Our Winemaking Process

Harvesting and Grape Processing By far the most important step in grape processing is deciding when to harvest the grapes. We walk the vineyards daily keeping tabs on the grape’s maturation progress and pick them quickly during the early morning hours so they can be brought to the winery in perfect condition. After selecting the very best grape bunches, the fruit is crushed, destemmed and pressed before being moved to stainless steel tanks. Following a drawing off process, pre-fermentative maceration at low temperatures is performed and the must is fermented at controlled temperatures through selected yeasts, three daily pumping over activities and one to two delestages per day. There are six basic steps to making wine, and Andeluna Cellars brings its unique knowledge, experience and terroir to each step in the process to produce a wine unlike any other. Fermentation Before fermentation, the must (or juice) is tested and any necessary adjustments are made. When making white wines, the juice is cooled and allowed to settle overnight. The clear juice is then racked off the sediment before being inoculated with yeast. Red wines are usually inoculated with yeast shortly after being crushed. Throughout this process, our winemakers carefully monitor the progress of the fermentation. Clarification When fermentation is complete, the wine must be clarified to remove any solid particles in the wine. It is crucial to obtain the right clarity without stripping the wine of its desirable taste and odor characteristics. Stabilization Stabilization is a process that removes the excess protein from a wine and is a strong influence on the wines quality. If the protein is not removed before the wine is bottled, the protein can precipitate later and produce unsightly sediments in the bottle. Aging Aging is a very important step in producing high quality wines, and the aging process often overlaps with the stabilization and clarification processes. Wines are aged first in tanks or barrels, and are then aged in the bottle for several more months. Proper aging can truly make the difference between a good wine and a superb wine. There are two critical factors in wine aging. First, a clean, cool and quiet environment must be maintained to age wine properly, and the wine must also be protected from excessive oxidation. These conditions were of paramount importance when building Andeluna Cellars and only state-of-the-art equipment and building materials were used to achieve the perfect aging conditions. Another quality factor involves determining when the optimum aging has taken place, and the optimum aging time can be difficult to determine. This is where Silvio Alberto’s exceptional skills and experience come into play. There are no laboratory tests for this step, so the winemaker's skill must be relied upon. Deciding just when the wine should be bottled is critical to the quality of the finished wine. Bottling Only clear, stable and properly aged wine should be bottled. Getting wine into the bottle without contamination or excessive oxidation is also an important quality factor. Again, Andeluna Cellars’ state-of-the-art facilities perfect this final stage of the winemaking process.