Mixing Profiling in Red Winemaking: a Modelling Analysis.

Although winemaking practice is still mainly the fruit of experience with the backup of the technological achievements coming from oenological research, there is a strong motivation to pursue process modeling and simulation for equipment design, operation optimisation, and operator training. Red winemaking, in particular, is based on the simultaneous occurrence of many interacting phenomena, such as the alcoholic fermentation and the extraction from pomace of several compounds which are responsible of wine colour and taste. This work presents a simplified mathematical modelling approach for the interpretation of the phenomena relevant to the transfer and modification of the main classes of polyphenolic substances characteristic of wine (anthocyanins, tannins and cinnamic acids) in relation to mixing and oxidative conditions prevailing in the vat.