Ascorbic Acid

Often called "Vitamin C" by laymen, for a short time ascorbic acid was thought to be a viable substitute for sulfur dioxide (SO2) in wine; i.e. it was thought that ascorbic acid would protect wine against oxidation as well as SO2 does. Research has demonstrated this belief to be false. In an oxidative environment, ascorbic acid leads to rapid browning of catechin, a component of wine. The co-presence of SO2 delays the browning, but the delay is prolonged without ascorbic acid present. In other words, the wine ages better with sufficient SO2 present and without any ascorbic acid.

Conditioning

Period of maturation intended to impart "condition" (natural carbonation). Warm conditioning further develops the complex of flavors. Cold conditioning imparts a clean, round taste.

Wine Press

A wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during winemaking. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by winemakers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit. The pressure must be controlled in order to avoid crushing the seeds and release a great deal of undesirable tannins into the wine.

Press Types

A basket press consists of a large basket that is filled with the crushed grapes. Pressure is applied through a plate that is forced down onto the fruit. The mechanism to lower the plate is often either a screw or a hydraulic device. The juice flows throw openings in the basket. The basket style press was the first type of mechanized press to be developed, and its basic design has not changed in nearly 1000 years.

A horizontal screw press works using the same principle as the basket press. Instead of a plate being brought down to put pressure on the grapes, plates from either side of a closed cylinder are brought together to squeeze the grapes. Generally the volume of grapes handled is significantly greater than that of a basket press.

A bladder press consists of a large cylinder, closed at each end, into which the fruit is loaded. To press the grapes, a large bladder expands and pushes the grapes against the sides. The juice then flows out through small openings in the cylinder. The cylinder rotates during the process to help homogenize the pressure that is placed on the grapes.

A continuous screw press differs from the above presses in that it does not process a single batch of grapes at a time. Instead it uses an Archimedes' screw to continuously force grapes up against the wall of the device. Juice is extracted, and the pomace continues through to the end where is it extracted. This style of press is not often used to produce table wines, and some countries forbid their use in higher quality wines.

Source: EncycloWine

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Brew Pub

Pub that makes its own beer and sells at least 50% of it on premises. Also known in Britain as a home-brew house and in Germany as a house brewery.

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Dry Wine

A wine lacking or deficient in residual sugar. A wine becomes dry when all or most of the sugar within it has been converted through fermentation into alcohol and carbon dioxide. A wine is usually perceived as dry when residual sugar is at or below a specific gravity of 0.999.

Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Dry+Wine

Wort

The solution of grain sugars strained from the mash tun. At this stage, regarded as “sweet wort”, later as brewed wort, fermenting wort and finally beer.

Wort is the liquid extracted by the process of worting, the mashing of malted barley to use in brewing beer. Adding other grains to the barley is used for some varietal beers (wheat beer and oatmeal stout, for example) or, more commonly, to cheapen the ingredients, as in the case of most beer produced by large breweries in North America. It is known firstly as sweet wort and then hopped wort after hops have been added at the boiling process. Wort contains sugars that will be fermented by yeast added once the solution has cooled down sufficiently to allow the yeast to survive.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Winemaking Terms - Yeast Starter to Zymase

Yeast Starter:

 

A media in which a wine yeast is activated and encouraged to multiply to a high density so that when added to a must it will have a better chance of populating it successfully. There are several ways to make a starter. To make a really vigorous starter for inoculating a must initially or restarting a stuck fermentation, in a quart jar dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in 1 cup of warm water (less than 104° F.). To this, add 1/4 cup of the juice from the must to be fermented. Sprinkle 1 packet of active dry yeast on the surface of the liquid. Do not stir. Cover the jar with a paper towel or napkin held in place with a rubber band. Wait for the yeast to become active. This could become obvious in as little as 15 minutes or could take as long as 2-4 hours. If no evidence of activation in 4 hours, the yeast was too old or dead from exposure to temperature extremes (usually heat, but possibly extreme cold). In such a case, sprinkle another packet of yeast into same jar and recover. When yeast (first or second sachet) is evidently active, add another 1/4 cup of juice from the must and recover. Wait until vigorous activity returns (usually 30-90 minutes) and add another 1/4 cup of juice. When again vigorously active, add yet another 1/4 cup of juice. Wait 1-2 hours and gently pour half the liquid over the surface of the must. Do not stir. The idea is for the starter to remain on or close to the surface where there is plenty of air for the yeast to "breath." Cover the primary fermentation vessel with a sanitized cloth or sheet of plastic. After 2-4 hours, the surface of the must should have small bubbles rising from fermentation or a healthy layer of yeast culture. Stir shallowly and recover the primary. Wait another 2-4 hours and fermentation should be more vigorous. Add the remainder of the starter and stir deeply. Recover primary. If the starter does not produce a vigorous fermentation in the primary, add another 1/4 cup of juice to the reserved half of the starter media. Wait 2 hours and add yet another 1/4 cup of juice. This starter is now 2 parts juice and 1 part water. When this is fermenting vigorously, add half of it to the must as before and try again.

 

Zest:

 

While "zest" is a quality a good, fresh wine might possess, when mentioned as an ingredient in the recipes on this site, zest refers to the grated rind of lemon, orange, grapefruit, or lime. Only the colored portion of the rind is used, as the white pith is bitter and will spoil the batch. When a recipe calls for 2 lemons, both the zest and the extracted juice are intended unless otherwise stipulated.

 

Zymase:

 

The name given to the group of enzymes which yeast use to transform sugar into alcohol.

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Winemaking Terms - Yeast to Yeast Nutrient

Yeast:

 

A unicellular fungi, principally of the genus Saccharomyces, capable of fermenting carbohydrates. Before adding yeast to a liquor or must to initiate active fermentation, it should be "started." After mixing the primary ingredients, but before adding crushed Campden tablet or other sterilizing compound to the must, set aside one cup of the liquor or juice into which the yeast nutrient (or energizer) is dissolved. Add 1/2 to one tsp. yeast, stir gently, and allow to sit, covered with a clean towel or cloth, in a warm place. Allow the culture to "bloom" (grow) a total of 24 hours since adding Campden to the must. Then add this cup of yeast culture to the must, stir and cover, and allow the yeast to "do its thing."

 

Yeast Energizer:

 

An extraordinary nutrient, energizer is useful when making wines of high alcoholic content (over 14%) and to restart fermentation when the secondary fermentation seems "stuck." Yeast energizer contains many ingredients not found in normal nutrient, such as Riboflavin and Thiamine. The energizer is best used by dissolving 1/2 tsp. in 1/2 to 1 cup of the must or wine before adding. If the fermentation is truly "stuck" and not simply run out, the energizer may be dissolved in 1/4 cup must or wine and 1/2 cup warm (75 degrees F.) water and a pinch of fresh wine yeast added and allowed to bloom under cover over a 12-hour period. An additional 1/4 cup of wine or yeast is then added and the yeast given another 12 hours to multiply before the enriched solution is added to the fermentation bottle.

 

Yeast Nutrient:

 

Food for the yeast, containing nitrogenous matter, yeast-tolerant acid, vitamins, and certain minerals. While sugar is the main food of the yeast, nutrients are the "growth hormones," so to speak.

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Winemaking Terms: Wood Aging to Yeast

Wood Aging:

 

This is the process of maturing wine in barrels or casks prior to bottling. This process allows young wines to soften and absorb some of the wood's flavors and tannins and allows the wine's flavors to become concentrated through slight evaporation through the wood. While oak is the overwhelming wood of choice for wood aging, mesquite, hickory, pecan, apple, orange, and cherry wood can also contribute unique qualities to wines aged with their chips or shavings. The taste a wood tends to impart in wine is that of its smell. 

 

Woody:

 

A wine fault denoting too much contact with wood, usually oak.

 

Yeast:

 

A unicellular fungi, principally of the genus Saccharomyces, capable of fermenting carbohydrates. Before adding yeast to a liquor or must to initiate active fermentation, it should be "started." After mixing the primary ingredients, but before adding crushed Campden tablet or other sterilizing compound to the must, set aside one cup of the liquor or juice into which the yeast nutrient (or energizer) is dissolved. Add 1/2 to one tsp. yeast, stir gently, and allow to sit, covered with a clean towel or cloth, in a warm place. Allow the culture to "bloom" (grow) a total of 24 hours since adding Campden to the must. Then add this cup of yeast culture to the must, stir and cover, and allow the yeast to "do its thing."

 

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Winemaking Terms - Wine Glass to Wine Yeast

Wine Glass:

 

Specially designed glassware for enjoying wine, characterized by bowls or flutes on stems. Quality wine glasses are designed to capture and hold a wine's bouquet and are ideally shaped and angled to present the wines properly, according to style.

 

Wine Stabilizer:

 

Potassium sorbate, also known as "Sorbistat K," which produces sorbic acid when added to wine. When active fermentation has ceased and the wine racked the final time after clearing, 1/2 tsp. added to 1 gallon of wine will prevent future fermentation. Sodium benzoate, sold as "Stabilizing Tablets," and Potassium Sorbate, are other types of fermentation inhibitors. These are primarily used with sweet wines and sparkling wines, but may be added to table wines which exhibit difficulty in maintaining clarity after fining. For sweet wines, the final sugar syrup and stabilizer may be added at the same time.

 

Wild Yeast:

 

Any mixture of the thousands of yeast strains which may be airborne or on the fruit, exclusive of the cultured wine yeast deliberately added to a must. Grapes, fruit and the air often contain spoilage bacteria, molds or yeast which can destroy a wine's quality, but if no spoilage yeast or bacteria are present in the must the fermentation can produce an acceptable wine. Due to the risk from spoilage organisms, prudent winemakers treat their must with an aseptic dose of sulfite to kill non-yeast organisms, stun wild yeasts into temporary inactivity, and thereby allow their own choice of cultured yeast to dominate the fermentation.

 

Wine Yeast:

 

Yeast cultured especially for winemaking, with such desirable attributes a as high alcohol tolerance, firmer sediment formation, and less flavor fluctuation. Wine yeasts are usually obtained from a winemaking/brewing specialty shop or by mail order.

 

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Winemaking Terms - Thin to Volatile Acidity

Thin:

 

A wine lacking body. A wine with a viscosity approximately the same as water.

 

Titratable Acidity:

 

Also called TA and sometimes total acidity, titratable acidity is the sum of the fixed and volatile acids present in a wine. This is determined by a chemical process called titration. The titratable acidity is usually expressed in terms of tartaric acid, even though the other acids are also measured. Titratable acidity is expressed either as a percentage or as grams per liter. For example, 0.7% TA is the same as 7 grams per liter (or 7 g/l) TA.

 

Top Up:

 

To add liquid (finished wine of the same type, grape juice, sweetened water, or plain water) to a wine after racking it to replace any volume lost in the sediments left behind. One can also top up by adding sanitized marbles or glass pebbles to the carboy, thereby displacing the lost volume.

 

Turbinado Sugar:

 

A raw sugar which has been partially processed, removing some of the surface molasses. It is a blond color with a mild brown sugar flavor that enhances some wine bases as no other sugar can.

 

Ullage:

 

The air space between the surface of the wine and the bottom of the bung, cork or other closure. In a cask or barrel, it is the volume of wine missing, which if present would result in a full container of wine.

 

Unctuous:

 

The thick, unpleasant, almost syrupy texture of an overly sweet wine.

 

Varietal:

 

Technically, any wine made from a single variety of grape (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel) or non-grape base (e.g.Santa Rosa Plum, Navajo Blackberry).

 

Vinegar:

 

"Sour wine," caused by vinegar-producing bacteria, most notably acetobacter. These bacteria are principally airborne, but are also carried by the so-called vinegar fly.

 

Volatile Acid:

 

Those acids created during fermentation or reduction processes (aging) which are not stable; they can be altered through further reduction or by evaporating from the wine altogether. Acetic acid and Butyric acid are the two most notable volatile acids in wine and contribute wholly or largely to the wine's volatile acidity and partially to its bouquet.

 

Volatile Acidity:

 

Also know as VA, volatile acidity is the that acidity produced by volatile acids as opposed to fixed acids. Fixed acids are those occurring naturally in the grape or fruit base, those added by the vintner, and those acids created furing fermentation which are stable -- fixed. Volatile acids are those created during fermentation or reduction processes (aging) which are not stable; they can be altered through further reduction or by evaporating from the wine altogether. Acetic acid and Butyric acid are the two most notable volatile acids in wine. VA contributes to a wine's bouquet, which is transitory, but if too intense will spoil it.

 

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Winemaking Terms - Sweet Reserve to Texture

 Sweet Reserve:

 

A sample of the original juice from which a wine is made, used to sweeten the finished wine after fermenting to dryness and stabilized. The sweet reserve is either refrigerated or frozen until needed. When making a sweet reserve from whole fruit, such as strawberries, peaches, or plums, the fruit must be crushed and pressed and the juice stood in a tall, clear, glass bottle in a refrigerator until the juice separates (i.e. pulp sediment settles to the bottom of the bottle). The clear juice is very carefully racked off the sediment and stored for the reserve. The sediment can be lightly pressed through a double layer of sanitized muslin cloth and the liquid obtained allowed to separate out again, with the clear juice again removed and stored with the sweet reserve. The advantage of using a sweet reserve to sweeten a stabilized dry wine is the it adds sweetness, fresh flavor, and natural aroma to the wine. It may also improve the color of the finished wine somewhat.

 

Sweetness:

 

A taste sensation most commonly associated in wines with sugars (glucose and fructose), glycerol, ethanol, and 2,3-butanediol (the latter in trace amounts). While the threshold for detecting sweetness (as sugars) is about 1% by weight, the threshold for classifying a wine as sweet is usually 2% by weight (specific gravity of 1.008) for a wine with 12% alcohol by volume. Sweetness does appear to soften some flavor components and blend with others to enhance their recognition. A wine with poor fruit flavor as a dry wine may possess more recognizable fruitiness when sweetened.

 

Table Wine:

 

A still wine, usually light to medium in body, dry to semi-dry, low to moderate in alcohol (10% to 13% by volume), and often served with meals. Also called dinner wine.

 

 

Tannin:

 

Tannic acid, essential for good aging qualities and balance, gives most wines their "zest" or "bite." Tannin is found naturally in the stems, skins and pips (seeds) of most red and dark fruit such as grapes, elderberries, sloes, apples, and plums, but also in pear skins, oak leaves, and dark tea leaves. Most grains, roots and flowers used in winemaking lack any or sufficient tannin, so must be supplemented with grape tannin or tannin from another source. Wines containing too much tannin can be ameliorated by adding a little sugar or glycerine, fined with gelatine, or blended with another, softer wine.

 

Tannisol Tablets:

 

Proprietary product that contains potassium metabisulfite, ascorbic acid and tannin in premeasured amounts. The ascorbic acid is supposedly used to increase the effectiveness of sulfite (SO2). Actually, research has shown that SO2 protects wine better without ascorbic acid present. Use only as directed by the manufacturer.

 

Tartaric Acid:

 

  A reddish acid found in grapes and several other fruit.

 

Taste:

 

A sensory perception almost totally localized on the tongue. Although there is some dispute over this, we most often perceive only four basic tastes -- sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness. The latter is seldom encountered in wines. The flavors perceived in wines are most often integrations of both odor and taste and can be often be altered by pinching the nose tightly and sipping the wine. Still, the loss of odors through evaporation can affect taste by concentrating a certain characteristic, such as sourness of certain acids.

 

Texture:

 

The impression on the palate delivered by dense, intense, and full-bodied wines.

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Winemaking Terms - Starter Solution to Sur Lie Aging

Starter Solution:

 

A solution of water, juice, sugar, and nutrients into which a culture of yeast is introduced and encouraged to multiply as quickly as possible before adding to a must. The purpose of the starter solution is to achieve a greater density of yeast than contained in the original culture sample so that the cultured yeast will dominate the fermentation process, literally smothering out any wild yeast that might be present. It is also used to restart a Stuck Fermentation. 

 

Still Wine:

 

A finished, non-sparkling wine. A finished wine containing no noticeable carbonation. 

 

Stuck Fermentation:

 

A fermentation that has started but then stops before converting all fermentable sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide or before reaching the toxicity level of the particular yeast strain(s) involved. A stuck fermentation is usually due to an imbalance in the ingredients or to temperature extremes unacceptable to the yeast.

 

Sucrose:

 

A natural, crystalline disaccharide found in grapes, most fruit and many plants. This is the type of refined sugar obtained from sugar cane, sugar beets and other sources which, when added to a must or juice to make up for deficiencies in natural sugar, must be hydrolyzed (inverted) into Fructose and Sucrose by acids and enzymes in the yeast before it can be used as fuel for fermentation.

 

Sulfite:

 

Technically, a salt or ester of sulfurous acid, but more commonly, sulfur dioxide (SO2). Sulfite is the most effective and widely used preservative in winemaking. It preserves by safeguarding musts and wines against premature oxidation and microscopic life forms that could otherwise spoil wine. It preserves a wine’s freshness, helps maintain its color, and is essential for aging wines beyond their first year without deterioriation. It also inhibits wild yeasts, thereby allowing cultured wine yeasts to dominate the fermentation. Sulfites may be "bound" or "free." Bound SO2 combines with aldehyde compounds, those most responsible for oxidation in wines. Free SO2 results from the dissipation of active SO2 and is the only SO2 that provides antiseptic and oxidative protection to wines. The most efficient wat to add free SO2 to a must, juice or wine is by adding dissolved potassium metabisulfite to it. The effectiveness of free SO2 is dependent on the pH of the media to which it is added.

 

Sultana:

 

A small, pale golden-green grape originating in Smyrna, Turkey. It is the most widely planted variety in California, where it goes by the name of Thompson Seedless. It is the common "white" or "golden" raisin sold in America.