Red
wine making
Winemaking
techniques :
Red - White - Rosé - (vinegar) - 11
steps to make wine
The steps in the red wine making process are :
Crushing and destemming the grapes
The grapes just arriving
in the cellar are crushed and destemmed to release their
juice and pulp.
The must obtained that way is put in a tank to go trough
the process of fermentation.
Alcoholic fermentation
Fermentation is a natural process. Yeasts living in the grapes - the addition
of selected yeasts is generalizing - change the sugar contained in the must
in alcohol and carbonic gas (see also the composition
of wine).
The winemaker assist the action of the yeasts by maintaining
the temperature around 25 to 30°C and by ventilating
the must regularly. Under 25°C the wine will not
have enough body, above 30°C, the wine will be to
tannic.
The fermentation process goes on for 4 to 10 days until
the maceration and then the malolactic
fermentation.
Maceration
It is the period when the tannic elements and the color of the skin diffuse
in the fermented juice. The contact between the liquid (must) and the solids
elements (skin, pips and sometimes stem) will give body and color to the wine.
At this stage, complex operation will prove the talent
of the winemaker: dissolution, extraction, excretion,
diffusion, decoction, infusion.
For "Vins primeurs" or "Vins nouveaux" (new wines) the
maceration is very short. The vines are supple and contain
little tannin. Wines destined to be kept long need a
lot of tannin, so the maceration needs to be long. The
wine will macerate for several days, maybe several weeks.
Raking
The wine is separated from the solids, the pomace. The wine obtained by
raking is called "free run wine" (vin de goutte).
Sometimes, the pomace is pressed in order to extract
the juice it still contains. This wine is called "press
wine" (vin de presse). It is richer in tannin.
Depending on the winemaker taste or the local habit,
free run wine and press wine are blended or treated separately.
Malolactic fermentation
It is the process during which the malic acid of wine changes into lactic
acid and carbonic gas under the action of bacteria living in the wine. Malic
acid is harsh, it is changed into lactic acid supple and stable.
This fermentation is obtained in a tank during a few
weeks at a temperature between 18° and 20°C.
Stabilization
The wine making process is finished but the wine is not. To be able to
age and to improve the wine must be clarified again. After that the beverage
will be put in oak casks where it will stabilize.
The diversity of red wine is such that it can match any
type of food. But you must absolutely not conclude from
this that all red wines taste the same.
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