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Winemaking

How red wine is made

Fermenting grape juice in contact with the skins, which is where colour and tannin come from.

Overview

The single fact that defines red winemaking is skin contact. Grape juice is almost always pale regardless of skin colour, so a red wine gets its colour and tannin from fermenting with the skins present.

That is also why red wine has tannin and white wine essentially does not: tannin lives in skins, seeds and stems, and white winemaking removes them before fermentation.

Step by step

  1. 1 Harvest

    Grapes are picked, by hand or machine. Timing balances sugar ripeness against acidity retention and tannin ripeness.

  2. 2 Sorting and destemming

    Unripe or damaged fruit is removed. Stems are usually taken off, though some producers retain a proportion for structure and spice.

  3. 3 Crushing

    Berries are gently split to release juice. Many producers crush lightly or not at all.

  4. 4 Maceration and fermentation

    Yeast converts sugar to alcohol while the juice sits on the skins. The rising cap of skins is punched down or pumped over to keep extraction going. This is where colour, tannin and much of the flavour arrive.

  5. 5 Pressing

    After fermentation the free-run wine is drained and the skins pressed. Press wine is more tannic and is usually kept separate for blending decisions.

  6. 6 Malolactic conversion

    Bacteria convert sharp malic acid into softer lactic acid. Almost universal for red wine.

  7. 7 Maturation

    Ageing in oak, steel or concrete. Oak adds flavour and allows slow oxygen ingress that softens tannin.

  8. 8 Blending, clarification and bottling

    Component lots are blended, the wine is clarified, and it is bottled.

Sources

Sources consulted

More in winemaking

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Fermentation

Yeast converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide — the step that makes wine wine.

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How white wine is made

Pressing the juice off the skins before fermentation, then fermenting the clear juice.

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Oak ageing

What barrels actually do — flavour, texture, and slow oxygen exposure.