How Does Vinalchemy Technology Work?

“Vinalchemy bubbles” are introduced via an in-line bubble diffuser, to the Vinalchemy reaction tower which you can see in the video opposite.

This accelerates the Vicinal Diphenol Cascade (VDC) reaction in wine ageing, which softens tannins, locks in colour through polyphenolic book-endings, integrates aromas within the hydrophobic cage and delivers significant reductive strength.

The Transformation Mirrors the Effects of Natural Oxidative Polymerisation.

Advanced Micro Oxygenation

Vinalchemy has developed and patented innovative, low oxygen technology that replicates and accelerates the traditional wine ageing process, offering significant commercial advantages in wine production.

Vinalchemy's process is 10,000 x's faster than traditional MOX it's simpler to implement and control.

The technology has been empirically proven and endorsed by the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Wine at Plumpton College and several thousand bottles of red, white and sparkling wine have already been commercially processed using the technology across two vintages.

Choose Your Wine's Drinking Window

Extended Drinking Window & Shelf Life

Vinalchemy’s technology widens and extends the drinking window, leading to an increased shelf life by optimising the wine’s chemical structure

Proven to expedite the VDC reaction, ‘Vinalchemy bubbles’ expand to create a vast surface area within the ‘Gas Reaction Zone’, resulting in an instantaneous interaction between the oxygen and the phenolic compounds, leading to wines that are market-ready at a far earlier stage in the lifecycle.

Excess unreacted oxygen is sparged from the wine by the dominant nitrogen element of the bubbles, thereby preventing further reaction and extending the wine’s drinking window

Empirical data

Vinalchemy’s ability to enhance wine quality has been empirically proven through trials at The UK's Centre of Excellence for Wine, Plumpton College. The technology has been used on thousands of bottles of different types of wine across two vintages

Empirical Overview and Insights

  • Overview

    • Data from experimental trials at Plumpton College demonstrated Vinalchemy's ability to enhance wine quality by improving key parameters such as pH balance, acidity, colour density, phenolics and tannins.
    • Insights from principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering provided a comprehensive view of Vinalchemy's positive impact on wine quality, further strengthening the findings from the trials.
    • Plumpton’s analysis and conclusions synthesised findings from experimental trials, analysis of variance (ANOVA), PCA and chemical profiling.

  • Experimental Insights | Independent Analysis by Plumpton

    Data from 36 wines, tested in triplicate with treated and control samples, consistently showed superior results for treated wines across key metrics, highlighting its ability to enhance wine quality and market value

    The analysis provided statistical validation of the benefits:

    • ANOVA results – significant differences (p>0.05) in colour density and phenolic content, providing robust evidence of efficacy
    • Hierarchical clustering analysis and PCA further validated these findings by grouping treated samples with high quality, naturally aged wine
    • PCA analysis revealed clear clustering of treated wines, indicating consistent profile improvements across various types and vintages
    • Clustering and Grouping Hierarchical clustering analysis grouped treated samples closer to mature exemplars, further validating efficacy

Data Analytics & Results

  • Colour Density

    Enhanced colour density is a key indicator of wine quality, particularly in red wines where anthocyanin stabilisation plays a critical role.

    The treated wines showed significantly greater colour density due to increase anthocyanin polymerisation with tannins leading to stable pigmented tannins (“bookending”).

  • Phenolics and Tannins

    Vital for the sensory experience of wine, contributing to its mouthfeel, astringency and ageing potential.

    The wines treated showed higher levels of total phenolics(1), reflecting enhanced antioxidant properties and extended shelf life and tannins were optimised through controlled oxidation, resulting in a smoother mouthfeel

  • Somers (1974) and chemical age Tests

    Improvements in these metrics are consistent with Somers’ (1974) concept of chemical age, which emphasises the role of anthocyanin and tannin polymerisation in defining the sensory and aesthetic qualities of wine

    By accelerating these reactions, Vinalchemy effectively advances the chemical age of the wine, making it comparable to naturally aged vintages

  • pH and Acidity

    Treated wines showed consistent reduction in volatile acidity, moving closer to the ideal range of high-quality wines.

    Additionally, reductions in titratable acidity were observed, reflecting a harmonisation of acidity that contributes to smoother taste profiles.

Higher Volumes & Increased Grape Utilisation

Many winemakers are limited to c.60% grape utilisation (Free run & Light press), as any higher would require greater maturation times and additives which would negatively impact cash flows.

Vinalchemy Technology

Hard Press Recovery

“Hard press” and “lees” are regularly discarded, due to bitter flavour profiles and excess tannins.

Using Vinalchemy’s technology, winemakers can condense and smooth out the tannins in the hard press, locking in the colour and aromas.

This enables full utilisation of the hard press, increasing overall grape   utilisation to c.80%

Winemakers also have optionality to utilise a greater volume in 'first wine' production, or to produce a drinkable 'second’ and ‘third wine’.

The benefit is equivalent to delivering a c.33% yield increase per harvest.

Vinalchemy Technology

Lees Recovery

Utilising centrifugal separators, winemakers can also centrifuge their wines and recover up to 70% of the lees, which can be processed using Vinalchemy’s technology.

Grape utilisation increases by a further 10%-15% up to c.95% total juice utilisation.

The benefit is equivalent to delivering a c.60% yield increase per harvest.

This increased utilisation leads to a significant reduction in the cost of grapes per bottle produced.

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