WINETECH Technical Yearbook 2019

defined according to the percentage of killing potential against harmful micro-organisms. Cleaning has no microbiological definition, but it comprises the removal of visible debris in the cellar, which can serve as an incubation base for micro-organisms. Sanitation implies that 99,9% of all bacteria is killed, but the citing does never include viruses or moulds. Disinfection implies that 99,999% of all micro-organisms are killed and the killing percentage of sterilisation is 99,9999%. Different sterilisation methods, like dry or wet heat, filtration, 70% ethanol solution or UV light, can be used in wine cellars. The main focus in wine cellars is usually on cleaning and sanitation. Disinfection and sterilisation are seen as being the same. It is essential that all equipment used during the

harvest, is cleaned and sanitised effectively as soon as possible after the harvest. This will prevent the build-up of a population of undesirable micro-organisms before the next harvest. If undesirable micro-organisms, like Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus , have established a population in a cellar it will be difficult to eliminate them and instead they should only be managed. If cellars do their own packaging, the effective cleaning and sterilisation of bottling equipment will obviously play an important role to ensure that the microbiological stability of wine is maintained (Philips, 2019). As a result of the time limitation and production processes of harvest time, it is ideal that cellar equipment function

opt ima l l y and fu l l - t ime wi thout any breakdowns during that period. In order to realise this, cellars can apply a preventative maintenance programme after the harvest to identify and prevent potential equipment breakdowns. If this is not done, maintenance can evolve into crisis management, consisting of repairs together with interruptions. Some cellar equipment, like sorting tables, crushers, destemmers and presses, are only used during the harvest. If cellars plan to use current equipment again or adjust it instead of buying new equipment, the adjustments and/or purchasing must be done timeously. Maintenance practices can vary between cellars. Reactive maintenance is applied after the breakdown of equipment and is the most

expensive way of maintenance. Preventative maintenance prevents the breakage of equipment. Predictive maintenance schedule preventative maintenance according to the required functioning of equipment between breakages. The latter includes cleaning, lubrication, inspection and testing (Theron, 2017). REFERENCES Philips, C., 2019. Time flies when you’re making wine. Wine Business Monthly , January 2019: 152-158. Theron, C., 2017. Maintenance of cellar equipment before and after harvest. WineLand , December 2017.