Vin-Q Certification · VQM 1.0

Vin-Q Certification

Vin-Q Certification is issued for one bottle lot produced inside the constructor’s control system: target windows set before production, vineyard probes and instrumented tanks, and a signed decision at every gate. The seal on the bottle shows the protocols that lot earned, and each protocol has its own label and control requirements.

The seven labels How it works

How it works

Certification produced by a control system

Readings from the vineyard, the tanks and the laboratory go to the constructor, which compares each one with the lot’s target window and returns the next decision. The person who owns the gate signs it, the cellar carries it out, and the certificate is issued from the record of that loop at release.

Input

Target window

Set from the wine brief at Gate 0 and fixed for each lot at route commitment, Gate 5.

1Measure
Sensors and analyses
- Vineyard probes: soil water and temperature at stated depths
- Tank temperature, logged continuously
- Density as a timed series
- pH, titratable acidity, YAN, volatile acidity, SO₂, dissolved oxygen
2Compare
Constructor
- State and trajectory against the target window
- Next milestone forecast from the measured rate
- Risk signals: slowing rate, rising volatile acidity, oxidation
3Decide
Gate
- Continue, change temperature, adjust oxygen or nitrogen
- Separate a fraction, hold, redirect or bottle
- Signed by the farmer, winemaker or reviewer who owns the gate
4Act
Operation
- Cooling or heating set point
- Pump-over, aeration or protection from oxygen
- Additions inside the declared limits
- Pressing, racking or bottling, logged with time and dose

Next reading · sampling interval shortens near an irreversible decision

Output of every cycle

Vintage Record

Each cycle is written with its time, measurements, decision, responsible person, reason and next due measurement.

At release

Certification

A technical reviewer signs the release at Gate 8. The lot receives its seal with the protocols it earned, its record ID and QR.

What a certified production runs

Cellar

Every certified lot

Temperature-controlled tanks with continuous temperature logging
Density recorded as a timed series at the frequency the route sets
Sampling points for pH, titratable acidity, YAN, volatile acidity, SO₂ and dissolved oxygen
For sparkling routes, a pressure calculation before bottling and a pressure check before release

Vineyard

PV and RV labels

Soil-water and temperature probes with recorded depth, zone, device ID and calibration
Observed and forecast weather, stored separately
Named risk models for downy and powdery mildew
Zone sampling for sugar, pH and titratable acidity through harvest

Constructor

Every certified lot

Target windows for every gate on the lot’s route
Each reading compared with its window as it arrives
The next decision and sampling interval returned for the lot
Every gate record signed by the person who owns the gate

Comparison

Rule-based certification and Vin-Q Certification

Appellation, organic and similar schemes certify that a rule set was followed. Vin-Q Certification controls the production of each lot against its own targets. The two work together: a valid external certificate enters the Vintage Record as evidence and keeps its own field on the label.

Aspect	Rule-based certification	Vin-Q Certification
Basis	A published rule set: origin, permitted inputs and practices	Target windows set for the lot at each gate of its route
Checking	Declarations, inspection and audit at set intervals	Sensor readings and analyses compared with the windows throughout production
Role in production	Confirms that practice followed the rules	Returns the next decision for each operation through a feedback loop
Unit certified	A producer, a farm or an area	One identified bottle lot
Evidence	Audit report, declarations and periodic laboratory tests	Dated sensor series, analyses and signed decisions with their reasons
On the bottle	The scheme’s logo	A seal showing the protocols the lot earned, with its record ID and QR

Protocol labels

The seven protocol labels

Each protocol has its own label, measurements and control loop. A lot carries a label when its own record meets that protocol’s requirements.

In the vineyard · Gates G2–G3

Precision Viticulture Protocol

Parcel-zone operations and the harvest date were set from recorded soil-water, weather, disease-risk and maturity data.

Measured

Soil-water and soil-temperature probes at stated depths
Observed and forecast weather
Downy and powdery mildew risk models, with versions
Sugar, pH, titratable acidity and fruit condition by zone

Control loop

A risk alert or a maturity reading at its threshold triggers a dated field observation or operation. The farmer records the action, product and dose, and zone sampling continues until each zone reaches its harvest window.

Bottle statementParcel-zone decisions guided by recorded water, weather, disease-risk and maturity data.

In the vineyard · Gates G2–G3

Regenerative Vineyard Protocol

Soil, cover, input and habitat operations followed a parcel diagnosis and were recorded with their observed response.

Measured

Dated parcel baseline: cover, cultivation, inputs, habitat
Repeatable soil and vine sampling locations
Annual outcome series: ground cover, soil organic carbon, infiltration or compaction
Input ledger by active substance and field dose

Control loop

Each practice is chosen for a stated soil or vine function. Its outcome series is measured again, and the next season’s plan is set from the response.

Bottle statementDiagnosed soil, cover, input and habitat operations recorded with their observed response.

Fermentation route · Gates G5–G7

Ancestral Protocol

One primary fermentation, started in tank and completed in the bottle, bottled at a measured density.

Measured

Tank temperature, logged continuously
Density series close enough to locate the bottling window
Pressure calculated against bottle rating and closure
Pressure and sensory check before disgorgement

Control loop

As density approaches the bottling window, sampling becomes more frequent and the constructor forecasts the window from the measured rate. Bottling proceeds when density matches the value calculated for the target pressure.

Bottle statementOne primary fermentation completed in bottle.

Fermentation route · Gates G5–G6

Native Fermentation Protocol

Fermentation ran on the fruit’s own microbiota, with kinetics recorded from fruit lot to completion.

Measured

Skin condition and pre-crush microbial baseline
Tank temperature and density kinetics
Volatile acidity at defined points
Microbiological analysis when kinetics or risk call for it

Control loop

A slowing density rate or rising volatile acidity triggers a response inside the protocol: a temperature change, an oxygen or nutrient adjustment, or a recorded rescue decision.

Bottle statementIndigenous fermentation recorded from fruit lot to completion.

Fermentation route · Gates G7

Traditional-Method Sparkling Protocol

A base wine fermented dry, then a second fermentation in the bottle, with dated lees maturation, disgorgement and release.

Measured

Base-wine alcohol, pH, titratable acidity, volatile acidity and residual sugar
Tirage sugar and pressure calculation against bottle rating
Bottle-fermentation record and lees dates
Final pressure, sugar category and stability

Control loop

Tirage proceeds once the pressure calculation passes. Lees time, disgorgement and dosage are separate gates, each decided from the bottle record.

Bottle statementSecond fermentation in bottle, dated lees maturation and release.

Across the route · Gates G4–G8

No-Correction Protocol

The lot kept the composition produced by the fruit and the fermentation, with intervention limits declared and every addition listed.

Measured

Analytical sequence: pH, titratable acidity, volatile acidity, SO₂ where used
Complete register of additions and processing aids
Intervention limits declared at route commitment
Signed deviation record

Control loop

An analytical deviation is answered by hold, redirect or an operation inside the declared limits, and each response enters the register with the reading that prompted it.

Bottle statementIntervention limits and complete additions record published for this lot.

Maturation and release · Gates G8

Maturation and Release Protocol

Maturation ran to release criteria set for the route, and a technical reviewer signed the release.

Measured

Vessel, topping and dissolved-oxygen log
Volatile acidity, pH, residual sugar and free SO₂ where used
Stability tests and a representative final-lot analysis
Sensory release assessment and fault screen

Control loop

Each checkpoint is compared with the route’s release criteria. The lot continues maturing until it meets them, then is released with its final analysis.

Bottle statementDated maturation, stability and release gates.

On the bottle

The seal on the bottle

The seven labels form the ring of the Vin-Q seal. A bottle shows the full ring with the segments its lot earned in gold, beside the method statement, the release-record ID and the QR.

One segment per protocol. A lot’s seal fills the segments it earned.

The method statement

One line saying the wine was made and released under the Vin-Q Method, with the Method version.

The version fixes the rules a wine is read against: the ones in force when it was made.

The seal and its codes

A ring of seven segments around a VQ monogram. The segments this lot earned are gold and carry a two-letter code; the rest stay as a faint outline.

Outlined segments stay on the seal, so the protocols a lot skipped are as legible as the ones it earned. Every bottle carries a different pattern.

The release-record identifier

A short code identifying the released, version-locked record for this bottle lot.

It names one lot. Two bottles of the same wine from different lots carry different identifiers and different records.

The QR

Resolves to that lot’s record: components, operations, measurements with their methods, departures and release date.

The destination is the lot record, so the page changes when the wine does.

Released wines

AncestralAN · NF · NC · MRL-XA2025-ANC

Brut Nature roséPV · TM · MRL-XA2025-CAV

Dues TerresPV · RV · MRL-XA2025-RAM

Guarantees

What the mark guarantees

Each of these can be checked against the published record for any certified lot.

One named lot

The authorisation attaches to one identified bottle lot. A producer, an estate, a range and next year’s wine each require their own.

Every applicable gate completed before release

The gates that apply to the wine’s route were all cleared, with their critical measurements inside the declared windows or a recorded redirection with its reason.

A technical reviewer signs the release

The release decision is made by a named technical reviewer at Gate 8. The constructor proposes and holds; authorisation requires the signature.

The additions ledger is complete

Everything added to the wine is listed, including an empty ledger where nothing was added. Each entry is evidence the gate requires before release.

Each protocol code is earned separately

A gold segment means that protocol’s own requirements were met and evidenced for this lot.

Corrections are visible

A published record is version-locked. Correcting it issues a new version and suspends the authorisation until the record is re-released.

Verification

How to verify a lot

Run the steps in order. Send any question about a record to info@vin-q.com.

1Scan the QR, or open the record from the wine’s page.Expect A record for one lot, carrying the same identifier printed on the bottle.
2Check the state beside any number that matters to you.Expect One of measured, calculated, target, estimated, declared or externally certified, printed beside the figure.
3Read the additions ledger and the departures list.Expect Both present, including an empty additions ledger where nothing was added.
4Compare each gold segment against its protocol requirements.Expect Every code on the seal traceable to evidence in the record for that lot.
5Check the external marks separately.Expect Organic, D.O. or Corpinnat status in its own label field, backed by its own certificate.

Legal form and scope

The mark covers the production record and the release decision for one bottle lot.

Licensed, under trademark law

The emblem is an ordinary trademark, licensed per released lot by the organisation that also operates the constructor. An EU certification mark requires a proprietor supplying none of the certified goods, and Vin-Q may hold wine of its own. Every claim the mark makes therefore stands on the published record.

Process only

The mark states that the process was recorded and the gates were cleared. Points, medals and panel verdicts sit outside it, and whether the wine suits your taste is settled in the glass.

External schemes stay separate

D.O., D.O. Cava, Corpinnat and organic status are granted by their own bodies under their own rules, and keep their own legal fields on the label. Vin-Q records a valid certificate as externally certified evidence.

Every required measurement comes before release

Each gate passes when its required values are present and inside their windows, and a lot is authorised when every gate on its route has passed.

Vin-Q Certification

Certification produced by a control system

What a certified production runs

Rule-based certification and Vin-Q Certification

The seven protocol labels

Precision Viticulture Protocol

Regenerative Vineyard Protocol

Ancestral Protocol

Native Fermentation Protocol

Traditional-Method Sparkling Protocol

No-Correction Protocol

Maturation and Release Protocol

The seal on the bottle

The method statement

The seal and its codes

The release-record identifier

The QR

Released wines

What the mark guarantees

One named lot

Every applicable gate completed before release

A technical reviewer signs the release

The additions ledger is complete

Each protocol code is earned separately

Corrections are visible

How to verify a lot

Legal form and scope

Licensed, under trademark law

Process only

External schemes stay separate

Every required measurement comes before release

For cellars

Why data

The Vin-Q Method