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Oxidation-Reduction Potential: How It Effects The Chemical Matrix of Wine
By Shea Comfort

Before we get into the technical aspects of adding oxygen to the must, now is a good time to review the other part of the system, the phenomenon of oxidation-reduction and how it effects the chemical matrix of a wine. The term “Redox Potential” effectively refers to a wine’s...

The Effects of Oxygen Exposure on Red Wine
By Shea Comfort

The Effects of Oxygen Exposure Oxygen makes up about 20% of the air we breath and is found everywhere in the winery. In general, we as winemakers are mostly aware of the detrimental effects exposure to oxygen can possibly have on our wines: at best, a dulling of the...

All About Oak and Red Wine
By Shea Comfort

American oak (Quercus alba) has about 21% non-tannic phenolic content while its French (and Hungarian) counterpart (Quercus robur), contains around 14%. However, French (and Hungarian to a lesser content) has 2.5 times the extraction of total phenolics than does the...

A comparison of French, Hungarian, and American Oaks
By Shea Comfort

The following are results from research done at Stavin and should only be used to give an approximation of what each of these three varieties of oak can bring to your wine. Each sample was made using oak cubes with a two-month contact time and evaluated with no bottle ageing. Note: Due to the...

Aging Wine
By Shea Comfort

The French use the term élévage to refer to the aging/storage period in a wine's life. It roughly equates to our term “to raise” in English, as in raising a child. An appropriate term, since our job as winemakers during this stage is to watch over the wine...

Tasting And Adjusting Reds During Aging
By Shea Comfort

We need to occasionally check in on the wine‟s progress by testing and tasting every 4-6 weeks throughout the entire maturation period. What we are looking for is the following: 1. Is everything all right? Is the wine still fresh and fruity? Or, are there any funky,...

Inert Gas and Winemaking
By Shea Comfort

The Importance of Inert Gas During aging, if a wine is not protected from both microbial spoilage and oxygen at all times it is likely to spoil. Protecting wine usually involves maintaining proper SO2 levels and keeping containers full. Additionally,...

Sur-Lie ageing
By Shea Comfort

At the end of the fermentation(s) there is a large population of yeast (and possibly ML bacteria) in the wine. Once they run out of sugars or are inhibited by an SO2 addition these organisms become inactive and settle out at the bottom of the fermenter forming a layer of solids called the...

Tasting and Adjusting Whites During Ageing
By Shea Comfort

Throughout the entire maturation period we need to occasionally check in on the wine’s progress by testing and tasting it. We like an interval of roughly every 4-6 weeks. What we are looking for is the following: Is everything all right? Is the wine still...

Cold Stabilization of White Wine
By Shea Comfort

If an unstabilized bottle of wine becomes cold (i.e.: chilled in a fridge before being served) it can trigger a crystallization reaction between the potassium and the tartaric acid which combine to form a deposit of crystals (potassium bitartrate, A.K.A.: "tartrates"). When this...

Heat Stability in White Wine
By Shea Comfort

If an unstabilized wine has an excess of protein, this protein can come out of its solubilized form, flocculate and deposit at the bottom of the bottle. Usually this happens fairly quickly when an unstable wine becomes sits at a warm temperature for a couple of days. It can also happen at...

Testing For Heat Stability
By Shea Comfort

Heat stability test protocol: • Fine filter a 100 mL sample of wine (a coffee filter works great for this). If the sample is not filtered, other forms of precipitation may settle out with the protein and it will be difficult to get an accurate assessment of the results....

Timing Stabilization Treatments
By Shea Comfort

• If you will only be doing cold stabilization, then this can be done during the ageing of the wine at any time. In cold climate areas, carboys and tanks are allowed to cool down during winter by being left in unheated garages or sheds. However you do it, the wine must be at least...

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