Holiday Season Fermentation Madness
Likely to not make you popular, but I did not what to miss out on this Durell Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Notice how the juice experienced some Hyper-oxygenation, which is not a surprise when you consider in a colder aqueous solution, molecules are closer together, creating more space for oxygen to dissolve.
Frozen White Grape Must showing evidence of Hyper-Ox
Although seemingly scary, the polyphenols are oxidized while the terpenes are still bound to sugar. So, the terpenes cannot get attacked by oxygen and the glycosidic bonds only get broken during fermentation. This brown appearance will precipitate during fermentation.
The Santa hat keeps things festive
It is almost guaranteed that my wife absolutely does not see the humor in this. So, it better turn out stellar for my sake.
As promised the oxidation has precipitated - the hydrometer is clear visible.