Weekend Wine Word - Fermentation

• Posted: March 9, 2008
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• Author: James DeRosa
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• Filed under: General
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• Tags: fermentation, wine, yeast

The process of fermentation in wine is the catalyst function that turns grape juice into wine. During fermentation yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide (as a by-product).

In winemaking the temperature and speed of fermentation is an important consideration as well as the levels of oxygen present in the must at the start of the fermentation. The risk of stuck fermentation and the development of several wine faults can also occur during this stage which can last anywhere from 5 to 14 days for primary fermentation and potentially another 5 to 10 days for a secondary fermentation.

Fermentation may be done in stainless steel tanks, which is common with many white wines like Riesling, in an open wooden vat, inside a wine barrel and inside the wine bottle itself like in the production of many sparkling wines.

For a nice write up on Fermentation read this article on Wikipedia. It is packed with information on fermentation and has more information than you will probably ever need.

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