Mutage is a wine making technique for making sweet wines.

Typical mechanism

The typical process involves the addition of alcohol to the ''

must Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...

'' so that the

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

process is prematurely stopped. Most yeasts die when the alcohol content in their environment is raised to approximately 13–15%. By stopping the fermentation of sugars, a sweet taste of the wine is achieved. This technique is used to make port wine and other sweet wines with high alcohol content.www.muscats-du-monde.com
Accessed 16 September 2010

Types of mutage

Two types of mutage are sometimes distinguished. A distinction being made between adding alcohol to the must before fermentation and adding during fermentation. # ''Mutage sur grain'': Where the mutage takes place during maceration on the skins. This is described as ''mutage on the cap of the marc'' and produces

vin de liqueur A ''vin de liqueur'' is a sweet fortified style of French wine that is fortified with brandy to unfermented grape must. The term ''vin de liqueur'' is also used by the European Union to refer to all fortified wines. These wines are similar to ...

# Mutage after the traditional maceration and pressing producing vin doux naturel.

Noted wines referred to as having been made by ''mutage''

Reds * Banyuls * Maury * Rivesaltes Whites *

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Beaumes de Venise is an appellation of wines from the eastern central region of the southern half of the Rhône Valley. It produces wines of two distinctly different types: 1. A sweet fortified wine of the type ''vin doux naturel'' (VDN), under ...

Muscat de Rivesaltes Muscat de Rivesaltes is an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) for fortified wines (of the type ''vin doux naturel'') made in the Roussillon wine region of France. They are similar to Rivesaltes AOC wines, except for the grape varieties use ...

* Muscat de Frontignan

Other techniques

Other techniques for making sweet wines exist such as vendange tardive, the noble rot, various filtration techniques or early heating of the must, and adding sweet musts after fermentation.

References

{{Reflist Wine terminology Oenology

Typical mechanism

Types of mutage

Noted wines referred to as having been made by ''mutage''

Other techniques

See also

References