Making Wine Flashcards
Game changer since WWII?
Temp-Controlled Stainless Steel Tanks
Must
soupy mass of: 1) crushed grapes 2) juice 3) skins 4) pulp 5) seeds 6) maybe stems
Natural % ABV for Ripe Grapes?
Why upper limit?
8-15%, not much more than 16.5%, at which point deadly for yeast
Carbonic Maceration
Whole grapes put in closed fermentation tanks filled w. CO2 instead of O2 (anaerobic), weight of grapes on top force fermentation on bottom.
Free Run
virginal wine post fermentation drained off skins, to be barrel aged. All superpremium wines made from free-run.
First Press
gently pressed juice resulting from remains AFTER free run, sometimes added to free-run to give extra oomph.
Racking
during barrel aging, act of letting sediments settle, and moving (decanting) fluid to another barrel. Also aerates to help integration.
Malolactic Fermentation
Reactant -> Product?
Induced how and at what point of process?
Resulting flavor?
Tart Malic Acid (green apples) –> Softer Lactic Acid (milk). Occur naturally w. benign Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) during barrel-aging. Also produces diacetyl (buttery flavor)
Fining
Clarifying during aging by adding protein coagulant (egg whites, gelatin, isinglass, bentonite), binds to particles, precipitates out.
Reductive Aging
Aging in bottle in non-oxidative environment ([O2] slowly reduced)
Red vs. White Winemaking
Whites: Skin removed, racked, cold stabilized, NOT fermented in oak (too delicate), MLF much shorter b/c want to preserve crisp acidity/tartness
Lees
Spent yeast cells, cling onto wood tannins from oak
Sur Lie
basically yeast marination. lit. “on their lees”, increasing contact with yeast for full bodied whites
eg. Chardonnay 4-12 months sur lie.
How to prevent MLF?
1) chill wine sharply
2) stun with SO2
3) fine, filter out yeast cells
Why Oak-Barrel Aging
1) evaporation (concentration of flavors, residual yeast marry and harmonize components)
2) oxygenation
Flavors Imparted by Oak
Most noticeable: phenols (vanilla, tea, tobacco, sweetness), particularly tannins
American vs. French Oak
American more aggressive, vanillin. French more subtle.
Oak: Fermenting vs. Aging
Chardonnay in: A) Stainless Steel fermentation, oak aged barrel
B) Oak barrel fermentation AND aging.
B) often more tannic and oak flavors, because much of the tannins attach to lees and are removed upon removing lees.
Making Off-Dry Whites
Fermentation prematurely stopped via SO2 or shock chilling.
Sweet Wines: How to concentrate sugar on grapes?
1) Waiting on harvest
2) Raisinating on mats
3) Freezing on vine (water separated from sugary juice)
4) Botrytized (fungus consumes water)
Chaptalization
Addition of sugar to low-alcohol wine before/after fermentation.
DOES NOT increase sweetness, only ABV. Prevalent in colder regions b/c grapes lack ripeness for sufficient conversion.
Overview of Winemaking
Harvest -> Crushed (must) -> Ferment in TCSS (yeast can be added) -> aging (MLF) -> racking/fining/filtering -> bottling (reductive aging)
