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
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