How Red Wines Are Made
By Jon Lauderdale

The red wines, characterized by their rich red or purple color, are produced by fermenting grape juice along with its grape cores, seeds and skins. This is where it differs from white or pink wines. The skin, seeds and pulp is what give the red wine its color, body, aroma and depth of flavor.

The process of making red wines can be summarized in the following steps:

Harvesting the grapes

Harvesting of the grapes needs to be done at the right time. Timing is crucial, therefore only when the correct balance between acid and sugar is achieved, the grapes are picked.

Sorting and crushing

The stems are then removed from the grapes. It is impossible to remove all grape stems, as the amount of grapes is huge. Usually the wine makers aim to de-stem 90% of grapes. After de-stemming is completed, the grapes are crushed to expose the inner core and to let the grape skins color the liquid.

Fermenting

After the crushing is completed, the grapes are mixed with winemaking yeast for fermentation. However, before this is done, the winemakers have to remove any residual bacteria or yeast that lingers in the grapes, as it will ruin the taste of the wine.

Maceration

During the maceration, the tannins present in the grape skins start to disperse into the grape juice and the color and aroma start to intensify. If the wine is to go though a long aging process, the maceration period continues for several weeks. For wines that are going to the sold soon after the wine is produced, a long maceration is not needed.

Pressing

When the wine makers feel that the wine has extracted the required amount of color and flavor from the grape skins, seeds and grape pulp, they start wine pressing. Wine pressing is the process by which all settlement from solid material is removed from the liquid. This is done to prevent any undesirable off-flavors in the wine. Storing

After pressing, it is time to store the wine in a storage vessel. Buckets made of food-grade plastics or pumps are usually used for this purpose. One important thing to remember is that the storage vessel should be almost full, with 1 inch from the lid. This will minimize the amount of oxygen used by the juice for oxidation.

Malotactic fermentation & wine-settling

When the primary fermentation is done, the wine is again transferred to another vessel for the malolactic fermentation. The heavy, unwanted substances will settle down at the bottom and the wine will be taken to yet another vessel. The settling process makes sure that the wine develops a smooth texture.

Filtering

Finally, the red wine is taken through various filters and then stored in stainless steel or wooden vats for ageing.

It takes a lot to make a good red wine, but in the end it is all worth it. If you would like more information on wine making, please visit us at http://www.WineMakingForAll.com.

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