Grapes to Glass: What is Wine?

In this episode, Cindy addresses a couple of very simple, yet important, questions: What are wine grapes, what is wine and how does a bunch of grapes turn into this amazing beverage that has been enjoyed by people all over the world for centuries? 

Transcript

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Hey everyone. Thanks for tuning in. Welcome to the wine diaries, the show for wine newbies and experienced wine drinkers where we will explore all aspects of wine from grape to bottle to your glass. My goal is to make wine tasting simple and fun. And for all listeners to learn something new every week. I'm your host, Cindy Cipoletti. A WSET level three certified Wine Enthusiast and passionate wine taster. In today's episode, we will explore a couple of very simple yet important questions. What are wine grapes? What is wine? And how does a bunch of grapes turn into this amazing beverage that has been enjoyed by people all over the world for centuries. Let's get started. If we're going to talk about wine, we first have to talk about grapes. All grapes are not created equal. Some grapes are meant to be eaten as a snack. Put in a fruit salad, maybe these are what we would call table grapes. The grapes we use to make wine are unique and there are 1000s of varieties. They come from two major species of vine which are different than vines that grow our basic table grapes. The two major species of vine are called VITIS vinifera, which basically just means grape vine in Latin. And that species is native to Eurasia, and American vines. And there are a different number of variety and names of American vines. But basically, wine grapes are coming from these two major species of vines. We're not going to go into too much detail on this that this in today's episode, but all you really need to know right now is that all wine grape varieties come from a combination of bidis vinifera, which is the Eurasian species of vine and American vines. And not all grape varieties can grow just anywhere. If you picture a map of the world, most wine green, growing regions are between 30 and 50 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. Everywhere else, it's either too cold or too warm, although that is changing with some of the effects of global warming. If you look at where this covers, it's basically most of the united states, regions of South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. But not every region in this latitude blanket is ideal for grape growing because there are so many other environmental factors that go into successfully harvesting these often very fussy grapes. So we've got our wine grapes. Think of this as a chardonnay grape or Cabernet Sauvignon grape. How does this grape then turn into wine? The process by which grapes turn into wine is called alcoholic fermentation. This just means the sugar in the grapes is turned into alcohol in carbon dioxide. How is that done? Through the addition of yeast. I'm going to give you the general process of making a dry wine, which means no sweetness to it. In in the simplest terms, and in later episodes, we'll discuss the nuances and different winemaking techniques that go into making different types of wines. grapes are harvested from the vines usually in September or October. In the Northern Hemisphere, March and April in the southern hemisphere. The grapes are then crushed, which breaks open the grapes and releases the juice. After crushing the grapes can either be pressed directly, which results in separating the juice from the skins. That's the case with most white wines for the crushed grapes are left in contact with the skins. And that's the case with red wine. Fun fact. That's where red wine gets its color from the skins. Yeast is then added to the grape juice, and this begins the fermentation process. White wine is generally fermented off the skins or red wine is fermented on the skins and pressed after fermentation is complete. The yeast eat the sugar, turning it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Thus, the more sugar a grape has. The higher the alcohol content the wine will have. The yeast then die and the dead yeast cells settle at the bottom of the fermentation vessel. The dead yeast cells are referred to as lees. If you ever hear the phrase that wine is sitting on the lees, That just means it's sitting on the dead yeast cells. It sounds kind of gross, but there's actually a reason that winemakers will do that. And we will talk about that in later episodes as well. Once all the sugars consumed, fermentation is complete, the dead yeast cells are filtered out of the wine, and voila, it's a miracle. The grapes are now wine. Sounds kind of simple. I'm not a winemaker, nor do I have any desire to be because there are a lot of people out there who have mastered this process and do it really, really well. There's a lot of factors to manage in the fermentation process, and they have to be done precisely in order to produce a wine that is drinkable and enjoyable. For example, the temperature can't be too low or the fermentation will stop. It can't be too high or the yeast will die before consuming all of the sugar. Fermentation can be done in in big stainless steel or concrete tank or in oak barrels in red wine making the skins and the grape solids will float to the top of the juice, which forms a cap and the cap has to be constantly broken up and mixed in with the juice below to make sure that that stays in contact with the wine giving it its color. Okay, now we have wine. What do we do with it? Someone will go immediately into its final packaging after the fermentation process is complete and it's been filtered and clarified. Many refreshing white lines like Sauvingnon Blanc and Pinot Grigio are bottled shortly after fermentation so that their fruity and crisp flavors and aromas are preserved. Some wines will age in oak barrels or be allowed to spend time on the lees. This results in some additional aromas, flavors and gives body to the wine. Maybe you've heard people refer to a wine as okey, sidenote, my husband thinks that's a trick. He thinks that's just what people say to make you feel dumb, and like they're going to be superior to you in their wine sniffing ability. But really, it's not a trick. If wine is aged in oak, you may be able to smell or taste that in your wine. If a wine sits on the LEAs remember those are the dead yeast cells, it can develop aromas and flavors of bread make sense? Yeast goes into bread. So you can get those flavors and aromas as well. Depending on what kind of wine the winemakers creating, some wines may spend months or years aging before they're ever bottled. One of the questions I get asked a lot is, does an aging make a wine better? And that can be true in wines that are meant to be aged. And that just means that they have to have the structural components that age well, not every wine is meant to age some wines are meant to be drunk very young. And actually they don't get better with age they they get kind of flat and lose a lot of their fruitiness or acidity. Some of the things that really make them good and this is this is the case a lot of times with fruity white wines. Let's recap. What are our takeaways? Number one, not all grapes are created equal. table grapes are for eating not winemaking. Winemaking grapes come from very distinct vines. That is vinifera and American vines. Number two process of alcoholic fermentation converts the sugar in grape juice to alcohol and carbon dioxide. This is done by adding yeast to the grape juice, the carbon dioxide is released into the air and the alcohol stays in the juice, creating wine. The higher the sugar content of the grape, the higher the alcohol is going to be in the wine. Number three, wine can go directly into its final packaging after fermentation or it can be aged to add aromas, flavor and body. Not all wines are meant to be aged. And last but definitely not least, I want to stress that you should drink what you like. And don't let anyone tell you what wine you should or shouldn't like. Everyone's palate is different. You may love an $8 bottle of pinot grigio or $70 bottle of Cabernet. If you like it, that's what matters. My only advice to you would be to keep trying new things. What I enjoy now is much different than what I enjoyed five years ago, which is different than what I enjoyed five years before that and so on and so on. The only way that you will learn what you like is to try new things. Well, that wraps up our episode for today. A until next time, my friends, may your glass always be half full. Cheers! Check out my Instagram page at glass_half_full_wine for information on upcoming episodes of the wine diaries and my favorite wine tasting experiences.