How Red Wine Is Made

At Fotinos Brothers Winery, we feel if our clients have a better understanding of how wine is made, it is that much more enjoyable to drink. We have condensed and simplified the wine making process for this discussion so even the novice oenophile will understand its technique.

Seasonally, from late summer into fall, the ripe grapes are picked, taken to the winery, and placed on a sorting table. Here, only the premium fruit is moved to the de-stemmer/crusher where grape leaves and stems are removed and the grapes are crushed.

From here, the grapes are placed in a fermenter, where they go through primary fermentation.This is the conversion of sugar into alcohol and C02. Yeast is added here to aid in this process. Once completed, the grapes are pressed to separate the wine from the skins and seeds.

Next is the tank fermentation process where the wine is settled in large stainless steel tanks. Once the wine has settled, it is placed into oak barrels for long term aging, which can last up to 24 months.

After the barrel aging process is complete, some wines are fined and filtered to help them stabilize and clarify.Once stable, the finished wine is then bottled, labeled, and packaged for sale. In conclusion, most wine is aged another 4 to 12 months in the bottle prior to being released..

Remember, this is a very simplified version of the wine making process, and an overview of the technique.