Wine making, on the surface, might seem pretty simple. You take grape juice, add yeast and presto, you have wine. And, indeed, a wine maker did tell me that it’s that easy. But, he went on to add, making good wine is not easy!
Wine does begin with grapes. But, knowing when to pick the grapes is very important. That’s because grapes, unlike many other fruits, don’t continue to ripen after being picked. So, you have to get it “right.” And “right” to one wine maker isn’t quite “right” to another wine maker. That’s because some wine makers want slightly under-ripe grapes in order to produce more highly acidic wines such as many white wines and sparkling wine. Other wine makers will choose over-ripe grapes either to produce a sweeter flavored wine or a late-harvest dessert wine. But the vast majority of wine makers are looking for the “Goldielocks” grapes that are just right! These are the grapes that have just the right amount of sugar to ensure proper fermentation.
Once the grapes are picked they are swiftly moved from the vineyard to the winery to ensure they are at peak freshness. White wine grapes will immediately be pressed to extract their juice. Red wine grapes will often go through a sorting process to remove leafs and any other foreign materials and then be de-stemmed. Other wine makers will leave the grapes attached to the stems for added tannin and character.
Next, fermentation begins in tanks made of stainless steel, wood or concrete depending on the style of wine that the wine maker is seeking to achieve. The juice from the pressed white wine grapes goes into the fermentation tanks while the whole grapes or bunches of red wine grape to into the fermentation tanks.
Then comes the yeast. And, we’ll pick up there next time. Until then, Cheers!