Oregon Travel Council | Page 18

5 Steps of the wine making proHarvest
Harvesting is the first step in the actual wine making process. In order to make fine
wine, grapes must be harvested at the precise time. Harvesting can be done mechanically or by hand. Once the grapes arrive at the winery, reputable winemakers will sort the
grape bunches, culling out rotten or under ripe fruit before crushing.

Crushing
Crushing the whole clusters of fresh ripe grapes is the next step in the wine making
process. In the prior years, it was men and women who danced in barrels to crush
the grapes. Now there are mechanical crushers that are stomping or trodding the
grapes. Mechanical pressing has also improved the quality and longevity of wine,
while reducing the winemaker's need for preservatives.

Fermentation
Fermentation is an important role in making wine. Juice will begin fermenting naturally within 6-12 hours with the aid of wild yeasts in the air. However, for a variety of
reasons, many winemakers prefer to intervene at this stage by stopping the wild yeasts
and then introduce a strain of yeast of personal choosing in order to more readily
predict the end result. Once fermentation begins, it normally continues until all of the
sugar is converted to alcohol and a dry wine is produced. Fermentation can require
anywhere from ten days to a month or more.

Clarification
Once fermentation is completed, the clarification process begins. Winemakers may
siphon their wines from one tank or barrel to the next in the hope of leaving the precipitates and solids called pomace in the bottom of the fermenting tank. Filtering and
fining may a lso be done at this stage. Filtration can be done from a course filter that
catches only large solids, or a sterile filter pad that strips wine of all life. Fining occurs
when substances are added to a wine to clarify them. The clarified wine is then racked
into another vessel, where it is ready for bottling or further aging

Bottling
The final stage of the wine making process involves the aging and
bottling of wine. After clarification the winemaker has the choice of
bottling a wine immediately, or he or she can give a wine additional
aging.
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Wine Glasses
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OREGON TRAVEL AND RECREATION GUIDE