Ch 12 Approaches to Winemaking

Question 1

What are the main approaches to making wine?

Answer 1

• Conventional, Modern
• Organic
• Biodynamic
• Natural

Question 2

Describe the aims and practices of conventional, modern winemaking

Answer 2

AIM: produce stable wines which reliably show their fruit character and have no faults. Use of techniques will depend on style, price, winemaker preferences and health of grapes.

This is achieved by:

• temperature control - cold soaking, to achieve particular style outcomes, maturation phase
• Use of additives and/or processing aids - chapitalisation, adding SO2, fining agents
• Manipulations - pressing, filtration, reverse osmosis

Question 3

Describe the aims and practices of organic winemaking

Answer 3

AIM: Making wine with certified organically-grown grapes and complying with restrictions to certain practices

• Follow Ecocert rules about additives - i.e. adding cultured yeasts, tannins is allowed; partial de-alcoholization now allowed

Considerations:

• rules different in each country, esp w regards to SO2 (Euro allows some addition, USA does not and restricts naturally occurring SO2 to less than 10 mg/L)
• Cost of certification adds to cost - though you can find at every price level

Question 4

Describe aims and practices of biodynamic winemaking

Answer 4

AIM: Make wine according to biodynamic practices, using certified biodynamically grown grapes

• Follow Demeter International’s standards - they determine specifications by country –> ex’s of UK vs US differences in regulations (natural yeasts vs organic, commercial)
• Consideration for costs - these are usually mid-priced and above given additional costs of certification and small-scale production