Wine cellars in dallas txFor wine lovers who stock their wine cellars in Dallas, TX with bottles they’ve collected over years and through travel, there is one overriding factor in their wine selection process and that is taste. Most oenophiles don’t care about artistic wine labels or countries of origin or even how much wines cost, they want their wine cellars in Dallas, TX to contain wine they want to drink. It’s just that simple.

But for a great wine to get to the wine lover, it has to go through the complex process of winemaking that is as much an art as it is a science. The process itself is a natural one that doesn’t need much human intervention even though every winemaker hones their own technique with additives and deviations to make his or her wine stand out. No matter how the winemaker tweeks their formula, though, there are still 5 basic stages in the winemaking process:

1 - Harvesting

The first step in the winemaking process, if done at just the right time, can ensure a delicious wine. Winemakers want grapes that have just the right balance of tannins, acids and sugars so they must determine the best time to harvest their grapes using a combination of modern science and old-fashioned taste-testing. Harvesting is usually done by hand as mechanical harvesting can damage grapes. Once harvested, the grapes are sorted to remove underripe or rotten fruit.

2 - Crushing and Pressing

Once the grapes are sorted, they are destemmed and crushed. Machinery is used to press the grapes into ‘must,’ which is the term for grape juice that contains skins, seeds and solids. For white wine, winemakers quickly separate the grape juice from the skins, seeds and solids to prevent excess acidity and color leaching into the wine. For red wine, the juice is left in contact with solids for increased tannins and color.

3 - Fermenting

The next step in the process is fermentation. Must can start fermenting naturally within 6 to 12 hours of crushing with the help of airborne wild yeasts; but most winemakers add commercial, cultured yeast to ensure consistency and to be able to predict the end result. Fermentation can take anywhere from 10 days to a month or more and is finished when all of the sugars in the must are converted into alcohol. For sweeter wines, winemakers can stop the fermentation process before all the sugars are converted.

4 - Clarification

After fermentation, clarification begins and is essentially the process of removing all of the solids from the wine. The process begins with the transfer of the wine to a vessel like a stainless steel tank where it can be ‘fined’ or filtered. Fining is the addition of substances that solids will adhere to, like clay, that will make them sink to the bottom of the tank for easier filtration. The wine can also be clarified without fining by being passed through a filter.

5 - Aging and Bottling

Wine can either be bottled right after clarification or it can be aged in steel tanks or oak barrels. Aging in oak barrels gives it a smoother, rounder, more vanilla flavor and allows for a little more exposure to oxygen, which reduces tannins and gives the wine a fruitier flavor. Steel tanks are commonly used for zesty white wines. After aging, the wine is bottled, corked and labeled.

For the finest storage for your wine collection, contact Vineyard Wine Cellars in Dallas, TX at (866) 615-4008 or visit us online at vineyard wine cellars websiteto learn more about our services.