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Amarone, Barolo, Burg Layer Schlosskapelle, Chianti Classico, Cristal Champagne, Cloudy Bay Wines, Dom Perignon Rose, Murfatlar, Thelema,
Pure Wines, Haut Brion, Chateau d'Yquem, Talbot, German Wines Dornfelder, Rothschild, Petrus, St Claire Wines, Peter Lehmann Excellence Range,
Ice Wine, Eiswein, Vosne Romanee, Wine Tasting Events, Fine Wine Cornwall, Classic Wine Cornwall, Wine Cruise
How Wine Is Made
All wines begin in the vineyard, as grapes no less. Soil, climate, weather, and cultural practices affect the quality and character of the grapes.
Harvest in Italy usually begins in mid-August and can last through November depending on the weather and grape variety. Once the grapes are harvested, they are placed in a destemmer/crusher, which separates the stems or stalks from the fruit and breaks up the berries. The stems are then discarded leaving a "must," a combination of juice, seeds, pulp and skins. At this point, the process for red and white wine production differs.
White Wine
The juice from both red and white grapes is colourless. In red wine production, the skins are fermented with the crushed juice to give it colour and flavour. Unless a full-bodied white wine is desired, the skins and seeds are usually removed from the must after only a few hours leaving juice known as "free run." The skins are pressed to extract all the remaining juice, called "press juice." The free run and press juice are then filtered in preparation for fermentation. At some point in production, the pressed juice may be blended back into the free-run. Next, the juice is placed in stainless steel tanks or oak barrels where the wine will ferment following the addition of yeast. White wine fermentation lasts from three days to three weeks.
When fermentation has run its course, the wine maker will stop the process and filter the wine to remove solids and yeast remnants. The wine is then aged for a period of one week to a year in stainless steel, oak, or redwood containers, or it can be aged in bottle. After ageing, the wine may be blended with other wines with different characteristics to create the desired style. The next step is "finishing," a process by which the wine is stabilised and filtered before bottling. Substances such as egg whites or gelatin are added to remove astringent substances or proteins, which can cloud the wine and give off flavours. Sulfites may also be added to prevent oxidation and bacterial spoilage.
Red Wine
Red wines are fermented with the grape skins and seeds at warmer temperatures than white wines. The skins float to the top forming a cap during fermentation and must be moistened regularly with juice to extract colour and flavours. Red wines are usually fermented for a period of five to ten days and then are filtered, clarified and preserved with the addition of sulfites. It is common for red wines to be aged in oak barrels for a period of about one to two years. As with whites, the vintner may choose to blend at this stage. The wine is then finished, filtered, and clarified before bottling. In some rare but important instances, generally among small, ultra-premium wineries, no or only minimal fining and filtering is carried out in an effort to capture the maximum amount of natural flavour components.
Rose’ Wine
The great discrepancies in the quality of rosé depend on the way it is produced, which is based on specific techniques of vinification. There are three types of rosés: one that is "bled" (saignée), one that is "pressed" (pressurage) and one that is in minimal contact with the skins (limited maceration).
For “bled” rosés, the winemaker extracts a certain quantity of red juice, or "jus de saignée," from a vat of fermenting red grapes, which is then put in steel vats during the fermenting process. This method allows wine producers to increase the concentration of a red wine that may be overly diluted due to excessive juice in the grape or a premature harvest. This explains why so many wine-producing regions make this type of rosé, which is often of a mediocre quality.
The other technique, "pressurage," involves pressing dark skinned white grapes to obtain a sufficient blush colour. After the pressing, the process of vinification is the same as it is for a white wine (see How White Wine is Made). Note, however, that blending white and red wines to make rosé is forbidden, except in the Champagne appellation.
The most common method is limited maceration. This process is basically the same as the one for producing red wine except that limited maceration of the skins produces a lighter or rosé colour.
Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wines are made from still wines which serve as a base for the next stage of this unique winemaking process. Among premium sparkling wines, such as both Franciacorta and Champagne, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are used almost exclusively. A "triage"--a blend of the base wine, yeast nutrient and a source of sugar--is added to the base wine and the mixture is fermented a second time in a sealed container which traps carbon dioxide producing the effervescence or bubbles. There are different methods to make sparkling wines, they are described below.
The Traditional Method was developed in the Champagne region of northern France. With this method a second fermentation, created added yeast and sugar to dry wine, happens in the bottle, leaving sediment which is subsequently removed. The bottles are then topped up with a mixture of wine and sugar syrup (liqueur d’expedition).
The Charmat Method is faster and cheaper than the Traditional Method. With this method the second fermentation takes place in sealed vats. The wine is then filtered from the sediment under pressure, bottled and topped up with the liqueur d’expedition.
The Transfer Method or transvassement is a sort of half way between the Traditional and the Charmat methods. The second fermentation takes place in the bottle; when the wine is mature, the bottles are chilled and disgorged into pressurized tanks, where the sediment is filtered and the liqueur d’expedition added. The wine is then rebottled.
With the Injection Method CO2 is injected into chilled still wine under pressure. The bubbles of the wines produced with this method are coarse and disappear almost immediately after pouring the wine.
Dessert Wine
Grapes for dessert wines are harvested at slightly higher sugar levels than those for table wines. Fermentation is stopped before all the sugar can be converted to alcohol by the addition of brandy. The wines are often aged in oak or stainless steel.
Composition of Wine
Water
It represents 80-85% of the total volume. This is the reason why wine is a drink.
Water contributes to the hydration of the tissues and metabolism.
Alcohols
There are different types of alcohol in wine:
• Ethanol
• Methanol
• Glycerol
• Other alcohols
Alcohol is absorbed by the body very quickly. Indeed, 5 minutes from drinking, it is possible to find ethanol in the blood. Between 14 and 40 minutes, all the ingested alcohol is absorbed. The speed of absorption is influenced by different factors:
Type of drink. The more the alcohol is concentrated, the highest is the percentage of alcohol, the quicker is the passage of it in the blood. Therefore a liqueur is absorbed faster then wine or beer.
Way of drinking. Small, repeated doses lead to a lower concentration of alcohol in the blood then the same quantity drunk in one dose.
Presence of food in the stomach and its typology. Food creates a barrier effect which slows down the absorption of alcohol and facilitates a faster normalisation of the alcoholic index in the blood. Foods rich in fats and milk are particularly effective as barriers.
Individual factors. The acidity of the gastric juices, gastritis or the consumption of drugs.
5% to 10% of the alcohol is eliminated through urine and breath. Smaller doses can be eliminated in sweat, tears and milk.
Alcohol can be considered a drug, because it can alter the functionality of the mind.
Sugars
They are also called carbohydrates. Their presence in wine varies according to the type of wine. They determine the sweetness and the smoothness, together with alcohol, of the wine. In the dry wines their presence is very low.
Metabolism of sugars produces energy; therefore sweet wines are powerful tonics. It is also true that too much sugar not burnt with physical activity is transformed into fat and then, unfortunately, accumulated.
Contents of sugar in still wines:
Dry: 1 to 5 gr/lt
Abboccati (sweetish): 6 to 20 gr/lt
Amabili: 20 to 50 gr/lt
Sweet: 50 to 100 and more gr/lt
Contents of sugar in sparkling wines:
Extra brut: up to 7 gr/lt
Brut: 7 to 15 gr/lt
Extra dry: 12 to 20 gr/lt
Dry: 17 to 35 gr/lt
Demi sec: 33 to 50 gr/lt
Sweet: more then 50 gr/lt
Acids
Each acid has a specific taste. This is the reason why their presence and proportion are key in determining the final taste of a wine. They also contribute to the composition and micro biological stability of the wine as well as being responsible for the “hardness” of the wine.There are different types of acid, they are listed below.
Organic acids of the grape:
Tartaric
Malic
Citric
Organic acids of fermentation:
Lactic
Succinic
Acetic
Propionic
acids:
Sulphuric
Phosphoric
Cloridric
Tartaric Acid. It is typical of grape.
Malic acid. It is typical of unripe fruit. It helps to protect the liver and it is a disinfectant of the urinary system. It gives an “unripe” taste that can be unpleasant.
Citric acid. It is typical in citrus fruit and discourages the creation of stones in the liver.
Lactic acid. Its presence in wine varies considerably. It has a nice, sweet, round taste.
Succinic acid. It stimulates the cells’ breathing. It is bitter and savoury.
Acetic acid. Its quantity is very small if the fermentation happens in a correct way.
Polyphenols
They determine the differences between red and white wines in terms of colour and taste. They have recently been objects of research for their beneficial effect on health.
Their presence in wine varies between a few milligrams in white wines to several grams in mature red wines.
Polyphenols are divided into 2 categories:
• Flavonoids (mainly in red wines). Tannins are flavonoids.
• Non-flavonoids
Amongst the non-flavonoids, there are the stilbeni, which are naturally antibiotic. Of the stilbeni a particularly important one, for its health benefits, is the resveratrol.
Though Resveratrol is present in the skin of both white and red grapes, it is particularly concentrated in red wines. Its benefits increase when it is consumed with wine, which increases its power. These are some of the effects of resveratrol:
• Anti-coagulant activity, akin to aspirin
• It has a preventative action against cancer, combatting the development of tumours.
• It is a powerful anti-oxidant (20 times more than vitamin-E)
• It has anti-inflammatory effects.
• It facilitates the reaction of the immune system.
Azotised Substances
Minerals
Aromatic Substances
Vitamins
There are vitamins in wine even if in very small doses and all hydro soluble.
Carbon Dioxide
It should only be present in sparkling wine. If it is present in still wines, this is due to an incorrect fermentation of the wine itself. Carbon dioxide facilitates digestion.
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Amarone, Barolo, Burg Layer Schlosskapelle, Chianti Classico, Cristal Champagne, Cloudy Bay Wines, Dom Perignon Rose, Murfatlar, Thelema,
Pure Wines, Haut Brion, Chateau d'Yquem, Talbot, German Wines Dornfelder, Rothschild, Petrus, St Claire Wines, Peter Lehmann Excellence Range,
Ice Wine, Eiswein, Vosne Romanee, Wine Tasting Events, Fine Wine Cornwall, Classic Wine Cornwall, Wine Cruise
© Martin Leaker - www.purewines.org - Cornwall, UK. - Tel 07790 282185 - email: sales@purewines.org
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