| As touched upon in the preceding article, | | | | therefore some wine makers today use the term |
| "Making White Wine, a Labour of Love" making | | | | Champagne on their bottles, only if the |
| wine is a very time consuming and difficult | | | | original place of origin is on the label as |
| job. Timing must be perfect as does | | | | well to prevent confusion. The wines most |
| combinations of ingredients. The same goes | | | | commonly used are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or |
| for all other types of wine: red, rose and | | | | Pinot Meunier. The first step is to have a |
| sparkling. | | | | "base wine" which is usually made from very |
| | | | acidic grapes giving it a horrible taste. The |
| Rosé wine is a red wine that is made with | | | | next step involves getting the bubbles into |
| the same methods of a white wine. The | | | | the wine. |
| production is the same except that the skins | | | | |
| are thrown in with the juice. Few winemakers | | | | There are three methods that can be used to |
| prefer to make rosé wine by mixing some | | | | get bubbles into wine, carbonation, transfer |
| red wine into white wine, but this is not the | | | | method and méthode champenoise. |
| popular method. When using the skins to make | | | | Carbonation, the same method used in soft |
| rosé wine most important thing is to only | | | | drinks, is the cheapest. Carbon dioxide is |
| leave the skins in with the juice for a short | | | | pumped into a wine tank and then the wine is |
| period of time, long enough to give it that | | | | bottled under pressure to prevent the case |
| rose color and make it ever so slightly | | | | from escaping. The transfer method is when a |
| tannic. | | | | sweetened base has yeast added to it and is |
| | | | allowed to ferment a second time in an |
| Making red wine involves using the entire | | | | enclosed tank so the building carbon dioxide |
| grape except for the stalks. The grapes are | | | | cannot escape. After fermentation, the wine |
| de-stemmed and crushed, but instead of | | | | is then clarified and re-sweetened if |
| filtering the skins from the juice the skins | | | | necessary before being bottled under |
| are transferred to open top tanks where they | | | | pressure. This method is used to produce |
| are continuously stirred so the flavor and | | | | medium price range sparkling wine. The final |
| color from the skins will become infused with | | | | method is méthode champenoise, which is |
| the wine during fermentation. The wine is | | | | when the wine has a second fermentation in |
| then filtered to remove the skins and put | | | | the bottle. This method is used to produce |
| into barrels to age from six months up to two | | | | the best quality wines. |
| years before being bottled and sold. | | | | |
| | | | Making wine is an art form. It takes |
| Then you have sparkling wine or Champagne. | | | | knowledge, skill but most of all patience. |
| Because of the Treaty of Madrid in 1891 and | | | | The process of making wine from picking the |
| the Treaty of Versailles in, only wines from | | | | grapes to bottling can be months or years, |
| the French region of Champagne are allowed to | | | | which is why winemakers are so passionate |
| be called as such, which is why everything | | | | about their work. So the next time you pour |
| else is referred to as sparkling wine. | | | | yourself a glass, think about the voyage |
| However it is important to note that the | | | | those little grapes have made. |
| United States never ratified the treaty and | | | | |