Temperature and Humidity Monitoring in a Small Winery - Sponsored Whitepaper

Escort iLog Humidity Data Logger
CHESTERLAND OH—August 1, 2011

CAS DataLoggers recently provided the data logging solution for a small winery involved in growing, producing and transporting grapes and wine, an extremely temperature- and humidity-sensitive process. Most parameters defining the microclimate of the grape crop could be attributed to both temperature and humidity: rain caused an increase of 100%RH, wind lowered temperature due to windchill, and light raised temperature due to solar radiation. Temperature and humidity were also in most cases the critical factors used to obtain data for disease prediction--early warning of disease, frost, and mold were necessities before they could overwhelm the whole crop. The winery already had a very demanding clientele, so constant temperature monitoring was crucial to wine quality and the label’s reputation. During storage and transport, the storage of kegs and wine bottles strongly influenced wine quality, so white wine had to be kept at temperatures of 50°-53.6° F (10°-12°C), and red wine at 53.6°- 59°F (12°-15°C). The barrel storage area also had to be humidity-controlled or the alcohol would evaporate from the wine, leaving it at a lower alcohol percentage. Care had to be taken during cork storage and transport as well, or the bottles would spoil. The winery had been using typical glass and electric thermometers for temperature measurement, which proved to be too labor-intensive and prone to error. Some of the recordings were even measured on hardcopy, but increasingly, the winemakers found that measurements needed to be quickly compared with previously-recorded data to get an idea of how to conduct temperature profiling for each of the winery’s processes. All current conditions of the measurement cycle would have to be available at a glance for quick correction. What the owner and growers needed was a temperature and humidity monitoring solution powerful yet affordable enough for all the winery’s operations.