Carbonic Maceration with Norton

The 2019 harvest is coming to a close. We are on our final pick of Norton and estimate to be finished the first week of November. Unlike all the other fruit we bring in from our vineyard, Norton is put through an unusual winemaking technique called carbonic maceration. Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique that is notoriously used in Beaujolais, France in the making of their “Nouveau” style wines. 

In short, carbonic maceration is the fermentation of grapes in an anaerobic environment. We start this process by pouring whole clusters of grapes into the tops of our stainless steel tanks. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to use machinery for this process, so our winery and vineyard crew all pitch in and pour the grapes into the tanks, 25 pounds at a time. Just for perspective, our largest tanks will have about 16,000 pounds of Norton in them when we are done (that's about 640 lugs to dump into each tank!). The tanks are then filled with carbon dioxide to remove all oxygen present, thus creating an anaerobic environment. In this type of environment, yeast have a hard time performing fermentation. The lack of oxygen forces natural enzymes, which are present on the grapes, to start fermentation inside the grape. This means that each grape undergoes its own, individual, fermentation. After about a month, the grapes will be removed from the tank, de-stemmed, and placed into bins for primary fermentation.

So, why go through all of this extra work? Well, carbonic maceration is crucial for our Norton production because the enzymes assist in breaking down malic acid, which reduces the overall acidity of our final product. In doing so, this technique creates a very rich and balanced “mouth feel”, and elicits fruit flavors that make the wine “pop”. Also, Norton’s natural aromas will be enhanced, with a particularly fresh and lively appeal…