Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Wine Making in Napa Valley Tours
Grape Growing in Napa Valley: Grape wines in Napa Valley Tours weather season after season, giving the gift of their sweet fruit, once planted, brand new vines will take nearly 3 and 5 years to yield fruit capable of making decent wine. The old wines produced typically have more concentrated flavors and is rich in complexity and quality.
Grape Crushing and De-stemming: Once ripped and collected into bins, grape clusters are transferred to the De-stemmer/Crusher. This machine will separate and remove the stems, then lightly crush the grapes into a pulpy mass of juice.
Fermentation of Grapes into Wine: Fermentation is the process whereby yeast converts natural sugars in the wine grapes into alcohol.In California Wine Country Tour, winemakers typically add certain types of cultured yeast, which brings control and consistency to the fermentation process.
The Aging Process:The oak barrel is highly important in the aging process because it report certain flavors and characteristics to the wine. Some white wines and most red wines are aged in oak barrels for approximately 6 to 18 months depending on type of grape, style of wine.