3 Preservatives in Wine.
Having a competent hand in winemaking and paying close attention throughout the process is all that is required to preserve wine or include preservatives into it. Naturalism is amazing, particularly when it comes to wine since nature provides lots of natural preservatives for wine to use as a means of preserving it.
In order for the wine to mature steadily and beautifully, these naturally occurring preservatives must be in harmony with one another.
When it comes to preservatives, there are four different sorts to choose from. Put another way, these are the same components that make up the body of a wine, to put it another way.
Tannin is the preservative that is most well known, followed by acid, residual sugar, and alcohol. In order to assist you in better understanding how each one contributes to the preservation of wine, I will go through each one with you.
Tannins are a kind of chemical compound that exists in nature.
Tinctures of tannic acid are found in wood, tree bark, stems, seeds, and skins of most fruits, as well as in red wine, coffee, and tea. Tannins are really tannic acid in their purest form, and it may be found in wood, tree bark, and the stems, seeds, and skins of most fruits.
Tannins, which are prevalent in young wines, are not necessarily pleasant or delightful to drink or taste. As a result, they are dry to the mouth, inhibit salivation, and reduce the pleasure of other components in wine.
In contrast, when used as a long-term element, tannins act as an anti-oxidant, which makes them perfect for aging wine and prevents it from going bad too soon. It has been shown that tannins may actually slow down the natural aging process.
A process known as polymerization occurs over time, during which the tannins bond together to create longer chain molecules, which precipitate (fall) from the wine and form a sediment.
Red wines get softer with age as the tannins begin to dissipate and the wine becomes more refined. Depending on how well the following factors of preservation are balanced, the pace at which they decline varies.
- The presence of an acidic substance.
Tannic acid, as well as other antioxidants, have been shown to be effective. It is quite similar to the way antioxidants act in our bodies that the antioxidants in wine do. They bind themselves to the free radical oxygen molecules in order to prevent them from attaching themselves to anything else and causing harm to the surrounding environment. When wine is bottled, or more specifically when you bottle your own wine at home, there are two options. In the first instance, if you are using a closed-top container to syphon your wine from, you should attempt to “bubble” the wine with gas. Running a tube of flowing air into the wine using either nitrogen or argon can cause the wine to fizz. The fact that these two gases are heavier than air means that they will float to the surface of the wine and reduce the quantity of oxygen that will be present in the wine after it has been bottled. Additionally, gas your bottles before to filling them.
In any case, returning to our original point, acidity and a proper balance of it in the wine are critical to the wine’s long-term stability. Next, I’ll talk about alcohol, which is a kind of preservative. What causes the presence of alcohol in wine?
It is generated from sugar fermentation, to be more specific, When grapes ripen and gain in sugar, which is converted into potential alcohol, they lose acidity, as is the nature of the situation.
You will not have a lengthy shelf life or cellaring age if you are using high alcohol wines with no acidity or very little acidity. This is because alcohol “cooks” the wine over time in a shorter period of time.
3. sugar
I mentioned sugar briefly while discussing acid, but I’ll go into more detail here. It is also possible to preserve wine by using sugars that naturally occur inside grapes or, in rare cases, grape concentrate (which is used in home winemaking).
Keeping your fermentation from reaching 0 degrees Brix is the key to success in this endeavor. It is important not to allow your wine to dry out completely throughout the fermentation process.
With residual sugars in the wine, it will have a longer shelf life, similar to high-sugar, glucose- and sucrose-containing pastries and delights, as well as items we purchase from the store that have a lengthy shelf-life owing to their high sugar content.
Nonetheless, this does not imply that you should ferment all of your wines and leave residual sugar in each and every one of them.
In the case of particular varietals and styles, the sugar would throw the wine out of balance on your tongue, making it taste bad. White wines, fortified wines, and other fortified wine styles, such as Port, are the most prevalent types of wines that include residual sugar.
4. there’s booze.
Okay, here’s our last wine preservative. In discussing alcohol as a preservative for wine, I am not referring to the alcohol that occurs naturally in wine as a by-product of the fermentation process. Wine’s shelf life will be shortened, as previously stated, if there is too much alcohol present and not enough acidity to balance it.
The sort of alcohol I’m referring to as a preservative is alcoholic beverages, which are often spirits such as Sherry or rum. Those types of wines, such as Ports, are the types of wines to which you will add Sherry or any other liquor.
These are wines made from grapes that have been picked while their sugar levels are quite high and have not been allowed to mature to a dry consistency. In certain cases, as much as 30 grams of sugar per liter of water is left behind.
Adding a spirit to the mix will halt the fermentation. Due to the fact that it is added in large quantities and does not allow the wine to mature, this kind of alcohol helps to preserve wine.
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