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21
4
WINES AND SPIRITS DISTILLATION
4.1
THE DISTILLATION PROCEDURE FOR WINES
May the young fermenting wines or sparkling wines have any CO
2
removed by agitation or filtering
through filter paper, or by short immersion in an ultrasonic bath.
Distillation procedure
Observations
1. The wine is poured up to the mark of the
special flask
5
The temperature of the sample should be 20 °C.
One can also operate at room temperature: from the
sampling and the bringing back to volume after
distillation a maximum deviation of
±
2 °C is allowed.
2. The content is poured into the distillation
chamber of the SUPER DEE
3. The flask is washed 3 time with a few ml
of distilled water that is also poured into
the chamber
4. The sample is fully alkalized by the
addition
6
of a suspension of milk of lime
(2M), containing 120 g/litre CaO
The use of phenolphtalein indicator paper can be useful.
However, the coulour change in the wine is obtained,
visually, because of the alkalinity of the wine.
This procedure is necessary to avoid the distillation of
the other volatile substances (acetic acid, sulphurous
anhydride, aldehydes, etc.), which will interfere with the
density.
In fact, the desired goal is to obtain a distillate similar to
a hydroalcolohic solution, that is to say a pure alcohol-
water mixture.
5. A few ml of diluted antifoam is added
This is an aqueous suspension of silicones or of
oxyethylenic polymers. Foaming in the bulb slows the
distillation and disrupts the passage of ethanol into the
distillate. The presence of sugars in the sample
enhances the foam formation.
6. Add approximately 2 ml distilled water to
the same flask the sample was
measured in. Collect approximately 75
ml of distillate therein.
The addition of water serves to avoid the loss of alcohol.
The distillation is stopped automatically by a balance
mechanism when the correct quantity has been distilled.
7. Add distilled water to the flask nearly up
to volume. It is stoppered and brought to
volume once temperature of 20 °C or the
temperature of the sample before
distillation is reached.
The use of a thermostatic bath is suggested
8. The flask is stoppered and mixed with
care to avoid bubbles
The aim is to ensure a homogeneous distilate because,
the determination of gravity will proceed from this.
5
The flasks are calibrated and interchangeable in mass, not in volume.
Remember that our flask explicitly DO NOT indicate ml, but only 100-200.
We DO NOT withdraw 100 ml, but a repeated quantity. So accuracy in ml is NOT
necessary, but it is imperative
that the volume of wine and distillate is the same at the same temperature
.
6
The exact quantity depends on the sample.