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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
 | | 11/16/2003 9:28 PM |
| What is the process in wines that begins secondary fermentation?
I had a weird wine experience last night. I opened a bottle of a quality Spanish wine, the 2000 Benjamin Romeo La Cueva del Contador. It smelled odd but not corked and tasted like vinegar. When I decanted it an entire whole grape made it through the funnel into the decanter (mostly just weird...). I bottled it back up to return it and then decided to taste it this morning. The cork popped out and the wine tasted yeasty. I suspect secondary fermentation.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, any insight as to what may have happened with the wine? | | | |
| Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9124
| | 11/16/2003 10:55 PM |
| | Sounds like refermentation to me Winetex. I'm no expert, but I can tell you that refermentation takes place when a) the wine contains some residual sugar when bottled, and 2) the wine wasn't completely stabalized before bottling, leaving some microbiological particles which go to work on the sugars causing a yeasty, fizzy thang going on in the bottle. From what I understand, this is pretty rare these days. | | | |
| David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15708
| | 11/17/2003 2:16 AM |
| | A whole grape. That will do it! | | | |
| Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4809
| | 11/17/2003 4:54 AM |
| Quote:
From what I understand, this is pretty rare these days.
If only. | | | |
| skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 11/17/2003 8:59 PM |
| | It really depends on a few things. Basically there needs to be some bacteirological bugs (i.e. yeasty beasties) left which were not killed (i.e. still active) and something for them to eat (typically residual sugar). If these two things still exist then it is possible to get a restart of the fermentation. This is why for off dry wines all microbes must be removed, either by filtering or heat (pasturization). Typically in wine filtering is used (for beer pasturization is used). For wines which are fermented totally dry this is much less of a problem, there isn't anything for the microbes to eat. | | | |
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