Sunday, September 1, 2013

Oenology - The Science of Wine Making


Oenology is the process of making wines starting from choosing the grapes up to the last step of bottling the processed wine.

In wine making, the important thing that dictates the quality of the wine is the quality of grapes used.

Oenology is the science of making wines and the person who makes wine is called a winemaker or a vintner.

Factors that affect the quality of wine: 

  • soil acidity
  • mineral content
  • the kind of weather when the grapes were grown
  • the time the grapes were harvested, and;
  • the manner the fruits were pruned

In the northern hemisphere, grapes are harvested starting from the early part of September and the early part of November 

In the southern hemisphere harvest time starts in the middle part of February up to the early part of March.

Vitis vinifera is the most common species of wine which include practically all species coming from the Europen region.