Infographic: Winemaking process

Hi everybody! Today we present you a very clear infographic about the winemaking process.

What is winemaking?

Winemaking is defined as the elaboration and ageing of wine. This is, the set of techniques and knowledge related to the production and maturation of wine.

Is has to do with the decissions that are made and the procedures that are carried out in the wineries, which help to shape the taste, the quality and the characteristics of the wine.

It is structured in 5 steps that we have defined in the infographic:

1. Harvest

First of all, wineries have to determine when to harvest. This is decided with a mixture of science and tasting, although it depends, to a large extent, on the weather.

Harvesting must take place at the maturation of the grapes.

2. Crushing and pressing

This process consist on gently breaking the skins of the grapes to release their juice.

Traditionally, the crushing and pressing of the grapes was done manually or with the feet. However, nowadays there are machines that carry out this process, speeding up and facilitating the production.

Once the grapes are pressed, the result is called must.

3. Fermentation

Fermentation is one of the most important aspects of the winemaking process.

The must can start fermenting naturally after 6-12 hours by adding yeasts for the process (on the LEV2050 website you can find more information about yeasts and about LEV2050’s yeast studies).

The fermentation continues until all the sugar has been converted into alcohol, becoming wine.

4. Clarification

The clarification is the process by which solid residues are removed (remains of yeasts, tannins or proteins).

5. Ageing and bottling

Wineries have 2 options: to bottle directly or to age the wine (in bottles, in stainless steel tanks, or in barrels)

Here you can find the infographic we have talked about. It sums up everything we have said:

We hope you enjoyed it!