PERTE Agroalimentario wine tractor project approved
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has favorably resolved the wine tractor project, GRAPERTE, for its financing with Next Generation funds, in which we participate as part of its technical office, implemented by Deloitte and Insomnia.
We provided support to the entities that are part of some of the primary projects of this initiative, with special focus on the participation of Codorníu and Bilbaínas wineries, as well as in the implementation of the primary project WINESURE01.
The wine sector’s tractor project, GRAPERTE, has recently been approved for funding through the PERTE Agroalimentario aid lines within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (Next Generation funds), in which we participate as part of its technical office, implemented by Deloitte and Insomnia.
This initiative, promoted by the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV), covers 11 primary projects in which a total of 19 wineries and companies of the wine auxiliary sector participate, whose themes are included in the 3 blocks included in the PERTE order: Competitiveness (digitalization), sustainability and traceability.
GRAPERTE has an estimated investment of 16 million euros and, for its execution, has received, in Provisional Resolution (September 2023), more than 5 million euros of financing from NGEU funds within the framework of the first call of the AGROALIMENTARY PERTE managed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MINCOTUR).
Some of these projects correspond to R&D actions with low levels of technological maturity, while others respond to the investment requirements of the Call in actions of environmental improvement and sustainability, energy efficiency and/or the incorporation of advanced digital solutions to the sector. Thus, GRAPERTE proposes the development of a comprehensive system for the digitization of the entire value chain through the implementation of new technologies or the research of disruptive technologies based on blockchain and artificial intelligence to trace the “wine journey” from the vineyard to the consumer within the framework of the mandatory Integral Traceability and Food Safety Plan of the Tractor Project.
Also included are issues related to the cybersecurity of companies, the development of innovative solutions for the reuse of emissions and revaluation of waste in the production chain, research and development of new materials for the improvement of cork as an oenological tool or the adequacy of industrial buildings and equipment and facilities in the winemaking process, as well as the development of new technologies based on blockchain and artificial intelligence to trace the “wine journey” from the vineyard to the consumer within the framework of the mandatory Integral Traceability and Food Safety Plan of the Tractor Project.
Likewise, issues related to the cybersecurity of companies, the development of innovative solutions for the reuse of emissions and revaluation of waste in the production chain, the research and development of new materials for the improvement of cork as an oenological tool or the adaptation of industrial buildings and innovative equipment and facilities for self-consumption and renewable storage to improve energy efficiency are also included.
Our experience at the service of a great strategic project
As part of the technical office, we participate in GRAPERTE supporting and giving support to the companies, technological suppliers and research centers that are part of some of the primary projects that make it up and, very specifically, to the Codorníu and Bilbainas wineries of the same business group.
Specifically, it is worth mentioning our support in the dynamization of the primary project entitled “Study of the level of microbiological risk based on biochemical parameters, to develop algorithms and traceability systems to detect alterations in finished wines” (WINESURE01), in collaboration with the ENOLAB research group of the University of Valencia and the Riojan company specialized in analytical oenological services, Laboratorios Excell Ibérica S.L.
R&D to improve and advance in the microbiological control of wine
The objective of WINESURE01 is the identification and validation of microbiological analytical techniques for the evaluation of wine, including yeasts, bacteria (lactic and acetic) and molds, all of which are considered contaminants. It raises the need to study and define the population levels of risk according to types of microorganisms and chemical properties of wines: pH, dissolved oxygen, sulfur, residual sugars, assimilable nitrogen, redox potential, as well as the type of packaging and closure.
Undoubtedly, at the food level, the microbiological control of finished wine is a major pending issue since wine is practically the only food for which there is no well-defined mandatory regulation in terms of finished product, and there are no well-defined analytical methods for all microbiological parameters. Furthermore, there is also no consensus among the different technological actors on what levels and types of microorganisms a wine should or should not contain depending on the levels of risk it presents (pH, alcohol content, oxygen level and redox level, amount of sulfur it contains, presence of other possible antimicrobial or biocidal agents, etc.).
This specific R&D proposal involves 8 Spanish wineries (Martín Codax, Terras Gauda, Bodegas Comenge, Bodegas Montecillo, Valtravieso, Viña Costeira, Grandes Vinos y Viñedos and Bodegas Bilbainas), with the support of the ENOLAB research group of the University of Valencia and Excell Ibérica S.L. Laboratories.
The GRAPERTE Tractor Project Grant Resolution will soon be available and, with it, this ambitious project will be launched, which should have a very important impact on the sector in the medium and long term. Undoubtedly, as our Business Development Director, Fernando Boned, says, “we are very proud to be part of this great project that will be a great opportunity to boost the competitiveness of the wine sector as a whole”.
