If Winemaking 101 is about alcoholic fermentation, then Winemaking 201 should be about the fermentation of malic acid. This important bacterial fermentation has nowhere near the same name recognition as its yeast-induced cousin, yet the fermentation of malic acid to lactic acid (a.k.a. malolactic fermentation, or simply “MLF”) plays a very important role in the production of many high-quality wines. In the northeastern United States, with many of our high acid varieties, it is an irreplaceable winemaking tool because the most pronounced chemical effect of MLF is the reduction of acid. But as we’ll see, its impact on a wine can be far more complex than simply taking a bunch of hydrogens off the table.

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