White vinification

In fermentation, there is no contact between must and marc. Since the colour pigments are located in the skins, it is sufficient to remove them from the must to obtain a white wine even from black grapes. Harvesting and transporting the white grapes from the vineyard to the winery must be carried out with great care, given the delicacy of the raw material. Therefore, the removal of the marc is carried out immediately with soft pressing of the grapes. The grapes are placed in a horizontal hydraulic press, a container with a perforated or slotted wall. Inside, the air chamber is inflated, allowing the grapes to be gently compressed, with a very fine first-pressing must coming out, while the stalks, skins and seeds remain inside the press and are later removed.

After treatment and possible corrections of the must, fermentation is carried out at a temperature of around 18 - 20 °C to ensure the best possible fineness of aromas and flavours in white wine, which is by nature more prone to oxidation. Double-walled fermenters with a flowing refrigerant solution allow the yeasts to slowly transform the sugars. Once this process is complete, racking takes place.

In order to obtain white wines with more personality and destined for evolution, white vinification may involve rapid pellicular maceration of the juice in contact with the skins to extract pigments and odorous substances. To avoid any damage to the quality of the must, it is cooled down to around 8 - 10 °C to 0 - 2 °C in the cryomaceration or cold maceration of the whole berries, to improve the extraction of substances during the subsequent pressing, resulting in a greater quantity of aromatic substances and aroma precursors.

Cryomaceration is also used to obtain delicately rosé wines from ripe bunches of pinot grigio, a grape variety generally used for the production of white wines. Due to the particular polyphenolic charge of the skins, these grapes can give a wine with original onion skin tones.