Term for the conversion of malic acid into the milder-tasting lactic acid (Latin malum = apple, lac = milk), which plays an alternative role in the production of fruit juice, wine and sparkling wine(champagne, sparkling wine). The process is also called biological acid degradation (BSA), bacterial malic acid degradation, microbial acid degradation or apple-lactic acid fermentation, because carbon dioxide is also released. However, it is not actually a real fermentation, but was once thought to be. Around 1890, Dr. Hermann Müller-Thurgau (1850-1927), who was working in Geisenheim at the time, correctly suspected bacteria as the cause. Dr. Wenzel Seifert (1862-1942) was then able to identify the acid-degrading bacterium in 1903 at the Klosterneuburger Weinbauinstitut and named it "Micrococcus malolacticus".
![]()
There is a vast number of sources on the web where one can acquire knowledge about wine. But none has the scope, timeliness and accuracy of the information in the encyclopaedia at wein.plus. I use it regularly and rely on it.
Sigi Hiss
freier Autor und Weinberater (Fine, Vinum u.a.), Bad Krozingen