Fermentation

fermentation, as it applies to wine, is the process of converting sugar to ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and carbon dioxide effected by the anaerobic (oxygen-free) metabolism of yeast. It comes from the Latin word fervere, to boil; any mass containing sugar that has been infused with yeast certainly looks as though it is boiling, as it exudes carbon dioxide bubbles.

1. Halliday, J., and Johnson, H., The Art and Science of Wine (London and New York, 1992).
2. Ribéreau-Gayon, P., et al., Traité d’Œnologie 1: Microbiologie du vin: Vinifications (Paris, 1998), translated by J. M. Branco, as Handbook of Enology 1: The Microbiology of Wine and Vinifications (Chichester, 2000).