micro-oxygenation, also known by the French term microbullage, and colloquially as ‘microx’ or ‘mox’, is a vinification technique initiated in 1990 by winemaker Patrick Ducournau in madiran to control the aeration of wines in tank. The method was authorized by the European Commission in 1996 and is used mainly but not exclusively on red wines. Its guiding principle is that all wines require oxygen to a greater or lesser extent, its aim being to enable the winemaker to deliver precise and controlled levels at various stages in the winemaking process. It also addresses the issue of wine storage, effectively transforming large inert storage vessels into selectively permeable containers of infinitely variable dimensions.
