Wine… to behold the grape. Emitting fanciful fruit elixirs that ignite the heart…             unknown..

Wine has been made & enjoyed long before anything was being recorded in anyway. Before history, yet it seems that wine has had great importance to man for many, many thousands of years. Many civilizations have left countless depictions of wine, wine enjoyment, of cultivation, of storage, of transport to distant lands, and sometimes, even ‘tragedy’.

There are shipwrecks with wine that are 2500 years old. Wine recovered from the holds of these ancient merchant ships. Stored in giant amphorae in the holds of these ships. Topped with olive oil as their ‘cork’. Then… dashed to the bottom of the sea for a couple of millennia…It is said that, “though the ancient wine may have seen better times, it’s at least drinkable.”

There are frescos & murals, chisels in stone, clay tablets, papyrus hieroglyphics, jewelry & statuary. Even the ancient Greeks worshiped a God of Wine. His name was Bacchus. Throughout history & before, wine has always been a powerful element of almost every civilization up until contemporary times.  The elixir of choice is always determined by what organic stores are available to the local population. Grapes of many, many varieties have always been available.

The Old World   

True organized modern day wine grape cultivation has its strong roots in Europe. Most notably, today, in France & Italy. But must also be mentioned here is Greece & Spain & Portugal. These five countries make up the main countries of ‘old world’ wine production today. These wines are generally known as & sold by the region of the wine’s origin. The kind of grape used is more important to the winemaker & less to the consumer. So these wines are most often sold as ‘Burgundy’ for example, or ‘Tuscany’.

The New World   

The great wine vines of Europe were clipped & brought to the new world. Back when the first boats arrived, these clippings were planted & cultivated here. That’s here in North America, South America & more recently in Australia & South Africa. These wines are generally known as & sold by the grape. The region where the grape is from & the kind of grape is more important to the winemaker & the consumer both, and of course what house made the wine is important, but the wine is first categorized as the grape of origin… Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel act., then the region of origin is the next on the priority list of importance. There are many, many kinds of grapes. Each having it’s distinct characteristics ultimately yielding flavors & textures. 

Wine Making Process Wine making has taken many forms over the years.
Each winemaker adding something new to the process,
blending of recipes and techniques, or maintains more
of a grass roots methodology for taste authenticity.

Crushing and destemming the grapes
The grapes just arriving in the cellar are crushed and destemmed to release their juice and pulp. The must obtained that way is put in a tank to go trough the process of fermentation.
Alcoholic fermentation
Fermentation is a natural process. Yeasts living in the grapes – the addition of selected yeasts is generalizing – change the sugar contained in the must in alcohol and carbonic gas. The winemaker assists the action of the yeasts by maintaining the temperature around 25 to 30°C and by ventilating the must regularly. Under 25°C the wine will not have enough body, above 30°C, the wine will be to tannic. The fermentation process goes on for 4 to 10 days until the maceration and then the malolactic fermentation.
Maceration
It is the period when the tannic elements and the color of the skin diffuse in the fermented juice. The contact between the liquid (must) and the solids elements (skin, pips and sometimes stem) will give body and color to the wine. At this stage, complex operation will prove the talent of the winemaker: dissolution, extraction, excretion, diffusion, decoction, infusion. For “Vins primeurs” or “Vins nouveaux” (new wines) the maceration is very short. The vines are supple and contain little tannin. Wines destined to be kept long need a lot of tannin, so the maceration needs to be long. The wine will macerate for several days, maybe several weeks.
Raking
The wine is separated from the solids, the pomace. The wine obtained by raking is called “free run wine” (vin de goutte). Sometimes, the pomace is pressed in order to extract the juice it still contains. This wine is called “press wine” (vin de presse). It is richer in tannin. Depending on the winemaker taste or the local habit, free run wine and press wine are blended or treated separately.
Malolactic Fermentation
It is the process during which the malic acid of wine changes into lactic acid and carbonic gas under the action of bacteria living in the wine. Malic acid is harsh, it is changed into lactic acid supple and stable. This fermentation is obtained in a tank during a few weeks at a temperature between 18° and 20°C.
Stabilization
The wine making process is finished but the wine is not. To be able to age and to improve the wine must be clarified again. After that the beverage will be put in oak casks where it will stabilize. The diversity of red wine is such that it can match any type of food. But you must absolutely not conclude from this that all red wines taste the same.

 Next comes the Crush…Immediately after their arrival in the cellar, the grapes are crushed but not destemed. The juice (free run must) is sent to settle in containers. The rest of the grapes is pressed as quickly as possible. Air is the enemy of white wine. At its contact the wine oxidizes or becomes colored. The must from pressing is added to the free run must.
Preparation of the Must :
After six to twelve hours the particles and impurity of the grape separate from the must and float on the surface. They are removed by the raking of must. The must is ready to be clarified. The clarified juice is poured in a tank, ready to ferment.
Alcoholic Fermentation :
White wine is the result of the fermentation of must only (no solid (stem, skin, pips…) intervenes).
The control of the temperature is essential. It has to be maintained around 18° C. The winemaker regularly cools the must to allow the yeast to work correctly.
The fermentation goes on for two to three weeks. The winemaker daily checks the evolution of the process.
When fermentation is over, and the winemaker it satisfied, the wine is put in cask and raked, just like a red wine. The length of time ‘on oak’ is determined by the winemaker. Only after sufficient time has elapsed will the wine be ready for bottling. Only after the winemaker says it’s ready, then… it is bottled.
During the ‘Oak’ Winemakers often choose oak casks of different varieties to utilyze the different complexities contained within each. This can add the right combination of flavors which maximizes the wine’s character.

Tannin is an essential element for aging. White wines have less tannins than red wines do. This is why white wine does not keep as long as red wine.
On the other hand white wines present a larger variety of tastes: very dry, dry, slightly-dry, big, round, mellow, oaky, malo, sparkling, clean, flinty…
White wine can be enjoyed on any occasion: before, with or after a meal, red meat, curry anything goes… You don’t have to match your colors any longer.

White wine is the result of the fermentation of must only (no solid (stem, skin, pips…) intervenes). The control of the temperature is essential. It has to be maintained around 18° C. The winemaker regularly cools the must to allow the yeast to work correctly.

When fermentation is over, and the winemaker it satisfied, the wine is put in cask and raked, just like a red wine. The length of time ‘on oak’ is determined by the winemaker. Only after sufficient time has elapsed will the wine be ready for bottling. Only after the winemaker says it’s ready, then… it is bottled.

During the ‘Oak’ Winemakers often choose oak casks of different varieties to utilize the different complexities contained within each. This can add the right combination of flavors which maximizes the wine’s character.

Tannin is an essential element for aging. White wines have less tannins than red wines do. This is why white wine does not keep as long as red wine.

White wines present a large variety of tastes: creamy, tart, fruity, sweet, dry, slightly-dry, big, round, mellow, oaky, malo,  sparkling, clean, flinty… White wine can be enjoyed on any occasion: before, with or after a meal, red meat, curry anything goes… You don’t have to match your colors any longer. Just enjoy what makes you happy. Red wine also… If you like it, enjoy it! It doesn’t matter that you’re having fish or chicken.

Wine today is keeping up with the times by earnestly pursuing the ‘green’ way of doing business.  The modern wine business and it’s executives are striving to make their operations as low impact as possible regarding the environment. They are also now actively growing and producing ‘organic’ or ‘bio-dynamically’ farmed grapes, and, importantly, marketing these wines as such. This movement seems to be catching on with consumers and aficionados alike.

Sparkling Wine & Champagne

The Benedictine Monk Dom Perignon is reputed to have exclaimed, when drinking champagne, “It’s like drinking the stars!” Champagne’s magic comes as much from its bubbles as from its taste.

In fact, it is sad that most people acquire their total knowledge of sparkling wines from what is offered at weddings.

What is a champagne? What is a sparkling wine? All wines which undergo a second fermentation, and are thus carbonated, are ‘sparkling wines’. This wine is bottled & corked quickly after fementation. When the bubbles (Co2 Gas) are still in the wine. This way… those bubbles escape only after you’ve cracked open a fresh bottle of bubbly. Sounds kinda nice doesn’t it? Anyway… all wine produced in this manner is called ‘Sparkling Wine’, but…

Only sparkling wines made in Champagne, France, are properly called champagnes. One can seldom go wrong with any true champagne.

But there is great variety in the rest of the world’s sparkling wines.

CHAMPAGNE or SPARKLING WINE has launched thousands of ships, entangled billions of lovers, toasted millions of weddings and special occasions, attended countless parties, and shared untold special moments between people. It seems to be the universal juice.
Champagne is the wine of celebration. No other wine is associated so much with joy and festivity. Its meaning and appeal are universal.
The Champagne Region of France has exported its techniques to the far corners of the world.

Champagne became the reknowned experts of the art of Champange’ When the medieval counts of Champagne were wise enough to encourage commerce and strong enough to protect the traveling merchants.

Champagne also benefited when the cathedral at Reims was chosen in 987 AD, as the coronation site for the French king Hugh Capet and establishing Reims as the spiritual capital of medieval France. In fact, thirty-seven kings of France were crowned there between 816 and 1825. The monasteries in Champagne with the economic assistance of the crown, were to make wine production a serious venture until the French Revolution in 1789.

Before the mid-1600′s there was no Champagne as we think of it. For centuries the wines were still wines and were held in high regard by the nobility of Europe. But the cool climate of the region and its effect on the wine making process was to play an important part in changing all of that. We owe a lot to Dom Pérignon as any inventor owes those who have come before him. He is not however the inventor of champagne as is often thought. Pérignon was a Benedictine monk who, in 1688, was appointed treasurer at the Abby of Hautvillers. Included in Dom Pérignon’s duties was the management of the cellars and wine making. The bubbles in the wine are a natural process arising from Champagne’s cold climate and short growing season. During the long winter months the secondary fermentation is again underway, but this time in the bottle. The refermentation creates carbon-dioxide which now becomes trapped in the bottle, thereby creating the sparkle.

For Dom Pérignon and his contemporaries, sparkling wine was not the desired end product. It was a sign of poor wine making. He spent a great deal of time trying to prevent the bubbles, the unstableness of this “mad wine. He was not able to prevent the bubbles, but he did develop the art of blending. He not only blended different grapes, but the juice from the same grape grown in different vineyards.

Dom Pérignon died in 1715, but in his 47 years as the cellar master at the Abby of Hautvillers, he laid down the basic principles still used in making Champagne today.

Although sparkling Champagne was only about 10% of the region’s output in the 18th century, Its popularity continued to grow throughout the 1800′s

Dégorgement was first practiced in 1813. It was perfected in 1818 by the Widow Clicquot’s cellar master Antoine Muller. He developed a process of “riddling” the wine in order to get the sediment of dead yeast cells into the neck of the bottle so it could be removed without the time consuming task of decanting each bottle. This process also saved most of the gas.

Since World War II champagne sales have climbed upwards, nearly quadrupling between 1945 and 1966. Champagne has trickled down the social scale and is no longer considered just a luxury. Today, more champagne is being enjoyed, by more people, than at any previous time in history. The new millennium looks good for champagne.