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4 0 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | N o v - D e c 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m says Gary Sitton, newly appointed winemaker at Ravenswood Winery (Sonoma, Calif.), founded by wine- maker Joel Peterson in 1976. "We view filtration as a tool that lets us guarantee the quality of our Vint- ners Blend and County Tier wines." In an effort to work more sus- tainably in the cellar when filtra- tion is necessary, winemakers like Sitton have found alternatives to crystalline silica-laden DE filtration, which requires workers to wear protective gear and to dispose of hazardous waste. "From a quality perspective, cross flow has let us o filter or not to filter? You'll find winemakers in both camps. But when filtration is called for, cross flow technology is proving to be the best case sce- nario for leaving wine sitting pretty. Although there are scenarios where older filtration technologies like hardwood cellulose pads or diatomaceous earth (DE) might be better suited to the task, the mini- mal risks and considerable rewards of state-of-the-art cross flow filtra- tion are readily apparent in the cel- lar and in the glass. "There's a time and place for unfiltered wines," move away from the use of pads and DE, and we've seen improve- ments across the board." With DE use on the decline, and ever-present concerns over oxygen pick-up and the replacement costs of filtration pads, the one- to two- year return on investment that's now being realized when using cross flow filtration for bottle polish- ing or lees recovery starts to pencil out. Massimo Pivetta, sales manag- er at Padovan Spa in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, observes, "A cross flow filter for lees recovery is a chief financial officer's favorite purchase." By necessity or by choice, cross flow filtration is a boon for winemakers. BY DEBORAH PARKER WONG