Chapter 2002 Untitled

By the Douro River~

The moon is reflected on the river, the night is slightly cool, and the evening breeze is intoxicating.

At the small round table by the river, Pinto personally placed bottles of Port wine on the table and said, "The grapes used to make Port wine are different from those in Bordeaux. They are usually small-grained and rich varieties that are fragrant and have a concentrated aroma." , of which 5 are the most widely planted: National Toriga, Toriga Franca, Red Barocca, Tempranillo, and Red Cayo.

When selecting a grape variety, fruit growers will seek a match of terroir to balance the differences between varieties. Single variety Port is very rare.

Although the fruit has small particles and thick skin, the national Dulijia is still the most irreplaceable among them.

After the grapes are picked, the high-quality tannins, pigments and flavor substances in the grape skins are extracted in the shortest time and the fruity aroma of the grapes itself is retained, so that the Port wine can retain the rich fruity aroma as much as possible. Aging conditions are the key to making red port wine.

Due to various reasons, Port wine merchants did not have as much time as Bordeaux to fully macerate the grapes.

The method of stepping on grapes can crush the grapes more fully and complete maceration efficiently, so it has been continued in the Douro Valley.

This is a traditional wine making method. The harvested grapes are poured into a square trough container of cement or granite called Lagar and crushed and macerated by manual foot stepping. Nowadays, more and more of them are made of stainless steel. "

After a pause, "By the way, you live in Six Senses in the Douro Valley? You will find out when you visit the winery tomorrow. The volume of this kind of Lagar is between 8,000-14,000 liters. The destemmed grapes are poured into the Lagar. to a depth of 15-20 cm from the upper edge.

A group of men lined up side by side, stepping back and forth in the Lagar to break the grape skins and extract the tannins, colors and phenolic substances. A 12,000-liter Lagar requires more than 20 people to process together. "

Yang Cheng was startled, "Is it a man? Why not a woman?"

He suddenly felt nauseous. Although they were both feet, relatively speaking, women's feet were more acceptable.

"Relationship with manpower. In the 1960s, the traditional Lagar craft was greatly challenged due to manpower shortage and efficiency problems. At first, it was all young women, and later all women were loaned. Later, men also joined in, and because of the man's weight, It was bigger and more powerful, and could crush grapes more thoroughly, so it was gradually replaced by men.

However, this kind of open fermentation with pure artificial skin maceration has become rare now. It is only used when brewing some high-end or flagship wines, and more large-scale production has undergone mechanized transformation.

At that time, wine merchants tried different technologies such as hot maceration. Due to the steep terrain, many wineries in the Douro Valley did not have convenient access to electricity, so an automatic fermentation method that did not require electricity was very popular.

This method originated from Algeria. The fermentation tank of this system has a specially designed structure. The carbon dioxide produced during alcohol fermentation increases the pressure in the fermentation tank, and a part of the fermenting wine liquid is transported to the upper wine tank through pipelines, and fermentation The liquid level in the tank will also decrease.

When the liquid level drops to a certain level, it cannot cover the delivery pipe connected to the outside air pressure, and the carbon dioxide in the fermentation tank begins to be discharged into the atmosphere, causing the pressure in the tank to decrease, and the wine in the upper wine tank flows back into the container, so Continuous circulation can realize automatic circulation without electricity.

There is also a third type of maceration, which uses a pump to send the grape juice to the top of the tank and spray it down to circulate the grape skins and grape seeds in the stainless steel tank. However, this was only realized after the Douro Valley had electricity support. .

Before entering the fermentation tank to start fermentation, appropriate sulfur dioxide needs to be added to the grape mash.

Many winemakers prefer to use tartaric acid at this stage to adjust the acidity of the grape mash to a pH of 3.6 to 3.7.

During the treading process, when the temperature reaches about 20 degrees Celsius,

The yeast entering Lagar from the air becomes active and starts the process of alcoholic fermentation.

Depending on the sugar content of the wine to be made, the fermentation time ranges from 1 and a half to 3 days.

When the fermentation reaches a certain level and the remaining residual sugar in the grape mash drops to the required sugar content, add brandy with an alcohol content of 77% to the wine to stop the fermentation. Note that the ratio of brandy to grape juice is 1:4 to strengthen it. The alcohol content of the final port wine reaches 16% to 22%.

After fortification, the wine is poured out of the fermentation tank and the skins are removed.

It is then aged and the fortified wine is stored in stainless steel tanks.

The winemaker tests and analyzes the physical and chemical indicators of the wine, and tastes it to decide what type of Port wine it is suitable for. When the next spring comes, it will be shipped to the Villanova Gaia winery for maturation, which is located in Doro. The lower reaches of the river are warmer and humid.

When the time is right, the Port wines are evaluated and graded, after which they start with maturation, followed by different barrel maturation and bottle maturation processes, depending on the type of Port required to be produced.

This is the whole process of brewing~”

Yang Cheng said with admiration, "You actually understand everything, it's amazing~"

"You also have a winery, right? You must also know the brewing process of Bordeaux wine. There is no difference."

“No~Port wine is more complex~”

"Okay, I admit it~"

After joking for a while, Pinto pointed to the bottles of wine on the table, "There are as many types of port wine as there are shadows of ties in a men's clothing store, but in terms of color, they can be divided into four categories: ruby ​​port, Brown port, white port, pink port.

White Port and Rosé Port are relatively rare, while Ruby Port and Tawny Port are the main force in Port wine and have many family members.

For example, the ruby ​​type in this bottle of Port wine usually refers to those Port wines with deep ruby ​​red color, rich fruit aroma and full of youthful vitality. "

After speaking, he poured some out for Yang Cheng and Liu Junyu to taste.

Sure enough, admiring the charming ruby ​​color in the moonlight, the direct and fresh aroma of red fruits comes to your nose. After entering the mouth, the medium structure and body of the wine, as well as very little tannin, allow people to immediately appreciate this. The youthful and energetic style is probably inseparable from the brewing method.

Pinto also took a sip, squinting his eyes with satisfaction, "Ruby Port wine is usually made from a mixture of wines from different vintages, aged for two to three years in large oak barrels or stainless steel tanks, and then used while it is still very young. filling time. For

In order to avoid excessive exposure to oxygen, barrels will not be changed, so when buying a bottle of Ruby Port wine, it is normal to find some lees in it. "