How Red Wine is Made

Harvesting Black Grapes

Human skill will always be the key to transforming grapes into a well-made wine, whether the equipment and techniques used are age-old or modern, very simple or highly sophisticated.
Once the wine grower has determined the moment when the grapes are as ripe as possible. while retaining sufficient acidity, the grapes can be harvested, either manually or by machine. many people believe that harvesting by hand makes for higher quality, but machine harvesting, in which the grapes are shaken from the vines, may be conducted both in daylight and at night.

Fermentation

Quality-conscious producers remove rotten grapes, either in the vineyard or at the cuverie. Stalks are also removed to avoid the harsh tannic character they might give the finished wine. The fruit is then lightly crushed and transferred into a stainless steel tank, or a wooden vat. The grapes are now left to macerate, or soften, for two or three days. Fermentation is kicked off using either cultured yeasts or yeasts occurring naturally in the grapes. The fruit may be heated or fermenting juice, called must, may be added.
To prevent the floating skins and pips from drying out, the must is pumped over them, or they are pushed down with wooden paddles in a process known as pigeage.
Some wine makers use rotary fermenters similar to sealed cement mixers, but some critics say this causes excessive astringency. For successful fermentation the fruit must be kept at 77-86 degrees (25-30 degrees C). Soft, fruity wine such as Beaujolais is made by a process known as maceration carbonique, which involves fermenting the grapes uncrushed.


Adjusting The Mixture


The alcoholic strength of the wine may be increased by adding sugar during fermentation. Likewise, acidity may be increased by adding tartaric acid, a substance that occurs naturally in the grape. Strict legislation restricts both sugar use and acidification, but is often ignored. If the mixture is too watery some of the part-fermented pink juice is drawn off, concentrating the remainder. The wine made from the drawn-off juice may be sold as rose'.
Fermentation is complete when all the sugar has been converted into alcohol. The wine may now be left to macerate on the skins for a period of between one and four weeks, during which time the color will deepen and the tannins soften. The free-running juice, the vin de goutte, is then drawn off and the solids transferred to a press, which extracts from them the tougher, darker wine known as press wine or vin de presse.. The two are kept separate until the wine maker is ready to blend them before bottling.
Following fermentation, red wine will almost always be allowed to undergo a natural process called malolactic fermentation, in which appley malic acid s transformed into creamier lactic acid.
Some wine, such as Beaujolais and basic vin de pays, is intended t be drunk young, but most high quality wine will now be matured for up to 18 months in wooden casks. Increasingly, some or all of the casks will be made of new oak. When used carefully, oak gives the wine an appealing vanilla character. In can, however, easily overpower other subtler flavors.


Racking and Fining


Sulphur is used to protect the developing wine against bacteria throughout the wine-making process. If not managed carefully, tough, it can combine wit hydrogen to produce the stink bomb smell and flavor of hydrogen sulphide. One way to prevent this problem is to rack the wine, transferring if from one cask to another to aerate it and prevent it from becoming stale.
Before bottling, the wine is likely to be fined or clarified with powdered clay or beaten egg whites to remove cloudiness. It may also be filtered to remove sediment, though many producers now prefer to bottle their wine unfiltered, and possibly even unfined, to preserve as much of its flavor as possible.


Red Wine Varieties

French red wines

Beaujolais- inexpensive and not too serious. This is probably France's most famous wine. It's easy to drink, delicious, and goes well at parties, picnics and lunches.
Bordeaux- The most important region in the world, especially for its red wines. Bordeaux produces more serious wine than any other region in the world. Bordeaux are typically a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grape varieties.

Italian Red Wines

Chianti- A zone with so many wineries. Chiani aroma and exuberant flavors are fresh, with bright fruit and a slight tarry character.
Barbera- Berbera wines are dry with a slightly spicy flavor.