The Wine-Making Process | Wine Tasting Events Brix 33

Provided By: Brix 33 in New Port Richey FL

At Brix 33, we proudly serve countless fine wines as well as great food. Many people have asked us about the wine making process, and while we don’t make our own wine, we thought we’d share this info around.

It all begins at the vineyard where grapes are grown. Once a crop is ready to be harvested, the grapes are taken to be prepared for the fermentation process. One interesting thing about the picking process is that picking the grape at a certain time of day will affect its sugar balance. Grapes picked at night are considered to be at their most stable sugar level.

As the grapes are being prepared, there are different steps performed based on the type of wine being made. Red wine utilizes the skin of the grape, where white wine does not. This means that the skin isn’t separated from the wine until after the fermentation process is complete. Hence the color of red wine. If the skin was not included in the fermentation, then it would be white wine.

White wine is crushed before the fermentation process. During the crushing process, it is also pressed to separate the juice from the rest of the grape. This juice is then used to make white wine. When the juice is sitting, the sediment will settle at the bottom of the container and will be siphoned out so the fermentation process can begin.

At this point, yeast is added to the mixture in order for there to fermentation. This is because the yeast will react with the sugar in the juice and form ethanol (alcohol). We could go in to a discussion about different types of yeast, but we’ll save that for another article.

For red wine a problem occurs when the skin/pulp from the wine begins to float to the top of the container. When it is no longer submerged in juice it is vulnerable to drying out and breeding bacteria. The solution to this is to pump the wine a few times a day so that the floating material gets brought back down.

Making wine can be tedious, time consuming, and aggravating because it takes so long. If you don’t have the time it takes to make wine you can always come visit us in New Port Richey FL at Brix 33. Our Hump-Day Special happens every week so come see us next Wednesday!