🍷 Winemaking

Winemaking is the turning of grapes into wine. The road runs from the picking of berries to the bottle, and it starts in the vineyard: without a good crop there is no wine, so viticulture comes before winemaking.

At the winery the bunches usually pass a sorting table, where rotten berries and leaves are removed. Destemming then separates the berries from the stems, and crushing breaks them. The result is a mass of pulp, skins and seeds with juice. For white wine the grapes are often pressed straight away to get must. For red wine the juice stays on the skins, and maceration moves colour and tannins into the wine.

Next the must ferments: yeast turns sugar into alcohol. In some places chaptalisation, acidification or deacidification are allowed when grapes come in too sharp or too sweet. At the end the wine is clarified and bottled.

The winemaker does the work, and it takes place at the winery.