Trial Guidelines

TRIAL THE SMARTCAP

We encourage winemakers to run a trial comparing our three SmartCaps™ to their existing closures.

Each trial box contains 150 SmartCaps™ – 50 each of the Light, Medium, and Medium Plus liners, divided into bags of 25. The kit is designed to run a trial on two different wines, either the same varietal over two separate bottling dates or two different varietals. By tasting and testing the wines over time, you can determine which oxygen level is best for your wine.

Bottling Day Trial Guidelines

• Please wait until the bottling line has been running for at least 10 minutes before adding the SmartCaps™ to the cap hopper.

• Empty the SmartCaps™ into the cap hopper with the other caps. DO NOT stop the line to apply the SmartCaps™. This will change the headspace oxygen and impact the trial results.

• Pull the bottles with SmartCaps™ off the line after capping.

• To provide a control for the trial, please hold back the same number of bottles with your current closure and store them alongside the wine closed with the SmartCap™.

• Wait at least 30 minutes and then check the seal integrity of one bottle of each type of SmartCap™: Each bottle should hold at least 3 bar of pressure, and the opening torque should be 15 pounds or greater.

For even more detailed technical information on capper settings or research methods, please contact VinPerfect.

Evaluation

We suggest that you evaluate the trial on a regular basis by completing a sensory tasting, sulfite analysis, and complete chemical panel. Make sure to include testing for free SO₂ levels in this analysis. We believe that free SO₂ has the most relevance to balancing the wine's maturation potential with its shelf-life.

The figures in this table represent the number of repetitions of each closure option. An evaluation per this schedule will require 17 bottles.

A complete chemical panel, including free SO₂, total SO₂, O₂, pH, CO₂, TA, VA, and Alcohol will provide valuable information during the trial period. This will help you develop a more complete understanding of what happens to your wine under conditions of controlled nano-oxygenation. We suggest running this complete panel every 6 months.