Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Carbonic Maceration



Winemaking techniques are not usually prominently feautred on labels, so this is a rather unusual example. Often associated with Beaujolais, carbonic maceration involves fermenting whole bunches of grapes in a carbon dioxide rich environment prior to crushing. On the other hand, crushing is done early in conventional fermentation to releases juices. With carbonic maceration, fermentation starts within the grape and crushing will be done after carbonic maceration is over.

Normally used only for reds (and the odd rose) wines, this is an exception to the normal carbonic maceration in that we have a white wine made from 100% Albarino grapes from Rias Baixas. The other label (the one with all the required legal information) also says that the carbonic maceration was done at 0 degC, which is much colder than usual. As for the wine, it was a nice straw yellow with an aromatic fruity nose. It was slightly sweet on the palate with aromatic fruity notes and a good dose of acidity to keep everything together to a nice crisp finish.

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