While many winemakers tend to focus heavily on operations and timeliness during harvest, the reality is that post-fermentation processes tend to require a better understanding by many winemakers. Failing to recognize when an operational step is required can be heavily detrimental to wine quality and extend resources of winery employees that are unnecessary. For example, […]
Wine Analysis
Wine Fault Series: Oxidation
One of the wine faults I’ve been finding more frequently in commercial wines is the presence of oxidation. Truthfully, I find this most commonly in bottled white wines. However, a few times a year I’ve been tasked with the challenge to fix oxidized red wines that are still in tank or barrel. Thus, I thought […]
Wine Fault Series: Volatile Acidity (VA)
Volatile acidity (commonly abbreviated as “VA”) is the concentration of accumulated volatile acids, or those acids that can be separated through distillation. In wine, acetic acid is the primary volatile acid. Acetic acid is also the primary acid associated with vinegar. This is why high VA is associated with the detection and potential perception of […]
Is Wine Analysis Important in Winemaking?
Maintaining good winemaking records is key to monitoring the quality of the wine. Many winemakers take good notes, recording processing steps as well as all ingredient and processing aid additions that go into the wine. However, maintaining adequate analytical records of wine is also important. As a consultant, I meet winemakers with a variety of […]
