Choosing a Vineyard Site
When selecting an area to plant vines the vigneron
must take many things into consideration to ensure the best quality
grapes and the style of wine he intends to produce.
Vine
The choice of vine may depend on appellation laws in counties
such as France and Italy, but in the New World pretty much anything
goes. But different grapes do better in different soils so this
must be taken into account.
Soil
Over thousands of years of winemaking history and with modern
research it has been discovered that particular grapes suit certain
soils, but all grapes need to be grown in good-draining soil.
Inferior wine comes from vines with 'damp feet'. A general rule
is that the poorer the soil the better the intensity of the fruit
flavour in the grapes. If the vine has to push down deeper in
to the earth for water and nutrients it picks up trace elements
and minerals on the way. Richer soils provide heavier crops but
more diluted grapes - low yields are essential for superior harvests.
Vineyard Site
The exact position of a vineyard can affect the quality of grapes
which can be seen very well in Burgundy where neighbouring villages
and vineyards can produce very different quality grapes and thus
command very different prices! Hillsides, proximity to the sea,
rivers or mountains, can all form micro-climates and greatly affect
the vines.
Climate
Grapes need sunshine to ripen fully, reds needing more than whites.
It has been discovered that a minimum of 1500 hours of sunshine
is required with 700mm of rain and it is not a coincidence that
the best vineyards of the world are sited between 30 and 50° latitude.
In very hot areas, grapes may be cooled by sea breezes and intensified
by cold nights; in cooler areas, white grapes dominate and the
vines are planted on exposed hillsides to maximise sun exposure.
Frosts and hail can spell danger for the grower. Equally excessively
high temperatures can over-ripen grapes and drought in areas where
irrigation is not permitted such as France can cause untold problems.
Each vintage determines the character of the grapes based on the
climatic conditions the vine has experienced.
The Work of a Vigneron
The year of a grower in Europe begins after harvest,
in October. For his counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere this
would be in February/March.
October
The land should be prepared for planting or replanting. The leaves
of the older vines change colour and begin to drop.
November/December
Dead shoots are cut off and burnt, the land is ploughed to break
up the soil and used to cover the base of the vines as a protection
against frosts.
January/February
Traditionally pruning began after the Saint's Day of St Vincent
(Patron Saint of vignerons) on 22nd January - now this may even
begin in December. It is a very specialised task and selects the
buds for this and future harvests.
March
The vine sap begins to rise and the dormant period has ended.
Pruning is completed and the soil is worked to aerate it and fertiliser
is spread.
April
Planting of young vines which were grafted the previous year takes
place, the vineyard needs to be tidied up, and this year's productive
cane tied to the lower wire. The base of the vine is uncovered
and herbicides used. Bud burst takes place which will later become
shoots - the grower will hope that this will happen as late as
possible as spring frosts can be very damaging.
May
Growth of the shoots and new leaves takes place in May, and spraying
against insect and disease should be done.
June
Flowering occurs (and it is generally believed that the vintage
will follow in 100 days) and branches are tied to horizontal wires.
July
Trimming of vine shoots is important to concentrate the vine's
efforts into the fruit. If there is too much fruit the vigneron
may remove the surplus to kept the end yields low. Regular spraying
is also necessary against insect and disease.
August
Trimming the vine and final preparation in the winery is about
all the grower can do whilst the grapes ripen and take on colour.
September
When the grapes are fully ripe, the vintage begins, usually around
the third week.
The Work of the Winemaker
Many factors affect the taste of wine and of course
one of those is the winemaker himself (or herself as an ever increasing
number of women are using this career path). Whilst it is true
that you cannot make good wine from bad grapes, a winemaker can
certainly ruin a very respectable vintage. Vinification is the
process of turning grapes into wine and although techniques vary
from region to region the general principles are the same.
Red Wine
Grapes are crushed and destemmed and pumped into vats for fermentation
to take place. The yeasts on the skins act on the sugars on the
now crushed grapes to form alcohol and carbonic gas - this is
fermentation. Nowadays selected yeasts may be added to start the
process. During fermentation the wine is pumped over the cap,
the grape skins, to extract colour. The winemaker can now control
the temperature at which fermentation occurs, the warmer this
is the more colour and tannin is extracted, the cooler the more
fruit and bouquet. It is generally thought 30ºC - 32° is ideal.
Depending on whether the wine is to be a rosé, light red or
full-bodied red will determine how long the wine stays in contact
with the skin and this can be anything from 2 to 30 days in extreme
cases. Fermentation can last between one to three weeks then the
wine is either drawn off as free run juice or pressed.
Then the wine will rest or mature in tank or barrel. The winemaker's
choice of vat will affect the taste of the wine and he can choose
from small oak barrels, large oak vats, stainless-steel or concrete
tanks. The time at which he selects to bottle the wine will also
influence the end result.
White Wine
White grapes will be either pressed or crushed and destemmed and
the juice run off into fermentation tanks, or they may be macerated
with the skins for up to 2 days and then pressed for fermentation.
Fermentation takes place at lower temperatures than for red wine
to retain as much freshness and aromas as possible at between
15 and 20°C, and is a slower process. White wine is usually bottled
much sooner than red wine unless it needs barrel aging such as
the great whites of Burgundy.
Decisions, decisions
There are many choices and decisions the winemaker will have along
the way about treatments he can make to his wine, such as whether
to acidify or de-acidify, whether or not to chaptalise (where
it is allowed and which is a the addition of sugar to the must,)
whether to encourage malo-lactic fermentation or to stop it, whether
and how often to rack, what to use for fining, whether or not
to filter.....All of these factors have an impact, great or small,
on the eventual style and quality of the wine.
Sparkling Wine
There are several methods for creating wine with bubbles, ranging
from the very labour and cost intensive system used in Champagne
and by the best sparkling wine producers internationally, through
to much cheaper and quicker ways for 'unpretentious' easy-going
sparklers!
Méthode Traditionelle
A long and complex process takes place to make the finest fizz
worldwide - Champagnes of France, Cap Classiques of South Africa,
Cavas from Spain, Metodo Classico wines from Italy as well as
a whole host of excellent sparkling wines from around the world.
The principle is based on the natural fermentation process of
converting grape sugars to alcohol and carbonic gas. With the
traditional method the wine undergoes two fermentations, the second
of these in bottle so the gas is harnessed creating bubbles. There
follows an expensive procedure of removing sediment from the bottle
and aging the wine.
Transfer Method
This is also a second fermentation in bottle procedure, but it
avoids the high costs involved in the traditional method by transferring
the sparkling wine from one bottle to another, under pressure.
This is mostly used in the New World.
Tank Method
A much less expensive method for producing wine with bubbles -
as its name suggests the second fermentation takes place in tank
rather than in bottle, the sediment removed by filtration and
the wine bottled under pressure. The bubbles tend to be larger
and do not last as long as the previous two methods. Sekt from
Germany uses the Tank Method and Asti from Italy a variation of
it.
Carbonation
The cheapest method of all and used only for sparkling wines of
very low quality, it involves simply injecting the wine with carbon
dioxide.
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