Winemaking – The Science Behind Your Most Loved Beverage

The drink of joy! The drink of sorrow! Wine is a classy beverage which has so many lovers. As the data suggests,  234 million hectolitres of wine had been consumed in 2020 only. Hence, this proves that so many people throughout the world can be considered as wine enthusiasts. A Wine lover is also known as an “Oenophile”. But have you ever wondered about the behind the scenes of large-scale Winemaking?

If yes, then sit back and enjoy this blog, because we’ve got it all covered for you. As there are basically two types of wines; red wine and white wine. But the winemaking process is mostly the same for both of them. So, Below are the essential steps for Winemaking. Moreover, for spraying in the vineyards to remove weeds, Swaraj 742 helps a lot by attaching a spraying implement. \

Winemaking -Obtaining The Grapes

The first step in the production of wine is obtaining the grapes. The place from where grapes are obtained is known as Vineyard. Any fruit grown and obtained from long trailing stems is known as vine fruit. An essential step in Winemaking is to harvest the grapes. It is done by two methods, manually and mechanically. 

There is no doubt about the fact that manual harvesting gives the best yield as only the best grape clusters are picked. But, mechanical harvesting helps to obtain a large amount of grapes which takes expensive labour. So mechanical harvesting is a more preferred method nowadays. 

There are many farm machinery available in the market for mechanical harvesting, which can be attached to any powerful tractor such as the Swaraj 735.

Crushing The Grapes

After harvesting the grapes, this is the next step in Winemaking. Now, the grapes are crushed to bring out their juices. The grapes are pressed, broken or mashed in large containers to make a kind of puree. It is also done either manually or mechanically, depending upon the production scale. The crushed grapes are also known as “must”.

Winemaking-Fermentation 

The next step decides the quality of wine as it brings out the basic taste of wine in the crushed grape juice. In this process, the liquid is stored in large tanks made from wood, steel or concrete. The purpose of fermentation is to chemically breakdown the juice by letting the bacteria or yeast to multiply in it. The fermentation process usually lasts from one to five weeks. 

During this period, the yeast or bacteria metabolize the sugar of grapes into ethanol and carbon dioxide, which causes the grape juice to carry out a flavour familiar to the taste of wine. 

Winemaking – Clarification 

Clarification is the stage that comes after fermentation, and it is carried out mainly by gravity. This process is an example of sedimentation because in this process, the impurities, including bacterias, grape seeds, etc., are settled at the bottom of the container. Whereas the wine comes at the top of the container as it is less dense. This can also be considered as one of the natural purification processes to some extent.

Aging – The Longer You Wait, The More Rich Taste You Get

The Aging process plays a crucial role in developing the much loved taste of wine. After Clarification, the wine is stored in epoxy lined stainless steel containers at a controlled temperature to achieve its rich flavour and aroma. But the most preferred aging process is storing the wine in wooden barrels to extract the natural taste of wood in the wine. There is also a science behind longer ageing. As time goes by, the wine slowly begins to oxidise and gives the known earthy flavour of the wine. That is why people tend to consume a longer aged wine. 

Winemaking – Packaging Of Wine

The Packaging should be proper, as careless packaging can ruin the work of years, i.e. bad taste of wine. Before going out in the market, one must ensure that there should not be any further fermentation. This can be done by adding sulfates. 

In this way, our favourite beverage is produced, and it is now ready to be supplied to the markets. 

Isn’t it amazing how the grapes go through so many processes in order to reach our tables as Wine.

Although wine is considered a hard drink, it has many health benefits as well, which are mentioned below.

Health Benefits Of Consuming Wine

There are numerous benefits of drinking wine, when it is consumed in a limited quantity. Such as, it reduces the chances of certain types of cancer, it is full of antioxidants, it balances the sugar levels in our body, and it also elevates the mood which reduces depression. It also helps to decrease body weight by reducing fat cells. Wine reduces bad cholesterol in our body which helps to keep our heart healthy.

In this way, Wine positively impacts our body.

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