We’ve fermented some lots of fruit by carbonic maceration the past few years to blend with other lots of the same wine, usually using 500-600L stainless tanks. We just add the clusters into the tank and layer with dry ice, then add more dry ice on top and seal the tank. We’ve never had any problem doing it this way and we’ve liked what the carbonic component adds to some wines. This year, we did a much smaller lot for one wine, and that went into a 150L stainless tank using the same process as above. We unsealed the tank yesterday, and there was no sign of fermentation in the berries at all that we could tell - they tasted just about as fresh as they did when they went into the tank about two weeks earlier. Anyone know how/why that would have happened with this small lot? Thanks!
Ken, I wonder if the quantity was so much smaller that you didn’t have enough weight to crush any fruit and get enough of a ferment started outside the whole berries.
That was my guess too, Steve. We didn’t dig out the tank while I was still there yesterday but there was no juice at all coming from the valves at the base of the tank. Surprised us how the fruit had really not deteriorated noticeably over the time it was in the tank - guess the CO2 preserved it.