If you are a Snob and you are reading this post, you may be asking yourself why would anyone bother to write about a winemaking process that gives only youthful wines?
Most people relate carbonic maceration with Beaujolais Nouveau wine because of its popularity and Beaujolais Nouveau wine has gained fame of been an immature banana flavored wine over the last years.
But Carbonic Maceration has much more to offer. For starters, because of the spontaneous nature of the CO2 fermentation, it is believed that it could be the first wine in history. In addition to that, there are well-known wineries in France and Spain that produce great wine made with this fermentation process.
Most people relate carbonic maceration with Beaujolais Nouveau wine because of its popularity and Beaujolais Nouveau wine has gained fame of been an immature banana flavored wine over the last years.
But Carbonic Maceration has much more to offer. For starters, because of the spontaneous nature of the CO2 fermentation, it is believed that it could be the first wine in history. In addition to that, there are well-known wineries in France and Spain that produce great wine made with this fermentation process.
History:
It was “rediscovered” in the 30 ts by accident, during the transportation of the grapes from the field to the winery for the crushing and pressing after the harvest. The winemakers wanted to take away the oxygen to avoid the degradation by insufflating CO2 of the grapes (CO2 is heavier than the air so it displaces it). In time they discovered that the grapes fermented spontaneously and the result of this CO2 fermentation was a fruity light wine.
Spain:
Nowadays, this vintage Spanish tradition of making wines is reviving and the best producers of these wines are located in Rioja Alta, Alavesa.
France;
Unlike Spain, that uses a traditional carbonic maceration method, France uses an artificial process that is mainly used to produce "vin de primeur", which is a fancy way to call a fast-made wine that is especially elaborated to celebrate the end of the harvest at the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival. (if you want to read more about this amazing festival you can click the hyperlink down below)
Unlike Spain, that uses a traditional carbonic maceration method, France uses an artificial process that is mainly used to produce "vin de primeur", which is a fancy way to call a fast-made wine that is especially elaborated to celebrate the end of the harvest at the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival. (if you want to read more about this amazing festival you can click the hyperlink down below)
Because this wine was intended to be a fast-produced wine, the French producers didn`t pay much attention to the quality of the wine. That gave the Beaujolais Nouveau wine a bad reputation.
Currently, the producers are fighting to change this perception and offer the followers of the festival not only a fast-produced wine but also a great quality one.
Currently, the producers are fighting to change this perception and offer the followers of the festival not only a fast-produced wine but also a great quality one.
But even though the Beaujolais Nouveau wine has all the attention, it is not the only wine made with carbonic fermentation in this area of France. There are other Beaujolais wines that have better quality such as “Cru Beaujolais”, which is a production area that has the highest category of classification in Beaujolais.
The winemakers of Cru Beaujolais decided not to use the name Beaujolais in their labels in an effort to separate themselves from mass-produced Nouveau. As a matter of fact, vineyards in the Cru villages (10 villages in total) aren`t allowed to produced Nouveau.
The winemakers of Cru Beaujolais decided not to use the name Beaujolais in their labels in an effort to separate themselves from mass-produced Nouveau. As a matter of fact, vineyards in the Cru villages (10 villages in total) aren`t allowed to produced Nouveau.
How does carbonic maceration work?
First, the cluster of grapes needs to be intact, because the grapes have to be alive in order to produce its own CO2. Which prevent any organism to penetrate the grapes (yeast for instance). Once we have our hole grapes they need to be fermented in a carbon dioxide rich environment to facilitate the anaerobic process. This means that the grapes are forced to evolve fastly because the CO2 being heavier than the air displaces it and the carbon dioxide gas permeates through the grape skins and begins to stimulate fermentation at an intracellular level. This process takes place inside every single intact grape and as a result, Ethanol is produced. In this method, unlike the yeast maceration, the grapes aren´t crushed and the fermentation only takes 7 to 8 days.
3 types of carbonic maceration:
· Rioja´s traditional carbonic maceration: It only uses the CO2 that is naturally produced by the grapes and the process is done in open tanks.
· Artificial carbonic maceration: For this French method, the CO2 is injected in a closed tank where the process begins.
· Partial/semi-carbonic maceration: This is a combination of carbonic maceration and yeast fermentation. It starts as a carbonic maceration (traditional or artificial), but once the ethanol is released, the grapes are crushed and the yeast fermentation starts. You can learn more about the yeast fermentation process in the link down below
Read more about:
yeast fermentation
https://booksarebetterwithwine.blogspot.com/2016/01/elaboracion-de-vino-casero.html
Beaujolais Nouveau
https://booksarebetterwithwine.blogspot.com/2016/01/le-beaujolais-nouveau-est-arrive.html
yeast fermentation
https://booksarebetterwithwine.blogspot.com/2016/01/elaboracion-de-vino-casero.html
Beaujolais Nouveau
https://booksarebetterwithwine.blogspot.com/2016/01/le-beaujolais-nouveau-est-arrive.html
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