FAWQ: How Wine is Made

Heyy Winers! As a professional in the industry there are some questions I anticipate answering on the daily. One of the most common being: How is wine made? Although this is a really common question, it has quite an extensive answer. The short answer is by crushing grapes and adding yeast. Join me as I break down the wine making process!

Types & Styles of Wine:

Wine can be made in a variety of styles. The mainstream types of wine are: White, Red and Rose’. The two main styles are: Still and Sparkling.

Red & White Wine:

Still red and still white wines are made in similar ways by crushing the grapes to extract the juice and then adding yeast which results in a chemical reaction [fermentation] that produces ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The biggest difference is that red wine is made with skin contact. The pulp (inside of the grape) is actually clear [there are some exceptions, but most are clear]. The color comes from contact from the skins of the grapes which works similarly to if you have ever put a red sock in with white laundry. Sparkling red and sparkling white wines are made in the same way as still wine except the carbon dioxide produced during the fermentation is trapped intentionally which gives the wine its bubbles.

Rose':

Rose’ can be made in a variety of ways. The two most common ways involve beginning the process of making red wine and either cutting the maceration [time on the grape skins] short so that the wine is a variation of pink rather than full red or ‘bleeding off’ some of the juice to make rose and allowing the rest of the juice to become red wine of the same grape varietal. Then fermentation follows as normal. For sparkling roses, carbon dioxide is internally trapped just like in red and white wines.

There you have it! Although there are many complexities to making wine, the foundational process remains the same. Have a wine question? Submit it now for an answer right here on the blog!