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Article #193: Making Red Wine

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Jim Bruce has been making growing grapes of the must. Many wine makers allow this
and making wine since 1974. You too can to run off and save it for the best red
grow your own wine grapes. Interested in wines. The rest of the drier must (now
growing your own grapes for making wine? called pomace) is pressed.
You can buy his Tips for Growing Grapes Pressing squeezes the remaining juice out
eBook at of the pomace. If you do it too hard, or
Harvesting Your Red Wine Grapes - The too many times, you get low quality wine.
first step in making red wine is to have You can save the pressings separately
the grapes perfectly ready to be picked. from the free-run or it can be combined.
They need to be harvested not only at the This pressed wine will take longer to
proper time in their life cycle, but also become clear and ready for bottling.
at the right time of day to ensure the Secondary Fermentation - The juice, now
acids and sugars are all at the right wine, needs to settle after this ordeal
balance for the wine. and continue to ferment out all the
Red wine grapes should contain enough residual sugars. During this time, the
sugar to be considered ripe and be able wine should be stored in glass carboys
to attain the alcohol content you are fitted with fermentation locks.
aiming for. They must also have the right Fermentation locks keep oxygen out of the
balance of acids. This means "hang-time" wine while allowing the carbon dioxide
on the vine until the grapes have met the from fermentation to escape. Without
proper quality factors. A sugar content them, oxidation will occur and the wine
of 24 Brix at harvest will give you about will spoil into vinegar or something
12% alcohol. worse. In the lack of oxygen, the wine
De-stemming and Crushing - This step in undergoes subtle changes that affect the
making red wine removes the stems from flavors of the resulting wine.
the grape bunches, and crushes the grapes Malo-Lactic Fermentation - Many red wines
(but does not press them) so that the need a non-alcoholic fermentation to
juices are exposed to the yeast for remove excess acidity. This secondary
fermenting. This will also expose the fermentation will turn the tart malic
skins so they can impart color to the acid (of green apples) into the softer
wine while in the primary fermentation. lactic acid (of milk). A special
This step in making red wine can be done malo-lactic bacteria is added which
manually by squeezing the grape bunches allows malolactic fermentation to occur.
over a grate with holes to allow the This is done during the secondary
grapes and juice to go through while fermentation. Wines are held at about 72F
leaving the stems behind. I've used old during, or at least at the end, of the
Coke crates, perforated plates, and other secondary fermentation to favor this
means to accomplish this. (Depending on activity. The yeast that has settled to
the type of wine, the stems could be left the bottom during the secondary
in for a more tannic flavor or removed). fermentation also favors this process.
This mix of wine is called must and is Racking and Clarification - Moving the
put into a fermentation vat. wine from one container to a new
You can always "stomp" the grapes and container by siphoning allows you to
remove the stems afterwards - the old leave solids and anything that might
fashioned way. There are crusher cloud the wine, behind. This clears the
destemmer machines that can be purchased wine and prepares it for bottling.
if you have a lot of grapes to crush. If Fermentation locks must be employed with
you are going to adjust the acidity, this each racking to keep the wine from
is the time to do this. spoiling. Wine is racked at least once
Primary Fermentation - The must is held but more may be needed to assist
in a vat that can be made of food grade clarification.
plastic, glass, or stainless steel for Cold Stabilization - During one of the
fermentation. In whichever container, the aging stages between rackings and
sugars inside the grapes are turned into bottling, the wine can be placed in the
alcohol by yeasts. The yeast used should cold of refridgeration to be stabilized.
be specific for red wine. This This cold period will make the cream of
fermentation process typically takes from tarter settle out of the wine and reduce
3-4 weeks. the acidity further. The wine is then
How long the must (juice and grape racked off the cream of tartar during the
solids) is allowed to sit, picking up next racking. I suggest you do this early
flavor, color and tannin is up to the in the racking and aging process of
wine maker. Too long and the wine is making red wine.
bitter, to short and it is thin. Aging - The wine is stored for anywhere
Temperature is very important during this from 9 months to 2 1/2 years to give it
stage - it also affects flavour and the correct amount of flavor. Oak barrels
color. can be used for aging but they are very
Punching Down the Skins - Skin and other expensive. Nowdays, when making red wine
solids float to the top as fermentation at home, oak chips are used. The amount
proceeds. The carbon dioxide gas given of time you age your wine with oak
off by the fermentation process pushes depends on the flavors that you wish. At
them to the surface of the developing the end of the aging period, you will be
wine. The rising skins are called the ready to bottle.
"cap" and need to be pushed back down to Fining or filtering - At the end of the
stay in contact with the must. This aging period it helps to remove anything
should be done a couple of times a day. that may be making the wine cloudy. This
As you punch down the cap, you will can be accomplished with various fining
notice that the wine is taking on more agents (like sparkalloid), with
color from the contact with the skins. filtering, or both. This makes the wine
End of Primary Fermentation(?) - The crystal clear for bottling and will
winemaker must decide if the must has prevent any sediments from forming during
fermented long enough. This will take a bottle aging.
few days to a week. Much of this decision Bottling - This is done carefully so that
depends on how much color you want in the wine does not come in contact with
your red wine. Generally, the wine has air. Finer wines may be stored for
not completely fermented at this time. several years in bottles before they are
There still should be some residual sugar drunk. But I suggest that a minimum of 6
that will need to go through further months to a year lapse before drinking.
fermentation. So there are the steps in making red
Remove Free Run and Press - At the end of wine. Properly done, you will have a wine
the primary fermentation, the must is put that will not only give you drinking
into the wine press. The best quality pleasure, but will make you the envy of
wine is made just from the juice portion your family and friends.






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