Section I: The Fundamentals of Wine

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Section I The Fundamentals of Wine

• Chapter 3 The Winery From Grapes to Bottle

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Introduction

• Wine is grape juice thats been fermented by
  yeast.
• Table wine
• Wine that accompanies food
• Most common wine consumed in the United States
• Still wine wine without effervescence
• Dry wine without sweetness

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The Process of Fermentation

• Yeast converting the sugar in grape juice to
  alcohol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the
  process
• Yeast ferments sugar to produce energy to sustain
  life and reproduce.
• The species of yeast best suited for winemaking
  is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
• Degrees Brix is the most common way to measure
  sugar content in North America.

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Factors Affecting Fermentation

• Temperature
• Acidity
• Nutrients
• Alcohol
• Sugar

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Red Wine Crush and Fermentation

• Functions of the stemmer-crusher
• Takes the berries off the stems
• Breaks the berries open to release the juice
• Sulfur dioxide is the most common additive in
  wine.
• After its crushed, the juice from most red wine
  varieties is clear.
• Red wine color is extracted out of the berry
  skins.
• A vigorously mixed cap results in a wine with
  more color, body and astringency.
• Winemakers sometimes employ a cold soak before
  fermentation to increase the extraction of color
  and tannins.

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Carbonic Maceration and Extended Maceration

• Carbonic Maceration
• A portion or all of the grapes are loaded into
  the tank as whole clusters.
• The weight of the fruit cruses some of the
  berries at the bottom and releases juice.
• Extended Maceration
• Fruit is crushed and fermented with typical cap
  management.
• Tank is topped off with similar wine from another
  tank.
• Skins are left in contact with the young wine for
  1-8 weeks.

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Pressing the Skins

• Occurs when fermentation is complete and the
  winemaker is satisfied with flavor extraction
• Free run the first wine to come off
• Press fraction the wine removed at the end of
  the press cycles
• Pomace dried skins used for compost

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White Wine Crush and Fermentation

• Special effort required to handle the grapes
  gently and transport them quickly to the winery
• Juice is separated from skins before fermentation
• Fruit can be
• Crushed and pressed
• Crushed, dejuiced and pressed
• Whole-cluster pressed
• After pressing, the juice is pumped to a settling
  tank in the fermentation cellar.
• White fermentations take two to three times
  longer than red fermentations.

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Malolactic Fermentation

• Malic acid found in many fruits
• Tartaric acid unique to grapes
• Malolactic bacteria uses malic acid as an energy
  source for growth
• Malolactic fermentation has several effects on
  wine
• Deacidification
• Makes wine more microbiologically stable
• Produces a compound with a distinct buttery
  character

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Barrels and Aging

• The qualities that barrel aging gives wine are so
  positive that barrels are still used for
  winemaking.
• Reactions during aging
• Wine undergoes a slow oxidation.
• Wine absorbs flavor components from the wood.
• Oak is the chosen wood for wine-barrel
  production.
• Beyond the type of Oak used, a barrels flavor
  depends on
• The forest the wood is from
• How the wood is seasoned
• The various methods of production

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Barrels and Aging (cont.)

• Much of the flavor obtained from aging wine in
  barrels comes from what is extracted out of the
  oak.
• However, the softening of the wines texture is
  due to the process of slow oxidation.
• Time spent in oak depends on the winemakers
  taste and the body of the wine being made.
• In moderately priced wines, the cost of aging in
  barrels can be prohibitive.

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Finishing a Wine

• After aging is complete, the wine is pumped out
  of the barrel and sent to the tank cellar.
• Wines can be bottled from a single vineyard or
  batch, but more often different lots are blended
  together.
• Sometimes winemakers will blend before or in the
  middle of the aging process to give the blend
  time to harmonize in the barrel.
• After the blend is selected, two more steps must
  be completed before wine is ready to be bottled
  clarification and stability.

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Finishing a Wine (cont.)

• The simplest and most gentle form of
  clarification is settling and racking.
• The most common fining agent is bentonite.
• Filtering is another way to get clarity prior to
  bottling.
• Although a wine that is not fined or filtered may
  be less brilliant and less stable, it retains
  more of its natural flavor.

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Bottling

• Before bottling, the wine is analyzed and checked
  for stability one final time.
• Any necessary adjustments are made.
• The wine is then sent to the bottling room.
• If the bottles are sealed with a cork, they are
  then sent to a capsule machine to have a capsule
  applied to cover the neck and the cork.
• The final steps of applying the label and packing
  the bottles into cases then take place.
• Bottling is some of the roughest treatment a wine
  will receive and can leave a wine with less
  fruity aromas and body for a period of time
  (bottle shock).

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Sparkling Wine

• Wine with bubbles or effervescence
• First developed in the Champagne region of France
  in the 1700s
• The result of cork and bottling innovations
• Because of the tight seal, when the wines finish
  fermenting, carbon dioxide is trapped, giving
  them their effervescence.
• Méthode champenoise process used to make
  sparkling wine of the highest quality

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Sparkling Wine (cont.)

• Since the Champagne region is very cool, the
  grapes used for making sparkling wines are early
  ripeners.
• The grapes used for sparkling wine are picked
  earlier than those used for still wines.
• The base wine should be low in alcohol and should
  not have a lot of varietal character.
• Press cycles for sparkling wine are longer.

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Other Methods of Sparkling Wine Production

• Charmat process
• Instead of having the secondary alcoholic
  fermentation take place in the bottle, it takes
  place in large steel tanks.
• After fermentation, the wine is racked off and
  the yeast is filtered out under pressure.
• The grapes that are used for the Charmat process
  are typically less expensive varieties
• Little used methods to make sparkling wine
• Transfer method
• Artificial carbonation

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Dessert and Fortified Wines

• Dessert wines
• Made with appreciable sugar
• Have higher alcohol to stabilize the wine and
  prevent it from fermenting in the bottle
• Fortified wines
• Have had the addition of brandy during processing
• Can be either sweet or dry

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Late Harvest Wines

• Made from grapes picked at a much higher sugar
  level than grapes used for table wines.
• Achieve this higher level of sugar concentration
  due to the fruit partially dehydrating on the
  vine.
• This dehydration is increased by an infection of
  a mold that is usually considered a vineyard
  nuisance.

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Port-style Wines

• Full-bodied red wines that have about 10 percent
  sugar and 20 percent alcohol.
• Native to the Douro River wine region in northern
  Portugal
• Have their fermentation stopped halfway through
  while the must is still very sweet
• Intensely colored red grape varieties are used
  for winemaking.

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Sherry

• Originated in Spain
• Defining characteristic is that it is purposely
  oxidized.
• This gives Sherry its distinctive roasted nut
  aroma.
• Neutral grape varieties are used for Sherry
  production.
• Most popular style Sherry is the full-bodies
  oloroso.
• The traditional method of aging Sherry is done in
  a fractional barrel system called a solera.

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Flavored Wines

• A wine made from grapes that has been augmented
  with natural flavorings such as herbs, spices,
  honey and fruit juice
• Origin goes back to ancient times when herbs and
  spices were added wine to cover up imperfections

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The Attributes of Wine

• Wine is a complex mixture of nearly 1,000
  different, naturally occurring chemical
  compounds.
• These constituents come from three sources
• The compounds that are present in grape juice
• The compounds that are produced by microorganisms
  fermenting the grape juice
• The compounds that are added by the processing
  and aging of the wine
• Wine is mostly made up of water, then alcohol.
• Chemicals in wine are determined by
• Grape variety
• The vineyards terroir
• The production decisions made by the winemaker
  and grower