How Wine Gets Its Flavor

Introduction

Every wine has a unique flavor that is reflected in the intricate melding of the grape, the land and the journey to the bottle. A vintner has a great deal of influence over the flavor nuances throughout the winemaking process and can manipulate each stage to change the final outcome. Details like sweetness, mouthfeel, alcohol content, and intensity are all within the winemaker's control.

Harvest Time

Pick earlier in the season to produce a more acidic wine with less sugar, a "greener" flavor, and a bitter tannin. Pick later in the season to produce a less acidic wine with more sugar and a subdued tannin.  

Press Timing

To make a white wine you should press your grapes soon after crushing them. When making a red wine, you crush the grapes, then ferment the juice with the seeds and skins, and press afterwards.

Dial in the Sweetness

To create a sweet-tasting wine, you can stop the fermentation process while there is still some residual sugar in the wine. For a dryer wine, let the fermentation process convert all of the sugar to alcohol.  

Alcohol Potential

If your grapes do not have enough natural sugar to achieve your desired alcohol level, you can add sugar, honey, or grape juice concentrate before fermentation. If your grapes have too much sugar (and you don't want your wine's alcohol content to skyrocket), pour out some of the juice and replace it with water.  

Pumpover & Punch Down

You can create a more intense wine by increasing how often you punch down and pump over. The more vigorously you punch down or pumpover will extract more tannins from the grape's skin resulting in a more intense wine.

Second Fermentation

You can introduce malolactic bacteria to your wine through a second fermentation. In a red wine, the secondary fermentation will lower acidity and create flavors of butter and butterscotch. In a white wine, the malolactic bacteria can mute the fresh fruit flavor and aroma.  

Aging

Age your wine in an oak barrel to boost its tannins and impart various flavors and aromas depending on where the oak was grown and how much the barrel was toasted. A lightly toasted barrel will impart caramel, vanilla, and clove flavors and aromas. A barrel with a heavy toast will impart flavors and aromas of cocoa, coffee, and smoke.