Consumer demand is evolving rapidly within the wine industry. The megatrend about ‘natural and pure’ products is also affecting wine demand. Consumers want winemakers to minimize the use of exogenous products, such as preservatives.
This is clearly leading a worldwide trend within the wine industry for lower sulfite content and even the development of no-sulfite wine ranges.
Replacing sulfites whenever possible
The secret to success in making good yet non-sulfated wines is to clearly assess why sulfites are used during the winemaking process and replace this activity with natural solutions.
Consumer demand crossed with new technical knowledge leads to one main aim: no more sulfites in winemaking
Chr. Hansen has been a participant in the quest to replace sulfites in wines since the very beginning. Today, the influential book How to make great wines without sulfites? states it very firmly: to fight against the development of undesired microorganisms, the best way is to use well-know, safe and highly concentrated microbial solutions from the VINIFLORA® range developed by Chr. Hansen.
In red wines, the use of VINIFLORA® protective cultures helps develop wines made without sulfites and those that use 5–15 ppm sulfites only at the very end of the process during bottling. The absence of sulfites until then makes this final addition extremely active against the growth of spoilage organisms.