The Scariest Winemaking Technique - Hyper Oxidation 

It is a pretty wild process! I would probably get a 5 gallon carboy to transfer it to. If you still have any headspace, a dry Riesling will make a good topper. A good hard so2 hit after fermentation is the way to go. These crisp whites really fall apart if they try to go through MLF which they may try to naturally if the SO2 is low enough after fermentation. I hit them hard at the completion of fermentation, then test the free SO2 at the time of bottling. If it needs more I will bump it up. It is usually close to the ideal range after about 5 or 6 months in carboy after the big dose.

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Albarino put through malo can be pretty tasty imo -- If you use an appropriate lactobacillus. High acid whites put through malo correctly can be wonderful. I think rias baixas puts their premium Albarino through malo often. Cheers!

I actually have an even better comparison in the works. I split a batch of Riesling I to two carboys. They are identical but one was sulfited and one wasn't. One turned dark brown within about 30 minutes and one never did. It will be a really good side by side comparison.

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Interesting. I imagine the ferms might be different without available oxygen in the unsulfited version. For straight organoleptic comparison I'd like to try a standard version vs. an oxed, sulfited, inoculated and re-oxygenated (slightly, just to give similar ferm dynamics) version.

we know your heritage without you telling us ;) best way to not get the lisny flavour is to use vinifera grapes

What is fusion super estrification? google doesn't bring up anything

@@Ralphgtx280 I have been testing over 50 different species in the coldest region in Poland .I have only less then 150 vines .I ferment in small containers ,however I see that in bigger container wine won't oxydate so easily .The assessment is not relevant becasue of wine is in small amount.I want to mention that anthranilate methylate can crystalise in temperature of 25C degree.

Will do! I don't have a control with that wine but I have a Riesling side by side with a control. I too am very curious to see the difference between the two.

Yeast will consume oxygen if it has the chance. It has two options as far as eating sugar goes. Aerobic and anaerobic respiration (you can sub respiration in this case for fermentation). When it consumes an oxygen with the sugar, it creates CO2 and water instead of CO2 and alcohol. Once fermentation is underway, oxidation of unwanted molecules is near nonexistent between the CO2 blanket that the yeast creates and the O2 hunger that the yeast has. You can brown very easily pre fermentation. You can add all the oxygen you want during fermentation and see now browning and mild alcohol reduction due to increased aerobic respiration.

Post modern winemaking by Clark Smith

Thanks! It is a cool technique. Having aged the two wines side by side, I can say the differences are subtle but do exist.

The US is required to label that sulfites are used but they are used everywhere. Germany was the first to figure out about sulfur dioxide and would burn elemental sulfur in barrels several hundred years ago, creating SO2 (sulfites). The wines treated with the burnt sulfur would not spoil nearly as quickly as other wines and the industry has been using it ever since. It is now added in the form of a potassium salt (potassium metabisulfite) which breaks down to potassium and sulfur dioxide once placed the wine. This has been standard since the early 1800s. Prior to this this discovery, wines were preserved with things like pine resin but with relatively little success. Most wines were relatively undrinkable and would be cut with sea water or other liquids unless they were very fresh. The US does tend to leave a little more residual sugar than most countries, especially at the lower price points which could be a factor. Another could be natural amines (histadine, tyramine) produced by malolactic bacteria during malolactic fermentation. These are similar to histamine which can cause allergic reactions in some people. It also explains the "red wine headache" since white wines generally contain much more SO2 and rarely undergo malolactic fermentation.

I am not sure that that is entirely necessary since yeast cells so readily adsorb brown polymers. Yeasts have been used on white wines as a fining agent to treat subtle browning with success and are preferred over charcoal if it is specifically browning that you are treating. In this little experiment and one that I have going with a Riesling with a control, the color was fully restored once the yeast really got going. I had read that Schneider paper as well which does have a lot of great information. I am also not particularly sure how you would give the wine the time needed to fine off the brown pigment without eventually moving to more advanced forms of oxidation.

Yes, you don't want to let the wine sit longer than it needs to in the presence of oxygen. It's all a balancing act. If your grapes had botrytis or black rot (very common with cool climate white grapes), you really don't want to attempt hyper-oxidarion. In those cases, the wines will have an additional browning enzyme, lacasse, which will brown the wine but won't settle out or be metabolized by yeast as well. I have an article for winemaker magazine that goes into much more detail that you should check out.

It was great but so was the traditionally fermented version! Honestly the difference was almost imperceptible. I wrote up an article with some follow up on the June/July 2022 winemaker magazine. I believe it is available online for free if you look it up. Now that it has aged a little longer we will probably do another side by side. I expect the differences to become more evident as they age a few years.

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel yeah I read that :) LOVE ur channel. Thanks for the content! Would love to be updated on your mead. ty

Is it actively fermenting? If it browns early it will sort itself out once fermentation gets rolling. After fermentation, it is important to keep it well sulfited and topped up so there is very little air space in the storage vessel. Every time you introduce oxygen, like racking, you will lose a good bit of your free SO2. Some old time home winemakers suggest racking way too often. White wines don't have much tannin to scavenge oxygen so they are especially vulnerable. It is not going to be bad in the sense that you cant drink it, but there will be a considerable loss of quality if it browns.

@The Home Winemaking Channel I do believe it is still fermenting, although it´s in a cool basement, so it could be fermenting very slowly. I hope it clears up completely and doesn´t brown again when I bottle. Thank you for your time and response. :D

Any low tannin wine is very vulnerable to Browning and will need adequate SO2 from the time fermentation finished onward. If your carboy had a lot of headspace it was likely enough oxygen to completely wipe out the available free SO2. In the future you will want to sulfite after fermentation and keep the carboys topped up to the neck. At each racking you will sulfite again. If you have an SO2 analyzer you can add more precise additions but without one, you sort of need to err on the side of caution.

What type of wine are you making? A red will usually open up a little more on the second day unless it is older or very low on free SO2. A good bit of the character of a young wine (less than 1yr old), especially a young white wine comes from the esters formed by the yeast durning the cool fermentation. These are very volatile and will blow off within a day or so if stored at room temp after opening. You will definitely need to be more specific on what is changing. The perception of ethanol can change after a day but for the better generally. If a wine is "hot" meaning the ethanol is covering up some of the varietal aromas after first opening the wine, it can improve after some time airing out. This would decrease the intensity of the smells but increase the complexity. If a wine is grossly under sulfited it can oxidize noticeably overnight. Most wines are generally intended to be drank on the same night they are opened but can usually make it another day.

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel thank you, it was so generous of you to reply. Wine was red, my grapes should be ready soon, and will more diligent on my processing them. After opening bottles, which sat for just one tear, first day aroma, flavor was very good. Perfect color. Second day on, lost most of everything except color. Maybe too young? Maybe it oxidized as you mentioned. Or maybe I was expecting too much on a second day. Thanks for your videos and sharing great techniques and information!

I make mine old fashioned simple way. Fresh Fruit with skin, lots of sugar, a little bit of water, although next time I may add some green or black tea. Open sterilized glass container covered with 2 layers of cloth. Let it ferment until i like the flavor. But of course I'm making small batches for myself and a few friends I'm not trying to sell so i like to keep it simple. Air/oxygen is ok but i would def add the decision to shield your wine from outside air as much as reasonable can def depend on your local air quality. The air quality where I am is really good so I'm totally cool with air getting in there. I'm sure it's helping preventing mold while my wine is brewing.

I think most natural fermentations are sort of doing that. The high tannin content in a red scavenges oxygen pretty hard so it may never really then brown or may be covered up by the red pigment if it does. But the reaction of the tannin with the oxygen will definitely cause a change even if it never gets to the specific flavonoid phenols like it does in a white wine.

I use a home made air pulse 1cub/air from a oil less compressor, about 2nd day of fermentation once a day for the next 2days only, it will really amalgamate the yeasts, thereafter just punch down / day till end, as fermentation slows, float bubble (pool) cover on it, when all still, add a float of Nitrogen gas, under cover for a few days I add malo inoculation sometimes at 3/4 end of fermentation. Am a amateur wine maker grower Small Scale This was experiential but it really holds flavours true to the variety.