Most people know that wine is a beverage that is fermented from grapes. However, few people know that in order to create excellent and delicious wine products, the winemaking process must go through many meticulous and elaborate stages over a long period of time. Let’s learn all about the standard process of red wine production with Le Vista in the article below!

A few things to note when making wine

In order for the winemaking process to take place successfully, winemakers must know the following basic information:

• To obtain 1 liter of wine, it takes about 1.3 – 1.5 kg of fresh grapes.
• Important stages in winemaking: separation of the stem from the bunch, pressing, aging and fermentation.
• Sulfur gas has the ability to kill bacteria and preserve wine.
• Containers for wine are stainless steel tanks or concrete tanks coated with food grade paint or oak barrels.
• Red wine can only be made from red grapes, while white wine can be made from white or red grapes.

Standard red wine production process

Step 1: Harvest grapes

Raw ingredient grapes are one of the factors that determine the quality of wine, so the weather and the time of grape harvest are also very important. To make a red wine, the grapes must be close to 0.8% acidity and 22 degrees Brix (a measure of sugar in grapes). Usually, winemakers rely on the color and taste of the grapes to decide when to harvest.

Grapes can be picked by hand or picked by specialized equipment, but winemakers often choose the hand-picking method to keep the grapes in the best state, avoiding crushed or scratched grapes.

Step 2: Separate the stem and crush the grapes

After harvesting, grapes need to be quickly brought to the factory and sorted by grape variety as well as removing damaged and crushed fruits during transportation.

In order for the wine to reach the best state, the winemaker must put the grapes in a crusher to break up as well as separate the stem and seeds from the grapes. The stem and seeds will continue to be crushed and pushed out, while the grape will pass through the mesh holes and push out separately.

Step 3: Squeeze the grape juice

In this step, the grapes will be put into the pressing system to get the juice. This water is also known as quality 1 grape juice and is stored in a large tub. To make the finished product, which is red wine, quality 1 grape juice will be put into the yeast tank before being put into the pressing system.

Step 4: Fermentation

Most of the alcohol fermentation systems in the world use the traditional method because of its high efficiency and stability. During fermentation, winemakers must pay attention to temperature.

If you want the taste of grapes to be preserved absolutely, the fermentation temperature must be in the range of 7 – 12 degrees Celsius, for more floral flavors than fruit flavors, the temperature must be 25-35 degrees Celsius. For red wine, the ideal temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius.

Step 5: Filter and smooth

The winemaker has to filter and smooth the grape juice through a specialized system so that the wine achieves a pure color at the final stage. After filtration, the wine will be transferred to a clean tank and filtration will be repeated many times over 6 months to 3 years.

The smallest particles will be removed by the smoothing system to make the wine color clear. The most commonly used method today is to use egg whites in combination with clay. Smoothing is also performed regularly throughout the winemaking period.

Step 6: Brew wine

This is the stage that makes the oxygen act as slow as possible so that the wine achieves the harmony and stability of taste and wine quality. Cold-aged wines take longer than warm-aged wines.

In addition, wine aged in large steel tanks takes longer than wine aged in wooden barrels. Typically, wines are aged for 3 to 6 months or longer, 2 to 3 years.

Step 7: Bottling

It’s time for the wine to be finished and bottled. This stage is not too complicated but requires the winemaker to be extremely careful to avoid oxidation. In addition, hygiene factors should be noted so that the fruit can be infected with sour bacteria as well as any other bacteria that are harmful to humans.

The above article has introduced you to all about the red wine production process. Le Vista believes that red wine will be your companion in every meal. If you need assistance or have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our consulting team!