Compendium: Winemaker’s Guide to Chemistry Analysis
Collection of recommended detailed electrochemistry instrumentation application notes that cover the science of wine making.
Process monitoring and testing in wine making
Winemakers know, many of the quality improvements to wine each season, happen in the lab. Regular checks during production and being able to make quick decisions based on the results is key in achieving this quality – therefore, the accuracy and reliability of the data used to make those decisions is critical.
We have partnered with wine producers and bottlers for over 50 years to make complex quality measurements routine, reliable and accurate. Find out more about how we support winemaking before, during, and after fermentation using the resources on this page: Sign up for our email course to learn how to care for your instruments, request a poster to hang in your testing lab, review our selection of application notes, or watch the video below to hear from one of our customers.
Spend time in our 3D Wine Lab and review the various quality and testing workflows for winemaking available from Thermo Fisher Scientific.
What happens when good wine goes bad … and how can you prevent it?
Through pre-fermentation, fermentation and post-fermentation, the delicate balance of flavors in your grapes evolve, optimally to create a sophisticated, balanced flavor that your customers will love. Consistent chemical monitoring through each phase helps ensure that the expected flavor profile develops.
View the infographic to see, What can happen when good wine goes bad, and discover what can happen without monitoring of acidity, nitrogen, oxygen and turbidity.
Keep these tips handy in your lab by requesting the companion poster to hang on your testing lab walls. Get the poster ›
Articles on wine monitoring
Customers have an expansive choice of brands – a testament to the stark competition in the market. Succeeding in this crowded landscape means retaining customer loyalty by offering the same great wines year after year. The need to attain that level of consistency and reproducibility in production, despite the complex interactions that impact winemaking outcomes, has brought advanced analytical technology onto the manufacturing flare oor of wineries worldwide.
Ask wine connoisseurs about their favorite vintage and they’ll probably mention the aroma from the uncorked bottle, the color in the glass, and the complex flavors. However, unwanted oxidation, discoloration, and microbial growth during production and after bottling can compromise all of these characteristics, putting revenues and reputations at risk.
The art of winemaking lies in knowing how to use different grape varieties, yeast strains, and production steps to create distinctive styles that are recognized for their aroma, taste, and appearance. Those traits, however, result from complex interactions among the growing conditions of grapes, their biochemical makeup at harvest, the reactions that occur during fermentation, and the biochemical development of must, juice, and wine during processing. Any imbalances in these interactions during production—from vine to glass—can alter the outcome and decrease the quality and palatability of a wine.
Customers have an expansive choice of brands – a testament to the stark competition in the market. Succeeding in this crowded landscape means retaining customer loyalty by offering the same great wines year after year. The need to attain that level of consistency and reproducibility in production, despite the complex interactions that impact winemaking outcomes, has brought advanced analytical technology onto the manufacturing flare oor of wineries worldwide.
Ask wine connoisseurs about their favorite vintage and they’ll probably mention the aroma from the uncorked bottle, the color in the glass, and the complex flavors. However, unwanted oxidation, discoloration, and microbial growth during production and after bottling can compromise all of these characteristics, putting revenues and reputations at risk.
The art of winemaking lies in knowing how to use different grape varieties, yeast strains, and production steps to create distinctive styles that are recognized for their aroma, taste, and appearance. Those traits, however, result from complex interactions among the growing conditions of grapes, their biochemical makeup at harvest, the reactions that occur during fermentation, and the biochemical development of must, juice, and wine during processing. Any imbalances in these interactions during production—from vine to glass—can alter the outcome and decrease the quality and palatability of a wine.
Protect the quality of your wine
Today’s wine production requires and in-depth understanding of critical quality control factors.
With pH testing, conductivity testing, dissolved oxygen testing, ammonia and nitrate testing, titrations and more – having a thorough understanding of the methodology and equipment used will ensure your methods are correct. Sign up for this free email course, which is a synthesis of this expertise, providing you with the knowledge needed to improve the accuracy and reliability of your laboratory testing, and protect the quality of your wine.
A free email course
By signing up for this course, you will receive one email weekly with information about:
- Your testing system: the role of electrodes & how to use them effectively
- Calibration standards: ensure your systems are operating at maximum efficiency
- Meters: the workhorse of your data logging for QC monitoring purposes
- The role of titration in assessing total acidity and manual versus automated methods
- What's next? How to put your electrochemistry knowledge to work to achieve maximum quality
Methods for monitoring
Explore the pre-established methods for using analytical and optical measurements for monitoring your developing vintage. Each application note is written by one of our scientists and your questions can be answered by our technical and application support teams. If you have any questions about the methods below or Thermo Scientific wine testing and monitoring solutions, contact us.
Measuring the Dissolved Oxygen of Wine in Tanks
How to reliably measure the oxygen content of wine in the tank to help ensure the quality, stability, and longevity of the wine.
Nitrogen Measurement in Wine
How nitrogen testing in the wine making process can help control the clarification, aroma, and final chemical composition of the wine.
Standardization of Iodine Titrant for Ripper Titration of Wines
How to determine the true concentration of the iodine titrant used for Ripper titration of wine using a standard solution of sodium thiosulfate.
Titratable acidity in wine by automatic titration
Organic acids can affect the flavor, color and stability of wine. Total acidity in wine, juice, or must is determined using the preprogrammed method T1A TA Wine.
Titratable Acidity of Red Wine by Manual Titration (Potentiometric)
A simple titration method for TA analysis using an Orion pH electrode and meter to single the endpoint.
Measuring pH in Wine and Juice
Recommended equipment, procedures, and maintenance for accurate pH readings throughout the wine and juice-making process.
Measuring the Dissolved Oxygen of Wine in the Bottle
How to reliably measure the oxygen content of wine directly in the bottle.
Determination of Acrolein and Other Process Contaminants in Beer, Wine, and Potato Chip Matrices by Liquid Chromatography-Single Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry
Determination of low molecular weight and very reactive food process contaminants in three different matrices, including wine, by application of in-situ derivatization reaction and fast chromatographic determination by LC-MS instrumentation.
Sulfur dioxide in wine by manual ripper titration with a Platinum ORP Electrode
How to analyze sulfur dioxide, a chemical antioxidant and microbial inhibitor, in wine using a Ripper titration.
Related Wine Testing Resources
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