09/08/08 Fermentation

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and the wine harvest is upon us so today we are going to explore the process of turning grapes into wine the process of fermentation. Fermentation is the process of converting the sugars in the grape juice to alcohol. Everything from the size, shape and material of the vessel selected for this process can influence the wine's taste. The larger the vessel the more complicated the process can be. This is because the process of fermentation creates and gives off a great deal of heat and the heat will destroy or at least diminish many of the flavors and fragrances of a wine. This is why those great big stainless steel tanks you see when you visit a winery are covered in a refrigerated jacket. This allows the winemaker to control the temperature during fermentation and slows it to retain aspects of the wine that could otherwise be lost in all of that heat. White wines are usually fermented cooler that reds as they rely on the fruit aromas and perfumes for a great deal of their character. Red wine, which will withstand a higher fermentation temperature, benefits by gaining greater extraction from the grape skins, endowing it with color and tannin. So when you see those great big tanks recognize that production at this level can be just as fine a dance as a winemaker that is fermenting in a small oak barrel. It is all relative to the temperature of the fermentation. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.