Premium Wine

PILARE Stainless Steel Wine Bottle Storage	West Marine Nonskid Stainless Steel Wine Goblet	KOHLER Stainless Steel Wine Glass Rack 6133-ST
$105.00 $76.99 BedBathStore	$9.99 West Marine	$43.84 Lowe's

GE 31-Bottle Stainless Steel Wine Chiller GVS04BDWSS	GE Profile 29-Bottle Stainless Steel Wine Chiller PWR04FANBS	Stainless Steel Wine Bottle Cooler Holder
$404.10 Lowe's	$494.10 Lowe's	$23.99 LightInTheBox

How Exactly Do They Get Wine from Grapes?

When most people think of wine making, they think of barefoot people with their pants rolled up stomping around on a bunch of grapes in a large vat. Some may even think of the infamous ‘I Love Lucy’ episode. Stomping by hand, or rather by foot, is the way grapes were juiced for centuries, but today the process is much more refined. Today, wineries are much more efficient and sanitary than their predecessors.

There are five main steps involved in winemaking: harvesting the grapes, juicing the grapes, fermenting the grapes, filtering the wine, and bottling the wine. Right now, we are primarily concerned with just a few of these steps, but we’ll touch on all of them. One thing to note is that all these processes are very natural and organic, making wine a very healthy and beneficial drink alternative at meals.

First, winemakers harvest the grapes which will be made into wine. The “when and where” of the specific grape varies depend on many factors. These essential elements of wine making are what determine a wine’s quality and taste. Harvesting is done one of two ways, either by hand or by machines. Hand-picked wines tend to be the more expensive wines simply due to the fact that harvesting them is more labor-intensive. You do get what you pay for, however, and vineyards that take the time to hand-pick are usually of a higher quality. Cheaper, higher-volume wines are generally machine-picked and are of lower quality. In the end, however, your “fine” wine is whatever wine tastes good to you, regardless of price!

Juicing these days is no longer done by those barefoot folks with their pants rolled up. Today there are machines that do all of the work, either pressing or crushing the grapes which provides a far more safe and sterile environment for the winemaking process. Cleaning at the winery is the most intensive process. All equipment involved with this is cleaned after every batch.

Fermentation is a natural occurrence in which yeast feeds on the sugars in the grapes to form alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is another process that can vary greatly from vineyard to vineyard. Some use oak barrels, while others use stainless steel tanks. The exact amount of time in which the juice must ferment is determined by what type of wine is being made.

Next, the wine is filtered. Filtration removes sediment and “cleans” the wine for lack of a better term. Filtration removes any excess bits of grape and seeds. Without it, the wine would not be nearly as smooth and enjoyable.

After filtration, the wine is bottled. During the bottling process, the wine is transferred to clean, sterile bottles where it will be aged for weeks, months, or even years depending on what type of wine it is. Sometimes, winemakers transfer the wine to a new bottle several times, to reduce sediment. It is a very intensive process that requires the most refined winemaker’s taste and expertise to judge when the wine is ready.

As you can imagine, winemaking has come a long way in a few thousand years. The process today has been refined to a well-oiled winemaking machine that produces all the different wines that you love.

About the Author

A&G Engineering