The document describes the terroir and winemaking process at a vineyard located in the Melnik region of Bulgaria. The region has a Mediterranean climate with warm, sunny conditions that are well-suited for grape growing. The vineyards are not treated with pesticides and the wine is produced using traditional methods. The document then discusses the winemaking process, including harvesting, fermentation, maturation in barrels, and bottling. It provides photos to illustrate the various steps in wine production.

1. Project №2016-1 HU01-KA219-022976
„Green Skills for Social Agriculture“
ERASMUS +
THE TERROIR
The natural and climatic conditions in the Melnik region are some of the most favourable
for wine production in Bulgaria. This is the warmest and sunniest part of the country. The
climate is Mediterranean with a vegetative period of 224 days, average temperature sum of
4385 C°, and absolutely no sources of pollution. Our vineyards are situated on a hill with
south exposition. Our vineyards are exposed to a light breeze, which comes down from the
slopes of the surrounding mountains Pirin, Belasitsa, and Slavyanka and it does not allow
mists or humidity to linger on the vines. The terroir is characterized by sandy soils, which
allow water to seep through, as well as limestone and volcanic deposits from the nearby
extinct volcano Kozhuh. We do not treat our vineyards with any pesticides and do not use
any damaging practises that may create pollution or in any way harm our grapes or the
people who enjoy our wine.
The wine is the alcoholic beverage made from fermenting the grapes and it is famous all
over the world. But only few know all the things that are necessary for the wine. The
commonly known things are that the wines can be classified into red and white wines. The
red wines are prepared from soaking the grapes including the skin and the white wines are
made from removing the skin of the grapes after fermentation.
Do you know that drinking red wine has some health benefits? Do you all know that there
are special wine glasses for all the types of wines available? And these wine glasses serve a
major part of the taste and flavor of the wine.
Here comes the other important thing for the wines like serving and storing temperature.
The wines should be stored and served at a correct temperature. Otherwise, they will lose
their wonderful characteristics.
Not many people in this world are aware of these things. So here we come, to let you
know all the important things about the wine online. Each page on the site has been
developed carefully in order to give correct information to our online visitors.
The page, history of the wines gives you the brief knowledge about the wine cultivation in
theworld.In ordertohelp alllevels ofwine drinkerstherearemanyphotogalleries,articles,
videoclipsavailable.These willhelp toget interested in themesmerizing worldof wine. The
wine making page helps you to produce wine as a home product in a hygienic manner. This
is a superb place if you would like to know about the wine calories. Since there is no
information regarding the calories on the bottles. Different types of grape varieties that are
used to make different types of wines like red and white are also available. The wine
equipment helps you to start your own winery either at home or in your vineyard.
FACTS

2.  One ton of grapesmakesabout 60 varieties of wine,or720 bottles.One bottle of wine
containsabout2.8 poundsof grapes.
 Bubblesin wine have beenobservedsince ancientGreece andwere attributedtothe phases
of the moonor to evil spirits.
 Traditionally,firstly, the lighterwines isserved andthenmove to the heavierwines during
the meal.Additionally,whitewineshouldbe servedbefore red,youngerwine before older,
and dry wine before sweet.
 People whohave wine phobiaare called Oenophobia–and theyreally exist.Itmightsound
funny,butthisphobia – justlike others,cause themalot of suffering,especiallyif theygo
out to restaurantsa lot.
PROCESS
Everythingstartswith the grapeson the vine:and it's veryimportantto be properlyharvested.If the
grape isnotripe enough,oritistooripe,itwouldharmthe wine.Be carefulwhenharvestingthegrape
because it contains the potential of the wine. It is possible to produce a bad wine from good grapes,
but not a good wine from bad grapes.

3. In orderto harvestthe grape many teamsof pickers are needed.Thisisthe mostexcitingtime of the
year,and all winegrowershope forgoodweatherconditionsduring the harvest. Becausethe bad
weathercanruin the harvestcompletely.
The hand-pickedgrapes are collectedinatrailer.

4. Increasingly,the grapesare harvestedbyamachine.Itismore cost-effective.Inwarmregionsin
orderto preserve the quality of the grapesare pickedatnight,whenitiscooler.It ismuch easier to
do the pickingbya machine.
The harvesterplucksthe grape berriesoff the vine andthendumpsthemintobinstogo to the
winery.ThisisinBordeaux.

5. These are machine-pickedgrapesbeingsortedforquality.
Hand-pickedgrapesarrive aswhole bunchesinthe winery.

6. Sortinghand-pickedgrapesforquality.Anyrottenorraisinedgrapes,alongwithleavesandpetioles,
are removed.
These sortedgrapesgoto a machine thatremovesthe stems.Theymayalsobe crushed,eitherjusta
little,orcompletely.

7. These are the removed stems.
Thisis a receptionareaina small winery.Here the grapesare loadedandthen theyare takenby a
conveyorbelttoa tank, fromwhere theyare pumpedintothe fermentation container.

8. Thisis where the redwine makingdiffersfromthe white one.The redwinesare fermentedwith
theirskins,whilewhite winesare pressed,separating the juice fromthe skins,beforefermentation.
Thisfermentationcontainer- ashallowstone lagarinPortugal'sDouroregion - will be filledupand
thenthe grapeswill be foottrodden,sothat the juice can extractcolourand othercomponentsfrom
the skins.
Thisis a verytraditional winery,again,inDouro.The redgrapesare foottrodden,thereforethe
fermentationprocessbeginsnaturally.These menare mixingupthe skinsandjuice byhand:this
processiscarriedout many timesaday to helpwithextraction,andalsotostopbacteriafrom
growingonthe cap of the grape skinsthatnaturallywouldfloattothe surface.

9. These redgrapesare fermentedinastainlesssteel tank.Duringthe fermentation,carbondioxideis
released, soitisOKto leave the surface exposed.Sometimes,however,the fermentationtakesplace
inclosedtankswitha ventto letthe carbon dioxide escape.
In thissmall tankthe cap of skinsispuncheddownbyusinga roboticcap plunger.Insome wineries,
it isdone byhand, usingpoles.

10. An alternative topunchdownsistopumpwine fromthe bottomof the tankback overthe skins.
Here,the fermentingredwine ispumpedoutof the tank,and thenpumpedbackinagain.The ideais
to introduce oxygeninthe wine tohelpthe yeastsintheirgrowth.Atotherstagesinwinemaking
precautionarymeasures are takentoprotectthe wine fromoxygen,butatthisstage it's needed.

11. Once the fermentationprocessisfinished,mostredwinesare thenmovedtobarrelstocomplete
theirmaturation.The barrelscome inall shapesandsizes.Inthe picture above,you can see the most
commonsize:225-250 liters.Importantaspectsthataffectthe developmentof wine are the material
(oakor not) andwhetherornot the barrel has beenusedbefore.
Thisis a largerand olderbarrel, givingvirtuallynooakcharacterto the wine.Thisbarrel suitssome
wine stylesbetterthansmallerbarrels.

12. Thisis a basketpress:once fermentationiscompletedandthe youngwine is drainedoff the skins,
the remainingskinsandstems are pressedtoextractthe rest of the wine thattheycontain.
Thisis a bladderpresswhichisusedforsome redsand almostall white wines.A large bladderisfilled
withair,pressingthe contentsgentlyandevenly,withgraduallyincreasingpressure.

13. Andthisis whatis leftatthe end - the wine marc.It can be usedto make compost.

14. Thisis the inside of the tankwhich isusedto fermentwhite wine:the residue consistsof deadyeast
cells.
Barrelshallscan still lookquite traditional.The coldundergroundcellarsare perfectformaturing
wines- a processthat takesfromsix monthsto three years.
Winemakerstypicallycheckthe maturinglevel of the redwine periodically,andfill the barrelsas
some of the wine evaporatesduringthe maturationprocess.

15. Occasionally,itisnecessarythe wine tobe movedfromone barrel toanother,orfrom barrel to
stainlesssteel tank.Thiscellarhandisusingnitrogengastomove the wine withoutexposingitto
large amountsof oxygen.
Here,the wine ismovedfromone barrel toanother, deliberatelyexposingittooxygen, toaidthe
maturationprocess.

16. Some winessee nooakat all,theyare keptinstainlesssteel tankstopreserve the freshfruity
characteristics.
Finally,the wine isreadyandispreparedforbottling.Often,filtrationisusedtomake the wine bright
and clear,and toremove anyrisk of microbial spoilage.The glassonthe leftisfiltered;onthe right,
youcan see whatitwas like justbefore the process.