N:dlzc D:aol T:com (dlzc) wrote:
> Dear Radium:
>
> "Radium" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> ...
> > any part of the wine-making process is prevented
> > using full-proofs
>
> "fool proof"... meaning even a fool cannot screw it up.
>
> > Yeasts are somehow protected from their own ethanol
> > so that it doesn't injure or kill them.
>
> Yeasts are killed by their own ethanol. It is a waste product.
> People are similarly killed by their own CO2 emissions. It just
> takes a high enough concentration to do the job.
>
> David A. Smith

The technique is well-known, and is called "maceration cabonique". In
one of it's most recent incarnation (in the 1980's), an Australian
winemaker sealed the uncrushed grapes in large (~1 cubic metre) plastic
bags with no air head space. Other wine makers use nitrogen to purge
air from fermentation tanks.