Food & Wine, a company started by Valentin Humer in 1990 to extract and market grapeseed oil, now hopes to encourage local wineries to take advantage of this treasure, either by buying presses he’s importing or by delivering the seeds for him to press.
Humer started his business hoping to extract local oil, but after running into financing and other roadblocks to producing the oil from California grapes, he began importing the oils from Europe and sells them under the Salute Santé brand.
Up to now, that oil has been quality refined oil and sells for $15-$20 per liter retail. It’s fairly widely available locally and around the country.
What he’s planning now is to take the oil up to the next step, cold pressing oil to produce a produce comparable to artisanal extra virgin olive oil.
All grapeseed oil has a high smoke point (485 degrees Fahrenheit) making it excellent for cooking. Grapeseed oils are high in essential fatty acids, low in saturated fats, and contain high amounts of vitamin E.
Cold-pressed oils have additional characteristic aromas and flavors that make them ideal for drizzling over foods and for uncooked applications, much like extra virgin olive oil. They have a golden/green color with a buttery taste and an aroma reminiscent of the wine crush.
And the residue left after pressing out the oil can be valuable, too. Press cake, grapeseed flour and grapeseed lignan are all useful for healthful food (and beauty) products. They can be used to fortify numerous products and provide extra nutrients in fresh food sources that lack essential fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber much like flax seeds and other additives.
Now, wineries either pay to get rid of the pomace containing seeds or they compost it. In either case, they’re wasting a valuable part of the grape.
Food & Vine is introducing presses that wineries can use to extract the oil. The company also plans to process the seeds for wineries, sell consulting services and market the oils for wineries using the distribution channels it’s already developed for imported oil.
Humer is selling small quantities of the cold-pressed oil at $19.95 per 250ml retail, but introduced 200ml bottles priced at $9.99 at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco Jan. 16-18.
Naturally, wineries will likely charge a premium price for oils from their own vineyards, however, as they now do for olive oil. They could even introduce varietal grapeseed oil.
For a winery, the process requires a modest capital investment for equipment to separate and dry the pomace. Smaller wineries can solar dry their seeds and use a small entry-level press for production.
A ton of grapes is about 26 percent pomace. That produces 68 pounds of dry grape seeds and about 3 liters of grapeseed oil.
For 4,800 tons of grapes, the yield is 15,000 liters of oil and 135 tons of presscake, which can be turned into grapeseed flour as a food supplement, 600 tons of dry skins and stems for extraction of antioxidants, compost and other uses.
"A small winery can get started with an entry-level single-head press for an investment of $5,000, utilizing its own grape seeds and solar drying on a clean concrete slab,” Humer said. This can process approximately 100 pounds of seeds per day. This will yield about 600 liters of grapeseed oil in six months.”
Wineries can also simply supply their pomace to Humer or another company for processing.
“With a full-size double-head press starting at $17,000, a mid-size winery can process up to 80 pounds of seeds per hour, processing 180 tons of grapeseeds in a six-month time period, yielding about 12,000 liters of grapeseed oil,” he said.
The additional equipment required will depend on volume and how automated a winery cares to be. A larger winery could invest in equipment to separate the seeds from the pomace, then dry and store them for the open grapeseed market or start its own production. A dryer and seed separator costs more than $100,000, Humer says.
Humer that California could become a major supplier of grapeseed oil, and he hopes to lead the industry.
In Napa, the Salut Santé grapeseed oil is sold at Vallergas Whole Foods and the Golden Carrot. It’s also available at Cal Mart in Calistoga and Somerston wine bar in Yountville. The Berkeley Bowl and BiRite market in San Francisco also carry it.
In addition to showing its oil at the Fancy Food Show, Food & Vine Inc. will be exhibiting in the Golden State Food Machinery booth at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 26-28. The presses are available now.
