Vintage

The vintage is the Récolte Raisin intended for the production of the Vin (the term does not apply to the table grapes harvest). The “vintage” also indicates the grape itself collected on this occasion. The term gets busy in the plural to indicate the time of this operation: the time of the grape harvest.

Time of the grape harvest

The time of the grape harvest varies according to the areas. It is located between July and October in the northern hemisphere. It depends on many factors and corresponds in general with at which time the grape reached the wished degree of Maturité, when in grape bay the relationship between Sucre and Acidité was stabilized on a certain level.

In France, the time of the grape harvest is traditionally between September and October. From there the choice comes from the name of Vendémiaire for the first month of the republican Calendrier which lasts from September 22nd to October 21st. The date of the grape harvest is subjected to variations related to other parameters such as:

  • the round of applause of the grape harvest is published by the town halls which deal with area wine.
  • the ic conditions Climate: under the higher latitudes, the maturation of the grape is later;
  • the production zone: maturation is earlier for the vines exposed to the south. The increase in altitude has a similar effect.
  • the Type of vine: the white type of vines mature in general before red type of vines.
  • the type of sought wine, determined by the more or less great content of certain elements, such as:
    • sugars : a greater sugar content led to an increase in the alcoholic strength of the wine obtained at the conclusion of the alcoholic Fermentation. The output used to calibrate the measuring devices of the Moût S (Refractometer S) is of 16,83 grams sugars for a degree of formed alcohol.
    • acid : the grape contains Malic acid (as the majority of the other fruits) but especially of the tartaric Acid what is more characteristic and certainly one of the reasons which pushed the man to work out a drink (wine) by fermentation of the grape juice. Indeed the tartaric acid is biologically much more stable than the malic acid which perhaps degraded by the bacteria of the malolactic Fermentation. During maturation, the malic acid decreases significantly, just like an apple becomes less acid when it matures.
    • color : the potential of color present in the films of the red grapes progressively increases evolution of the maturity of pulp. It is the phenolic maturity which is essential for the wine making of the red wines but which must be also evaluated to work out rosy
    • component aromatic : they evolve/move during the maturation of the grape and contribute to determine the organoleptic characteristics of the wine. The Dégustation of grape bays before vintage makes it possible to have an idea of the aromatic potential of the fruit.

Methods of vintage

There exist two great methods of vintage:

  • manual: the manual vintage is used for the production of wines of higher quality and the effervescent wines, insofar as the bunches should be selected; that results in an inevitable increase in the production costs.
  • mechanical: more economic, it is done using machines and is used for the wines of current quality, insofar as harvest is not selective and mixes more or less ripe bunches, even damaged, with obvious consequences on the quality of the finished product.

To note among the practices used:

  • the selective vintage, which consists in gradually collecting the bunches of the same vine, by successive master keys, progressively of the maturation of each bunch.
  • the late vintage, which consists in delaying the time of the vintage with an aim of increasing the sugar content of the grape; this process is used for the production of liqueur-like wines.

Independently of the method of vintage, certain rules must be observed:

  • it is necessary to avoid collecting wet grape (by the rain, the dew or the fog), additional water could indeed influence negatively the quality of the Moût;
  • it is also necessary to avoid gathering the grapes during the hottest hours of the day, that can cause the departure of a indésirée fermentation and an exaggerated extraction of the color for the development of the rosy wines
  • the bunches owes beings poured in containers of size limited to prevent that they are crushed;
  • finally, the grape must be transported as quickly as possible with the Cave of wine making, to avoid not controlled fermentations or macerations.

See too

External bonds

  • Special grape harvest 2007 - Any knowledge on the grape harvest 2007, area by area (on the professional gate Viti-net.fr)
  • Classifieds grape harvest in Alsace

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