Congratulations, your malic acid is gone! Now what?

Once MLF is complete, the wine enters another important stage of its development. It's time to start thinking about stability, SO₂ management, lees, and the next steps toward aging.

One of the first things to consider is protecting the wine from unwanted microbial activity. Once you've confirmed MLF is complete and your residual sugar is at the desired level, you can move forward with your normal stabilization program, including SO₂ management and any additional cellar operations appropriate for the wine.

But don't forget about the lees.

The timing of racking can influence the style of wine you're trying to make, and different wines may benefit from different amounts of lees contact. If you're keeping the wine on its lees, make sure you have a plan for monitoring and stirring your vessels to take advantage of the lees and mitigate any negative sensory impacts.

This is also a good time to step back and look at the wine as a whole.

Are you happy with the acidity and SO2 levels?

Is the wine physically and microbiologically stable?

How much lees contact do you want?

Do you have enough oak (product or barrels) for the intended wine style?

The end of MLF isn't really the end of fermentation management—it's the beginning of the next phase of wine development.

And after the chaos of harvest, it's nice to finally have a little time to think about where the wine is going.

#Winemaking #MLF #WineStability #WineAging #Enology #WineAnalysis #myEnologist