Wine guys throw these terms around and who knows what they mean or why they might matter?

Wine guys throw these terms around and who knows what they mean or why they might matter? ML, MLF, MF are all acronyms for Malolactic Fermentation which is a secondary fermentation that occurs during and more likely induced after the primary fermentation (the one we know and love where tiny yeast bugs eat sugars and leave us with co2 and alcohol) occurs.

A wine undergoing malolactic fermentation will be cloudy due to the presence of bacteria, and may have the curious smell of buttered popcorn, due to the production of diacetyl. In fact the folks who make margarines use it as an additive to achieve the taste of “real butter”. In addition to butter flavors allowing or inducing a MLF produces some other desirable characteristics which include: acid level reduction, masking of vegetal character, and increased flavor complexity i.e. nutty, honey, vanilla, leather and spice.

WOW you say, why doesn’t everybody induce a MLF all of the time. One of the answers is that sometimes we want the fruit flavors to shine on their own and keeping the malic acid around is said to enhance fruit flavors like those of apple and pear. MLF also reduces the acidity of the wine making it less food friendly especially in the white domain. So, we winemakers play with MLF as we see fit for the type of wine we’re trying to make.

In the case of Naked Winery Rieslings and Pinot Gris they have no induced MLF and our Foreplay Chardonnay (Rogue Valley, Oregon) is in the same camp. Here we employ 100% stainless or the use of neutral French barrels to not overpower the natural fruit. Hence, these wines are very food friendly, fruit forward and crisp. Whereas, our other Chardonnay’s namely Virgin & Naughty (Columbia Valley, Washington), have a full and partial MLF respectively. Hence, they have a more buttery, nutty flavor with a rounder fuller mouth feel. We also enhance these particular wines by the use of new American oak barrels to integrate more oak, vanilla and coconut flavors.

So, the next time you’re out tasting, ask about MLF or better yet play a game and see if you can tell whether MLF has been employed.