WINE MAKING
OUR WINES ARE INSPIRED BY GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY
Our wines are All Natural and Sustain-ably farmed by 5th Generation Farmers. We do not manipulate our wines with enzymes, we make our wines the way Nature intended......Taste and Blend using different varietals and barrels to create the perfect union of Aroma and Flavor.
We believe great wines come from great soil, so we strive to be conscientious stewards of the land, protecting our vineyard soils through practices that are certified sustainable.Cal Wine Trading Co. is at the forefront in the wine business. We offer the wines that our clients Want and Need that have High Quality, Consistent Taste and High Margins for Profit. We create wines from our resources to help our clients Enrich Their Bottom Line.
We are able and ready to replicate any profiles that YOU, our customer, need and want.
Our wine-making starts with the selection of the Appellation, Vineyard and Varietal into its fermentation all the way through bottling of the finished wine.
​
We harvest our grapes either mechanically or by hand. The decision to harvest grapes is typically made by the winemaker and informed by the level of sugar (called °Brix), acid (TA or Titratable Acidity as expressed by tartaric acid equivalents) and pH of the grapes. Other considerations include ripeness, berry flavor, tannin development (seed color and taste). Overall disposition of the grapevine and weather forecasts are definitely taken into account. Then, we de-stem and crush by gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to liberate the contents of the berries.
​
We blend to achieve the desired taste profile. The winemaker can adjust the wines by blending wines from different varietals and barrels. These adjustments can be as simple as adjusting acid or tannin levels, to as complex as blending different varieties or vintages to achieve a consistent taste.
By doing all of this we have the ability to replicate any profiles that YOU, our customers, need and want.​
​
Finally, the wine moves into what the French call “élevage.” Élevage is like a fancy way of saying, “waiting around.” That said, a lot happens in the winery while we wait for wine to cure into something great.
​
​Wines go into barrels, bottles, or storage tanks. Some wines will wait for five years before being released; others, just a few weeks. During this time, wines are racked, tested, tasted, stirred (lees stirring), and often blended together to create a final wine.
Also, most red wines (and some white wines – like Chardonnay) go through Malolactic Fermentation (MLF), which is where microbes eat sour acids and produce softer, more buttery acids. So, next time you look at a bottle, think of all the work that went into making it.