In the classic children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the story follows Dorothy and her journey to find her way back home. Along the way, she encounters various obstacles and meets new friends who help her along the yellow brick road. However, one of the most prominent and sinister characters in the story is the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch of the West is a formidable and powerful character. She is known for her dark and sinister appearance, with green skin, long black hair, and a pointy hat. Her presence is often accompanied by stormy weather and a nefarious cackle that sends shivers down Dorothy's spine.
How Red Wine is Made Step by Step
Red winemaking differs from white winemaking in one important way: the juice ferments with grape skins to dye it red.
Of course, there’s more to red winemaking than the color. Learning about the process reveals secrets about quality and taste that will improve your palate. So, let’s walk through each of the steps of how red wine is made from grapes to glass.
Winemaking Pictures: See the process of winemaking in pictures and a video. Grapes stop ripening once their picked.Step 1: Harvest red wine grapes
Red wine is made with black (aka purple) wine grapes. In fact, all the color you see in a glass of red wine comes from anthocyanin (red pigment) found in black grape skins.
During the grape harvest, the most important thing to do is to pick the grapes at perfect ripeness. It’s critical because grapes don’t continue to ripen after they’ve been picked.
- Grapes picked too early may result in tart and thin-tasting wines.
- Grapes picked too late may result in wines that taste overly ripe and flabby.
For all winemakers, the grape harvest season is the most critical (and very tense) time of year!
Bolder reds like Cabernet get the stems removed before the fermentation.
Step 2: Prepare grapes for fermentation
After the harvest, grapes head to the winery. The winemaker decides whether or not to remove the stems or to ferment grape bunches as whole clusters.
This is an important choice because leaving stems in the fermentation adds astringency (aka tannin) but also reduces sourness. As an example, Pinot Noir often ferments with whole clusters, but not Cabernet Sauvignon.
During this step, grapes also receive sulfur dioxide to stop bacterial spoilage before the fermentation starts. Check out this eye-opening article about sulfites and your health.
Yeasts like Saccharomyces Cerevisiae eat sugar and make alcohol.
Step 3: Yeast starts the wine fermentation
What happens is small sugar-eating yeasts consume the grape sugars and make alcohol. The yeasts come either from a commercial packet (just like you might find in bread making), or occur spontaneously in the juice.
Spontaneous fermentation uses yeast found naturally on grapes!
- Commercial yeasts allow winemakers to produce very consistent wines year-in-and-out.
- Natural yeasts are more challenging but often result in more complex aromatics.
Step 4: Alcoholic fermentation
Winemakers use many methods to tune the wine during fermentation.
For example, the fermenting juice gets frequently stirred to submerge the skins (they float!). One way to do this is to pump wine over the top. The other way is to punch down the “cap” of floating grape skins with a tool that looks like a giant potato masher.
- Pumpovers rigorously extract lots of flavor from the grape skins and make for rich reds.
- Punch downs extract flavors more delicately and thus they tend to produce more subtle red wines.
Step 5: Press the wine
Most wines take 5–21 days to ferment sugar into alcohol. A few rare examples, such as Vin Santo and Amarone, take anywhere from 50 days to up to 4 years to fully ferment!
After the fermentation, vintners drain the freely running wine from the tank and put the remaining skins into a wine press. Pressing the skins gives winemakers about 15% more wine!
The creamy-chocolatey taste in wine comes from special winemaking bacteria.
Step 6: Malolactic fermentation (aka “second fermentation”)
As the red wine settles in tanks or barrels, a second “fermentation” happens. A little microbe feasts on the wine acids and converts sharp-tasting malic acid into creamier, chocolatey lactic acid. (The same acid you find in greek yogurt!)
Nearly all red wines go through Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) but only a few white wines. One white wine we all know is Chardonnay. MLF is responsible for Chardonnay’s creamy and buttery flavors.
Many red wines age in oak barrels.
Step 7: Aging (aka “Elevage”)
Red wines age in a variety of storage vessels including wooden barrels, concrete, glass, clay, and stainless steel tanks. Each vessel affects wine differently as it ages.
Wooden barrels affect wine the most noticeably. The oak wood itself flavors the wine with natural compounds that smell like vanilla.
Unlined concrete and clay tanks have a softening effect on wine by reducing acidity.
Of course, the biggest thing that affects flavors in red wine is time. The longer a wine rests, the more chemical reactions happen within the liquid itself. Some describe red wines as tasting smoother and more nutty with age.
Focus on texture if you have a chance to make your own wine blend.
Step 8: Blending the wine
Now that the wine is good and rested, it’s time to make the final blend. A winemaker blends grape varieties together or different barrels of the same grape to make a finished wine.
Blending wine is a challenge because you have to use your sense of texture on your palate instead of your nose.
The tradition of blending created the many famous wine blends of the world!
Fining and filtering reduces the risk of bacterial spoilage.
Step 9: Clarifying the wine
One of the final steps of how a red wine is made is the clarification process. For this, many winemakers add clarifying or “fining” agents to remove suspended proteins in the wine (proteins make wine cloudy).
It’s pretty common to see winemakers use fining agents like casein or egg whites, but there is a growing group of winemakers using bentonite clay because it’s vegan.
Then, the wine gets passed through a filter for sanitation. This is important because it reduces the likelihood of bacterial spoilage.
Of course, a large group of fine winemakers do not fine or filter because they believe it removes texture and quality. Whether or not that’s true is something for you to decide.
“Bottle shock” happens if a wine is opened too soon after being bottled.
Step 10: Bottling and labeling wines
Now, it’s time to bottle our wine. It’s very important to do this step with as little exposure to oxygen as possible. A small amount of sulfur dioxide is often added to help preserve the wine.
Many fine wines continue to age in bottle for years.
Step 11: Bottle aging
Finally, a few special wines continue to age in the winemaker’s cellar for years. In fact, if you look up different types of red wines (like Rioja or Brunello di Montalcino) you’ll discover that this step is considered essential for reserve bottlings.
So, the next time you open a bottle try to figure out what went into it!
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How to Produce Wine: The Winemaking Process
Wine tasting is a particularly enjoyable experience, but do you know how wine is produced? How to “make wine” out of fruit grown on vines? What vinification process is used to produce this age-old drink from juicy grapes? What does direct pressing, malolactic fermentation, pellicular maceration, wine aging, or varietal blending involve?
In oenology, it is important to know how wine is produced to fully understand and appreciate the subtleties of each wine you taste. This comprehensive winemaking guide explains each step of the production process in detail, from the vineyard to the bottle:
These processes may vary depending on whether red, white, rosé, or sparkling wine is being produced. There are also many local variants, with specific techniques for certain regional wines, making each vineyard’s cru an original creation.
Her presence is often accompanied by stormy weather and a nefarious cackle that sends shivers down Dorothy's spine. **The main idea** is that the Wicked Witch of the West serves as the primary antagonist, providing a constant threat to Dorothy and her companions. Her sole purpose is to obtain Dorothy's magical silver slippers, which she believes will grant her immense power and control over the Land of Oz.
Viticulture: growing vines and grapes
It would take more than a book to describe the art of cultivating vines, mastered by mankind since ancient times. This article will only scratch the surface of the mysteries of winegrowing and its savoir-faire. You can appreciate its richness and diversity on a wine tourism trip around the beautiful vineyards of France . We’ll then go through all the stages of wine production.
Vineyards: a meeting of terroirs and grape varieties
The first step to making wine is to grow vines, which produce grapes.
Winegrowers need to have a good understanding of the local soil composition and climate characteristics to set up a vineyard and grow the right grape varieties. An AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) or IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) vineyard can only produce a vin de pays using certain recognized varieties.
A cépage is a grape variety whose properties directly influence the quality of wine and its aromas. Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah black grapes, Pinot Gris red grapes, Riesling white grapes… Winegrowers will opt to grow certain varieties, with their aromatic signatures, rather than others, depending on the wine region and type of red, white, or rosé wine they want to produce.
Wine can be labelled organic if the winegrowing area is cultivated organically or biodynamically, using specific techniques, equipment and products, and complies with other environmental and phytosanitary criteria. Nevertheless, other winegrowers also produce wine that respects nature and the health of its consumers, without an organic certification.
Harvesting and sorting
Winegrowers start the harvesting process when the white, red, or black grapes reach their desired maturity (color, size, taste, natural sugar levels, etc). This age-old French tradition takes place towards the end of summer, from mid-August up until early autumn for some wine-growing terroirs, known as late harvesting.
Harvesting consists in hand-picking ripe and healthy grapes (a more qualitative method that involves picking them with secateurs and carrying them back) or using a harvesting machine (a more quantitative technique requiring more sorting after).
At the end of the harvest, the grapes must be carefully sorted to make the best quality wine possible. Juice can be extracted from the grapes and wine produced through vinification after this sorting phase.
She pursues Dorothy relentlessly throughout the story, using her dark magic and cunning tactics to try and capture her. The Wicked Witch of the West's evil and sinister nature is further highlighted through her use of minions and allies, including a pack of flying monkeys and her army of Winkies. These loyal servants carry out her every command, adding to the sense of fear and danger that surrounds her. Despite the Wicked Witch's relentless pursuit, Dorothy remains determined to protect herself and her friends. With the guidance of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, Dorothy learns to harness her own inner strength and confront the evil that threatens her. She ultimately defeats the Wicked Witch by throwing a bucket of water onto her, causing her to melt away. The character of the Wicked Witch of the West serves as both a symbol of fear and an embodiment of evil in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." While Dorothy's journey is filled with whimsy and wonder, it is the presence of the sinister witch that adds an element of danger and tension to the story. Her defeat brings a sense of triumph and resolution, allowing Dorothy to continue her journey towards finding her way back home..
Reviews for "The Sinister Witch's Secret: Uncovering the Truth About Oz"
1. John - 2 stars - I was really looking forward to reading "Dorothy and the sinister witch" as I'm a fan of fantasy novels. However, I was sorely disappointed by this book. The plot was predictable and lacked originality. The characters were poorly developed and lacked depth, making it hard for me to connect with them. The writing style was also very dull and uninspiring. Overall, it felt like the author put in little effort in creating an engaging story, and I would not recommend this book to others.
2. Sarah - 3 stars - "Dorothy and the sinister witch" had so much potential, but it failed to deliver. The concept of a sinister witch was intriguing, but the execution fell short. The pacing was slow, and it took a long time for the story to get going. The descriptions were also lacking, leaving me struggling to visualize the magical world the author was trying to convey. Additionally, the dialogue felt forced and unnatural, making it difficult to believe in the interactions between the characters. Overall, it was a lackluster reading experience that had the potential to be so much better.
3. Michael - 2 stars - I found "Dorothy and the sinister witch" to be a rather boring and uninspiring read. The plot was predictable and lacked any real surprises or twists. The main character, Dorothy, was flat and uninteresting, and I struggled to care about her journey. The writing style was also lacking in creativity and failed to transport me into the magical world the author was attempting to create. Overall, I was left disappointed by this book and would not recommend it to others who are looking for an engaging and imaginative fantasy novel.