was one of a
number of topics touched on, in an interview in Adelaide, by Leon S. Peters, president of Valley Foundry
& Machine Works Inc., of Fresno, California. Mr. Petal's also talked on the expanding use of stainless
steel, and his Company's successful development of grape samplers—overhead apparatus for giving wine-
makers a protective check against mould, etc., in each load of grapes received. Mr. Peters was surprised
to find overhead sprinklers used in some Australian vineyards and said he would go into the possibility of
trying this out in a part of his own family vineyard.
MR. PETERS spent much of his time in South Australia
with Mr. Colin Gramp, who had visited him in California some time back. They visited Barossa Valley and
River Murray wineries. We were indebted to Mr. Colin
Gramp and also Mr. Sid Gramp for the courtesy of an
introduction to Mr. Peters when the American visitor
returned to Adelaide from Berri and Mildura. Later he
spent a day with Mr. Jim Ingoldby at McLaren Vale.
The Valley Foundry & Machine Works Inc. supplies
about 85 per cent, of the machinery requirements of the
Californian wine industry. As distinct from that business,
Mr. Peters is also a partner in what the Americans call a
fruit ranch. With three brothers he operates a property of
96J irrigated acres, including 80 acres of peaches, netarines
and plums; 30 acres of English walnuts; 26 acres of almonds;
and the following acreages of grapes:— Palomino, 42;
Carignan, 40; Trusso (black), 18; Grenache, 20; Black
Mission, 20; Salvador, 10; Muscat, 40; and the balance of
Thompson's Seedless (sultanas). Points from Mr. Peters
on Californian wine trends were:—
Ion Exchange: We are using ion exchange in the Cali-
i'ornian wineries, but it has not taken the industry by
storm; we are going into it very cautiously. We see a lot
of merit in ion exchange, but it should never be considered
a cure-all. It should be used in conjunction with present
refrigeration methods. If the two are used together, it
reduces the refrigeration time, which almost doubles the
capacity of the refrigeration equipment. There are certain
types of wine, such as the very delicte ones, on which we
do not use ion because there is a danger of the character,
colour  and  flavour  being  affected.
Gr pe Samplers: Last year we equipped 14 wineries with
grape samplers. At the conclusion of the see son it was
determined that the sampling was very successful . and
desirable. We don't know as yet hew many more wineries
will go into the sampling this year, but we knew a number
will. It is a safeguard for the winemaker, as when he
buys a load of grapes the samples are taken and there is a
test made by the State Department of Agriculture, and
each load is certified as to the quality of the grapes and
whether 1 per cent., 2 per cent., or 5 per cent., or whatever
the figure is, shows the effects of mould, rot, mildew or
insects. These certificates en be produced by the wine-
maker if food purity investigi tors—who are very active in
our country—come along and cast any aspersions on the
material,  going  through  our  wineries.
Stainless Steel: We are going more and more into stainless steel in the equipment of our wineries. It is a metal
that gives no metallic pickup in the wine; it is easy to.keep
clean; and it is a very durable metal.
Mechanical Grape Picking: This is still in the experimental stage. The farm equipment development division
of the University of California has made a mechanical
grape harvester. It works fairly satisfactorily on vines with
the required special training to enable mechanical picking.
In a vineyard that has been grown for ordinary hand-picking it is almost impossible to re-train it for mechanical
harvesting.
Overhead Spray Irrigation: I admired the sprinklers at the
Ramco vineyard of G. Gramp & Sons Ltd. near Waikerie
in the River Murray Valley. We have not taken up overhead watering because we feared it might encourage mildew or some of the other diseases which give us a good deal
of trouble.
Australian Wines and Wineries: Mr. Peters visited the
Orlando winery of G. Gramp & Sons Ltd. at Rowland Flat;
Seppeltsfield winery of B. Seppelt & Sons Ltd.; the
Yalumba winery of S. Smith & Son Ltd. at Angaston; and
the South Australian Grapegrowers' Co-operative Ltd. at
Nurioopta. Subsequently he went to Berri Co-operative
Winery and Distillery and the Mildura Winery Ltd. He
gave his highest praise to Mildura Flor Sherry. He said
he liked Australian brandies and commented that they
were lower in proof strength than Californian brandies.
"When you get a high proof brandy you are getting it on
the hot side," he said, and you loose the true brandy flavour.
"I think your Barossa Pearl is an excellent product and
I think it would have a universal appeal in America but
that it would incur our severe tax impost on sparkling
wines."
Referring to what he regarded as poor quality bottles used
in Australia, Mr. Peters said he wondered whether the time
had come for the wine industry to go co-operatively into a
bottle manufacturing business of their own. They could ask
themselves whether they should put up their own plant so
that they could ensure the quality of bottles and the colours
of glass that would be more appealing to the eye and conducive to sales. "I have seen bottles with many spots
and other defects on them, and I do not like the seams
down the sides—we don't have seams on ours. It is a pity
for such goods wines and brandies to go into such bottles.
One of our largest winemaking companies has its own bottle
manufacturing plant."
Greater Fresno in Central California has 200,000 people,
with 150,000 of them within the city limits. Mr. and Mrs.
Peters made the trip to Australia in a party of seven Fresno
friends, the others being Mr. Paul Keane, a heating and
insulation magnate, and his wife; Mr. Wilbur B. Wilson, real
estate man, and his wife; and Mrs. Ruth Petty. Last year
the same seven people visited Mexico together.
Dipping Not General
The property of Mr. Peters and his brothers yields 300 to
430 tons of raisins a year. Dipping is not generally
practised in California's raisin industry, the fruit being put
on trays in the rows in the vineyard and allowed to dry in
the sun for 10 days, then turned over for another 10 days.
Later they are washed for dust removal. Only a limited
tonnage receives a caustic solution dip and these are called
"Golden Bleach", they are treated mechanically with an
automatic dipping apparatus, followed by four hours in
sulphur fumes, followed by a blast of hot air. The process
tikes 18 to 20 hours. One important line marketed is seeded
muscats—a machine takes out the seeds. In prohibition days
wine grapes were dried and were called black raisins.