Topic: Winemaking Science
Impact of Oxygen on Winemaking
MEMBERS ONLYOxygen’s presence or absence at the various stages of winemaking can have extraordinarily important and lasting effects on what our wines taste like. Too much and you risk oxidation damage, too little and you risk reduction stink. The effects of oxygen on wine, much more so with red wines, may be the most complex and
Monitoring & Adjusting pH
FREEpH greatly affects the taste of wine as well as microbial stability. It can make the difference between drinking the wine or pouring it down the drain. Make sure you know when it should be analyzed and make the necessary adjustments.
Enzymes for Hobbyists
MEMBERS ONLYWhen pioneers of winemaking like Louis Pasteur or André Tchelistcheff are mentioned, James B. Sumner is often overlooked. Nonetheless, this Nobel-prize-winning chemist (1946) set in motion the entire scientific field for today’s article. In 1926, Sumner successfully crystallized the enzyme urease and performed chemical analysis that demonstrated that urease is a protein. Not at all
Mastering Wine Acid Balance
MEMBERS ONLYSometimes the acidity of your grapes, juice, or wine will need to be adjusted. Learn some of the finer details surrounding how, and when, to make those acid adjustments to your wine.
Make Wines to Age
FREEIt starts with great fruit, but to make age-worthy red wine the winemaker must also consider acidity, tannins, sulfur dioxide, oxygen, cellaring conditions, and how all of these factors (and others) relate to each other.
In the Wine Lab
FREEAs a home winemaker, testing your wine for certain things like Brix and pH are critical, while other tests are optional. Get to know the equipment you really need, what the equipment does, and how much it costs.
Tannin Chemistry
FREESoft, silky, velvety, youthful, puckery, aggressive, harsh, bitter, astringent: These are all adjectives used in winespeak to describe the many taste sensations from tannins in red wines. Learn about the science behind them
Oak Barrel Chemistry
FREEThe benefits of fermenting or aging wine in toasted oak barrels are indisputable and unmatched by any other type of wood. Not only do oak compounds impart aromas and flavors as well
The Home Wine Laboratory
FREEIt is said that fine winemaking begins in the vineyard, but I’ve found that winemaking is an unending process, starting with the grapes and continuing to evolve once bottled. Wine is a
The Biology of Malolactic “Bugs”
FREEIn this excerpt from the technical binder “Malolactic Fermentation in Wine” (Lallemand, 2005) written for commercial winemakers, researchers at Lallemand, Inc. offer an insider’s view of the more technical aspects of malolactic
I made some wine using coffee as an ingredient and I was wondering what happens to the caffeine during fermentation?
MEMBERS ONLYCoffee wine, eh? I’ve heard of using strong black tea as a tannin additive and of using coffee in brewing recipes for a super-charged stout but I’ve never heard of making coffee wine. You and your father are quite adventurous — I hope that it turns out well. To answer your question about whether caffeine
What is your opinion of enzymes added to wine to improve color, mouthfeel, and flavor?
MEMBERS ONLYLallzyme EX is a blend of enzymes that helps break down the plant cells in grapes. This mix of pectinase, cellulase and hemicellulase is introduced at the crusher or right at the outset of fermentation and is most often used for red winemaking. According to the company, this enzyme cocktail aids in the release of
The Phenol Phenomenon
MEMBERS ONLYA saturated, dark-ruby colored, full-bodied wine with a velvety texture and round mouthfeel, oodles of blackberry aromas and oak flavor overtones with just a hint of spiciness, all with a persistent, memorable finish. The young, yet soft and elegant tannins make this wine approachable now but it will improve with time and can last another
Your Home Wine Lab
MEMBERS ONLYSooner or later, most serious winemakers conclude that it isn’t good enough to simply follow a recipe blindly. That’s a bit too much like painting-by-numbers. The expression of one’s own skill and artistry makes the difference between an ordinary wine and something uniquely personal. But to do that, it’s necessary to understand a bit about