This is an overview of how wine is made, including, fermentation, wine-making techniques, bottling and aging.
Grape Fermentation
Black grapes are commonly fermented with the grape skins in the juice to release color, flavor and texture. Read more
White grapes are usually fermented without their skins to remain clear and fresh. Read more
Over the course of several weeks, the yeasts consume the grape juice sugar and replace it with Carbon Dioxide and Ethanol (alcohol). Once the yeasts consume all the sugar, they die and are filtered out of the wine. However, if the winemaker were to remove the yeasts before all the sugars were consumed, the wine would remain sweet with lower levels of alcohol.
Bottling & Aging
In many cases, the wine is quickly bottled, and sent to market for immediate consumption.
Other wines undergo aging before they are bottled. This could be to soften the grape tannins, integrate the flavors, and improve over time. Aging wine in new oak barrels will also impart sweet and spicy notes into the wine and allow oxygen flowing into the barrel to create even more flavors.
The longer a wine is stored in a winery, the higher the final cost of the bottle. Read more
