Episode
The 120 critical seconds of bottling
What happens between the tank and the bottle? An episode exploring the choices that preserve wine and the philosophy behind the ÉPURE bottling centre.
Listen on your way, or keep exploring after your visit.
Conversation generated by AI from the centre's technical documents. Synthetic voices.
Read the transcript
The episode is in French. The text below covers its content, without being word for word.
Interviewer : Today we are looking at how the wine sector is changing, through the Épure project. To start with, remind us of the Lauvige Group's history and what led to this project.
Expert : Founded in 1997 with Lauvige Emballage in the Var, the group grew with Lauvige Conditionnement, then expanded into the Rhône Valley with LE3T and Lauvige Purification. Today we have 70 permanent staff, work with 400 partner estates, and have passed 115 million bottles filled since we started.
Interviewer : What is the purpose of the new bottling plant in Brignoles?
Expert : As our chief executive Joël Lauvige puts it, the idea is to invent tomorrow's factory, to produce without destroying and to hand on a sound tool to the next generation. Épure is a 21 million euro investment in an industrial site of 8,500 sqm, with a 7,700 sqm footprint on 1.6 hectares. It lets us triple our capacity, to fill 8 to 10 million bottles a year.
Interviewer : Let us look at what this means for the winemaker. How is the wine protected during bottling?
Expert : Épure's first purpose is to deliver a better protected wine. We keep contact with water, oxygen and sanitising products to a strict minimum throughout the process.
Interviewer : You use a particular filtration technology, Magnum Flow. What makes it new?
Expert : Magnum Flow is a filtration method that comes from Italian Prosecco, and the Lauvige Group is the only company using it in France. Compared with standard tangential filtration, it treats the product far more gently, preserves the aromas, reduces wine losses and uses less energy.
Interviewer : How are the tanks and batch preparation organised?
Expert : The tank hall covers 1,115 sqm and holds 101 stainless steel tanks, for a total capacity of 25,000 hectolitres. It handles bulk tanker intake, storage, blending, cold tartrate stabilisation with 15 tanks for 3,000 hectolitres, and preparation before filling.
Interviewer : What about dry goods storage and hygiene in the filling area?
Expert : We have a closed 1,400 sqm warehouse for empty bottles and cardboard, to avoid temperature swings. To keep the filling area clean, the two automatic depalletisers are kept apart, in a 480 sqm outer gallery.
Interviewer : And the capacity of the filling area itself?
Expert : The filling area is 1,238 sqm and holds two automated lines of 6,000 bottles an hour each, 12,000 in total. It includes automatic case packers, dividers and sealers, a dynamic weigher, a palletising robot and an automatic waxing machine running at 1,400 bottles an hour.
Interviewer : How do you handle finished goods and logistics?
Expert : Our customs approved logistics warehouse covers 1,796 sqm and offers 2,000 pallet positions, stacked high. Winemakers can follow their goods and stock in real time, through a secure web portal.
Interviewer : And for winemakers who want bottling done at the estate?
Expert : We run a fleet of six mobile units, including the new sealed LC5 truck. At 3,000 bottles an hour, it carries automatic filtration, nitrogen blanketing, rinsing, vacuum corking, labelling, laser batch marking and pallet wrapping, all inside the vehicle.
Interviewer : Let us turn to the person who buys the bottle. What do they gain from the Épure method?
Expert : Above all, transparency and trust. Épure was designed with a 200 metre visitor walkway, which lets the public and our customers watch bottling as it happens and understand the whole path, from bulk to bottle. The site is meant to take its place in industrial tourism.
Interviewer : What environmental commitments are actually in place on site?
Expert : The plant follows a whole environmental strategy. For energy, three solar arrays on the roof and over the car park, and filling line motors that save 25 to 45 per cent of energy. For insulation, wood fibre, cellulose wadding and green roofs. For water, collection basins for rainwater and process water, reuse of heat from the air compressors to pre heat water, and a pigging system to cut rinsing water. For wildlife, a 600 sqm vegetable garden, a pond kept for frogs, and grounds planted with local species that need very little watering.
Interviewer : In short, Épure brings together precision for the winemaker and environmental responsibility for the drinker. Thank you for these explanations.
Expert : Thank you.