A Brief History of… Blog Posts (Part 2)

In December 2023 I wrote the original instalment of this identically titled blog post (you can read it here). What’s the point? To briefly revisit some of the more memorable blog posts from 2024, touching on themes such as bio-acidification, sulphur dioxide shaming (in wine), colloidal stability, pinking, and filtration. And it also serves as a farewell to 2024 seeing that this will be the last blog post of the year. OK, now that all that waffling is over, let’s get into it!

It Does Not Need to End on a Sour Note

Pundits call global warming the single biggest threat that humanity has ever faced. And guess what? It ain’t that great for our vineyards and wines either. Long term trends show that grape acid levels are falling, and wine alcohol levels are rising. Luckily, winemakers now have selected yeast strains available, capable of producing high levels of organic acids such as lactic acid, and that can uniquely produce malic acid while decreasing alcohol levels. And how about a MLF bacteria that preserves citric acid while enhancing berry aromas? If all of this sounds mighty fresh to you, click here to read more.

Busting the Myth of Sulphur Shaming

A pet peeve of mine, and no doubt countless winemakers all over the word, is sulphur shaming. To be more specific, sulphur dioxide shaming in wine. Sulphur dioxide works well, is cheap, and relatively non-toxic. Yet, absurdly so, its presence in wine is frowned upon by the very people that consume copious amounts of other foods containing much more sulphur dioxide. Could the real culprits behind those ‘sulphur dioxide hangovers’ be biogenic amines and quercetin? Read this article and decide for yourself. And if you’re still not convinced, consider having one less glass of wine the next time around.

A Sometimes Not-So-Stable Relationship

Winemakers inherently have a relationship with not only their wine, but also the colloids in it. In this blog post about colloidal stability, focus is put on the importance of pH in making quality wine. Here’s an excerpt from it: “To really drill in the importance of pH management in winemaking, realise that it plays a role in a slew of really important stuff that happens in a wine. What stuff, you ask? Well, how about microbial stability, the solubility of tartrate salts and proteins, the effectiveness of free sulphur dioxide, enzymes and bentonite, colour stability, and finally oxidative and browning phenomena.” If you want to read more, click on this.

Because Nobody Wants Chenin Pink or Sauvignon Pink

A quite unintentional spell of eavesdropping lead to the creation of a blog post on pinking, titled “Occam’s Razor and those Pesky Pinking Polyphenols”. It suggests that the prevention of pinking in white wine should not rely on some silver bullet, but instead be achieved by a holistic quality approach, which can include various fining agents (with or without PVPP), ascorbic acid, and sulphur dioxide. But what about a specific tannin, such as catechin? Make your own conclusion by clicking on the title mentioned earlier in this paragraph.

A Nightmare on Filtration Street

The subtitle above is identical to the title of the eponymous blog post I recently wrote on filtration, and almost identical to the title of an iconic horror movie from the 80’s. Wine filtration can sometimes turn into a horror movie, but all of this Fear and Loathing in Your Cellar (there’s another movie reference for the astute reader) can be avoided by getting to grips with glucans, understanding their source, and improved microbial management both in the vineyard and cellar. Spoiler alert: wild or spontaneous fermentations can be a significant source of glucans. So, best you click here if you want to learn more about glucans and related filtration issues.

And that’s it for 2024. For more technical insights, practical information, puns, dark humour, and sarcasm, be sure to check back here in 2025. Cheers!