Page 10 - Grapevine July-August 2019

In The Winery

Small Trials Before

Making Big Decisions

By: Thomas J. Payette, Winemaking Consultant
T rials and fining agents, in the wine busi- a wine has a problem - identify the solution in a

ness, are often riddled with unfamiliar lan-
laboratory first. Then apply the desired corrective
guage and terms. Grams per liter, grams
and math before performing in the cellar.
per thousand gallons, pounds per thousand gallons action in the cellar. Always double check you trial
and milligrams per liter roll off most winemaker’s
tongues as if the world is in tune. Let’s review how Why?
to make this simpler and to understand.
The reason we do trials is to experiment with
When? refinement, improvement and / or correction of a
juice or wine. Always work in small quantities with
We should perform trials anytime a question is a wine so one does not create a larger problem,
raised on how to improve or change a wine. If in a tank, in need of potential further corrective

Page 8 The Grapevine • July - August 2019 877-892-5332

Grapevine Main Pages GV070819_Layout 1-1 .indd 8 6/18/19 3:20 PM