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YEAST AND FERMENTATION
Well, there we have it, winemaking in a nutshell. From Brouette to Pétrus, Mont du Toit to Salon, it's all here in this short chemical formula - no need for a wine list next year then.
Yeast of Eden
Words by: ALISON BUCHANAN.
Associate Director of Buying.Corney & Barrow London
C6 H12 O6 + Yeast = 2C2 H5 OH + 2 CO2
Sugar in the grapes reacts with yeast enzymes to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. Prevent the latter escaping, under pressure, and you have the basis for sparkling wine and, of course, Champagne. The equation ostensibly says it all, whilst really revealing absolutely nothing of the complexity of the process - one might as well try to understand a piece of music by looking at printed scales. The first formula obscures all of the elements we have mentioned elsewhere which work towards producing quality grapes: grape variety, rootstock, clone, terroir, plant husbandry, climate, mesoclimate, care during harvest and in transporting the grapes to the cellar. We at Corney & Barrow tend to be more interested in this side of the equation since quality wine can only be produced from quality ingredients.
Thereafter the cellar master's responsibility should be to manage the equation, translating his ingredients honestly. One area in modern winemaking which gives us concern is when the process from the delivery of grapes to finished wines assumes the greater importance and winemaking takes the upper hand. Modern technology is a great servant, saving many a vintage from what would have been disaster in the past, but it makes a bad master. At a recent visit to Thomas More Street, Olivier Leflaive, accompanied by his winemaker Franck Grux, reaffirmed his assessment that Franck's main role is in securing quality grapes - the winemaking part being 'easy'. Over dinner we tried to coax some anecdotes from Franck proving the contrary. In fact, after twenty minutes watching Franck scribble chemical equations and analyse grape pulp on a napkin James Franklin and I decided to opt for the straightforward equation - and to trust what is in the glass.We advise customers to do likewise.C&B
