The process of alcoholic fermentation requires careful control for the production of high quality wines. Requirements include suppression of the growth of undesirable microorganisms, presence of adequate numbers of desirable yeasts, proper nutrition for yeast growth, temperature control for prevention of excessive heat, prevention of oxidation, and proper management of the cap of skins floating in red musts.

Grape skins are normally covered with bacteria, molds, and yeast. The wild yeasts such as Pichia, Kloeckera, and Torulopsis are often more numerous than the wine yeast Saccharomyces. Although species of Saccharomyces are generally considered more desirable for efficient alcoholic fermentation, it is possible that other yeast genera may contribute to flavour, especially in the early stages of fermentation. Saccharomyces is preferred because of its efficiency in converting sugar to alcohol and because it is less sensitive to the inhibiting effect of alcohol. Under favourable conditions, strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have produced up to 18 percent (by volume) of alcohol, although 15 to 16 percent is the usual limit.

Use of the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been proposed for the early stages of alcoholic fermentation. Because it metabolizes malic acid, this yeast would be useful in excessively acid musts, but commercial applications have not yielded consistently favourable results. The addition of lactic-acid bacteria to musts, using strains metabolizing malic acid, is now common.

The number of undesirable microorganisms is greatest in partially rotted or injured grapes. Such damage may occur in harvesting or during transportation, particularly in warm climates. Suppression of undesirable microorganism growth is required, and the most common method used is the addition of sulfur dioxide to the freshly crushed grapes at the rate of about 100 to 150 milligrams per litre. Sulfur dioxide is more toxic to undesirable microorganisms than to desirable microorganisms. When it is used in musts, an inoculum of the desired yeast strain, usually called a pure yeast culture, is added. Musts are rarely pasteurized, although this process may be applied when they contain undesirable amounts of oxidizing enzymes from moldy grapes.

Enologists, technicians in the science of wine making, do not agree on the most desirable yeast species and strain, but strains of S. cerevisiae are generally used. The chosen strain is allowed to multiply as much as possible in sterilized grape juice and is then transferred to larger containers of sterilized grape juice, where it continues to grow until the desired volume is reached. Suitable pressed yeasts of desirable strains are added directly, avoiding the troublesome practice of building up and maintaining a pure yeast culture. About 1 to 3 percent of a pure yeast culture, or sufficient pressed yeast to provide a population of 1,000,000 cells per millilitre, is used.

Temperature control during alcoholic fermentation is necessary to (1) facilitate yeast growth, (2) extract flavours and colours from the skins, (3) permit accumulation of desirable by-products, and (4) prevent undue rise in temperature, killing the yeast cells.

Optimum temperature for growth of common wine yeasts is about 25 °C (77 °F), and in many viticultural areas of the cooler temperate zone, grapes are crushed at about this temperature. Fermentation is seldom started at so high a temperature, however, because it is then difficult to prevent the temperature from exceeding 30 °C during fermentation.

Extraction of flavours and colours is not a problem in white musts; the crushed grape mass is usually separated from the skins before fermentation. Fermentation of white musts at relatively cool temperature (about 10 to 15 °C [50 to 60 °F]) apparently results in greater formation and retention of desirable by-products. An undesirable feature of such relatively low-temperature fermentations is the longer period required for completion (six to 10 weeks compared to one to four weeks at higher temperatures) and the tendency for the fermentation to stop while residual sugar remains. (This is not always considered undesirable—i.e., in German wine production.) In practice white table wines are usually fermented at about 20 °C.

In red wine musts, the optimum colour extraction consistent with yeast growth occurs at about 22 to 28 °C (72 to 82 °F). Alcoholic fermentation produces heat, however, and careful temperature control is required to prevent the temperature from reaching a point (about 30 °C) where yeast growth is seriously restricted. At still higher temperatures, growth will stop completely. Modern temperature control is accomplished by use of heat exchangers. Older methods include placing the fermenters in a cold room; using cold pipes in the fermenter; pumping the must through double-walled pipes, with cold water in the surrounding pipe; pumping the must through a sump containing cooling coils; and pumping the coolant through jackets surrounding the tank.

Contact with air must be restricted to prevent oxidation during fermentation. In very large containers, the volume of carbon dioxide given off is sufficient to prevent entry of air. In small fermenters, fermentation traps are inserted, preventing entry of air but permitting exit of carbon dioxide. These traps are particularly desirable during the final stage of fermentation, when carbon dioxide evolution is slow. Following fermentation, small amounts of sulfur dioxide are added to help prevent oxidation. Ascorbic acid (50 to 100 milligrams per litre) is sometimes employed to decrease the oxidation and thus the amount of sulfur dioxide required as an antioxidant, but is not generally recommended.

The cap of skins and pulp floating on top of the juice in red-wine fermentation inhibits flavour and colour extraction, may rise to an undesirably high temperature, and may acetify if allowed to become dry. Such problems are avoided by submerging the floating cap at least twice daily during fermentation. This operation, comparatively easy with small fermenters, becomes difficult with large, tall fermenters of up to 100,000-gallon (380,000-litre) capacity. In large units the fermenting must is drawn off near the bottom and pumped back over the cap. The use of small fermentation vessels permits a greater percentage of heat loss to the surrounding atmosphere, simplifying temperature control.

Postfermentation treatment

With appropriate must composition, yeast strain, temperature, and other factors, alcoholic fermentation ceases when the amount of fermentable sugar available becomes very low (about 0.1 percent). Fermentation will not reach this stage when (1) musts of very high sugar content are fermented, (2) alcohol-intolerant strains of yeast are used, (3) fermentations are carried on at too low or high temperatures, and (4) fermentation under pressure is practiced. Fermentation of normal musts is usually completed in 10 to 30 days. In most cases, the major portion of the yeast cells will soon be found in the sediment, or lees. Separation of the supernatant wine from the lees is called racking. The containers are kept full from this time on by “topping,” a process performed frequently, as the temperature of the wine, and hence its volume, decreases. During the early stages, topping is necessary every week or two. Later, monthly or bimonthly fillings are adequate.

Normally the first racking should be performed within one to two weeks after completion of fermentation, particularly in warm climatic regions or in warm cellars, as the yeasts in the thick deposit of lees may autolyze (digest themselves), forming off-odours.

Early racking is not required for wines of high total acidity—i.e., those produced in cool climatic regions or from high-acid varieties. Such wines may remain in contact with at least a portion of the lees for as long as two to four months, permitting some yeast autolysis in order to release amino acids and other possible growth factors favouring growth of lactic-acid bacteria. These bacteria then induce the second, or malolactic, fermentation.