| ‘Natural’ or ‘wild’ fermentation is the utilisation of the indigenous yeast found on the grapes from the vineyard to perform the fermentation in the winery. There is a skill to making sure you have success with wild fermentation. This includes understanding your vineyards and associated practices. Not adding sulfur dioxide to the grapes or juice and to encourage the passive oxidation of white/rosé juice prior to fermentation. I will cover a brief history of why we at Yalumba started working with wild fermentation. I will outline the benefits of using wild fermentation in your winery. There are not only organoleptic benefits for the resulting wine, but also savings associated with purchasing of yeast, lowering the use of sulfur, enzyme and DAP additions in your winery. I will then take you through four different techniques we use at Yalumba for successful wild fermentation. Three of these processes relate to white and rosé production and will cover semi-clarified and full solid fermentation in tank as well as full solids fermentation in oak barrels. The final technique will be for wild fermentation in red wine. |
