Terms Used In Winemaking

Welcome to vine to wine this is your host Linda Moran. I had a very interesting conversation with a hobby winemaker and he reminded me how much fun it is when we define some of the words used in the wine world Today let’s focus on wine making words.

Whether you actually make wine or not, you may come upon some interesting words when you read about it. One such word is “must” it is the term used to describe the product left after you crush the grapes, that mass of pulp and juice is called "must". During the third step of making the wine, the grape sediment separates from the juice and settles to the bottom of the vat. Over a period of time the juice is “racked” which is the term that means the juice is separated from heavier portion of the mixture and transferred, usually into different vats and allowed to settle further and then may be “racked” again several more times. The fermentation process is the next step, where the juice becomes wine. Yeast is added to the juice and converts the natural sugars into alcohol. Once the yeast dies, it is cleared out of the wine by adding “bentonite” the is the product which clings to the yeasts and other bad things and pulls them to the bottom of the vat. The bentonite also prevents further fermentation. The wine is again racked, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the vat, resulting in an unencumbered wine ready to age or bottle. So there are a few more wine terms to add to your understanding of “winespeak”. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.