Appellation is a concept that formed the basis of all wine classifications in Europe. The term comes from the French name of the Appellation d`Origine Controlee system itself, which translates into “appellation controlled by provenance.
Terroir – a set of characteristics of an area. Terroir is paramount: a lot depends on climate, sun exposure, and most importantly, on the composition and properties of the soil. In this sense, of course, the vine, unlike cereals, does not need chernozem, but as stony, calcareous or clay soils as possible. There is a rule: where grapes grow, you cannot grow bread. It is because of this, sometimes forced, that many great vineyards have arisen.
Triage, sorting, combing. Manual triage, the inspection of the crop arriving at the winery, the removal of substandard bunches and berries, is increasingly used for high quality wines. The triage begins in the vineyard if the grapes are harvested manually. There are also machines that improve the triage, such as a machine that blows out lightly zested berries. Whether to separate berries from the clusters or send the clusters together with the branches to the fermentation tank is a crucial question for the “red” wine-makers, the decision depends on the tradition of the region, the grape variety and the wine style. If the cloves are not separated, they add more tannins to the wine, on the other hand, they can give it a coarse herbaceous taste. The latest in technology is laser selection of berries in terms of color, size, flesh density and sugar content. After “checking”, the clusters can be sent to the crusher. This machine works like this: in an inner cylinder with walls and small holes, the clusters are strongly untwisted. The loose grapes are poured into a pan through these holes, and afterwards they can be pushed through a grinder similar to a mincer. After the crusher, red grapes go for fermentation, white grapes go under the press.
The pulp is a mass of skins, pips and even twigs of grapes (if no combing was used). Red wines are usually fermented together with the pulp and pressed at the end of the primary vinification. White grapes are most often pressed before fermentation, i.e. the juice is separated from the mash, and the mash is either discarded.
The mash is the actual future wine. It is the name given to the juice fermented for white wine, and a mash of pulp and juice for red wine.
Fermentation (primary, alcoholic) is the conversion of sugars into alcohol by the yeast.
Malolactic fermentation is a secondary fermentation in which malic acid is converted to lactic acid with the release of carbon dioxide. It softens the acidity of the wine, can add complexity, but takes away some of the freshness and “crispness”. In the old days, secondary fermentation began spontaneously when the air temperature rose (e.g. with the arrival of spring). Today’s winemakers decide whether to encourage or discourage its occurrence.
Wort decanting – dirt accumulated on grapes in the fields, fine particles of comb and seeds after pressing should be removed from the must. At low temperatures (8-10 C) in about a day the sediment settles to the bottom. But for speeding up the decantation, enzymes can be applied which are removed together with the suspended solids.
Flotation is an alternative to decantation: air is supplied from the bottom of the vat in small bubbles which cling to the surface and carry the suspended matter from where it is removed as a foam for milk. This oxidizes the reactive polyphenols in the must (catechin, one of the building blocks of tannins) and the must can turn brown.
Decolorization – if the wine is made from red and gray varieties, the must usually has a pale pink or copper color. To decolorize wine activated carbon is used, which is placed directly in the must after decantation, stirred and left for a couple of days, after which the carbon falls to the bottom, taking with it anthocyanins (coloring substances) and some fragrance molecules. The wort is then filtered. This step can also be done after fermentation, but the risk of loss of flavors is higher.
Sulfite is the addition of sulfur dioxide to the wine to protect it from oxidation and preservation. Sulfur protects the wine from its main enemy, oxygen. It makes wine age and “die” or turn into vinegar.
Sulfur also protects against the action of lactobacilli – with sulfur content above 50 mg / l they can not work, that is, they do not convert malic acid to lactic acid and white wine retains its freshness. Protects against the action of acetobacteria and other harmful microorganisms that can change the taste and aroma of wine.
Adding sulfur dioxide dissolved in water to a given density to a wine that has just finished fermentation in order to stabilize it (elimination of the last living yeasts to avoid re-fermentation).The dose is approximately 1-20 mg/L.
If you just add sulfur, it dissolves unevenly, so conduct and procedure called CO2 – repairage. A cylinder of carbon dioxide is connected to the bottom valve of the vat, which is passed through the wine at a rate of 10l/min. for 5-10 minutes. The gas, passing outward, shakes the wine and the sulfur dissolves.
Wines without sulfur do not live long and are not transportable.
Filtration. The white wine should get in a bottle absolutely pure, without any suspensions and any remains of dead yeast and microorganisms, including live ones, bentonite and tartrate. For this purpose, it is filtered before bottling with a membrane filter, less often with a cardboard filter (the risk of contact with oxygen is increased). It may not be used if the wine has been aging on the lees for a very long time.
Assemblage (blending) / assemblage (blending). Many wines are a blend (assemblage, blending) of different grape varieties. Assemblage allows you to combine the virtues of different varieties in one wine, while at the same time balancing their disadvantages. But even if the wine is varietal, 100% from a single grape variety, often lots of grapes from separate vineyards are vinified separately. The terroir gives them different properties. Some are aged in steel, some in oak. As a result, slightly different ingredients are obtained from the same raw material, and depending on their characteristics the winemaker then develops a recipe for the final blend.
Chaptalization is the addition of sugar during fermentation, when the grapes lack their own sugar, giving the yeast additional food and allowing fermentation to continue for several days. It is hardly ever used for high quality wines these days.
Post-fermentation maceration. For strong red wines, after fermentation is completed, the wine is left in the same vat with the pulp for several days or weeks to extract more pigment and other substances from the skins. This stage significantly affects the style of the wine.
Bleeding and pressing. At the end of the above procedures, some of the wine is poured from the vat into other containers for stabilization and aging (steel vats or oak barrels) – this process is called “cropping.” What does not come out of the vat by itself is sent under the press. The pressed wine is as tannic and full-bodied as possible, but also coarse. At the winemaker’s discretion, it can be used in the final assemblage.