WO2001002537A2

WO2001002537A2 - Method for making a slightly alcoholic fruit drink

Info

Publication number: WO2001002537A2
Application number: PCT/FR2000/001885
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marc Taccard
Original assignee: Les Coteaux Bourguignons (Societe Cooperative Agricole)
Priority date: 1999-07-01
Filing date: 2000-07-03
Publication date: 2001-01-11
Also published as: FR2795738B1; AU6165000A; FR2795738A1; WO2001002537A3

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for making a slightly alcoholic drink based on sugar, wine and at least one type of fruit which may consist of berries or one or several drupes such as blackcurrant or the like. The invention is characterised in that it comprises at least in steps which consist in: milling or grinding fruits to extract their pulp; wetting said pulp in wine; pressing and decanting or filtering to obtain juice; adding sugar to said juice and finally pasteurising to obtain a drink whereof the degree of alcohol is not more than 5.5. The invention also concerns a device for implementing the method.

Description

PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A LOW-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE

FRUIT-BASED

The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing a low alcoholic drink based on sugar, wine and fruit formed from berries or from one or more drupes. In the field of alcoholic beverages, liquors or creams, in particular blackcurrants, are well known, intended to be drunk as an aperitif after dilution in white wine or Champagne, for example. The alcoholic strength which will be called the alcoholic degree of these liqueurs or creme de cassis is particularly high, it is conventionally between 16 ° and 25 °, so that the aperitif resulting from their mixture with white wine or Champagne is highly alcoholic.

These liqueurs or these blackcurrant creams, which only their sugar content distinguishes, are conventionally obtained by flavoring an ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin whose alcoholic degree is very high, greater than 50 °. The flavoring of the sweetened ethyl alcohol, added with blackcurrant and possibly wine, that is to say the extraction of the color and the aroma of the blackcurrant, is favored by the high alcoholic degree of said ethyl alcohol.

The beverages obtained by mixing these liquors or these creams with wine thus have all the drawbacks of this type of alcoholic beverage, in particular in terms of public health or road safety for example.

One of the aims of the invention is therefore to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a weakly alcoholic drink, the alcoholic degree of which is less than or equal to 5.5 °, based on fruits, sugar and wine, as well as a method of manufacturing such a drink and a device implementing it.

In this regard and in accordance with the invention, the method of manufacturing a low alcoholic drink based on sugar, wine and at least one type of fruit indifferently formed of berries or of one or more drupes such as blackcurrant, peach, raspberry or the like, said process consisting in the stages of crushing or grinding of fruit to burst the envelope of berries and / or drupes and thus release their pulp then, by soaking said pulp in wine so that the juices contained in the pulp are diffused in the wine then, by pressing and decanting or filtering the mixture of pulp and wine to obtain a juice then sweetening said juice and finally pasteurization is remarkable in that the soaking step consists in the heat treatment at a temperature close to 70 ° C of a first half of the volume of wine to increase the extraction of qualities organoleptics of fruit and inhibit enzymatic and micro biological activities then, in the addition of the second half of the volume of wine at a temperature of about 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a tem temperature of about 50 ° C.

According to a first variant of the process according to the invention, the soaking consists first of all in mixing the pulp of the berries and / or the drupes with approximately half the volume of wine at a temperature of approximately 20 ° C. A heat treatment is then carried out at a temperature in the region of 70 ° C. for approximately 30 minutes to increase the extraction of the organoleptic qualities of the fruits and to inhibit the enzymatic and micro biological activity. The second half of the volume of wine is then added at a temperature of approximately 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a temperature of approximately 50 ° C. Finally, the mixture thus obtained is left to stand under ambient temperature conditions for a period of between 24 hours and a week.

According to a second variant of the process according to the invention, the soaking consists first of all in mixing the pulp of the berries and / or the drupes with approximately half the volume of wine previously brought to a temperature of approximately 70 ° C. . Then add the second half of the volume of wine at a temperature of about 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a temperature of about 50 ° C. Finally, the mixture thus obtained is left to stand under ambient temperature conditions for a period of between 24 hours and one week. According to a secondary characteristic of the process according to the invention, the mixture is enzymed by adding approximately 0.1% of the weight of fruit to pectinase after the addition of the second half of the volume of wine in the soaking step to promote the release of aromatic components such as terpenes.

Incidentally, buds of at least one type of fruit, in an amount between 1 ° / oo and 5 ° / ₀ o of the total weight of the fruit according to the type or types of fruit used, are introduced into the wine mixture and crushed fruit after the enzyme step to increase the organoleptic qualities of the drink.

The mixture obtained is then pressed and decanted or filtered by conventional means to obtain a juice and then sugar is added to it to enhance the taste and give the drink "body" while limiting the formation of yeasts and molds.

Alternatively, ginseng root extracts are introduced, during the sugaring step, into the juice in an amount between 2 ° / ₀₀ and 8 ° / ₀ o of the total weight of said juice according to the organoleptic characteristics of the drink desired .

One then obtains, using a wine whose alcoholic degree is conventionally between 10 ° and 14 °, a drink whose alcoholic degree is around 5.5 °. Depending on the alcoholic degree of the wine used and on the alcoholic degree of the desired final drink, heat treatment of the juice is carried out before the sugaring step at a temperature of approximately 71 ° C. under atmospheric pressure conditions, then, said heat treatment is continued at a pressure of approximately 550 mbar for a period of between 1 minute and 45 minutes in order to obtain a drink whose alcoholic degree is less than or equal to 5.5 ° without modifying its organoleptic characteristics. Finally, the drink is pasteurized, by heating it to 72 ° C for thirty seconds, to ensure the stability of the drink during its conservation by avoiding in particular the appearance of lactic bacteria or microbes before being bottled.

In addition, the best results have been found when wine, fruit and sugar are used in proportions of 1 kg of fruit per liter of wine and 1 kg of sugar or the like, such as polyols or poly sucroses, per liter of juice obtained after the pressing and decanting or filtration step.

Other advantages and characteristics will emerge more clearly from the description which will be given by way of nonlimiting example of a device implementing the method according to the invention intended for manufacturing a low alcoholic drink from fruit, sugar. and wine, with reference to the single figure of the accompanying drawing showing a general schematic representation of the device according to the invention. The device for the manufacture of a low alcoholic drink based on at least one type of fruit, wine and sugar shown in the figure comprises a hopper 1, suitable for receiving fruits, for example blackcurrant berries, connected to a grinding screw 2 or the like crushing and transporting said fruit to a first tank 3 which will be called soaking tank which will be explained below.

It goes without saying that several types of fruit and / or several varieties of a fruit can be used in the manufacture of the drink according to the desired organoleptic characteristics.

The soaking tank 3 is moreover connected to a wine tank 4 by connection means 5 coupled to a first positive displacement pump 6 or the like for transporting the wine from said tank 4 to the soaking tank 3 and a plate exchanger 7 of the liquid-vapor type for heating the wine to a temperature in the region of 70 ° C before its introduction into said vat soaking 3. Advantageously, the heat treatment of the wine is carried out according to a rise in temperature which lasts approximately 30 minutes then the heating is switched off as soon as the temperature of 70 ° C. is reached. Furthermore, the grinding screw 2 is advantageously a grinding screw with a double heating jacket for raising the temperature of the fruits up to 70 ° C. before their introduction into the soaking tank 3.

According to an alternative embodiment of the device according to the invention, the soaking tank 3 comprises a heating system, which is not shown in the figure, making it possible to carry out, as before, a heat treatment of the mixture of crushed fruit and of wine up to a maximum value of 70 ° C. Naturally, for a drink based on blackcurrant berries or any other red fruit, it is advantageous to choose a red wine whose alcoholic degree is conventionally between 10 ° and 14 ° so that the drink obtained according to the process has a dark red color characteristic of blackcurrant.

It goes without saying that for a fruit whose flesh is clear, it is preferable to use a white wine whose alcoholic degree is here again conventionally between 10 ° and 14 ° so that the color of the drink is in relation with that of the flesh of the fruit.

According to accessory constructional arrangements, the soaking tank 3 is advantageously mounted on load cells 8 in order to control the masses of the various raw materials. It also comprises an agitator 9 such as a screw of the mixer type for homogenizing the crushed fruit-wine mixture during the soaking step by agitating it slowly. This soaking tank 3 is, for example, a closed tank of the stainless steel type comprising a retractable opening 10 to allow the manual introduction, as indicated by arrow 11, of the enzymes necessary for the soaking step. The enzymatic activity required is of the pectinolytic type, that is to say that the enzymes act on the substances pectics which are constitutive macromolecules in particular of the cell wall of berries. We will use, for example, an enzyme called pectinase providing pectinolytic activity which, associated with glucosidase activity, promotes the release of terpenes which are aromatic components.

It goes without saying that the introduction of the enzymes can be carried out by any existing automatic system such as a dispenser for example. According to an alternative embodiment, there are introduced through the opening 10, manually or by means of a conventional metering system, buds of at least one type of fruit or of several varieties of a type of fruit, in proportions between l ° / ₀ o and 5 ° / ₀₀ of the total weight of the fruit, after the enzymation step to increase the organoleptic qualities of the drink.

At the end of soaking, the duration of which is approximately 24 hours, the crushed fruit-wine mixture is transported by conventional connection means 5 provided with a second positive displacement pump 12 to a press 13. The liquid obtained by the pressing of said mixture then passes through a filter 14 thanks to a third positive displacement pump 15 to thereby obtain a juice. This juice passes through a second plate exchanger 16 in which it is heated to a temperature of 70 ° before being introduced into a tank 17 into which sugar is added via a metering device 18 in the proportion of 1 kg of sugar, such as sucrose or glucose syrup, per liter of juice. It goes without saying that the sugar can be substituted by mass sweeteners such as, for example, polyols or poly sucroses in proportions which depend, naturally, on their respective sweetening powers.

The tank 17 is advantageously provided with a mixer 19 such as a scraper to allow good solubilization of the sugar in the juice. This tank 17 is, moreover, mounted on load cells 20 in order to control the masses of the various raw materials. The drink as well obtained is then pasteurized by passing through the plate exchanger 16 to be brought to a temperature of 72 ° C for 30 seconds before being bottled in a bottling station 21. In known manner, the bottling of the drink will preferably be made hot to avoid the risk of micro biological contamination.

Finally, it goes without saying that the method of manufacturing a low alcoholic drink according to the invention and the device implementing it make it possible to make drinks from all types of fruit consisting of berries or one or more Drupes, in particular drinks from raspberries or peaches, and the examples which have just been given are only particular illustrations in no way limiting as to the fields of application of the invention.

Claims

1 - Process for the manufacture of a low alcoholic drink based on sugar, wine and at least one type of fruit indifferently formed from berries or from one or more drupes such as blackcurrant, peach, raspberry or analogous, said process consisting in the stages of crushing or grinding fruit to burst the envelope of berries and / or drupes and thus release their pulp and then, soaking said pulp in wine so that the juices contained in the pulp are diffused in the wine then, pressing and decanting or filtering the mixture of the pulp and the wine to obtain a juice then sugaring said juice and finally pasteurization characterized in that the soaking comprises at least the following stages: - heat treatment at a temperature close to 70 ° C of a first half or so of the volume of wine to increase the extraction of the organoleptic qualities of the fruits and inhibit the enzymatic and micro b activities iological then, - adding the second half of the volume of wine at a temperature of about 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a temperature of about 50 ° C.

2 - Process according to claim 1 characterized in that the soaking consists in: - mixing the pulp of the berries and / or the fruit drupes with approximately half the volume of wine at a temperature of approximately 20 ° C then,

- heat treatment at a temperature in the region of 70 ° C for approximately 30 minutes to increase the extraction of the organoleptic qualities of the fruits and inhibit the enzymatic and micro-biological activities, then

- adding the second half of the volume of wine at a temperature of about 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a temperature of about 50 ° C and finally, - resting the mixture thus obtained under ambient temperature conditions for a period of between 24 hours and a week. O 01/02537 PCÏ7FROO / 0188S

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3 - Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the soaking consists in:

- mixing the pulp of the berries and / or the fruit drupes with about half the volume of wine previously brought to a temperature of around 70 ° C then,

- adding the second half of the volume of wine at a temperature of approximately 20 ° C to cool the mixture to a temperature of approximately 50 ° C and finally,

- Resting of the mixture thus obtained under ambient temperature conditions for a period of between 24 hours and a week.

4 - Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the wine, fruit and sugar are involved in the proportions of 1 kg of fruit per 1 liter of wine and 1 kg of sugar per liter of juice obtained after the pressing and decanting or filtration step.

5 - Method according to any one of claims 3 or 4 characterized in that one carries out an enzymation of the mixture by adding about 0.1% of the weight of fruit in pectinase after the addition of the second half of the volume of wine to promote the release of aromatic components such as terpenes.

6 - Method according to any one of claims 3, 4 or 5 characterized in that buds of at least one type of fruit are introduced into the mixture of wine and crushed fruit after the step of adding the second half the volume of wine or after the enzyme step to increase the organoleptic qualities of the drink. 7 - Method according to claim 6 characterized in that the amount of fruit buds introduced into the mixture is between l ° / ₀₀ and 5 ° / ₀₀ of the total weight of the fruit depending on the type or types of fruit used.

8 - Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that extracts of ginseng roots are introduced into the juice during the sugaring step.

9 - Method according to claim 8 characterized in that the amount of ginseng root extracts introduced into the juice is between 2 ° / ₀₀ and 8 ° / ₀₀ of the total weight of said juice.

10 - Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one operates, before the sugaring step, a heat treatment of the juice at a temperature of about 71 ° C under atmospheric pressure conditions and then, continues said heat treatment at a pressure of approximately 550 mbar for a period of between 1 minute and 45 minutes depending on the initial alcoholic degree of the wine used in order to obtain a drink whose alcoholic degree is less than or equal to 5.5 ° without modify its organoleptic qualities.