Modern Winemaking - Scourge or Saviour

Following on the heals of our look at the complexities of terroir, in the next two issues we will take a closer look at winemaking & the application of technology in the winery - An area where Australia leads the world, yet also a highly contentious & contradictory issue within the global wine industry, with two very different viewpoints played out on different sides of the world – Traditional (old world European) vs Modern (new world – everywhere else).

On one stereotypical side of this argument you have the ultra traditional, 'non interventionist' style purists who rely on what could be classed as 'archaic' winemaking practises that are absolutely time honoured & 'natural' yet prone to very inconsistent results. Indeed some of the worlds most expensive wines are produced via this method, but also some of the most expensive flops!

The other extreme then is the scientific winemaker who utilises science and technology to produce the wine they want, effectively controlling the chemical & physiological processes involved in wine production to get a much more consistent, if overly homogeneous & 'industrial' result, lacking the soul of the traditional winemaking process, yet making much more consistent wines.

The reality is that most wineries sit somewhere in the middle of this battle, utilising the best of the old and the new world in the quest for vinous glory. What’s more, many old world producers have wholly embraced modern winemaking (just look at the raft of Aussie winemakers plying their trade in Southern France every Aussie winter) and plenty of New World producers who make their wines in a very traditional manner (Like McLaren Vale producer D’Arenberg who foot tread grapes and use century old basket presses).

In many ways, this argument pits man against machine in a grudge match that is the symbolism of our modern era – Art vs Science, Tradition vs Technology. Which way produces the finest wine? We've decided to test this out with an old fashioned ruckus:

Round 1 of this traditional vs modern winemaking fight is set in the vineyard. We will ignore the viticultural (grape growing) side, as this is a whole separate dilemma (see biodynamic & organic wines) and may well influence the result (after all, great wine is made in the vineyard - or is that the winery?)

Traditionally, grapes are picked by hand in whole bunches and remain this way until they get to the winery. This preserves the integrity of the grapes themselves, can enhance the freshness and allow for only top quality, ripe grapes to be picked. Hand picking is though limited by the human element - requiring a large, costly workforce and is largely limited to daylight hours (or whenever pickers can be found). Hand picking is essential when whole bunch fermentation is required (such as in the production of Pinot Noir & fine bottle fermented sparklings).

Conversely, the modern option is machine harvesting - machine harvesting is efficient and effective at harvesting large tracts of vineyards in a very short space of time, day or night. The problem with machine harvesting though is that it is very hard on both the grapes and the vine - with the vine literally beaten of its grapes, increasing the chance of berry splitting (which can lead to oxidation - the enemy of fresh aromatic whites). Machines are also indiscriminate - they will take all the grapes, regardless of their condition and include plenty of nefarious material with it. This can be combated by sorting in the winery, but considering the logistics of machine harvesting are not all that condusive to hand sorting, it rarely happens (especially with large volumes).

Round 1 Result: Handpicking wins for quality, but not efficiency. Machine Harvesting wins for convenience. Handpicking is essential for some varieties, but when it starts to really rain at harvest time, the machine harvesters can be the only way to get your fruit off in a hurry. Many winemakers in Coonawarra still use machine harvesting but they are the exception, as most premium wines are made by hand picking. Winner: Tradition

After an exchange of body blows, we move onto Round 2 & it is fermentation time – Time to convert grape juice into wine:

The traditional fermentation method is largely to let the wine begin fermenting on its own accord – with the naturally occurring yeasts found on grape skins, in the atmosphere or in the vats serving to start fermentation of grape sugars into alcohol 'naturally'. Natural yeast fermentation is thought to give more complexity to finished wines, with yeasts performing unpredictably & hence producing ‘wilder’ more pronounced flavours and less obvious alcohol (as wild yeasts are less efficient at turning sugar into alcohol). It is this unpredictability though which is the major downside of wild yeast fermentation – just one of the ambient yeasts floating around a winery can be working against the winemaker, producing off aromas or not working at all, resulting in a fermentation that dozen’t quite work like it should, leaving a stinky, semi sweet final wine that is largely undrinkable.
Some wineries have naturally occurring yeast strains that are consistent enough to allow them to naturally ferment every year (or their makers know exactly what tricks to use to make them consistent) but it is still regarded as a somewhat risky process.

Contrast this to the modern winemaking method, which involves the use of a cultured yeast in the fermentation process. Cultured yeasts are still all natural products, yet are cultured in a controlled label. They then can be ordered in bulk and added when appropriate (there are even yeast catalogues!). Wineries even cultivate their very own strain of yeast to be used in their wines – leading to similar characters in all the wines of a single maker (good for ‘house style’). The main advantage of cultured yeasts is their consistent results, producing ‘safe’ ferments that are clean and efficient, with nary a off aroma in sight. Cultured yeasts are particularly useful in the production of aromatic white wines – Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling etc.. The main disadvantage is, again, the homogeneity – cultured yeasts provide safe wines that may lack the complexity of their ‘natural’ brothers.

Round 2 Result: Small scale producers will go the natural ferment as they have much less to lose. On a larger scale, natural ferments are seen as an overtly risky 'unclean' proposition. Some large scale producers get around this by separating their wines into 'batches', allowing for individual parcels of grape juice to undergo natural fermentation (so if a batch goes astray there is little worry). Wild yeast ultimately wins for complexity though (and complex wines are uniformly the hgihest quality wines)
Winner: Tradition!
Andrew Graham

Next Issue: The Final Rounds - Winery Gadgets, Filtration & Closures