The grape is the basis of the global wine industry although there are separate categories of wines made from fruits such as apples. Grape fruits hold the key to produce the taste of a wine, a grape contains the correct equilibrium of sugar, yeast nutrients, acid (malic, tartaric and ascorbic etc), water content, tannins.
Full body table wine styles, dessert wines and fortified wines generally require riper grapes with well-developed flavor, color, and tannins, as well as high levels of sugar.
More medium bodied styles of table wine are often picked earlier and retain more acidity at the expense of some sugar and flavor development.
Vitis vinifera are easily grown, the grapes contain a solution of water and sugar and the skin contain natural yeasts.
When the bins of grapes are brought to the winery they are sorted to remove leaves and unwanted grape clusters.
In most cases, the whole grapes berries are manually or mechanically crushed after sorting. This involve gently ‘popping’ or cracking open the grapes to release the juices that will eventually start the fermentation process.
Just after the fermentation has finished, the wine is moved to a settling tank where fining, filtration and other techniques of clarification may be applied.
Grapes for winemaking
