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24-09-2020
Column: Wine Chat - WILD FERMENTATION
Column: Wine Chat - WILD FERMENTATION
The biggest of our three collections, Wild Ferment wines tend to exhibit a much greater depth and complexity. As we like to say, wild fermentation leads to 'wines with character'. But what does it actually mean to 'wild ferment' a wine?
Fermentation is a natural occurrence that sees live yeast cultures source energy by converting sugars into alcohol. Simply put, these tiny, living particles take a modest grape juice, and elevate it to the complex and diverse delicacy we know as wine.
A freshly harvested grape already contains most of what is required to make wine. Sugar, to allow yeasts to produce enough alcohol to stabilise the wine; and acidity, to preserve and provide a fresh taste. Tannins, which exist within the skins of red grapes, can be used to make a wine bolder and more robust. What is arguably the most important element of a freshly harvested grape, however, is its natural inoculum of indigenous yeasts.
One of winemaking’s most divisive areas, fermentation may be facilitated by either wild or comm

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