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Winemaking
Winemaking
INTRODUCTION
This module is all about sparkling and white wines and how they are made. In this module, we will introduce and explain the production and the various sparkling wine and Champagne styles. We will also give you a brief overview of white winemaking.
MODULE OBJECTIVES
In this module you will learn: Sparkling wine and Champagne styles
PART
DRYNESS/SWEETNESS LEVELS
The dosage (a mixture of wine & sugar) added just before bottling determines the dryness/sweetness level of the sparkling wine or Champagne. Most wines are labeled simply as brut, which is fairly dry. However, there are sweeter sparkling wines to be found. Heres a list of styles in ascending level of sweetness: Brut Nature: bone dry. Also called Extra Brut, Brut Sauvage, or other proprietary names. Brut: dry Extra Dry: off-dry Sec: slightly sweet Demi Sec: sweet Doux: very sweet
CHAMPAGNE STYLES II
Ros: A pink Champagne or sparkling wine produced either by leaving the skins in contact with the must during fermentation, or blending white wine (Chardonnay) and red wine (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) together. Blanc de Blancs: A Champagne or sparkling wine made from white grapes only (usually Chardonnay).
Prestige Cuve: The finest Champagnes made only in exceptional vintages. Mot et Chandons Cuve Dom Perignon and Roederers Cristal are two of the most well-known Prestige Cuve Champagnes.
PART
HARVEST
White wine grapes are picked in the earlier stages of the harvest. Unlike red grapes where longer hang time on the vine is needed to mature the flavors and tannins, white grapes are harvested when the perfect balance of ripe fruit and natural acidity is achieved. Many wineries harvest white grape varieties at night or early in the morning to retain as much natural freshness as possible. Its also crucial not to crush or bruise the grapes which would cause oxidation and bitter flavors in the juice.
CRUSH
The juice is obtained by placing whole bunches of grapes into a crusher-destemmer, which removes the stems. The whole clusters may also be placed directly into the press, stems and all. Unlike red wine which relies on skin contact to supply color and tannins, the juice for white wine is separated off the skins immediately after going through the crusher-destemmer to avoid any oxidation or bitter flavors. A winemaker may choose to chill the grapes before crushing or pressing to retain the grapes natural freshness and delicate flavors. The more common practice is to chill the juice after pressing and before fermentation.
PRESSING
Most modern wineries use bladder presses instead of the more traditional basket presses. A bladder press is a closed cylindrical tank with an inflatable bladder that gently presses the grapes against a screen as it inflates without crushing the seeds or stems. Think of a slowly inflating balloon and youll get the idea of a bladder press.
Native yeast fermentation has been used throughout history to make wine and is still used by many winemakers today.
The only potential drawbacks to native yeast fermentation are the unpredictability of the fermentation (many competing strains of yeast working at the same time) and stuck or stopped fermentations. Stuck fermentations will leave unfermented residual sugars or sweetness and in most wines this is not desirable.
Many winemakers choose to add a cultured yeast to achieve a more controlled fermentation and to avoid stuck fermentations.
FERMENTATION
The goal in fermenting white wine is to preserve the freshness and natural delicacy of fruit of the grape. To achieve this goal winemakers ferment white wines at a much cooler temperature than red wines: 50 to 65 vs. 75 to 85 in red wines.
BARREL FERMENTATION
Some white wines, most notably Chardonnay, are fermented in smaller 5560 gallon oak barrels. These barrels are filled only full so as to not foam over. In barrel fermentation the yeasts help to draw out toasty vanilla notes from the wood. The barrels also contribute a creamy texture to the young wine. Barrel fermentation is definitely not for delicate white grape varieties such as Riesling.
BARREL AGING
Once the wine is cold stabilized the winemaker may choose to age the wine further in oak barrels. Oak aging can dramatically alter the natural fruit flavors of white wine. Thus whites are aged for less time in oak compared to red wines. If white wine is aged too long in wood it loses its natural fruit and takes on too much wood character and tannin.
REVIEW
You should now have a good understanding of: Sparkling wine and Champagne styles Methods used to make white wines
INTRODUCTION
For many, red wines are the greatest wines created. In this module Part 1 is all about red wines and how they are made. Part 2 covers methods used to make different kinds of dessert wines. We will also describe processes and terms such as maceration, botrytis, late-harvest, fortification and more.
MODULE OBJECTIVES
In this module you will learn: Methods used to make red wines
PART
HARVEST
Red wine grapes are picked during the mid and later stages of the harvest. In harvesting white grapes, the major concern is preserving as much of the vibrant fresh fruit flavors as possible. With red grapes longer hang time on the vine is needed to mature the flavors and tannins. Red grapes are harvested only when the perfect balance of ripe fruit and natural acidity is achieved and when the all important tannins, in the seeds and grape skins, have matured.
CRUSH
Ripe bunches of grapes are hand-harvested (or machine harvested in many cases) and placed in small plastic bins then taken to the winery. At the winery the grapes are placed on a sorting table and any unripe or moldy grapes or leaves are removed. The bunches of grapes then travel by conveyor belt to the crusher-destemmer, pictured above. As with white grapes, juice is obtained by placing whole bunches of grapes into a crusher-destemmer, which crushes the grapes and, as the name implies, removes the stems.
ADDING YEAST
White & red grape must (must is the unfermented juice, skins and seeds of grapes) will naturally ferment on its own vineyard yeasts the yeasts that develop naturally on the grapes in the vineyard.
Vineyard yeast fermentation has been used throughout history to make wine and is still used by many winemakers today.
As with white wines, a potential drawback to using vineyard yeast fermentation is the unpredictability of the fermentation due to many competing strains of yeast working at the same time. One can also have stuck or stopped fermentations leaving residual unfermented sugar which most the time is not desired.
Many winemakers choose to add a cultured yeast to achieve a more controlled fermentation and to avoid stuck fermentations.
TANNIN
Tannin, or tannic acid, is one of the most vital components of red wine. Tannin is derived from the skins and seeds of the grape as well as from the barrels that are often used to age the wine.
Tannin is a valuable preservative that gives any red wine the potential to age. It also provides the structure that gives red wine balance. Too little tannin and the wine will lack character and structure. However, too much tannin will render a wine harsh, bitter, and undrinkable.
Various red wines have different levels of tannin. A Beaujolais has low tannins while a young Cabernet Sauvignon may have very high tannins.
Tannin tastes bitter and can have a gritty, or astringent, sensation on the back of the tongue if present in high quantities.
FERMENTATION
Unlike white wine fermentation, the goal in fermenting red wine is to extract color, flavors, and tannins from the pulp, seeds (and sometimes stems), of the grapes.
To achieve these goals winemakers ferment red wines at warmer temperatures than white wines; 75 to 85 vs. 50 to 65.
Most red wines are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Some red wines are fermented in large, upright oak barrels.
THE CAP
As the must ferments, the carbon dioxide given off forces the skins and pulp to form a mass on the top which is called the cap.
MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION
After maceration the young red wine must be put through malolactic fermentation (or ML) the bacterial process that converts the tart malic acids to softer lactic acid. White ML is a winemaking option for white wines, all red wines must go through ML or else they would be undrinkable.
The remaining skins, seeds, and stems are then pressed. The resulting press wine is quite tannic, even astringent, and is kept separate from the from the free-run wine.
A portion of the press wine is usually added back into the free run wine to add tannin and structure to the finished wine.
BARREL AGING
Racking is the term used for transfering wine from one container to another. Once the young red wine has been racked off the lees (dead yeast cells) and pressed, it is usually transferred into oak barrels to age. Unlike white wine, oak-aging is desirable for most red wines. Oak aging adds to the texture, tannic structure, and complexity of the finished wine. Red wines are aged between six and 24 months in oak. During that time some evaporation will occur and the barrels must be topped up to prevent oxidation and other problems. The young red wine will also be occasionally racked off its sediment into a new barrel to aerate it and prevent harmful compounds and off aromas from forming.
The wine is then filtered for further clarity and to also removed residual yeasts or any microbes that could cause the wine to spoil.
BOTTLING
The final stage of the winemaking process is bottling. Before bottling the winemaker may choose to make a final blend. Modern bottling lines are now universally used to prevent oxidation in the wine and to ensure consistency in the corking and labeling. After bottling, some winemakers may choose to further age the young red wine before release. Et voil! The finished product.
PART
DESSERT WINES
Dessert wines generally fall into two distinct categories: Late-Harvest Wines Fortified Wines
Late-harvest grapes are very ripe and contain much higher levels of grape sugar than grapes destined to become dry table wines. The key for the winemaker is to find the best quality late-harvest grapes for their wine. And believe or not, the best grapes for dessert wines may not always be the prettiest!
White grapes generally do well for making late-harvest dessert wines; however, certain red grapes work as well. Grapes commonly used for late-harvest wine:
White grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Riesling, Gewrztraminer, and Muscat
BOTRYTIS
A majority of the worlds best late- harvest dessert wines are made from grapes affected by botrytis (boe-try-tis). Botrytis is a mold that develops under certain conditions during autumn foggy mornings followed by warm sunny afternoons. When botrytis forms in the vineyard the spores of the mold pierce the grape skins dehydrating the grapes.
Botrytis then concentrates the grape sugars, decreases the overall acidity, and changes flavors in a very delightful way.
However, botrytis does not develop uniformly and several trips through the vineyard are required to complete harvest. The process is very labor-intensive as the grapes must be picked individually. Thus it is no surprise that botrytis dessert wines are some of the most expensive to be found.
Other fortified wines are bottled sweet without any oak aging whatsoever.
Some fortified dessert wines have the potential to age for decades (even centuries!) because of the magic combination of high alcohol level, high residual sugar content, and oxidative winemaking techniques.
REVIEW
You should now have a good understanding of: Methods used to make red wines