EXTENDED MACERATION
by Jack Costa
It’s like burnt marshmallows; some people love them, others hate them. The topic of extended maceration will undoubtedly elicit a similar array of responses among wine professionals; some good, some not so good. Regardless of one’s opinion on the matter, the concept of extended maceration remains somewhat convoluted and at times mysterious, even among industry professionals. So, the rst question one must ask is, what is extended maceration? At its most basic level, extended maceration describes the winemaking process of allowing recently fermented red wine to soak on the grape skins (maceration) for an extended period of time. This extended time period might range from 2 weeks to 6 months, or sometimes even longer. When this technique is used with white wines it can create amber or orange wines. For the sake of this article, however, extended maceration will be discussed solely in the context of red winemaking. Some might consider winemakers who experiment with such unconventional wine-making techniques to be fringe, others would call them innovators, and still, others might call them crazy. Ultimately, winemaking, like any other industry, is looking to develop new and unique styles of products that will di erentiate
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