Application Note: Filter Press Replacement With CUNO Zeta Plus™ Depth Filter Cartridges For Wine Clarification

Filter presses have long been used by wineries in cellar operations to clarify wine prior to final membrane filtering and bottling. The filter press format has been popular for many years since it is generally reliable, and the filter sheets contained in them are relatively low cost, commodity items. A filter press is typically composed of a series of stainless steel frames that hold depth filter sheets or pads. Turbid wine is pumped through the filter sheets, which retain undissolved solids, yeast, most bacteria, hazes, and other turbidity causing components.

However, as wineries modernize and review their operations, with focus on improvements in efficiency and methods of sanitation when preparing wine for bottling, many upgrade the clarification process to include more cost effective, environmentally sealed cartridge filters in place of the filter press. Deficiencies in the filter press design are well known and include: leakage of wine, exposure of the filter media and product to contaminants in the environment, high labor and maintenance costs, and high capital costs.