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US 12,735,662 B2Granted
System for maturing large quantities of wine
OwnerBryce Eckleininventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A means for maturing large volumes of wine where the wine experiences controlled oxygenation through contact with oak and external air/oxygen sources. Wine from large volume holding tanks (500-10,000+ gallons) is passed through airtight baffle tanks containing cored oak baffles before being returned to the larger holding tank(s).
Claims1
A device for maturation of unaged wines comprising:
- a. a liquid flow-through system configured to provide micro-oxygenation by exposing said unaged wine to air or oxygen in the presence of oak;
- b. said air or oxygen exposure controlled by a plurality of cored oak baffles resident in an airtight baffle tank, said plurality of cored oak baffles being internally voided to allow air passage, and each of said plurality of cored oak baffles connected pneumatically to at least one other cored oak baffle of the plurality of cored oak baffles and to an external source of the air or oxygen;
- c. said airtight baffle tank comprises a removable air-tight lid configured to allow change of said plurality of cored oak baffles;
- d. said plurality of cored oak baffles are of singular or mixed oak species and of any toast level;
- e. said cored oak baffles have grooves, dimples, or indentations configured to increase an outer surface area in contact with said unaged wine;
- f. said unaged wine is supplied by gravity to said airtight baffle tank from an adjacent bulk holding tank and returned to said bulk holding tank by a pump;
- and
- g. wherein said airtight baffle tank has a volume of 5 gallons or more.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.