The French vineyards are the pride of the country, and each year millions of wine bottles are sold around the world. But do you really know how we make wine? Discover the 8 stages of wine production.
Vine and grape: grape culture
All wine production begins with a culture of the vine. Many criteria determine the characteristics and quality of the wine:
- the grape variety, in other words the species of cultivated vine;
- the terroir, whose climate, the nature of the soil, or the water supply determines the typicity of the wine;
- The treatments used, which can be very limited in the context of organic farming, or on the contrary based on synthetic chemical fertilizers ...
The type of harvest
Harvesting can be done in a traditional way, with a hand collection, or in mechanical harvest, with an agricultural machine. Depending on the technique, the fruit will be more or less damaged, and sorted differently.
Harvests generally take place at the end of summer, but some areas opt for late harvest, which take place about 1 month later and allow the grapes to be matured.
Alcoholic fermentation
Once picked up and sorted, the grapes are placed in a wooden, stainless steel, or concrete tank, where they will undergo the process of alcoholic fermentation. The process lasts 8 to 10 days, and allows Transform grape sugar into alcohol, thanks to a meticulous temperature control and regular brewing.
Maceration
The wine in preparation then goes to the stage of maceration. Its duration will depend on the wine to macerate: a few hours for rosé wine, and up to 20 days for red wine. During this process, the tannins, the aromas and the color of the skin and the pulp of the grapes will be transmitted to the juice, which gradually becomes wine.
The flow
L'spray consists in separating the gout wine, or young wine, from Marc. The latter, composed of the skin and the grape seeds, is then in a hurry, to obtain from the press wine, which is much more powerful than gout wine. We can then choose the concentration of tannins of wine, adding more or less gout wine to press wine.
Malolactic fermentation
Then comes the stage of Transformation of malic acid into lactic acid, with a second fermentation, said Malolactic fermentation. The wine contained in the tank is then heated, to activate the development of bacteria. The goal here is to reduce the acidity of the wine, and bring it more flexibility.
Breeding
Placed in stainless tank or barrel, the wine then rests for several months during which the structure and aromas of the wine evolve. During thebreeding, the wine will then soften, and its aromas will become more complex.
The traffic jam
After having removed the wine from the tank, and removed the coarse lees, we go to the bottling process. The bottle of wine is then closed with a cap, or a capsule.
The wine manufacturing Go through many steps, some of which are optional. The 8 Vinification stages Described here remain mandatory to obtain a quality wine.
