Making Wine

The process of making red wine is essentially the same as making white wine, though the timing is a little different. White wine grapes are pressed to separate the grape juice from the skins before fermentation. Red grapes are not pressed until after fermentation.

Throughout the spring and summer, the growers tend to the grape vines. They try to keep the leaves small to allow more sunlight to reach the grapes, and also keep an eye out for signs of disease or pests such as phylloxera.

In the fall the grapes are harvested. This is usually done by hand, though some vineyards now use machines for harvesting. The grapes are then crushed to separate the juice and skins from the stems. The mixture of crushed grapes and juice is called must.

The red grape must is then transferred to huge stainless steel tanks and sugar and yeast is added to start the fermentation process. Over the next several weeks the sugar is converted into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Winemakers sample the must periodically to ensure the fermenting process is proceeding as expected.


When fermentation is complete the wine is filtered to remove any yeast residue, and the red wine is pressed to remove the skins. The wine is then transferred to either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels, depending on the type of wine being made. The wine is aged for anywhere from a few months to several years.

The white wine making process is pretty much the same, except the must is pressed to separate the grape juice from the skings before it is transferred to the stainless steel tanks. This prevents the juice from absorbing the color of the skins.

The must is pressed to separate the grape juice from the skins. It is then transferred to huge stainless steel tanks. Sugar and yeast is added to start the fermentation process. Over the next several weeks the sugar is converted into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Winemakers sample the must periodically to ensure the fermenting process is proceeding as expected.

When fermentation is complete the wine is filtered to remove any yeast residue. The wine is then transferred to either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels, depending on the type of wine being made. The wine is aged for anywhere from a few months to several years.

After aging, the final steps to making wine are the bottling, corking, labeling, shipping and distributing.