Sweet Winemaking

The foundation of exceptional sweet wine begins in the vineyard. We carefully monitor our grapes throughout the growing season, testing sugar levels and tasting for optimal flavor development. The perfect moment arrives when the grapes achieve their ideal balance of natural sugars, acidity, and varietal character.

Why timing matters: Harvesting too early results in insufficient natural sugars, while waiting too long can lead to over-ripeness and loss of fresh acidity.

The destemmed grape clusters are gently pressed to extract the precious juice without harsh extraction. The juice is then settled at cold temperatures, allowing natural clarification while preserving important thiols that contribute to the wine's aromatic complexity.

Cold settling benefits: Protects delicate flavor compounds, removes unwanted solids naturally, and sets the stage for controlled fermentation.

The clarified juice is carefully racked to remove sediment, then inoculated with specially selected yeasts chosen to enhance each grape variety's unique characteristics. These yeasts are selected for their ability to ferment slowly and cleanly at low temperatures.

Yeast selection criteria: Temperature tolerance, flavor enhancement properties, and controlled fermentation speed to allow for precise timing of the arrest process.

Throughout the 3-5 week fermentation period, tanks are maintained at a precise 55°F. This cold temperature slows fermentation, allowing us to monitor progress closely and taste regularly to determine the perfect moment to halt the process.

Daily monitoring includes: Temperature checks, sugar level testing, pH monitoring, and most importantly, regular tasting to assess flavor development and remaining sweetness.

When tasting reveals the ideal balance of alcohol development and remaining natural grape sugar, we rapidly cool the tank toward freezing temperatures. This "cold crash" effectively stalls the fermentation process, preserving the perfect sweet-to-alcohol ratio.

The critical moment: This decision requires years of experience and a refined palate to capture the wine at its optimal balance point.

The wine undergoes sterile filtration to remove all remaining yeast cells, ensuring fermentation cannot restart. This filtration process is crucial for wine stability while carefully preserving the natural grape sugars that give the wine its sweetness.

Filtration precision: Removes microscopic yeast cells while retaining the wine's flavor compounds and natural sugars - a delicate balance requiring specialized equipment and expertise.

The now stable wine retains all of its original grape sugars and is ready for bottling. Each bottle contains the pure essence of perfectly ripened grapes, with their natural sweetness preserved through our meticulous arrested fermentation process.

The final result: A sweet wine that showcases the grape's natural character without any artificial additions - truly capturing nature's intended sweetness in liquid form.