Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz!
Standard disclaimer on how this all works: Based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps just like you, I do not supply the quiz answer directly in the post – you will need to tune back in later in the comments section for the answer. So you can put your answer in the comments for potential bragging rights later (not that you’d gloat… too much…).
The next round of quizzes focuses on aspects of winemaking; or, as I like to call it, “the real-work work” (critics and journalists and wine personalities have got it easy – we only need to drink the stuff!).
By The Bunch
Red wine grapes are sometimes placed in vats in entire bunches (stalks and all) under a cover of carbon dioxide, eventually fermenting the grapes. Do you know what this method of fermentation is called?
- A. Pigeage
- B. Remontage
- C. Autovinification
- D. Carbonic maceration
Go public with your smarties and shout out the answer in the comments.
Cheers – and good luck!
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Comments
Jeff
It might not be the third Thursday of November, but I will go with D. nonetheless.
1WineDude
Jeff – we're a loooong way from that release date, my friend! :)
gabe
the carbonic chronic!
1WineDude
gabe – :)
Joel Ohmart
Ha!
Martin D. Redmond
Final answer…D!
1WineDude
Thanks, Martin!
Joel Ohmart
D it is indubitably!
1WineDude
Thanks, Joel!
Tom Riley
Not to know the answer to this would be moronic.
1WineDude
Tom – for whom? As far as I'm aware, no one visiting here was born with knowledge about winemaking…
Tom Riley
Just making a bad pun that might rhyme with carbonic. No harm intended.
1WineDude
Ahhhh! Tom – I’m sorry!!! Now we’ve answered the question I suppose because it is me who is, in fact, the moron!! :)
Tom Riley
No worries. Thanks for putting in the work you do on your site. Guys like me who are just getting started in the blog world certainly appreciate it.Have a great weekend.
1WineDude
Thanks, Tom – you too. And much appreciated!
1WineDude
And in case you were wondering, yes, it *has* in fact been one of those weeks! :)
Fredric Koeppel
carbonic maceration! (I mean you sort of gave it away…)
1WineDude
Fredric – I suppose I did, didn't I? :)
1WineDude
Wine Quiz Answer: D. Carbonic maceration
This process is referred to as Carbonic maceration, most famously associated with the production of Beaujolais Nouveau. It results in wines with extracted color but very little tannin, and usually gives off telltale aromas of bananas and cinnamon spices.
Additionally, I was sent in this by a reader and thought it was worth sharing with the answer:
"True carbonic maceration takes place inside whole, intact berries. It is an intercellular process through which malic acid is converted to ethanol. In semi-carbonic maceration, the berries at the bottom of the vat burst from the weight above and begin a standard, yeast-induced fermentation, producing the carbon dioxide necessary for the carbonic maceration of the whole, still intact berries above. When carbonic maceration is complete – the intact berries contain only about 2% ethanol – the vat is drained and the grapes are pressed. The sugars in the intact berries still remain, since it was malic acid being converted to alcohol, not sugar. The pressed juice is then combined with the fermented, free run juice in order to convert the remaining sugars to alcohol through normal, yeast-induced fermentation. While some Beaujolais producers no longer employ semi-carbonic maceration, most still do – not only for their Beaujolais Nouveau, but all their longer-aged Beaujolais, as well."
Cheers!