Pre-Fermentation Treatments
Flash Detente
Flash detente may be considered a variation on thermovinification (Figure 3.3). Flash technology can be used for lower quality grapes or difficult vintages that have problems. For example, flash detente can remove smoke taint and other airborne contaminants (e.g., guaiacol, indicator for smoke) from grapes. The process also has the potential to remove herbaceous, moldy, and even jammy aromas as part of the condensate collected from the vacuum chamber. An example is the removal of methoxypyrazines which can give undesirable vegetal or bell pepper characters, and not generally desirable in a red wine.
Flash Detente Process
The process described by the term flash detente is an extension of thermovinification and occurs over two stage. Normally free run juice is removed before the must is rapidly heated to 70 to 85 degrees C (158-185°F), it is then pumped into a vacuum chamber where it rapidly drops in temperature (30-35°C, 86-95°F). After this heating and cooling process, three components, namely the colored juice, skins with removed color and flavors, and a condensate containing the flavors, exist.
Treatment of Components
When the flash process concludes, the winemaker has three choices for fermentation.
Click on the following topics for more information on pre-fermentation treatments.
