26 May Donna Olimpia 1898: energy savings and design

All vineyards and wine producers are different, and they all desire solutions that are well-suited to their wine-making philosophies and processes. In certain cases, we already have the solutions that are best suited to meet the producer’s needs, while in other cases their requirements serve as a stimulus for us to develop new products.

In short, in designing and developing new and innovative systems, our company grows alongside the wineries that we serve.

This is why we have decided to include “our” projects and the wineries of our customers in this Blog: because we are proud of them and want to thank them, and because the solutions we have developed have served as an impetus for the future.

The first winery we will be discussing is the Tenuta Donna Olimpia 1898 winery of Bolgheri.

The Donna Olimpia 1898 winery is located in the Bolgheri DOC wine region as was founded by Guido Folonari as the crowning achievement of an oenological project initiated early in the last decade, encompassing three highly regarded wine-producing regions, including Tenuta San Giorgio in Montalcino, and Tenuta dell’Illuminata in Barolo.

The estate boasts noble origins: the name is derived from Donna Olimpia Alliata, the Princess of Biserno and wife of Gherardo della Gherardesca, who named it to mark their 25th wedding anniversary in 1898.

The underground portion of the winery, which houses the barrel cellar and the wine-making equipment, provides for constant temperature and humidity levels, thus allowing for minimal air conditioning and energy consumption, above all when combined with the North-South orientation of the buildings.

Parsec developed a customized version of its SAEn5000 intelligent electronic control system for Donna Olimpia 1898, which manages the interior and exterior air flow so as to obtain a natural air conditioning of the premises, taking full advantage of the outdoor temperatures based on the time of year. While optimizing energy consumption, the SAEn5000 electronic system also manages the temperatures of the fermentation tanks, the extraction of the fermentation CO2, the natural air-conditioning of the wine vault, the lighting for the barrel cellar, and the cooling and air exchange for all the various rooms, including the warehouses.

The same system also provides for the optimization and management of energy consumption, with systems designed to limit peak power consumption, and inverters that regulate the functionality of the coolant pumps (water and glycol) based on the actual requirements.

The lighting system for the wine and barrel cellars has even been realized in such a way so as to minimize power consumption.

The wine cellar itself has been fitted with large windows, complete with glass panes designed to ensure exceptional thermal insulation. The designers have thus managed to make minimal use of artificial lighting, while ensuring constant light levels during the daytime hours.

The charming Barrel Cellar is certainly the most important room on the entire estate.

In fact, it has been completed with a series of functional lights for work and cleaning activities, as well as accent lighting for customer visits and tours. Due to the high humidity levels (around 90%), the designers have opted for the use of outdoor fixtures. Almost all the light sources are LED, with the exception of a number of Compact recessed floor fixtures, which make use of asymmetric metal halide lamps. A false ceiling has been installed in order to conceal the fixtures themselves, thus creating a pleasant diffused lighting effect. The system has even been split into individual segments in order to provide for various light levels, based on the specific requirements at the various times of the day. The entire installation has been designed to ensure maximum energy-efficiency and minimal environmental impact. The extensive use of the latest generation LED light sources provides for low power consumption with maximum lighting efficiency. With a total of 246 light fixtures, the entire lighting system has a total power consumption of just 3349 W.

Parsec was awarded the National Simes “Eco-friendly Light Project” award in 2012 for the design and realization of the barrel cellar lighting system at the Donna Olimpia 1898 winery.