 Each of us is evolving in
our personal cultural experience. Perhaps you too have come
to the place where you're ready to experience more adventure
as a connoisseur. There is culture in wine. It can be found
in the ritual of drinking it, appreciating the craft of the
winemaker, and in the wine's stimulation to our taste buds.
And now, let us pursue the pure taste enjoyment of wine.
When we drink wine, our taste buds are stimulated in a unique
way and the alcohol has a calming effect on the brain. Human
taste has four components: sweetness, saltiness, acidity and
bitterness. The acidity and sweetness in wine are the two factors
that balance together to produce a pleasant sensation on our
sense of taste. We taste the acidity with the middle of the
tongue and sweetness with the tip of the tongue.
Wines with excessive acidity taste harsh, those with insufficient
acidity taste uninteresting and their flavor does not linger
in the mouth long enough. Tannins contribute to the relationship
of bitterness on the tongue. If you've ever chewed into grape
seeds, then you've tasted the dry bitterness of tannin. Wine
with too much tannin is unpleasantly bitter. The right level
of tannin has an effect of bringing all the flavors together
with a good "grip" in the mouth. The various fruit-like
flavors detectable in wine contribute nuances to the sweetness
we taste. It's fun trying to detect different fruit characteristics,
such as berries, plums, apples, pears...
Our other senses are involved as well. Our sight enjoys the
color and our sense of smell enjoys the fragrances. Much of
a wine's character is revealed only through the aroma it exudes.
This adds richly to the dimensions found in wine.
Wine Grape
Varieties
There are many species of grapes, but most of the
world's wine is made from the Vitis vinifera family, of European
origin. Wine grapes have various unique, signature characteristics.
Check out the following varietal grapes:
Popular Red Varieties
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Grenache
- Merlot
- Pinot Noir
- Sangiovese
- Syrah (Shiraz)
- Tempranillo
- Zinfandel
Popular White Varieties
- Chardonnay
- Gewürztraminer
- Grüner Veltliner
- Pinot Blanc
- Riesling
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Semillon
How Wine is Made
Wine grapes, Vitis
vinifera, grow easily in any temperate to warm climate. A
solution of sugar and water develops in ripe grapes and the
skins easily allow the growth of natural yeasts. In the fermentation
process, these single cell organisms consume the natural
sugar and change it into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide.
This rather simple process has been observed and used for
thousands of years in human culture. In the past hundred
years or so, technology and new ideas from winemakers have
played an ever-increasing role in the making of wine. It's
becoming more and more a science and an art.
Here are the basic principles of winemaking. The grapes are
either harvested by hand (this is best), or with mechanical
harvesters. Exposure to air should be kept to a minimum at
all stages of the process. Sometimes powdered sulfites are
sprinkled on the grapes prior to crushing to prevent too
much reaction with the air. The fermentation usually takes
place in open vats. Several processes may be employed to
give the wine clarity: fining and filtration for example.
Shortly after fermentation has ended, the wine is transferred
to a settling tank where filtration and other clarification
techniques may be used.
The Differences Between Red Wine and White Winemaking
There are significant differences between red wine and
white wine production. Basically, red wine is the outcome
of crushed, fermented grapes. White wine is the outcome of
fermented grape juice (that is, no skins or meat of the fruit).
Blush wines, out of interest, are made from red grapes that
are made into wine as though they were white grapes. The
red grape skins add a bit of color and nutrients to the juice
being made into blush or rosé, leaving a slight blush
of red in the wine.
Red Wine
All grapes contain the same kind of green fruity-meat,
but red grapes have red skins and in the winemaking process,
there is a considerable amount of color, flavors and tannins
that are imparted to the final product. After crushing,
the red grapes, skins and all, sit in a fermentation vat
for a period of time. Picture a huge plastic bin with a
mixture of crushed grapes and juice with a layer of crushed
wet skins on top. The skins tend to rise to the surface
of the mixture, forming a layer on top. This top layer
is frequently mixed back into the fermenting juice (called
must). After fermentation has stopped, about one to two
weeks later, the new wine is drawn from the vat. A bit
of "free run" juice
is allowed to pour and then the remaining must is squeezed,
yielding "press
wine". The wine is clarified and then transferred
to oak aging barrels so that it may mature. When the winemaker
considers the wine ready, it is transferred to bottles
and labeled.
White Wine
Right after picking, white grapes are put into
a crushing machine. In the process, the skins are separated
from the juice, an important difference over the red wine
process. Some adjustments are sometimes made to the acid
or sugar levels at this stage (the addition of sugar is
called "chaptalization").
The clarified juice is then ready for fermentation.
Yeast is then added to the juice for fermentation. Before
long the white grape juice becomes white wine. At this point,
some further tinkering is usually called for: filtering,
and perhaps the addition of sweeter juice to round out the
flavor. The wine is then aged by storing in oak or stainless
steel containers, and after a few months, it is bottled.
Article © 2002-2006, HolaVino.com
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