Think Wine is Just Grape Juice and Yeast. Think Again!

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What is more natural than a glass of wine?

Grow some grape vines, wait for them to produce grapes, harvest the grape bunches, de-stem them (sometimes), crush them to produce juice, leave the crushed grapes in contact with the juice to create color (in the case of red wines and rosé) and then rely on natural yeasts or added yeast to convert the natural sugars in the grape juice to alcohol and, voilà, - you have wine! It’s just that simple, right?

Well, wine isn’t always that simple. While some wines are indeed produced with these simple steps and ingredients, there are some other ingredients that can be used in the winemaking process. And, the only two ingredients that are required to appear on a wine label are the alcohol content and if it contains sulfites.

Here’s a few of the other ingredients that may be used in wine making or remain in a wine:

• Added Yeast Nutrients and Enzymes

  • Yeast nutrients are used to speed up the process of fermentation.

• Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisultite

  • Both of these ingredients are used to guard against bacteria and protect the yeast from spoiling, and are commonly used together during the fermentation process to help the yeast ferment efficiently while improving the overall flavor.

• Acid, Sugar, and Tannin Additions

  • Adding acid will decrease the pH and increase the total acidity of the wine to ensure it is in overall balance

  • Adding sugar before or during fermentation can help boost the alcohol content. The process is called ‘chaptalization’ and also assists the yeast during the fermentation process.

  • Powdered tannins may be added early in the process to help add balance

• Acid Reducers

  • Calcium carbonate is used to reduce the acidity of the finished wine, and is sometimes added if the grapes have had trouble ripening. It’s usually added before or at the start of fermentation, so it doesn’t impact on the aroma of the wine.

  • Potassium Bicarbonate is also used to help lower the acidity

• Oak and Oak Chips, Powders, and Granules

  • Winemakers rely on oak barrels to flavor wine with notes of vanilla or subtle spices,

  • If the wine doesn’t come into direct contact with wood (i.e., stainless steel tanks), some producers will add oak chips, powders or staves to add oak flavors.

• Stabilizers and Anti-Sediment Additions

  • Potassium bitartrate is used as a seeding agent to promote tartrate precipitation during cold stabilization

  • Urease is added to reduce the level of urea in wines, when this is excessive, in order to avoid the formation of ethyl carbamate during aging.  The enzyme transforms urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide.

• Fining Agents

  • Fining agents are used for clarifying wine. These agents, such as bentonite (powdered clay), isinglass (fish bladder), casein (milk protein), gelatin or egg whites, combine with sediment particles and cause them to settle to the bottom of the vessel, where they can be easily removed before the wine is bottled.

• Grape Concentrate

  • Grape juice concentrate is sometimes included to boost the color of red wine and add a bit of sugar to smooth out the mouthfeel.

• Coloring Agents or Color Stabilizers

  • Coloring agents may be used to deepen the color of red wines, or to add ‘blush’ to whites

  • Stabilizers ensure the wine’s color does not change during fermentation and aging

• Dimethyl Di-carbonate, Ammonium Phosphate and Di-ammonium Phosphates

  • Dimethyl di-carbonate is used to stabilize wine by preventing microbial spoilage

  • Di-ammonium Phosphate is used to speed up the fermentation process

• Sulfur Dioxide

  • Usually listed as ‘sulfites’. It’s used to preserve the grapes and prevent oxidation during the winemaking process.

• Preservatives and Antibacterial Agents (e.g., potassium sorbate, dimethyl dicarbonate, sorbic acid, copper sulfate)

  • Preservative such as potassium sorbate or sorbic acid are used to 'stabilize' a wine and prevent a renewed fermentation by inhibiting the yeast cell from being able to multiply, grow and begin a new fermentation.

  • Dimethyl dicarbonate is used to stabilize the wine by preventing microbial spoilage

• Alcohol

  • Adding alcohol, usually from another grape-derived spirit such as brandy, is called fortification. Since yeast naturally dies at 15% ABV, addition of extra alcohol will push the alcohol concentration of a wine over the 15% mark.

  • Alcohol is added to “Fortified” wines such as Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala and Vermouth

Behind the Cork™ - Jump Mountain Livia Red Blend

2021 Jump Mountain Livia Red Blend ($27)

From the Shenandoah Valley AVA, Jump Mountain Livia red blend is an award winning wine having tied for 3rd in the Shenandoah Cup Awards!

Approved in 1982 as Virginia’s first American Viticultural Area, the Shenandoah Valley AVA is located in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States covering the land along the western edge of Virginia and spilling into the easternmost portion of West Virginia.

Bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west, these two ranges create a specific mesoclimate for the valley between them, which itself ranges from 500 to 1,800 feet above sea level, protecting it from storms from the west and rain-bearing winds blowing in from the Atlantic coast, 100 miles east.

Protected by the sandstone knob of Jump Mountain, the micro-climate and soils found at Jump Mountain Vineyards create conditions conducive to growing vinifera grape varieties.

This Jump Mountain Livia Red Blend is produced from 60% Refosco, 20% Cabernet Franc, 15% Lagrein and 5% Sagrantino. This wine is deep ruby in color with aromas of red fruit, some smoke from the Lagrein and Refosco and a bit of earthiness. On the palate, this full-bodied wine has nice juicy fruit flavors of red cherry and raspberry. The 2 gm/L of residual sugar give the fruit flavors a pop. The fruit flavors on the finish are quite nice. Overall, this was a surprisingly good red blend!

Jump Mountain Vineyards states that this wine is named for Livia Drusilla Augusta (58 BC - 29 AD), wife of Augustus Ceasar, who proclaimed that Refosco was her favorite wine!

This is a really nice red blend at a very affordable price and this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Media Sample Provided by Jump Mountain Vineyards via the Shenandoah Valley Wine Growers Association and Donna White Communications

Some Wine Grapes You May Have Never Heard of Before

Photo by Cengiz Özarpat on Unsplash

While Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are well known grapes used for making wines, here are just a few grape varieties that you may not have heard of previously. But, several Behind the Cork™ Wines of the Week have and will feature these lesser known grapes from the Shenandoah AVA being used to produce award winning wines (see hyperlinks off to past blogs and stay-tuned for upcoming blogs).

Cayuga is a French-American hybrid grape variety. It’s a crossing of Schuyler (see below) and Seyval Blanc (see below). It has been specially bred for its cold hardiness and resistance to disease. Cayuga has enough acidity to make a wonderful sparkling wine, as well as still wines that are crisp and dry.

Schuyler is a blue-skinned hybrid wine and table grape created in 1947 by crossing Zinfandel with Ontario. It is used in the USA as table grapes, for grape juice and the production of simple red wines not meant for aging.

Ontario is a white variety that has a frost-hardy vine that is well suited to cooler regions. It can produce white wines with a pronounced foxy attribute. They are also used as table grapes.

Seyval Blanc has become a successful French hybrid grape that produces dry white wine. It is often described as having flavors somewhere between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. It has high acidity and responds well to malolactic conversion and barrel maturation.

Refosco (rēh-fōse-kō) is a dark-skinned wine grape originally from Northern Italy and neighboring Slovenia that is related to the grapes of Valpolicella. Refosco wines typically have high acidity. Flavors include dark peppery spices and plums. Often slightly astringent and can produce harsh tannins.

Lagrein is an ancient grape variety originally from Trentino-Alto Adige in northeastern Italy. It produces full-bodied wines with flavors of plum and wild cherry. It is known for the deep, dense color it imparts on wines. It is acidic and slightly astringent on the finish. Smokey notes are found in wines made from the Lagrein varietal.

Sagrantino is a red wine grape variety from the Umbria region of Central Italy. black cherries to ripe blackberry. Wines made from Sagrantino tend to have notes of black cherries and ripe blackberry along with spicy and earthy characteristics. Smokiness and sappy pine flavors have also been attributed to wines produced with Sagrantino. Its high tannins and affinity for oak aging mean that it can age well.

Vidal is a hardy hybrid grape that is grown mainly in Canada and the northeastern United States. It is best known as one of the ice wine grapes that produces sweet dessert wines.

Traminette is a hybrid white wine grape variety originally bred at the University of Illinois in 1965. It is the result of a crossing between Gewurztraminer and Joannes Seyve 23.416, a hybrid grape named for its creator. Traminette wines tend to be floral and spicy, and are made in both dry and off-dry styles.

Vignoles is a light-skinned hybrid grape variety first bred in France, but now grown in the Finger Lakes AVA, Shenandoah AVA, as well as in a few mid-western U.S. states. The variety was first bred in Saone-et-Loire in the 1930s by grape breeder J. Ravat, and is believed to have either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay as one of its parents, along with one of the hybrid Siebel varieties. It is well suited to cold weather. It’s high acidity and sugar levels make Vignoles a good choice for vintners looking to make dessert wines, and if the region is cold enough, ice wine can be produced from these frozen grapes.

Behind the Cork™ - Villa Gemma Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Riserva

Masciarelli (Mass-shee-ah-RELL-ee) Winery is located in the Abruzzo region of Italy on the eastern coast, just east of Rome on the Adriatic Sea. It was established in 1981 from the entrepreneurial intuition of Gianni Masciarelli. Today, Miriam Masciarelli (Gianni’s daughter) works with her mother, Marina Cvetić Masciarelli, to run this fabulous family winery that now has 22 labels and seven product lines all sourced from 60 vineyards in all four provinces of Abruzzo. One of their product lines, Villa Gemma, honors the modest family home where Gianni Masciarelli was born.

2018 Villa Gemma Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riserva ($98)

The grapes for this wine come from the original 12-acre Colle Cave home vineyard dating back to 1930 that is located above and behind the family home in Chieti. Today’s vines are around 30 years old and planted in dense guyot rows to limit yield. They only produce this wine in the best years. 

This Masciarelli Villa Gemma Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riserva is produced from 100% Montepulciano grapes that are fermented in stainless steel. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for five to six year before being bottled.

This wine is deep ruby in color with a medium nose of rich red fruit. On the palate, this full-bodied wine has rich and complex flavors that include red fruits, dried fruit, pepper and cocoa. It finishes with rich fruit flavors.

Abruzzo is now among the fastest growing regional economies in Italy and Southern Italy’s single most prosperous region. They are also producing some amazing wines. Check out all of Masciarelli’s wines on their website. And, when you can find this wine, splurge! This wonderful Villa Gemma Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riserva is this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Media Sample Provided by Masciarelli Winery

Do You Know that Light Can Damage Wine?

Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

While heat can be a bottle of wine’s biggest enemy, it turns out that light can also do damage.

The biggest source of light damage comes from a bottle being exposed to too much sunlight and its harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. But even fluorescent lights in a store or in your home can be damaging.

Now, there are many variables as to how much damage can occur including how much time the bottle is exposed to the light, the type of wine in the bottle and the bottling material.

The damage that occurs to a bottle of wine occurs over time and can dull the fruit flavors in the wine or, worst case, results in some unpleasant smells being generated in the bottle as the wine undergoes chemical changes as a result of the interactions with the rays of light.

In general, it’s important to protect your wine from exposure to ultraviolet light. White wines, sparkling wines and rosés are more susceptible to damage than reds. And, to compound the problem, many white wines and rosés are bottled in clear glass that provide little to no protection to the wine.

Green glass bottles provide greater protection than clear glass, but amber or brown glass is an even greater safeguard. But, unfortunately, white wines and rosé wines are usually sold in clear glass so as to show off their color.

You’ve probably seen shelves of bottled wine in store-front windows. And, you certainly seen shelves of wine in stores with fluorescent lighting. Sunlight can do damage quickly while indoor fluorescent lighting’s harmful effect occurs over time.

So, don’t buy wines that have been sitting in store-front windows. And, shop for bottles of wine in stores that have a good turnover of their stock since the lighting and the store temperature can take a toll.

While there is no one answer for how much light equates to damage, it’s best to play is safe and only store wines for extended periods of time in the coolest, darkest part of your house. Then, enjoy all the fruit flavors that the winemaker intended for you to experience. Cheers!