WHITE WINE ENOLOGY

WHITE WINE ENOLOGY could also be titled as SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF WHITE WINEMAKING. It is characterized by two particular features: Firstly, it is authored by a practitioner who has worked his whole life in decision-making technical positions in the wine industry. Secondly, it is dedicated exclusively to the enology of white wines, and focuses its attention on flavor preservation rather than strategies that seek to obtain short-lived quality benefits. In doing so, it addresses one of the most important issues of white winemaking, which is the limited shelf life and flavor stability of most such wines, and shows how different white wine enology is from red. Due to the complex chemical process of white wine aging that goes well beyond oxidative aging, this book has a strong focus on sensory analysis throughout. It specifies the flavor-active compounds responsible for aging-related faults, identifies the chemical mechanisms of their formation, and clearly defines the decisive measures to take in order to mitigate them and improve flavor stability. While this book includes a deep treatment of the scientific fundaments of the different kinds of white wine aging, it also examines typical engineering issues common to commercial winemaking. Thus, it provides numerous practical hints and technical details of hands-on winery work and a valuable insight into the inherently cross-disciplinary nature of fine white winemaking. Extensive personal experience was decisive for this purpose. Volker Schneider was founder of the international consulting firm Schneider-Oenologie, which specialized in innovative winery operations, product development, quality control, and research. He has authored more than 450 technical articles and a range of scientific papers on these topics. He was also lecturer of enological chemistry at Geisenheim University.

As a chemical process, white wine aging comprises much more than the com-monly known oxidative aging, frequently referred to as premox. Thus, discussing adverse aging means, firstly, differentiating the various kinds of aging according to sensory criteria, specifying the flavor-active compounds responsible for them, and identifying the chemical mechanisms of their formation. That's why this book has a strong sensory focus. In a second step, there are clear definitions of enological measures to be taken or avoided in order to mitigate the aging reactions and, hence, to improve flavor stability. These measures start as early as on the crush pad and continue throughout all phases of juice processing, wine stabilization, bottling, and storage. In response to these complex challenges, this book covers one of the key areas of enology hardly ever embraced in a single volume. It aims at providing a valuable insight into the inherently cross-disciplinary nature of fine white wine making, unifying knowledge scattered across chemistry, technology, and microbiology. All issues it raises are traced back to their scientific fundamentals and illustrated by original data, most of them obtained under commercial winemaking conditions. The listing of comprehensive bibliographical references allows for deepening up-to-date expertise on specific subject areas. Nevertheless, this book is not intended to be a merely scholarly one written like so many others in this field from a purely academic perspective, but rather reflects the industry background of the author. It is aimed at professional winemakers, lecturers of enology and consultants without experience in prac-tical winemaking, lab staff, students willing to look behind theory, and amateur winemakers with some scientific background. In light of their frequent questions, it also suggests solutions to typical engineering issues in winery op-erations. Thus, numerous practical hints and technical details of hands-on winery work round up the picture and provide a holistic view of one of the most fascinating fields of contemporary winemaking.

Auteur
Volker Schneider graduated in enology and was founder of the international consulting firm Schneider-Oenologie, which specialized in innovative winery operations, product development, lab quality control, and research. His professional activities have taken him to many wine-growing countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He has authored more than 450 technical articles and a range of scientific papers on these topics. He was also lecturer of enological chemistry at Geisenheim University.