Winemakers Reclaim Wine Quality And Value With New Molecular Filtration Tech

Hamilton, New
Zealand, 28 May 2025 – A new precision wine
technology is changing how winemakers address quality
challenges and recover value from fault-affected and heavily
phenolic wines. amaea, a
New Zealand developer of custom-engineered molecularly
imprinted polymers (MIPs), is gaining industry validation
for its novel molecular filtration technology for precision
wine remediation and palate fining.

From premium
winemakers in New Zealand to top-tier producers in
California, amaea’s selective,
sustainable filtration solution, launched in late 2023, is
being used to remediate and enhance wine quality. The
proprietary MIP beads, imprinted with billions of binding
sites, selectively target and capture unwanted
molecules—such as pyrazines, ethyl phenols, and phenolic
compounds responsible for sensory profiles—and remove them
while preserving the wine’s essential varietal character,
color, and flavor.

“Winemakers
face real challenges when unwanted, characteristics or
impacts appear in their wines, that traditional methods
cannot resolve,” says amaea CEO Aiden
Tapping. “Our molecular filtration solution gives
them control to target and remove the compounds responsible
for undesirable sensory profiles – without stripping away
desirable characters. This recovers value, saves wine from
being downgraded or discarded, and ultimately protects brand
integrity.”

Wines tainted by “off aromas,” such
as those caused by stink bugs or pyrazines as well as wines
that require significant bitterness management pose a major
financial challenge for producers globally. Over the past
year, amaea
RMx technology for remediating ‘off’ aromas
and wines impacted by frost, pyrazines, Brettanomyces, MOG
and other challenges, and amaea
PFx technology for palate fining, have
supported over 50 unique producers in treating more than
400,000 gallons/ 1.5 million liters of wine, helping them
recover an estimated USD$3.5 million/ NZD$6.2 million in
wine value in the past 12 months.

“It’s fantastic
to see the consistent validation from the industry,
highlighting the versatility and value of our technology,”
says Tapping. “We’ve focused on giving some of the top
winemakers the confidence to try our technology, even on
small volumes. Now, on the back of customer success, we’re
gearing up for an increase in the volume of wines treated by
both existing and new customers as our technology gains
market traction.”

Smart Polymer, Better
Wines: Customer Successes

amaea’s
technology has successfully helped top winemakers recover
wine to its intended program, high-quality and value,
showcasing a wide variety of commercial customer
applications:

• Jackson Family Wines (US)
  has
  successfully trialled amaea to replace
  single-use fining agents by decreasing bitterness in
  hard-pressed white wine. Dr Caroline Merrell, Senior Manager
  of Winemaking Technical Services at Jackson Family Wines
  says: “One area where we see a lot of potential is
  replacing single-use fining agents with reusable media, such
  as amaea’s MIPs. During a recent trial,
  amaea’s MIP treatment decreased
  bitterness and was preferred sensorially over wines treated
  with traditional fining agents. The results were impressive
  and will allow us to simultaneously improve quality in
  select wines while decreasing waste from single-use
  inputs.”
• Cleomont Vineyards (NZ)
  increased
  the saleable quality of wine where traditional methods
  couldn’t resolve the issues. Faced with a particularly
  phenolic 2024 Marlborough Pinot Gris, renowned New Zealand
  winemaker and grower Digger Hennessy, the owner of Cleomont
  Vineyards, reduced the wine’s excessive bitterness and
  enhanced its sweetness, with amaea’s MIPs
  selectively capturing the offending phenolic compounds.
  “The wine didn’t need a huge treatment. It got rid of
  the very annoying bitterness on the back palate that we were
  struggling to get out. The MIP treatment made it a lot
  smoother and now I’m happy with
  it.”
• Marisco Vineyards (NZ) remediated
  a stink bug-affected wine back to its intended program.
  Marisco Vineyards celebrated an exceptional 2024 vintage.
  Yet, one block of Pinot Noir faced an unexpected issue when
  a species of Pentatomidae, commonly known as the
  Australasian green shield or stink bug, was found among some
  of the grapes. Traditional techniques for stink bug
  remediation focus on masking the distinctive vegetative
  aromas caused by the insects. However,
  amaea’s highly selective technology
  removes unwanted molecules responsible for the undesirable
  vegetal and herbaceous traits. “Having the ability to run
  wine through MIPs, knowing it won’t physically change
  apart from removing the target molecules, is a massive
  plus,” says winemaker Alun Kilby, who sees endless
  potential applications for amaea’s
  technology.
• Giesen (NZ) used
  amaea PFx in place of gelatin (a fining
  agent), to address bitterness in their 0% Merlot.
  Consulting winemaker Duncan Shouler, former Director of
  Winemaking at Giesen Group, supports technology, change and
  innovation in the wine industry to stay relevant and evolve.
  At Giesen, he saw an opportunity to use amaea
  PFx in their 0% Merlot. “Typically, when you
  remove alcohol from wine, certain traits and characteristics
  start to stand out. For Merlots, the tannins become
  prominent, and the warmth and sweetness are lost. For palate
  fining, gelatin is traditionally added, which, though
  effective at softening phenolic content, isn’t
  vegan-friendly and isn’t entirely selective, which means
  it removes more than is intended. At Giesen, when introduced
  to amaea PFx, we saw a technique that
  enabled us to balance polyphenols without relying on animal
  additions; it was environmentally conscientious and had the
  potential to provide a more financially sustainable
  alternative to traditional fining
  practices.”

Additional Applications:
Remediating Smoke-Impacted Wine

In late 2023,
amaea launched amaea VPx,
its smoke remediation solution, which uses tailored MIPs in
a one-pass filtration system. A 2024
WINnovation Award winner, amaea VPx
technology successfully removes the volatile phenols from
smoke-impacted wine to a level that sits below sensory
thresholds.

To extend its
position as a next-generation partner for quality-focused
winemakers, amaea’s MIP solutions,
already commercially used in the United States, Canada, and
New Zealand, will launch in Australia later this year with a
future focus on Europe.

For more information see: https://www.amaea.com/

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