Understanding the winemaking process is becoming of interest to more and more wine friends.

Here are some terms to help expand your knowledge of  winemaking .

Wild Ferment

Refers to the kind of fermentation the grapes underwent.The 'wild' term is used as in this case yeast that comes in on the grapes from the vineyard is used in the ferment rather than cultivated yeast that is re-hydrated and added to the grape juice.Why use it? Advocates swear by its wider variety of flavours and the increased complexity it adds to the wine.

Whole Bunch Pressing

Just as the name suggests , this is a method of crushing grapes as a whole bunch complete with stems, instead of the more traditional method of de-stemming and crushing.Whole bunch pressing is used so as to give the wine a less phenolic finish (less bitterness).This method is used especially with Riesling and premium Chardonnay.

Cold Soak

This is mainly used with pinot noir to extract tannins in grape skins.This is the non-alcoholic stage of extraction before the sugar in the grapes is converted to alcohol at the beginning of fermentation.Cold soak generally lasts between two to seven days.

Hand -plunging ferment

Usually used for small batches, and particularly on Pinot noir as it is gentler on the grape skins, therefore making for a soft extraction.Another method employed to allow for gentle extraction is called 'pumping over'-this involves pumping juice from the bottom of the tank to the top over the grape skins that form a cap or crust over the top of the wine.

Post ferment maceration.

In contrast to cold soaking, this technique is used after fermentation and tends to be employed to extract and smooth out tannins in the grape skins.

Finings

These are various products used to remove harsh textures and/unwanted flavours and aromas in wine.Some products used are gelatin, casein(fish by-product) eggs and milk products. Even though there are minute traces of products like egg it is known some sensitive people can react to this negatively.