GO for QualityGO for Waterless

Automated Cap Management

No Air

No Cleaning No Water

Minimal Capital Minimal Labor

What if…

…you could eliminate oxygen and water for washing completely from the winemaking process while, at the same time, reduce your labor costs and create better quality wines?

GOfermentor brings groundbreaking technology to the age-old art of winemaking, providing greater control of fermentation parameters, minimal exposure to air, minimal use of water, and an integral-automated cap management system, resulting in better quality wine, every time.

• Creates a sealed environment (which minimizes potential contamination) than fermentation in a macrobin. Moreover, the absence of oxygen allows the winemaker more control over the final quality of the product.

• GOfermentor has made the Waterless Winery™ a reality. Water usage costs are vastly reduced (90% on average), and your winery will become a more environmentally responsible facility. No washing, no detergents, no scrubbing. No wastewater treatment.

• The system employs an internal automatic punch-down device which ensures the cap remains moist without exposing the fermenting must to air.

• Since GOfermentor requires no wash or rinse, its usage results in a significant labor cost reduction.

• No installation necessary. Can be deployed in 10 minutes. Fill in the must and GO.

Revolution in Winemaking

How Does the GOfermentor Work?

The GOfermentor consists of two basic components: The BASE and the single-use LINER.

The BASE: Reusable, rigid outer container which holds the LINER in position. The BASE can be moved by pallet jack or forklift. It is also DOT certified for truck shipment. Since the wine does not contact the BASE, it can be reused between batches by simply wiping down the surfaces. The BASE also folds down for storage when not in use. A control panel with electrical components and valves attaches to the BASE for automatic control of punch-down, temperature and other functions.

The GOfermentor Single-Use Fermentation LINER

The fermentation is conducted entirely inside a flexible liner which has two chambers:

• a primary chamber where the fermenting must is contained; and

• a secondary chamber that is solely used for inflating the bag.

The two chambers share a common wall, but it’s important to note that the air used to inflate the second chamber does not, in any way, come into contact with the fermenting must in the primary chamber.

The GOfermentor LINER is supplied clean and ready-for-use.

Red Wine & Punch Down

GOfermentor works with nature. Instead of forcing the cap down, the liquid below the cap is pushed up. This is done by inflating the secondary chamber of the GOfermentor LINER. This expanding chamber presses against the fermenting must in the primary chamber. The action pushes the liquid in the primary chamber up through the cap and then squeezes the cap itself, reducing its cross-section so that it breaks up.

Once the cap is squeezed, the pressure is released in the secondary chamber and chunks of cap drop back onto the liquid surface. The liquid that was squeezed through, has now thoroughly wetted the cap, and then slowly percolates through the cap fragments back into the liquid layer below. The primary chamber then slowly resumes its original conformation.

Instead of the usual “punch down”, the GOfermentor does a “punch up”!

This unique concept is only made possible by the use of flexible GOfermentor LINER technology and it is the secret to how the GOfermentor can extract so much color and flavor, even from marginal grapes.

Secondary chamber starting to inflate

Secondary chamber fully Inflated

Secondary chamber deflatedafter punch down

Pressing & Pomace

The GOfermentor uses the secondary inflation chamber (used in punch-down) as a built-in bladder press. Harvest and pressing 500 liters takes less than an hour and requires just one person!

A large amount of free run wine can be collected before any significant accumulation in the strainer. This is due to the unique design of the GOfermentor LINER. No air is introduced into the wine in this entire pressing operation thereby preserving freshness.

The strainer basket is fitted with a flexible mesh liner so it is just a matter of pulling out the mesh liner and replacing with a clean one whenever it is full. This operation takes just a few minutes.

After pressing, the must pump and strainer assembly is disconnected. The collection bag is taken for racking and other post-fermentation operations.

The LINER is capped and lifted out of the BASE. It can then be taken to the vineyard and slit open to disperse the pomace back as fertilizer. Once the LINER is empty, it can simply be folded up and discarded.

The GOfermentor LINER is biodegradable in keeping with our commitment to the environmentally responsible winery.

Temperature Control

White Wine Production

With white wine, the skins, seeds etc. are removed and the grape juice used for the fermentation. There is no need for cap management, but we can use the punch mechanism to perform the first pressing. This operation eliminates the need for a press and is a convenient way of performing what is typically a very messy operation. The function is gentle and minimizes crushing of seeds and stems.

When the must is ready for pressing, a must pump and strainer are connected to The GOfermentor LINER’s bottom fitting. The outlet of the strainer is connected to a new LINER in a second GOfermentor. The must pump is turned on to pump the grape juice from the first GOfermentor to the second. The secondary chamber in the first GOfermentor is pressurized and depressurized periodically to press out the juice. Then just ferment the grape juice in the second GOfermentor. Clean and concise.

All GOfermentors have an integrated sampling tube that allows samples to be withdrawn at any time during the fermentation without any open operations. The sampling assembly has a digital temperature sensor that provides the temperature at the center of the fermenting must. This laser-trimmed temperature sensor has an accuracy of +/- 1deg Celsius and never requires calibration.

An optional stainless steel heat exchanger plate can be placed under the LINER and then connected to a chilled water or glycol supply. The heat exchanger has a valve that will automatically maintain the desired temperature during the fermentation. This is essential for white wine fermentation.

Temperature Control & Sampling

The GOfermentor can be manually activated to perform a punch, or it can be set on an automated schedule determined by the winemaker. A color touchscreen provides an easy interface to set all the parameters. The advanced instrumentation can be configured to log data, events and alarms. A built-in ethernet interface enables this data to be transmitted to remote computers or mobile devices. You can even configure the GOfermentor to send you a text message if the temperature of the fermentation is too high! The GOfermentor provides its own web server, enabling password-protected access and control worldwide.

Automation

Making The Waterless Winery A Reality

We asked our wine industry friends: what is the single most challenging thing today about being a winemaker? They replied unanimously: Optimizing water usage, while minimizing overall costs.

This decade will undoubtedly be recorded in history as one of the more challenging eras in winemaking. Severe drought sweeps the international winemaking community and in some regions, water conservation represents the biggest hurdle in winemaking. And the problem is predicted to worsen over the coming years.

The GOfermentor brings new information, technologies and approaches to winemaking using zero-to-little water in the process. Through the pioneering technology of the GOfermentor, our goal to make the winemaking process a waterless one has become a reality.

Currently the industry, as well as research universities, is striving to create a 1:1 ratio of water-waste versus wine produced within the winemaking process. We have far exceeded that goal with the GOfermentor. No water is used in the winemaking process. Wastewater recycling is moot. No cleaning chemicals are required: just a handy biodegradable GOfermentor LINER.

About Us

The GOfermentor was developed by Dr. Vijay Singh. He is a world-recognized biotech scientist with hundreds of published papers. Among his 20 or so patents, is his highly acclaimed Wave Bioreactor. This device, developed in the late 1990s, revolutionized the production of biopharmaceuticals by using a disposable cultivation bag supported on a rocking platform. This replaced the expensive and hard to clean and sterilize stainless-steel tanks then used universally. The low cost and spectacular performance of the Wave Bioreactor led to its acceptance worldwide in nearly every biotech/pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Vaccines, antibodies, cytokines, proteins, are all commercially manufactured in the Wave Bioreactor, now owned and marketed by General Electric Healthcare.

The GOfermentor is the result of four years of development by Dr. Singh to develop better winemaking technology that uses no wash water, excludes damaging air from the process, has integral cap management and pressing capabilities, and yet is cost-effective. Extensive trials and product development were performed at his own Sky Acres Winery in New Jersey. This winery exclusively uses the GOfermentor, and tests here were crucial in developing simple, yet reliable operating procedures. Try our wines at www.skyacreswinery.com

“The enemy of wine is air” – Louis Pasteur

Vijay Singh, PhDInventor of the GOfermentor

Let’s Get Started

PlanningThe GOfermentor will be delivered in a stand-alone format direct to your winery, where a GOfermentor team member will personally guide you on site in the set-up.

We will send you a list of components and instructions.

The GOfermentor uses just 4x4 ft of floor space with a capacity of up to one ton of grapes. You are required to return the equipment in an operable condition at the conclusion of the trial.

OperationYou’ll be walked through the easy to use GOfermentor system by our on site team member. The control panel can be set up on your computer network to report data directly to your computer/mobile device.

Data EvaluationYour GOfermentor wine will need to remain separate in maturation. We’ll send you a short list of questions and we invite you to be forthcoming with your assessment of the GOfermentor. Your assessment of the system is crucial for us to make a winemaking system that satisfies your needs for quality, water reduction, and minimal labor in an easy to use and cost effective manner.

A new era of sustainable, waterless winemaking awaits. And we’re grateful to you for being our partner.

About GOfermentor

A clean, closed environment for fermentation. No open operations result in minimal oxidation. This can reduce the need to add sulfites.

Vast reduction in water usage as none is required for cleaning. You’re now a Waterless Winery™.

No cleaning means no usage of toxic or harsh chemicals.

Minimal capital expenditures. Low cost consumables.

Single-use design eliminates cleaning with a huge reduction in water consumption.

Integral automated punch-down ensures proper red wine cap management with excellent flavor and color extraction.

Integral press design eliminates need for labor-intensive pressing. Pressing is done without any air contact, eliminating the need for a costly press and water to clean it.

Portable clean operation. Grapes can be de-stemmed and crushed at the vineyard and pumped into the GOfermentor. Truck the filled GOfermentor to the winery and start the fermentation. All the mess and cleaning is confined to the vineyard!

Business Development: Frederick Brown, BB Group, 813 857 3701, sales@GOfermentor.com

Technical: Vijay Singh, vsingh@GOfermentor.com

www.GOfermentor.comMade in USA. U.S. and foreign patents pending