Image thumbnail

Production

PRODUCTION

Our winemaking process begins in the vineyards where we produce the GRAPE, which is the raw material in the making of our wines.

For that purpose, we take care of the vine for nine months in order to obtain the best bunches with the right degree of sugar. During this time, we do all kinds of work on the vine: pruning, stripping, defoliation, green pruning, thinning. These tasks are carried out taking into account the state of the vine: sprouting, foliation, flowering, fertilization and fructification, veraison and ripening.

Harvesting is usually carried out at the end of September or beginning of October. The harvest is manually carried out in order to produce quality wines. And we harvest manually and in boxes the wines selected for quality and signature wines. With manual harvesting the bunches are chosen, so that only those that have the characteristics we want are vinified. We even carry out a manual selection of bunches in the winery itself by expert hands on the selection table.
Entrance of the grape into the cellar. The tractors with the trailers that transport the grapes arrive at the winery, where before entering, quality control processes are carried out by the Regulatory Councils of the Designation of Origin. Once they enter the winery, controls are carried out by the enologist to ensure that the grapes entering the winery are correct, with the acidity and specific degree for each type of wine. Also, grapes are examined so that they do not have any disease that may affect the wine’s quality.
Grape preparation for vinification: when it enters the winery, it is unloaded from the trailer and passes through a sorting table that eliminates those bunches that do not meet the established requirements. From there, it falls into the destemmer that separates the GRAPE from the stalk. The objective is to break the grape as little as possible in order to carry out semi-carbonic fermentations where, when the grape grains are put into a tank, the weight of some grapes on others self-presses the grains that allow the must to escape.

After preparing the grape, we are ready to begin the vinification process itself. At this point, we are going to carry out the pumping over, the operation of extracting the must from the lower part of the tank, elevating it and dropping it on the layer of skins located at the top. These are carried out two or three times a day for three to six days before starting the alcoholic fermentation. It helps us to extract aromas and color from the skins. The force of the fall facilitates the dissolution of oxygen.

Alcoholic fermentation is one of the most important moments of red winemaking. We continue with the pumping over to encourage the yeast activity. Then, we control the temperature of the tanks to have complete fermentations without setbacks. By the action of the yeasts, the chemical reaction of fermentation is produced, where the sugar is transformed into alcohol. This process takes about four to five days, since our tanks do not exceed 10,000 kg capacity.

After this, we carry out the devatting. We only transfer the wine to another deposit. Once the process is finished, the remaining skins and pulp are pressed, since there is still a lot of liquid inside. We separate the free-run wines and the pressed wines.

Second fermentation or malolactic fermentation, produced by bacteria that transform the wine’s malic acid into lactic acid. Depending on the type of young, quality or signature wine, it is done in storage or barrel.

Aging in barrels: we carry out an aging work. For that purpose, we use barrels made with oak wood, both French and American. Hence, achieving a more balanced and round wine.

After the years or months established for each type of our wine have passed, the wine will be ready for bottling. Once bottled, the wine has not finished its production process. It should remain longer in the bottle where it is rounded in the mouth. Those wines destined to aging are kept in bottles to define the aromas and flavors sought. This resting time may vary depending on the type of wine

We are now ready to prepare each wine with its label and capsule. And prepare it for the long run where our consumers will uncork and enjoy the well-done work and will find those expressions that our wines offer.

THE PROCESS

The wine’s production process goes from the fields to the bottle’s presentation on the table

Bodegas Hercal

Step One

Working in the fields: pruning, stripping, green pruning

Step Two

Harvest: hand-picked by expert harvesters

Step Three

Wine making, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Aging in barrel and then in bottle, depending on the type of wine.

Step Four

We package and prepare the product so that it reaches the final consumer.

Bodegas Hercal
X