Used for many years, concrete tanks are once again at the forefront of high-quality wine production: the combination of concrete’s inherent advantages with the tremendous technological advances the wine industry has undergone in recent decades makes this material one of the most sought-after by wineries aiming to produce great wines.

Advantages of concrete tanks

Thermal properties: the thermal and physical characteristics of cement (density, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and thermal diffusivity) as a material, as well as those resulting from its use in the construction of tanks (wall cross-section), give these containers overall thermal properties that are highly suitable for winemaking.

If we take, for example, an 8,000-liter cubic concrete tank, the walls contain a total of 7,000 kg of concrete, which, given its low specific heat capacity, will be able to absorb heat with little energy.

This heat will be released into the surrounding environment only very slowly (i.e., gradually) due to its low thermal conductivity. Applied to a winery’s production process, this means, for example, that the pre-malolactic wine we place in that tank will warm the tank walls, which will then gradually release heat back into the wine as the ambient temperature drops with the onset of winter.

If we compare this scenario with a standard stainless steel tank, we see that, in the former case, the walls contain 1,500 kg of steel, which means that the energy storage capacity drops dramatically.

In addition, its high thermal conductivity—30 times greater than that of concrete—means that the ambient temperature regulates the temperature of the tank (in both cases, we are referring to tanks without temperature control), causing the wine to cool very quickly when winter arrives.

This comparison also applies to the opposite scenario: the end of winter and the arrival of spring (and warmer weather). In this case, as soon as the temperature in the cellar rises, it will be transferred to the wine in stainless steel tanks; however, concrete tanks will keep the wine cool for longer, due to their low thermal conductivity and the high mass of their walls. They are also less sensitive to direct sunlight.

For temperature-controlled storage facilities (such as those with jacket systems, coils, or radiant heating in the walls) used for wine storage, concrete is an ideal material, as its low thermal conductivity insulates the interior, minimizing energy loss, and its thermal inertia prolongs the effects of climate control.