The best red wines

Today in Italy, excellent red wines are produced in all regions, including: Tuscany, Veneto and Piedmont known and appreciated worldwide for their great reds. Each area is characterized by the production of products with different denominations such as: Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Amarone and Barolo just to name a few.

Red Wine: Production Methods

But how is red wine produced? Red wine is obtained from the fermentation of red grape varieties. During the maceration phase, the contact of the must with the pomace causes the substances contained in the skins (anthocyanins) and in the seeds to migrate into the liquid, thus giving the product adequate and distinctive color and aroma. Maceration can last more or less long; with a short maceration (5/6 days), we obtain very young wines rich in color, as the anthocyanins are transferred to the must in the first days, while with long maceration (about 20 days) we obtain important wines for long aging. Long maceration is intriguing because to master it, analysis alone is not enough; one must taste, and this is what makes it fascinating: the person who becomes in tune with the wine.

Now let’s explain what the main phases of red winemaking are. To start: destemming to remove the stems and crushing the clusters gently. We move on to alcoholic fermentation by bringing the must and the pomace into contact; yeast multiplies, beginning the fermentation that causes a tumultuous movement of the skins, which are pushed upwards by the formation of carbon dioxide developed from the transformation of sugars.

The punching down: submerged fermentation and pumping over to avoid the stratification of the pomace at the top. The racking: separating the wine from the lees and pomace. After racking, the wine rests for a few days in tanks to eliminate all solid parts. The malolactic fermentation transforms malic acid into the gentler lactic acid to soften the taste. The aging can be short (a few months) or long (a few years) depending on the product one wants to achieve and the raw material used, that is, the starting grapes. The container in which the aging takes place influences the final result.

Stainless steel tanks: used for short aging, steel does not add or take away, preserving the characteristics of the wine. Cement tanks: used for short-medium aging, cement respects the characteristics of the product, has good thermal insulation, and absolute absence of electrostatic currents. Wood barrels: used for long aging, where the product needs evolution and a great final structure, the porosity of the wood ensures oxygenation and begins a series of reactions that cause anthocyanins to bind with tannins, thus making the wine softer and with a more intense color.

The bottling occurs at the end of the aging process, the minimum duration of which is established by the DOC regulations. For some wines, an additional aging in bottle is required, during this phase the aging is said to be “reductive” because it occurs in the absence of oxygen. During this phase, temperature, type of cork, and any exposure to light are crucial for the formation of a pleasant bouquet. The product, once uncorked, is characterized by many shades of red that depend on the characteristics of the grape variety from which the grapes come, the aging method to which the wine has been subjected, and the area in which the vine was grown.