Aging in Steel

No. That's the reason it is used in winemaking. It adds no flavor whatsoever to the wine. It's also really easy to clean and extremely durable.

Those are very popular with both home and commercial winemakers. They're cheap too. :^)

Not at all - especially if you plan to age "sur lie".

I don't know where you are getting your fruit, but the classic NZ style Sauvignon Blanc tends to be a blend of fruit picked early, which retains that "grassy" character, and later harvested fruit that has higher sugar, less acid and greater maturity. They are cold fermented, lightly oaked (if at all) and usually not put through ML so as to retain their crispness and sharply defined fruitiness. I like them in the Summer especially as a nice change of pace from my usual Chardonnay.

Tom S

So, if steel adds no flavor to the wine, what does aging do if done in steel? I am planning on using a Sauvingon Blanc wine kit. I might try to get one from New Zealand, but I thought of using a "reserve" kit.

It ages the wine without adding flavors from the container.

Dick

I understand that it ages the wine - but what does "aging" by itself mean? What does "aging" do to the wine itself? I had understood that aging added additional flavors through the wood it was stored in - but if steel imparts no such flavor, what is the point of aging in steel?

So your question is "What does aging do for wine?"

Aging matures the wine. The initial expressive flavors tone down and integrate to create complex, subtle flavors. Flavoring from the aging container is but one facet of aging.

Consider that the majority home winemakers age in glass and there isn't suppose to be any flover in glass either. One advantage of aging in stainless steel comes when you use a corney keg because you can force carbonate the wine.

Dick

Wine aromas come from the grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon wine smells like Cabernet Sauvignon because of specific aromatic materials in that particular variety of grape. The grassy aroma so characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc wine, is a consequence of the grape variety, not the winemaking process.

Wine bouquet, on the other hand, results from the winemaking process. The yeast, bacteria, barrels, winemaking procedures, etc. all contribute to produce wine bouquet. Wine bouquet components may decrease, remain constant or increase in intensity as the wine ages.

Some bouquet components are prevalent soon after the completion of fermentation. For example. by products produced by the yeast contribute to the fresh, fruity nose so typical of white table wines such as Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Chenin Blanc. However, these odor components are short-lived, and they often disappear in less than a year or so. Consequently, these types of wines are best consumed when they are young and the nose is still fresh and fruity.

Other bouquet components develop more slowly. Wines stored in oak barrels slowly accumulate vanillin and other substances from the wood. Byproducts produced by lactic bacteria can give wines a lasting buttery attribute. Wine acids react with alcohols and slowly produce volatile esters. During bulk storage, oxidation slowly changes the odor characteristics of many different wine ingredients. All these materials contribute to the bouquet of the wine, and some bouquet components require several years to develop fully.

Lum Del Mar, California, USA

I'll try to do this by analogy, because many will do not have the chemistry background to understand the detail.

Aging wine has three major components:

Component 1:) Aging wine in steel/glass containers is akin to weaving a cloth out of cotton fibers. Young wine is like a bunch of short strands of fiber, unwoven. During aging, the fibers begin to join, and over time enough join to become a fabric. In wine, some of the short molecules (tannins, phenols, etc.) have strong flavors which give the young wine 'raw' flavor. As these molecules join together (we chemists call it polymerize), these flavors soften.

Component 2:) Wine, like gasoline is a blend of chemicals. In both, some of these chemicals evaporate within a year or two. In wine, these are the 'fruity' aromas we enjoy in white wines like Gewurtztraminer and Riesling. In gasoline, the equivalent chemicals are the ones that help the engine start in cold weather.

Component 3:) Aging wine in oak adds flavors from the oak and absorbs some flavors from the wine. Wine aged in steel/glass does not get either of these two 'benefits'. I can't think of any purposeful analogy.

I do not know what it may add to the wine, but I can tell from the after taste if a wine was aged in metal. It is kind of like drinking a Tab, it tastes ok until you stop drinking then yak.

I'll bet you couldn't tell double blind whether wine was aged in stainless steel or glass. If you're tasting something "off" in wines from metal containers they aren't stainless steel - or at least it isn't the container you're tasting.

Tom S

Slightly off topic but I had a Central Valley Chenin Blanc that was high in acid in 99 so I sparkled 12 bottles of it to 90 PSIG; the rest was bottled as a still wine.

It was mediocre as a still wine. Drinkable but not very impressive; better as a topping wine.

I just opened the first of the sparklers; (I forgot I made it). I should have sparkled all of it. It's very good to us. I usually sparkle Seyval; to be honest the base wine is not very obvious after several years on the lees. I like it bone dry so it shows all the faults if there are any. I can always touch it up with a little sugar if I don't like it and most people prefer a sparkler with a bit of sweetness but don't know that.

I have no idea what I am sparkling this year yet but it will be something; the last batch is from 2001 and it's time to get some more in the oven...

Joe

Joe

Don't mean to burst your bubble, Tom, We re-passivate our tanks/plumbing lines whenever we have to do any welding on 'em. Ditto if somebody's done a super high pressure gun wash or scrubbed with scotchbrite (or equiv) pads. Those remove a significant amount of the initial passivation, which results in minor 'rust' layer until the repassivation re-establishes itself or until we repassivate it.

Gene (Materials Science Eng>>I do not know what it may add to the wine, but I can tell from the after