Pelee Island Winery Fieldtrip

Pelee Island Winery Fieldtrip Research Paper
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Pelee Island Winery Fieldtrip Research Paper
Introduction
The production tour at Pelee Island Winery allows visitors to see how the winery produces its award-winning wines. The tour is designed to be both educational and informative, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the winemaking process. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the guide throughout the tour. The tour provides a unique opportunity to learn about the winemaking process and the History of Pelee Island Winery (Mazurek, 2022). Visitors also have the chance to taste some of the wines produced at the winery and purchase their favorites to take home. Overall, the production tour at Pelee Island Winery is an informative and enjoyable experience for anyone interested in wine production and the unique terroir of Pelee Island.
Discussion
Part 1
Receiving Area
The receiving area, crush pad, and sorting and pressing stages are critical steps in the winemaking process. The grapes are harvested, sorted, and processed in these stages before being fermented and aged. Different grape varieties are treated differently during the sorting and pressing process. For example, red grapes are typically sorted and pressed with the skins still on, while white grapes are pressed immediately after sorting. This is because the skins of red grapes contain tannins, which give red wines their structure and complexity. In addition to treating different grape varieties differently, winemakers may use different techniques during the sorting and pressing process to achieve specific characteristics in the final wine product. For example, some winemakers may use whole cluster pressing, where the entire grape cluster is pressed together, to extract a lighter juice with fewer tannins (Ahren & Embleton, 2021). Other winemakers may use partial skin contact, where the grape skins are left in contact with the juice for a short period, to extract a slightly darker juice with more tannins and flavor.
Fermentation Area
The juice extracted from the grapes is turned into wine in fermentation. This process is critical in determining the wine's final flavor, aroma, and structure. Other musts or grape juices are treated differently during fermentation to achieve specific characteristics in the final wine product. For example, red wines are often fermented with the skins still on, while white wines are typically fermented without the skins. This is because the skins of red grapes contain tannins and pigments that give the wine its color, structure, and complexity. By fermenting the red wine with the skins on, the wine will have more tannins and deeper color. After visiting the fermentation area of champagne in the vicinity, I found that the fermentation process of champagne is a complex and carefully controlled process that involves a second fermentation in the bottle. We witnessed that after the initial fermentation of the base wine, a mixture of yeast and sugar, called the liqueur de tirage, is added to the wine before it is bottled. This causes a second fermentation to occur, producing carbon dioxide ...