Todd Has Gas
About time I got around to blogging again, eh?
Today I have gas...lots of it. Fortunately, it has nothing to do with my intestinal indecency; I’m referring to nitrogen. Nitrogen is commonly used in the cellar to prevent premature oxidation of wine. There are two common uses:
To blanket the wine from oxygen:
Red wine is usually kept in barrels. Good winemakers take great care to ensure the barrels are full to the top with no air remaining in the barrel. Over time, however, wine evaporates out of the barrel and more wine has to be replaced periodically to prevent oxygen from harming the wine. This process is known as “topping”. However, occasionally, the wine must be removed from the barrels and pumped into a tank to separate the “clean” wine from the sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the barrel. This process is known as “racking”. But what if the wine doesn’t fill the tank completely? This is when winemakers use nitrogen (and often carbon dioxide or argon) to act as an invisible “lid” to cover the wine. See the video here. These gases are heavier than oxygen and prevent spoilage micro-organisms (that need air to survive) from harming the wine.
To “pump” the wine:
Delicate wines, such as white wines or Pinot Noir, may pick up too much oxygen if moved from barrel to tank with a regular pump. Thus, some winemakers (me included) will use nitrogen to pressurize the barrel to force wine out of the barrel and into the tank. This process of racking is very gentle and only minimal exposure to oxygen occurs.
But these gases aren’t perfect. They eventually mix with air, so time in the tank is temporary or the gas must be replaced often. Also, I find that nitrogen isn’t very entertaining. Not once has it made my voice sound funny or make me laugh uncontrollably. I suppose that’s probably a good thing.
Today I have gas...lots of it. Fortunately, it has nothing to do with my intestinal indecency; I’m referring to nitrogen. Nitrogen is commonly used in the cellar to prevent premature oxidation of wine. There are two common uses:
To blanket the wine from oxygen:
Red wine is usually kept in barrels. Good winemakers take great care to ensure the barrels are full to the top with no air remaining in the barrel. Over time, however, wine evaporates out of the barrel and more wine has to be replaced periodically to prevent oxygen from harming the wine. This process is known as “topping”. However, occasionally, the wine must be removed from the barrels and pumped into a tank to separate the “clean” wine from the sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the barrel. This process is known as “racking”. But what if the wine doesn’t fill the tank completely? This is when winemakers use nitrogen (and often carbon dioxide or argon) to act as an invisible “lid” to cover the wine. See the video here. These gases are heavier than oxygen and prevent spoilage micro-organisms (that need air to survive) from harming the wine.
To “pump” the wine:
Delicate wines, such as white wines or Pinot Noir, may pick up too much oxygen if moved from barrel to tank with a regular pump. Thus, some winemakers (me included) will use nitrogen to pressurize the barrel to force wine out of the barrel and into the tank. This process of racking is very gentle and only minimal exposure to oxygen occurs.
But these gases aren’t perfect. They eventually mix with air, so time in the tank is temporary or the gas must be replaced often. Also, I find that nitrogen isn’t very entertaining. Not once has it made my voice sound funny or make me laugh uncontrollably. I suppose that’s probably a good thing.
posted by Todd at Thursday, July 30, 2009
1 Comments:
Love your website. All very interesting and your wine looks great. Let me know if you need that next day shipping or anything else. Cheers! Heidi/Spartan Traffic 877/433-4800-direct line
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