Wine With

Wine is the most popular and widely collected beverage available today. It has a long and detailed history. Over the centuries wine making tools and processes have been perfected.

Today, individuals make their own wine for many reasons. For some it’s a personal challenge … the desire to create the perfect glass of wine. For others it is the dramatic cost savings that can be had. In either case the process is the same.

Wine Making … The Process

Before embarking into the world of wine making, one should realize that making wine is a long process that must be monitored carefully. Wine making must be attended to with a great degree of precision. A carefree approach often results in an unfavorable quality of wine.

The first step and often the most personal is the selection of wine making grapes. For individuals this is often based on personal preference. A little background knowledge and research will ensure an appropriate selection.

Harvesting, Crushing and Pressing

All wine begins with harvesting the fruit. Most commonly used are grapes but other fruits can be used. Vineyards must be diligent in caring for the many different types of wine grapes that exist, paying attention to climate and fertilization. The better a vineyard is cared for, the juicier the grapes, thus the most savory the wine.

After the grapes have been harvested, they are crushed. Once performed by bare footed women, today winemakers more commonly use mechanical crushers to perform this task. The resulting product is known as must. Both red and white wines begin in this same manner.

Some specialized wines actually allow fermentation to begin before crushing takes place.

White wines are quickly pressed. Red wines are left longer in the must stage. It is this contact between the skins, stems and juice that give red wine its color, flavor and tannic qualities.

Home wine making kits eliminate these initial steps and simply require the selection of the wine making concentrates. From this point the fermentation process is started.

Fermentation and Clarification

During fermentation, yeast changes the natural sugars in the juice of the grapes into alcohol. This process typically takes about 2 to 4 weeks. When this process is fully completed the result is a dry wine. Stopping the fermentation process, before all of the sugars have been converted into alcohol, results in a sweeter wine.

The next step in making wine involves clarification of the wine. This step removes any particles from the end product. It can be achieved through a process of siphoning the wine or filtering it though very fine filters.

Ageing and bottling

The final step in the wine making process involves bottling or aging. Wine can be aged in countless ways, each adding its own special twist to the end product.

Some wines are bottled immediately and are suitable to be consumed in approximately 1 to 2 years. Many wines are stored in large vats, barrels or other containers where aging takes place.

Wine making is indeed a mixture of both art and science. It takes Mother Nature to provide the raw material. Appropriate wine making equipment and a masters hand is all that is need to create the much-revered nectar of the gods.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment