Cabernet Sauvignon must interacting with the skins during fermentation to add color, tannins and flavor to the wine.

Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape --- tannins, coloring agents (Anthocyanins) and flavor compounds --- are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the wine. The term is usually used in reference to wine, but is sometimes used with other drinks, such as piołunówka and crème de cassis. It is the main process that make red wine the color red since 99% of all grape juice (with the exceptions of teinturiers) is clear-grayish in color. In the production of white wines, maceration is either actively avoided or allowed in very limited manner in the form of a short amount of skin contact between the must prior to pressing. This is more common in the production of varietals with less natural flavors and body structures like Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon. For Rosé, red wines grapes are allowed some maceration between the skins and must but not to the extent of red wine production.^[1] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 248 pixelsFull resolution (1202 × 372 pixels, file size: 118 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 248 pixelsFull resolution (1202 × 372 pixels, file size: 118 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free... Old vine Cabernet Sauvignon at Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley. ... For must meaning compulsion, see wikt:must. ... Tannins are astringent, bitter-tasting plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. ... Winemakers often use carboys like these to ferment smaller quantities of wine Winemaking, or vinification, is the process of wine production, from the selection of grapes to the bottling of finished wine. ... In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. ... Tannins are astringent, bitter-tasting plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. ... Anthocyanin is a pigment that reflects the red to blue range of the visible spectrum. ... A batch of homemade PioÅ‚unówka during maceration. ... Crème de Cassis is a blood-red, sweet, blackcurrant-flavored liqueur, and is an ingredient of Kir, an apéritif. ... Teinturier, a french term meaning to dye or stain, is applied to grapes whose juice is red in colour, due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. ... This entry incorporates text from Eastons Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation. ... Varietal describes wines made from a single named grape variety. ... Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. ... Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia. ... For the song by The Feeling, see Rosé (song). ... For must meaning compulsion, see wikt:must. ...

Process

The "cap" of grape skins being "punched down" in order to maximize maceration.

The process of maceration begins, to varying extent, as soon as the grapes skins are broken and exposed to some degree of heat. Temperature is the guiding force with higher temperatures encouraging more breakdown and extraction of phenols from the skins and other grape materials. Maceration continues during the fermentation period and can last well past the point when the yeast has converted all sugars into alcohol. The process itself is a slow one with compounds such as the anthocyanins needing to pass through the cell membrane of the skins in order to come into contact with the wine. During fermentation higher temperatures and higher alcohol levels can encourage this process with the alcohol acting as a solvent to assist in the breakdown of the organic compounds within the grape materials. This process seems to slow down once the wine reaches an alcohol level of 10%.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Red_wine_cap. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Red_wine_cap. ... For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature. ... For other uses, see Temperature (disambiguation). ... Fermenting must. ... It has been suggested that Net flux be merged into this article or section. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Solvent (disambiguation). ... An organic compound is any of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon, with exception of carbides, carbonates and carbon oxides. ...

Throughout the fermentation process, carbon dioxide is released as a byproduct of the conversion of sugar into alcohol. The carbon dioxide seeks to escape from the must by rising to the top of the mixture, pushing the grape skins and other materials to the top as well. This forms what is known as a cap that is visible on top of the fermentation vessel. At this point a very limited amount of the must comes into contact with the skins and winemakers seek to correct this by pushing down the cap (either with equipment or the traditional method of stomping down with their feet) or by pumping wine out from under and over onto the cap. This process of "pumping over" or "punching down" the cap is done often throughout the fermentation process depending on the extent of maceration the winemaker desires.^[1] Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. ...

Benefits

Longer maceration at high temperature can bring out deeper color in the wine.

Depending on the varietal, the process of maceration can help bring out many flavors in the wine that would otherwise be lacking. It can enhance the body and mouthfeel for many wines as well as strengthen the color. Greater extraction can add to the complexity and life expectancy of the wine by developing more complex tannins that will soften over a longer period of time. With these benefits does come the risk of developing various wine faults such as the development of acetic (or "volatile") acidity. Too much extraction can also increase the harshness of some tannins to where the wine is not very approachable to most wine drinkers.^[1] Download high resolution version (428x800, 53 KB) Red wine. ... Download high resolution version (428x800, 53 KB) Red wine. ... The use of Wine tasting descriptors allow the taster an opportunity to put into words the aromas and flavors that they experience and can be used in assessing the overall quality of wine. ... In many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs,such as wine-tasting and rheology, mouthfeel is a product’s physical and chemical interaction in the mouth from initial perception on the palate, to first bite, through mastication to swallowing. ... A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor wine making practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage. ... Acetic acid, also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3COOH best recognized for giving vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. ...

Other processes

The process of cold maturation is where temperatures of the fermenting must are kept low to encourage extraction by water and added sulfur dioxide rather relying principle on heat and alcohol to act as a solvent. This technique was popular in the production of Burgundy wines in the 1970s & 1980s but there is still some debate among enologists about the overall benefits and resulting quality of the wine.^[1] Sulfur dioxide (or Sulphur dioxide) has the chemical formula SO2. ... Chardonnay vineyards in the south of the Côte de Beaune surrounding the town of Meursault. ... Oenology (BrE) or enology (AmE) is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking from the grape harvest to bottle. ...

Carbonic maceration is the fermentation of whole clusters of unbroken grapes in an atmosphere saturated with carbon dioxide, which prevents traditional yeast fermentation. It is a process different from what is commonly referred to in winemaking as "maceration". In winemaking, the process often used in Beaujolais, in which whole grapes are fermented without crushing. ... In chemistry, saturation has four different meanings: In physical chemistry, saturation is the point at which a solution of a substance can dissolve no more of that substance and additional amounts of that substance will appear as a precipitate. ... Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. ...

References