Assessment of basement constructions in the winery industry

Every year the wine sector moves billions of euros around the world. The tendency over the last decades has been to use aboveground constructions but this leads to higher costs to provide appropriate environmental conditions. This study evaluates the possibility of using the basement of agro-industrial buildings as a way to age and preserve wine. To do this, four basement constructions and one semi-basement construction, which belong to commercial wineries in Spain, have been studied for several years. Results show that interior environmental conditions present much greater stability than exterior conditions (70% annual temperature variation reduction and 98% daily variation reduction). The temperature and relative humidity of the internal air keep conditions adequate for the ageing and preservation of the wine without the necessity for air conditioning systems. It has been demonstrated that there are vertical temperature differences varying over the year which should be strongly considered by producers. The lower thermal inertia and the higher exposure to the exterior environment of the semi-basement construction lead to higher temperatures in spring and summer. These temperatures exceeded acceptable levels for wine and lasted for numerous weeks at a time. Having carried out this study we recommend the basement constructions for the ageing and preservation of wine or agro-food products which require similar conditions. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.