Oenologists make "the point": what is the reduction?

By fashionlifeshopping 07/10/2022 774 Views

Regularly, "the wine point" opens its columns to oenologists, these professionals who advise, analyze and help producers to make the best wines.

Reduction in wine can first be defined as the reverse of oxidation.It is a natural phenomenon during which so -called reducing molecules fix oxygen.We speak of "reducing medium" for a space where there is little or no oxygen.It is thanks to these sponsored reduction phenomena, that is to say a slow and continuous reduction in oxygen, that wine evolves and preserves as well in bottles, sheltered from a strong oxidation whichwould come to age too quickly the wine.This is the positive side of the reduction.

The alcoholic fermentation of grape juice also occurs in a reducing environment, the yeast responsible for the transformation of sugars into alcohol gradually consuming all the oxygen present in the environment.After fermentation, yeasts are dying gradually and disintegrate, generating in the middle of reducing substances which then help protect the wine from oxidation during breeding.

Les œnologues font « Le Point » : la réduction, c'est quoi ?

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Sulfur dioxide, often and for a very long time added during vinification to protect wine from oxidation, can also promote reduction.If the intake is too large and takes place before fermentation, sulfur molecules can be generated by yeasts and produce unpleasant notes to tasting (rotten egg notes, garlic and rubber in particular) and hide the aromasfruity and floral wine.In this case, reduction becomes a defect which can be countered by appropriate means, under the advice of oenologist.

Some grape varieties tend to produce more reductive compounds than others, this is particularly the case with Syrah.It is then very important to limit sulfur intake and ensure a slow and continuous oxygen intake throughout the vinification.

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These reduction notes can sometimes find themselves in the bottle, you will feel them easily during tasting, because they mask the fruity and floral aromas of wine;It is then a defect in wine.Generally, these reduction notes diminish by oxygenating the wine in the glass while the fruity and floral aromas are again perceptible.This is the reason why the oenologist-advisor devotes considerable time to the preparation of the bottling of wines so that only positive reduction phenomena occur.

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