Before discussing how the wine making industry has impacted society, let’s first understand how wine is actually made and processed. The first step in making wine is harvesting the grapes. Vineyards are located all over the world, each one with a unique taste and distinct variation. Precise timing in harvesting grapes is very important due to its effect on the grape composition. Premature grapes result in thin, low-alcohol wines whereas late harvesting results in high-alcohol and

Wine Consumption—gallons 552,763,000 3 9.5%

Wine Production—gallons 533,596,000 4 7.2%

low-acid wines. After the grapes are picked, they are sent to the winery where they are prepared by either being crushed or pressed and the solid is separated from the juices. Next comes the alcoholic fermentation where the first flavors are produced, then follows the maloactic fermentation process. Red wines are fermented in large steel or wood containers where yeast begins to naturally form under the correct temperature. Light red wines spend two or three days in this step however, the class full red wines may take two to three weeks. White wines are fermented with special cultured yeast at the minimum of a month. After fermenting, the wines must be allowed to mature in which the wine smoothes out. The flavor is strongly influenced in this step. Red wines are known to mature for three or four years. However, whites can be quickly bottled and do not take as long to mature due to their low tannin content. The last step in wine making is bottling. Determining the best time to bottle wine requires skill and is key to the finalization of the whole process of creating a delicious bottle of wine. The longer a wine matures the more character it has but when allowed to mature too long, the fruity taste is ruined. It is evident that making wine involves more than extracting the juices from grapes. The techniques of each vineyard differ and the best ones have researched the best grape selection, temperature, and systems of harvesting, preparing, fermenting, and bottling wine (Century Wine).

CATEGORY VOLUME WORLD RANKING PERCENT OF WORLD

(1) This ranking reflects the standing in 1999 of the 25 largest wine-consuming and wine-producing countries. (Wine Institute).

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