Where Do All Those Flavors in Wine Come From?

There are only two ingredients in wine: grapes and yeast.  Yet, white wines can be described as having flavors that include lemon, lime, grapefruit, apple, peach, pear and orange.  And red wines can be described as having flavors of cherry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, plum and fig.  And then there are descriptions of vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, tobacco, leather, and even tar, just to name a few.  But, if wine is only made from grapes and yeast, how do wines get all those other flavors? 

In a past blog, we reviewed taste and smell as being the elements by which we get our perception of flavors.

But, let's go a bit deeper and do some further exploration of where all those flavors in wine come from.  Basically, wine's flavors come from the grapes, the fermentation process and through aging.

Each of these components provides its own set of flavor compounds that combine to give each wine its own characteristics.

So, next time we'll dive into the most important influence on wine's flavor - grapes. Until then, Cheers!

Did You Know Wine Grapevines are Hermaphroditic?

Last time we explored the life cycle of a grape vine and learned that they are perennials; they re-grow year-after-year. But, one of the more fascinating facts about grape vines has to do with how the flowers get pollinated.

Most flowering plants depend on insects, typically bees, to pollinate their flowers in order to produce fruit. And, that's the way it was with grape vines back a few thousand years B.C.  But, things eventually changed.  Back then, the people cultivating grapes were, for good reasons, choosing only female plants - the ones that produced fruit. That makes a lot of sense until you realize you need both the male and female plant in order to actually produce fruit. So, ultimately, if all you are planting is the female plant, you'd get no fruit.  But, nature has a way of rolling with these punches.  As early cultivators continued year-after-year to select and propagate fruit producing grape vines, they actually ended up selecting and propagating 'mutant' grape vines that had both the female and male parts on the same vine! And, voilà, no further need for insects to get involved in the pollinating process. The grape vine took care of things all by itself! And, so, the mighty grape vine evolved to became Hermaphroditic - simultaneously possessing the reproductive organs of both sexes!

So, there you go. Yet another fun fact about grape vines. Cheers!

Ever Wonder About the Life Cycle of a Wine Grape?

Well, maybe you haven't ever wondered about the life cycle of a wine grape. Wine making is typically the process that gets all of the attention. And, yes, it's amazing that grapes can be turned into such complex wines. The process of growing the grapes tends to take a backseat to the wine making process. But, it's an equally fascinating process that should not be overlooked. So, let take a look at the farming side of wine making.

Grapes are perennials. You only plant them once and they sprout, grow, bloom and produce fruit. And, they repeat that cycle year after year. 

So, let's jump into the cycle and start with Winter. This is the point where all the fruit has been harvested and all the leaves drop. The grape vine is bare.  This is the time when pruning is done. The canes, which are 'branches' that extend from the crown of the trunk, are cut back in order to ensure the best ones remain for the growing cycle. Not surprisingly, this is a very labor-intensive process.

In the Spring, buds begin to form on the canes. "Bud Break" is a very exciting time for grape growers as it's the first indication of the health of the coming crop. And, again, some pruning is done to ensure the vines are growing properly.

Then, Spring flowering occurs. And what's amazing is that grape vines are self-pollinating! No need for bees! I'll leave that topic for another time, but it's quite interesting how this came about.

By Summer, the flowers have become berries. Yes, grapes are berries! Now you begin to see the first signs of grape clusters. In late Summer, the green grapes being to start changing color and ripen. This is called Veraison (Verre-ray-shun). Now, the bunches of grapes take on those wonderful colors of yellow, pink, and purple.

Finally, Fall comes around and it's harvest time. Grape growers and wine makers become very focused on the sugar levels of the grapes (Brix) as they ripen. Once the grapes reach just the right level of ripeness, they are quickly harvested. Unlike other fruits, grapes don't continue to ripen once picked. So, you have to get it right.

Then, Winter comes around again, the vines lose all their leaves and the vines go dormant. And, the cycle starts all over again.

So, next time you focus your attention on a particularly wonderful wine, remember that a lot of things must have gone very well in the vineyard to produce the grapes that became the wine. Cheers!

How Lees & Battonage Are Used in Wine Making

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. The tech sheet that came with it described how the wine was made including the terms 'maceration,' 'lees,' and 'battonage.'  We took a brief look at 'maceration' last time where, simply put, it is a term for allowing the grape skins, seeds and stems to soak in the juice (the must) either prior to fermentation or during fermentation.

After the yeast does its job during fermentation by 'eating' the natural sugar in the must and transforming it to alcohol, fermentation is complete and the yeast dies. These dead yeast cells that remain in the wine, along with bits of grape seeds and solids, are called 'lees.'

At this point, the lees can either be removed from the wine (by racking or fining methods) or they may remain in the wine. If they are left in the wine, they will break down and release compounds that interact with the fermented wine. This interaction can create additional complexity, aroma and flavor.

But, with time, the lees tend to settle at the bottom of the aging vessel. If the lees are just left in the bottom of the aging vessel, they can clump up and actually become detrimental. So, if a wine maker wants to age their wine 'on lees,' they need to periodically stir the wine to keep the lees mixed in with the aging wine. Battonage (or Bâtonnage) is this periodic stirring of the wine. Battonage essentially helps redistribute all these positive lees compounds into the wine, making sure all the wine comes in contact with them.

The term battonage derives from the stirring stick, a baton.  The baton is placed in the top opening of a barrel (bung hole) and gentle rotated within the barrel to stir the wine and re-distribute the lees during aging.

So, there you have it. Many wine makers use maceration, lees and battonage in their wine making process. A bit technical, yet important parts of making all the great wines we enjoy. Cheers!

What Does the Word 'Maceration' Mean in Wine Making?

The words 'maceration,' 'lees,' and 'battonage' are somewhat technical wine words. My recent review of a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile included these terms that were included on the spec sheet. While the words themselves may be unfamiliar, their meanings are actually quite simple.

After the grapes are picked, the juice is extracted from the grapes to create the wine. At this point, the grape skins, seeds and stems can either be immediately separated from the juice or they can be left in contact with the juice.

Maceration occurs when the grape skins and solids are intentionally left to soak with the extracted juice.

There is 'cold' maceration (40-50° F) that takes place before fermentation and 'warm' maceration (70-90° F) that is done while the wine is fermenting. This warm maceration process, used primarily in making red wine, allows the alcohol being produced in the fermentation process to act as a solvent to extract color, tannins and aroma from the skins.

Maceration times vary, depending on the type of wine being produced. Red wines typically have extended maceration time (7-40 days) while Rosé wines get very brief maceration (2-24 hours). Maceration is not typically used in the production of white wine, but when done, it may only last for 12 to 14 hours.

Next time we'll look at the other terms 'lees' and 'battonage' used in the wine making process. Cheers!