Yunding Ranch

Chapter 321 Picking and Destemming
It has been a long time since the ranch made wine. Although the previous tools can still be used, the assembly line has been dismantled.Now, everything has to start from scratch.

As Tony said, this is the first year the ranch has made wine and everything is experimental.No one knows what the quality of the wine will be, or how the output of the wine will be, or even whether a qualified Pinot Noir can be produced. Therefore, the ranch is not in a hurry to install the assembly line equipment for the time being.

Lily looked at Lu Li with some concern, "Fourteen, today's two procedures are very cumbersome and extremely important. Isn't it a waste of help if we come here?"

However, Lu Li laughed, "This is a test of skill, not technique, but carefulness and patience. You heard what Tony said just now, we just need to slow down and take our time. In fact, there is no questionable."

This is absolutely telling the truth, "Believe me, if I'm worried, I won't get involved. I don't want to be a prodigal." Lu Li joked jokingly.

Lily thought about it seriously, and found that what Lu Li said made sense, she couldn't help but nodded lightly, relaxed a little, and began to tease, "It seems that we need to be careful today, even more careful."

Everyone started working one after another, and Lu Li was no exception. This job was far more complicated and detailed than imagined.

It is not easy to distinguish grapes that are tightly hugged together. It is even more difficult to pay attention to the length of grape stems without damaging the skin.

Lu Li finally understood why those senior grape farmers were so rare, it was actually a matter of touch.

Because human beings are not machines after all, it is impossible to make careful calculations every time the scissors are cut. Even for the most experienced professionals, the length of grape stems is bound to change. Each winery's wines will have an important reason for nuanced differences.

In order to avoid damaging the grape skins, Lu Li inevitably moved a little farther when he cut the scissors, and the grape stems left behind were relatively long, and the accumulation of small amounts made a lot. It is estimated that after this batch of wine is brewed, the tannins will be heavier and the sourness will also be less. will be heavier.

Grape stalks that connect the grape grains are rich in tannins, but this kind of tannin is slightly different from the type of grapes. It is strong in astringency, and relatively rough. It often has a pungent grassy smell, which can easily damage the wine. Smooth taste.Moreover, if the weight is too much, it is easy to destroy the original overall sense of the wine.

However, this is only one aspect.

On the other hand, in order to enhance the tannin content of the wine and meet the needs of a small number of senior wine lovers who enjoy the sour tannin, some wineries will also specially add grape stems for fermentation together, but the grape stems must be very Mature to avoid the disadvantages mentioned above, and then play its advantages - in addition to water and tannins, grape stems also contain a lot of potassium, which has the function of removing acidity and making the taste more delicate.

Therefore, as Tony said before, they need to remove the grape stems as much as possible, and then put the control in the hands of the winemaker, adding grape stems according to demand, and then adjusting the taste.

But now, they are drifting away from a situation where the error is getting bigger and bigger.Even if the quality of the grapes is very hard thanks to the space spring water, the most likely reason is that the grapes need a longer fermentation time and the tasting period will be longer.

Of course, this is just Lu Li's own guess, a layman's guess.

Fortunately, the first year of wine is to cross the river by feeling the stones, everything is full of uncertainty, the different sowing time of the four regions, what kind of chain reaction will be produced is also unpredictable.Now Lu Li is looking forward to the first batch of wines even more.

After cutting off the grapes one after another, Brandon walked over, collected all the cut grapes, and placed them in front of Tony, Morgan and others, and they began to conduct a second screening.

This is the real professional part.

In front of each of them was a large basket of pure grapes, and they quickly picked them with both hands. The work seemed really simple, much simpler than Lu Li's and the others' work.

In many cases, the grapes are sorted and put into different baskets even without too much identification.Several large baskets of grapes decreased at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it seemed that it didn't take much time to pick all of them.The work of Lu Li and his ten people could hardly keep up with the picking speed of Tony and his five people.

But in fact, that simple movement is extremely difficult.They need to quickly pick out unsuitable grapes in a short period of time, then cut off the overly long grape stems, and confirm that the grapes are not damaged, and at the same time complete the work of inspection and classification.

Especially considering that Lu Li and the others were novices, many grapes had been stemmed for too long, so that they had to re-stem each one, which really slowed down their work.

"Tony, are you going to squeeze the grapes next?" Lu Li looked at his hands, his fingertips were already stained with a layer of purple, which was really childish and brilliant, reminiscent of his childhood. "It's a job we can help with, and believe me, it's what we do best."

Before the wine is officially brewed, all the grapes need to be crushed into grape juice, and then fermented.

Everyone responded to Lu Li's words, "That's it." Randy was the first to yell, "In the movies I watched, they poured grapes into the bathtub, and then stepped on them with bare feet, crushing everything. Grapes, that's good entertainment, and quite romantic, don't all Italian movies like that?"

"At least it's not your feet." Li Yitong's voice of complaining caused everyone to laugh.

Randy grinned and grumbled, "Hey, I don't want to get in that bathtub with you either, okay?"

"I'm not talking about a partner, but athlete's foot." Li Yitong also returned without showing any weakness, and now the laughter became more brilliant, and everyone burst into laughter.

"Don't worry, both of you are prohibited from entering the bathtub." Lu Li concluded his speech, winning whistles and cheers, "Tony, you still have the right to rule the bathtub, don't worry."

Tony laughed dumbfoundedly, and shook his head, "No, none of you are allowed to enter the bathtub." Tony also did as the Romans did, and made a joke, and then explained, "You see, it's fruit wine, not a professional one. Wine grapes, but normal table grapes, so the production process is simple and rough, and you can play freely. To be honest, I also want to step on grapes in the bathtub, but obviously our life is not Disneyland.”

That remark made everyone laugh again, "Professional and regular wine must remove grape seeds during the brewing process. This is a process that cannot be ignored." Tony's simple explanation made everyone suddenly realize.

Grape seeds contain a lot of tannins and oils. The tannins are strong but not delicate enough. The oils in the grape seeds will damage the quality of the wine and seriously affect the taste.During the winemaking process, the grape seeds must never be left behind.If grape stems simply affect the taste, grape seeds can ruin a wine.

Therefore, negligence is absolutely not allowed in this link, and more professional and finer work is required.

However, relatively speaking, the workload is not that much, and Tony and four helpers are responsible, which is enough.The amateur help of laymen is as far as today, and the professional work after that is left to professionals to complete.

Lu Li couldn't help showing a disappointed expression, "I've been looking forward to this session for a long time. You know, it must be very interesting to squeeze and pop each grape. I want to try it myself and squeeze out the grape juice with my own hands. .”

"Grape juice from this kind of grapes is not drinkable." Tony couldn't help being speechless, and emphasized again, causing everyone to laugh, "If you really don't believe it, you can try it now and throw a few into your mouth. Taste and see."

Lu Li was indeed very curious. He knew that wine grapes were very sour and astringent, but on the surface, they were actually not significantly different from table grapes, and the sour taste didn't seem so scary after imagining it in his mind.

After thinking about it, Lu Li directly threw a grape into his mouth. This action made everyone turn their heads to look at him. They frowned involuntarily, paying attention to Lu Li's expression.

Crackling, crunching.

Lu Li started to chew, but heard a strange sound, even a bit like chewing cartilage, which was a bit strange, there was almost no pulp, and it was so small that it seemed that the teeth were not easy to find; and the peel was really thick, He had a wonderful illusion, as if the peel was thicker than the flesh.

What's more, when the teeth are bitten down, the rich juice bursts out, just like bursting fish balls. Compared with the pulp, this juice is really beyond imagination, but the crunching noise can't stop .Lu Li felt like he was chewing rubber - and it wasn't the tasty kind.

There's a bit of fruit, interestingly, not grape, but... raspberry and cherry, with a hint of bitterness that's really indescribable - is it sweet?Or sour?Is it fragrant?Or bitter?
I can't say I like it, but I can't say I hate it, but one thing cannot be denied is that its taste is indeed rich and delicate, with very distinct layers, but mixed together.

Lu Li somewhat understood why the wine made from Pinot Noir is so special.Even if they are still in the state of grapes, they have already shown the difference. However, Lu Li has never tasted the grapes of Romanee-Conti Winery, so he does not know whether the Pinot Noir of Yunding Ranch is better or worse. .

When Lu Li came back to his senses, he realized that everyone's eyes were on him, and he asked inexplicably, "What's wrong?"

Lily, who was sitting next to Lu Li, asked curiously, "How does it taste?"

(End of this chapter)