Assessing Competitiveness In Moldova's Economy - Economic Growth

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Development Alternatives, Inc. Moldova Competitiveness Assessment: The Wine Cluster—Annex B White wine fermentation temperature—Today’s premium wine markets demand that wines be made according to techniques that maximize the retention of fruit flavor and aroma. Controlled temperature fermentation is absolutely essential for maximum retention of fruit flavor and aroma in white wine. If no cooling is used, ferments will progress naturally at temperatures of at least 28°C, and could even be as high as 35°C, depending on the weather, size, and shape of the fermentation tank and the yeast strain. Even if the weather is cold, the heat generated by fermentation will push temperatures too high. During hot ferments, most of the desirable fruit flavors and aromas are burnt off, leaving the wine insipid. Most Moldovan wineries have refrigeration plants and/or in-tank heat exchangers to control fermentation temperatures. However, there often prevails a mistaken belief that control of fermentation to a maximum temperature of 18°C is adequate to maximize retention of fruit flavor and aroma. A maximum temperature of 15°C will deliver substantially better results. This may entail acquisition of additional refrigeration capacity. Additional fermentation capacity may also be required, since cooler ferments progress more slowly, thus allowing fewer fermenter turnarounds during the harvest period. However, in Moldova there is generally an excess of capacity, given the decline in fruit supply over the last ten years. Red wine fermentation temperature—Some Moldovan winemakers believe that red wine fermentation should be controlled to a maximum of 24–26°C. Many newer wineries even have fermenters fitted with cooling bands, in order to maintain this regime. However, ideally, a spike of the equivalent of 29°C should be reached during red fermentation, for optimum extraction of color and tannin. Once this has been achieved, cooling can be applied. For a fermenter of 30,000 liters, 29° C should be reached spontaneously. Note: This is a general rule of thumb, which may require fine tuning for some varieties, and for style nuances. Pinot Noir, for example, may require a presoak at low temperature for some time prior to onset of fermentation, to optimize color and extract. Smaller fermenters may require must warming, larger fermenters will require must cooling. Inert gases—There appears to be inadequate appreciation of the damaging effects of oxidation with respect to fruit flavor and aroma retention. At almost all wineries, inert gases have to be used more pervasively, to avoid contact of must and wine with air. Note: Most wine companies need to install or upgrade equipment to apply inert gases during bottling. Hot filling—Most Moldovan wine packaging companies pasteurize bottles after filling, to avoid microbial spoilage in the bottle after packaging. This practice largely destroys the fruit flavor and aroma of the wine. With wines that are comparatively weak in fruit flavor and aroma intensity, this is not a big disadvantage, compared to the risk of bottled July 2004 • DRAFT Page 26
Development Alternatives, Inc. Moldova Competitiveness Assessment: The Wine Cluster—Annex B wine becoming undrinkable from microbial spoilage. However, there is obviously no point in trying to maximize retention of fruit flavor and aroma, and then to throw it away by hot filling. Standards of hygiene and wine filtering techniques must be upgraded to facilitate cold-filling, or sterile filling, even for sweet wines. General hygiene—Both newer and older wineries often have standards of hygiene inadequate for the production of premium wines. Standards for sanitizing equipment and storage vessels are usually not documented, and are applied haphazardly. Tartrate scale within “cleaned” tanks is the rule, rather than the exception. This is so even for one-year-old stainless steel tanks. Tartrate scale is a haven for wine spoilage microbes. July 2004 • DRAFT Page 27
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Assessing Competitiveness In Moldova's Economy - Economic Growth

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