Sonoma Wine Tours
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Wine 101 --- Wine Making
How Sanoma Wine Is Made
Your visit to Sonoma's wine country will be richer if you understand the basics of wine making. We call it wine 101. Wine making is an art, and the result is some of the finest wines in the world. Enjoy Sonoma wines!
The Crush
Once the grapes have been harvested it is important to begin the wine making process as quickly as possible. This means getting the fruit to a CRUSHER as soon as possible
The fruit is tipped into the crusher which does as it sounds – crushes the grapes and releases the juice. The grape stems and skins are also separated from the juice at the crusher, as is MOTG (material other than grapes). You would be surprised what can turn up in a container of grapes.
Here is where the process of making white wine and red wine differs. It is important to understand that the color of the finished wine comes from the grape skins not the juice. Try squeezing a red grape and a white grape at the same time. You will see that the juice from both are clear. This means in order to make a red wine the winemaker must allow the juice to have contact with the grape skins. Juice destined for white wine is rarely left in contact with grape skins as these flavors are not desirable in white wine
Fermentation
Now that the juice has been separated from the stalks and skins the winemaker can now begin the process known as FERMENTATION. Put simply, fermentation is the process whereby the grape sugars are converted into alcohol. This is achieved by adding yeast to the juice. The role of the yeast is to eat up all the sugar in the juice and produce alcohol.. Gas in the form of carbon dioxide is also produced, as is heat. After converting the sugar to alcohol the yeast cells die and their job is complete. After Fermentation we now have something resembling wine.
Sonoma White wine
For white wine, Fermentation is normally undertaken in large stainless steel tanks, and the grape skins are removed before the process begins. Some full bodied white wine varieties, such as Chardonnay can also be fermented in oak barrels to allow greater flavor and complexity. It is important to ensure that the temperature is kept at a suitable level throughout the process, as undesirable organisms can creep into the wine if it is fermented too hot. Likewise if it is too cold the yeast cannot function.
It is also vital to keep the juice away from oxygen at all times to prevent OXIDATION. You can easily see the damage Oxidation can do to wine by taking a bite out of an apple. Left for only minutes, Oxidation will turn the exposed apple brown. The same will occur with grapes and grape juice
Sonoma Red Wine
Red wine can either be fermented in stainless steel tanks, oak barrels or traditional open concrete fermenters. The type of fermentation selected is determined by what type of wine the winemaker intends to make. If the winemaker wants to produce a big red wine full of flavor then he/she will keep the fermenting wine in contact with the grape skins for a longer period. This will impart lots of flavor and color to the wine. Likewise if the winemaker wants to produce a lighter style red such as a rose or Pinot Noir then lesser skin contact is require
During the secondary fermentation and aging process, which takes three(3) to six(6) months, the fermentation continues very slowly. The wine is kept under an airlock to protect the wine from oxidation. Proteins from the grape are broken down and the remaining yeast cells and other fine particles from the grapes are allowed to settle. Potassium bitartrate will also precipitate, a process which can be enhanced by cold stabilization to prevent the appearance of (harmless) tartrate crystals after bottling. The result of these processes is that the originally cloudy wine becomes clear. The wine can be racked during this process to remove the lees.
The secondary fermentation usually takes place in either large stainless steel vessels with a volume of several cubic meters of wine, or oak barrels, depending on the goals of the winemakers. Unoaked wine is fermented in a barrel made of stainless steel or other material having no influence in the final taste of the wine. Depending on the desired taste, it could be fermented mainly in stainless steel to be briefly put in oak, or have the complete fermentation done in stainless steel. Oak could be added as chips used with a non-wooden barrel instead of a fully wooden barrel. This process is mainly used in cheaper wine.
Amateur winemakers often use glass carboys, sometimes called demijohns with a capacity of 4.5 to 25 liters (approximately 1 to 6 gallons) to produce their wine. The vessel used for the process depends on both the amount of wine that is being produced, the grapes being used, and the goals of the winemaker.
Blending, Fining and Bottling
Different batches of wine can be mixed before bottling in order to achieve the desired taste. The winemaker can correct perceived inadequacies by mixing wines from different grapes and batches that were produced under different conditions. These adjustments can be as simple as adjusting acid or tannin levels, to as complex as blending different varieties or vintages to achieve a consistent taste.
Fining agents are used during winemaking to remove tannins, reduce astringency and remove microscopic particles that could cloud the wines. The winemakers decide on which fining agents are used and these may vary from product to product and even batch to batch (usually depending on the grapes of that particular year).
Gelatin has been used in winemaking for centuries and is recognized as a traditional method for wine fining, or clarifying. Generally no gelatin remains in the wine because it reacts with the wine components, as it clarifies, and forms a sediment which is removed by filtration prior to bottling.
Besides gelatin, other fining agents for wine are often derived from animal and fish products, such as micronized potassium casseinate (casein is milk protein), egg whites, egg albumin, bone char, bull's blood, isinglass (Sturgeon bladder), PVPP (a dairy derivative protein), lysosyme, and skim milk powder.
Some aromatized wines contain honey or egg-yolk extract. Non-animal-based filtering agents are also often used, such as Bentonite (a volcanic clay-based filter), Diatomaceous Earth, cellulose pads, paper filters and membrane filters (thin films of plastic polymer material having uniformly sized holes). A final dose of sulfite is added to help preserve the wine and prevent unwanted fermentation in the bottle. The wine bottles then are traditionally sealed with a cork, although alternative wine closures such as synthetic corks and screwcaps, which are less subject to cork taint, are becoming increasingly popular.
For more information on winemaking we recommend this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking
If you're looking for a user friendly summary about wine try:
http://wine.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Wine_Making
For more information on winemaking, see our section on vineyards and vines......
Winemaking at a Winery | Steps in Making Wine
When you visit a winery for the first time, you should take a tour if one is available. A good wine tour will take you to each area of the winery where the winemaking process takes place. It will give you a greater appreciation and love for wine.
1. The grapes ripen in late August or September depending on the seasonal climate conditions. The winemaker tastes the grapes, chews the seeds, and measures the sugar content to decide when to harvest the grapes.
2. Vineyard workers then work to harvest the grapes in the shortest possible time. The harvested grapes are dropped into bins that are trucked to the winery where they are crushed.
3. This is the spot where red wine differs from white wine. When the grapes are crushed, the skin and seeds remain with red wines but the skins and seeds are removed for white wines.
4. The juice, skins, and seeds (not for white wines) are poured into stainless steel fermenting tanks.
5. The winemaker usually adds cultured yeast to this grape juice. Fermentation begins when the yeast begins to digest the sugars present in the grape juice. Carbon dioxide and alcohol are by-products of this process.
6. Following fermentation, the wines are poured into barrels for aging. Typically, the wine is aged in 60-gallon French or American oak barrels.
7. During the barrel aging, the wines are racked several times. This means the wine is pumped from one barrel to an empty barrel. Solids are removed from the bottom of the barrel and the barrel is used again.
8. After months of aging in the barrels the wine is moved into the bottle where it will stay at the winery and continue to age. When the wine is sufficiently aged in the bottle, the wine is ready to be shipped and consumed by the wine lover.
Wine Gift Baskets
You don’t have to purchase and pack several dozen bottles of wine to bring back to the folks at home. With the new laws that allow shipping to most states, you can buy wine gift baskets and have them sent. Check out the next page for a review of wine gift basket websites. Click here.....
California Wine Tour Guides is not responsible for any harm or disappointment which may result from using the information herein contained and does not endorse or support any of the recommended places or activities. Since the wine country is constantly changing, some of the businesses may no longer be active or may have changed their locations. Websites for all recommended stops are linked to the guides, you may want to check before you plan your itenerary.
