When winemakers resurface from the hard toils of the vintage period, friends inevitably pose the same question: “what the hell do you guys do for the rest of the year?”

Firstly, we don’t just sit around tasting wine all day (that job’s for sommeliers). Wine needs a lot of help to get into a state ready for bottling which requires a lot of attention and work.

Here’s the insider low-down on what really happens:

• White wines need to be made cold and heat stable (so nasty ‘floaties’ don’t appear in your bottles);
• Barrels have to stirred and topped;
• Wines are racked off their ‘gross’ lees;
• Lab analysis has to be undertaken to determine appropriate acid and sulphur adjustments;
• Blending trials/operations;
• Fining trials/ operations;
• Filtration;
• Bottling and packaging;
• Cellar preparation for the next vintage (clearing and scrubbing the decks);

And finally…….

• Trade events, wine shows and sales/promotion

Sorry to dispel any myths you may have heard about winemakers lying around playing ping-pong just waiting for wines to “mature”, no time for that!