Natural wine ferments primarily through the action of wild yeasts naturally present on the grape skins.
The Natural Fermentation Process
Natural wine relies on a spontaneous fermentation process, distinct from conventional winemaking which often uses cultured or inoculated yeasts. Here's a breakdown of how it happens:
- Crushing the grapes exposes the sugars and pulp to wild yeasts living on the grape skins. This is the crucial first step where the raw materials meet the fermenting agents.
- The yeasts begin to eat the sugar, fermenting the grapes and starting their journey into becoming wine. The wild yeasts consume the natural sugars in the grape juice, converting them into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- This natural fermentation process, often conducted in open-air vessels, typically lasts anywhere from four days to two weeks, depending on various factors like temperature and yeast activity.
In essence, the transformation from grape juice to natural wine is driven by the indigenous microbial life already present on the grapes themselves, guided by time and temperature in the cellar.
