Wine Aging And Processing

Question 0

Which wines are best to age?

Answer 0

Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, pinot noir, Nebbiolo, Port

aging methods: barrel aging: 6 months to 2 years - not for fruity wines or inexpensive wines

Question 1

Aging wine facts?

Answer 1

requires sufficient tannons, acidity and alcocol

over time these can form precipitates and fall out of the wine due to gravity

also require plenty of fruit aromas that will develop and change into interesting aged characters with time

NOT ALL WINES NEED AGING

Question 2

How long is a barrel used for?

Answer 2

As quality declines with age, only about 4-5 years. wineries ue a mixture

Question 3

what does “angel’s share” mean?

Answer 3

During aging wine is lost due to evaporation

Question 4

What are the different types of oak barrels?

Answer 4

American oak - cheaper, more intensly flavoured

French oak- more expensive, allows more gradual integration of flavours

Question 5

Whare are the important processes during barrel aging?

Answer 5

• topping up to keep air out
• racking from barrel to barrel to remove lees(sediment)
• regular lab analysis
• SO2 additions

Question 6

What does fining mean? and what are its features?

Answer 6

The addition of a substance to improve the wine in some way
clarity
- sub added to the wine which will floccuate and settle to the bottom, clarrifying the wine
Colour
-usually removing sligh brown colours from white or rose wines that have been oxidised
Flavour
-most common eg would be remove harsh tannins, or excess wood flavour
Odour
- removing odours such as hydrogen sulfide or perhaps mouldiness
Stability
- removal of excesss proteins that could cause cloudiness after the wine is bottled, or removals off copper or iron that cause hazes

Question 7

What are some examples of fining agents?

Answer 7

• Bentonite
• egg white, milk, gelatin, isinglass
• copper
• carbon(activated charcol)
• enzymes

Question 8

What is the purpose of Tartrate stabilization?

Answer 8

Prevent the formation of potassium acid tartrate chrystals in the bottle

for example: potassium bitartrate is very insoluble in alcohol, if not removed will precipitate out as potassium bitartrate or calcium tartrar in the refrigerator.

So accerlerat e precipitation by chilling in winery: cold stabilzation. Chill for several weeks, filter out cyrstals.

Question 9

Different types of filtation methods?

Answer 9

Depth filtration - wine passes through permeable material to remove gross lees and solid particles

Surface filtration - works like a fine siev, used as a final treatment to remove small yeast and bacteria, need to do depth first

Question 10

How is wine filtered?

Answer 10

Sheet filter - very fine pads small enough to remove bacteria = sterile filtration

Diatomaceous - uses DE- various grades(types of rock) good for course filtration, high thouroghput

Membrane filter:
- this is a sterile filter , important if wine has residual sugar to prevent fermentatin

Question 11

What is the difference between hot and cold bottling?

Answer 11

CB: wine is passed through filter and into sterile bottles
HB: wine is pasteurised vire heating(may damage flavour)

Bottles sprayed…

Question 12

Define bottle shock.

Answer 12

For a short period of time after the wine is bottle(or transported) can suffer bottle sickness, - temp muted flavours
- occurs in conjuction with dose of So2 on bottling.. disappears after a few weeks.