Sulphur used in Vineyards and its effect on products

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Phraathes

Junior
Joined
Oct 15, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Dear Specialists,
I used to produce red wine at home as naturally and without yeast.
So, as you now the farmers used the sulfur powder in vineyards against insects and pests.
my question and doubt is will it have an effects on the process and final products , if we try to make wine while there's still some aforementioned sulfur left on the grapes bunch?
in the naturally methods does use the grapes without any washing, because doesn't use yeast separately and let to does fermentation by natural yeast on grapes skin.

Thanks,
 
Welcome to WMT.
:b
I make mostly fruit wines so I really can't say. Your question is hard to understand. Will sulfur powder affect the fermentation of the natural yeasts found on grapes? (Correct me if I have misunderstood.)
Perhaps so. You should probobly rinse and add a proper wine yeast to start fermentation. Hopefully somebody with more knowledge and experience can answer your question. What kind of grapes are you making your wine with and where are they grown?
 
Most likely the vineyard will not have used sulfur spray close to harvest. Don’t wash grapes unless as you start to crush, you smell sulfur. I understand you will smell it at crush if too much is present. The winemaker will be adding a little sulfur at crush to kill the wild yeast, anyway. I think you are fine without washing. That might dilute your juice.
 
Sulfur application is mostly to prevent powdery mildew. The last application should be 6 to 8 weeks before harvest (ripening grapes are not attacked by powdery mildew). So you should be fine regarding sulfur (rain, wind and time has removed most of it by harvest time) if the vineyard is properly applying this fungicide.
 
Additionally, some red native and French American hybrids are extremely sensitive to sulfur so the viticulturist will not be using on those varieties. If you are buying directly from the vineyard, ask about spray schedules. The state departments of agriculture require commercial vineyards to keep spray records so you would be entitle dto inspect those records.
 
Thank you for advises,

Let me make it clear that I am talking about this in Iran.
I don't have access to the yeast here and I use the traditional methods. This means that I use natural yeast in the grapes.

But when I prepare the grapes boxes, after inspection I can clearly see the yellow sulfur particles used in the vineyard among the clusters.
For this reason, I have to wash them out of fear of the negative effects of these sulfur.

In fact, my question is, if I continue to make wine, without rinsing, with the sulfur particles in the grapes clusters, will these sulfur particles have an effect on the final product?
 
Having elemental sulfur in the must during fermentation increases the risk of developing H2S (rotten egg aroma) and related compounds. Sulfur doesn't always cause a problem, it also depends on the nutrient level of the must, nutrient deficient musts will usually develop more H2S related problems.
 
Back
Top