ABOUT WINE AND WINEMAKING - VIDEO FOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Wine production requires lots of work. Everything begins with the vinestocks which generally require a temperate climate. Vine-growing, like any other type of farming, depends enormously on the weather conditions.
The famous vine-growing regions, like Bordeaux in France, Tuscany in Italy, Rioja in Spain or even Franconia in Germany, are all crossed by large rivers.
A rainy spring or high temperatures will have an influence on the sweetness and acidity of the grape. When the fruit has reached the necessary ripeness, grape harvesting can begin.
The bunches are taken to the winepress. At this stage of the production, you have to decide whether to make white wine, red or rosé. Red wine is made with black grapes, and white wine with green grapes or black grapes without their skin.
After ageing in a cask, the wine is bottled and stocked in a cellar. At regular intervals, someone tastes the wine to make sure there are no chemical reactions that might alter its taste. This man is checking the wine's colour, aroma and bouquet.
Normally a wine taster mustn't swallow the wine. What a shame not to drink such a fine wine! Luckily he drinks some anyway! Imagine a baker who'd never tasted his own bread. By chance this man lives and works in the grounds, so he won't need to drive home!
A good wine makes its own reputation. No need for a commercial set in the tropics to praise its qualities.
Nonetheless, the information on the label is sometimes useful to distinguish a table wine from a fortified wine or a syrupy wine, or else to find out if it must be served at room temperature or chilled.
In good restaurants, the wine waiter himself goes down into the cellar to fetch the wines. When he chooses a bottle, he blows on it delicately to remove the dust.
Having spent all that time in a cellar, a bottle must be opened carefully. There's no point keeping it in the dark at a constant temperature for so long, if you don't let the liquid breathe before drinking it.
The wine waiter opens the bottle and smells the cork to make sure the wine hasn't changed into vinegar! This happens from time to time, even though we've known how to make wine for a few thousand years!
A good wine, that's to say a vintage wine, is meant to be savoured. A glass of Château Lafite-Rothschild should be drunk slowly, as you don't get to drink some every day!
And finally, even if you don't particularly appreciate the taste of wine, you can quite simply admire its colour: no two bottles are alike!