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A Promising Read for Enthusiasts of Wine and Brandy
I found a pretty interesting article on a newly discovered wine making technique, that might be of interest to the guys chasing max flavours and colour in wines, and could have a roll over to brandies.https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-dis … e-quality/Study results released today on SciTech.Make Booze, not War!
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8 Replies
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This is an interesting article. I’ve made carbonic maceration wines in the past. I filled 15 gallon corny kegs with Pinot Noir grapes, purged the keg with CO2 and let it sit for a few weeks. After that, the grapes were put into the fermentor and regular wine yeast added to finish off the fermentation. The article says that adding Torulaspora delbrueckii first can help increase body, soften the palate and round the mouth feel. There is a commercial Torulaspora delbrueckii yeast from CHR Hansan called Prelude. Here is its description: Prelude is a pure strain of Torulaspora delbrueckii to be used in combination with your Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain of choice. This non-Saccharomyces yeast strain has been carefully selected to mimic successful wild ferments, increase aromatic complexity, enhance fresh fruit forward wines, and develop a round mouthfeel. For wines fermented or aged in oak, Prelude™ bridges the gap between yeast derived compounds and oak flavors. This specialty yeast is not intended to achieve complete alcoholic fermentation but to enhance wine complexity. It has to be followed by a Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast of choice to achieve a safe and fast alcoholic fermentation. I might be tempted to try it sometime. My local winery supply store sells it, $115 for a 500g brick.
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I’m not a wine guy except for the kits. Why is it suggested that they are consumed in the first 12 months. I would Have thought that age was important for wine. Is it the type of yeast that are affecting this time line?I drink so much now,on the back of my license it’s a list of organs I need.
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The carbonic maceration method is how Nouveau wines are produced. This makes a fresh, fruity wine with very low tannins and possibly some residual sugar. The tannins help with preservation. Without this, the fresh fruit flavors fade quickly which is why they should be consumed young.
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-Beaujolais is supposed to be consumed when fresh and new. It’s intended as a refreshing, organic wine; without sulfites. It is not meant for storage.- Sulfites (not sulfates or sulfides) are used to preserve wine, to prevent oxidization, prevent browning, maintain freshness and shelf life. Sometimes vintners use too much sulfite; it doesn’t taste good and it can give some people headaches.-Most wines do not improve with age; only a rare few do.-Low end to medium wines will generally reach their prime within 2 – 4 years, and then start to decline. -Red wines tend to store better than whites. A fine red wine might last 20 years at the most, a fine white wine about half that. -Exceptions include some Champagnes (+/-60 yr) and fortified wines (“Ports”, “Sherries”, “Maderias” and “Marsalas” can last up to and beyond a century,[Important contributing factors to longevity in a bottled wine are: high acidity, tannin structure, low alcohol level and residual sugar].—————————————————–Quoting the article (about the 4th paragraph down):“Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique that consists of three phases. In the first, whole grapes are placed in vats full of carbon dioxide to create an oxygen-free atmosphere that leads to alcoholic fermentation inside the grains”.“After a few days, in the second phase, the macerated grains are pressed to complete the alcoholic fermentation”.Is AI being used to convert language, or is it doing the writing ?Omnia mea mecum porto
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Pretty sure it’s a translating error contrahead, I did notice and it almost made me stop reading, but I trust the content from SciTech.Bradster68, this technique is for producing soft, bright, fruity young wines (Basically red wine to attract all the girls that drink rosé, it works in my house!) but because they don’t have the tannin and acid complexity too “Keep” them, after a short while in the bottle they go a bit insipid and flat.Actually, someone like FnF/contrahead may be able to enlighten me here.Do you guys think that the wine starts to go downhill once the malolactic change has fully finished in the bottle?Or is it more complex?Make Booze, not War!
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That’s super interesting guys. My wife loves wine but most give her a headache. Maybe some of the sulfit free is what we should be looking for I drink so much now,on the back of my license it’s a list of organs I need.
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It’s more complex. It depends on the wine. A bit like spirits, some are designed to be laid down for a long time. Those are going to be more robust wines, higher in tanins, that would be too aggressive to drink young.I have a friend with a small winery – who uses ‘minmal intervention’ philosophy towards winemaking. E.g. he doesn’t add yeast, only using whatever yeast is present on the skins. That’s not entirely relevant to my point…or maybe it is somewhat – as conventional winemaking also will just control the tannin level by just adding in powdered tannins, and chemicals to produce/modify the flavour profile. The point…since he’s a small operation, he can’t afford to hold a lot of stock, for a long time, and needs to make and ‘flip’ the majority of his wines within a year or two, just to keep cashflow up and keep the lights on. He WANTS to make some wines FOR AGEING – e.g. putting into barrel for longer period of time, and then laying the bottles down not to be drunk – that will be really great in 3-5years. The way he would approach this kind of wine is different. If he were to produce this kind of heavy, ageing wine, and sell it to his customers young, IF someone doesn’t understand that it needs to be laid down for a few years, they’ll be disappointed if they open it before time. Better to age as much as possible in the winery….but then the space and financials don’t encourage that….But, IF he could make plenty of those wines for ageing…the way to add tannins is lots of stems, long maceration on crushed skins, etc. He does some carbonic maceration currently, to favour the younger, fresher approach.BTW malolactic is very important in cider where there tends to be a high level of malic acid produced.
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Thanks for the input tommy, the complexities are almost endless in wine I don’t think there will ever be an end to the learning.I do tend to put down at least one batch with extra tannic fruit (Elderberry in my case) each year as it ages really nicely into a heavier red.My ciders definitely soften too once the malolactic magic has happened, it’s like a new drink altogether!Bradster, your wife may well have a sensitivity to the chems used to stabilise wines, so it’s definitely worth having a go at making some for her.If she likes white/rosé you can make simple easy drinking wine from supermarket fruit juice.One part pomegranate to 4 parts apple with some sugar to bump the ABV, a squirt of lemon juice and a mug of strong black tea for tannin, is laughably easy and makes a great light summer wine when chilled.Make Booze, not War!
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