The company has more than 180 acres of vineyards in the heart of Ontarios Niagara grape

growing region. Located in Niagara, Magnotta Beamsville houses a state of the art crushing
facilitythis allows the winery to have complete control over the quality of the press. After
harvest, grapes are carefully selected before goes into the wine making process. The conversion
of grape juice into wine is arrived at through the action of a single celled plant commonly referred
to as yeast. Yeast is a thallophyte making it one of the lowest members of the vegetable kingdom
along with algae, lichens and fungi. Saccharomyces is the scientific term used for yeast and it
translates into sugar fungus' .
Many different types of yeast strains are used in commercial winemaking almost all of which are
now commercially cultivated and sold. Yeast then, is the catalyst in this conversion process. In
order for yeast to grow and reproduce it needs a food source.

The fructose present in grape juice is yeast's main food source. Through a complicated
biochemical process known as glycolosis, yeast will in an oxygen starved environment go on to
convert fructose into three main by-products using a method universally known as fermentation .
The three main by-products are: alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat. This conversion or
fermentation of grape juice into wine usually takes no more than a week, although in the case of
some wines, it may take several. Many factors will affect the length of time required to complete
an alcoholic fermentation including the yeast strain used and the temperature it is made to work at.
The family of grape plants responsible for almost all of the world's winemaking is known as Vitis
Vinifera. Vitis vinifera grapes are known as the noble' grapes in winemaking due to their high
levels of naturally occurring sugars, acids and extracts. This makes them ideal for quality
winemaking.
The basic steps in red winemaking are as follows:
1. De-stemming and crushing. After being de-stemmed (almost always mechanically), the
berries are crushed by either manual or more often than not mechanical means so as to
release their juice.
2. The combination of juice and skins is then pumped into a holding tank where it is left to
macerate for several days at a cool temperature. Since most red' grapes have white juice,
this maceration period with the grape skins is critical as it is from the grape skins that red
wines obtain their color.
3. Once the cold maceration is completed, the juice along with the skins is then pumped into
a roto-fermentor or stationary fermentor where it is inocculated with the appropriate
strain of yeast. Red wine is usually fermented at warmer temperatures than white, usually
around 28C. Warmer fermentation temperatures allow for further extraction of color and
tannin.
4. When fermentation of the must into wine is complete, the new wine is pressed' using
either a basket or pneumatic bladder press so as to extract the wine from the remaining
skins and grape pulp. Gentle application of pressure releases what is referred to as free
run' wine, additional application of pressure releases press' wine. The two wines may be
combined in order to produce a balanced end result. These new wines are then pumped
over into aging tanks where they will be allowed time to settle.
5. As wine settles in aging tanks it will over the course of several weeks go on to throw a
layer of sediment. Eventually, the wine must be racked off of its sediment and pumped
over into a clean aging vessel (either of stainless steel, glass lined concrete or oak). As
the wine goes from vessel to vessel it is fined or clarified using a number of methods
including filtration, centrifugation, bentonite or egg white fining.
6. After spending the necessary period of time in its aging vessel (or combination thereof),
the wine is put through light filtration (or not) prior to being bottled. Some wines will
undergo additional bottle aging prior to their being released.
After bottle aging, wine are packed and shipped to warehouse. Magnotta distribute their products
through online store and their own retail stores across Ontario.