Explore Bahamas: Tour of Bahama Barrels wine factory, Graycliff

The highlight of my trip to Bahama Barrels at Graycliff was the private tour of the wine processing and cigar manufacturing  buildings. At the wine processing unit I participated in sampling, bottling, labelling and sealing of various bottles of wine. I have listed below details and photos of the fun experience... enjoy.

Steps on the vine include:

La Tailee: pruning

Bud break: when new shoots push out

Fruit set: flowers become berries

Green Harvest: removing excess fruit

Leaf pull: removing extra canopy for airflow

Veraison: sugars begin to develop, fruit turns red or golden

Before Harvest 

Measure sugars

Measure acid, check tannins

Calculate alcohol (11-14%) 

Harvest

Picking by hand or machine

White wine: grapes are pressed off skin asap, then fermented as clear juice. Solids settle, becomes clear

Sur Lie Aging or Racking (moved off settled solids to new vessel) 

Red wine: grapes are destemmed, fermented on skins/seeds then natural fermentation

Pressed off skins/seeds, developed colour/tannins 

Barrel selection: forest selection, new or neutral, construction methods all impact specific wood characteristics to the wine (toast, caramel, butterscotch, vanilla...) 

Tools of the Winemaker

Aging: Slow, controlled interaction with oxygen allows the wine to develop

Tasting

Blending

Bottling