Fermentation and Carbonic Maceration

ISN’T FERMENTATION AMAZING?

Edouard Bourgeois
January 19, 2024

And I mean fermentation in general, not only alcoholic fermentation. Because yes of course, we may immediately think of wine and other alcoholic beverages when fermentation is mentioned but think about kimchi, coffee, cigars, soy sauce or your morning yogurt. All of these products wouldn’t exist without the magic process of fermentation. Anselme Selosse never fails to remind his audience about these other fermented products and how fermentation allows us to reveal the origin of the product, the terroir. There is something almost mysterious about the process and one can go deep into the scientifically complex aspect of it. In this article, I wanted to focus on a certain kind of fermentation we hear about often. And that is the carbonic maceration, famously used in my beloved Beaujolais region but in many other places as well. Also, this where it gets tricky. Is carbonic maceration a certain type of fermentation? To answer this question and dive deep into the matter, nothing’s better than the post from Mathieu Lapierre (of Domaine Lapierre in Beaujolais) that he recently posted on Facebook. This step by step process is perfectly illustrated and thoroughly explains what is going on. I wanted to share this with my English translation. Enjoy!

1.       HARVEST

The grape harvest and sorting of the grapes are handled by hand very meticulously in small crates so grapes stay intact and not crushed

Below, a cluster of Gamay Noir a jus blanc

Zoomed in: a peeled berry of Gamay Noir a jus blanc

2.       VATTING

The harvest is put into tanks quickly and at a cool temperature. A naturally occurring juice forms at the bottom of the vat. The quantity of juice depends on the firmness of the fruit and the method of vatting (by hand of mechanically) this juice is called “la tire”

La Tire: in the vat, only the “tire” starts fermenting thanks to indigenous yeasts (naturally present in the environment) this fermentation is immediate and spontaneous and create carbon dioxide (CO2). The quantity of “tire” will define carbonic (small quantity of juice) or semi- carbonic (high quantity of juice)

Whole Clusters: Grape clusters are whole. They do not ferment, they go under an enzymatic degradation

3.       ENZYMATIC DEGRADATION

The environment in the vat, saturated in CO2 stimulates the enzymes naturally present in the berries which extracts the color from the skin towards the core of the berry. The inside of the berry will go from light yellow, to pink, to red before turning a deep purple. The taste of the fruit will also evolve. There is no fermentation inside the berry

4.       END OF THE MACERATION

After 2 to 4 weeks on the vat, the harvest is de-vatted delicately and by hand in order to keep the grapes whole before pressing

Pictured: whole cluster of Gamay Noir a jus blanc. The berries are still intact on the stem, untouched and not fermented (na tannin extraction)

Pictured: close up of a peeled berry of Gamay Noir a jus blanc after maceration

The color, taste and chemical balance of the grapes has changed (decrease of the malic acid, color and aromatic extraction)

5.       THE PRESS 

Pressing is performed slowly and at low pressure to avoid the release of vegetal (green) tannins found in the stem

Pictured: one of the modernized presses at the domaine

Pictured: a “Gerle”, basket traditionally used to collect the press

The juice (must) that drips from the press is called “paradis”. It is already red and very aromatic even though it is not fermented

Le paradis - unfermented juice with high concentration of natural sugar

6.       GRAPES AFTER PRESSING

Grapes are still whole and the seeds remain intact with no tannic extraction thanks to the delicate handling.

Pictured: close up on a whole cluster after pressing

Pictured: berry after pressing

The malic acid has almost entirely disappeared after maceration so no malolactic fermentation may occur This also creates the risk of “piqure lactique”, inherent in carbonic maceration: without lactic acid, lactic bacteria may turn sugar into vinegar

7.       ENTONNAGE: FILLING THE BARRELS

La tire and the paradis are blended and put into barrels. At this stage, the tire contains an important concentration of fermentable yeasts (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and acts as its own fermentation starter

Pictured: our wines are unfiltered, only clarified during the elevage (aging)

Pictured: saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fermentation (alcoholic) starts as soon as Entonnage starts. During this step, a large quantity of oxygen blends into the must, stimulating the yeasts while making it difficult for the malic bacteria that perform best in anaerobic environment (in the absence of oxygen)

The shape, volume and composition of the wood barrel offers the ideal recipient for a slow fermentation and natural fining.

The elevage comes to an end the following spring

From the harvest to the bottling, no oenological additive is used (SO2, foreign yeasts, enzymes, tannins, acids) and no filtration.

A picture I took at Domaine Lapierre in 2017

Apero au Beaujolais Recap

by Edouard Bourgeois
April 29, 2022

Those who know me also know my profound love for the wines and the region of Beaujolais, where I was lucky to spend three weeks in September 2017, helping the fabulous team of Domaine Lapierre in Villié-Morgon. The Pressoir team and I were particularly enthusiastic about last night’s “Apéro au Beaujolais”, a perfect way to embrace spring. I was stunned by the diversity of styles among the fifteen wines we presented. I also really wanted to include a few bottles with some age, such as an excellent Fleurie from 2010 and a couple 2016 from top producers such as Foillard and les famous yet excellent Thillardon. Lastly, it was incredible to taste these wines over the course of the event and even after a good three hours of opening. None of them faded over time. In fact, quite the opposite happened as Max, Victoire and I revisited these beautiful Gamay (and one Chardonnay).

Below are a few of our notes. The wines are geographically listed from north to south and it was a quite a treat (and some effort!) to be able to present all ten crus, in addition to a Lantignié bottling and even a more rare Beaujolais Blanc.

Armand Heitz, Juliénas 2019

While typically bolder, Julienas made by Armand Heitz (in the Burgundian way) remains refined without losing its depth. The cru of Juliénas was named after Julius Ceasar and vines are grown on volcanic soils.

Domaine des Billards, Saint Amour 2020

Two distinctive styles can be found in Saint-Amour, making it difficult to describe the appellation in general terms. Some wines can be quite bold while other producers make a much lighter style Gamay. Domaine des Billards, a small five hectare property that ages its wines in cement and work on sandy soils, showed finesse and a rather light structure.

Domaine Thillardon, Chénas “Les Carrières” 2016

I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm for this wine. I believe it became many attendees’ favorite. This "clean natural wine", unfiltered, was the most cloudy of all and the expression “bouquet of flowers in a velvet basket” could not be more appropriate to describe it. Chénas, being the smallest cru, is not easy to come by. The very old granite that defines the land there also contain some silex which gives great tension and minerality.

Thibault Liger Belair, Moulin à Vent “La Roche” 2016

After Armand Heitz, another Burgundian producer from Nuits-st-Georges was represented here. Thibault’s “La Roche” climat is located at the top of the hill where the windmill (Moulin a Vent) is. Here, very old vines are grown. Fruits are 40% destemmed. I really liked this very well made, precise, clean and polished wine.

Domaine Coudert, Fleurie “Cuvée Christal” 2010  

Alain Coudert makes a rather atypical wine for the appellation here. Fleurie is considered to be pretty light on its feet, but the cuvée “Christal” comes from a pretty clay rich vineyard that borders the Moulin a Vent cru. The twelve years of bottle age only added to the wine’s brooding character and a touch of smoke could be sensed.

Domaine de Fa, Fleurie “Roche Guillon” 2019

Domaine de Fa showed a more classic and expected Fleurie style here. Domaine de Fa’s plot is at the highest altitude in the appellation on the steep slopes at the foot of the chapel of la Madone.

Domaine Chapel, Chiroubles 2020

The young and dynamic couple Michele Smith and David Chapel went from successful sommeliers in fine dining restaurants to meticulous winemakers in Beaujolais. They released their first vintage with the 2016 harvest with the help from the Lapierre family. Their Chiroubles plot is 2 hectares and they started producing it since 2018. At 400 meters altitude and planted in high density, it is the epitome of the Chiroubles appellation, the highest altitude cru with a peak at 1,500 feet, offering a long growing season and usually the last to be harvested. This is also a very labor-intensive vineyard where work by hand is the only option.

Domaine Foillard, Morgon “Eponym’ “ 2016

Jean and Agnes took over this domaine in 1980. Today, with 14 hectares, they belong to the top five producers of Beaujolais. The Eponym’ bottling comes from the Lieu Dit “Charmes” at the highest altitude in the appellation. 

Morgon is second largest appellation after Brouilly, and its six climats makes it one of the most famous crus. It is also known for its "rotten rocks" locally called gore (decomposed schist)

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2019

For the sake of comparison and to show the diversity Morgon has to offer, I wanted to show this excellent bottle from Lapierre. The late Marcel took over from his dad in 1973. He rapidly became a model in the region and was known for his generosity and commitment to working without synthetic chemicals, harvesting ripe so chaptalization could be avoided. His mentor was known to be scientist and winemaker Jules Chauvet. I am always impressed with the consistency and high quality of these Morgon, year after year. The wines are fleshy but not flashy and offer great aromatic complexity with multi layers and are simply delicious on any occasion.

Prunelle de Navacelle, Beaujolais Lantignié 2019

Lantignie is one of the 38 villages allowed in the Beaujolais Villages appellation. Neighbor of Villie-Morgon, Lanitgnie has been pushing to get its own appellation to become its own cru, the eleventh one. The land is quite pristine there and diverse too, with rolling hills, some flat lands and many underground streams.

Domaine Les Capréoles, Régnié “Diaclase” 2019

The Diaclase cuvée comes from the oldest vines of the domaine, grown on sandy soils. Regnié is the newest cru and home to many organic producers, such as Les Capréoles, who has been working in such a way since 2014. That particular wine showed some austerity at first and it took a couple hours to loosen up.

A. Pegaz, Brouilly 2019

Brouilly is the largest appellation and slightly warmer because of its southern location. Brouilly became very popular in the Parisian market in the 18th century and soon after, when the railway system developed. Brouilly offers a quite unique geological situation with blue volcanic rocks locally called “diorite”.

Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes, Côte de Brouilly 2019

Cote de Brouilly is for Brouilly what Hermitage is for Crozes Hermitage. Picture the hill with higher quality hillside vineyards surrounded by vines planted on the flat lands…

Cote de Brouilly typically boasts more mineral notes than Brouilly.

Winemaker Nicole Chanrion of Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes is nicknamed “the boss of the hill”.

Laura Lardy, Beaujolais Village Blanc Chardonnay 2019

There is no question Chardonnay performs better further north in the Cote d’Or, where limestone gives it its irresistible minerality. But if granite is Gamay’s best friend, Chardonnay can offer an interesting performance on that type of soil. Young Laura Lardy, who works organically since she took over in 2017, makes an excellent red wine but we wanted to present her Chardonnay, which she vinifies in neutral oak foudres of 600 liters.

Yvon Métras, Beaujolais “Deuxieme Mise” 2018  

We wanted to finish the lineup with the legendary Yvon Métras. Special thanks to Raj who shared this bottle from his own cellar. It is as difficult to visit Yvon as it is to find his wines. Now joined by his son Jules, Yvon started the domaine in 1988. Today, he still makes a very distinctive wine from the five hectares he tends like a garden. This Beaujolais showed the expected rusticity that characterized the producer. Not everyone loved this bottle, understandably so. I found it to be a quite intellectual experience that proved the wines of Beaujolais are not only the delicious thirst quenching juice we can think of.