Wine making. The practice of fermenting grape juice and turning it into wine has been around for thousands of years
But there are many nuances to this process and often different regions will have their own specific
processes and methods
Wine making has become an intricate and deeply personal process
Wine making practices in Burgundy are partially protected by appellation laws, though
Wine makers still have a large amount of control over their final decisions
For example in Burgundy the only two permitted grapes for making red wine at Pinot Noir and Gamay
With the latter only being used in the southern sub-regions
The wine making process begins with harvesting when the grapes have reached their optimal ripeness and balance between sugar and acidity levels
In Burgundy many of the top producers will harvest grapes by hand
However machine harvesting is also allowed for all wines, except Grand Cru
The harvested grapes will then go through a rigorous sorting process to make sure that only the best berries are sent for production
This sorting can either be done by hand or with a high-tech machine that removes unwanted berries
Once the grapes have been sorted they begin the process of vinification
fermenting grape juice to make wine
Firstly, grapes will be put into a vessel such as a stainless steel vat, cement tank or old oak cask
Traditionally grapes will be crushed before entering the vats to release their juice
however, many producers nowadays prefer to keep their grapes unbruised and uncrushed putting them into the vat as whole bunches including the
stems
This can change the structure and finesse of the tannins in the wine
once in the vat, the red grape juice along with grape skins, seeds and possibly stems will start the process of maceration which
Is the extraction of colour, flavour and tannins.
During maceration, alcoholic fermentation occurs either naturally or through the addition of selective yeasts to the vat.
Alcoholic fermentation is the process of yeast consuming the grapes natural sugars. There are three natural byproducts of fermentation:
ethanol, carbon dioxide and heat.
Whilst in the vat,
Wine makers may choose to increase the extraction of colour and tannins by either pumping over the must, which is the fermenting juice,
Or cap punching. Pushing the grape skins down into the liquid
This cap punching method known as Pigeage and French was traditionally done by a wine maker walking and stomping down on the grapes.
After alcoholic fermentation
The existing juice is removed from the skins and the skins go through a pressing process to release any additional juice.
In Burgundy many producers use a bladder press which is a very gentle process where grapes go into a tube with a bladder.
The bladder is filled with air, crushing the grapes and releasing any remaining juice
The wine will then be transferred into oak barrels
It's very easy to understand the fermenting process, when the grapes arrive
We press we extract the juice, the must. In the must we have a natural yeast and the yeast eats
the sugar and transform the sugar in alcohol
It's very simple. Does the fermentation process
stop naturally or do you have to stop it? This fermentation stops naturally because when the yeast don't have sugar
She dead and the fermentation stop naturally.
Once in the oak barrels the process of malolactic fermentation
occurs. During malolactic fermentation
Microorganisms naturally found in grape juice
Transformed tart malic acid found in green apples into soft lactic acid, which is found in milk
This process softens the wine and helps to give the wine a smoother texture
The wine is then left in oak barrels for maturation over a number of months during what is known as elevage.
This step is critical to the development of flavors and aromas in a red wine. In Burgundy, French oak barrels of
228 litres act as the perfect vessel for maturing the wine
Tiny pores in the would allow for micro oxygenation softening the wine and creating a smoother final product
So what are the different steps for fermenting a red wine? If you want red wine particularly with the Pinot Noir you need
colour and you don't have any colour in the juice
You need the skin. For the white wine, you press before the malolactic fermentation
And for the red wine you press after.
The grapes goes into big vats in native oak
But you do some different things during the fermentation for the red the pumping over
we do some pigeage and
When the alcoholic fermentation is completely finished
you press and
after the wine
go to
big barrels
The oak barrels used for maturation may be reused three to four times with newer oak having a larger impact on a wines flavour
on average wine makers will use more new oak for higher quality wines with a more complex and structured wine able to hold up to the
intensity of the new oak. In Burgundy's Cote
D'Or the richer red wines of the Cote de Nuit, tend to have more oak than in the Cote de Beaune
Maturation and these oak barrels for the best red Burgundy's may last fifteen to twenty four months
After the maturation phase the wine is transferred out of the oak barrels and back into a stainless steel vat
During what is known as racking and blending
Wines that are made up of different vineyard plots will all be blended together into the tank
The wine is often still cloudy at this point. So a process of fining may be done to remove the unwanted particles
Thus clarifying the liquid
Fining agents may be natural proteins such as those found in egg whites or fish though
Synthetic products can also be used most commonly in vegan wines
the final step of the process is
Filtration and bottling with the wines being transferred from tank to bottle and the final cork being added
Bottles are then labeled and ready for sale
The whole process of red wine making in Burgundy can take anywhere from a few months to well over two years
During this time
Wine makers need to make dozens,
If not hundreds of decisions along the way to ensure that they end up with the best possible final product
This is a simplistic
guideline to the production of the great red wines of Burgundy as
Each and every wine maker will adopt and employ their own techniques to create their own personal style