Good Gas

Some wine makers use an inert gas (not chemically reactive) to fill the headspace of containers. This helps to reduce oxygen exposure during aging, which reduces the chances of microbial spoilage.

The choices are CO2, Nitrogen and Argon. I'm using Argon, for reasons which I won't go into here... okay - in short, it's heavier than air so it creates a nice blanket on top of the wine surface and it won't mix into the solution as CO2 can.

In the photo on the left, I'm filling the headspace of my Cabernet carboys, where the wine is currently going through MLF. Malolactic fermentation is the conversion of malic acid, which is tart (like in an apple) to lactic acid, which is softer and... kind of milky or buttery in texture.

Today I also tested my Rosé wine, as fermentation appears to have come to a near stand-still. It's actually a light pink color, which isn't well represented in the photo on the right. Anyway, it measures dry so today or tomorrow I will rack it to a new carboy and (a day later) add some stuff (SO2 and Lysozyme) to prevent MLF. Rosé doesn't go through MLF because it should be crisp and refreshing - not round and tongue-coating. If this were Chardonnay, then it would be a preferential choice of the wine maker whether to prevent or promote MLF.

<< two hours pass >>

Blog update...

Okay, I racked the wine to fresh carboys and had a little left over. On the left is a somewhat-better representation of the color. It tastes good - very floral. We'll see what time does for it.

~Dave Sienknecht