Wine Day: How Does Fermentation Technology Work?

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

In Bulgaria, many households produce their own wine and brandy, especially if they have their own raw materials for making them. It is important to know what varieties of grapes should be used and especially what is required for their fermentation.

And the date May 25 is an ideal time to talk a little more about the technology of wine production and in general of these favorite Bulgarian alcoholic beverages - today in some parts of the world celebrate Wine Day.

Here are some details about wine fermentation technology:

- Fermentation> consists of the conversion of glucose and fructose into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. This occurs under the influence of enzymes secreted by yeast, and is in fact a biological process with the release of heat, the formula of which was introduced as early as 1810 by Gay-Lussac

- For the first time as a biological process fermentation was studied by Louis Pasteur in the 60s of the 19th century, who was the discoverer of the process of pasteurization;

- The fermentation of wine and brandy is a process that can be controlled. It depends on how many degrees the alcohol will be produced and what taste and aroma it will have;

- At red wine fermentation it can occur both when the grapes are with the bunches and when it is without. If it is with the bunches, it becomes more tart because of the tannins, while if it is without them - it acquires a softer taste;

- At fermentation of white wines the grapes can be crushed and the juice left without the hard parts to ferment or rot, to be crushed and left to the so-called infusion (maceration) for about a day;

- The lower the temperature at which it is performed the fermentation process, the more alcoholic your favorite drinks become;

- The fermentation process in champagne and other sparkling wines is quite different from that of ordinary white and red wines;

- Under the influence of wine yeast, the breakdown of sugar goes through 12 separate phases, on which the quality of the wine depends;

- Wine can ferment through violent alcoholic fermentation, in which a large amount of carbon dioxide is released and in the so-called silent fermentation;

- The best temperature for fermentation of red wines is about 28-29 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is lower, the process is significantly slowed down, and if it is higher - the activity of the yeast is disrupted. However, most wine producers produce it at about 18 degrees in order to fully preserve its aroma.