{"id":1018,"date":"2018-08-31T14:20:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T14:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2018-08-31T14:20:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-31T14:20:43","slug":"winery-tours-part-1-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1018","title":{"rendered":"Winery Tours, Part 1: For Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you enjoy wine tasting and you\u2019ve never taken a tour of a winery, you really ought to do it.\u00a0 Wine making is one part farming, one part artistry and one part industry.\u00a0 When we open bottles at home, we can see the artistry, how winemakers have induced humble grapes to tempt the eye, nose and tongue.\u00a0 There\u2019s a little bit of the industrial side as well, if you count the marketing that goes into the labels.<\/p>\n

When you are actually there at a winery all three parts are right in front of you: the vineyards, the gleaming bottles and glasses at the bar and that factory right behind the tasting room.\u00a0 Skipping that last part is to willfully ignore some of the mystery that ends when you swallow but begins in the field.\u00a0 You really ought to gain an understanding of how the wine got from that vineyard to your mouth.<\/p>\n

What follows is a word picture of a winery tour.\u00a0 Keep in mind that this is a generalization, as each winery does more than a few things its own way.<\/p>\n

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Destemming at Saintsbury<\/a> in Carneros<\/em><\/p>\n

The grapes arrive at the winery in huge bins, packed to overflowing.\u00a0 The stems and everything that isn\u2019t grapes are removed and then the grapes are pressed.\u00a0 (No, they don\u2019t use feet anymore.)\u00a0 The juice is transferred to vats and yeast is added to turn the sugar into alcohol.\u00a0 Once that occurs and all the scummy stuff is removed, the juice is transferred to even larger vats where they are blended to get the mix that will eventually be wine.\u00a0 From there the soon-to-be-wine is stored in barrels for months.\u00a0 Finally it is pumped into bottles and the bottles are put in boxes to be sent to wine stores near you.<\/p>\n

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The barrel room at Donnafugata <\/a>in Sicily<\/em><\/p>\n

So now that we\u2019ve told you how it\u2019s done, why bother going?<\/p>\n