Fun Facts About Winemaking

FUN FACTS ABOUT WINEMAKING IN GENERAL

• Sulfites must be added by law to all wines in Italy. You must add them in order to clarify the wine and also, and most importantly, to prevent bacteria from growing. Most people will add around 10 g per hectaliter, sometimes even up to 30 g. Casa Raia only adds between 2-6g, basically the minimum. It is a chemical and the more natural you can go, the better. The more you add, the more biting the flavor and trust me, you can taste it.

• Sulfites, as well as tartaric acid will combine with tannins in the wine and drop to the bottom, creating sediment.

• Sediment is a beautiful purple sludge that collects at the bottom of the wine container. It actually feels like a cream and is apparently really good for your skin. I think they should figure out a way to sell this stuff to cosmetic companies. Maybe winemakers already do.

• Wine must be analyzed before bottling to ensure it meets minimum requirements and also so the vintner knows what to put on the label. The wine will be analyzed to determine the alcohol content, sulfite level, acid level, sugar level, etc.
•  If a sulfite level is too low, you can add more.
•  If an acid level is too low, you can add tartaric acid to increase it. This will cause a different taste and more sediment. It is better to pick the grapes when the acidity level is most desirable and avoid having to adjust later in the fermentation process. 
• Same idea with the sugar level.

• The name of the game in wine making is clean, clean, clean! Any wine left anywhere in the cellar, on the barrels, etc. is exposed to humid, cool air and is the ideal breading ground for bacteria. Thus most of your time in the cellar is spent cleaning up wine spills and dribbles.

• There are two ways oxygen can harm a wine… too much exposure and too little exposure. Both cause an off flavor. You can fix “too little exposure” by transferring the wine to another container and allowing it to have more exposure to air. If it has already had too much exposure, then you can’t fix it.

• Air tight seals are the key to success, especially in stainless steel containers. There is a band of rubber that surrounds the lid and you pump it full of air once it is placed on top of the wine. This ensures that it is sealed and has resistance, thus not allowing any air exposure.

• Gravity is your friend when transferring wine. Any tube can be used, but place the item to be poured higher than the item that is being poured in.