Vinification methods: white, red and rose wines

Slide winemaker Marcello Marchesini - 10

Do you know how to make wine?  Well, you take the grapes, crush them and then drink the jiuce you get from them…. In reality the vinificazione procedure is much more complex and different phases of work are necessary, taking the necessary time. Secondly, the vinification methods are different depending on what you want to obtain (white, red or rose wines).  Let’s find out together.

Let’s start with an important assumption: all the grapes, that is both red and white have the same colour pulp (i.e. white).  It is the skins that contain the pigment that give colour to the must, which is the juice obtained by crushing the grapes. The longer the must remains in contact with the grape skins, the more colour the wine gets from the skins.

Having said this, we are now ready to see how the white, red and rose wines are made.

White vinification

Also known as “white fermentation” is a wine-making technique that requires the must to be immediately separated from the skins without the maceration process taking place. This process gives us the possibility in getting white wines even from dark-skinned grapes, as with the Pinot Grigio that we produce in our winery.

The harvested grapes are placed in the tanks for crushing and then the pressing process takes place and therefore, the alcoholic fermentation of just the grape juice.

Red vinification

The fermentation on the other hand of the red, requires the musts to be macerated together with the skins. For how long? It really depends on the type of wine you want to obtain. With a short maceration, that of a few days maximum, gives us light and “not very colourful” wines. The wines are given more structure and more tannins as the duration of the maceration increases.

The next vinification phase is carried out once the maceration process has been completed, that is the pressing of the grapes, it is only at this moment that the wine is separated from the skins. As we said previously, the red colour of the wine is given by the prolonged contact of the must with the skins, “giving” their pigments to the wine.

Rose vinification

Regarding how wines are produced, it is very important in particular to clarify how rose wines are made. Rose is not a blend of red and white grapes. In order to make rose wine you have to follow a particular winemaking procedure. Today with will illustrate the techniques we use in our Lazise winery in order to obtain our famous Bardolino Rose wine.

Rose fermentation takes place in two ways:

  1. Direct press (without maceration)
  2. With a light maceration

In the first place, as with that of white wine, the must is immediately separated from the skins after a delicate pressing of the red grapes with the skins remaining between the grid of the press, therefore, giving just a small part of the colour. The juice that is obtained has a light pink colour and allows us to have fresh, fruity and very fragrant wines.

The procedure of the light maceration will give the wine more structure and a more intense pink colour.

Whatever vinification method we carry out, we make sure we always select only the grapes with the perfect degree of ripeness.

How do we get rose wine once the fermentation process is completed?

In the case of our rose wine, all tanks are sampled at the end of the fermentation period. We sit at a table, we do the tasting and the “blending”, which means mixing the different masses in order to give life to our Rose wine

Would you like try a glass? Come along to our winery for a rose wine tasting experience (and not only rose).

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