The red wines are drawn-off…

31 Oct 2013 – General

After completing their fermentations, and approximately three weeks maceration on the skins, our red wines have been drawn off into the cellar.

The casks have been arranged, and filled with the freely running wine from the red wine fermentation tanks. They are then sealed with an airlock, which allows for the progress of the secondary fermentation (biological reduction of acidity—or more precisely, malolactic fermentation) to be monitored as closely as possible, as well as protecting the wine from vinegar flies.

This malolactic fermentation will result in a portion of the wine’s acids—the malic acid—being converted to lactic acid during a fermentation (along with carbon dioxide, which escapes into the atmosphere).

The red wine is rendered smoother by means of this process, in addition to becoming microbiologically quite stabile. The drying grape-mash is then cleared out of the fermenters, put into the press and pressed out. This press-wine is kept separate, and after a year’s time will be evaluated for quality.