second fermentation

[eddietaylor]

What are the benefits of a second fermentation? How and what do you need to do to achieve the best results? Is it worth the effort?
Thanks

[Catch 22]

Secondary Fermentation continues the conversion of sugar into alcohol. If you want to have anything resembling a decent wine, yes it's necessary. You've got it easy being in Cowtown...Um I mean Torrington, as there is a wine-making supply store on East Main Street in the same building as Smith-Thomkins Furmniture. Just make sure you go there on a weekend, because the lady there during the week knows nothing and cares less.

[Thomas]

By second fermentation I hope you mean malolactic fermentation. It is not a good practice to have two yeast fermentations, unless you are producing sparkling wine.

As for malolactic fermentation, you need to control this by first finding a good source for ml. bacteria innoculation and then you must keep close tabs on temperature and completion of the fermentation; the commercial way to check completion is through chromatography (sp); don't know what the amateur way would be.

[Catch 22]

I suppose I should learn to read. That way I could answer the question being asked, instead of what I'm expecting the question to be. Oops. But then again, I didn't really answer it properly then, either
Of course, that would be easier if I could just find the "edit" button. Hey, foodie, is there an edit button around here...*G*

[Thomas]

That's ok Catch, I missed the part about "what are the benefits."

In my always humble opinion, I think malolactic fermentation is best confined to red wine and some sparkling wines. In red wines, if done judiciously, the ml process softens for a nice rounded mouthfeel, and it would do the same for Chardonnay if winemakers could control themselves.

Many producers ml Chardonnay to milk and then, to make matters worse, they oak it too literal death.

Malolactic fermentation is the process of changing naturally-occurring (in small amounts) malic acid in wine into lactic acid--hence the milk reference. Some of those beat up Chardonnays taste like bad cheese to me, and smell even worse.

[winoweenie]

Foodie, Couldn`t have said it better my-very-own-self. Winoweenie