How Wine Is Made?

The grapes commonly used for making wine (vitis vinifera) ripen in late August or September depending on the seasonal conditions and of course which continent the grapes are growing in. Winemakers will taste the grapes and measures the sugar content to decide when the best time to harvest is.

When this is decided, the grapes are harvested as quickly as possible. The harvested grapes are dropped into bins and taken to the winery to be crushed.

This is where the production process of red and white wine differs. When the grapes are crushed, the skin and seeds remain in the red wine process but the skins and seeds are removed for white wines.

For red wine, the juice, skins, and seeds are poured into stainless steel tanks, where fermenting takes place. Yeast is added to this grape juice. The fermentation begins when the yeast starts to digest the sugars in the grape juice. Carbon dioxide and alcohol are also produced during this process.

Following fermentation, the wines are usually poured into oak barrels where the wine will stay to age. During this time, the wine is then pumped from one barrel to an empty barrel. Any solids that remain in the first barrel are removed and then the barrel is ready to be used again.

After months of aging in the barrels, the wine is moved into a bottle where it will stay at the winery and continue to age. When the wine is sufficiently aged in the bottle, the wine is ready to be shipped to the shops for the end consumers.