This Thursday is the "Beaujolais Nouveau Day (the third Thursday of November every year)", the day of the official release of the beaujolais Nouveau, and wine lovers in France and around the world are holding parties to celebrate this special day. Many people may have tasted Beaujolais' new wine, but I wonder if you know the brewing process behind this wonderful wine - Carbonic Maceration? Today, Xiaobian will take you to explore this unique brewing process.
Beaujolais New Wine (Image: www.beaujolaisnouveau.fr)
What is carbon dioxide impregnation?
Carbon dioxide maceration is a vinification process that uses whole bunches of grapes for fermentation. When making wine using this process, the winery places entire bunches of unbroken grapes in sealed fermentation tanks filled with carbon dioxide, and in the absence of yeast or other microbial intervention and hypoxia, the grapes begin intracellular Fermentation, breaking down sugar and malic acid and releasing alcohol. Once the alcohol content reaches around 2% abv, the grape skins crack and release the juice. At this point, the winemaker presses the grapes and transfers the separated juice to an aerobic environment to continue the traditional alcoholic fermentation.
Fermented grapes (Image: www.beaujolais.com)
What is the effect of CO2 impregnation on wine?
When co2 impregnation is used as a brewing process, alcohol and various compounds that affect the flavor of the wine are produced. For different varieties, the impact of the carbon dioxide impregnation method may also vary slightly. But overall, due to the short contact time between grape juice and the peel, the carbon dioxide impregnation method will only extract the pigments and aromatic substances on the surface of the peel, and will hardly extract the tannins hidden deeper in the peel, so the wines produced by this method are usually lighter in color, less acidic, soft in taste, with rich and fresh fruit aromas, while being filled with the unique aromas and flavors brought by the fermentation of the fruit, such as cherry wine, bubble gum, bananas, red berries, vanilla and cinnamon. Due to the low tannin content, these wines are generally suitable for drinking at a young age.
Where is the CO2 impregnation method used in?
In the Beaujolais region of France, co2 impregnation is often used to brew new Beaujolais wines. The wine is released on the third Thursday of November of the first year after the harvest of the grapes every year, and is no longer allowed after 31 August of the following year, so to some extent, beaujolais is usually one of the earliest types of wines to be released in France after the annual harvest. Usually made from Gamay, Beaujolais new wines are bright fuchsia-red in colour, with aromas of honeydew cherries, red plums, bananas and bubble gum, fresh on the palate and low tannin content, making it suitable for early drinking. In addition to beaujolais, some regional AOC wines in Burgundy, France, are also made using carbon dioxide maceration. In addition, this method is popular among many grape varieties in the south of France, especially for juicy and approachable Carignan wines.
Beaujolais Vineyards (Image: www.beaujolais.com)
In Rioja, Spain, and especially in the Alavesa region, some wineries use Semi-carbonic Maceration to make easy-to-drink red wines with lively red fruit aromas and soft tannins to appeal to wine lovers and younger consumers. The operation process of the semi-carbon dioxide impregnation method is quite similar to the carbon dioxide impregnation method, but the difference is that the semi-carbon dioxide impregnation method does not need to inject carbon dioxide into the fermentation tank, but directly fills the fermentation tank with a whole bunch of grapes, and the grapes at the bottom will be broken due to the gravity squeeze of the upper grapes, flowing out of the juice, and then under the action of yeast, the alcoholic fermentation begins and releases carbon dioxide. When carbon dioxide gradually fills the entire fermentation tank, the grapes intact on it will start the fermentation in the hypoxic environment. Under this practice, these wines are partly the product of carbon dioxide impregnation and partly the product of traditional yeast fermentation. In Georgia, this principle is also applied to wines made by putting grapes in Kvevri clay tanks and burying them in the ground.
Rioja Vineyards (Image: www.riojawine.com)
As people become more and more fond of wines with a fresh and fruity taste, the carbon dioxide impregnation method has also ushered in its "highlight" moment, which is being used more and more widely in winemaking.