Santo Stefano

During the secondary fermentation and aging process, the fermentation continues very slowly. The wine is kept under an airlock to protect the wine from oxidation. Proteins from the grape are broken down and the remaining yeast cells and other fine particles from the grapes are allowed to settle.

While the wine is aging in tanks or barrels, tests are run periodically in the cellar to check the status of the wine. Common tests include °Brix, pH, titratable acidity, residual sugar, free or available sulfur, total sulfur, volatile acidity and percent alcohol. Winemaker Giovanni Petretta monitors each varietal on a daily basis. "They are like my children."

While daily monitoring of vintage wines continue, this month marks the beginning of high season for events at Santo Stefano. Vintner Barrel-Tastings, Family Dinners, Special Events, Comedy Nights, Wild Game Dinners, Dances. We celebrate the success and hard-work of the harvest and await the imminent arrival of bottling.

Daily wine monitoring and parties! Santo Stefano events include: Vintner Barrel-Tastings, Family Dinners, Special Events, Comedy Nights, Wild Game Dinners, Dances.

Continued daily wine monitoring and parties! Santo Stefano events include: Vintner Barrel-Tastings, Family Dinners, Special Events, Comedy Nights, Wild Game Dinners, Dances.

Santo Stefano begins the bottling process for white wines. The wines are initially filtered. Filtration is used to accomplish two objectives, clarification and microbial stabilization. In clarification, large particles that affect the visual appearance of the wine are removed. In microbial stabilization, organisms that affect the stability of the wine are removed.

This is a particularly important step because we do not add sulfites, as other winemakers, to assure this stability.

Our wine bottles are sealed with a cork, we will never use alternative wine closures such as synthetic corks and screwcaps. The final step is adding a capsule to the top of the bottle which is then heated for a tight seal.

Red wines are filtered, and in many cases blended, in preparation for bottling. Santo Stefano's blends, including "Vino Patrino", "Believe 44", "Vino Valentino", and "Grace and Joy", are in high demand. Different batches of wine are mixed before bottling in order to achieve the desired taste. Adjustments during this process can be as simple as altering acid or tannin levels, to as complex as blending different varieties or vintages to achieve a unique taste.

The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine more than any other factor. Grape quality is affected by variety as well as weather during the growing season, soil minerals and acidity, time of harvest, and pruning method. The combination of these effects is often referred to as the grape's terroir. Winemaker Giovanni Petretta searches for the ultimate grapes within each varietal during this month for harvesting.

Grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard beginning early September. Harvest is the picking of the grapes and in many ways the first step in wine production. The decision to harvest grapes is typically made by the winemaker and informed by the level of sugar (called °Brix), acid (TA or Titratable Acidity as expressed by tartaric acid equivalents) and pH of the grapes. Other considerations include phenological ripeness, berry flavor, tannin development (seed color and taste). Overall disposition of the grapevine and weather forecasts are taken into account.

Immediately upon harvesting, grapes are delivered to Santo Stefano Winery and prepared for the crush. Crushing is the process of gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to liberate the contents of the berries. Desteming is the process of removing the grapes from the rachis (the stem which holds the grapes). In traditional and smaller-scale wine making, the harvested grapes are sometimes crushed by trampling them barefoot or by the use of inexpensive small scale crushers.In some cases, notably with "delicate" red varietals such as Pinot noir or Syrah, all or part of the grapes might be left uncrushed (called "whole berry") to encourage the retention of fruity aromas through partial carbonic maceration.

Marks Santo Stefano's intense involvement in fermentation. To start primary fermentation yeast is added to the crushed grapes. During this fermentation the yeast converts most of the sugars in the grape juice into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is lost to the atmosphere. Secondary fermentation is a bacterial fermentation which converts malic acid to lactic acid. This process decreases the acid in the wine and softens the taste of the wine.

Wine completes fermentation and pressing in preparation for barrel maturation. Pressing is the act of applying pressure to grapes or pomace in order to separate juice or wine from grapes and grape skins. The must is pressed after primary fermentation, which separates the skins and other solid matter from the liquid.