Visiting the Wine Cellar Goriška BrdaBelow the majestic castle in Dobrovo, the investor Zadružno vinarstvo Brda (Co-operative Viniculture Brda) built a wine cellar with the capacity of 4,400,000 litres in 1957. In 1963, the state-owned and village agriculture co-operatives merged in the-then Agricultural Co-Operative Goriška Brda with its headquarters in Dobrovo. Today this co-operative, which has been renamed as the Wine Cellar Goriška Brda, is operated by 680 owners – through a Board of Management. The capacity of the Wine Cellar has been increasing with the revitalization of vineyards to the capacity it has today, to wit, 18,000,000 litres. ENTERING THE CELLAR BY THE BOTTLING DEPARTMENT There are two bottling lines in the department: the line for one-litre bottles and those of other capacities, to wit, bottles from 0.2 to 1.5 litre. The line is composed of the following elements: a bottle rinser, filter, bottle filling machine, capping machine, cap feeder, bottle labelling machine, machine for packing bottles into crates and cardboard boxes, and dispatching to the warehouse. A VIEW OF CONDENSERS FOR ALCOHOL VAPOURS ESCAPING FROM FERMENTING WINE Condensers for alcohol vapours escaping from fermenting wine are containers used for the maceration of red varieties of grapes. This is the process of obtaining red colour which is located in the cells of the skins of grapes. Condensers for alcohol vapours escaping from fermenting wine are filled with red grapes mash, and yeast is added so that alcoholic fermentation begins.  Owing to the carbon dioxide gas which has been formed, the skins of the grapes rise and a cover appears which has to be sunk again and again so that the contact between the grape skins and the juice is as good as possible. The condenser automatically pumps the must and pours it over the hat. In addition to the leaching of colour, during the process the leaching of tannin substances which enhance red wines occurs.
Depending on the technological requirements for individual quality of the future wine, the process of maceration goes on from 3 to 5 days. VISITING THE EXTERIOR CONTAINERS Outside the cellar there are containers of various sizes, from 600 hl, 1,200 hl, 2,400 hl, 5,000 hl to 1, 000 hl. RECEPTION OF GRAPES Grape harvesting commences in the beginning of September and lasts approximately one month. Early varieties of grapes are the first: Pinot Grigio/Gris, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Vert and Rebula follow. In the second half of grape harvesting, red varieties are received: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Four lines are used for the reception of grapes. The weighed grapes are put into a de-stalker-crusher machine, the level of grape sugar is measured and then the processing technology for red and white grape varieties separates. The red grapes mash is put into condensers for alcohol vapours escaping from fermenting wine and macerated, while white grapes mash goes directly to a modern pneumatic press. The must from under the press is filled into containers for clarifying; then the clarified must is decanted and yeast is added. Alcoholic fermentation goes on at the desired temperature, which is enabled by a cooling system THE MYSTERY OF THE ARCHIVE CELLAR Deep under the ground there is an archive cellar where there is space for 350,000 bottles in which wine matures. Only the best vintages are appropriate to mature in bottles.  The bottles in the archive cellar are stored horizontally so that the wine will cover the cork keeping it moist and preventing air from entering the bottle. Another important element of a wine cellar is its humidity: in a dry room, corks will dry out and take humidity from the wine. In this way oxygen is introduced into the wine, oxygenating it. The temperature in a wine cellar is also important: if it rises above 15° C it causes wine fatigue and exhaustion; if it falls below 5° or rises above 15° C, the potential of possible maturation changes.
During maturation, wine develops tertiary aromas which are the product of hydrolysis and the changes in tannin substances. Substances that are not aromatic are being released but they become aromatic (tannin substances in red wines). In white wines, primary aromas change into tertiary aromas through chemical reactions – oxidation – which change subtle aromas into rich, less ethereal aromas, which in turn reduce the fruity character of wine. However, these aromas seem more homogeneous and balanced. How long should wines mature in bottles? From 5 to 40 years, experts say. When wine reaches its peak it starts to regress, loses its power and balance. Fruity, flowery, vegetal and noble aromas from animal world disappear little by little and turn into less noble aromas. Thus a good aroma becomes uninteresting and lifeless. White and red wines of various vintages and varieties are kept in our archive cellar; the oldest wine among them is Rebula from 1957. LOWER PART OF THE UNDERGROUND CELLAR This part of the underground cellar houses all kinds of wine containers: 125 hl concrete cisterns which contains wines prior to bottling, 10-100 hl stainless steel containers, barriques in which white wines mature and large 60-100 hl barrels made of oak of Slavonia in which red wines mature. UPPER PART OF THE UNDERGROUND CELLAR The winding stairs take us to the upper part of the underground cellar. Here you can see stainless steel containers of 100-470 hl, barriques and a room where classic sparkling wine matures. Fermentation of the best white wines goes on in 100 hl stainless steel containers. The barriques in the upper cellar are filled with red wine.  Already in the last century, the French knew barrique, which means a wine production-related technology: for a certain period, wine matures in a 225 l barrel which is composed of toasted oak staves. Furfural (caramelised pentose sugar) is leached from them and it turns into furfurol which gives to the wine the aroma of freshly baked rye bread. The compounds of the wines bind with the tannin substances and new aromatic substances (vanillin and other aldehydes) occur during maturation giving the barrique wine its characteristic note.
SPARKLING WINES - CLASSICAL METHOD Nowadays, there are two most frequently used procedures of sparkling wine production: - traditional method
- charmat method
The basic difference between the two is that with the traditional method, the fermentation container in which secondary fermentation occurs is a bottle, and with the second method a fermentation tank is used. The quality of base wine is decisive in the production of sparkling wine. The base wine needs to be chemically and micro-biologically stable and have appropriate alcohol content and acidity. In further processing of the wine sugar syrup, champagne yeast and yeast nutrients are added so that fermentation can begin. Fermentation having been completed, the wine remains in bottles for at least 9 months so that the yeast autolysis is completed. During the process autolysis-related products occur, mainly amino acids which provide sparkling wine with a rich flavour. Then the bottles are placed neck-down on racks for a few weeks: bottle shaking and the riddling process follow allowing the sediment to settle in the neck of the bottle. The bottles are then dipped into a glycol solution so that the sediment in the neck of the bottles freezes. The moment the crown cap has been removed, the sediment is blown out of the bottle which is then topped up by adding sweetened wine (which may contain wine, wine distillate, sugar syrup etc.), which is a specialty and secret of each winery. After the sugared wine has been added to the sparkling wine the latter needs to rest for a few weeks so that the added compounds integrate into the whole. BAGUERI CELLAR Here we produce the wines of the Bagueri brand. They are a specialty of our cellar: Verduc, Pikolit and Markiz – a wine made of dried grapes. These are premium wines. In an air-conditioned hall there are 10-60 hl containers fitted with computer-controlled cooling system. Grapes for these wines are selected from the best sites. The agronomists of the cellar control these selected areas of vines from the first cut to the grape harvesting. The last control does not only include sugar content of the grapes but vine load per cane and health status as well. The grapes need to be transported to the cellar undamaged – on trays. The Bagueri wines spend a part of their life in barriques and in larger oak barrels before they are bottled. Information on visiting the cellar SERGEJ KRISTANČIČ
tel. +386 (5) 33 10 144
e-mail: tourism@klet-brda.si |
