MAKING OF WINE

MAKING OF WINE

Throughout this journey, we have discovered the history of wine, but how is this delicious drink made?

After cultivating the grapes from the vine tree, it all starts with the Vendemmia, the Italian word for grape harvesting in the vineyards. This is an operation all carried out by hands, although nowadays it can be mechanized. The manual harvesting, however, guarantees greater accuracy in the selection of the bunches.

The harvest takes place in fall, between August and October, depending on the right degree of maturation of each type of grape, while for some late fermented grapes such as raisin wines it can go up to November. Some good rules when harvesting grapes are not to pick wet grapes to prevent water from affecting the quality of the must, not to harvest during the hottest hours of the day to prevent unwanted fermentations and to spend as little time as possible between the harvest and the pressing to avoid the deterioration of the grapes, since the whole bunches are the premise for having a good wine.

The pressing was traditionally done by hand or even feet!

After collecting the grapes, the fruit is gathered in a big container, usually in wood, called "Tino", where the pressing process can take place. Even the pressing was traditionally done by hand or even feet! This method consolidated a joyful tradition among peasant families, whose members would gather to jump inside the large containers in which grapes were collected. However, today the pressing is carried out with the aid of machinery. The grapes are squeezed and the must obtained, corrected for acidity and purified from impurities and bacteria, is then collected in large vats. And in some case the eliminations of stalks, pips and seed take place at this part of the process. The press must be soft, squeezing the juice without excessively deteriorating the skins.

In the basins, the must, in Italian well-known as "Mosto", will then ferment for an average period of 7-10 days. By fermenting, the sugar contained in the must begins to turn into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In the case of white wines, the grape juice is separated from stalks, marc (skins) and seeds, while in the case of red wines it ferments together with the solid components, which affect the color and tannic component of the wine. And for rosé wines, there are three main methods of making: skin contact, saignée, and blending. Rosé wines can be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling and with a wide range of sweetness levels from highly dry Provençal rosé to sweet White Zinfandels.

White wines require minimal or even no aging before bottling. Red wines, on the other hand, can rest for up to 5 years (with some exceptions of longer duration).

The refinement, during which the transformation of sugars into alcohol continues, can take place in oak, steel, cement or amphorae barrels: the choice of material and the size of the container change the characteristics of the wine. Finally, the wine is re-filtered to eliminate impurities, deoxygenated through the addition of substances such as gaseous nitrogen and then bottled. The aging of the wine continues in the bottle, and the producer, then the retailer and finally the buyer are responsible for it. In the bottle, wine, being a “living matter”, continues to evolve, adding a fascinating value to such beloved creation.