Michael Pritchard MBE showcasing his Winewizard device at the Decanter office. Image credit: Sylvia Wu
Michael Pritchard MBE, the Essex-based inventor known for his LifeSaver® portable water purification device, is now applying his innovative mind to the world of wine. His latest creation, Vinalchemy, promises to revolutionise the industry by accelerating the ageing process of wine. This breakthrough offers exciting possibilities for both consumers and producers eager to reduce the time between vintage and market readiness.
‘I’ve been an inventor my whole life. I filed my first patent at the age of 11 with the help of my father. By 30, I was proudly calling myself an inventor, even though people often think inventors are just mad blokes tinkering in sheds. For me, it’s always been about solving problems that frustrate or annoy me.
‘Frustration led to my invention of the LifeSaver® bottle. It was Boxing Day, and I saw the devastation of the 2004 Asian tsunami on TV. Then Hurricane Katrina hit the US the following year. Here we were, in the 21st century, and people in disaster zones were forced to drink from puddles. I knew there had to be a better solution. That’s what led me to create a portable water purifier that removes bacteria and viruses without the need for chemicals or electricity. Even a three-year-old could use it.
‘When it comes to wine, I’ll admit that I’m not a connoisseur. I have a reasonable palate and nose, but I think that’s helped me approach the problem differently. It all started with a Christmas gift – one of those Venturi-type wine aerators that use narrow holes to entrain air into the wine. It didn’t work, and it annoyed me. I started thinking about what they were trying to achieve and dove into the science of wine ageing.
‘Have you heard of the vicinal diphenol cascade? Don’t worry, most wine experts haven’t either. It’s a biochemical process that plays a critical role in wine ageing. Oxygen interacts with phenolic compounds like tannins and anthocyanins – the molecules responsible for a wine’s structure and colour.
‘Oxygen helps tannin monomers, which are small and bitter, link together like Lego bricks to form polymers. This reduces astringency and gives the wine a smoother taste. Anthocyanins – the colour pigments – “bolt on” to the ends of these polymer chains, known as bookending, stabilising and locking in the wine’s colour. Together, they form a three-dimensional cage that traps hydrophobic volatile organic compounds, or aromas, within allowing them to evolve harmoniously on the nose.
‘This process doesn’t just improve flavour and aroma. Proteins from the wine attach to the outside of this cage, further smoothing the mouthfeel.
‘Traditionally, this takes years in barrels or months with micro-oxygenation (MOX) in steel tanks. MOX was a breakthrough when it was developed in France in the 1990s, but it’s complex, time-consuming, and difficult to use effectively, especially in the early stages of the winemaking process where wine is actually at its most susceptible to improvement with the addition of oxygen.
‘Our Vinalchemy technology changes everything – we’ve developed a system that achieves the same results as years of ageing – but in seconds.
‘We use ultra-low oxygen microbubbles which are injected into the wine using our proprietary, patent-pending industrial process. These bubbles create an incredibly thin film of wine, where osmotic pressure forces the oxygen to dissolve immediately where it further reacts instantly with the molecules in the wine. This happens millions of times per second. Our process then removes unreacted oxygen; which prevents further change, permanently fixing the wine, leaving it smoother, rounder and more harmonious. The French would call this élevage, we call it Vinalchemy.
‘Our laboratory test rig allows us to tailor the treatment to a specific wine. We can adjust settings for tannin condensation,…
Source : https://www.decanter.com/wine/a-drink-with-inventor-michael-pritchard-mbe-550430/
