Fresh, fruity white wine: the reductive method
White wine is most often made from the grape juice without the skins. Its character is decided by how much oxygen it gets and what vessel it ferments and then matures in. The aim of the reductive method is to preserve the grape's primary aromas, that is, those that come from the grape itself.
Step by step
- Harvest in cool weather or early in the morning. The cold helps to keep the aromas.
- Fast processing. The grapes are processed within a short time.
- Cold maceration. A common but not obligatory step: the aromas are extracted by soaking on the skins in the cold for a few hours.
- Pressing and clarifying the must.
- Cooled fermentation in a stainless-steel tank, typically at around 12–18 °C.
- Short maturing, bottled young.
What do we sense in the glass?
Characteristic aromas: citrus, green apple, tropical fruit, flowers.
Typical examples
Sauvignon Blanc, Irsai Olivér, Riesling, and the fresh-style Furmint and Hárslevelű.
