Saturday, November 1, 2008

How to Make A Dry Red Wine That You Will Be Proud to Drink!

By The Backyard Wine Enthusiast

A dry red wine is one of the best wines to understand how this delightful tasting red wine is made. As you know, red wines in a variety of flavors, some borders on the taste of a sweeter wine, and some are quite tart tasting. The most important thing to know that the initial flavor of the red wine is directly drawn from the skins of the grapes.

Step one of making a dry red wine is to put it into a grape crusher. You will need a crusher to gently break the skins of the grapes. If you wish to include the stalks of the grapes into the crusher you will need to determine the amount of tannin you wish to have in the red wine being made.

A very important step to making a great tasting dry red wine is the fermentation process. This process can be like a work of art, as it can take many weeks to finish as the fermenting time is a direct relationship to the kind of red wine you are making and the desired flavor you wish to achieve. For a softer tasting red wine, the grapes should be sealed within the vat. Carbon dioxide becomes trapped in the sealed vat, causing the fermentation process to speed up considerably.

For a more flavorful wine, then it is important to not rush the fermenting process, as this process affects both the color and the tannin content. The longer you choose to ferment the wine, is usually a reflection of how well the red wine will hold its flavor and color. For producing a dry red wine, it means that most of the sugar within the grape has been successfully converted into alcohol.

A wine press will be needed to crush the grapes to create a more tannic wine. Winemakers often add free run wine into the tannic wine to give it more body to the blended wine increasing the dryness of the wine.

Blend the press wine and the vat wine together and then transfer the blended wine to a wine tank or wine barrel for another round of fermentation. The second fermentation process is usually longer than the first, as it is important to allow enough time for the wine to develop is full quality. A dry red wine, requires you to reduce the sugar content.

A fine red wine will spend a minimum of one year in the barrel. There are some red wines that will spend a lot more time in the wine barrels - some for several years depending on the type of wine and the final taste the wine maker desires. A good candidate for a longer stay in the barrels is a dry red wine. To stop the yeast and other solids from forming in the wine, egg whites will be added to the wine before it is filtered and bottled.

If you feel that your red wine has had ample time in the barrels, it is now time to bottle and package your wine. Red wines benefits from spending time in the bottle. If you have a simple, uncomplicated wine, it is not necessary to keep the red wine stored long in the bottle. For more complex and complicated wines, buying and holding the wine for a period of time will greatly enhance its flavor.

About the Author:

No comments: