White winemaking is the simplest of all winemaking processes Planting in a vineyard does not start from seeds, they start from clippings. These clippings come from other fully grown grape vines and take about 5 years to mature. You can start harvesting smaller grape yields around year 3, which winemakers will typically use in blending to see how the grapes are doing.

Once the grape vines have matured and are steadily producing grapes, they will be harvested. This is a sensitive process, once harvest season starts, growers will check their grapes almost daily to make sure the sugar level (brix) is where they want it to be. Grapes can be harvested by hand, using clippers to separate the cluster from the vine and taking care to not crush grapes, or by machine, which travels through the rows of grapes shaking the vine and pulling the grapes off.

For white wine, the grapes are then taking to the crush pad. Here they can either be crushed immediately or destemmed. If a winemaker destems their grapes, they send them through a machine that separates the individual grapes from the larger stem in the cluster. This can also be done by hand, but it takes longer. The decision to stem or not to stem is completely up to the winemaker. Leaving the stems with the grapes as you crush can help add flavor, tannins, and antioxidants* to the juice.

Once the grapes are crushed, the juice is transferred to a stainless steel tank and mixed with a blend of sugar, water, and yeast. This starts the fermentation process. After a week or two, the yeast has eaten the sugars in the wine and the fermentation process ends the lovely alcohol is created. The wine will be filtered to remove the dead yeast, and then stored in either a stainless steel tank or oak barrels to age. The aging process is not long for white wine, as the majority of it is released the next year.

Once a wine has completed aging, it will be sent to the bottling line where it will be bottled and corked. Wine will sit in the bottle for at least 2 weeks before release so that the wine can settle in its new container and the bottle shock has worn off.

The last step in the winemaking process is you! Wine is not complete until it has been enjoyed.