Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Advanced Techniques in Winemaking
Some of the techniques in this chapter truly are “advanced” in
terms of difficulty or equipment, but most are merely
extensions of what you already know that will help you
produce wines with different characteristics.
Making Wine Without Sulfites
In the previous chapter I oriented procedures around the use
of sulfites, because the use of sulfites makes it easier to
produce a solid product. Even before modern times, sulfites
were employed by burning sulfur to create sulfur dioxide gas
to purify musts, and many yeasts generate their own sulfites
during primary fermentation. There is no such thing as a
sulfite-free wine. The best that can be managed is to make
wine without adding them.
If you don't want sulfites added to your wine, here are some
tips:
• Clean all equipment using scalding (140+ degree) water.
Water this hot is, in fact, scalding. Use caution.
• Though it decreases the quality of the result somewhat,
you can pasteurize your must by heating to 150 degrees and
holding it there for ½ hour before putting it in your primary
fermenter. Add bottled water to make up any difference in
volume. Make sure the temperature has dropped below 80
before adding pectic enzyme or yeast. Musts that have been
