MODULE 14

WINES

14.1 Introduction

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape

juice. Although there are various species of grape plant but
the one which is widely used is vitis vinifera and to some
extent vitis labrusca, vitis rupestris and vitis rotundifolia.

Vitis vinifera originated somewhere near ancient Egypt

around 4000 BCE from where it had been carried to Europe.
It’s known for its small and thick skinned grapes with high
sugar content which’s required for making wine. It’s
speciality is wine with moderate acidity with more than 10%
abv., below which wine may get spoiled due to low alcohol
content. Also, vitis vinifera adapt well to any temperate and
semi-tropical climatic conditions. It can bear more than 5000
varieties of grapes contributing to such a diverse range of
wines.

Vitis labrusca, vitis rupestris and vitis rotundifolia breed of

vines (wine plants) are native to eastern America which
produce wines with high acidity and less sugar content but
they’re more disease resistant. Their importance came into
limelight during the phylloxera disease outbreak in Europe
and some other countries between 1870 and 1900 when
most of the vines were destroyed. It was found that this

disease had no effect on v. labrusca or v. rupestris species. So

the winemakers came up with an idea of “grafting” where
stems of both the species were joined together. This gave the
grapes the fine qualities of v.vinifera as well as the sturdiness
of v. labrusca variety.

14.2 Viticulture

The cultivation and harvesting of grapes is called viticulture.

Various factors are considered before planting any strain of
grapes of which the most important is its history to adapt to
a particular parcel of land. Many old wine countries and
some new ones also, have strict government regulations
regarding the type of grapes chosen for a particular vineyard.

The viticulturist works in liaison with the winemaker to

harvest the best quality grape required for making the best
quality wine from a particular site. Apart from the history of
the vineyard, factors like the temperature, rainfall, sunlight,
soil conditions and location of the vineyard or wine farm
together which is called terroir along with the viticulturist’s
expertise plays a vital role in the quality of the wine.

Temperature

Most of the wine producing countries are located in the

temperate region, i.e. between 30 and 50 degrees north and
south of the equator like western European countries, Napa
valley, South Africa, Australia, Chile and Argentina. Ideally
these countries have warm summer with average 220 C; and
cold winter with average 30 C temperature. This give the
grapes sufficient heat required for their ripening in summer
and cooler conditions for their rest in winter.

Rainfall

Ideally the vineyards should receive most of the rain during

the winter and spring season, 27 inches to be precise. Rainfall
during harvest time is not a good sign as it can lead to
dilution of sugar in grapes, fungal infections and splitting of
berries. Frost and hail storms are always a nightmare for
viticulturists.

Soil conditions

Vine root plays an important role in the quality of grapes. The

soil conditions should be favourable for maximum
penetration of the roots deep into the soil during the course
of which it will extract minerals from the soil which will later
reflect in the wine. For wine grapes focus is more on quality
rather than quantity especially for some of the vineyards at
the prized locations in the old world wine countries where
the soils have more of characters rather than fertility. These
soils tend to be chalky, limestone, gravel, pebbles, sandy and
clay. This which allows aeration and sufficient drainage,
boosting the grapes characters.

Location of vineyards

The landscape of vineyards plays a very crucial role in the

quality of grapes. In very cold climate countries, sites located
near large water bodies are considered better as water
reflects the heat in night. Also, vineyards located on slopes or
in valleys are preferred more than those on the plains. It
gives proper drainage and also sufficient sunlight to the
entire vines specially where the vines receive lesser hours of
sunlight in the entire day. Ample sunlight is necessary for
proper photosynthesis which will create the sugar and other
nutrients in the grapes. In northern hemisphere, south facing
slopes are preferred for cold climate and north facing for

warm. In the southern hemisphere it’s exactly opposite.

Other than the above mentioned factors the role of the
viticulturist is of utmost importance for better yield. Some of
their duties are; pest and disease control, fertilization,
irrigation, canopy management, vine pruning, monitoring
fruit development and deciding when to harvest.

Since the weather conditions are not always the same the
quality of grapes and in turn wine also keep changing. The
years which have best conditions for grape farming are
called best vintage years. Naturally, the wines from best
vintage years fetch much higher prices. When the conditions
are not right the winemakers take the help of blending. This
means wine is blended with wines from previous years or
from other grapes to overcome their shortcomings to deliver
the consistently same taste of wine for which it is known
year after year. Also, nowadays viticulturists take the help of
technology in the grape farming like scientific analysis of soil,
weather forecasts etc. which help them in having better
control on the quality of grape.

14.3 Types of wine

Wines are divided primarily into four types – still, sparkling,

fortified and aromatized. Still wines are called so because

they’re without effervescence. They’re further divided into

three types red, white and rose.

Red wines

These are made from black skinned grapes. The colour of the
grape juice is always colourless even for the black grapes.

The colour comes from the skin of the grape which is allowed
to be in contact with the juice.
White wines

These are mostly made from the white grapes although it can
be made from black grapes also, provided the skin is not
allowed to impart it’s colour to the juice.

Rosé wines

Also known as pink or blush wine, it’s between white and red
wine. Here the skin of the black grape is allowed to impart
colour for very less time, around 24 hrs.

Sparkling wines

Popularly known as Champagne which is just a type of

sparkling wine from France. They’ve effervescence due to
CO2 gas inside the bottle. They’re mostly white, little amount
of pink and very rarely red.

Fortified wines

These wines are made by adding neutral grape spirit or sugar

to the wine to increase the alcoholic strength. Examples are –
port, sherry, madeira, marsala and Malaga. These spirits can
be added either during fermentation like in port or after
fermentation like in sherry.

Aromatized wines

These are made by adding botanicals in addition to spirit or

sugar to the wine. The wines have high alcohol content and
flavoured with herbs. Example – vermouth.

14.4 Making of still wines

Wines are made from freshly gathered grapes and the entire
process from grapes in farm to bottle of wine is called

‘vinification’. The scientific process of making wine is called

oenology. The steps involved in making of wine are as
follows:

Harvesting – Destemming – Crushing – Pressing – Primary

fermentation – Secondary fermentation – Clarification –
Ageing– Blending – Filtration– Bottling

Harvesting – the grapes are harvested after checking their

sugar content and the acidity (pH level). Harvesting can be
done manually which are usually practiced in small size on
steep sloped vineyards or mechanically which are more
common in large sized farms. After harvesting grapes head
straight to the wineries which are generally located at a very
close distance to the vineyards.

Destemming – the process of separating the grapes from the

stalk is called de-stemming. If allowed stems can increase the
tannin content of wine to a great extent and add vegetal
notes to the wine but still some winemakers avoid this
process to impart more tannin to their wine.

Crushing – crushing is done to extract the first and best juice

from the grapes. This can be done manually by feet or
mechanically. This allows the grape skin to break and thus
interaction of skin with the juice, pulp, pips and stems.

Pressing – the further extraction of juice from all the solid

parts of grape, i.e. skins, pips and pulps which are together
called ‘pomace’. For white wines the pomace is separated
but for red wines they continue to be in contact with the
juice and the content is called ‘must’. For rosé wines, skin of black grapes
allowed to be in contact with the juice for less than 24 hrs after which it’s
removed.

Primary fermentation – the yeasts and other bacteria

colonies are available on the skin of grapes in dust form
which is called ‘bloom’. Once the grapes are crushed these
yeasts also called wild or ambient yeasts become active and
the fermentation start. Some winemakers use their own
strain of cultured yeasts also called wine yeasts for better
control over the quality of wine.

For white wines fermentation happens at slightly colder

temperature at around, 12-180 C. Red wines generally
ferment at slightly higher temperature 25-300 C. The pomace
is left in the must which floats on top to form a thick solid
layer which is called ‘crust’. Crust is punctured at least two
times in a day or the juice also called ‘free run wine’ is
pumped over it to extract the essentials from the solid
matters like tannin, colour, acidity and other flavours. This
fermentation is called primary fermentation and it lasts for 5-
14 days usually more for white wines due to its low
fermenting temperature.

Secondary fermentation – after primary fermentation most

of the red wines and some white wines are transferred to
steel tanks or wooden vats for a secondary fermentation
which is also called malolactic fermentation in which the
bacteria converts malic acid in the wine to lactic acid which is
more smooth and creamy textured. This is important
otherwise wine will be bit harsh to drink specially reds. This
process lasts for generally 5-10 days. For white wines many
wine makers avoid malolactic fermentation by keeping the
temperature low.
Yeasts work in the wine till the alcohol level reaches 15% or
untill the entire sugar in the must is consumed after which it
dies off. These dead yeast cells are called ‘lees’. Many
winemakers continue to age their wine resting on the lees
(called sur-lie ageing) which is supposed to improve the wine
flavours.

Clarification – some wines develop small particles like lees,

and other solid matters which needs to be cleared during
ageing which in case if left will make the wine cloudy and
dull. Some of the techniques employed are fining,
refrigeration, centrifugation and filtration.

a) Fining –fining agents like bentonite, gelatine, casein,

isinglass, egg white are mixed in the wine which
absorbs the suspended matters and settles to the
bottom of the barrel. The wine is then transferred to
another vat. This process of transferring the wine
from one barrel to another which can be for various
reasons is called ‘racking’.
b) Centrifugation – this method is mostly used for white
wines where the lees suspended in the wine
accumulate at the centre of the tank due to
centrifugal force which are later taken off.
c) Refrigeration – this method is required to get rid of
the tartars (potassium and tartaric acids) which if left
in the wine form crystals called ‘wine diamonds’.
This is achieved by bringing down the temperature
of tanks between -7 and -50 C which will precipitate
the acids. This precipitate gets deposited on the wall
of the tanks which is later removed making the wine
clear.
 d) Filtration – cellulose filters or membrane filters are
also sometimes used to get rid of lees or other fine
suspended matters in the wine.

Ageing – most of the red wines are aged in wooden barrels

for at least one year during which it’ll extract the flavours,
colour and characters from the wood. The tannin in the red
wines disintegrates during ageing which makes the wine less
astringent and improves the colour also. This is the resting
period of wines during which its colour, flavour and taste
evolves. Some of the white wines like Chardonnays also
spend some time in wood which improve their colour to
golden hue. The wine also acquire the vanilla and almond like
flavours from the wood. Some of the wines are left for
considerable ageing but not all wines improve after a certain
point of time.

Blending – this is required to keep the wine consistent in its

qualities. Wines from different; grapes, batches, barrels and
vineyards are blended together to adjust the colour, flavour,
acidity and sweetness. A final filtration may be required to
give the wine its clarity and make it free from any suspended
matter.

Bottling – before bottling a small quantity of sulphite is

added which will prevent any further microbial activity in the
bottle. Bottles are sealed with different types of closures like
screwcaps, rubber, plastic or wooden corks. Corks are
covered with capsules. After this labels are pasted on the
bottles which’re later packed in cases. Screwcaps or synthetic
corks are used for young wines which doesn’t improve
further after bottling. Wooden corks are used for wines
which ages well and tend to improve even after bottling.
Some of these wines are stored on
their sides for further ageing in
wine cellars but they won’t have
capsules and labels. These wines
are also some time auctioned at
steep prices which can be any
wine collectors prized possession.