Wine

Winemaking

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Wine grapes.

Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material. Mead is a wine that is made with honey being the primary ingredient after water.

Winemaking can be divided into two general categories: still wine production (without carbonation) and sparkling wine production (with carbonation).

The science of wine and winemaking is known as oenology (in American English, enology) and the oldest known winemaking operation, estimated to be 8,000 years old, was discovered in Georgia.[1]

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Process

• 2 The grapes

• 3 Harvesting and destemming

• 4 Crushing and primary fermentation

o 4.1 Pressing

o 4.2 Pigeage

• 5 Cold and heat stabilization

• 6 Secondary fermentation and bulk aging

• 7 Malolactic fermentation

• 8 Laboratory tests

• 9 Blending and fining

• 10 Preservatives

• 11 Filtration

• 12 Bottling

• 13 Winemakers

• 14 See also

• 15 References

[edit] Process

Anatomy of a grape, showing the components extracted from each pressing.

After the harvest, the grapes are taken into a winery and prepared for primary ferment, at this stage red wine making diverges from white wine making. Red wine is made from the must (pulp) of red or black grapes that undergo fermentation together with the grape skins. White wine is made by fermenting juice which is made by pressing crushed grapes to extract a juice; the skins are removed and play no further role. Occasionally white wine is made from red grapes, this is done by extracting their juice with minimal contact with the grapes' skins. Rosé wines are either made from red grapes where the juice is allowed to stay in contact with the dark skins long enough to pick up a pinkish color (blanc de noir)...