Many people know that wine is obtained as a result of fermentation of grape juice, if necessary with the addition of pulp (peel and seeds). But it depends on the fermentation process itself what the drink will be. Wines are distinguished by degree of sweetness, color and aging. The wines are quiet and sparkling - they are distinguished from each other by the content of carbon dioxide.
Wine color differences
White wines. You can get white wine from both white and red grape varieties. The secret in the method of fermentation - grape juice ferments without adding pulp, which gives color to the wine. The result is a light wine. The older the white wine, the darker its color.
Red wines. The method of obtaining red wine is different than white. Grapes are used in red and black varieties. When fermenting grape juice, pulp is added, which affects the color. The wine gets an additional shade when aged in oak barrels. Unlike white wine, red becomes lighter with age.
Rosé wines. They learned how to prepare rosé wines by combining the first two methods. At the beginning of the fermentation of grape juice, the peel is added, but after several hours it is removed, and it does not have time to completely color the wine. The result is light and delicate rosé wines.
Natural still wines have learned to receive a very long time. In ancient times, they worshiped (including) the god of winemaking, legends were added about this drink, it was considered a cure for many diseases. Making natural still wine is a very interesting process, on which the quality of the resulting product depends.
It all starts with the grape harvest of a particular variety. It is worth noting that in wine houses producing vintage and collection wines, the size and age of the vine are strictly regulated, as well as the location of the vineyard, and the place of production and bottling. Grapes can be harvested by machine (for cheaper wines) or manually (for expensive and high-quality wines). Grapes are harvested at different times of its ripening. The earliest date is 7 days after ripening, and the latest when the grapes are covered with noble mold and subjected to the first frost. Late harvested grapes - the sweetest, it usually goes on the production of unique, expensive vintage wines.
After harvesting, grapes are turned into wine material. There are two stages of processing raw wine material. The first stage is the fermentation of wine. Yeast is added to the grape must , which absorbs the sugar contained in the grapes. They, when they absorb sugar, secrete alcohol. If you bring the stage of fermentation to the end - we get a natural dry wine. Winemakers learned to slow down the fermentation manually, and then the sugar remains in the wine. The second stage is the "education" of wine. It is kept in oak barrels, yeast residues are removed, clarified, enriched wine with air. After that, the wine is pasteurized and bottled. According to the same principle, (and not only from grapes).
Regardless of whether the wine is produced - still or sparkling, the first stage of processing the wine material is the same. But the second stage is much more interesting. There are several ways to turn still wine into sparkling wine.
The first method is the most expensive, time-consuming, but also the best. It is used to make expensive champagne and sparkling wines of famous brands. Secondary fermentation of wine takes place in bottles, while it is saturated with carbon dioxide. At the end of the fermentation, the yeast cake is removed in a complicated manual manner. This method consists in carefully collecting sediment in the neck of a bottle, which is tilted and slightly rotated. This process can take several months. Then the neck of the bottle is frozen and the ice plug is removed. Of course, the volume of the product from this decreases, and it is replenished with the original wine and sugar syrup, which subsequently affect the dryness of the wine.
The second way is much simpler and cheaper. The wine is saturated with carbon dioxide in large metal vats, then filtered and bottled under pressure. In Russia, this method was further simplified by making the process of champagne continuous. Of course, using such technology it is forbidden to make expensive sparkling wine and champagne, but almost all “Soviet champagne” is produced that way.
The third method combines the first two. Wine is fermented in bottles, but the precipitate is not removed manually, but filtered under pressure. Then the wine is poured into vats, sugar syrup and the original wine material are added, while obtaining the desired sweetness, and the wine is bottled.
The fourth way is the most ordinary. The finished wine is cooled and saturated with carbon dioxide. At the same time, a drink is produced that is only vaguely reminiscent of champagne, with large, rapidly bursting bubbles.
It is worth noting that the name "Champagne" originates from the French province of Champagne. By law, only there can be produced a drink under this name. The well-known “Soviet champagne” is not champagne, but sparkling wine, and such a name can be used by Russian producers only in the domestic market, and the word “champagne” should be written in small letters on the label.