Page 88 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 88
he Culture of Wine in Slovenia
When wine has matured, we put it into stainless steel vessels or immediately bottle it. The
aim of this is for the wine to stop changing and thus we talk about stabilisation. However,
wine is alive. The processes taking place in bottled wine are very slow. Wine ages more slowly,
but still changes even in a reductive state. With this, the primary varietal aromas disappear,
as do the fruit and flower aromas, but new aromatic substances develop, in particular the
aroma of leather, forest soil, tobacco and so on. In red wines, the ageing processes appear
more slowly due to the reductive activities of polyphenols. Phenols can never be stabilised,
they are always binding to each other, becoming insoluble and forming sediment. When
in mature red bottled wines we can see brownish deposits and sediment on the inside of
the bottle, we must not be disturbed by this. From such a bottle, lying in a basket, wine
must be poured very carefully.
Perhaps the reader will be under the impression that in comparison to other components I
have spent too much time describing aromatic substances, but we must be aware that there
are hundreds of them and that we still do not know much about them. I have mentioned
only a few main groups. Aromatic substances give wine its varietal character, maturity and
character. I wish the reader to learn wherein lies the richness and diversity of wine. We
must know that wine is a living substance in a constant process of change: that young wine
is still cloudy, wild and fresh, that with maturity it gains finesse and harmony, and that
wine ages and dies. The wealth of various substances that are constantly changing enable
it to do so. When we have learnt this and follow wine from its birth to its old age, we can
respect it and behave respectfully towards it.
We have not yet exhausted the diversity and richness of wine: there is also the making of
wine from overripe grapes and the barrique method.
The components of wine made
from overripe grapes
After they have ripened, grapes can be left on the vine for quite some time. Different
concentrations appear of substances such as sugar and aromatic substances. During the
overripe phase, grapes are also infected by noble rot – Botrytis cinerea.
Grapes are normally picked when fully mature, i.e. when the sugar content is no longer
rising and the stalk starts to become woody. The time this happens differs from variety to
variety. There are early, moderately early, moderately late and late varieties. But even when
fully mature, different varieties of grapes have a different concentration of sugars. If during
fine weather we leave grapes on the vine for a longer time, the components change due to
water evaporation, resulting in a greater concentration of the other substances. A different
character of wine is obtained in this way. There are various degrees of overripe grapes.
Slovenia’s Wine Act divides special quality wines into the following categories with respect
to the maturity of grapes at harvest and the ageing of wine:
84
When wine has matured, we put it into stainless steel vessels or immediately bottle it. The
aim of this is for the wine to stop changing and thus we talk about stabilisation. However,
wine is alive. The processes taking place in bottled wine are very slow. Wine ages more slowly,
but still changes even in a reductive state. With this, the primary varietal aromas disappear,
as do the fruit and flower aromas, but new aromatic substances develop, in particular the
aroma of leather, forest soil, tobacco and so on. In red wines, the ageing processes appear
more slowly due to the reductive activities of polyphenols. Phenols can never be stabilised,
they are always binding to each other, becoming insoluble and forming sediment. When
in mature red bottled wines we can see brownish deposits and sediment on the inside of
the bottle, we must not be disturbed by this. From such a bottle, lying in a basket, wine
must be poured very carefully.
Perhaps the reader will be under the impression that in comparison to other components I
have spent too much time describing aromatic substances, but we must be aware that there
are hundreds of them and that we still do not know much about them. I have mentioned
only a few main groups. Aromatic substances give wine its varietal character, maturity and
character. I wish the reader to learn wherein lies the richness and diversity of wine. We
must know that wine is a living substance in a constant process of change: that young wine
is still cloudy, wild and fresh, that with maturity it gains finesse and harmony, and that
wine ages and dies. The wealth of various substances that are constantly changing enable
it to do so. When we have learnt this and follow wine from its birth to its old age, we can
respect it and behave respectfully towards it.
We have not yet exhausted the diversity and richness of wine: there is also the making of
wine from overripe grapes and the barrique method.
The components of wine made
from overripe grapes
After they have ripened, grapes can be left on the vine for quite some time. Different
concentrations appear of substances such as sugar and aromatic substances. During the
overripe phase, grapes are also infected by noble rot – Botrytis cinerea.
Grapes are normally picked when fully mature, i.e. when the sugar content is no longer
rising and the stalk starts to become woody. The time this happens differs from variety to
variety. There are early, moderately early, moderately late and late varieties. But even when
fully mature, different varieties of grapes have a different concentration of sugars. If during
fine weather we leave grapes on the vine for a longer time, the components change due to
water evaporation, resulting in a greater concentration of the other substances. A different
character of wine is obtained in this way. There are various degrees of overripe grapes.
Slovenia’s Wine Act divides special quality wines into the following categories with respect
to the maturity of grapes at harvest and the ageing of wine:
84
