TECHNOLOGICAL PROCEDURES FOR PREMIUM QUALITY WINES

TRADITIONAL METHOD WITH EXTENDED COLD MACERATION

To produce a fresh wine line with richer extracts or flavours, which this procedure supports, grapes are preselected in the vineyard.
The lesser the yield, the richer wines are in terms of extracts and alcohols, and a fuller and more complex flavour obtained during production.
The whole grape processing procedure is very quick, as we want to prevent oxidation before fermentation. It is followed by maceration that lasts several hours for pectin in the skin, which hides 70 per cent of all aromas, to break down. Then fermentation at a low temperature takes place to preserve as many aromatic compounds in the wine as possible.
Following fermentation, we stir fine lees, which enables wine to build up its aroma and obtain a richer, fuller flavour.
Wine is cultivated in stainless steel tanks.
This technological procedure is used for bottled wines in which aroma and quality are of chief importance.
It is perfect for white aromatic varieties, such as Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zelen, Malvasia, and Yellow Muscat.

FERMENTATION ON GRAPE BERRIES TO THE COMPLETION OF FERMENTATION AND AGEING IN OAK BARRELS

Using this method, we cultivate a mature wine line with richer extracts or flavours.
We pick a vineyard where grapes are organically produced. We choose locations where the probability of vine diseases is lower and support organic production. These are locations on hills where the Vipava bora and breeze blow.
We pick fully ripened grapes, crush them into mash, and let controlled fermentation take place in stainless steel tanks until the sugar is completely converted into alcohol, which takes up to five weeks.
This is followed by pressing and pouring into barrique barrels in which the wine ages for three years.
Such wines lose a little of their fruitiness, but gain a more complex aroma, flavour, harmony, and a richer finish of pleasant ripe tannins obtained from tannins in wood and grape tannins.
If wine sits on its own lees for several years, the physical and chemical stability of wine improves, which means that wine does not have to be additionally processed before bottling.
Such wines are suitable for more sophisticated buyers who look for additional dimensions in wine and are gourmets, as in combination with the right food, we can enjoy first-class culinary pleasures.

METHOD FOR WINES MADE FROM DRIED GRAPES

Sweet wines are our house speciality. However, we do not produce them every year, only when the vintage is good when grapes can be over-ripened.
Drying the grapes in wooden crates in the Vipava bora means that they lose water and all substances are concentrated in the berries.
Grape berries contain as many as 800 different natural substances: these include sugars, acids, glycerol, higher alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, esters, terpenes, nitrogen substances, vitamins and minerals, etc.
With drying, the dry matter—the wine extract that makes wine thicker and with fuller flavour—is concentrated. Berries are dried to the desired value of 33–35 Brix, i.e. 300–400 g of sugar per litre of must. Such dry grapes, which look like raisins, are crushed, pressed, and fermented. Fermentation is usually long, as higher alcohols prevent quick fermentation.
Wines cultivated this way are similar to liqueurs: sweet and strong, special and precious. They are the extract of the best—only slightly more than 80 litres of wine are produced from 2,000 kg of grapes.

PRODUCTION OF SPARKLING WINES FOLLOWING THE TRADITIONAL METHOD (fermentation in the bottle)

For this procedure, grapes must have certain quality parameters: a suitable sugar content and suitable acids.
Therefore, the preparation for the harvest of grapes is crucial for sparkling wines, we need to pick grapes on the right day.
The basic wine is produced according to the same procedure as with the traditional method. Sugar and yeast are added at a later stage. Then wine is bottled. Fermentation takes place in each bottle separately, making each bottle of sparkling wine unique.
Fermentation in the bottle takes several months. Then the wine can sit on fine lees for several more months, which improves the quality and increases the price of a bottle.
When we decide that the bottles are suitable for sale, they are shaken for the sediment to settle in the neck of the bottle. We remove it by freezing the neck and opening the bottle. In this procedure, the pressure pushes the frozen neck and the sediment out. What remains in the bottle is pure and clear sparkling wine. The bottles are recapped with a cork, and the basket and the bottle are equipped with a label.
Producing a unique bottle of sparkling wine takes a lot of time and knowledge.