Avoiding oxygen contact during filling thanks to the rinsing process

The name of the Lenz Moser vineyard in Rohrendorf near Krems, Austria, is inextricably linked with the development and progress of Austrian viticulture as such. With improved bottling technology, product-friendly wine treatment is further optimised. From the barrel to the bottle, the wines are meticulously preserved from any contact with oxygen, so that a significantly smaller quantity of sulphur is required as a preservative.
The Krones machines installed in the bottling line all support this thinking. Besides the Linatronic inline empty-bottle inspector rated at 12,000 bph, a rotary-type Variojet rinser as a stand-alone machine has been integrated which treats the bottles with hot water, steam and sterile air. Tests carried out by an independent institute showed that the temperature at the inner sidewalls of the bottles reaches 97 to 98 °C - the maximum possible for glass bottles. These temperatures are sufficient to kill yeasts and wine pests.  Hitherto, Lenz Moser had been using an immersion rinser with a sulphureous water bath. For  quality and environmental reasons, the management opted for a steam-based rinsing process. To avoid recontamination, the company Zander has housed the rinser and the downstream Krones SynCO bottle conveyors entirely in stainless steel. A sterile atmosphere is assured by a blower unit for sterile air in conjunction with an air extractor system.  The sterile bottling philosophy is supplemented by a neck-finish flaming unit from Roger & Schmidt. The existing filler handles eleven different returnable bottles, ranging from the 0.25 l Burgunder to the 1 l Bordeaux bottle. Labels are applied by a Prontomatic with two labelling stations and an additional Taxomatic unit for tamper-evident sealing with a tax strip. A KAF 2400 F carton erector, a Blitzpac Junior packer and a complete palletising system complete the filling line.