Are You Following the Steps of Winemaking Correctly?
Winemaking requires knowledge of the best practices to get a good bottle of wine.
Nevertheless, aside from the information that is important to know, winemaking is ruled by the good applications of common sense.
Given the steps of winemaking, if we combine informed practices with a good educated sense, we can achieve a delicious wine and devise a recipe for the success of harvests to come.
Step 1: Crushing After harvesting your grapes, it's time to press the juice out of them.
In order to third you must situate them in a crushing vat, only filling the container about two thirds of the way to leave room to handle the crusher.
While regular grape crushers do the job just fine, you can do the job manually or with a masher to cut costs.
As the must (or crushed grapes) is obtained, a stabilizer like potassium bisulfite must be added to prevent any bacterial or yeast growths.
These can throw off the taste of your wine.
Once the product is added, the crushed grapes are to be covered and allowed to rest for at least a day.
Step 2: Fermentation Once it has been allowed to sit for 24 or more hours, the must is to be transferred to a primary fermentor to prepare for fermentation.
After picking the type of wine yeast that you wish to use, sprinkle it over your must and, without mixing, cover and allow to rest once more for at least two days.
After two days the yeast effects become visible in an airy, light must that presents foaming at the top.
It's a this time that you must begin stirring the mixture 2 times a day, until 7 days of total fermentation have elapsed.
After a week, any pulp at the top of the must mixture is removed and squeezed through a mesh to extract any retained liquid.
The surplus must is then placed back in the primary fermentor.
Place the must in a carboy and equip with a wet airlock to allow fermentation gases to escape, and prevent any oxygen from leaking into the wine.
Step 3: Racking Once fermentation is complete, you must siphon the wine from its original container into a second carboy.
This makes any lees (yeast residues, stems and seeds) remain at the bottom of the vessel, which can then be easily removed by simply cleaning out the container.
After 4-6 weeks a second racking will be necessary to remove any additional sediments that prevail in the wine.
A 3rd racking can also be done 12-16 after the second.
Step 4: Sweetening Following the 3rd racking, the wine must be tasted and sweetened if necessary.
Sugar must be added in the form of syrup, and the wine is to be allowed to rest for a week before bottling.
In order to prevent yeasts from being reawakened by the introduction of new sugar, many winemakers choose to add sodium bisulfite or Campden tablets to counteract yeast activity.
Step 5: Bottling Bottling must be done a week following sweetening.
Corks should be place tightly in dark colored bottles to better preserve the wine from the risk of oxidation.
Step 6: Aging: After bottling wines are aged to develop more complex flavors and defined body.
White wines are always aged for less than 12 months, while red wines can be aged anywhere from a year to many decades.
Nevertheless, aside from the information that is important to know, winemaking is ruled by the good applications of common sense.
Given the steps of winemaking, if we combine informed practices with a good educated sense, we can achieve a delicious wine and devise a recipe for the success of harvests to come.
Step 1: Crushing After harvesting your grapes, it's time to press the juice out of them.
In order to third you must situate them in a crushing vat, only filling the container about two thirds of the way to leave room to handle the crusher.
While regular grape crushers do the job just fine, you can do the job manually or with a masher to cut costs.
As the must (or crushed grapes) is obtained, a stabilizer like potassium bisulfite must be added to prevent any bacterial or yeast growths.
These can throw off the taste of your wine.
Once the product is added, the crushed grapes are to be covered and allowed to rest for at least a day.
Step 2: Fermentation Once it has been allowed to sit for 24 or more hours, the must is to be transferred to a primary fermentor to prepare for fermentation.
After picking the type of wine yeast that you wish to use, sprinkle it over your must and, without mixing, cover and allow to rest once more for at least two days.
After two days the yeast effects become visible in an airy, light must that presents foaming at the top.
It's a this time that you must begin stirring the mixture 2 times a day, until 7 days of total fermentation have elapsed.
After a week, any pulp at the top of the must mixture is removed and squeezed through a mesh to extract any retained liquid.
The surplus must is then placed back in the primary fermentor.
Place the must in a carboy and equip with a wet airlock to allow fermentation gases to escape, and prevent any oxygen from leaking into the wine.
Step 3: Racking Once fermentation is complete, you must siphon the wine from its original container into a second carboy.
This makes any lees (yeast residues, stems and seeds) remain at the bottom of the vessel, which can then be easily removed by simply cleaning out the container.
After 4-6 weeks a second racking will be necessary to remove any additional sediments that prevail in the wine.
A 3rd racking can also be done 12-16 after the second.
Step 4: Sweetening Following the 3rd racking, the wine must be tasted and sweetened if necessary.
Sugar must be added in the form of syrup, and the wine is to be allowed to rest for a week before bottling.
In order to prevent yeasts from being reawakened by the introduction of new sugar, many winemakers choose to add sodium bisulfite or Campden tablets to counteract yeast activity.
Step 5: Bottling Bottling must be done a week following sweetening.
Corks should be place tightly in dark colored bottles to better preserve the wine from the risk of oxidation.
Step 6: Aging: After bottling wines are aged to develop more complex flavors and defined body.
White wines are always aged for less than 12 months, while red wines can be aged anywhere from a year to many decades.
