# Cold maceration for Chardonnay



## kevingeorgebrown (Oct 26, 2010)

Anyone had experience with a 1-2 day cold maceration of Chardonnay (pre fermentation). Most of my wine head friends say no, but I understand that the French do it this way.


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## Julie (Oct 26, 2010)

Isn't this process down with a red wine more so that a white wine?


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## PAwinedude (Oct 26, 2010)

Depends on your purpose for the cold maceration.

As you probably all ready know, whites aren't typically put through this phase and are pressed immediately after crush destem.

So, this having been said, what do you hope to gain from doing this? I presume you would siphon off the "free run" juice and ferment it separately from the juice that is pressed.

thoughts?


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## JohnT (Oct 27, 2010)

In my early days, I did this very thing. This had its advantages and disadvantages. 

Advantage- since you are fermenting on the skins, you are allowing the fruit to break down. This, in turn, allows the juice to run more freely as you press the fruit. This is why the French do this. Simply to get more juice with less effort from their grapes. A lighter press also yields less tannins (during the pressing process) in the wine, and is supposed to make the wine less bitter by lessening the amount of pressure you put on the grape seeds. 

dis-advantage - by letting the grapes sit on the skins, you pick up more tannins (from the skins) than if you were pressing the grapes harder. For my tastes, I prefer less tannins in my whites. Although the yield will be lower, and more of the juice may remain "trapped" in the fruit, I do not mind a lower yield if it makes the wine taste better. 

I do not mean to frighten you. Both ways will yeild a good quality wine. It is that, having tried both ways, I prefer the immediate press route. I do not even crush/destem the grapes. I simply toss the whole clusters into the press and squeeze under low pressure for a extended period of time.


My advise - Try it both ways. I am sure that you will find a preference.


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## kevingeorgebrown (Oct 27, 2010)

Very good info. I'll try it both ways. Thanks!


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