Wine Making: More than only Fermentation
Many people think that wine making is as easy as fermenting grapes. Fermentation is the most important part of wine making, but then there are still other things included in wine making.
Fermentation is actually a chemical process which involves putting in yeast into the fruit juice. In turn, the yeast changes the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are other details you have to look at. Fermentation alone can be done in several ways.
Barrel Fermented Wine compared to Tank Fermented Wine
When the wine is barrel fermented, the "must" is put into barrels. Wines would have complex flavours. This is, obviously, a result from the chemicals drawn out of the wooden barrel. This distinctive taste is common in white wines. Barrel aging differs from barrel fermentation. In barrel aging, the wine is only placed in wooden barrels after fermentation.
Many wines, however, are tank fermented. This is when the juice is situated directly in a stainless container for fermentation. The juice undergoes cold soaking in order that red wine gets its color from the skin from the grapes. In cold soaking, the tanks are cooled down to the point where ice starts forming outside. This will extract the color from the grape skin. Additionally, it will even out the wine. Of course, regulation on the container's temperature is only doable in tanks.
The Value of Yeast
Yeast is the catalyst that spurs fermentation, so it is quite an important ingredient. Many wine makers quite frankly don't add yeast to the wine. They rely on the natural yeast which is already found on the grapes. However, such method sometimes leads to stuck fermentation. Which is when fermentation stops, and why lab-created yeast is utilized by most wine makers.
Other Commonly Used Wine Making Terms
The term "must" had been mentioned earlier. This simply pertains to the juice before and during fermentation. When you are studying wine making, you are also probably going to come across the term "brix." This is basically the measurement system used in measuring sugar content in grapes and also the wine. Brix generally indicates the certain amount of ripeness in grapes throughout the harvest.
In wine making, there is another process called "blending." This is when different kinds of grapes and grapes from different vineyards are used. Blending is typically done to draw out another quality of flavor to the wine.
With regards to serving the wine, "decanting" can also be done. The term just means transferring the wine from the bottle to another container or decanter before it is served. This is mostly done to separate the sediments in the bottle from the wine.
Aeration, however, is the technique of letting the wine out. This is often done to draw out the excellent taste and attributes of the wine. This is why people swirl wine of their glasses.
When people talk about the wine's "finish", they are basically referring to the taste and the fragrance of the wine after they consume the wine.
As you continue on learning how to make wine, you'll find more new terms. What is key is to understand them as you encounter them as this will improve your understanding of the craft.
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