Hi my name is konstantin baum i’m a Master of wine and when i first got Interested in wine i read a lot about The process of wine making but only when I worked at wineries and made my own Wine here in my basement i realized how The process actually works so it’s Really something that you have to do and Experience in order to understand it so This year i’m going to make a red one And i’m going to take you with me on the Right so that you can learn together With me so Let’s go [Music] 2021 wasn’t an easy vintage in germany It was quite wet and cold and that means That not all of the grapes look really Great some of them are perfect but Others look like this with shriveled Berries on there and they also smell a Little bit Of vinegar which definitely isn’t a good Sign so i will have to select the hell Out of those grapes in order to get some Decent wine And i’m back so let’s make some wine now [Music] In a not so great year like 2021 the Most important task for the winemaker is To do a very thorough selection if you Select the best berries from those Bunches you’ll still be able to make a Really good wine even if the year isn’t
Great so i’m going to make sure that the Best berries from those bunches are Going into the wine and the rest is just Being discarded so i put my whole Harvest into this box and i will now do A selection of the berries i will throw Out all of the shriveled berries like This one for example and the damaged Ones like this one because this smells Like vinegar already and i will only Keep the good and healthy looking Berries like that one and put them into My wine wineries sometimes have machines For that but many still do that Selection by hand as well last year when I made my own wine all of the bunches Looked great so i didn’t really have to Do a selection this year it’s completely Different i had to be very thorough in The vineyard and now i’ll have to do Another selection which is a bit unfair If the vintage isn’t great the work for The winemaker is often more difficult But that’s the way it is [Music] Some of these sponges really smell like Vinegar and that happens when the berry Skin gets damaged by insects hail or Rain and you really want to make sure That these flavors don’t get into the Wine because you don’t want your wine to Smell like vinegar this was a lot of Work but i now separated the good from The bad and the ugly you could obviously
Also just buy grapes in the supermarket They are all perfect so you wouldn’t Have to do a selection but those grapes Are generally not vetis vinifera grape Varieties so it’s better to get proper Vitis vinifera grape varieties from a Wine maker as they produce more Concentrated more aromatic more intense Juice and wine these grapes are actually Pinot noir grapes that i got from a very Talented winemaker called sveniga you Can see that by looking at the shape of The grape itself it looks a little bit Like a pine cone that’s where the name Pinot comes from but that’s the theory If you look at some other bunches you’ll Soon realize that they don’t all look Like pine cones at all pinot noir has One of the greatest grape varieties in The world but it also has the reputation For being notoriously difficult to grow And vinify so i really set myself up for Failure especially considering that this Was not a great vintage for red wines in Germany but i would still try the main Difference now between the production of White wines and red wines is that you Leave the red wine in contact with the Skins after you press the grapes and Today i’m going to press the grapes with My feet so Let’s do this this is really weird but It’s the traditional way to press grapes So
Let’s jump in there All right This is pretty cold but it feels nice And i can already see the juices flowing I just need a little bit of music [Music] Or something more traditional [Music] I’ll stop doing that i promise in some Parts of the world they still do this on A regular basis they do a valley for Example and the big advantage here is That you can extract quite a lot of Color and flavor from the grape skins Without hurting the pips and stalks too Much and it feels really amazing i’m Pretty sure you’re wondering about this So yes i washed my feet before getting In there i could have destemed all of The grapes but i wanted to leave them in There because they can add structure and Flavor to the wine plus it would have Been too much work to distem all the Grapes by hand so Let’s see how that turns out you might Wonder how you can see whether the Grapes are actually ripe you can Obviously taste them if they are Flavorful and sweet they tend to be ripe And you can also see that the pips are Slightly brownish which is a good sign For maturity of the grapes last year When i made my white one i decided to Ferment it spontaneously which means
That you’re not adding any yeast this is Definitely possible because there’s Yeast everywhere on your skins on the Berry skins everywhere but i chickened Out in the end because my fermentation Didn’t really get going so i added some Of those cultured yeast this time i will Go the easy route and i will just add Some of my friends the yeasty boys to The must i’m not 100 sure what the Recipe was but i think it doesn’t really Matter all that much i got roughly half A liter of water here which is a little Warmer than room temperature and i will Add one tablespoon of yeast to it And then i will add some of the juice to It just to give those yeast something to Munch on when they get going and then I’ll just stir it up i’ll just stir it a Little bit Let’s see so now i just have to pour the Must into this baby i invested in the Stainless steel fermentation tank this Is not necessary you can also just Ferment it in there but this is a little Bit more hygienic i also would recommend That you clean everything meticulously That you use so you should use at least Hot water in order to get all of the Germs out [Music] You can see that the yeast are starting To do that thing because there’s a Little bit of co2 coming to the top so
Now i’m just going to add this to the Must And now i’m just going to close the lid In order to make sure that fruit flies Stay out of the wine you always need an Airlock like this one in order to make Sure that the co2 can get out but fruit Flies in the air can’t get in and you Also see when the fermentation starts This will start moving yeast cells do Like it when it’s a little warmer and Masala is pretty cold so i wrapped this Tank in an electric blanket to give it a Little bit more warmth i just hope that This will not malfunction and burn down My cellar and my house obviously it’s Been a day since i put the must into the Fermenter and there’s not much going on In there so i’m getting a little bit Anxious this part of the process is Really crucial if fermentation doesn’t Start everything could go bad so i’m Trying to heat up the fermenter a little Bit the room temperature here in my Cellar is 16 degrees celsius and i Really want to get the juice to 20 25 Degrees celsius for fermentation to kick Off properly so yeast need a slightly Higher temperature shouldn’t get higher Than 30 degrees celsius though so you Really want to be in between 20 and 30 Degrees celsius to get the right level Of extraction get fermentation going but Also not overheat the must
Do you hear this That’s music to my ears the fermentation Has really started and the temperature Has gone up quite a bit so i’m at 26 to 28 degrees celsius right now i’m Actually trying to cool down the Fermentation a little bit because i Don’t want the yeast to get stressed and Aromatic expression to get a little bit Cooked so i’m trying to get it down to 25 degrees celsius roughly but this is Going really well i actually constructed Something here in order to heat up the Tank a little bit as one of those Electric blankets a small one tied to The tank in order to regulate the Temperature a little bit but as soon as The fermentation is really going well i Don’t really need to add any heat Because the yeast themselves They produce heat while producing Alcohol and producing co2 as well the Co2 is actually what is coming through This little pipe you need to make sure That the room is well ventilated where You have your fermentation going because You don’t really want to suffocate co2 Can be poisonous if the concentration is Too high so you need to make sure that There is some air coming through on a Regular basis in order to get the co2 Out of the room so in red wine making The management of the cap is really Important you want to make sure that
This the grape skins get mixed up with The juice on the regular basis you want To do that two to three times a day in Order to make sure that you extract as Many tenants and flavor compounds from The skins as possible and you also want To make sure that this stays wet because Otherwise it might turn bad as well that Might be a bacterial infection so you Just need to basically kind of Push it down into the juice you could Use your hand but like using Something that you clean can clean Properly Is maybe a better idea in a real winery This would be much harder work i Remember doing punch downs in new Zealand on pinot noir fermenters and i Remember really pushing hard to get Through this thick and compact cap on Those big fermenters the extraction Method that i’m using right here it Would be called punch-downs and this is Quite common for pinot noir you could Also do pump overs where you extract Some of the wine down here and pump it Over to the top in order to get pretty Much the same result now that the Fermentation has started i don’t really Have to do much i just have to check on It on a regular basis make sure that the Temperature stays between 20 and 30 Degrees celsius and then i punched on The cap two to three times per day
Do you hear this You will hear that sound for the next Few videos in the background for sure I’m going to do a second part where i Talk about all of the other steps that Are involved in wine making until the Wine ends up in the bottle but i thought It would be nice to finish this video by Tasting this wine that i made a year ago A riesling that i made from grapes that I harvested myself and then turned into Wine myself i want to see whether the Wine has improved over the year or not Last year i actually cleaned a lot of Bottles that i emptied before wines that I enjoyed and this is i think the bottle Of the phr sassy syrah a great great Syrup from california if i ever make my Own wine on a commercial scale then i Will put everything in this bottle i Think i like that shape last time i Decided not to add anything apart from Yeast and i didn’t add any so2 so the Wine is probably not as stable as it Would be if i would have added so2 but i Think it’s still okay i opened a bottle Of this wine a few weeks ago and that Bottle wasn’t as good as this one this Is really beautiful it smells of green Apple there’s a little bit of pineapple As well you also have some yeasty Flavors coming through this wine was not Filtered so you still have a little bit Of yeast sediment in the bottle which
Protects the wine a little bit from Oxygen And adds obviously to the creaminess and Texture I harvested really early last year and The wine is still quite Quite grippy has a lot of acidity lots Of freshness not a lot of body so it’s Quite light and fresh and vibrant But it’s nice i like it i mean it’s not A great wine by any stretch but it’s Pretty good considering that i made it Myself here in my center with the most Basic methods you could imagine i mean Look at this color that’s Quite weird it’s copper colored or Golden It is orange gold so yeah it’s a weird Color definitely i hope you enjoyed this Video i learned quite a lot about wine Making again i hope you did learn Something as well if you like this video Then please like it down here subscribe To my channel if you haven’t done so Already my question of the day is have You ever had homemade wine did you make It yourself did someone else make it What were your experiences please Comment down below I’m going to clean this mess because my Tablecloth is really sticky icky egg and Tonight i’m going to drink my own wine Whatever you do stay thirsty bye [Music]
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