White Wine Enology: Advanced Winemaking Strategies for Fine White Wines

Optimizing Shelf Life and Flavor Stability of Unoaked White Wines

Hardcover, 239pp, black and white illustration, index

Volkner Schneider

White Wine Enology is dedicated exclusively to the enology of unoaked white wines, which constitute the largest component of the global white wine market. In contrast to standard literature, it deals with flavor preservation rather than with those vinification strategies which seek to obtain short-lived quality benefits. In doing so, it addresses one of the key issues of white wine enology that most wineries are concerned with, but has hitherto never been covered in a single volume, which is the limited shelf life and poor aroma stability of most of these wines. Ultimately, it also shows that the enology of white wines is quite different from that of red wines.

The chemical process of white wine aging comprises much more than the commonly known oxidative aging [premox], which is why the various kinds of aging are differentiated according to sensory criteria. Thus, this book has a strong sensory focus throughout: the flavor-active compounds responsible for aging-related faults are specified, and the chemical mechanisms of their formation are identified. Building upon these foundations, Schneider guides the reader through the entire process of vinification—from the crush pad, through all the phases of juice processing, wine stabilization, bottling and storage—clearly defining what measures to take, and what to avoid in order to mitigate aging reactions and to improve flavor stability.

While this book is a deep treatment of the scientific fundamentals of wine aging, it also examines typical engineering issues common to the practice. Numerous practical hints and technical details of hands-on winery work round out the picture, and provides a valuable insight into the inherently cross-disciplinary nature of fine white winemaking and a holistic view of one of the most fascinating fields of contemporary enology. Last, but not least, they constitute a picture of a life’s work, drawing upon some 40 years of the author's experience in wine production, research, quality control, and troubleshooting.

Volker Schneider is a lecturer of enological chemistry at Geisenheim University, and is founder of the international consulting firm Schneider-Oenologie, which specializes in quality control, product development, and research. He has authored several scientific papers and more than 400 technical articles on these topics.

“White Wine Enology is my guide for white winemaking, I tend to re-read the book a month prior to harvest in order to refresh winemaking protocols and techniques. The part about phenols in whites is amazing. This (Advanced Winemaking for Fine Wines) trilogy should represent the solid background for every winemaker around the world. It is modern, fluent, and practical.”--Alberto Guolo, winemaker, Casas del Bosque, Casablanca, Chile

“Volker Schneider’s excellent tutorial-style series exemplify his unique approach to consulting and academic work: a balance of leading-edge theory and practice. Compared to the depth of Advanced Winemaking Strategies for Fine Wines, other enology texts barely scratch the surface of the topic or neglect its practical implementation in the winery. As a professor of enology from the birthplace of winemaking, I like to use these books in my teaching and have added them to the list of recommended literature in our syllabus.” --Dr. Davit Chichua. Professor of Enology, Agricultural University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia

“As a quality conscious winemaker I try to follow new oenological research developments which I believe can allow my wines to further evolve, however its sheer volume and the quite often contradictory terroir and cultivar-specific nature of results make much of it very difficult to apply with confidence. In my view these books address this issue and are unique in holistically combining Volker Schneider's deep theoretical insight with real-world data born of his research-winemaking and consultancy to illustrate its practical application. At points this holistic approach sometimes focusses on areas that are the subject of widespread and embedded misconceptions. Importantly, the author understands the reality of small to medium scale producers and proposes practical techniques within the resources of the winery to base their decision-making upon.”--Gunther Strub, Weingut Walter Strub Winery, Germany