Bag-in-Box sales has been on a steady upward trend for several years in France and just like bottles, they are subject to an increasing request on behalf of consumers to reduce their sulphite content.
Sulphites are mainly used as antibacterial and antioxidant properties and are therefore essential to maintain a long shelf-life for wine (let’s not forget that alcoholic fermentation naturally produces sulphites so a wine with no sulphite at all doesn’t exist).
As opposed to glass bottles which are perfectly airtight, the Bag-in-Box membranes are permeable to oxygen: simultaneously reducing sulphite doses and limiting the oxidation risks is therefore particularly laborious. To manage this successfully, manufacturers and researchers explored numerous methods which have led to the present promising results.
Optimised Bag-In-Box products:
- In regards to its tap (which represents 50% of ways for oxygen to enter): the shape and the materials used will evolve in the years to come,
- In regards to its bag: new multi-layered plastic films which are more airtight will soon be available.
“Effective” corking:
- Instead of putting only one dose of sulphites during the bottling and hoping it’s enough, an innovative solution consists of putting an SO2 tablet into the cork. This will gradually release its SO2 as the Bag-in-Box is being used, therefore decreasing the total dose of sulphites required.
Deoxygenation of wine:
- For less sulphites to be needed, the wine must contain less oxygen … An equable and respectful method which is presently limited to the large Wineries given its cost for using membrane contactors. This principle consists of having the wine pass through membranes which retain the oxygen, thus reducing by two to five times the sulphite content necessary.
Glutathione:
- A natural peptide present in wine which has powerful antioxidant properties. Incorporated into wine with micro doses, it allows the reduction of sulphite necessary while simultaneously preserving the wine’s colour and aromas.
BIB still has a bright future to look forward to!
Published : 2015-05-29