How is wine made?

Are you interested in knowing how wine is made? Wine is a drink that has been made for more than 6,000 years, and it can be said that the production process has not changed much since then. The technique for making wine is identical for white, rosé and red wines, except for some small aspects such as temperature or fermentation time.
It should be borne in mind that the quality of a wine will be determined mainly by the quality of the grapes used in its production. Grapes are always harvested by hand, using specific scissors to do so, otherwise both the grapes and the plant itself could be damaged.

How is the wine made?

In order to make wine, it is necessary to follow a series of steps to achieve optimum results. Let’s know how the wine is made:

Step 1: Harvesting

The first step is, of course, the harvest, in other words, the collection of the grape bunches from the vineyards. The start of the harvest will be determined mainly by the ripening of the grapes, where factors such as the climate or the type of grape influence.

Step 2: Winery

After the harvest, the grapes are taken to the corresponding winery or wine cooperative. During transport, care must be taken to ensure that the grapes are not damaged or fermented prematurely. They are received in hoppers, but not without prior analysis to ensure proper hygiene and ripening conditions. They are then added to a destemmer to enable the grapes to be separated from the stems.

Step 3: Crushing

Then the crushing of the grapes to extract the must has to be started. This was formerly known as ‘grape treading’. Nowadays it is carried out in modern and advanced machines that extract the juice from the grapes without breaking the pips. In the case of white wines, after the crushing, the pressing is carried out in order to extract all the must.

Step 4: Maceration, alcoholic fermentation and pumping over

Wine is introduced in large tanks at controlled temperature, to be macerated. The skins will be the ones that bring colour to the must. The alcoholic fermentation begins, in other words, the yeasts transform the sugars of the grapes into alcohol. The carbon dioxide gas pushes the skins upwards, creating what is known as ‘cap’. The liquid must be stirred regularly to mix the ‘cap’ into the must.

Step 5: Devatting and malolactic fermentation

The wine is transferred to another tank, separating it from the solid part, so that it can carry out what is known as malolactic fermentation, which helps to reduce the acidity of the wine. In addition, another pressing is usually carried out with the skins in order to extract the remaining wine.

Step 6: Aging

After finishing the fermentations, the resulting wine is left to age in wooden barrels where it will have to stay the necessary time according to the variety. These barrels must be kept in dark and cool environments. Both humidity and temperature must be controlled. Thanks to this period, the wine is able to acquire aromatic notes that will later be perceived when it is tasted.

Step 7: Stabilization and bottling

Finally, before going to market, stabilization should be carried out. This process includes clarification, filtration and tartaric stabilisation. After this process, the wine will be bottled and ready for sale.

Now that you know how wine is made and all the process involved, you can see the importance of tasting it properly in order to get the most out of each bottle.