amaea RMx for Brett wine fault remediation
Selective remediation for Brett wine faults.
Brettanomyces (also known as Brett) shouldn’t dictate the fate of your vintages. When barnyard, medicinal, or Band-Aid aromas emerge, traditional remediation forces a difficult choice: accept the Brett fault and lose market value, or strip the wine with treatments that remove its character alongside the taint.
amaea delivers molecular precision, with selective filtration that targets the ethyl phenols responsible for Brett while preserving the characteristics that define your wine. Recover commercial value without compromise.
How to get rid of Brett in wine
amaea’s treatment process
amaea’s technology provides selective remediation focused on quality recovery—a technical approach to how to get rid of Brett in wine. Using amaea molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) technology to selectively capture 4-EP and 4-EG compounds while preserving your wine’s aromatics, colour, and structure.
Wine passes through the filtration systems where target molecules bind to amaea MIPs. Treatment rates adjust to Brett severity and wine style, ensuring customized sensory outcomes. The result is effective Brett wine fault remediation that recovers value without stripping.
FEATURED BRETT REMEDIATION STUDY
Removing Brett off-aromas from affected wines
Production efforts to prevent quality losses from Brett can cost the average winery up to 5% of annual operating expenses. The extra work to remediate, or blend away expensive lots adds to logistics, while the expenses from downgrading can be even more significant. In this study, we review the sensory and financial impacts of Brettanomyces bruxellensis (Brett) on wine, while exploring considerations and methods for remediation.
Our service provider partners
We are proud to work alongside valued and trusted service providers to provide our molecular filtration services for you.
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VA Filtration
VA Filtration is USA’s leading filtration technology experts with 18 years of experience in the wine industry.
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Cellar Dweller
Based in Okanagan Falls, B.C., Cellar Dweller have been providing mobile filtration services for Pacific North West wineries for over a decade.
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Vintech Pacific
Vintech Pacific is a New Zealand owned and operated company, providing a range of innovative technology processes to the wine industry.
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Winesecrets
Since 2003 Winesecrets have been providing America’s wine producers with separation technologies that improve efficiency, eco-performance and wine quality, with unparalleled service, expertise and dedication.
Frequently asked questions about Brett remediation
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Understanding what causes Brett in wine starts with Brettanomyces, a spoilage yeast that thrives in low-nutrient, high-ethanol environments. It produces volatile phenols (4-EP and 4-EG) that create the Brett wine fault and compromise wine quality.
Common entry points include inadequately sanitized barrels, contaminated equipment, affected fruit, and airborne cells. It can persist deep within barrel staves even after standard cleaning.
Effective remediation protects wine quality just as selective treatments for smoke taint in wine or pyrazine in wine safeguard aromatics in other faults. Minimal-intervention practices may also create ideal Brett conditions.
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Even at 400–600 micrograms per liter, the Brettanomyces in wine smell can overpower the fruit expression and terroir, often pushing wines into bulk or blending programs.
Brett contamination causes immediate market devaluation and can spread across vintages because it persists in barrels and equipment. Early remediation helps preserve wine quality and prevent irreversible commercial loss.
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Prevention is your first line of defense, though even rigorous protocols can’t completely eliminate risk. Key prevention strategies include:
Maintaining adequate free SO₂ levels—above 0.5-0.8 mg/L molecular SO₂.
Conducting regular microbiological monitoring through plating or PCR testing.
Steam sterilizing or ozone treating barrels between vintages.
Retiring barrels after Brett detection.
Disassembling and sanitizing equipment between uses.
Minimizing ullage space and controlling cellar temperature.
Despite best practices, environmental factors and minimal intervention winemaking creates conditions where Brett can develop. When prevention fails, amaea’s technology offers selective solutions for how to get rid of Brett in wine, preserving quality while removing spoilage compounds.
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Fortunately, Brett taint in wine poses no health risk to consumers. The ethyl phenols responsible for the Brettanomyces smell in wine are sensory defects rather than food safety concerns.
Brett-affected wines are unpleasant to drink due to barnyard, medicinal, and Band-Aid characters, but they’re not harmful. The challenge is entirely commercial, involving consumer rejection, market devaluation, and damage to brand reputation, rather than health implications.
Partner with amaea for Brett taint removal and remediation
Your wine deserves precision remediation, and that’s what amaea’s molecular filtration technology delivers. Whether addressing Brettanomyces contamination, managing oxidized wine fix needs, or requiring wine rose taint solutions for geranium-affected wines, amaea delivers selectivity that protects what you’ve crafted.
Ready to recover commercial value and protect your brand? Our service provider partners are ready to conduct benchtop trials and demonstrate how our technology can restore your wine’s market potential.
Find out more
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How molecular filtration works
Discover how our molecular filtration system works.
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What are MIPs?
Learn about our MIP technology and how these cleverly designed smart beads capture target molecules.
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Why winemakers are central to successful MIP applications
When our technology is in the hands of the winemaker, that is when the true magic happens. With the ability to tailor treatments with artisanal intent, winemakers are empowered to bring out the best in every wine to hit their cellar doors.
