A whole bunch of stems
Stemmy has become so popular as a tasting term that Julia had to add it to the stems entry in the latest edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine. What's the story of whole-bunch fermentation? Above, Clonakilla's co-fermentation of Viognier with whole-bunch Shiraz (credit: David Reist, Clonakilla).
Monday, 27 May 2024

Before the invention of mechanical rotary destemmers in the 1920s, removing the stems from bunches of grapes prior to fermentation was so laborious that it was common practice to ferment whole bunches of red grapes, stems and all, rather than just the destemmed and crushed berries – but this was essentially because...
Become a member to view this article and thousands more!
Premium
- 15,424 featured articles
- 273,870 wine reviews
- Maps from The World Atlas of Wine, 8th edition (RRP £50)
- The Oxford Companion to Wine, 5th edition (RRP £50)
- Members’ forum
Monthly
Annually
£99
Save 10% with annual membership
Professional
- 15,424 featured articles
- 273,870 wine reviews
- Maps from The World Atlas of Wine, 8th edition (RRP £50)
- The Oxford Companion to Wine, 5th edition (RRP £50)
- Members’ forum
- Commercial use of our Tasting Notes
£199
per year