Wine making in St. Emilion 
Bordeaux France

Wine is made from the fruit of the vine. The most important factors that determine how a wine will taste are: the grape variety used, the environment in which the grape grows, such as climate, weather, soil and slope, the care with which the grapes are grown and harvested, the way the wine is made and the way it matures.

The most important part of the wine tasting process is fermentation. Yeasts feed on the sugars in the grape juice, producing alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat; in doing so, they convert the aromas and flavours of the grape juice into those of wine. The flesh of almost every grape variety is white. The colour of rosé and red wine comes from the skins that the winemaker leaves to soak in the fermenting juice. If the skins are removed quickly, the juice will have little or no colour. This is how rosé is made from blue grapes and not mixed with red and white wine, as some people think. White wine can be made from white or blue grapes; red wine can only be made from blue grapes.

If you would like to learn more about wine making, we can explore this topic in greater depth during a wine tasting session.​

​

• White wine
  To make white wine, the grapes are usually first crushed so that the skins burst open. They are then sent to the press, where the juice and skins are separated. Yeast is added and the must is transferred to a fermentation vessel, which is often a temperature-controlled stainless steel tank. White wines ferment at low temperatures so that their freshness and fruit aromas are preserved.

​

• Red wine
  Blue grapes for red wine are crushed to extract the juice, after which the juice and skins are placed together in the fermentation vat. Fermentation takes place at higher temperatures than for white wine. Alcohol helps to extract the colourings, tannins and flavours from the skins. To ensure that the juice comes into good contact with the skins, it is pumped over the grape skins or the skins are immersed back into the juice. The amount of colour and tannin in the final wine depends on the length of contact between the juice and the skins. It also depends on the amount of tannin, colouring and flavour in the skins, which varies from variety to variety. Once sufficient colour and tannin have been extracted from the skins, the winemaker drains the wine. The skins are pressed (press wine, which contains more flavours and tannins), which can later be mixed with the wine to achieve the desired flavour.

​

• Rosé
  Just like red wine, rosé must be made from blue grapes. The production method is the same as for red wine, except that rosé ferments at a lower temperature. Contact with the skins is also shorter, which gives the wine its pink colour.

​

• Aromas of oak
  Wine stored in wooden barrels acquires certain flavours, such as wood or vanilla. These flavours are caused by the type of barrels used, such as French or American wood, the toasting on the inside of the barrel and the oxygen that enters the wooden barrel in very small quantities and dissolves in the wine. Caring for wine that is stored in barrels, where you must constantly prevent too much oxygen from entering, is very labour-intensive.

​

• Maturation
  Maturation can take place in small or large wooden barrels or large stainless steel tanks. This is the winemaker's choice, because wooden barrels give the wine more flavour, while stainless steel tanks keep the flavours fresh, fruity and consistent. There is also a difference in flavour between small and large wooden barrels, new, used or old barrels, etc. Which barrel is used depends entirely on the style of wine and is therefore the winemaker's choice.