wine fermentation and temp control

does anybody out there control the fermentation temperatures of there wine? it seems so important for beer and since i have the ability to do it why not for wine too.

it seems like people favor a slightly higher temp for reds and a lower one for whites...lower temperatures/cleaner flavor profile for the whites..higher temp/more esters for the reds.

what are your opinions on temperatures for wine fermentation?

thanks

thevalkrye said:

does anybody out there control the fermentation temperatures of there wine? it seems so important for beer and since i have the ability to do it why not for wine too.

it seems like people favor a slightly higher temp for reds and a lower one for whites...lower temperatures/cleaner flavor profile for the whites..higher temp/more esters for the reds.

what are your opinions on temperatures for wine fermentation?

thanks

Click to expand...

I'm a noob myself most of the research I have done indicates fermentation temperatures are dependent upon the type of yeast being used. You can search around and find the specific ABV tolerances and optimum fermentation temp ranges by plugging in the manufactures product name into googel.

well. i have been making wine for a few years now...probably longer than beer actually. i was mostly wondering if anybody did in fact control their ferm temperatures for wine or if it developed a more rounded flavor profile by letting the temps fluctuate through a range, like it would start out at say 20C....during fermentation get as high as maybe 24C.

wine yeast sites like lallemand are pretty vague about fermentation temperatures with ranges from 15 to 30C for a specific yeast. at higher temperatures does the yeast produce more flavors, but they are harsher and require more "aging" to be drinkable?

You're correct about higher temps (usually) for reds & lower (usually) for whites. I've really never had to do much at all to keep my fermentations "in the green" when it comes to temps. In winter, I have to turn the heat up a little in the fermentation room, but that's it, nothing special. You can find more yeast info here: Winemaking: Strains of Wine Yeast Man, I'm getting a lot of use out of Keller's yeast page today! Hope you find some of this info useful. Regards, GF.

A key issue here is: Are we talking kit or something else? With kits, they usually spell out a temperature range and it doesn't depend on red or white. An article in the last WineMaker magazine, written by Tim Vandergrift of the kit-maker Winexpert pretty much specifies 75 is the best temp for fermenting kits.
If we're talking wine from fruit or fresh grapes or whatever, I'm out of my league and will defer to the rest of the world.