Dave Breeden discusses the art and science of winemaking from Scienceline on Vimeo. During the harvest season, I got the chance to interview New York winemaker Dave Breeden. Dave is a chemist and a philosopher who makes award-winning wines at Sheldrake Point Winery in the Finger Lakes area. The question I came to Dave with was, "Is winemaking an art...
Today, the media reported that archeologists in Armenia have unearthed the world's oldest known winery. They think that the 6,000-year-old winemaking equipment, which includes a wine press and desiccated grape vines and seeds, was used to make special wines for funeral ceremonies held nearby. Very cool! Read the full story on Time.com here. Click here to learn about the winemaking...
Today, most red wines are produced using a process similar to this one... First, a vintner decides when the grapes are ripe. This is done by taste, concurrent with today's technology of taking accurate sugar readings. The grapes are then harvested and placed into a machine that removes their stems. The machine also crushes them (without pressing them) so that...
Ever drink a glass of really good wine and find little crystals at the bottom? These are “wine diamonds,” not sediment, and they have been helping to preserve your wine! Wine diamonds are, in actuality, potassium bitartrate crystals that sometimes form on a wine bottle’s cork, most often when chilled. During the winemaking process, itself, they naturally form on the...
What makes Napa Valley such a renowned area for growing wine grapes? It all comes down to the dirt. There are more than 30 types of soil in Napa Valley. The chemistry of this soil is the most important factor of what the French call “terroir," the distinctive tastes and aromas that an area’s specific conditions impart on the wine...
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