page_title: Touraine-Amboise
section_title: Red wine-making
hierarchical_section_title: Touraine-Amboise / Wine-growing area / Cultivation methods / Wine-making and maturing / Red wine-making
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Offene Gärbehälter zur Rotweinbereitung aus Fiberglas. Der Tresterkuchen wird mit Unterstützung einer Pumpe mit Most überschwallt um eine maximale Farbausbeute zu erzielen. English: Composite (polyester/epoxy - fiberglass) fermentation tanks for red winemaking. Unit capacity: 7 m3. The «&#160;cap&#160;» of black grape skins that forms on a fermenting wine being pushed down by pumping. Photo taken in Crézancy-en-Sancerre, Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France. Français&#160;: Cuves de fermentation alcoolique en matériau composite (polyester/polyépoxyde - fibre de verre). Capacité unitaire&#160;: 7 m3. Le maître de chai est en train de mélanger le «&#160;chapeau&#160;» de marc au jus de raisin noir par pompage, deux fois par jour pendant une semaine (cuvaison). Au final, on obtiendra du vin rouge. Photo prise à Crézancy-en-Sancerre (Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France) lors du Rallye des Vignobles.
context_page_description: Touraine-Amboise is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for in the Loire Valley wine region in France. It is situated within the wider Touraine AOC wine appellation. It is produced by ten communes bordering both sides of the River Loire. To their west lies the town of Amboise with its famous royal château. Since its separation from the Touraine AOC in 1954, it has constituted an AOC in its own right. Annual production stands at 9,000 hectolitres of wine, spread between red, rosé, and still white wines. Effervescent wines are also produced within this AOC's boundaries, but they are not entitled to use the Touraine-Amboise appellation, belonging instead to the Touraine appellation.
context_section_description: The grapes are harvested, either manually or by machine, when they are fully ripe. Sometimes grapes that have been harvested manually are sorted, either on the vines or at a sorting table on the wine-maker's premises, to ensure that rotten or insufficiently ripe grapes are removed. Grapes that have been harvested manually are usually crushed, then transferred to a tank. Pre-fermentation cold maceration is sometimes carried out. Alcoholic fermentation can then begin, normally after the addition of yeast. The next stage is the extraction of polyphenols (tannins and anthocyanins) and other chemical constituents of the grapes. In the past this was carried out by a process called pigeage, which involved repeatedly pushing the floating cap of grape solids back down into the fermenting juice. Now, however, extraction is normally brought about by a series of remontages. This involves pumping the juice from the bottom of the tank, then pouring it over the cap of grape solids to wash out the grapes' distinctive constituents. The temperature for alcoholic fermentation can be varied, but the normal average temperature at the height of fermentation is between 28 and 35 degrees Celsius. If the naturally generated temperature is too low, chaptalization may be carried out. This practice is subject to external regulations. Once alcoholic fermentation has finished, the liquid is removed from the tank and separated into free-run wine and press wine. Malolactic fermentation may take place next, but is dependent on temperature. The wine is drawn off and stored in barrels or vats to be matured.  The maturing process takes several months (6 to 24 months), after which the wine is fined, filtered and bottled.
caption: Fermentation tanks
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