How is White Wine Made?
GRAPE-GROWING
White grapes hang on the vine until they are ripe. The sun helps them to ripen, accumulate sugar, and develop fresh and delicate flavors.
HARVEST
Once the grapes are ready to be harvested, they are picked by hand or machine and immediately chilled in the winery to keep them fresh. At this stage, it is important that the grapes aren’t exposed to too much oxygen so they don’t spoil and develop unwanted bacteria.
PRESSING
In the winery, the white grapes are sorted by hand or machine to remove unwanted material and make sure the remaining grapes are healthy and usable.
The healthy grapes are then pressed to remove the juice from the skins.
Note: Some white grapes soak on their skins for a time to increase the flavor of the juice, i.e. Orange Wine (soaking on the skins add flavor, texture, and color to white wine).
FERMENTATION
The white grape juice is then placed in a fermentation tank.
Yeast are added to the clear grape juice to consume the sugars and turn them into alcohol. This process may take a couple of weeks.
The temperatures remain relatively cool so that the juice doesn’t get too warm and lose its delicate flavor.
AGING & BOTTLING
When fermentation completes, the winemaker must decide what to to do next. The wine may be:
1. Bottled for immediate consumption
2. Aged in oak to develop additional flavors and texture
3. Stored in a vat and bottled at a later date
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