Wine Making Methods and Techniques

Question 1

What is the Temperature that Red Wines typically Ferment at?

Answer 1

20 - 32 C

(68F - 90F)

Question 2

Why do Red Wines Ferment at a higher temperature?

Answer 2

The heat allows more colour and tannins to be extracted out of the grape skins.

Question 3

What are the Steps in Red Winemaking?

Answer 3

• Crush
• Alcoholic Fermentation
• Press
• Drain
• Storage or Maturation
• Bottling (Packaging)

Question 4

What is the typical Temperature White Wine Ferments at?

Answer 4

12C - 22C

(54F - 72F)

Question 5

Why does White Wine Ferment at a lower temperature?

Answer 5

Preserves the fruity aromas of the white grape

Also don’t need to extract tannins and colour from the skins

Question 6

What are the Steps in White Winemaking?

Answer 6

• Crush
• Press
• Drain
• Alcoholic Fermentation
• Storage or Maturation
• Bottling (Packaging)

Question 7

Are Oak Vessels Air-Tight??

Answer 7

No.

Watertight but not airtight. The Vessels allow oxygen to interact with the wine.

Question 8

Does Oxygen introduced into Oak Vessels change wine? If so, how?

Answer 8

Yes.

Interactions between Wine and Oxygen impact flavours of:

• Caramel
• Dried Fruit
• Nuts (Almond, Hazelnut, Walmut)

Question 9

What are Lees?

Answer 9

Lees are the yeast cells that have died off and settled to the bottom of the vat at the end of alcoholic fermentation.

Question 10

What flavours or changes do Lees impart?

Answer 10

• Increases the Body of the white wine
• Imparts flavours of Biscuit and Bread

Not used with aromatic grape varieties

Question 11

How do Winemakers use the Lees?

Answer 11

During maturation, they frequently stir up the settled lees into the rest of the liquid in the vat.

Question 12

What is Malolactic Conversion?

Answer 12

Bacterial interaction with wine in vat, after Alcoholic Fermentation is complete.

Question 13

How does Malolactic Conversion impact a wine?

Answer 13

• Reduces the Acidity of the wine
• Imparts Buttery flavours

Always happens with red wine but not noticable.

Not used with aromatic grapes typically.

Question 14

What are two types of Oak Barrels?

Answer 14

• Old Oak
• New Oak

Question 15

Why use Oak Barrels in Wine Making?

Answer 15

• Oak itself imparts flavours to wine
• Barrels allow Oxygen to enter, changing or evolving flavours

Question 16

What is Toasting?

Answer 16

Charring the Oak Staves to allow them to be bent into barrel shape.

Question 17

How does Toasting affect wine?

Answer 17

The level of Heat and the length of time of the charring affect what flavours the oak can impart to the wine.

Question 18

What flavours can Toasting impart to Wine?

Answer 18

• Sweet-Spice
• Charred Wood aromas and flavours

Question 19

What are two inert vessels used in wine maturation?

Answer 19

• Concrete
• Stainless Steel

Question 20

What is the difference between Crushing and Pressing during winemaking?

Answer 20

Crush - Splits the skins and releases a little grape juice.

Press - Squeezes the grapes to extract as much juice as possible.

Question 21

Two Ways to Make a Rose Wine?

Answer 21

• Short Maceration - Red grape skins left in contact with juice for a few hours.
• Blending - Blend a White and a Red wine together.

Question 22

What temperature does a Rose Wine ferment at?

Answer 22

Same as White Wine.

12C-22C

(54-72F)

Question 23

What does Alcoholic Fermentation do?

What are the byproducts of this process?

Answer 23

Yeasts “eat” the sugars in the juice, resulting in these byproducts:

• Alcohol
• CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
• Heat

Question 24

What is the Cap?

Answer 24

The Grape Skins that float to the top of the juice during alcoholic fermentation.

Question 25

Why is the Cap important?

Answer 25

It is the layer of floating grape skins that contain the colour and tannins.

Question 26

Name two ways to mix the Cap in the fermentation vessel?

Answer 26

• Punching Down - using a plunger to push the cap back down into the juice.
• Pumping Over - Taking liquid from the bottom of the vessel and pumping through a hose and over the cap.

Question 27

Why is Punching Down or Pumping Over important to do?

Answer 27

The skins impart colour and tannins to the wine.

But can only do this if the cap is in contact with the liquid.

Both techniques ensure the skin has lots of juice contact, and therefore more colour and tannins are extracted.

Question 28

What is the difference between Storage and Maturation?

Answer 28

Storage - usually done in the tanks. Few months to less than a year. Little to no change in flavour or aromas.

Maturation - usually in oak vessels. Flavours imparted from the wood or oxygen interactions. Improvement on Body of wine. Softened tannins.

Can be an extended period of time.

Question 29

Three Ways to Make Sweet Wine?

Answer 29

• Concentrated grape sugars - Botrytis infected grapes or Icewine
• Removing the Yeast
• Killing the Yeast

Question 30

How does removing the yeast make sweet or sweeter wines?

Answer 30

• Yeasts are removed before most of all of the sugars are fermented into alcohol.
• A fine mesh filter is used to remove the yeast to stop fermentation.
• California Zinfindals

Question 31

How does adding alcohol make a wine sweeter?

Answer 31

• Increasing the ABV% kills off the yeast, therefore it cannot ferment more sugars.
• Ports

Question 32

What is another way to make wine sweet by adding something?

Answer 32

Grape juice can be added to increase the sweetness level of the wine.