{"id":660,"date":"2014-11-05T18:02:12","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T22:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.techniquesinhomewinemaking.com\/blog\/?p=660"},"modified":"2026-03-22T06:58:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T10:58:36","slug":"making-wine-the-vino-superiore-way-day-81-mlf-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techniquesinhomewinemaking.com\/blog\/making-wine-the-vino-superiore-way-day-81-mlf-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Wine the Vino Superiore Way \u2013 Day 81: MLF Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 4, 2014<\/p>\n

\"\"

MLF Chromatogram Oct 11, 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

MLF Chromatogram Nov 4, 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, it’s been almost 3 months since I inoculated my VinoSuperiore<\/a> wines for malolactic fermentation, or MLF.<\/p>\n

A paper chromatography test on October 11, or 2 months after inoculation, showed that MLF in the 2011 Sangiovese and the tiny batch of 2011\/13 topping wine were not quite complete, and that the 2013 was essentially complete.<\/p>\n

MLF seemed to be going well and I expected that it would be complete within another week or two. So I didn’t worry as I got busy making new wine, including a Pinot Noir, and then spending a week touring the beautiful chateau wineries of Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

But another test on November 4 shows not much more movement, and so, it would appear that we have a bit of a stuck MLF.<\/p>\n

The spots on the 2014 Pinot Noir in the chromatograms illustrate the complete conversion of malic acid into lactic acid; and that’s how the Sangiovese should look like at the end of MLF.<\/p>\n

And so the plan now would be to feed some lactic acid bacteria nutrients to the 2011 batch and 2011\/13 topping wine to see if MLF can be completed. Organoleptically, the wine taste great at this point without any excess of acidity. The issue is that any residual malic acid, however small, is a potential source of microbiological instabilities or spoilage during aging or even in the bottle, so it needs to be dealt with.<\/p>\n

As for the 2013 batch, it will receive a small dose of SO2 to stabilize it and it will then go into the cellar for aging. Once the 2011 completes MLF and is ready for the cellar, I will introduce some oak chips in both batches for added complexity.<\/p>\n

Ah! A winemaker’s work is never done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 4, 2014 Well, it’s been almost 3 months since I inoculated my VinoSuperiore wines for malolactic fermentation, or MLF. A paper chromatography test on October 11, or 2 months… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[89,86,93,90,87],"class_list":["post-660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-winemaking","tag-chianti","tag-frozen-grape-must","tag-home-winemaking","tag-super-tuscan","tag-vino-superiore"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking Wine the Vino Superiore Way \u2013 Day 81: MLF Progress - 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