I. Vineyards

Because grapes are very sensitive to planting conditions, even if the vineyards are planted very close, the quality of grape raw materials produced by them will vary greatly due to the influence of various microclimates and soil conditions. Therefore, the planting conditions considered here are mainly the comparison between different grape gardens. Yantai and its surrounding 13 counties and cities have a large number of high-quality grape planting bases.

B, grape raw materials

Year: Grape is a perennial. Due to the climate difference in different years, the quality of grape berries in different years will be different, which will lead to the different quality of wine in different years. A good wine grape production year should meet the following requirements: there should be sufficient and even rain in spring and summer when grapes grow and germinate, and sufficient sunshine in autumn when grapes and berries mature, so as to promote the concentration of sugar and other aromatic substances.

It should be noted that the older the year, the better. For example, according to the results of a domestic survey, in the last five years, the grapes produced in 2002 were significantly better than the previous 200 1 year.

C, brewing process

Original wine: Grapes are broken after picking, and different grades of grapes are put into their own stainless steel fermentors for fermentation, and the "original wine" is formed after about one month. The subtle changes of wine at this stage depend on the winemaker's sensitivity to wine intuition and extraordinary talent.

D, aging in oak barrels.

Winery wine and Cabernet Sauvignon must be aged in oak barrels to absorb aromatic substances such as tannic acid from oak itself and complete the process of wine oxidation. Origin of oak barrels: The content of aromatic substances in oak barrels produced in different regions is very different, so the oak barrels used in different grades of wine aging are also different. The oak barrels produced in Alil are the first choice for brewing high-quality wine all over the world, but it is said that Changyu wine in China is a "master" fine wine brewed with high-quality oak barrels produced in this area.

E. Deployment

After the original wine is aged, it needs to be blended, which has a vital impact on the quality of the wine. Experienced winemakers will select the original wine with the best quality and the most potential in the winemaking pool of that year, and then mix it to make the wine more harmonious, rich and changeable. Those wines selected as "masters" should not only meet the high requirements of national standards for high-quality wines in terms of physical and chemical indicators, but also meet the picky winemakers in terms of color, dry extract and sensory indicators of finished wines.

F, bottle storage

After blending, the wine will be put into the bottle. In order to make it complete the final bouquet formation process before leaving the factory without oxygen, it needs a period of bottle storage. The storage time and environment of bottles are also included in the classification index.

● Four steps of wine tasting

The first step: line of sight.

The color of red wine is rich and colorful, with variability and diversity. Red wine produced by different red grape varieties has different colors. Usually, we use a glass without patterns, because it is tasteless, so it will not affect the natural fruit aroma and aroma of wine. In addition, because glass is colorless, we can correctly judge the color of wine. Through the wine glass, you can see that the color of the super Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby red, while the colors of the selected and preferred grades are relatively light.

Step 2: Rotate the wine.

The cup should have high feet, so that the wine in the cup can be slowly shaken to show its characteristics. Remember to avoid holding the cup with your hands, because the temperature of your hands will affect the temperature of the wine.

Step 3: Smell the wine (smell)

Smell the wine without shaking it; The perceived smell is the "first smell" of wine; When the wine glass rotates and shakes before smelling the wine (when rotating and shaking, the wine releases volatile aroma and fragrance after contacting with air), the perceived smell at this time is the "second taste" of the wine, which truly reflects the internal quality of the wine.

Step 4: Tasting wine (sipping)

Finally, the most satisfying part-tasting at the entrance. Take a sip of red wine and let it distribute evenly in your mouth. Don't swallow it yet Let it roll in the mouth, let it fully contact with the cells in the mouth, so as to taste and judge its subtle taste. In this step, you can taste the master wine with soft entrance, round and full taste, lasting aroma, strong sense of structure and strong typicality.

● How to divide foreign wine?

The quality grades of foreign wines are mainly divided into two categories, one is the "old world" model represented by France, and the other is the "new world" model represented by the United States. [Page]

French wine quality is divided into four grades, the highest is named wine AOC controlled by legal origin, the second is high-quality wine VDQS from excellent producing areas, the third is regional table wine VindePays, and the fourth is daily table wine VindeTable. The principle of French wine quality grading system has been implemented all over the world, but each country is different according to its own situation. The "old world" of wine basically adopts the French model. Most of the "New World" wines are also named after the place of origin, but some countries only use the name of the place of origin as a geographical indication for trademark control. Everything is based on the principle of brewing good wine and implementing wine quality classification.

● How to classify domestic wine grades?

At present, there is no unified industry standard for wine quality grading in China, and the implementation standards are not uniform. Most enterprises classify wine quality grades by year, while a few enterprises classify wine quality grades by origin, grape year, variety and cellar age. However, these grading methods only consider one factor affecting the quality of wine, which is one-sided, unable to reflect the quality of wine correctly and comprehensively, and may mislead consumers.

At present, only Changyu Cabernet Sauvignon has achieved a grading system in line with international standards. Let's make an analysis of the different grades of Changyu wine for the time being:

Lord: deep ruby red; The aroma is pure and rich, with ripe fruit aroma, blackcurrant berry aroma, rich oak aroma, harmonious oak aroma and wine aroma, aged aroma, soft entrance, round and full taste and lasting aroma. With a sense of structure and strong typicality.

Collection level: deep ruby red; Pure aroma, elegant and pleasant, with ripe berry aroma, oak aroma and wine aroma harmonious and elegant, with aged aroma, soft entrance, round taste and lasting aroma. It has a skeleton and is typical of the variety.

Specially selected grade: ruby red; The aroma is pure and elegant, fruity, oak and smooth and mellow. It has a structure and is a typical variety.

Preferred grade: ruby red; The aroma is pure and elegant, fruity, oak and harmonious and smooth. It is typical of the variety.