Making White Wine: A Labor of Love

Wine is made in winery and wineries exist all overcrystals (found in grapes and solidifies in their
the world and come in a variety of sizes. Thejuices), which acts as a barrier preventing the oak
grapes are grown at the wineries and then turnedflavor from being infused in the wine. Examples of
into wine and there are many varieties of grapes;oaked Sauvignon Blanc can be found in France,
each one either used either alone or combined tohowever the aging of unwooded Sauvignon Blanc
make different wines. But how exactly is whitein bottles produces a nutty toasted flavour as if it
wine made?was stored in wood therefore it really is not
To make a white wine, once grapes are broughtnecessary.
to the winery they are de-stemmed and crushedWhy would someone want to produce an
before anything else is done. A machine is used tounwooded wine? The answer is simple, money. It
split the grapes to remove stems and stalks fromis much cheaper to produce wine in large steel
each bunch because they contain astringenttanks, and the work required after fermentation
tannins, which might be acceptable for red wines,is minimal allowing bottling and release to be
but are rare in whites. To stop the fermentationquicker. This does not, however, mean unwooded
process from starting and turning the grapeswine is in any way inferior to wooded wine. It is
brown and oxidizing (causing a vinegar type taste)simply a different process.
a chemical called Sulphur Dioxide is added to theWooded wines can often begin their fermentation
grapes. For those with allergies to Sulphur Dioxide,in steel tanks before being transferred to oak
"sulphur-free" wine is produced as well, howeverbarrels to finish fermenting, or they can have a
the lifespan on this wine is much shorter andsecond fermentation known as malolactic
needs to be consumed quickly.fermentation. A third option, barrel fermentation,
After the grapes are split and the stems haveis to simply ferment the wine once from start to
been removed, they are sent to be pressed.finish in an oak barrel. Malolactic fermentation is
Pressing the grapes releases their juices. Thethe process in wine where malic acid begins to
press is a large machine that has a canvas liketurn into lactic acid. This happens with the addition
material that separates the juice from the skinsof bacteria, which in turn gives the wine buttery
and seeds by allowing the juice to escape. Thecreamy characteristics. Wooded white wines are
separated juice is then pumped gently to anotherin barrels from six to twelve months before being
steel tank where the sediment is allowed to settlefiltered.
to the bottom before being transferred again.The next step in making white wine is filtration.
The now sediment free juice is either pumpedThe most common way commercial wineries filter
into another steel tank (unwooded wines) or totheir wine is with a membrane filter, which
wooden barrels (wooded wines) where thecatches all the particles floating in the liquid. Some
preferred yeast type is added and fermentationwinemakers prefer not to filter at all thinking it will
can begin. Fermentation of white wine can take 3remove characters from the wine that were
days or 30 days depending on the type of winecreated in the winemaking process. After the
being produced.wine has been filtered it is bottled and sealed and
For unwooded whites, once the fermentationready for marketing.
process is over, the wine is removed from theIt all seems too easy, but it takes great skill.
steel tanks and separated from the dead yeastClimates need to be controlled, ingredients need
cells. Whites such as Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc andto be accurately measured and timing needs to
Chardonnay are typically unwooded wines,be perfect. Sometimes it is easy to forget that a
however there are small exceptions. Rieslings inbottle of wine can take so long to make and that
Europe can be made in wooden barrels, thoughpatience is key.
the barrels usually have a crust of tartaric