Nov 25 2009
How Wine is Made
To make wine, you must let the grapes ripen until late August or September depending on the seasonal climate conditions. It is essential to taste the grapes, chew the seeds, and measure the sugar content to give winemakers an idea if the grapes are ready yet.
The grapes are then harvested and transported to the winery to be crushed.
Red wines are crushed with the skins and seeds, while white wines are not.
After crushing the grapes, it is all put into a stainless steel fermenting tank.
Now the fermentation process begins. Typically, cultured yeast is added to the grape juice. The yeast begins to digest the sugars in the grape juice and fermentation begins. This process leaves you with carbon dioxide and alcohol.
The wine is moved to an oak barrel for aging. Throughout the aging process the wine is moved from one barrel to another quite often.
The wine will sit in the barrels for months and then will be moved to a bottle where it will continue to age for awhile before being shipping to the stores.
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