Lanciego is in mourning. The inhabitants of this municipality of Álava have had to say goodbye to two of their neighbors after they died last Sunday at the Crespo Zabala winery. The victims inhaled the toxic gas known in this sector as "wine stink", which is released during fermentation.
The events took place in a family winery where wine is made, but not bottled, when one of the two men who died fell into the tank where the wines are made. His colleagues tried to help him, and as a consequence they also inhaled this toxic gas, which caused the death of another worker and the hospitalization of a third.
The two deceased, aged 60 and 61, were brothers-in-law and well known in the town, and the Lanciego City Council has decreed three days of official mourning in this town as a sign of grief.
The "stench" that caused the death of these two men is CO₂, carbon dioxide, a gas that is colorless and odorless and, therefore, people do not detect it, which is why it is considered so dangerous. Under normal conditions it is not poisonous, but in high concentrations it can be fatal.
This gas is created naturally in the winery during the alcoholic fermentation of the grapes, when the sugar in the must is converted into alcohol. It is in this process that carbon dioxide is released. For every liter of wine, 50 liters of carbon dioxide are produced, which weighs more and has a higher density than oxygen, so it accumulates in the soil.
To avoid accidents like the one in Lanciego, ventilation of the winery is key. If this step is ignored, a large amount of CO₂ accumulates in space, and within a few minutes people who inhale it can fall to the ground unconscious and die from asphyxiation. Colleagues who come to help those affected may also be in great danger, because this "stench" cannot be smelled or seen, and they may become poisoned without realizing it.
Nowadays, however, warehouses are built to promote ventilation and the detection of this gas is carried out with sensors, which has reduced accidents. The problem is that the wineries are underground or small, old and familiar, where there is no electricity and no cell phone signal reaches, which makes it difficult for the sensors to operate.
Before, "tuferas" were used, holes in the roof that ended in exterior chimneys. They are still seen in many towns and even in towns like Briñas (La Rioja) there is a route to see them.
With the death of these two men in Lanciego, there are now four workers who have died in Álava after inhaling "the smell of wine" in the last three years
