Frequently Asked Questions

You can find your local distributor or contact point for Chr. Hansen wine ingredients right here.

We offer two ranges of bacteria for malolactic fermentation management. Both of them are ready for direct inoculation but not used in the same type of situations:

• when winemakers look for flexibility they order our freeze-dried products. They are shipped at -18 Celsius degrees and you can store them at +4 Celsius degrees in a fridge for 6 months before reaching their expiry date.
• when winemakers look for speed, managing important volumes they order FroZen bacteria. FroZen products are delivered at -50 Celsius degrees and you need a special freezer in order to store the bacteria before inoculation.

Check with your local representative to know what´s the best option for you.

First of all, direct inoculation is preferable to indirect solutions. The best way to ensure a safe, fast and controlled fermentation is to start with bacteria already adapted to this difficult environment (high alcohol, sulphur dioxide, low pH, low level of nutrients...).

Then you need to check that you will inoculate enough cells ín your tank to start a malolactic fermentation. There is a break even point, called the 'MAGIC NUMBER', where the number of bacteria per ml of wine is above 10E06 (10 million per ml)... this is the beginning of malolactic fermentation in wine.

To reach this MAGIC NUMBER you need:

1. to inoculate enough bacteria (cells/ml of wine)
2. to be sure the inoculated cells are able to:

• survive in wine our must conditions after inoculation
• achieve a fast and safe malolactic fermentation

That´s why Viniflora^® products are always tested before release using our proprietary MACC test (Malic ACid Conversion test) a quality step to ensure your fermentation will go well.

Absolutely not. In fact the management of malolactic fermentations goes the other way! The more the winemaker controls the unpredictible malolactic fermentation the easier it is to do the expected wine.

Why? Because the potential of a wine before the malolactic fermentation starts comes from two major processes done before:

1. the grapes production  
2. the alcoholic fermentation (producing very specific flavors, ethanol, glycerol...)

Therefore the mismanagement or even the absence of management of malolactic fermentation downgrades the work done before and therefore downgrades the wine quality... That´s the reason why more and more winemakers use Viniflora® today.