Sunday, March 25, 2012

Chemistry of the Grape Berry

Back to basics: I know that quality wine can only be made with good grapes. In fact, during the UC Davis course, some of our instructors would say that great wine is made in the vineyard.
I'm reviewing the Viticulture course and there is a section on the chemistry of the grape berry that is easy to dismiss as something that is obvious, but I wanted to write it down again because I need to keep these things in mind.
  • Carbohydrates
  • : Sugars
    • What they do: Produces alcohol and leads to the stability and preserve-ability of wine
  • Organic Acids
  • : Tartrate, malate
    • What they do: Provides mouthfeel, taste, crispness and leads to the soundness of wine
  • Tannins and other phenolics
    • What they do: Provides flavor and aroma
  • Anthocyanins
    • What they do: Provides color
  • Minerals
It's important to understand the following diagram of the various parts of the grape berry because flavor compounds such as sugars, acids, and minerals are located in specific grape berry tissues.

1. Understanding Grape Berry Development Practical Winery and Vineyard, Issue July-August 2002, Illustration done by Jordan Koutroumanidis of Winetitles.
2. Vintage Direct 2.10 Making Sparkling Wine (Methode Champenoise)
Illustration is from Dunsford, P.A. and Sneyd, T.N. 1989. Pressing for quality. In: Proceedings of the Seventh Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference

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