General Winemaking options Flashcards
Oxidation
Generally not good for fresh fruity wines. Many compounds like thiols in Sauvignon blanc break down with oxidation.
Sulfur dioxide
Strong anti oxidative effects
Anti oxidant
So2 property that only Tracy with oxygen very slowly.
Anti microbal
Property of so2 that Inhibits yeast and bacteria.
Bound so2
When so2 is added to must or wine it dissolves and some of it reacts with compounds in liquid.
Free so2
Proportion of so2 that is not bound.
Grape Transport
When grapes are transported to the winery. Vulnerable to oxygen and to ambient yeasts and acetic acid bacteria. Threats higher with higher temps. Black grapes less vulnerable due to phenolic compounds that have anti oxidative properties.
Grape Reception
Number of options possible depend on volume of grapes, hand or machine harvested and health of grape.
Chilling
If warm grapes arrive you might chill before crushing begins to reduce oxidation and to preserve fruit aromas.
Sorting
Can depend on quality of grapes. In poorer years, more sorting may be required. MOG needs to removed.
Optical Sorting
High tec/cost option that uses digital imaging and software technology to scan individual grapes. Machine scans 100 grape sample as a reference. Typically used for premium wines
Destemming
Works by a series of blades within a rotating drum that remove the grapes from the stems. Sometimes whites are not destemmed for high quality white wines.
Crushing
Application of sufficient pressure to the grapes to break the skins and release the juice, making it available for fermentation.
Must
Mixture of grape juice, pulp, skins seeds that come from the crusher
Pressing
In white winemaking, grapes are almost always pressed to extract the juice from the grapes to separate the skins. Red winemaking grapes are typically crushed before fermentation and pressed after the desired number of days on the skins at the end of fermentation.
