Making Wine

Question 1

Game changer since WWII?

Answer 1

Temp-Controlled Stainless Steel Tanks

Question 2

Must

Answer 2

soupy mass of: 1) crushed grapes 2) juice 3) skins 4) pulp 5) seeds 6) maybe stems

Question 3

Natural % ABV for Ripe Grapes?

Why upper limit?

Answer 3

8-15%, not much more than 16.5%, at which point deadly for yeast

Question 4

Carbonic Maceration

Answer 4

Whole grapes put in closed fermentation tanks filled w. CO2 instead of O2 (anaerobic), weight of grapes on top force fermentation on bottom.

Question 5

Free Run

Answer 5

virginal wine post fermentation drained off skins, to be barrel aged. All superpremium wines made from free-run.

Question 6

First Press

Answer 6

gently pressed juice resulting from remains AFTER free run, sometimes added to free-run to give extra oomph.

Question 7

Racking

Answer 7

during barrel aging, act of letting sediments settle, and moving (decanting) fluid to another barrel. Also aerates to help integration.

Question 8

Malolactic Fermentation
Reactant -> Product?
Induced how and at what point of process?
Resulting flavor?

Answer 8

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)

Question 9

Fining

Answer 9

Clarifying during aging by adding protein coagulant (egg whites, gelatin, isinglass, bentonite), binds to particles, precipitates out.

Question 10

Reductive Aging

Answer 10

Aging in bottle in non-oxidative environment ([O2] slowly reduced)

Question 11

Red vs. White Winemaking

Answer 11

Whites: Skin removed, racked, cold stabilized, NOT fermented in oak (too delicate), MLF much shorter b/c want to preserve crisp acidity/tartness

Question 12

Lees

Answer 12

Spent yeast cells, cling onto wood tannins from oak

Question 13

Sur Lie

Answer 13

basically yeast marination. lit. “on their lees”, increasing contact with yeast for full bodied whites
eg. Chardonnay 4-12 months sur lie.

Question 14

How to prevent MLF?

Answer 14

1) chill wine sharply
2) stun with SO2
3) fine, filter out yeast cells

Question 15

Why Oak-Barrel Aging

Answer 15

1) evaporation (concentration of flavors, residual yeast marry and harmonize components)
2) oxygenation

Question 16

Flavors Imparted by Oak

Answer 16

Most noticeable: phenols (vanilla, tea, tobacco, sweetness), particularly tannins

Question 17

American vs. French Oak

Answer 17

American more aggressive, vanillin. French more subtle.

Question 18

Oak: Fermenting vs. Aging

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Making Off-Dry Whites

Answer 19

Fermentation prematurely stopped via SO2 or shock chilling.

Question 20

Sweet Wines: How to concentrate sugar on grapes?

Answer 20

1) Waiting on harvest
2) Raisinating on mats
3) Freezing on vine (water separated from sugary juice)
4) Botrytized (fungus consumes water)

Question 21

Chaptalization

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Overview of Winemaking

Answer 22

Harvest -> Crushed (must) -> Ferment in TCSS (yeast can be added) -> aging (MLF) -> racking/fining/filtering -> bottling (reductive aging)