Saccharometer Another name for the hydrometer.

Saccharomyces The generic name for wine and beer yeasts.

Sediment See Deposit ; See Lees.

Sodium Benzoate The commonly available form of Benzoic Acid.

Sodium Hydroxide The most widely used strong alkali. To the winemaker, its use is in the titration of a wine must, using an N/10 solution. See Acid Determination.

Sodium Hypochlorite The basis of bleach. When put into solution, it liberates poisonous chlorine. It is an excellent agent for removing stains and hard deposits. Take care not to inhale the irritant chlorine gas, and ensure thorough rinsing of equipment after its use.

Solera The system of blending and maturing sherry. Casks are arranged in tiers, with the oldest wine at the lowest level. Wine ready for bottling is drawn from the bottom tier; some wine from each cask. This space is filled with wine drawn from the next tier up; after mixing the drawn wine, the casks are topped up. The process is continued to the top level, where the topping up is done with your wine from the bodega.

Sorbic Acid as the sodium or potassium salt is permitted in some branches of the food industry as an anti-bacterial agent. Its use was once banned in commercial wines, but is now permissible. It is available to the winemaker.

Sorbitol A hexose monosaccharide which is not fermented by wine yeasts and therefore can be used to sweeten a wine after fermentation has stopped. By using it, the chance of refermentation in an unstable wine are lessened

Stabilizing by Racking By the time fermentation is completed there is a sizeable deposit at the bottom of the container. This contains, in addition to debris and insoluble salts, a large viable population of yeast cells. If a sweet wine is desired, racking the wine from this deposit before the end of fermentation will obviously remove a large number of live yeast cells which might otherwise continue fermenting. If this racking is followed by sulphiting and another racking after a week or ten days, virtually all the live yeast cells will be removed from the wine, so that a stable sweet wine will result.

Stabilizing with Sulphite After racking a wine that is not completely clear, there are inevitably some live yeast cells remaining. In order to inhibit these from further reproduction and alcohol production, they must be inhibited by the addition of sulphite. The recommended amount is 100 ppm. At the first racking, and 50 ppm. At successive rackings.

Stable A wine is said to be stable when there is no further chance of continuing fermentation.

Starch Enzymes See Amylase.

Starch Haze See Haze, Starch.

Starter Kit (Equipment) The basic winemaking tools of the trade usually bundled in a gift box format and consisting of the following: a fermenter, siphon system, airlock and bung, long-handled spoon, a carboy (glass or plastic), a hydrometer and thermometer. Deluxe or advanced equipment starter kits may contain more intermediate equipment items as well as the basics. See Vintner-s Deluxe Starter Kit;   See Mini-Pub.

Steeping See Cold Extraction.

Sterilant Any chemical which either inhibits or kills micro-organisms.

Sterilizing Bottles Following thorough cleansing and rinsing of bottles, sterilizing is achieved by swilling them out with a weak solution of sulphite

Sterilizing by Heat Although this is theoretically one of the most effective means of sterilizing, it is also one of the most dangerous. Plastics not intended for high temperatures will melt, and glass suddenly exposed to high temperatures will suddenly break due to thermal shock. Unprotected hands will be burnt severely. Chemical sterilizing is much safer and easier

Sterilizing Corks Do not boil corks, since this makes them hard and liable to break. It is best to soak them for 10 minutes in a 1% solution of sulphite.

Sterilizing Detergents A new range of chemicals on the market which are very useful for equipment, since they perform simultaneous cleansing and sterilizing. Despite the claim that many of these are both odorless and tasteless, it is important to ensure a thorough rinsing after their use, in case this should not be the case.

Sterilizing Equipment Rinsing equipment thoroughly in 1% or 2% sulphite solution is quite adequate, providing that the solution still smells strongly of sulfur dioxide. The solution should not be kept for more than a few months

Sterilizing Musts In order to prevent volatilization of ingredients and over-extraction of pectin, it is best to avoid boiling wherever possible. (Vegetables are the exception to this.) The safest, most effective method of sterilizing is the use of sulphite at a concentration of 50 ppm. This is added to the must 24 hours prior to pitching the yeast, by when the majority of sulfur dioxide will have evaporated. Another advantage of sulfur dioxide is that it does not kill, but merely inhibits yeast.

Sterilizing, Chemical The chief sterilizing agent to the winemaker is metabisulphite, whose active agent is sulfur dioxide gas. For most equipment and ingredients (except must), a 1-2% solution is adequate (2 oz/gallon U.S. or 50 g/4 L).

Stone Fruit e.g. Apricot, cherry, damson, peach, plum and sloe. These fruits are best prepared by stoning, lightly crushing and pulp fermenting, thus ensuring adequate tannin and flavor extraction.

Stoneware See Containers ,

Stopper Any device used to close a container. See Bung ; See Closure ; See Cork.

Storage When fermenting, wines need to be kept at a constant temperature of between 60-70¦F, and during maturation are ideally kept at a temperature of 55¦F. Bottle racks, as well as maturing containers, need to be kept at 55¦F in an atmosphere which is free from light and which is dry. Dampness will predispose to mould infections.

Storage Containers For most amateur winemakers it is hard to beat the glass, clear or opaque, 5-6 gallon carboys which, other than for bulk producers, will suffice for virtually all wines. See Containers; Casks

Straining A means of separating pulp from juice. One most occasions racking will suffice, but a large deposit in a freshly pulped fruit may prove difficult to separate and therefore the use of a sieve or straining cloth will be found to be invaluable.

Straining Cloth See Cloth, Straining.

Suberin The natural glue which holds cork together. As it is slightly soluble in alcohol in concentrations above that of table wines, it has become the practice to store fortified wines upright. Port, on the other hand, is stored on its side, but the problem of cork dissolution is minimized by the additional seal of wax over the cork.

Substrate The basic liquid in which a substance is dissolved. For example, in a syrup solution the water is the substrate and the sugar the solute.

Succinic Acid A by-product of fermentation whose major function in winemaking is in the ester formation which occurs during maturation. As this acid is now available commercially it is a good practice to add a small amount per gallon after the final racking, prior to maturation. It is important to realize, however, that a reasonable length of time must be allowed for the chemical changes to occur and that the mere addition of this acid does not automatically confer an improved bouquet on a wine. See Appendix X for the chemical reactions whereby this acid is present in wines.

Sucrase The enzyme which breaks down sucrose to its component sugars, glucose and fructose. Since this enzyme is secreted by wine yeasts, there is no need either to invert sugar or to invert the sugar prior to its use.

Sugar Additions See Exponential Feeding.

Sugar Amounts The quantity of sugar required in a must should be worked out on the basis that 1 lb of sugar in a gallon will raise the gravity by 38. From this figure and the specific gravity of the juice (extrapolated to a reading for one gallon), the amount of sugar required to raise the gravity to the desired starting gravity can be calculated.

Sugar and Fermentation The presence of sugar in a solution containing live yeast cells in anaerobic conditions is the basis of fermentation to produce alcohol. The basic formula is that one molecule of a hexomonosaccharide is broken down to two molecules of carbon dioxide and two of ethyl alcohol. For the full series of reactions, See Appendix IX.

Sugar and Specific Gravity One pound of sugar in a solution of 1 gallon in volume will have a specific gravity of 38. To all intents and purposes, apart from the arbitrary figure of 7 (the specific gravity allowed for suspended solids), the specific gravity of a must or wine is entirely due tot he sugar content.

Sugar Beet The vegetable discovered by Napoleon's scientists to contain a high percentage of sucrose. It is today the source of approximately 20% of household sugar consumed in the world. It is also a vegetable which can be used as a base ingredient in a wine.

Sugar Content of Dry Wines The basic definition of a dry wine was one which contained no sugar to the taste. However, with the use of Clinitest tablets now commonly applied to wine assessment, it has been proposed that the definition of a dry wine should be one in which there is less than 1% residual sugar.

Sugar Estimation in Wine The old test reagents of Fehling's, solutions have been superseded by Clinitest tablets. To perform the estimation, 5 drops of wine and 10 drops of water are placed in a dry test tube and one tablet dropped in the test tube. After the fizzing has stopped, the colors are compared with the supplied chart. If the reading is over the 2% mark the wine must be diluted and the test repeated.

Sugar, Residual The remaining sugar in a finished wine. For a dry wine, this should be less than 1% as measured by dextrose-check. Medium and sweet wines usually have their residual sugar expressed as a gravity, since the percentage of sugar varies considerably. A medium wine usually has a gravity of 0.998-1.002 and a sweet wine a gravity above that.

Sugar, Testing for See Sugar Estimation in Wine.

Sulphite and Aging The action of sulphite in a maturing wine is that of an anti-oxidant and therefore should only be used for white wines. The action of sulphite is the taking up of oxygen by combining with sulfur dioxide to form sulfur trioxide, which is then converted to sulfuric acid. To prevent too great a quantity of acid being formed, no more than 50 ppm should be added prior to maturation. Red wines should not need sulphiting, as they have sufficient anti-oxidant properties in themselves, unless of course infected. See Volatile Acids.

Sulphite and Anti-Oxidation In solution, sulphite liberates sulfur dioxide gas. This combines with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide, which then combines with further oxygen to form sulfurous acid. This then combines with water to form sulfuric acid. The routine use of sulphite when racking any wine except sherry is to be commended, since it will prevent o-poly-phenoloxidase darkening, and will also prevent over oxidation of the wine. The normal amounts to use are 100 ppm at the first racking, and 50 ppm at successive rackings.

Sulphite and Extraction Sulphite has no action as such as an extraction agent, but its use is imperative in cold water methods of extraction to prevent infection.

Sulphite and Glycerol Formation Over-sulphiting a must prior to inoculation will result in its combining with acetaldehyde, thus blocking the formation of some of the alcohol. This is another reason for not over-sulphiting for sterilization purposes. The addition of sulphite after fermentation has commenced does not result in this additional glycerol formation, since the pathways have already been set up and metabolism can continue as normally.

Sulphite and Oxidation See Sulphite ; See Anti-Oxidation

Sulphite and Racking See Sulphite ; See Anti-Oxidation ; See Clarification.

Sulphite and Sterilization See Sterilizing ;  See Sulphite.

Sweet Wine A wine is said to be very sweet if it tastes obviously sweet to the palate, and if its final gravity is above 1.026. Indeed, commercial wines such as Château d'Yquem have a final gravity of 1.040.

Sweeteners, Artificial See Lactose ; See Sorbitol.

Sweetening with Non-Fermentable Sugars is possible by using sugars which are not fermented by wine yeasts, e.g. arabinose or lactose. From the point of view of availability, the latter is the better choice.

Synthetics See Containers, Plastic.

Siphoning The technique of taking off a liquid from a sediment by means of a tube wherein the atmospheric pressure upon the liquid to be siphoned acts as the motive power to propel the liquid through the tube. This will occur once the tube has been filled by suction and maintained by the tube being kept below the level of the liquid in the upper container.

Syrup Either a drink or a solution containing a high sugar content. For the winemaker, syrup is usually taken to mean a solution of sugar containing 1 lb per 20 oz.

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