| Red Wine is made almost exclusively from | | | | of grapes, and then this is allowed tio run |
| black grapes, the colour coming from the | | | | into casks as free-run wine.The rest of the |
| skins.Firstly, the picked bunches of grapes | | | | bulk goes into a press and is crushed to |
| are put through a crusher, which carefully | | | | produce a highly tannic wine. This may be |
| breaks the skins. Depending on the type of | | | | added to the free-run wine to add structure |
| wine being made, and the amount of tannin | | | | to the blend. |
| required, the stalks may or may not be | | | | |
| discarded at this stage.Then the grapes are | | | | The wine from both vat and press are mixed |
| moved from the crusher into a fermentation | | | | and transferred to tanks or barrels where a |
| vats with skins. Fermentation can take upto | | | | second fermentation will occur.'Fine wine' |
| 4 weeks or longer to complete. The higher | | | | almost always spends at least a year in |
| the temperature, the more colour and tannin | | | | barrels, large or small. The wine is fined |
| is extracted.To produce soft red wines, whole | | | | with egg-white, which drags suspended yeast |
| grapes are fermented in sealed vats. Carbon | | | | and other solids in the wine downwards before |
| dioxide trapped in the vat forces the grapes | | | | being racked, filtered, and bottled.Finally, |
| to ferment faster under pressure and this | | | | time spent in the bottle is important, but |
| process can take as little a 5 days.A wine's | | | | not every wine needs it. A complex (and |
| colour and tannin content is dictated partly | | | | expensive) bottle of red wine will almost |
| by the length of time the fermenting must | | | | certainly benefit from bottle ageing, as will |
| remains in contact with the skins and pips. | | | | white wine with both body and high enough |
| Unless these are restrained by a mesh, they | | | | acidity. Simple wines, intended for prompt |
| will be carried to the surface and form a | | | | drinking, will lose colour and freshness if |
| cap. If there is no mesh to hold the skins | | | | left for too long.Jason Hulott is Editor of |
| and pips down, then the vat is flushed so the | | | | UK Wine Online. UK Wine Online is an |
| cap is broken up and the colour leeched | | | | independent source for Red Wine. With guides |
| out.The weight of the mass of grapes is | | | | on the major wine producing regions and |
| sufficient to squeeze the fermented juice out | | | | content about each type of red wine. |