Editing Malolactic fermentation (section)

==Influence of inoculation timing==
[[File:Transferring wine to a barrel.png|right|thumb|Some winemakers choose to inoculate for MLF after the wine has been racked off its lees and transferred to a barrel. If malolactic fermentation has previously taken place in the barrel, a "wild" or "natural" ferment will often take off in the barrel without any inoculation needed.]]
Winemakers differ in when they choose to inoculate their must with LAB, with some winemakers pitching the bacteria at the same time as the yeast, allowing both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations to run concurrently, while some wait till the end of fermentation when the wine is [[Racking|racked]] off its lees and into barrel, and others doing it somewhere between. For practitioners of minimalist or "[[natural wine]]making" who choose not to inoculate with cultured LAB, malolactic fermentation can happen at any time depending on several factors such as the microbiological flora of the winery and the competing influences of these other microbes. All options have potential benefits and disadvantages.<ref name="Zoecklein"/>

The benefits of inoculating for MLF during alcoholic fermentation include:<ref name="Wine Micro"/>
*More potential nutrients from the grape must (though the bacteria will be competing with the yeast for these)
*Lower sulfur dioxide and ethanol levels which can otherwise inhibit the LAB
*Higher fermentation temperatures which are more conducive to LAB growth and an earlier completion of MLF: The optimal temperatures for malolactic fermentation are between {{convert|20|and|37|C|F}}, while the process is significantly inhibited at temperatures below {{convert|15|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. Wine stored in the barrels in the cellar during the winter following fermentation will often have a very prolonged malolactic fermentation due to the cool cellar temperatures.
*Early completion of malolactic fermentation means the winemaker can make a postfermentation SO<sub>2</sub> earlier to protect the wine from [[oxidation]] and spoilage microbes (such as ''[[Acetobacter]]''). Since sulfur dioxide can inhibit MLF, delaying LAB inoculation till after alcoholic fermentation may mean a delay in sulfur addition till early spring when cellar temperatures warm up enough to encourage the completion of MLF.
*Less diacetyl production<ref name="Jacobson"/>
 
The disadvantages for early inoculation include:<ref name="Wine Micro"/>
*Wine yeast and LAB competing for resources (including glucose) and potential antagonism between the microbes
*Heterofermenters such as ''O. oeni'' metabolizing the glucose still present in the must and potentially creating undesirable byproducts such as acetic acid

Many of the advantages for postalcoholic fermentation answer the disadvantages of early inoculation (namely less antagonism and potential for undesirable byproducts). Also, the advantage is seen of the [[lees (wine)|lees]] being a nutrient source through the [[autolysis (wine)|autolysis]] of the dead yeast cells, though that nutrient source may not always be enough to ensure MLF runs successfully to completion. Conversely, many of the disadvantages of late inoculation are the absence of the advantages that come from early inoculation (higher temperatures, potentially quicker completion, etc.).<ref name="Zoecklein"/>