March 2020 – Con's Liquor

Whiskey

Posted 27 March 2020 in Spirits

Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of charred white oak.

Whisky is a strictly regulated spirit worldwide with many classes and types. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden barrels.

Etymology

The word whisky (or whiskey) is an anglicisation of the Classical Gaelic word uisce (or uisge) meaning “water” (now written as uisce in Modern Irish, and uisge in Scottish Gaelic). Distilled alcohol was known in Latin as aqua vitae (“water of life”). This was translated into Old Irish as uisce beatha (“water of life”), which became uisce beatha in Irish and uisge beatha [ˈɯʃkʲə ˈbɛhə] in Scottish Gaelic. Early forms of the word in English included uskebeaghe (1581), usquebaugh (1610), usquebath (1621), and usquebae (1715).[1]

Names and spellings

Much is made of the word’s two spellings: whisky and whiskey.[2][3][4] There are two schools of thought on the issue. One is that the spelling difference is simply a matter of regional language convention for the spelling of a word, indicating that the spelling varies depending on the intended audience or the background or personal preferences of the writer (like the difference between color and colour; or recognize and recognise),[3][4] and the other is that the spelling should depend on the style or origin of the spirit being described. There is general agreement that when quoting the proper name printed on a label, the spelling on the label should not be altered.[3][4]

The spelling whiskey is common in Ireland and the United States, while whisky is used in all other whisky-producing countries.[5] In the US, the usage has not always been consistent. From the late eighteenth century to the mid twentieth century, American writers used both spellings interchangeably until the introduction of newspaper style guides.[6] Since the 1960s, American writers have increasingly used whiskey as the accepted spelling for aged grain spirits made in the US and whisky for aged grain spirits made outside the US.[7] However, some prominent American brands, such as George Dickel, Maker’s Mark, and Old Forester (all made by different companies), use the whisky spelling on their labels, and the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, the legal regulations for spirit in the US, also use the whisky spelling throughout.[8]

Whisky made in Scotland is known as Scotch whisky, or simply as “Scotch” (especially in North America).

History

It is possible that distillation was practised by the Babylonians in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC, with perfumes and aromatics being distilled,[9] but this is subject to uncertain and disputed interpretations of evidence.[10]

The earliest certain chemical distillations were by Greeks in Alexandria in the 1st century AD,[10] but these were not distillations of alcohol. The medieval Arabs adopted the distillation technique of the Alexandrian Greeks, and written records in Arabic begin in the 9th century, but again these were not distillations of alcohol.[10] Distilling technology passed from the medieval Arabs to the medieval Latins, with the earliest records in Latin in the early 12th century.[10][11]

The earliest records of the distillation of alcohol are in Italy in the 13th century, where alcohol was distilled from wine.[10] An early description of the technique was given by Ramon Llull (1232–1315).[10] Its use spread through medieval monasteries,[12] largely for medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of colic and smallpox.[13]

The art of distillation spread to Scotland and Ireland no later than the 15th century, as did the common European practice of distilling “aqua vitae”, spirit alcohol, primarily for medicinal purposes.[14] The practice of medicinal distillation eventually passed from a monastic setting to the secular via professional medical practitioners of the time, The Guild of Barber Surgeons.[14] The earliest mention of whisky in Ireland comes from the seventeenth-century Annals of Clonmacnoise, which attributes the death of a chieftain in 1405 to “taking a surfeit of aqua vitae” at Christmas.[15] In Scotland, the first evidence of whisky production comes from an entry in the Exchequer Rolls for 1494 where malt is sent “To Friar John Cor, by order of the king, to make aquavitae”, enough to make about 500 bottles.[16]

James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513) reportedly had a great liking for Scotch whisky, and in 1506 the town of Dundee purchased a large amount of whisky from the Guild of Barber Surgeons, which held the monopoly on production at the time. Between 1536 and 1541, King Henry VIII of England dissolved the monasteries, sending their monks out into the general public. Whisky production moved out of a monastic setting and into personal homes and farms as newly independent monks needed to find a way to earn money for themselves.[13]

The distillation process was still in its infancy; whisky itself was not allowed to age, and as a result tasted very raw and brutal compared to today’s versions. Renaissance-era whisky was also very potent and not diluted. Over time whisky evolved into a much smoother drink.

With a license to distill Irish whiskey from 1608, the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world.[17]

In 1707, the Acts of Union merged England and Scotland, and thereafter taxes on it rose dramatically.[18]

After the English Malt Tax of 1725, most of Scotland’s distillation was either shut down or forced underground. Scotch whisky was hidden under altars, in coffins, and in any available space to avoid the governmental excisemen or revenuers.[13] Scottish distillers, operating out of homemade stills, took to distilling whisky at night when the darkness hid the smoke from the stills. For this reason, the drink became known as moonshine.[19] At one point, it was estimated that over half of Scotland’s whisky output was illegal.[18]

In America, whisky was used as currency during the American Revolution; George Washington operated a large distillery at Mount Vernon. Given the distances and primitive transportation network of colonial America, farmers often found it easier and more profitable to convert corn to whisky and transport it to market in that form. It also was a highly coveted sundry and when an additional excise tax was levied against it in 1791, the Whiskey Rebellion erupted.[20]

The drinking of Scotch whisky was introduced to India in the nineteenth century. The first distillery in India was built by Edward Dyer at Kasauli in the late 1820s. The operation was soon shifted to nearby Solan (close to the British summer capital Shimla), as there was an abundant supply of fresh spring water there.[21]

In 1823, the UK passed the Excise Act, legalizing the distillation (for a fee), and this put a practical end to the large-scale production of Scottish moonshine.[13]

In 1831, Aeneas Coffey patented the Coffey still, allowing for cheaper and more efficient distillation of whisky. In 1850, Andrew Usher began producing a blended whisky that mixed traditional pot still whisky with that from the new Coffey still. The new distillation method was scoffed at by some Irish distillers, who clung to their traditional pot stills. Many Irish contended that the new product was, in fact, not whisky at all.[22]

By the 1880s, the French brandy industry was devastated by the phylloxera pest that ruined much of the grape crop; as a result, whisky became the primary liquor in many markets.[13]

During the Prohibition era in the United States lasting from 1920 to 1933, all alcohol sales were banned in the country. The federal government made an exemption for whisky prescribed by a doctor and sold through licensed pharmacies. During this time, the Walgreens pharmacy chain grew from 20 retail stores to almost 400.[23]

Distillation

A still for making whisky is usually made of copper, since it removes sulfur-based compounds from the alcohol that would make it unpleasant to drink. Modern stills are made of stainless steel with copper innards (piping, for example, will be lined with copper along with copper plate inlays along still walls). The simplest standard distillation apparatus is commonly known as a pot still, consisting of a single heated chamber and a vessel to collect purified alcohol.

Column stills are frequently used in the production of grain whisky and are the most commonly used type of still in the production of bourbon and other American whiskeys. Column stills behave like a series of single pot stills, formed in a long vertical tube. Whereas a single pot still charged with wine might yield a vapour enriched to 40–60% alcohol, a column still can achieve a vapour alcohol content of 95.6%; an azeotropic mixture of alcohol and water.

Aging

Whiskies do not mature in the bottle, only in the cask, so the “age” of a whisky is only the time between distillation and bottling. This reflects how much the cask has interacted with the whisky, changing its chemical makeup and taste. Whiskies that have been bottled for many years may have a rarity value, but are not “older” and not necessarily “better” than a more recent whisky that matured in wood for a similar time. After a decade or two, additional aging in a barrel does not necessarily improve a whisky.[24]

While aging in wooden casks, especially American oak and French oak casks, whisky undergoes six processes that contribute to its final flavor: extraction, evaporation, oxidation, concentration, filtration, and colouration.[25] Extraction in particular results in whisky acquiring a number of compounds, including aldehydes and acids such as vanillin, vanillic acid, and syringaldehyde.[26] Distillers will sometimes age their whiskey in barrels previously used to age other spirits, such as rum or sherry, to impart particular flavours.

Packaging

Most whiskies are sold at or near an alcoholic strength of 40% abv, which is the statutory minimum in some countries[8] – although the strength can vary, and cask-strength whisky may have as much as twice that alcohol percentage.

Exports

Whisky is probably the best known of Scotland’s manufactured products. Exports have increased by 87% in the decade to 2012 and it contributes over £4.25 billion to the UK economy, making up a quarter of all its food and drink revenues.[27] In 2012, the US was the largest market for Scotch whisky (£655 million), followed by France (£535 million).[28] It is also one of the UK’s overall top five manufacturing export earners and it supports around 35,000 jobs.[29] Principal whisky producing areas include Speyside and the Isle of Islay, where there are eight distilleries providing a major source of employment. In many places, the industry is closely linked to tourism, with many distilleries also functioning as attractions worth £30 million GVA each year.[30]

In 2011, 70% of Canadian whisky was exported, with about 60% going to the US, and the rest mostly to Europe and Asia.[31] 15 million cases of Canadian whisky were sold in the US in 2011.[31]

Types

Whisky or whisky-like products are produced in most grain-growing areas. They differ in base product, alcoholic content, and quality.

Malt whisky is made primarily from malted barley.
Grain whisky is made from any type of grain.

Malts and grains are combined in various ways:

Single malt whisky is whisky from a single distillery made from a mash that uses only one particular malted grain. Unless the whisky is described as single-cask, it contains whisky from many casks, and different years, so the blender can achieve a taste recognisable as typical of the distillery. In most cases, single malts bear the name of the distillery, with an age statement and perhaps some indication of some special treatments, such as maturation in a port wine cask.
Blended malt whisky is a mixture of single malt whiskies from different distilleries. If a whisky is labelled “pure malt” or just “malt” it is almost certainly a blended malt whisky. This was formerly called a “vatted malt” whisky.
Blended whisky is made from a mixture of different types of whisky. A blend may contain whisky from many distilleries so that the blender can produce a flavour consistent with the brand. The brand name may, therefore, omit the name of a distillery. Most Scotch, Irish and Canadian whisky is sold as part of a blend, even when the spirits are the product of one distillery, as is common in Canada.[32] American blended whisky may contain neutral spirits.
Cask strength (also known as barrel proof) whiskies are rare, and usually only the very best whiskies are bottled in this way. They are bottled from the cask undiluted or only lightly diluted.
Single cask (also known as single barrel) whiskies are bottled from an individual cask, and often the bottles are labelled with specific barrel and bottle numbers. The taste of these whiskies may vary substantially from cask to cask within a brand.

White Wine

Posted 27 March 2020 in Wine

White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. White wine has existed for at least 2500 years.

The wide variety of white wines comes from the large number of varieties, methods of winemaking, and ratios of residual sugar. White wine is mainly from “white” grapes, which are green or yellow in colour, such as the Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, and Riesling. Some white wine is also made from grapes with coloured skin, provided that the obtained wort is not stained. Pinot noir, for example, is commonly used to produce champagne.

Among the many types of white wine, dry white wine is the most common. More or less aromatic and tangy, it is derived from the complete fermentation of the wort. Sweet wines, on the other hand, are produced by interrupting the fermentation before all the grape sugars are converted into alcohol; this is called Mutage or fortification. The methods of enriching wort with sugar are multiple: on-ripening on the vine, passerillage (straining), or the use of noble rot. Sparkling wines, which are mostly white, are wines where the carbon dioxide from the fermentation is kept dissolved in the wine and becomes gas when the bottle is opened.

White wines are often used as an apéritif before a meal, with dessert, or as a refreshing drink between meals. White wines are often considered more refreshing, and lighter in both style and taste than the majority of their red wine counterparts. In addition, due to their acidity, aroma, and ability to soften meat and deglaze cooking juices, white wines are often used in cooking.

Antiquity

The first trace of wine that has been found dates to 7500 years ago, in present-day Iran[2] but the results of archaeological excavations have not been able to determine from which time wine began to be produced. Epigraphy tells us about the presence of wine in the Middle East: it was produced in the “High Country” (the mountain borders between Anatolia and Armenia) and then imported into Mesopotamia especially from the 3rd millennium BC. The tablets of Hattusa describes wine with the term wiyana in the Hittite language, GEŠTIN in Sumerian,[N 1] and karânu in Akkadian.

In Ancient Greece wine had already been developed and used since Hippocrates, a physician born around 460 BC who commonly prescribed it to patients. “Vinous white wine” and “bitter white wine” were used[b 1] among his remedies – a sign of diversity in production at that time.

In Roman times the type of viticulture practiced by the Greeks was their model for a long time and production included white wine. Rich Roman patricians organized banquets where the cost of the food was a sign of prestige. In the range of expensive products wine played a predominant role. The richest citizens built sumptuous villas in the Bay of Naples where the vine had been cultivated since its introduction by the Greeks. The aminum or ancient grape produced a sweet white wine produced as mulled wine resembling modern-day Madeira.[b 2] The conquering of regions more and more to the north encouraged the Romans to cultivate the vine and to produce lighter and less sweet wines. It also encouraged them to seek new wild varieties adaptable to these distant areas where the Mediterranean varieties showed their limits. For example, vines were planted on the banks of the Rhine to provide the Legions with a healthy drink as opposed to water which was rarely drinkable. The wine was drunk cool in summer and warm in winter a practice which still continues in the 21st century.[b 3]

Middle Ages

Wine merchants failed to survive the fall of the Western Roman Empire and viticulture declined dramatically. The Germanic tribes preferred to drink beer and did not see the value of the wine trade. The decline of viticulture was intensified when Vikings cut the sea lanes in the Atlantic. In the south the Saracens were making Ghazw or raids. These campaigns in southern Europe caused Languedoc, Provence, Southern Italy, and the Douro Valley to become depopulated – the people being taken into slavery or fleeing the threat.

Knowledge about the culture of grapevines was conserved by the Catholic Church: wine was necessary for the celebration of Mass and the monks planted vines at high latitudes and increased the monastic acreages. Difficult to transport and store, wine long remained a product for local consumption. The trade was re-established initially after the enrichment of the nobles and prelates because, as with the Romans, the art of the table reflected the reputation of the host.[b 4]

River trade was of great importance in the development of vineyards. The Germanic countries benefited from the navigability of the Rhine and the Danube so they could export their production. Charlemagne contributed to this growth by enacting his Capitulare de villis which included a set of rules on the cultivation of the vine in all areas. It was an era of great development of the culture of white wine in Germany and Austria. The Central European vineyards reached 100,000 hectares which was three and a half times the area in the 1990s.[a 1] From the 13th century traders distinguished vinum hunicum (wine of the Huns), which was drunk by the people, from vinum francium (Wine of the Franks) which was the wine for the wealthy aristocracy. There was recognition of varieties of Riesling[a 2] and Sylvaner[a 3] from the late Middle Ages.

Part of European trade was by sea along the Atlantic coast. The English, then the Dutch and Scandinavians[5] from their demand for wine, created a craze for planting between Bordeaux and La Rochelle. Little dry white wine was produced for export from La Rochelle[b 5] while Bordeaux exported mainly wines from the hinterland received via the Garonne. When wine production was introduced on the banks of the Charente in the 17th century, Charente white wines were introduced as cognac.[5] At the same time, the dry white wine popular with the Dutch was produced to the north, around the port of Nantes from the current areas of Muscadet AOC and Gros-plant AOVDQS in the Loire Valley. Vineyards in the Loire Valley and the South-west had their sales network thanks to the navigability of the Loire and the Garonne.

In the Mediterranean Basin the Crusades greatly enriched both rival republics of Venice and Genoa. To supply the troops of the rich Frankish lords these republics provided them with wine from Greece. The port of Monemvasia, which exported a lot of white wine, gave its name to the variety Malvasia.[b 6] The Crusaders also discovered Muscat wine. Once back home, the rulers and wealthy aristocrats looking to buy the sweet wines they enjoyed in the East. They came from grapes that dominated the vineyards of Languedoc-Roussillon and Spain. Trade in these wines was facilitated by their high alcohol content which ensured preservation during the long journey to Northern Europe.

Modern Era

In 1453 the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople and the situation of the Venetians and Genovese deteriorated. The wine trade between the eastern Mediterranean and northern Europe fell sharply.[b 7] At the same time, the Spanish had just completed their Reconquista and replaced the Mediterranean wine with its own, especially for English and Dutch consumers. The port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda began to export large quantities of white wine which was the ancestor of today’s sherry. This wine was called sack and caused a sensation in England. Even at the height of animosity between the two countries (as in the episode of the Spanish Armada in 1588) the trade continued – sometimes provided by pirates who stole what they could not buy. Between 40 and 60 thousand barrels each of 500 litres left the Spanish coast annually for England and the Netherlands[b 8] (this volume of some 300,000 hectolitres represented two thirds of today’s production).

From the 16th century the first European vines were planted in America: in Mexico, then Peru, Bolivia, Argentina,[6] and Chile.[7] These were in addition to the native vines which grew in Mexico but this pre-Columbian production was not for the production of wine as the grapes were too acidic. It was used to produce acachul a drink sweetened with fruit and honey.[8]

The Little Ice Age spelt the death knell of northern viticulture. The vine disappeared from northern Germany and Baden, and the maximum altitude for viticulture descended to 220 metres. Hans-Jürgen Otto noted that: “all the vineyards suffered and decreased in area”.[9] In England[10] the vine also disappeared. The less early vineyards preferred to select white varieties of grapes because, even if unripe, white grapes allowed wine that was a little sour to still be consumable, while red grapes do not give enough colour and green tannins make the wine bitter. The interruption of the fermentation by a cold winter led to the discovery of the process of secondary fermentation of champagne.[11]

The enrichment of some of the population created a craze for rare wines. This phenomenon, which was already responsible for the development of sherry in England, was reproduced in Central Europe. The discovery of the benefits of the noble rot on white grapes took place around 1650[b 9] in Hungary for the development of Tokaji wine. Hugh Johnson declared that: “the Tokay of three centuries ago was the best sweet wine in the world, it was inherited from a long-standing winemaking tradition”.[b 10] Developed with a grape whose exceptional maturity is due to a trade secret, this wine is also developed its qualities through a process which long remained a secret in underground cellars of the winery. Prized by the House of Habsburg, Tokay experienced profitable trading. Attempted imitation came to nought and the use of noble rot remained a secret. It was not until 120 years later that a method of very late harvest was experimented with on the steep banks of the Rhine. Its use in Sauternes was attested in 1836 in the Château La Tour Blanche but at that time very late harvest gave a very rich wine that required several years to age in barrels.[b 11]

Other regions were discovering secrets which would make them rich. So it was that Dom Perignon was the legendary creator of champagne.[b 12] In a northern vineyard he developed a special wine that would give rise to an exceptional passion for wine produced in a climate where it could not be expected for wine to reach maturity nor sufficient colour.

The fashion of drinking cheap dry white wine started in Paris in the 18th century: to evade the excise duty the Parisians took the habit of going to drink their wine at the producers premises outside the walls of the city. Cabarets opened their doors by the river, becoming Guinguettes (similar to taverns): so the wine that was drunk there was also called “guinguet”. This is a wine from the hills of the Seine or the Marne, sour, but the conditions of transport of the time did not allow it to be used prematurely.[12]

Contemporary era

Champagne was created in the 18th century but it was in the next century that its global expansion would occur. The crowned heads of Europe quickly made the wine stylish in their courts although its production, necessarily in bottles, made a very expensive product. Hugh Johnson[b 13] assigns an important diplomatic role to champagne: Talleyrand would have offered this wine at the negotiating table of the Congress of Vienna, using it to relax his partners in the discussions. The occupation of Champagne by Russian troops in 1815 publicized the sparkling wine to the Russian aristocracy. The Veuve Clicquot (Widow Clicquot) booked her wine to her occupants saying “they drink today, tomorrow they will pay…”[b 14]

The progress of the glass industry (especially from the use of coal) helped to democratize the use of the glass bottle. The production of sparkling wine increased dramatically and spread to the American continent. The technique of manufacturing was industrialized and other regions were inspired but the reputation of champagne suffered. The commercial flight of champagne was a product of the industrial revolution that allowed it to be within the financial reach of the booking middle classes.[b 15]

The period of the 19th century before the arrival of phylloxera was a golden age of wine. The industrial revolution enriched a bourgeoisie clientele for the best wines and the rural exodus to the factories created a large market for mass-produced wines. A prominent example for white wines was the viticulture in Germany. The feeling of freedom infused into the German winemakers under French occupation during the First Empire prevented the aristocracy and the clergy from recovering all the vineyards from which they were dispossessed.[b 16] The practice of late harvest was widespread and the more or less sweet wines gained balance against their always lively acidity. In 1872 the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute was created and it was the source of a great amount of interbreeding giving new varieties – the best known of these is the Müller-Thurgau.[b 17] During the same period, Switzerland adopted, along the shores of Lake Geneva, vineyards predominantly producing white wine.

During the 20th century planting vines in countries where it was unknown was booming. However, it was shaky in places with higher temperatures during fermentation.[b 18] The use of larger containers creates problems of fermentation: the yeasts produce heat which cannot escape and beyond 35 °C the micro-organisms begin to suffer and fermentation slows then stops. After cooling the wine a new addition of yeast is needed to resume fermentation (not to mention the adverse effects on the wine’s aromas and the risk of lactic bite). In California the search for temperature control of fermentation matured. Applied to white wine they revolutionized this type of wine. European wines, marked by their processes of crushing the grapes[b 19] are diametrically opposed to those very fruity wines marked by a refreshing liveliness. During the years 1960–1990, these methods of wine-making moved to Europe and the use of refrigeration equipment is now widely used in almost all regions producing white wine.

Learn more about white wine from Wikipedia.

Source: Wikipedia

Red Wine

Posted 27 March 2020 in Uncategorised, Wine

Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The actual color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines.

The juice from most purple grapes is greenish-white, the red color coming from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) present in the skin of the grape; exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red-colored juice. Much of the red-wine production process therefore involves extraction of color and flavor components from the grape skin. It is a delicacy around the world.

Grape processing

The first step in red wine production, after picking, involves physical processing of the grapes. Hand-picked or machine-harvested grapes are usually tipped into a receival bin when they arrive at the winery and conveyed by a screw mechanism to the grape-processing equipment.

Destemming and crushing

On arrival at the winery there is usually a mixture of individual berries, whole bunches (particularly with hand-picked grapes), stems, and leaves. The presence of stems during fermentation can lead to a bitter taste in the wine, and the purpose of destemming is to separate grapes from the stems and leaves. Mechanical de-stemmers usually consist of a rotating cage perforated with grape-sized holes. Within this cage is a concentric axle with arms radiating towards the inner surface of the cage. Grapes pass through the holes in the cage, while stems and leaves are expelled through the open end of the cage.

After destemming, the grapes are commonly lightly crushed. Crushers usually consist of a pair of rollers, and the gap between them can usually be regulated to allow for light, hard or no crushing, according to the winemaker’s preference.

The mixture of grapes, skins, juice and seeds is now referred to as must. The must is then pumped to a vessel, often a tank made of stainless steel or concrete, or an oak vat, for fermentation.

In common with most modern winemaking equipment, destemmers and crushers are normally made of stainless steel (food-grade stainless steel for those parts which come into physical contact with the grapes).

Additions at reception

The preservative sulfur dioxide is commonly added when grapes arrive at the winery. The addition rate varies from zero, for perfectly healthy grapes, to up to 70 mg/litre, for grapes with a high percentage of rot. The purpose is to prevent oxidation and sometimes to delay the onset of fermentation.

Macerating enzymes (for instance glucanases) may also be added at this stage, to aid extraction of color and fruit flavours from the skins and to facilitate pressing.

Tannin may be added now, later in the winemaking process, or not at all. Tannin can be added to help stabilize colour, to prevent oxidation, and to help combat the effects of rot.

Cooling of the must

Some winemakers prefer to chill the must to around 10°C (50°F), to allow a period of pre-fermentation maceration (“cold soaking”), of between one and four days. The idea is that color and fruit flavours are extracted into the aqueous solution, without extraction of tannins which takes place in post-fermentation maceration when alcohol is present. This practice is by no means universal and is perhaps more common in New World winemaking countries.

Inoculation and fermentation

Once the must is in a fermentation vessel, yeast naturally present on the skins of the grapes, or in the environment, will sooner or later start the alcoholic fermentation, in which sugars present in the must are converted into alcohol with carbon dioxide and heat as by-products. Many winemakers, however, prefer to control the fermentation process more closely by adding specially selected yeasts usually of the species Saccharomyces ellipsoideous. Several hundred different strains of wine yeast are available commercially, and many winemakers believe that particular strains are more or less suitable for the vinification of different grape varieties and different styles of wine. It is also common to add yeast nutrient at this stage, often in the form of diammonium phosphate.

Pumping over

Soon after the must is placed in the fermentation vessel, a separation of solid and liquid phases occurs. Skins float to the surface, forming a cap. In order to encourage efficient extraction of colour and flavour components, it is important to maximize contact between the cap of skins and the liquid phase. This can be achieved by:

pumping over (pumping liquid from the bottom of the tank and spraying it over the floating cap; normally this would be done several times per day during fermentation)
punching down the cap (either manually or using an automated mechanical system)
submerging the cap (the cap is kept beneath the surface of the liquid phase by a physical restraint)
drain and return (the above techniques can all be supplemented by a drain and return operation, in which the liquid phase is drained off the skins into another vessel and then pumped back over the skins)

There are also other techniques besides pumping over and punching down. For example, the GOFermentor, first introduced in 2014, uses an air bag to squeeze the cap and break up the grape skins. This has many benefits, including gentler cap management, the wine being more homogeneous, and the temperature being more uniform, reducing problems with reductive aromas.

Temperature control

Fermentation produces heat and if left uncontrolled the temperature of the fermenting may exceed 40°C (104°F), which can impair flavour and even kill the yeast. The temperature is therefore often controlled using different refrigeration systems. Winemakers have different opinions about the ideal temperature for fermentation, but in general cooler temperatures (25-28°C; 77–82.4°F) produce fruitier red wines for early drinking while higher temperatures (28-35°C; 82.4-95°F) produce more tannic wines designed for long aging.

Following the fermentation

Winemakers will usually check the density and temperature of the fermenting must once or twice per day. The density is proportional to the sugar content and will be expected to fall each day as the sugar is converted into alcohol by fermentation.

Pressing

Pressing in winemaking is the process where juice is extracted from grapes. This can be done with the aid of a wine press, by hand, or even by the weight of the grape berries and clusters themselves.[1] Historically, intact grape clusters were trodden by feet but in most wineries today the grapes are sent through a crusher/destemmer which removes the individual grape berries from the stems and breaks the skins, releasing some juice, prior to being pressed. There are exceptions, such as the case of sparkling wine production in regions such as Champagne where grapes are traditionally whole-cluster pressed with stems included to produce a lighter must that is low in phenolics.[2]

Read more about wine pressing on Wikipedia.

In white wine production, pressing usually takes place immediately after crushing and before primary fermentation. In red wine production, the grapes are also crushed but pressing usually does not take place till after or near the end of fermentation with the time of skin contact between the juice and grapes leaching color, tannins and other phenolics from the skin.[1] Approximately 60-70% of the available juice within the grape berry, the free-run juice, can be released by the crushing process and does not require the use of the press.[2] The remaining 30-40% that comes from pressing can have higher pH levels, lower titratable acidity, potentially higher volatile acidity and higher phenolics than the free-run juice depending on the amount of pressure and tearing of the skins and will produce more astringent, bitter wine.[3]

Winemakers often keep their free-run juice and pressed wine separate (and perhaps even further isolate the wine produced by different pressure levels/stages of pressing) during much of the winemaking process to either bottle separately or later blend portions of each to make a more complete, balanced wine.[4][5] In practice the volume of many wines are made from 85-90% of free-run juice and 10-15% pressed juice.[6]

Types of press

There are many different types of wine press, but they can be broadly divided into continuous presses and tank presses. Modern winemaking tends to favour tank presses with pneumatic membranes, which squeeze the grapes more gently than continuous presses. The press wine is often kept separate from the free-run, and kept for later blending or disposing. press can also be dependent on climate and slothrating.

Malolactic fermentation

A second microbiological transformation commonly takes place after the alcoholic fermentation of red wines. This is usually referred to as the malolactic fermentation (MLF), in which malic acid, naturally present in grape juice, is converted into lactic acid under the influence of bacteria (it is not strictly a fermentation). MLF is almost universally practised for red wines. It often occurs naturally, owing to the presence of lactic acid bacteria in wineries, but there are also commercially available preparations of bacteria to inoculate for MLF if necessary.

Racking

Once the MLF is complete, the red wine is usually racked (decanted) off its lees (dead yeast cells and other solids), and has sulfur dioxide preservative added to avoid oxidation and bacterial spoilage.

Aging

Most red wine is aged for some period before bottling, though this can vary from a few days, in the case of Beaujolais Nouveau to 18 months or more in the case of top Bordeaux reds. Aging can take place in stainless-steel or concrete tanks, or in small or large oak barrels. The latter impart some flavour to the wine as a function of their age and size (small, new barrels give more flavour than large, older barrels).

Read more about wine aging on Wikipedia.

Fining and stabilization

Red wines sometimes undergo fining, which is designed to clarify the wine and sometimes to correct faults such as excess tannin. Fining agents include egg white and gelatin. Some red wines, particularly those designed for early drinking, are cold stabilized so as to prevent the precipitation of unsightly tartrate crystals in the bottle.

Filtration and bottling

Most wines are filtered at some stage before bottling, although some winemakers use the absence of filtration as a marketing tool. Filtration serves to make wine completely clear and to eliminate any remaining yeast cells and bacteria, which could render the bottled wine microbiologically unstable. Wine is normally filled to glass bottles with cork stoppers, though aluminium screwcap closures and plastic stoppers are also common. Alternative containers such as Bag-in-Box, TetraPak and plastic bottles are also used.

Source: Wikipedia