Carbonic Maceration is a pretty nifty winemaking technique, but it isn’t right for all styles of wine. It is likely that the first wines were made this way, because their fermentations probably occurred by accident.
With carbonic maceration, grapes are picked and processed carefully, because the goal is to keep as many whole clusters and un-squished grapes as possible. On a very basic level, what happens is that the fermentation of the juice takes place inside the uncrushed berry. The fruit is kept in an anaerobic environment during fermentation by pumping CO2 into the sealed tank (it is complicated, but the berries even soak up the CO2 and use it in fermentation processes.) After about a week or so, the fruit is pressed as normal. The resulting red wines are fruity with mellow acidity and are typically not very tannic. Wine that is commonly made this way is Beaujolais Nouveau, which is normally made from Gamay grapes. They’re simple, fruity wines and are good to drink young (they really don’t age well, so get sipping!) Mmm.
With carbonic maceration, grapes are picked and processed carefully, because the goal is to keep as many whole clusters and un-squished grapes as possible. On a very basic level, what happens is that the fermentation of the juice takes place inside the uncrushed berry. The fruit is kept in an anaerobic environment during fermentation by pumping CO2 into the sealed tank (it is complicated, but the berries even soak up the CO2 and use it in fermentation processes.) After about a week or so, the fruit is pressed as normal. The resulting red wines are fruity with mellow acidity and are typically not very tannic. Wine that is commonly made this way is Beaujolais Nouveau, which is normally made from Gamay grapes. They’re simple, fruity wines and are good to drink young (they really don’t age well, so get sipping!) Mmm.
RSS Feed