Gose goodies last week from Albert Beltran, Daniel Veit, Michael Markarian and inderpal singh. Thanks gents!
This week: Cold soak
What's the purpose of this winemaking technique? What styles of wine is it used for?
Pre-fermentation: with cold soak the wine maker is able to gently extract flavor and color of the skins without dealing the side effects and interference with by products of fermentation. they are able to extract without getting some of the harsher tannins, bitterness, and astringency that come into play as fermentation progresses.
It's also worth mentioning that cold soaking can be used for logistical reasons. When a cellar is very busy, it helps the winemaker control the timing of fermentation to make sure that there is enough bandwidth for management during fermentation.
Styles of wine that would typically utilize this technique would be red wines?
Good fairly recent article on that : vinepair.com/.../
I very much question color and tannin extraction during this process. In my very limited experience of three harvests working with Pinot Noir, the juice never looks much different after a cold soak than it does coming out of the crusher/destemmer. Once the ferment kicks off, you start seeing massive changes. The aromas seem to change during cold soak, though.
The purpose of cold soaking, pre-fermentation, the juice and skins is primarily done to allow the extraction of softer tannins and higher concentration of colors. Typically, this will result in a more approachable youthful drinking experience. Varieties are typically cold soaked include Nebbiolo, Grenache and Pinot Noir.
Mostly done with low pigment reds and skin contact whites.
Henri Jayer is generally acknowledged to be be an early pioneer of cold soaking, to give more color, aromas and complexity to his wines.
Wasn't it Guy Accad who also pioneered this technique in the 70's?