Written by Clare Burder, Winemaker at Eminence Wines, 2026
How do we choose what kind of wine to make?
Winemaking is, at its most basic, the management of an alcoholic fermentation. At its most complex, it’s an art form. The challenge though is deciding what kind of wine you’re trying to make, and how to do it. This is influenced by all kinds of things – for us it’s the site first – so we try and make wine that tasetes like it came from Whitlands – this includes how the season dictates ripening. Then we need grape variety in mind – so we want to showcase the natural features of the grape (in chardonnay for example we want to showcase acidity). The we have texture and ‘frame’ – so do want the wine to be fine and fruity or more complicated and textured? We could go on and on, but the other things that would be important across producers is the house style (oaky chardonnay for example), the price point (oak costs $$$), a commercial expectation (on colour, for example) and varietal & labelling expectation (grigio v gris).
During harvest, the order of these decisions looks a little like this:
1. Harvest Date: The first big call is how ripe the grapes should be: riper grapes = riper flavours and bigger alcohols. So do we want less ripe flavour or somewhere in the middle? The likely answer is somewhere in the middle but this is monitored closely as the season progresses with regular testing.
2. Harvest Type: Hand or machine harvest: Machine harvesting is cheaper and quicker but can damage the berries. Hand picking is slower and more expensive, but generally the best option for premium wines. The price per ton to handpick is around $600 – $800 and the price per ton to machine pick is about $250 – $350.
3. Pressing type and extraction level: Whole bunch (from handpicked grapes) puts whole bunches into the press and squashes them gently extracting juice from the pulp but nothing from the skins. Machine picked grapes can also go straight in the press but there is a higher risk of extraction from the skins. This would also be true for grapes that are handpicked and then destemmed. Then the question is how many litres of juice per kg of grapes? This makes a big difference as more juice / kg = more extraction = more potential bitterness (just like olive oil). Typically extraction is around 650 – 700L per ton, and 500L-600L per ton for sparkling.
4. Juice management: Once we have juice then the options really open up. The juice at this point is cloudy and full of solids like freshly made apple juice, so this phase involves decisions around a) whether to settle and/or clarify then juice b) whether to add enzymes to catalyse this process c) whether to allow the juice to oxidise or add sulphur d) temperature adjustment e) acid adjustment f) colour adjustment f) other fining additives.
Importantly at this point is to recognise that the skins are now discarded. All of the flavour in typical white wine comes from the pulp only. So now we have juice ready to ferment, what’s next?
5. Fermentation vessel: Stainless tanks are the most economical and simple with built in temperature management, but they don’t breathe, which can be a challenge for the yeast. Then we have all the fun ones: old oak, composite eggs, clay amphora etc etc. These vessels all have a few things in common: they are very slightly porous and allow micro amounts of air in, which the ferment enjoys, and they have rounded bases, which gives a nice convection movement. But temperature control is much more difficult.
6. Yeast selection: Wild yeast lives on grapes and in wineries and tends to bring more complexity and savory flavours; commercial yeast highlights bright, clean fruit. Think sourdough versus basic white bread. Here we also have options for nutrient addition to give the ferment a good chance.
7. Temperature: Cooler = longer ferments = more delicacy but more risk. Warmer = shorter ferments, less aromatics (apparently!), bigger mouthfeel and lower risk. We ferment everything cold (12-15 degrees) using a stainless spear system which means our wines can take months to finish.
Now our juice is fermented into wine, we have more decisions to make!
8. Malolactic fermentation (MLF or “malo”): A bacterial conversion of sharp malic acid (think green apple) into softer lactic acid (think yoghurt), creating a creamier mouthfeel. Common in chardonnay, and often used as a partial blending component — you’ll sometimes see “25% malo” on winemaker’s notes, which would mean 25% of the wine has gone through, but the rest has not. Malo can be prevented by high sulphur or low temperatures, and is typically inoculated with a commercial product but sometimes can happen on it’s own.
9. Time on lees: Leaving the wine in contact with dead yeast cells after fermentation adds texture and flavour — think bready, creamy or yeasty notes. Contact ranges from a couple of months for fresh, aromatic whites up to eighteen months for richer styles.
10. Oak ageing: Used mainly for chardonnay, viognier, roussanne, marsanne and some fuller-bodied styles. In white wine, oak adds another layer — vanilla, cedar, spice, toast, coconut — without dominating the fruit, and can also add texture. New oak gives lots of flavour (think a teabag into boiling water), and after about 2-4 years all the flavour has gone and it simply becomes a vessel – what we refer to as old oak or neutral oak.
Ok, we’ve made a white wine! The next stages are all pre-bottling so we’ll leave that for another time 🙂