Spending some quality time at a winery is one of my favorite things to do. Enjoying a tasting flight or a glass of wine with friends and family always brings me joy through learning and conversation. I’m guessing you’ve even been to a barrel room like me, and have discovered the nuances of a wine before it’s bottled. However, when the winemaker or his or her assistant explains the process of winemaking, are you befuddled? What do some of these words mean?
To that end, following are ten words to know before your next winery visit. Although I could have given an explanation of each, I decided to go to the experts by referring to The Oxford Companion to Wine, Fifth Edition edited by Julia Harding and Jancis Robinson with Tara Q. Thomas, one of my go-to reference books. If you are a curious wine lover, I strongly recommend purchasing a copy from Amazon.
For now, check out the following definitions of words you’re guaranteed to hear in order to elevate the next wine tasting experience. Enjoy!
Sangiovese – Photo Credit: Avignonese
Maceration – “Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, and maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since raw grape juice is clear-grayish in color. In the production of white wines, maceration is either avoided or allowed only in very limited manner in the form of a short amount of skin contact with the juice prior to pressing. This is more common in the production of varietals with less natural flavor and body structure like Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon. For rosé, red wine grapes are allowed some maceration between the skins and must, but not to the extent of red wine production.”
Skin Contact – “This is a winemaking operation meant to extract flavor compounds, flavor pre-cursors, and coloring agents (anthocyanins) from grape skins into grape juice. In its widest sense, it is identical to maceration, but the term is generally used exclusively for the maceration of white grapes before pressing and fermentation with the aim of increasing the extraction of consituents that contribute to the aroma of white wines.”
Destemming- “Destemming involves removing the stems (or stalks) from grape bunches, essentially turning whole grape clusters into single berries.”
Photo Credit: Wine Folly
Pressing – “In winemaking, pressing is the process where juice is extracted from the grapes with the aid of a wine-press, by hand, or even by the weight of the grape berries and clusters. Historically, intact grape clusters were trodden by feet but in most wineries today the grapes are sent through a crusher/destemmer, which removes the individual grape berries from the stems and breaks the skins, releasing some juice, prior to being pressed. There are exceptions, such as the case of sparkling wine production in regions such as Champagne where grapes are traditionally whole-cluster pressed with stems included to produce a lighter must that is low in phenolics.”
Whole-Bunch Pressing – “This is a technique in which the grapes are not destemmed and bunches of ripe grapes are pressed whole. The stems are used as conduits for what can often be particularly viscous juice. This works best for very ripe grapes.”
Must – “Must is a name used by winemakers for a thick liquid that is neither grape juice nor wine. It’s a mixture of grape juice, stem fragments, grape skins, seeds, and pulp that comes from the destemmer-crusher; it smashes grapes at the start of the winemaking process.”
Photo Credit: Wine Enthusiast
Fermentation – “As it applies to wine, fermentation is the process of converting sugar to ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and carbon dioxide effected by the anaerobic (oxygen free) metabolism of yeast. The word is from the Latin word fervere meaning “to boil.” Any mass containing sugar that has been infused with yeast certainly looks as though it were boiling, as it exudes carbon-dioxide bubbles.”
Oxidation – “Oxidation is the opposite of reduction and is the chemical reaction in which a chemical compound loses electrons. Although controlled and moderate oxidation can be beneficial and is essential for some wine styles, the term usually refers to a wine fault resulting from excessive exposure to oxygen. Wines spoiled by oxidation are said to be oxidized.”
Fermentation in a Vessel – “The container in which fermentation takes place can vary enormously in size, material, and design: from a small plastic bucket in the case of home winemaking to an oak barrel to a concrete tank or egg to an amphora to what is effectively a vast computerized stainless steel tower.”
Fermentation in a Bottle – “This plays an important part in sparkling winemaking. In most still wines, however, it is one of the wine faults most feared by winemaker in wines that have not been appropriately filtered.”
Barrel Ageing – “Barrel Ageing is also known as barrel maturation and is the winemaking operation of ageing wine in wooden barrels to create ideal conditioins for the components of the wine to evolve and some instances, so that the wood imparts some oak flavor to the wine, although the more obvious flavors of oak are today less sought-after than they were in the late 20th century.”
Cheers! ~ Cindy
Intrigued? My popular online wine education course, Discover the Essentials of Wine (and choose it like a pro!) on Teachable is available for you. Click HERE for information and to enroll.
