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+--- Thread: malolactic (/thread-18203.html)
- cmike - 05-16-2006
Does all wine go through malolactic fermentation? If so, what wine benefit most, specifically red or white? And why? Any comment on ML is appreciated.
Mike
- Kcwhippet - 05-16-2006
Not all wines go through ML, but more reds than whites. ML is a secondary fermentation used to convert the natural malic acid to lactic acid. Malic acid is tart - think green apples, while lactic acid is much softer and is found in dairy products. So, with a Chard, ML can make what would be a tart wine into a soft, buttery wine. In white wines, it will also increase the body and lengthen the finish. In red wines, ML will increase the berry, cherry flavors as well as the mouthfeel while helping to avoid green, vegetal characteristics. One real advantage in using ML is to lower the amount of SO2 required to maintain the wine's stability.
- Thomas - 05-16-2006
Not sure that ML allows for lower SO2 additions. That decision should be made based on a wine's pH, and putting a wine through ML usually raises pH, which often means the need for more SO2. But SO2 needs to be low in order to get ML started.
The reason red wine gets lower additions of SO2 is more related to the tannins, which are higher than in whites.
Also, ML not only increases lactic acid, but it reduces citric, which in turn increases acetic acid--volatile acidity. Plus, if ML is allowed to start spontaneously and completed after primary fermentation, the risk of brettanomyces is increased.
Although malolactic fermentation is a natural process, it's best to control it through culture inoculation because its success depends on a lot of factors, especially the wine's pH. The higher the pH, the easier for ML to get going, but also the easier for things to go wrong.
And--I just learned this last week--lactic acid produced from spontaneous ML can increase histamine levels in red wine.
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 05-16-2006).]
- Innkeeper - 05-16-2006
We like a maled white wine with fish and chicken in cream sauce. However we don't like oak in these wines. No less than the personage who posted first above (KC), put us on to Toad Hollow Chardonnay which has mal but no oak. We now keep a jug of it on hand at all times.