Fermentation is a vital part of wine making and as a winemaker, you can't frown at the process. However, stopping it is one of the biggest challenges winemakers experience. Grape juice has very rich sugars and yeast is added into the juice to consume the sugar and turn it into alcohol. Naturally, fermentation stops on its own when all the sugar is consumed or when the concentration of alcohol ranges from 14-18%.
To qualify for the best wine Texas status, one needs to know how to stop fermentation once the desired level of sweetness, appeal and flavour has been achieved. The natural fermentation process can be artificially altered. You can opt to pause it, speed it up, or stop it altogether.
Actual steps to stop fermentation of wine
This is one of the easiest ways to stop wine fermentation as well as increase the wine shelf life. Previously, we had pointed out that yeast fermentation stops once alcohol concentration is between 14-18% depending on the strain of yeast.
To make this happen, Texas wineries use the below steps:
The major disadvantage of using this method is that the flavor and smell of the wine are altered especially if vodka is used. For this reason, grape distilled is encouraged.
It is the only method that preserves the aroma, potency, taste, and sweetness of the wine. At 50F° / 10°C yeast goes into hibernation and precipitates at the bottom.
To do this you have to:
It is said to save the best for last. Pasteurization is the most effective method used by the best wineries in Texas to stop fermentation. Yeast dies at 104°f so the wine has to be heated above this point to stop fermentation.
To do this, follow the following steps.
One of the greatest challenges in this process is maintaining the wine at the same temperature for 15 minutes and later cooling it quickly enough. Try your best to minimize the contact of the wine and outside environment after this process and the results will be so worth the efforts.