The Entire Process of Making Wine
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the rich history and intricate process of winemaking, from its ancient Egyptian origins to modern techniques. It explains the selection of grapes and their transformation into wine, including the use of foot stomping for gentle juice extraction and the critical role of fermentation. The script also covers the importance of aging, the impact of vintage on wine quality, and the final steps of bottling, offering a comprehensive journey from vine to bottle.
Takeaways
- 🍇 Wine making has ancient origins, dating back to 5,000 BC in Egypt, with evidence found in cave wall paintings.
- 👣 Traditional foot stomping was used to extract grape juice gently, avoiding the release of bitter compounds and excessive heat.
- 🌍 The selection of grape variety and factors like climate and soil composition are crucial for determining the wine's characteristics.
- 📏 A refractometer is used to check the sugar content in grapes, ensuring optimal ripeness for harvest.
- 🚜 Modern wine harvesting often employs mechanical harvesters or robots, reducing the need for handpicking.
- 🍷 The process of crushing grapes is essential and can be done traditionally by stomping or mechanically with a crusher stemmer machine.
- 🔴 For red wines, the skins are left in contact with the juice during fermentation to extract color and tannins.
- 🔬 Fermentation involves the conversion of sugar into alcohol by yeast, with some winemakers experimenting with different yeast types.
- 🧪 Chaptalization, the addition of sugar to increase alcohol content, may be done if grapes lack sufficient sun exposure.
- 🛠 Aging can take place in various containers like stainless steel tanks, oak barrels, or concrete vats, affecting the wine's flavor profile.
- 🍾 After aging, the wine is clarified and filtered to remove sediment before bottling, with some wines benefiting from further bottle aging.
- 🏷 The vintage year on a wine label indicates the year of grape harvest, which can affect the wine's quality due to varying weather conditions.
Q & A
What is the historical origin of wine making?
-Wine making can be traced back to Egypt as far as 5,000 BC, with archaeologists discovering cave wall paintings showing the use of wine and wine jars.
Why was foot stomping used in the past to extract juice from grapes?
-Foot stomping was used because it applied relatively gentle pressure, avoiding the release of bitter tannins or astringent compounds, and the low temperature of the human body did not release excessive heat, which was beneficial for maintaining fermentation conditions.
What factors influence the selection of grapes for wine making?
-Factors such as the type of wine desired, climate, soil composition, and vineyard location play crucial roles in grape selection, as different grapes contribute unique flavors, aromas, and characteristics.
How is the optimal ripeness of grapes determined for harvesting?
-Vineyardists inspect samples of clusters of wine grapes with a refractometer, a handheld device that allows them to accurately check the amount of sugar in the grapes, to determine if they are ready to be picked.
What is the purpose of mechanical harvesters in modern vineyards?
-Mechanical harvesters, and in some cases robots, are used to gather grapes, significantly decreasing the time it takes to harvest and eliminating the need for handpicking, which was the norm in the past.
How does the process of crushing grapes differ between white and red wine production?
-For white wine, all grape skins are separated from the must before fermentation, while for red wine, the whole crushed grape, including the skin, goes into the fermentation tank to extract color, tannins, and additional flavors during fermentation.
What role does yeast play in the wine fermentation process?
-Yeast, either wild or cultured, is fed into the fermentation tank or vat to turn the sugar in the must into alcohol, which is a crucial step in transforming grapes into wine.
Why might wine makers add sugar to the wine must during production?
-Sugar may be added, a process called chaptalization, to increase the alcoholic content, usually because the grapes have not received enough sun prior to harvesting.
How does the aging process influence the wine's characteristics?
-Aging, which can occur in subterranean cellars, stainless steel tanks, or oak barrels, imparts additional flavors and aromas to the wine, influencing its complexity and structure.
What is the purpose of fining and filtration in wine production?
-Fining agents such as Bentonite or egg whites are added to bind with undesirable particles, allowing them to settle and be easily removed. Filtration further refines the wine's clarity.
What is the significance of the vintage year on a wine label?
-The vintage year indicates the year in which the grapes used to make the wine were harvested, reflecting the specific growing season and weather conditions that can significantly impact the wine's characteristics and quality.
Outlines
🍇 The Art of Winemaking: From Harvest to Fermentation
This paragraph delves into the rich history and intricate process of winemaking. It begins with the selection of grapes, emphasizing the importance of grape variety and environmental factors like climate and soil. The timing of the harvest is crucial for the wine's flavor profile, with underripe and overripe grapes affecting sugar, alcohol, and acidity levels. The use of a refractometer to gauge ripeness is highlighted. Following harvest, grapes are mechanically or traditionally crushed, with the choice between preserving the past with stomping and modern methods using machines. The paragraph also covers the fermentation process, where the must is transformed into wine through the action of yeast, and the potential addition of sugar for chaptalization. The importance of yeast selection and the measurement of sugar content are underscored, concluding with the initial stages of wine production.
🥂 Aging, Clarification, and Bottling: The Journey to the Perfect Bottle
The second paragraph continues the winemaking narrative by discussing the aging process, where wine is stored in cellars or temperature-controlled tanks, and aged in oak barrels to enhance its complexity. The duration of aging is variable, depending on style and preferences. Clarification through fining and filtration is essential to remove sediment and refine clarity. The art of blending different batches or varieties to achieve a desired flavor profile is also mentioned. Once the wine's characteristics meet the winemaker's satisfaction, the bottling process begins, which may include the addition of sulfur dioxide to prevent spoilage. The choice of closure, such as cork or screw cap, impacts aging potential and oxidation. The paragraph concludes with the application of labels that provide key information about the wine's origin, vintage, and alcohol content, highlighting the significance of vintage in reflecting the growing season's impact on wine quality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Wine
💡Stomping
💡Fermentation
💡Grape Selection
💡Harvesting
💡Crushing
💡Must
💡Aging
💡Vintage
💡Bottling
💡Yeast
💡Tannins
💡Chaptalization
💡Clarification
Highlights
Wine is often referred to as the 'nectar of the Gods', a drink that can elevate the spirit and intoxicate the senses.
The history of winemaking dates back to 5,000 BC in Egypt, with evidence found in cave wall paintings.
Foot stomping was historically used to extract juice from grapes, offering benefits such as gentle pressure and avoiding heat generation.
The selection of grape variety and factors like climate, soil, and location are crucial for determining the wine's characteristics.
Harvest timing is critical for the wine's flavor profile, balancing sugar levels, acidity, and ripeness.
Refractometers are used to check the sugar content in grapes, ensuring optimal ripeness for harvest.
Mechanical harvesters and robots have replaced handpicking in most medium to large vineyards since the late 20th century.
Crushing grapes involves breaking the skins to release juice, traditionally done by stomping but now often by machines.
For white wine, grape skins are separated from the juice before fermentation to avoid color and tannin extraction.
Red wine fermentation involves macération, where grape skins remain in contact with the juice to extract color and flavors.
Yeast selection is crucial for wine fermentation, with winemakers experimenting with different types to improve quality.
Châptalization is the process of adding sugar to increase the wine's alcoholic content, often due to insufficient sun exposure.
Wine must is fermented for 7 to 14 days, depending on the type of wine, before further processing.
Aging wine can take place in subterranean cellars or temperature-controlled tanks, with oak barrels adding flavors.
Wine clarification involves fining and filtration to remove sediment and improve clarity.
Blending wines from different batches or varieties is common to achieve a desired flavor profile.
Bottling wine involves careful transfer from aging vessels to bottles, sometimes with added sulfur dioxide to prevent spoilage.
The choice of closure, such as cork or screw cap, can impact a wine's aging potential and susceptibility to oxidation.
Vintage indicates the year of grape harvest and reflects the growing season's weather conditions, affecting wine quality.
Non-vintage blends combine wines from different years for a consistent flavor profile.
The optimal aging time for wine varies, with some wines improving with further bottle aging to develop complexity.
Careful control over the wine production process is essential for creating quality wine, with many variables impacting the final product.
Transcripts
wine is known as the nectar of the Gods
it's a fascinating drink that elevates
the spirit and intoxicates the senses
but how much of the process involves
stomping the grapes with feet and how is
wine actually made let's take a look at
that and a whole lot more in this video
wine making can be traced back to Egypt
as far as 5,000 BC archaeologists have
found cave wall paintings not only
showing the use of wine but wine jars as
well at some point in the past one
makers started employing foot trading or
stomping to extract juice from The
Grapes while this may sound unusual the
process has its benefits first the
pressure applied with feet was
relatively gentle and helped avoid the
release of bitter tannin or ar stringent
compounds secondly due to the low
temperature of the human body the
process did not release excessive heat
maintaining the desired conditions for
fermentation but we're getting ahead of
ourselves let's start at the beginning
the wine making process begins with the
careful selection of grapes the choice
of grape variety depends on the type of
wine desired as different grapes
contribute unique flavors Aromas and
characteristics factors such as climate
soil composition and Vineyard location
also play crucial roles in grape
selection once the grapes have reached
optimal ripeness they are harvested the
timing of the Harvest is critical as it
significantly influences the flavor
profile of the wine you see if the
grapes are under rpe they may have low
sugar levels low alcohol and high
acidity on the contrary if the grapes
are overripe they have the opposite
characteristics a perfect balance
therefore must be struck when harvesting
grapes to ensure that the wine is the
best possible for this purpose
vineyardist inspect sample of clusters
of wine grapes with a refractometer to
determine if the grapes are ready to be
picked the refractometer is a small
handheld device the size of a miniature
telescope that allows the the
vineyardist to accurately check the
amount of sugar in the grapes if the
grapes are ready for picking a
mechanical Harvester usually a suction
picker gathers and funnels The Grapes
into a field Hopper or mobile storage
container these mechanical Harvesters or
in some cases robots are now used in
most medium to large Vineyards thereby
eliminating the need for handpicking
which was the norm in the past first
used in California vineyards in 1968
mechanical Harvesters significantly
decreased the time it takes to gather
grapes the Harvesters have also allowed
grapes to be gathered at night when they
are cool fresh and ripe after harvesting
the grapes are transported to the winery
for processing the first step is
crushing where the grapes Skins are
broken to release the juice as mentioned
before traditionally this was done by
stomping on the grapes and some wineries
still employ this process as a way of
preserving the craftsmanship of the past
however in modern times wineries usually
employ the services of a crushed stemmer
machine some crushed stemmer machines
are hydraulic While others are driven by
air pressure the grapes are crushed and
the stems are removed leaving liquid
must that flows either into a stainless
steel fermentation tank or a wooden vat
for white wine all the grape Skins are
separated from the must or Wine Juice by
filters or centrifuges before they
undergo fermentation for red wine the
whole crushed grape including the skin
goes into the fermentation tank or vat
this is because during fermentation red
wines undergo mation a process where the
grape skins remain in contact with the
fermenting juice this extracts color
tannins and additional flavors from the
Skins during the fermentation process
wild yeast are fed into the tank or vat
to turn the sugar in the must into
alcohol some wine makers may also used
cultured yeast for their wines as far as
the type of yeast goes it can VAR wine
makers are continuously experimenting
with different kinds of yeast to improve
the quality of their wine in addition
cane or Beach sugar may be added to
increase the alcoholic content adding
sugar is called chaptalization usually
chaptalization is done because the
grapes have not received enough Sun
prior to harvesting the wine maker will
use a handheld hydrometer to measure the
sugar content in the tank or vat the
wine must ferment in the tank or vat for
approximately 7 to 14 days depending on
the type of wine being produced after
crushing and fermentation wine needs to
be stored filtered and properly aged
many wineries still store wine in damp
Subterranean wine cellers to keep the
wine cool but larger wineries now store
wine above ground in epoxy lined and
stainless steel tanks the tanks are
temperature controlled by water that
circulates inside the lining of the tank
shell wine can also be stored in Oak
barrels or concrete vets Oak aging
imparts additional flavors and Aromas to
the wine influencing its complexity and
structure the duration of Aging varies
depending on the wine style and wine
maker preferences to remove any
remaining sediment or particles the wine
is clarified through fining and
filteration fining agents such as
Bentonite or egg whites are added to
bind with undesirable particles allowing
them to settle and be easily removed
filter ation further refines the Wine's
Clarity in some cases wine makers May
Blend Wines from different batches or
grape varieties to achieve a desired
flavor profile this is common in regions
where multiple grape varieties are grown
providing wine makers with a palet of
flavors to work with once the wine maker
is satisfied with the Wine's
characteristics it is time for bottling
the wine is carefully transferred from
aging vessels to bottles and in some
cases a small amount of sulfur dioxide
is added to prevent oxidation and
microbial spoilage after bottling the
wine is sealed with a cork or
alternative closure such as a screw cap
most medium to large sized wineries now
use automated bottling machines and most
moderately priced and expensive wine
bottles have corks made of a special Oak
the corks are covered with a peel off
aluminum foil or plastic seal cheaper
wines have an aluminum screw off cap or
plastic stopper the choice of closure
can impact the Wine's aging potential
and susceptibility to oxidation finally
labels are applied providing essential
information about the wine including its
origin vintage and alcohol content if
you're curious about the word vintage it
refers to the year in which the grapes
used to make the wine were harvested it
is a way of indicating the specific
growing season and weather conditions in
a particular gear which can
significantly impact the characteristics
and quality of the wine wine enthusiasts
often pay attention to the Vintage
because variations in weather conditions
such as temperature rainfall and
sunlight during the growing season can
influence the ripening of the grapes and
consequently the flavor Aroma and
overall profile of the wine certain
years may be considered better or worse
for grape growing and this can be
reflected in the perceived quality of
the wines produced in a given vintage in
some wine producing regions certain
years may be declared as exceptional
leading to a higher demand and
potentially higher prices for wines from
that vintage it's important to note that
not all wines are vintage dated some are
non-vintage Blends that combine wines
from different years to achieve a
consistent flavor profile while some
wines are ready for consumption shortly
after bottling others benefit from
further Aging in the bottle this aging
period allows the wine to evolve and
develop more complex flavors and Aromas
the optimal aging time varies depending
on the wine type and individual
preferences all facets of wine
production must be carefully controlled
to create a quality wine such variables
as the speed with which the harvested
grapes are crushed the temperature and
timing during both fermentation and
aging the percent of sugar and acid in
the harvested grapes and the amount of
sulfur dioxide added during fermentation
all have a tremendous impact on the
quality of the finished wine that was
all about the Journey of a grape from
The Vineyard to a wine bottle if you're
curious about how sugar is made check
out our video on the production of sugar
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