From workshop to vineyard

Blue-white welding flashes light up the workshop in Verona, Italy at brief intervals – just a few seconds at a time.  They are then extinguished as the item is examined, before lighting up again as the work continues. It is important that the pipe welds are perfect, so the quality of the whole system is top class. This applies to all parts of the process leading up to the finished system.

The welds in the workshop are being done the traditional way – completely by hand.  But just a few metres away, innovation and technology take centre stage when Innotec’s engineers design their solutions, for wine production and other applications. In their home country, Italy, but also in other wine countries around the world.

The systems are used to feed additives such as gum arabic to the wine to enhance the taste, but also to clean the production equipment, so the next batch of wine is not tainted by the last.

“Quality is of utmost importance in this field. Our customers cannot compromise on the quality of their products, and neither can we. We are therefore constantly working to refine our technology and our solution,” explains Stefano Peruzzi, Research Director and CTO of Innotec.

Their tailored systems for customers incorporate Grundfos pumps, such as our metering pumps and controls, to ensure precision and reliability.

Tradition and innovation
Not far away, just outside the small town of Pastrengo, lie Grupo Vini Italiano’s headquarters, surrounded by green vineyards. Top-quality Italian wine is bottled here and shipped around the world. With full respect for the traditions of the winemaking craft, but also with a sense for using new solutions in their efforts to create the best wine experiences for their customers. Thirty-nine million bottles of Italian wine are shipped to customers worldwide every year from the Group’s wine production on the outskirts of Verona alone. And they must all meet the highest standards. This is why they use systems from Innotec in their production.

“We must ensure consistency in the taste of our wines. Our customers must be sure to get the quality experience they expect. And this work begins in our production. The fact that the solutions from Innotec and Grundfos allow us to ensure a uniform and clean process every time we produce wine is extremely important to me,” says Cesare Lazzarini, who is responsible for quality at Grupo Vini Italiano.

The production has therefore been strictly systematised, and while monitoring equipment, metering systems and methodically cleaned tanks stand side-by-side indoors, outside the vines extends as far the eye can see. While everything is taken care of to exacting standards.

Tailor-made technology
Back in Innotec’s headquarters in Verona, Stefano Peruzzi is busy drawing and talking. With precise lines, he shows how the technology can work together in the Innotec solutions delivered to wine producers. Several elements have to be in place before the system can fulfil Innotec’s strict internal demands, and the customers’ individual solution requirements.

“We are very keen to create the exact solution that the customer needs. Needs can vary greatly from customer to customer, for example in relation to the scope of their wine production. We therefore always match our solutions to exactly what the customer needs. But one of the things we focus on, and which is the same every time, is our quality and high technological level. We are therefore pleased with our collaboration with Grundfos, because the pumps are good and reliable, and advanced enough to match our requirements,” he says.

“These requirements are one of the reasons why we appreciate working with Innotec,” explains Tomasso Cucinotta, who is responsible for our industrial metering business in Italy and Israel, and works closely with Innotec.

“Like us, they have a strong focus on innovation. And they place high demands on us. Working with them, we have the opportunity to show what we and our products are capable of. It is also very satisfying to know that we will get the opportunity to exploit the great technical potential offered by our metering pumps etc., and which greatly differentiates us in the market,” he explains.

He notes also that our pumps and controllers help ensure the quality, flexibility and reliability Innotec needs in their work to make the best and most modern solutions for the wine industry.