(Wineanorak) - The wine world is full of terms that people use without quite understanding just what they mean by them. Carbonic maceration is one such term, and in this short piece I’m going to attempt to get to grips with it, without becoming too technical and boring. It’s a method that’s employed to make lighter red wines with fruitier aromas, and it’s strongly associated with the Beaujolais wine region. As with many topics in wine, the truth isn’t entirely black and white. It’s complicated. Pure carbonic maceration is quite rare, and there are a number of variations on the theme. But the simple version is thus: Carbonic maceration is the process that occurs when intact bunches of red grapes are fermented in a sealed vessel that has first been filled with carbon dioxide. In the absence of oxygen, these intact berries begin an intracellular fermentation process, during which some alcohol is produced, along with a range of other compounds that can affect wine flavour.