What is wine?
“Wine is the alcoholic beverage produced
from the fermentation of freshly gathered grapes”
Viticulture & Viniculture
The making of wine falls into two categories –
1) The growing of the grapes – VITICULTURE
2) Turning those grapes into wine – VINIFICATION
1.VITICULTURE
The main factors affecting wine production are:
Location – Vines flourish in poor soil, and wines of prominence are only grown in the temperate zones of the world i.e. 30°- 50° North and South, The more northerly and southerly parts of this area e.g. Germany and New Zealand produce more acid wines than the other regions, which due to the warmer climate allows the grapes to ripen more fully (more of the natural grape acids are converted into grape sugars) climate – Sunshine – too little will produce unripe grapes with a light acid wine of low alcohol content, poor in colour in the case of red wines.
The ideal is 1300 to 1350 hours per year.
Rainfall – too much will produce wines as above. The ideal is 27”-28” per year.
Soil – The best wines are often those that come from stressed vines, those which have to fight for their existence. If the soil is poor the vine will send its roots deep down into the subsoil to find water and nutrients, thereby accessing trace elements and minerals, improving the quality of the fruit. On rich soils the roots tend to grow laterally, finding fewer minerals rising to the tendency for the vine to over crop, diluting the quality of the grape. Vineyards are often planted on soil that would not support other crops. Rich soil gives quantity not necessarily quality. The finest grapes are normally produced in quartz, calcareous or even slate soils.
For example: Chalk Champagne, Gravel – Bordeaux; Clay
- Burgundy; Slate – Mosel; Rock – Port; Volcanic – Madeira Grape – The variety is normally determined by the soil. Different mineral contents of the soil will produce different flavours even in the same grape variety. Some examples of
grape varieties are: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Shiraz
