Bucher Vaslin North America (B.V.N.A.) is highlighting its enhanced Delta Oscillys XM Destemmer at Unified this year. B.V.N.A. offers premium winemaking solutions for the complete winemaking production process, including Lamothe-Abiet enological products, Cazaux pumps, Costral bottling lines, technical services, and Bucher Vaslin reception equipment, including our Destemmers.
B.V.N.A. upgraded the Delta Oscillys destemmers to increase ease of use with new options based on over ten years of research and customer feedback and added a high-capacity model. The line includes:
- Oscillys 50: Single round cage moves up to 6 tons per hour (replaces Oscillys 100).
- Oscillys XM: Hexagonal cage handles up to 15 tons per hour (replaces Oscillys 200).
- Oscillys XL: New large hexagonal cage has a higher throughput rate of up to 25 tons per hour.
Oscillys is the gentlest destemmer on the market, delivering 90% more whole berries than a cage and paddle destemmer and losing less than 5% of the juice vs. about 20% for other destemmers. Winemakers can set the oscillation speed for a cleaner fermentation with fewer stems or include the stems, as is often desired for Syrah and Pinot Noir. Winemakers can also increase speed earlier in the season when berries are harder to remove or slow the pace to keep more raisins on the stem.
“We put everything through Oscillys,” says Kiley Evans, winemaker at 2 Hawk Vineyard & Winery in Medford, Oregon, “adjusting the speed up or down depending on how ripe the fruit is. Pinot Noir comes off 75%-90% whole berry, depending on the vineyard site. Even the notoriously difficult Grenache comes off at 50-60% whole berry.”
Stacy Hornemann, a winemaker at Stonestreet Estate in Healdsburg, agrees, “We processed 100 tons of red Bordeaux grapes this year in small lots of 1 ½ – 20 tons. The 2022 vintage had a lot of raisins, so honing in on specific settings for each block let us leave raisins on so our sorter didn’t have to sort them out.”
The B.V.N.A. team also made the Oscillys easier and more efficient to clean, allowing winemakers to focus on meeting their sorting and destemming goals. One person can clean the Oscillys in half an hour or less. That results in significantly less water usage than other destemmers, a boon in California, where water is a precious commodity and water regulations are becoming stricter each year.
“Berry breakage with our old destemmer was very high,” says new Oscillys customer Landon Donley, Trinchero Napa Valley’s winemaker, “and we had a hard time meeting our operating speed target of 5 tons per hour. With the Oscillys 50, we processed 5 – 5.3 tons per hour. We’re a small team and do all the processing without outside help, so that efficiency is huge. The cleaning is also 50% faster because you don’t have to pull out the cage.”
Stop by the Bucher Vaslin North America Unified booth #D3 for a guided tour of the Oscillys XM.
For more info on our Oscillys destemmer, contact Sarah Donley at sarah.donley@buchervaslin.com.
Bucher Vaslin North America
Unified Symposium Booth: D3
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Unified Wine & Grape Symposium trade show at the SAFE Credit Union Conventions Center in Sacramento on January 25-26, 2023.
