The Occurrence of Malo-Lactic Fermentation in Southern California Wines

Abstract

A high incidence of malo-lactic fermentation was found in wines from Southern California. The results are similar to those previously found for wines from other regions of California, except that the occurrence of malo-lactic fermentation was also high in the white wines. The concentrations of acetoin (plus diacetyl) in the wines were somewhat on the high side of the range usually found. The wines with high concentrations of acetoin tended to be those that had undergone malo-lactic fermentation, but there was no significant correlation between malo-lactic fermentation and concentration of acetoin. Wines made under laboratory conditions from grapes grown in Southern California also underwent malo-lactic fermentation.