FERMENTATION TIME

A message from our friends at Mauro Molino….

We have just finished the harvest and we are tired but happy. Due to the forecast conditions we had to harvest very quickly since we wanted to avoid the rain during the picking. The last days have been very intense and now we need to take care of all the different musts that are fermenting or that have just finished the fermentation. 

But… what exactly is fermentation?

The natural fermentation process is what turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage (wine).
It is a chemical process that, through the action of the yeasts, converts the sugars in alcohol and carbon dioxide. Fermentation is extremely important , in fact, without it, wine cannot be produced. The temperature and speed of fermentation can be controlled for the best effect, and other factors like the oxygen levels in the must/juice are also carefully monitored and considered.

Beyond the fermentation, also the maceration is very important. During the maceration process the skins stay in contact with the must for longer or shorter time, depending on what and how we want to extract elements. 
The maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape, such as tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavor compounds, are leached from the grape skin, seeds and stems into the must.