Winemaking - Answering The Yield Versus Age Question

Here is a great article by Darren Wiliger with wine making instructions.

Winemaking - Answering The Yield Versus Age Question
By Darren Williger

The eternal debate that seems to be unanswerable in the field of winemaking is the question of what gives rise to better grapes and thus better wine. Some people tend to believe that older grapes result in wine of much better quality. This belief is so strong that a large number of wineries actually stipulate the age of their vines on the labels of their wine bottles. The aim is to impress customers so that their wines become more popular and shared across a wider section of the population. But is there really truth to the older-grapes-better-wine theory?

This theory seems to be derived from the fact that the fewer the grapes which grow on a vine, the better the grapes and the wine taste. If you have too many grapes per vine, then you have grapes with different tastes and thus a wine with a bad flavor. The lesser the grapes the more likely that the wine flavor will be excellent and unique at the same, older vines tend to be less hardy than younger ones so they grow fewer grapes hence the theory that they tend to give rise to better grapes and wines.

Certain other people tend to disagree with this theory. They claim that this isn't the process which results in the best grapes or the best wine. According to their theory, the first few years of wine growth aren't anything at all. You don't get any grapes from your vines until year 3 or year 4 of their growth. When the growth actually comes there is a full harvest of grapes which continues until the 20th year of growth. It is after this period that you get the best flavored grapes according to this group of people. If you're confused with this explanation, you should know that it gets much worse. Research has shown that if the vines have been attached properly to their trellises, pruned regularly and cut, they should give rise to good grapes. Thinning is believed to increase the taste as well as reducing the yield. What this research claims is that the age is not what gives rise to the better tasting wines but the size of the yield.

Despite all this, after all the arguments have finished and each side has stated their position on the matter, conflicting evidence still shows that the higher the yield is , the better the grapes you get. In a particular acre of Chardonnay grapes, ten tons of grapes were produced and it was a good yield. When six tons of grapes were produced in the next harvest from the same acre, the grapes and the wine tasted better, which seemingly proved the theory. However the next year yielded four tons which tasted worse than the first two sets.

The final end to the question came from research which showed that grapes will have a great taste and produce better wine if they come from a vineyard that keeps its vines well taken care of and maintains them effectively.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for CaffeineZone.com, MyLowCarbPages.com, and HomemadeWine.com

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The Steps in The Winemaking Process

Wines, one of the most popular beverages in the world, is made through a special process called winemaking or vinification. Winemaking includes the choice of the grapes to bottling of the finished product.

Winemaking starts during the time of harvest. Grapes are selected and placed in containers. After harvesting, the grapes are crushed to squeeze out the juice. The juice is then given time to ferment. If red wine is desired, the skins are left to soak in the juice for a while so that the wine would take the skin’s color. If white wine is desired, the juice is extracted with minimal contact from the grape skin.

The primary fermentation stage in winemaking usually takes around one to two weeks. During this time, yeast will transform majority of the sugars in the grape juice to ethanol, which is alcohol.

The resulting liquid is then transferred to several vessels for secondary fermentation in the winemaking process. During this time, the remaining sugar is slowly converted to alcohol. As a result, the wine gets clearer in color.

Some amount of the wine is then placed in oak barrels to age before bottling. Aging adds aromas to the wine. Most, however, are placed inside bottles and shipped right away.

The length of time from harvest to opening a bottle can vary greatly. This might range from a few months for Beaujolias nouveau wines to twenty years for top wines. It is important to note though that only a small percentage of wines will be tastier after five years, compared to after one year.

This is the basic process of winemaking. However, the quality of grapes and the target wine style can force winemakers to combine or omit a step or two. Also, some wines of similar quality are made using other approaches to their production. Sometimes, the quality of wine depends on the starting raw products , or the quality of grapes, rather than the techniques applied the winemaking process.

There are variations of the normal winemaking process. For example, for Champagnes, there is an added fermentation phase that goes on inside the bottle. This traps the carbon dioxide and creates the fizz.

On the other hand, sweet wines are created by allowing some residual sugar to remain before or after fermentation. A variation is to add another alcoholic beverage to kill the yeast before fermentation is completed.

Whatever the case, the winemaking process have wastewater, pomace and lees as by products which can either be treated for some beneficial use or simply disposed.

Milos Pesic is and internationally recognized expert on wine, wine making and wine tasting. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Red Wine and White Wine web site. For more articles and resources on wine making and tasting, wine recipes, wine reviews, vintage wine and much more visit his site at:

=>http://wine.need-to-know.net/

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