WSET Level 1 | 3. Making Wines

Question 1

Are still wines made the same way as sparkling wines?

Answer 1

No

Question 2

Can black grapes be used to make white wines?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Are white and red still wines made in the same way?

Answer 3

No

Question 4

What are the 5 steps in making white wine?

Answer 4

1. Crushing 2. Pressing 3. Fermentation 4. Maturation 5. Bottling

Question 5

What happens 1st after white grapes are picked?

Answer 5

Crush

Question 6

What happens in crushing white grapes?

Answer 6

The grape berry skins are broken releasing only some of the juice

Question 7

What is destemming?

Answer 7

Destemming removes the stems which can have grippy tannins.

Question 8

What grapes are destemmed?

Answer 8

White grapes and Red grapes used to make light reds

Question 9

What happens after crushing?

Answer 9

Pressing

Question 10

What does pressing the grapes do?

Answer 10

Release any remaining juice

Question 11

What happens after Pressing?

Answer 11

Fermentation

Question 12

What is Fermentation?

Answer 12

Yeast is added to the grape juice “must” to begin fermentation to covert sugars into alcohol and C02

Question 13

What kind of vessels are used to hold the juice/must fermentation?

Answer 13

Stainless steel tanks or oak barrels

Question 14

What happens after Fermentation?

Answer 14

Maturation

Question 15

What is Maturation?

Answer 15

Wine is stored in stainless steel or oak barrels to develop and mature before bottling

Question 16

What happens after the wine has matured?

Answer 16

It is bottled

Question 17

What is the primary different between making white wines and red / rosé wines?

Answer 17

For white wines, the skins are removed for fermentation. Red & Rosé wines are fermented on the skins or different amounts of time

Question 18

Why are red/rosé wines fermented with the skins?

Answer 18

To extract color and tannins from the skins?

Question 19

Is there a difference in juice color from white and black grapes?

Answer 19

No. The juice is the same.

Question 20

Where does color come from for red / rosé wines?

Answer 20

From skin contact during fermentation

Question 21

What is the first step in making red/rosé wines?

Answer 21

Crush - after harvest the grapes are crushed

Question 22

What is the second step in making red/rosé wines?

Answer 22

Fermentation - the juice and skins are placed in a fermentation vessel where yeast is added

Question 23

Is there a difference between making red and rosé wines?

Answer 23

Yes after only a few hours, juice is drained from the skins, leaving only a pink color to the juice. Fermentation finishes without skin contact

Question 24

What is the next step in making rosé wines?

Answer 24

Maturation After fermentation of juice only, the fermented juice is transferred to steel tanks or oak barrels to mature.

Question 25

Are rosé wines ever matured in Oak?

Answer 25

Rarely.

Question 26

In making red wines, what happens after Crushing?

Answer 26

Fermentation where yeast is added to the mixture of juice and skins.

Question 27

Besides fermenting the juice sugars into alcohol and CO2, what else happens during this step?

Answer 27

Color and tannins are extracted from the skins.

Question 28

What happens after fermentation in red wines?

Answer 28

Draining The newly made wine is seperated from the skins and solids

Question 29

What happens to the skins after draining?

Answer 29

The red wine skins are pressed to release any remaining juice

Question 30

What happens after draining the newly made red wine?

Answer 30

Maturation / aging in stainless steel or oak.

Question 31

What is the last step in making red/rosé wines?

Answer 31

Bottling