We are sad harvest is over, but that means the next vintage is closer to being ready! But how do the grapes get into the bottle? Keep reading to learn more about the next steps of the process.

After the grapes are harvested wineries work to sort, crush and destem the grapes. Sorting gets rid of the leaves, stems and damaged fruit. Crushing and destemming machines break the skin of the grapes, then gets rid of the stems. The juice and skin mixture, must, is then ready for the next step!

This is where the process for red and white wines start to look different. White grapes are usually pressed immediately to separate the juice from the skins. While red grapes usually sit and ferment with the skins and juice to develop the color and tannins in the wine, then they are pressed.

After that comes fermentation. Take a look at the graphic below to see the difference in this step for reds and whites. 

Now it is all up to the winemaker. This is where they continue to work to develop the juice into the wine they will bottle.

The final step is filtration, if the winery chooses to, and then bottling for all wines!

Which step is your favorite part of the process?