Winemaking requires monitoring and assessment to determine quality and completion for consumption. Modern winemaking has developed many tools to assist winemakers in producing high quality wines. The research into wine chemistry and techniques for analyzing common wine properties has been an invaluable tool for winemakers.
In warm weather growing regions where grapes are able to reach full maturity or where fruit is picked very ripe, the concentrations of grape acids are reduced. Wines with low acidity levels can taste flabby, weak and often lack complexity. In an effort to create a greater balance between acidity, fruit flavors and tannins, the winemaker may choose to acidify the must.
Wine undergoes a period of aging following fermentation. This lets the wine mature, giving well integrated characters that very young wines tend to lack. Most wines receive some sort of barrel storage or exposure to wood alternatives during ageing as it imparts desirable sensory properties.
Table wines in the U.S. generally contain alcohol levels ranging between 12% and 16%. The winemaker will aim for a particular percentage of alcohol depending on the style and varietal of wine they are working with.
Amelioration is when water is added to a must in an effort to dilute the concentration of grape sugars. High sugar levels bring the potentials of high alcohol levels and fermentations that have difficulty completing to full dryness.
Wood for American oak barrels is harvested primarily in the Midwest region of the country, from the states of Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, and Arkansas. American oak is thought to impart more dramatic notes associated with the wood such as vanilla, dill and coconut. American oak species have a tighter wood grain due to an increase in tyloses, the woody growths that seal the pores in the growth rings.
Anthocyanins are the phenolic group that is responsible for the color in red wine. They are also antioxidants. More specifically, anthocyanins are one class of flavonoid compounds found in wine. Their color ranges from red to blue.
The aroma or smell of a wine is perhaps its main sensory property. The reviews that wine drinkers read in which long lists of terms are attributed to the wine are actually its aroma properties. Grapes are a very complex fruit that develop a wide range of aromatic compounds. They are influenced by the surrounding environment and often develop characteristics associated with other plants and features around them.
Astringency is a textural sensation perceived as a roughening of the surfaces within the mouth. This is caused mainly by tannins in red wines. Astringency is often confused as a flavor. Most astringent compounds do have a bitter flavor and many bitter tasting compounds are sensed as astringent though.
