【Megazyme】Wine Analysis: The Basics

As viticulture has modernised and grown as a global industry, wineries have looked deeper into the art of winemaking to discover the science behind it.

Today’s winemakers can understand the flavour, style, and quality of their wines right down to the molecular level. Wineries and co-operatives can ensure consistency and quality through rapid, cost-effective in-house testing for sugars, acids, alcohols, and more at any stage of production.

On-site testing - as opposed to sending samples to an analytical laboratory - has considerable Features:

• Cost saving: the cost of running a test in-house is around 88% cheaper (in terms of cost per test) than sending it to an external laboratory; see below for more details.

• Rapid turnaround: our wine assay kits produce a result in a few minutes, allowing you to respond to the results in real time - unlike the 2-3 day wait for results from a laboratory.

• Flexibility: with a testing facility in your own winery, you can test as frequently as needed, not just at crucial stages of production, to analyse samples within the same vintage.

In-house testing means cheaper, quicker test results available at a moment’s notice - without compromising on precision.

Even accounting for the investment in laboratory equipment, in-house analysis with Megazyme generates savings by the 100thassay - for wineries of any size. Our loyal customers include some of the biggest names in winemaking, and it’s easy to see why: Megazyme kits and equipment give you access to internationally-approved, industrystandard methods at an extremely competitive price.

Alcoholic & Malolactic

Finished Wine

We have developed assay kits for a wide range of components and substances found in beverage and food, including 15 analytes that are of particular interest to the wine industry. The graphic above shows the major analytes that should be measured at key points during the vinification process, which will be explained in more detail later in the guide.

The Beginner’s Guide to Enzymatic Assay Kits will walk you though the testing process, including how the equipment is able to measure substances, how the assay kits work with the machines, and how to perform the calculations. The laboratory techniques employed are straightforward, and can be performed by anyone with minimal laboratory experience.

In the Assay Kits section, each analyte (measured substance) is covered in turn, explaining how they appear in wine, when they should be tested, and the implications for the winemaker. The Megazyme assay kit (or kits) for that analyte are also listed. We outline the cost per test and the type of equipment needed to use the kit. We even explain what chemical reaction is taking place during the test so that you can understand the differences between our products - and what sets Megazyme’s product apart from those available from competitors.

Finally, the Equipment section looks at our range of analysers suitable for use in the wine laboratory. We offer options for wine businesses of any size, from analysers that can process 200 samples per hour right down to simple equipment suitable for wineries that test just a few samples per week.

Research is at the core of Megazyme’s product development. Continual innovation has allowed us to introduce new developments and improvements to accepted, industry-standard methods of analysis. Megazyme test kits – researched and manufactured in-house – have attracted worldwide acclaim for their novel methodologies and for the exceptional purity of their enzymes. Backed by best-in-class customer support, Megazyme products offer:

• reduced reaction times

• improved enzyme stability (resulting in a longer ‘shelf-life’)

• alternative biochemical reactions, which have been evaluated and implemented successfully

• extended cofactor stability (offered in a stable tablet form, or as improved formulations that last longer in solution)