After your wine has been bottled you will need to take careful steps to ensure that careful temperatures are maintained in order for the wine to remain stable. In most cases, it is best to store your wine in cool temperatures. For long-term storage, most bottled wines do better when stored at a temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The reason why it is so important to store wine at cool temperatures is because cool temperatures help to reduce the effects of oxidation.
Keep in mind; however, that you do not necessarily need to obsess if you absolutely cannot obtain a storage facility at exactly 55 degrees. The improvement provided for each degree in temperature you are able to reduce in the storage area is really only marginal. Of course, a dark area that has a temperature of 65 degrees is always going to better than an area with a lot of light that has an average temperature of 75 degrees. Being able to store your wine in an area at 55 degrees; however, would only be slightly better than the 65 degree storage area.
The most important key is to try to avoid fluctuations in temperature in the area where you store your bottled wine, even if this means that area is slightly warmer than 55 degrees. Changes in temperature can be very difficult on bottled wine. Over time, temperature fluctuations will wear down your wine. Wine that is stored in an area with temperature fluctuations will take on a weak aroma and may begin to lose its character. The main reason that temperature changes have such an effect on bottled wine is due to the expansion and contraction that occurs.
When temperatures change, anything in that area naturally expands and contracts. With bottled wine, the glass in the bottle will expand and contract; however, the wine inside the bottle will also expand and contract. They do not expand and contract at the same level; however. Wine tends to expand and contract at a far greater level than the glass in the wine bottle. The result is the buildup of pressure inside the bottle. The aroma of the wine may then seep through the cork. In addition, the expansion and contraction process can result in carbon dioxide seeping into the wine through the cork and the vacuum that is left in the process. This can result in a very bad taste in your wine.
In some cases, you may not be certain whether the temperature in your storage area is stable. In that case, it is a good idea to set up a monitoring system to make sure that the temperatures are remaining stable. It is not uncommon for an area that was thought to be quite stable to have temperature fluctuations. In some cases, these fluctuations can amount to as much as 10 degrees each day. Over time, this can prove to be disastrous for your wine. Therefore, if you are not entirely certain that your storage area is consistent in terms of temperature it really is a good idea to monitor it over a period of time to make sure that the temperature is remaining consistent. Keep in mind that when monitoring your storage area, you should check the temperature at least twice a day at different times in order to get an accurate idea of whether the temperature is remaining stable on a daily basis.
Before you begin your first batch of wine, it is a good idea to understand something of the background of wine and the basics of winemaking. Today there are certainly many kits which can be purchased which will walk you step by step through the process of winemaking. Even so, you may find that you enjoy and appreciate the results all the more for understanding the background of each step.
Wine is produced by fermenting grapes that have been freshly harvested. While many people today have taken up an interest in winemaking, the actual process of making wine has remained relatively unchanged over the years.
As we all know, yeast is essential to the fermentation process as part of making wine. Yeast actually grows on grape skins and then begins to automatically ferment the grape juice as the grapes are crushed. This begins the process of turning the grapes into wine. The combination of grape skins and grape juice is known as the must. When the mixture is in this phase of immersion it is known as maceration. This is one of the most important stages of winemaking, especially when making red wines. The actual color of red wine is obtained not from the juice inside the grapes but from the color of the grape skins. The juice inside all grapes, regardless of the skin color of the grape, is actually clear. In order for red wines to obtain their dark color they must extract the color from the skin of the grape. This is why black grapes are commonly used for the production of red wines. Conversely, light colored grapes are used for the production of white wines.
During the actual fermentation process, the natural fruit sugar that is contained within the grapes undergoes a conversion process into equal parts of carbon dioxide and alcohol. As this process continues, heat is released. It is for this reason that stainless steel fermenters that can be temperature controlled are commonly used for the production of rather delicate white wines. This prevents the wine from cooking.
The ripeness of the grapes and the sugar content contributes to the level of alcohol that is produced during the fermentation process. The time at which the fermentation process is stopped can also contribute to the alcohol level as well.
The dusty look of grapes, frequently referred to as their bloom, is produced by yeasts. The skins of grapes contain what is known as vinegar bacteria. Once exposed to air, vinegar bacteria can spoil new wine quite quickly. As a result, it is necessary to eliminate wild yeasts in order to avoid ruining the taste and the aroma of the wine. Winemakers use a centuries old process of utilizing sulfur dioxide to kill the vinegar bacteria as well as slow the growth of other bacteria and molds in the wine. Sulfites can also help to cease the browning or oxidation of wine as well as preserve its flavor.
Generally, the amount of sulfur dioxide that is used in the winemaking process is quite small. Typically, only between 60 and 125 parts per million are used. It is important to understand that even if no sulfur dioxide is added to the wine, there will still be some sulfites present in the wine due to the fact that they will be produced from fermenting yeasts. This is why all wines that are purchased in the United States contain the label Contains Sulfites on the bottle.
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