The Wine Blokes

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

Working in the wine industry can many times be perceived as glamorous and high-brow, with romantic notions of strolling through the vineyard on a sunny day talking wine, or tasting barrel samples, long lunches and winemaker dinners.  These things do happen, but a large part of the time (especially at vintage), is spent cleaning.  

Cleaning tanks and hoses

Grapes obviously have a relatively high concentration of sugar, and if any piece of equipment or machinery is left for only a short period of time, it becomes very sticky, and if left too long, mould and grunge will start forming generally causing hygiene problems.  It can be difficult during vintage, to balance the need to clean, and complete the work that needs to be done.  At Smithbrook we make cleaning a priority, and all equipment is cleaned and sanitised before the next lot of grapes, wine, or juice is handled.   This can make for excessively long days at times, but the benefits of having clean and sanitised equipment cannot be overstated.  Generally we use an alkaline solution of caustic soda to clean, and then neutralize with citric acid.   Constant cleaning prevents growth of mould around the winery, and reduces the risk of baterial or wild yeast spoilage of juices and wines.

We’ve now harvested the last of the whites, which is a huge relief for all involved, as usually disease pressure is starting to become prevalent at this time of the season.  The last couple of days has been spent cleaning and racking so we can have a couple of days off over Easter.

High pressure cleaning the winery floors