C I D E R
Breakthrough in
Cider Making?
Developed in France in the early ’90s, Flash Release
technology has gone mobile
Submitted by Nuance Winery Supplies
Some players in the Canadian wine industry have been using a
new approach, turning to a technology that has been around
for quite some time, but not in Canada and not in a mobile
form. Flash Détente (translated as ‘Flash Release’) technology was
developed in the early 1990s in the south of France. Flash Release,
when applied to winemaking, can help resolve some of the issues
arising from the vintage challenges (dilution from rain before har-vest,
ripening delays, Asian ladybug, excessive tannic structure,
etc.). Nuance Winery Supplies has purchased and is operating the
first mobile Flash Release unit in Canada. The unit is engineered
and built by flash technology industry experts, Pera-Pellenc.
Trials on apples were conducted last fall in Quebec and B.C.’s
Okanagan to produce cider. A small batch of pears had been tried
in 2019 as well.
So how does it work and what does it do? Ground apples
first go through a tube-in-tube exchanger and are heated to 85°C.
The oxidative enzymes are then denatured. Then they enter a
vacuum chamber (tank) which is maintained under 0.2 bar of
absolute pressure (-0.8 bar relative to the atmospheric pressure).
This is where the magic Flash Release happens. As the fruit enters
the vacuum chamber, the water inside the fruit flesh is released,
expanding tremendously as it turns into steam. As a result, the
Photos courtesy of Nuance Winery Supplies
SUMMER 2021 § POURED CANADA § 39