Summary...The making of wine is an amazing fine blend of fruit, time, and skill. Below is a description of the production of Whites, Reds, and Sweet Dessert Wines.
Red Wine
After removing red wine grapes from storage, they are de-stemmed. That is, they are removed from the vegetation to which they are attached.
When the stems have been removed from the grapes, they are put into a wine press. Here they will be compressed into a paste. The juice will be released from the fruit at this point. The character of the finished wine is determined by the amount of time the pomace or paste is left in contact with the rest of the mixture in the cask.
After the winemaker decides that the correct amount of time has gone by, the juice will be drained off. Yeast will be added, and the fermentation process will begin. In many cases, the remaining pomace will be returned to the vineyard where it will be used to fertilize the grape vines.
After the sugar content and color are deemed proper, the cask valve will be opened. The best quality wine (first juice) will be removed and placed in separate containers to finish the fermentation process.
'Pressed wines', contain a large amount of tannin and are created from extra solids. These have a very strong color. They are mixed with the first juice in varying degrees to create different sorts of wines.
One the fermentation process is finished, the wine is either poured into a bottle immediately or left to age.
White Wine
In the process of making white wine, the grapes must not be damaged. That is why they are transferred to the receiving bins very quickly. After being put in the receiving bin, the grapes are moved to the press. Here the must will be separated from solids, such as the skins.
Now the solids are ignored. The remaining juice will be lightly refrigerated. After this, it will be moved to a stainless steel vat. It will ferment in this vat. The temperature is closely monitored during the fermentation process because this is what determines the finish and the aroma of the final wine.
The wine that results from the process of fermentation, when it is finished, is decanted, avoiding the sediment that has collected at the vat's bottom. The wine is bottled and ready for sale, after the decanting process, and is the best to consume within 24 months.
Sweet Dessert Wines
There are two methods employed in the production of dessert wines. A fast-growing fungus called Botrytis cinerea is used for the first method. This changes the fruit and alters the color and also adjusts the acid elements and sugar amounts. The addition of alcohol for the interruption of the process of fermentation is method number two. Grape is the leading flavor in the creation of a sweet, strong wine with this method.
Garnacha and Moscatel grapes are used for sweet wines. These grapes, combined with the fermentation process leave the wine with a hint mushroom smell as the bottle is uncorked.