Re: Secret at heart of red wine
Posted by Amaranth Rose on Dec 20, 2001 at 05:51
dialup-34.sentco.net (65.172.150.34)Re: Secret at heart of red wine (Richard Linney)
A very interesting article to be sure. I have to take issuewithone point, though.
"Red grape juice had a limited effect - probably because polyphenols dissolve better in alcohol than in water, he says."
It is my understanding that red wines differ from white or rose wines in the length of time the mast (peels, seeds, stalks, stems, etc.) is allowed to remain in contact with the primary fermetaion liquid. It is my understanding that this is not more than a day or two. Having made some wine of my own, I can attest that significant levels of alcohol production do not occur in the mast stage, and indeed it takes a few weeks for the alcohol to devleop to noticeable levels. I would question whether this is actually some kind of alcoholic extraction, therefore.
I would almost wonder more if this might be a substance resulting from the growth of some kind of bacteria, actinomycete, or fungi (yeast or mold) on the stems, stalks, skins, pulp, etc. while it is in that critical few days of contact with the juice while the red pigments and tannins are extracting. If so, it ought to be possible to identify and isolate the organism resposible, select strains that produce high quantities of it, and produce it industrially in sufficient quantities to process and tablet it as cheaply as aspirin.
Just a thought.
Follow Ups:
- Re: Secret at heart of red wine Mike Kremer 20/12 15:48 (0)