GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick Winery, located in the Saale-Unstrut quality wine region, cultivates Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Dornfelder on steep slopes above the Saale valley. Manual harvesting ensures high grape quality. To continue the quality chain for gentle development in their own wine cellar, GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick use a fermentation cooling system from LiquoSystems with a central control terminal and remote access.
GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick Winery, hereinafter referred to simply as GOSECK for brevity, is one of the smaller wineries on the market, with half a hectare of land and approximately 4,000 bottles per year. Here, it’s about quality over quantity, to get the maximum quality out of the grapes. However: “The best knowledge is useless if you don’t have the right equipment”, says owner Thomas Pfeifer.
The Motivation: Quality to the End of the Chain
Pfeifer & Frick have continuously optimized the GOSECK Winery since 1998. “Today, we have drip irrigation, cane pruning, and manual harvesting in the vineyard. This quality should continue in the wine cellar to get the best possible results from the high-quality grapes.” In the past, various methods were tried for tank cooling, from using dry ice to ice packs. But: “The process is not as stable as when you control and regulate the cooling. I then looked into professional solutions on the market and Googled LiquoSystems.”
The Challenge: Wine Cellar 4.0
Since Pfeifer & Frick operate the winery as a secondary occupation, a professional solution for quality optimization was needed that would save time. Because working with ice packs and constant fermentation monitoring was “very labor-intensive”. On-site checks one to two times a day are rather difficult for a part-time winemaker. “A crucial point for us was that the entire fermentation control could be done via smartphone over the web.” The wine cellar can be accessed and the fermentation process controlled from the vineyard, on vacation, from work, or from anywhere in the world. This saves time and reliably prevents harvest losses or surprises. Thomas Pfeifer jokingly calls his control solution “Wine Cellar 4.0”, in reference to the new automation standard “Industry 4.0”.
The Solution: a Fermentation Control & Cooling System from LiquoSystems
The following were used: an AquaZero 1.5 kW cooling system with an IdroFan room climate unit, a NanoTerminal with a web interface and 12 Nano Top control units, as well as 12 motorized ball valves, armored hoses, and other accessories from LiquoSystems. The goal was to be able to cool fermentation tanks, storage, and presentation rooms in summer and heat them in winter, which is why the AquaZero cooling system was purchased with heating and outdoor installation options. After consulting with LiquoSystems, the system was ordered with the terminal and control units. The assembly of the system and installation of the lines were carried out independently, which helped save costs.
“But I’m not an electrician, and for the wiring, it was repeatedly necessary to ask questions. However, the support was good; I always received answers and solutions.”
Each tank has its own sensor and control unit and is connected to the central terminal. The cooling or heating requirement can be individually monitored and regulated for each tank. “If Tank 7 reports ‘too warm’, we increase the cooling. If Tank 3 says ‘everything is fine’, everything remains unchanged. It works the same way with red wine, only I’m fermenting the mash, not the juice.”
The Influence of Temperature on Quality
“With LiquoSystems’ fermentation control, we have no failures on the one hand, and no peaks and valleys on the other,” says Thomas Pfeifer, “if the fermentation works smoothly, a good wine will also be at the end of the process.” Although he can now monitor his wine cellar 24 hours a day, he can afford to not pay attention to it for a certain period like never before. This is possible, among other things, thanks to the alarm function and automated regulation. You can set a temperature corridor with actual and target values. “If a tank threatens to go above 18, the cooling automatically regulates, and I don’t have to do anything manually. Or: If the tank says ‘16 degrees’, but the target value is 17 degrees, the system automatically ramps up. If I don’t want to or can’t actively regulate, I don’t have to intervene at all.” Nevertheless, it is, of course, possible to permanently regulate the temperature profile individually and react individually to turbulent fermentation processes.
Multifunctional Use of the System
“We have an unheated press house, like most here in the region, and therefore always struggle with outdoor temperatures when it gets cooler”, says Thomas Pfeifer. “Then the press house cools down, and the influencing factors on the fermentation and storage tanks change.” Therefore, it was also necessary to find a digital temperature control solution for cooling or heating the storage and presentation rooms simultaneously.
“When the wine is bottled, the storage tanks are in our cellar.” For this, the LiquoSystems unit can be used for storage cooling or room heating after fermentation cooling. A clever and secure solution. “Processing wine is one thing, but storage also requires controlled processes. Errors arise from oversights, and these can no longer occur with mini-automation.”
Beyond the Technical Solution, Also a Marketing Solution
“We made an effort to set up not just a functional, but also an attractive system, because customers also come to us for tastings. This is, in a way, our showroom and our calling card.” The wine cellars are built with visually attractive, but very heterogeneous natural stones. To cleanly integrate the cable trays there, they were pre-assembled on boards, and then the panels were doweled to the wall with screws. This looks neat and is a good suggestion for any old vaulted cellar.
And Thomas Pfeifer has another tip: “Everything here is clean and tidy; the tanks are on pallets so they can be moved from station to station. This way, you don’t need to lay as many hoses for different applications.”
Another highlight is the self-installed blue light above each tank, which indicates intact cooling, i.e., whether the valve is open or closed. This way, quality is also very well visualized externally.
GOSECK Winery sees its market opportunity solely in a quality positioning. “We rely 100% on direct marketing, meaning no intermediaries, no resellers. We stand by the excellence of our product, keep it scarce, and refine its quality. Only scarce goods are valuable. Abundance has no value.” LiquoSystems’ products fit this philosophy and help fulfill this quality strategy – from the fermentation tank to the showroom.
Conclusion: Is a Fermentation Cooling System Also Worthwhile for Small Businesses?
Thomas Pfeifer carried out the system assembly himself, saving costs, but otherwise, of course, had to make a certain investment relative to his circumstances. Nevertheless, his conclusion is more than positive, also economically. “Given our size, one might wonder if such a professional solution is worthwhile for our small wine volumes. And that’s precisely why I say: YES!” For this, there are also corresponding EU funding programs for quality-improving measures in viticulture, which Thomas Pfeifer gratefully utilized. Furthermore, he extends his thanks to the Office for Agriculture, Land Consolidation, and Forests for their great support.
On the one hand, the measures have a positive effect on the quality of the wine products and the economic efficiency of the operation, and on the other hand, also on the customers’ perception of quality. “This clean and professional environment here also increases customers’ awareness of quality during tastings. For us, this is not just a technical solution, but also a marketing solution. When people come and see the networked tanks standing in neat rows, it certainly makes an impression. Everyone who sees it is initially amazed. I am very satisfied with the overall system. For me, the price-performance ratio is perfectly fine.”
The Customer:
GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick Winery is located in the Saale-Unstrut quality wine region, featuring a cozy wine tavern and wine sales. The vineyards in the region are characterized by steep terraces, dry stone walls, castles, and small wineries. This also applies to GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick Winery. Its vineyard on the Igelsberg, with a unique view of the Saale valley, was rebuilt in 1998. The grape varieties: Dornfelder, Riesling, and Pinot Blanc. In the south-facing steep slope, on Buntsandstein soil, the vines and grapes thrive under almost optimal conditions. Grape harvesting is exclusively done by hand for optimal grape quality. The gentle development of the wines in their own wine cellar in Goseck results in varietal and high-quality, dry, mineral, and also semi-dry wines. Some of these are aged in barrique barrels. In 2019 and 2020, GOSECK Pfeifer & Frick Winery received a total of 6 medals at the Saale-Unstrut regional wine awards.
