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| Pumping-over work. |
For the traditional making of red wines we remove the stem from grapes, we crush the rest and then we keep it in a fermentation tank. We leave the 20 % of the capacity of the tank without filling it up because when the pastry ferments its volume will increase and it will take a part of this empty space.
The inside of inky grapes has no colour (except the Alicant Bouchet variety) so we need the grape skins to obtain the classic colour and aroma of red wines. The contact between the must and the skins it’s called maceration and it is achieved due to the frequent pumping-overs we make before, during and after the fermentation.
During the fermentation, and thanks to the yeast, sugars divide into alcohol and carbon dioxide. At the same time, the carbonic gas pushes upwards the grape skins creating an upper barrier called cap.
When the oenologist considers and according to the wine we are making (young, crianza, reserva…), we rack the wine that flows in the lower part of the tank to another tank. This process is known as devatting. Afer the devatting, the cap still contains must-wine. These pomaces are pressed and so we get a press wine with more colour, tannin and astringent. The pomaces obtained after the pressing are transported to the alcohol factory.
At this second tank it will take place the second fermentation, the malolactic fermentation that takes between 7 and 15 days depending on the temperature. This second fermentation is made with indigenous bacteria and it turns the malic acid, which naturally exists in the wine, into a softer and more pleasant lactic acid.
After this second fermentation, the finished wine will be moved into barrels or tanks, depending on the final use of the wine. Crianza and reserva wines will be moved into barrels while youth wines will stay in tanks. In Bodegas Ochoa is getting more an more common to do in barrels this second fermentation thus, reaching a bigger integration between wood and wine, and more pleasant and elegant red wines to drink.
| A graph of the making of red wine. Click to enlarge. |
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