It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our founder Anthony (Tony) C. Dann who passed away at his home in Carmel Valley, Ca. on Tuesday April 21, 2020.

Following a highly successful career in a series of senior marketing and CEO positions with major multinational consumer packaged goods companies, Tony entered the California Wine Industry in 1984 and in 1991 started what is known today as ConeTech. Tony identified a new use for existing technology that offered winemakers a tool to manage the alcohol in their wines while preserving all of the original flavors and aromas. He spent nearly 30 years dedicated to bringing the global wine industry, and more recently the spirits and beer industries, what he deemed to be “critical tools” to ensure quality, consistency and innovation providing cutting-edge technology and expertise with alcohol and flavor management.

Tony’s inherent entrepreneurial spirit led him to continually seek new innovative ways to meet the ever- changing consumer needs of the global beverage market.

This focused spirit and dedication to innovation and quality will continue to be at the forefront of decision making and strategic thinking of the management team of Advanced Beverage Technologies and its ConeTech subsidiaries and affiliates in Spain, South Africa and Chile as well as their sister companies PolarClad and BevZero. Advanced Beverage Technologies and all its subsidiaries will continue to be led by the current senior management team consisting of Debbie Novograd, President and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jerome Eckert-Nathan, CEO and Secretary of the Board of Directors, and Katie Shannon-Ricci, CFO, supported by a talented team of key managers and staff located in California, Spain, South Africa and Chile.

CONETECH IS OPEN!

Also, please remember ConeTech offers

Materials Destruction

ConeTech has the ability to destroy California bulk wines and permeate by simply doing a transfer in bond.  

Please send all inquiries to Jessica Smith: jsmith@conetech.com or 1-707-577-7508.

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ConeTech Services Include:

•            Precision Alcohol Adjustment

•            Low and Zero Alcohol Wine Services

•            VA Removal Mobile Services

•            Solution for Stuck Fermentations

•            Sale of Premium California Grape Spirits

•            Juice Concentration

•            Wine Disposal

•            Ethyl Acetate Removal

•            FSO2 Removal

•            Purchase of High Proof Alcohol

CONETECH IS OPEN

Also, please remember ConeTech offers

High Proof Alcohol for Cleaning and Sanitation

ConeTech has available for cleaning and sanitation

60%, 70%, and 85% neutral grape spirits.

Please contact Jessica Smith for any questions or to schedule. 

________________________________________

ConeTech Services Include: 

Precision Alcohol Adjustment

 Low and Zero Alcohol Wine Services

VA Removal Mobile Services

Solution for Stuck Fermentations

Sale of Premium California Grape Spirits

Juice Concentration 

Wine Disposal

 Ethyl Acetate Removal

FSO2 Removal

Purchase of High Proof Alcohol

For more information about our services:
Visit: www.conetech.com or Contact: Jessica Smith at 707-577-7508 / email jsmith@conetech.com

Santa Rosa lab pioneers way to remove smoke taint from wine

The North Coast wine sector is grappling with the lingering effects of 2017 wildfires, especially after a harvest last year marred by smoke taint in grapes among the vineyards in Lake and Mendocino counties...

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/specialsections/rebuildnorthbay/9808614-181/santa-rosa-lab-eases-winemakers

Santa Rosa, July 9, 2019 - I am delighted to announce the promotion of Gaspar Roby to the new position of Chief Operating Officer of Advanced Beverage Technologies.

Gaspar, a graduate of Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina, a Fulbright scholar and a graduate of the UC Davis Master of Science in Horticulture and Agronomy program, joined the company in early 2018 as Vice President of Operations. Prior to joining the company, he had an impressive career in his native Argentina and the United States in companies including Bodegas Navarro Correas, Diageo and Treasury Wine Estates. As Vice President of Operations, Gaspar quickly led the company’s global operations in the United States, Spain and South Africa through significant growth with a steady focus on quality, scalability and team development. In addition, Gaspar supported or managed a broad business development effort in Europe leading to  full P&L responsibility for our Spanish subsidiary.

Gaspar’s promotion to the position of Chief Operating Officer reporting to me as Chief Executive Officer and, as needed, to Debbie Novograd as Deputy CEO, reflects our confidence in his ability to support or manage the execution of our ambitious domestic and international goals. Gaspar’s responsibilities will be comprehensive, covering international and domestic locations and multiple lines of businesses, including all the services, products and equipment we offer. As in the past, his role will include global operations responsibilities and, in some instances, full P&L ownership.

We congratulate Gaspar and wish him success in his new endeavors.

 - Jerome Eckert-Nathan, Chief Executive Officer

Out-of-the-box methodology. New analytics measuring measuring complete smoke taint profile (before and after). Removal of free and bound compounds

Contact us today to learn more:  707-577-7500 or jsmith@conetech.com

ConeTech, a subsidiary of Advanced Beverage Technologies (ABT), is now offering a radically different solution for the elimination of undesirable characters in smoke tainted wines. ConeTech’s team of enologists and food scientists, has worked over the last year on an approach to the problem which differs in several key respects from all previously attempted solutions.  To learn more visit: www.conetech.com/smokeTaint.  For inquiries or questions please contact Larry Wu, Vice President Innovation and R&D lwu@advancedbevtech.com or Jessica Smith, Director of Operations jsmith@conetech.com

Only ConeTech's Unique Technology can:

For more information, Contact Jessica Smith at (707)577-7508 or jsmith@conetech.com 

If so, please contact: Jessica Smith: 707-577-7508 or jsmith@conetech.com

It's Free!

Do you have wine that you wish would just go away?

We can legally and safely dispose of your unwanted product.

Contact Jessica Smith: 707-577-7508 or jsmith@conetech.com

Only ConeTech’s unique technology can:

• Process fermenting wine, unfiltered wine, or wine with a high percentage of solids/turbidity
• Preserve 100% of the wine’s volatile aromatics and flavors
• Reduce the alcohol content of the stuck fermenting juice long enough to re-start the ferment

For more information please contact us at: info@conetech.com or (707) 577-7500

  ConeTech’s operations are now exclusively managed by winemakers!

 At ConeTech, protecting and improving the quality of our clients’ wines is our top priority.  Our operations department is now managed by 3 people who are winemakers in their own right.  Between them, they bring over 20 vintages of experience in California, Washington, Oregon, Switzerland, Michigan and New Zealnd.  This combined experience has allowed ConeTech to constantly improve our wine handling processes as we continue to offer the best solution in the industry for alcohol adjustment while bringing to market new services such as VA removal.

 Feel free to stop by our facility at 1450 Airport Blvd. in Santa Rosa to meet our winemaking staff and tour our facility.

ConeTech's Stephanie Goss will participate in a discussion of Optimizing Modern Fermentation at Napa Valley College July 17th..

Napa Valley College Foundation and BSG Wine Division | Napa present:

Thursday July 17th from 8:30am - 12:00pm

Napa Valley College Viticulture & Winery Technology Center

OPTIMIZING MODERN FERMENTATION 

Successful fermentations today depend on integrating as many of the parameters involved as possible, not just focusing on a single aspect. All the parts need to be considered as a whole for today's fermentations to succeed. Vineyard issues, Brix, nutrient status, pH and winery processing protocols all have a strong impact on whether a wine fermentation will go dry... or not.... and what it will taste like.

Join Lisa Van de Water of the Vinotec Group to discuss 21st Century approaches to wine fermentation for fewer fermentation problems and better-tasting wine. A discussion on the use and value of different nutrients and technologies available will follow with these panel speakers: 

George Vierra, Professor and Consulting Winemaker

Wayne Donaldson, International Winemaking Consultant

Stephanie Goss, ConeTech

Guillermo Soto, enologica Vason

Janos Radvanyi, Jr., PolarClad

Free seminar, lively discussion, coffee and treats. What could be better?

THURSDAY JULY 17TH

NAPA VALLEY COLLEGE VITICULTURE & WINERY TECHNOLOGY BUILDING

REGISTRATION & COFFEE

8:30 am

Event Starts 9:00 SHARP

INQUIRIES:

Doug Manning  |  c: 707.2569891  |  e: dmanning@bsgwine.com

Developed in Australia, the Spinning Cone Column (SCC) is the fastest, most efficient and cost-effective method in the world for the capture and preservation of volatile flavor components from all kinds of liquid or slurry substances, at high speeds and at low temperatures.

The SCC is a vertical stainless steel cylinder in which an inert stripping gas removes, under vacuum, a vapor stream of volatile compounds from liquids or slurries. The largest model (SCC 10,000) is roughly one meter in diameter and five meters in height, while the smallest (SCC 1,000) is one-third of a meter in diameter and two meters high.

Read more about the technology, or contact us with your questions!

Restarting a sluggish or stuck fermentation using dealcoholized wine with the global rise of sugar and alcohol levels during recent years, the incidence of stuck fermentations has grown enormously.

When fermentation problems occur, it is imperative to act on them decisively and rapidly to pre-empt serious side effects like Volatile Acidity.

ConeTech’s Spinning Cone Columns have the unique ability to handle even partially fermented must containing substantial solids. This, plus the advisory service constantly available from ConeTech’s enologists, has enabled countless winemakers in different countries to solve completely this frustrating and serious problem.

Here is how we solve the problem.

1. The winemaker sends ConeTech an amount (pre-agreed after specific consultation with ConeTech) of the “stuck” wine for dealcoholization. The amount will be determined by the specific situation.
2. Once returned to the winery, this fraction must be kept separate – NOT blended back into a larger lot.
3. Yeast is added to the dealcoholized fraction, plus any desired nutrients or fermentation aids normally used by the winemaker.
4. Fermentation of the dealcoholized portion is restarted, and when the brix has been reduced by ± 50%, approximately one third of the stuck balance of the lot is added back.
5. After that combination has fermented down to the desired level, another third is added until the same brix reduction is achieved – at which point the final third is added.

The importance of the 3-stage approach lies in strict avoidance of a high alcohol “shock” which could again stop fermentation. Obviously, the same temperature disciplines apply to this remedial process as to normal fermentation

Contact us for more information at 707-577-7500.

ConeTech is proud to be recognized among the top 500 revenue producing companies of the North Bay by NorthBay Biz.

In Consumer perception, flavor in wine is profoundly affected by its other constituents (including alcohol in particular), and by the winemaker's “management” of the BALANCE between these constituents. Even quite minor differences in alcohol levels can greatly affect the perceived aroma and flavor of the wine.

ConeTech is willing to go to great lengths to help clients establish the ideal “Sweet Spot” in their wine, and offers all the resources of its sophisticated facility, plus all the time necessary, to help achieve this while we actually process their wine.

If we are actually processing only one component of a total blend (as is often the case), we ask that the client bring a sample of that complete blend as the starting reference point. The client is then provided with the dealcoholized component in order to create multiple small samples of a finished blend, aided by ConeTech's personnel and lab equipment, and a blend guidance spreadsheet which ConeTech has developed during many years of experience.

Once the client has selected the “Sweet Spot”, we quickly recalculate the alcohol level needed in the processed portion to achieve the desired result in the entire blend.

Join us at our intensive winemakers workshop (Wine Flavor Management Through Science and Technology). These seminars, presented by Beverage Supply Group and ConeTech, will bring you the latest in flavor management.

Learn about the the no H2S yeast from Phyterra, pick up your samples of the very popular Liquid Oak Tannins from Toasted Oak Co, and talk with the technical wizards at ConeTech about their Spinning Cone technology and how that can help you find your "sweet spot" balance of wine components.

These exciting seminars are offered at the following locations:

1. Wednesday April 11, Courtside Cellars, San Miguel, CA
2. Wednesday April 18, Napa Valley College, Trefethen Bldg, Napa, CA
3. Thursday April 19, Dry Creek Inn, Healdsburg, CA
4. Friday April 20, Hampton Inn & Suites, Lodi, CA

Please register with Beverage Supply Group at 707-252-2550, or with ConeTech at 707-577-7500

The Problem: 

In many of the world's hotter grape growing areas (e.g. California, Chile, Australia, Southern France, South Africa, Spain, etc.) a combination of climate conditions (compounded by GLOBAL WARMING) and modern yeast strains drives sugar and alcohol levels several points higher than are desirable. Around the world the AVERAGE alcohol level in wine is TWO DEGREES HIGHER than it was 20 years ago. Also, winemakers increasingly value phenolic ripeness because they know consumers want the full flavors which derive from that.

The Consequences: 

• High alcohol “hotness” that has a masking effect on the flavor of the wine, that is increasingly found undesirable by consumers worldwide
• Over extraction of grapes due to high alcohols
• Stuck fermentations & the host of resulting evils

ConeTech's Answer: 

Since ConeTech's introduction of the Spinning Cone Column (SCC) first into California in 1991, and then into other countries, winemakers now have complete control over the process. This enables precise adjustment of the wine's alcohol level, to achieve harmony and balance (“sweet spot”) with all the other components of the wine.

The Traditional Solution: 

Winemakers had only three “solutions” to the problem of high alcohol:

1. Dilute with water

2. Pick grapes earlier then ideal

3. Blending away with other wines

The ConeTech Solution

Use the Spinning Cone Column state of the art technology that uses a unique combination of thin-film techniques, low temperature vacuum operation, and minimal residence time. This highly selective molecular distillation process totally avoids any thermal damage or stress to the wine.

The winemaker can therefore:

• Select a relatively small portion of the wine
• Separate all of its delicate, volatile aroma components
• Remove the alcohol from this de-aromatized portion 
• Suffer no loss or damage to the flavor
• Restore the aroma/flavor compounds to the de-alcoholized wine
• Enjoy the “best of both worlds”: full ripe flavors, yet softness on the palate.

Research into the solubility of volatile aroma/flavor compounds in alcohol has discovered that the “masking effect” is the result of key compounds drastically losing their volatility (and thus their perceptibility to nose and palate) as alcohol rises beyond an optimum level.

ConeTech offers the highest quality alcohol adjustment in the wine industry using the Spinning Cone Column. And the North Bay Business Journal has recognized our Spinning Cone Column as a unique innovative technology with a Maker Award. The Spinning Cone Column does not use membranes found in other technologies such as reverse osmosis, consequently there are no damaging pressures or losses of flavor or aroma when using ConeTech's services. Our Spinning Cone Columns are also able to process solids, high turbidity and even fermenting wine. Therefore there's no need to filter before sending your wine to ConeTech. 

We are also happy to offer a free alcohol Sweet Spot consulting service. Our team of winemakers will assist you through the process of finding the optimal %ABV for maximizing the quality of your wine. Call us and taste the difference for yourself.

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Read what the North Bay Business Journal wrote about 'best manufacturing process innovation.'