Mobile Wine Bottling

Mobile “Counter-Pressure” Bottling Now Available
By Bill Pregler
From Daily News Links, 04/17/2007
Prospero Equipment Company of Pleasantville, New York announced they are in the final assembly stages of the first mobile “counter pressure” bottling line in the United States. Featuring a GAI 1532 Isobaric monoblock the trailer will be capable of bottling any carbonated product. Isobaric bottling is performed under pressure, while still wine is bottled with non-pressurized, gravity-flow fillers. Winemakers who practice the “Charmat” style of sparkling wine production will now be able to utilize mobile services without having to purchase the expensive, specialized equipment. Charmat is a bulk process where sparkling wine is produced and fermented in pressurized stainless tanks as opposed to the traditional methode’ champenoise in individual bottles. It must also be bottled under continuous pressure, from the tank to the bottle, hence the specialized monoblock. In addition this versatile equipment is also capable of bottling beer and still wines. Initially the trailer was to operate primarily in the North East portion of the country, but already there is talk of visiting the mid-western states. Following the bottle rinser and filler, the bottling line will feature multiple turrets, containing a Technovin screw capping head, a crown capper for beers, and a corker capable of inserting sparkling wine style corks. The corker then will be followed with a Robino-Galandrino wire hooder. “This is a unique opportunity for the smaller producer of Charmat and micro beers to bottle their product,” said Danny Prospero, vice-president of the company. “The nine-spout filler bowl is designed for smaller runs of twenty-five bottles per minute, or about 1,000 cases per day” The U-shaped bottling line is being installed into a custom designed, heavy duty gooseneck trailer built by ATC (Aluminum Trailer Company) of Nappanee, Indiana. It will be self contained and feature on-board steam sterilization and filtration. It will not have labeling. Carbonated, counter pressure filling requires that cold bottling temperatures are maintained to keep CO2 suspended in the medium. A good analogy is the difference between opening a cold can of cola verses a warm can. Due to the inherent cold, condensation occurs on the outside of the full bottles, and as a result labels will not adhere. Bottles will be offloaded into bins or case good boxes and labeled later.