Podcast interview (Apr 30, 2016) between Ben Greenfield and winemaker Mark Warren discussing winemaking techniques. In this excerpt Mark explains their goal was to produce a "clean" wine with no residual sugar while maintaining typical alcohol levels; their Cabernet sits at about 13.9% ABV (typical Cabernet range cited as ~13.5–14.2%). The process mentioned includes a malolactic (secondary) fermentation, discussed in relation to pH and taste. The wines therefore have slightly lower calories/carbohydrates as a byproduct, but lowering alcohol was not the objective.
Is basically what's going on. The. The sugar is getting converted into higher amounts of alcohol. So the end product is a wine with less sugar and more alcohol.
Correct.
Okay, got it. Now, is that why you do that? Like, just to create a wine with more alcohol? You just like to. To. Are you just a closet drunk?
Yeah, it's actually not. It's not even more alcohol. It's actually around the standard of what a typical Cabernet or Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc is. But we did it with no residual sugar. So many wines that will be out there, that will go on the drier side or wanted to look at a lower calorie, they did it by lowering the alcohol content. And that wasn't our objective in the beginning. You know, our wines do have a little less calories and carbohydrates, but that wasn't our objective. We weren't looking to make a. A locale wine and create some kind of numbers game. It was more focusing on a clean wine that had no residual sugar. And it just. The byproduct of that happened to bring down the carbohydrates and calories a little. But we also wanted to make sure that it maintained its alcohol. You know, a typical Cabernet does sit in that 13 and a half to 14.1, 14.2 range, and ours is a 13.9. So we didn't want to be, you know, bring forth a wine that people felt that it was not up to par with a typical Cabernet or Chardonnay that they were drinking because it had less alcohol. Because that will. It does make a difference in its taste. If you've had wine that sits in the nine, ten, ten and a half range, it's a dramatic difference taste than a 13 and a half.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. No, I noticed a big difference. So this is basically a long fermentation. On your website, you say that your wines go through what's called a malolactic secondary fermentation to lower the pH levels and make like, a clean, good tasting wine. Is that the same. Is that just like, fancy word for long fermentation? Malolactic secondary fermentation?
Yeah. And it's just. Yeah, it's a type of fermentation. What's being done, and in that process, it's, you know, it's clean, so it's. It's top of the line, so there's no weird things.
