VinPilot® cellar automation
Fermentation control, red wine processes, dosing and cellar climate run automatically and are fully documented. Fewer working hours in the cellar, all year round, and the certainty that everything runs the way you want it to.
More than 3,000 winemakers trust VinPilot®
In use in 26 countries worldwide
Why automate
Every tank needs attention, during harvest even day and night. VinPilot® takes over the routine: you decide, VinPilot carries it out.
You probably know this too: finding good cellar staff is a real challenge. With VinPilot® your team gets the work done even with fewer hands: your people make the decisions, VinPilot handles the routine automatically.
Cellar rounds, taking samples, pumping over at two in the morning: it all costs money and energy, during harvest and all year round. Automatically controlled tanks need nobody standing next to them.
Fermentation progress, temperature, fill level and pressure go straight from the tank into the software. Nutrients and oxygen are dosed according to plan.
Processes run the same way every time, even in the toughest week of harvest. If anything deviates, the alarm goes to your phone, and everything is fully recorded.
One tank, everything under control
Measure, control, dose. All modules can be retrofitted and run in the same software.
Cools and heats exactly to your specifications, with a maximum deviation of 0.2 °C.
Around the clock, without taking samples. Temperature and processes adapt to it.
Monitors the fill level and makes automatic filling and racking possible.
Automatically by time or density, straight into the tank, fully documented.
By fermentation phase or on a schedule, even at night. The RotoCap wets the whole pomace cap, for colour and tannin.
The alternative to pumping over: compressed air pulses lift the must through the cap, without any pump.
Aerates according to plan during pump-over and supports the yeast.
For yeast, colour and flavour, by time or in step with fermentation.
Measures the pressure in pressure tanks and controls, for example, sparkling wine production using the Charmat method.
Every tank on the PC, and in the app if you wish. If anything goes off plan, you know immediately.
What VinPilot® handles on a wine tank, in three minutes.
Twelve days in tank 7, in twenty seconds: what VinPilot® takes care of by itself.
Solutions
From fermentation tank to barrel cellar, from refrigeration plant to smartphone. Everything works together and is controlled centrally.
What VinPilot® controls and monitors in your winery: tanks, refrigeration, compressed air, room climate and cooling with solar power. In just over three minutes.
Central control or the VinPilot® bus system: one cable instead of many, every tank controls itself. In just over three minutes.
New
The right amount at the right time, into every tank, by time or by fermentation progress. No buckets, no ladders, no lists.
Several nutrients alternately into many tanks, via a shared line. With flushing after every dose.
Liquid nutrients straight from the IBC, automatically and to plan into all wine tanks.
The mobile station for smaller wineries. Liquid nutrients into up to four tanks, in many small steps over several days.
All year round, not just at harvest
VinPilot® Radar measures the fill level of every tank without contact and with precision. The pump control switches the pump on and stops it as soon as the required volume is in the tank. For racking off the lees, transfers and blending.
How Radar and pump control fill tanks right up into the dome, rack and blend wine. In four and a half minutes.
Select tank, pump and target volume in the software, or the fill level to fill the tank right up into the dome. The pump stops by itself once the target is reached.
Wine from tank to tank, without anyone waiting at the sight glass.
Combine partial volumes from several tanks exactly to plan, fully documented.
High and low level alarms, straight to your phone. If a fill level drops unexpectedly, you know immediately.
The contents of every tank in litres and per cent, in the software and in the app. For stocktaking and planning.
The pump control stands next to the pump or is permanently installed. Connected to the VinPilot® software via Wi-Fi, even without internet.
VinPilot® Radar122 GHzMeasuring range 0.3 to 12 mRepeatability under 4 mmBeam angle 6°Tri-Clamp 50.5 mmStainless steel 316LIP68/69K
Red wine
The VinPilot® RotoCap spreads the must evenly over the whole pomace cap during pump-over, from the centre to the tank wall, without any motor. The VinPilot® Venturi aerates it at the same time in a closed circuit. Pump and control cabinet are also available from VinPilot® on request.
How RotoCap, Venturi, pump and control cabinet work together. In just under five minutes.
The RotoCap is turned by the must alone and wets the pomace cap evenly, including the centre. For more colour and tannin.
The pump moves the must together with skins and seeds through its open impeller without damaging them. So no strainer is needed.
The Venturi draws in air by itself, a motorised ball valve releases it as planned. For a reliable fermentation, more stable colour and softer tannins, without an open vat.
The control cabinet at the tank with main switch, motor protection, warning light and On, Off, Automatic. For cleaning, the pump opens quickly.
RotoCap and Venturi also work without a control system. With VinPilot® you set how often per day to pump over and aerate, with VinPilot® Brix also by fermentation stage. An existing pump-over control can be integrated.
RotoCap for tanks from 1.5 to 4 m in diameter. Everything can be retrofitted to existing tanks.
Climate and energy
Wooden barrels breathe, and wine evaporates in the process. The drier the air in the cellar, the more is lost. VinPilot® DryFog automatically keeps the humidity at the desired level, with a mist so fine that nothing gets wet.
At 14 °C and 50 % humidity a barrique loses around 12 litres a year, at 84 % only around 4 litres. The rest stays in the barrel. Depending on the number of barrels, DryFog can pay for itself within a few months.
Less loss means the barrels need topping up less often. That saves working time and wine. And because the barrels are opened less often, the wine gets less air.
The droplets are much finer than with high-pressure systems and evaporate before they reach the floor. Barrels, floor and walls stay dry, and there are practically no wet spots where mould could form.
After every burst of mist the lines are drained. No water is left standing and the nozzle does not drip.
The humidity controller measures continuously and starts the mist only when the air is too dry. Once the set point is reached, it stops by itself.
DryFog works on its own with its controller. Optionally on the VinPilot® bus system: humidity and history in the software and app, with a message on any deviation.
Climate and energy
VinPilot® cools the cellar when your photovoltaic system is producing power, one to two degrees lower than necessary. This stored cold is the buffer for the night and for cloudy days.
So you hardly need any power from the grid to cool the cellar.
Software and app
In the office you see every tank and step in when needed. If you wish, you can connect the system to the cloud. Then you can also reach every tank via the app and from your home office.
Do the maths
A rough estimate of the tasks VinPilot® takes over during fermentation: checking temperatures, taking samples, pumping over, adding nutrients.
References
From family wineries in Austria to large estates in Chile and South Africa.
Without fermentation control, it would be impossible for us to achieve the wine quality we desire. Additionally, VinPilot® allows us to sleep well even during fermentation.
Before VinPilot® we did most of the work manually. There were few technological innovations in winemaking and fermentation control. As a result, we lost efficiency and quality.
The harvest period is a very demanding time for the winemaker, and a lot can happen even while you are asleep. It is very important to have a system that works and that you can rely on.
Also: Cono Sur · Meerlust · Nederburg · Kleinood · Privatkellerei Rolf Willy
How to get your automated cellar
We support you from the first question to the next harvest and beyond.
A few questions about your cellar, then you receive your personal quote.
We design the system together with you, to suit your tanks and processes.
Our VinPilot® service partners install quickly and without fuss.
24/7 service during harvest and a 5-year warranty on our fermentation controllers.
Company
In Klosterneuburg near Vienna we develop fermentation control and cellar automation for wineries. Today VinPilot® works in cellars in 26 countries, from family estates to large wineries. In Germany, France, Italy and Spain our own staff are there for you on site, in South America VinPilot SA in Santiago de Chile. In the other countries we work with contract partners and are happy to put you in touch.
Contact
Tell us about your cellar. We will get back to you with a proposal.
Step-by-step quote: open the cellar planner