Acknowledgements
The successful development and compilation of this paper took the involvement of many parties. I highly thank every person who gave his/her support during the development of this paper, especially my family for the advice and moral support. Their individual or combined support really went a long way in ensuring my success in the work. The study would have been impossible without their inputs.
Origins of vine and grape
Approximately 24,000 varieties of vine have been identified, and only 150 are widely used with only 9 being considered for the production of classical wines . Vines belong to the class vitis in the family of vitaceae, vitidaceae and ampelidaceae within the botanical order rhamnales, which also includes Rhamnaceae and Leeaceae families. The genus vitis has two subgenera i.e. euvitis, the true grape and muscadinia whose fruit is called the Muscadine .
There is no certain origin of vine even though its age its fossil seeds and leafs deposits have been traced in Palaeocene and Eocene. The earliest annotated plantations were discovered in Iraq and Georgia as early as 6000BC. According to speculations, grapes were possibly used together with rice as early as 7500 BC. In the western countries, vine cultivation is a very ancient art. The vine is the source from which different varieties of grape were derived from before Europeans came to North America. Viticulture was carried out in large scale to supply grapes for wine making in the early days. Grape seeds have also been discovered with mummies in Egyptian tombs dated 3000 years old. The growing of grape can be traced in mosaics of the fourth Dynasty of Egypt (2440 BC) and later years. The Egyptians were well conversant with the use of wine and according to their traditions; this was revealed to them by Osiris. Their main vineyards were along the banks of river Nile .
Viticulture, the cultivation of wine, was practiced in Palestine in the early years. The phoebians carried a variety of wine grapes to Greece, which then found their way to Rome and Southern France the Chinese ancient records indicate that the Chinese had vineyards of ancient grapes 1000BC. Vitis vinifera was introduced into china during the second century of BC. Viticulture succeeded in Greece during the time of homer. The Greeks introduced viticulture into Italy and for some time, the Romans preferred Grecian wines to their own until the first century of the Christian era when they started favoring their own wine. The variety in cultivating was exceedingly numerous during the time of Virgil. Various methods used in Italy in most cases were identical to those described by Columella and other writers. Viticulture was named “georgics” by the Romans because it was so important in roman life. Bacchus, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, was considered the god of the vine with whom they identified with Dionysus.
Sites of many vineyards have been found in Pompeii with some of them being very large. Numerous paintings of the vine and wine shops have also been found. This shows how the grape was important as a stable food to the people of Pompeii. The grape culture extended rapidly from coast to inland areas moving up the Rhone river valley of France and as far as Moselle and Rhine valleys. The spread of the table and raised grapes continued to the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea and north African countries before the second century after Christ. The grape spread virtually to all the other parts of the world in the ninetieth century during colonization. Viticulture developed in Madeira and the Canary Islands before it spread to South Africa, Australia and South America. In California USA, the first grapes came from Mexico. This led to the growth and establishment of wine making in California, expanding rapidly between 1860 and 1900.
Viniculture
Grapes look like a small green Christmas tree with tiny needles, white in color and are widely spaced. Behind the needles, we have very tiny round berries. The grapes are initially very hard, but as they ripen, they become soft. Wine grapes have a thick skin which makes them more preferred for wine making. The wine grapes account for over seventy percent of the world’s grape population. A vineyard is a large plantation of grapes on trellises which can be used for making wine or juice. The vineyard is perfectly spaced and is trained up into trellis so that the shoots create some wall of vegetables from which the grapes will grow. Different grapes can survive in different regions depending with climatic conditions of the area. These conditions include the number of days of winter weather, the number of frost-free days, the average rainfall and the average wind conditions. Wine grapes can be planted on the same vineyard with the other varieties of grape if they have similar climatic conditions. There are 5000 types of grapes including hybrids that are a combination of the natural varieties that are selected for various features. In places where there is a shorter growing season, the hybrids are favored.
Grape total output yield varies for different years. It is important to determine the average yield in order to acquire enough barrels and equipment for making wine. For moderately small vineyards, it is conservative to use low yields of about 3 tons per acre even though the yields can be more than this. 165 gallons of juice can be yielded from one ton of wine standard wine barrel contains 60 gallons and a case of gallons contains 2.38 gallons. A half ton of macro bin is great for small scale red wine making. There are no set rules for making a decision whether which red wines bottles that should be aged and which ones should not. Red wine can stay for more than 15 years while white wine stays for a few years due to the tannin factor. Unlike the white wine, Red wine has tannin, and it is this tannin that makes a difference to a wine’s taste when it is aged. The seeds and skin of wine grapes contains tannic acid and this lends the mouth-puckering astringent sensation associated with red wines. The process of oxidation is slowed down by the presence of tannin in the wine. This means that red wines will benefit far more from being aged than the white wines. The factors that affect aging include the type of grape, production methods, storage conditions and your own personal preferences .
Wines should have appropriate storage conditions for successful aging. Dark, damp and cool conditions are the most preferred for ageing red wine. If the temperature is too high, wine will age quickly, and it will fail to develop complexities that will correct ageing conditions. Many red wines change color during the process of ageing.
Viticulture
Terroir is a specify of a place including soil in the region, climate, the weather, the aspect of vineyards and any other aspect that can be used to describe the unique characteristics of a vineyard site as defined by the French wine tasters. This Terroir impacts greatly on the consistent and unique qualities to the wine made from that vineyard. Terroir has three main components; soil, climate and cultivar. The influence of climate, soil and cultivar is very significant in relation to vine behavior and berry composition. The impacts of soil and climate are more than those of cultivar. The geology and soil of a vineyard site determines the vine capacity and the balance of vine growth. Grapes can grow anywhere as long as it is not cold throughout the year. The ideal climate for growing grapes can be divided into three components; messo climate, micro climate and macro climate. Messo climate is used to divine small areas. The messo climate of a specified vineyard site has a great influence on susceptibility to spring freezes and ripening of the grapes. Micro climate is the one surrounding a vineyard, and it greatly determines the vine‘s health and productivity and also improve grape quality. Macro defines the climate of a large region. Minimum temperature, maximum temperature, rainfall, humidity and sunshine duration are used to describe the viticulture potential of a macro region. The length of the growing season is very important since the heat accumulating during the growing season will determine whether the grape will ripe successfully or not. The days of full sunlight with temperatures above 100 C are measured in the vineyard site. The grape vine is not very active below this temperature. The growing degree days are calculated using the formula (HT+LT) / 2 - 100 C = GDD where HT is the highest temperature and LT is the lowest temperature. The sum of all GDD is determined. The region suitable for growing grapes should have about 2000GDD. The closer the micro climate to this numbers, the more suitable it is for growing grapes .
Vintage of a wine is used to tell the year in which the grapes were picked. The labels on the bottle show the year on which the wine was made and almost all wines come from a single vintage. Fortified and sparkling wines such as champagne tend to be non vintage. This is due to the fact that they are created from a blend of different vintages aiming at creating a consistent style. The weather affects the vintage of wine greatly. The micro climate of a vine growing areas varies from one year to another and different grape varieties respond to different climatic conditions in their own distinctive way.
Wines taste like sugar because they have a high content of sugar. The wine smells like fermented grapes when opened. The wine should be aged for about 7 years due to the climatic conditions of our place. Wine should be aged at low temperatures of about 100 C. The pairing foods for wine include artisan cheese, charcuterie and meats, fresh breads, olive oil and handcrafted cheese. These foods enhance the taste of wine a lot. Wine grapes rarely taste the same as the wines they make because when eating grapes, we do not eat the skin. The taste of ripe Chardonnay and Pinot noir is quite delicious, intensely sweet and juicier than usual Thompson Seedless table grapes even though they do not show the necessary characteristic green-apple flavors of chardonnay wine and the red fruit flavors commonly experienced in Pinot Noir wine.
White wines should be served chilled while red wines are served at room temperature. The temperature at which you serve your wine greatly affects the taste of the wine. Serving a wine too cold will overshadow its core flavors, as well as its imperfections while serving it hot will make the wine seem dull, flabby and hot with alcohol. White wines can be served at a temperature of about 35o F up to 55o F hence they can be chilled. Red wines are served at temperatures between 55o F to 60o F but due to increased temperatures of about 70o F then it is advisable to refrigerate. Imperfections will start will come out when red wines are served at a temperature above 65o F .
Works Cited
BERRY, C. J. J. "FIRST STEPS IN WINE MAKING." (1960): 4-20.
East Anglian Wine School. 2013. 3rd November 2013 <http://www.eastanglianwineschool.co.uk/hospitality-industry.html>.
Estreicher, Stefan K. "Wine the past 7,400 years." WINE (2004): 4-10.
Podere Valfre. "Technical Information Barbera d’Asti D.O.C.G." (2013): 2-5.
Ribereau-Gayon, Pascal, et al. "The Microbiology of Wine and Vinifications." Handbook of Enology, Vol 1 (2006): 15-80.
