The world of wine can feel overwhelming, but understanding the basics of how it's made can make every glass a little more meaningful. This month, we're providing a brief roadmap of the winemaking process, with a look at some of the techniques we use here at Pooley Wines. We'll dive deeper into each step in the coming months, but for now, let’s start with the big picture.
The Journey of a Wine: A Quick Overview
1. Harvesting the Grapes
The first and most crucial step is deciding when to harvest. As grapes ripen, their sugars, acids, and flavours develop and change. At Pooley Wines, we monitor this balance carefully. In Australia, we often use Baumé to measure sugar levels, which tells us the potential alcohol of the finished wine. We track how these elements evolve to decide the perfect moment to pick, which is one of the things that makes each vintage unique!
2. Sorting and Pressing
Once the grapes are harvested, they arrive at the winery to be sorted. Because we hand-harvest most of our grapes, they're in excellent condition, but we still check them over for quality.
- For white wines, the grapes go straight to the press. We prefer whole bunch pressing, which means we press the grapes without crushing them first. This minimizes oxygen contact with the juice, helping to preserve vibrant fruit and aromatic character in the final wine.
- For red wines, the grapes go directly to fermentation to allow for skin contact, which is essential for extracting colour and flavour. They are then pressed later.
3. Fermentation
This is where the magic happens! Yeast converts the grape sugar into alcohol. The choice of fermentation vessel has a huge impact on the final wine.
- White wines are fermented in a variety of vessels. Our aromatics are fermented in stainless steel, which is airtight and preserves the wine's vibrant fruit intensity. Our Chardonnays, on the other hand, are fermented in French oak, which allows for a small amount of oxygen exposure, building richness and texture. For our 2024 vintage, we even used concrete, a vessel that also allows for gentle oxygenation.
- Red wines are fermented in open-top fermenters. We use a technique called whole bunch fermentation for a portion of the grapes, where we ferment entire clusters without crushing them. This creates a bright, fresh fruit character.
During red wine fermentation, pump-overs are done multiple times a day. We pump wine from the bottom of the tank over the top "cap" of floating grape skins, which helps extract colour and flavour and adds a small amount of oxygen to improve texture.
4. Post-Fermentation & Maturation
Once fermentation is complete, some wines undergo a few more crucial steps.
- Lees Contact: We often let our wines mature on their lees (the leftover yeast cells). This process adds flavour and texture. We might choose to remove all or just some of the lees before maturation.
- Malolactic Conversion: Red wines and Chardonnays often go through malolactic conversion, a process caused by bacteria that converts tart malic acid into softer, creamier lactic acid. This gives Chardonnay its buttery flavour and helps soften the tannins in red wines.
- Maturation: Aromatic wines are typically matured in stainless steel for 3–4 months, while reds and Chardonnays are moved to French oak barrels for 10–15 months to continue developing.
5. Blending & Bottling
After maturation, our winemaking team gets to work on the final blend. They taste samples from different barrels and tanks, deciding on the final ratios of new oak, old oak, and various other techniques to create the perfect final product. Once the blend is finalised, the wine is bottled.
From there, it's ready for you to enjoy. Cheers!
