THE WAY WINE IS SUPPOSED TO TASTE
The process:
When the wine must (juice) is exposed to air the indigenous yeast begins to react with the sugar in the grape juice. A biproduct of this chemical reaction is CO2 gas and bubbles form and release over the course of two - three weeks. When the bubbling stops, this means all the sugar was converted into alcohol and your juice is now wine. We cap the glass aging vehicle, or demijohn, with airlocks. These air locks allow gas out without letting air back in. It is normal for some fermentation to continue over the course of the aging process. At this point, we are now protecting the wine from three major environmental factors: Air, Temperature and Light. Think wine cellar; a place that is dark, consistently cool and stores wine bottles on their side. This is exactly how your wine should be stored. Failure to store your wine properly will expose it to the negative effects of the environmental elements.
Sulfites:
R|R wines have no added sulfites which means we do not add sulfites during or after the fermentation process. However, most manufacturers add sulfites for two reasons. First, to kill the yeast during fermentation and second, to protect the wine from oxygen as its aging. By nature, sulfites bind to oxygen molecules when oxygen is exposed to the wine during its aging process. It makes the wine more resilient during the extensive logistical journey through hot metal storage containers, sun beat loading docks, bouncy trucks, well-lit retail stores and finally where you proudly display your purchase on your kitchen counter. Think of all the times a typical wine bottle made and packaged in California, gets exposed to excess light, changes in temperature and aggressive handling before it makes it to your dinner table. No wonder wine manufacturers want to add sulfites to protect their product. However, if sulfites can bind to the oxygen molecule, it can also bind to all your available micronutrients. This is why the dreaded “wine hangover” is undeniable. If you do research online about the purpose and side effects of sulfites, you will get mixed reviews. One or two glasses won’t completely deplete your system of all your vitamins, but a whole bottle, maybe two, has a much greater chance. The larger amount of alcohol your body must process plus the expulsion of your crucial micronutrients results in a different type of hangover vs a night on strict vodka sodas. Of course, the quality of food you consume throughout the night will have a role in how you feel the next day as well, but sulfites are playing a significant role in the equation. This is exactly why R|R wine has a much different experience.
R|R Experience
We have a different approach to wine making and wine drinking. First, we let the grape juice endure the tough rigors of the logistical journey BEFORE we make our juice into delicate, delicious, unpreserved wine. Second, every bottle will taste slightly different than the next. Commercial wine is manufactured, key word, manufactured to taste the exact same way every time, every year, every glass. The consumer has been conditioned to demand consistency. We think differently. The weather is slightly different, the temperature of each demijohn is slightly different and of course the age of each bottle is slightly different. All these factors result in a slightly different experience which we embrace. This difference allows our customers to experiment with different varieties at different age points to identify their own unique flavor profile they want to enjoy. As the saying goes, drink early and drink often!
Additional reading:
- Sulfites
- Light
- Air
- Temperature