White & Red Winemaking

Winemaking at Hatzidakis Winery is a journey of deep respect for the Santorini terroir. On this page, we present a detailed look at our white and red winemaking processes, from the meticulous harvest of the grapes to the completion of fermentation and the art of aging.

White Wine Vinification

White Winemaking: From Harvest to Bottle

A. Excellent transport of grapes to the Winery

Always in plastic crates. The transportation of grapes is of particular importance for the success of winemaking. Transport to the winery must be immediate and contactless in order to avoid the negative effects of extraction and oxidation.

B. Crusher- Destemmer

Separating  the stem from the grape or pressing  the whole grape (without separation) depending on the case. The grapes after extraction are led to the press with the help of a special pump where they remain for cold extraction or direct pressure.

C. Press

The pressing session is taking place mainly in pneumatic presses. In these, the must is received with consecutive compressions in absence of oxygen. The best quality of must is the one that comes from the pressure exerted by the weight of the grapes inside the press chamber (free run must). It contains less tannins, which in increased concentration give an intense color and an acrid taste, something undesirable for a white wine. In special occasions batch presses are used to accomplice the desirable result.

D. Racking

After the press, the must is driven by natural flow (which is why the press is at a higher point than the tanks) through a pipe in the tanks. There, the must is cooled to 10°C, in order to slow down the onset of alcoholic fermentation and to give the must time to "clear". The particles suspended in the must settle. These are the so-called ‘lees’, a sediment whose existence is not desirable for the production of quality wines. Therefore, the purpose of the racking is to clarify the must before the fermentation.

E. Fermentation

After the racking is complete, the clear must is transfused into a clean tank. There the temperature of the must increases from 10 to 14-16˚C. The quality of a wine depends, to a large extent, on its fermentation temperature, as it determines the amount of aromatic esters that are created during fermentation. Once the alcoholic fermentation is complete,  the wines are laying in stainless steel tank, under reductive conditions, for maturation purposes. They are bottled after assessment of the Oenologists.

F. Oak maturation

In some particular cases , the maturation of the wine occurs in oak barrels of different capacity with the intention of making white wines with ageing potential.

Red Wine Vinification

Red Winemaking: From Harvest to Bottle

A. Excellent transport of grapes as in white winemaking.

B. Crusher/ Destemmer

Separation of the stem from the grape.

C1. Cold Extraction

The grape pulp is taken to a tank where it remains for the cold extraction process (extraction at low temperatures) or passes into tanks to ferment together with the grape skins and seeds at a controlled temperature of 26 to 28 ˚C.

C2. Extraction

With the onset of fermentation, the grape skins and seeds ascend to the top of the tank driven by the produced CO2 (carbon dioxide). They form the so-called "cap". With the help of a pump the must is pumped from the bottom of the tank and led back to the top. Thus the "cap" stays always moisten.

D. Separation and pressing

The must under fermentation or wine (depending on the duration of extraction) or the must after the end of the cold extraction process is separated by gravity to be transferred to the next tank where the alcoholic fermentation will be completed. There, malolactic fermentation will probably follow. It is the conversion of malic acid from lactic acid bacteria to lactic acid. This is "wine without pressure". The grape skins, free of the juice, are taken to the press to give another quantity of wine called "pressure wine".

E. Oak maturation

Depending on the variety of grapes and the region, red wines may be matured in barrels. In our case, Mavrotragano matures for 12 up to 24 months in oak barrels and can withstand ageing in the bottle from 1 year up to how long it is thought necessary.