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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