On the day of October 06 the New World wine class offered us to take trip to the winery called Red Hook Winery located in pier 41. We had a little trouble to get into the winery because our tour bus got lost when we were almost there and yes it was hidden place where no one can think there will be an actual stores and factories in the pier.
First thing that I noticed when I arrived the winery was the view around the winery. There were a nice park outside with amazing views of Statue of Liberty. The atmosphere inside and waterfront were very nice. They had five large oak barrels in the middle of the winery and it was served as a tables for wine tasting. We had chance to talk to Bob Foley, who owns vineyard in Napa Valley, CA and worked over 40 year doing wine making. He studied viticulture and has degree from the college. While he was in college he studies and finished about components of the wines. He came to the winery just to share his experience on how viticulture and viniculture works and share his favorite wines with us. Bob said he loves every wine that he makes but his favorite was a blend between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
According to Bob the texture, flavor, color and aroma is the basics of wine making. For white wine the juice will be fermented. But before the fermentation they do co ferment which is that two varieties meet at the same time like white with red Syrah. For the red they ferment the musk for the base. During the fermentation carbon dioxide, sugar and yeast is converted into alcohol which enzymes in bacteria not the yeast though. White wines are fermented in 60°F and the red wine should be fermented between 85°F.
It was great experience for me to visit Red Hook winery. I never thought they would have hidden place like this in Brooklyn. All of the wines we had were spectacular even though I don’t really like to drink alcohol. We learned about how the viticulture works and get to see what happens after the harvest. I learned how the fermentation works. All the staffs there were very passionate and full of wine knowledge. It was great time that we got to taste the wines, seeing the barrels inside which is a one of the great experience for us and for people who loves the wine.
In reading your research and your reflection I notice a great growth in your understanding of the wine making process. The control of the temperature as you mentioned is a difficult and integral step in vinification. I appreciate your description of the facilities and what you learned.