Which winemaking step strips grapes of their stems?

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Multiple Choice

Which winemaking step strips grapes of their stems?

Explanation:
Destemming is the step that strips grapes of their stems. It uses a destemmer to separate the woody stems from the grape berries, preventing those stems from entering the must and potentially adding unwanted tannins or green flavors. After destemming, the grapes are typically crushed to break the skins and release juice, but the specific action of removing the stems happens during destemming. Crushing, pressing, and fermentation have other roles—crushing breaks the berries to release juice, pressing extracts juice from crushed grapes, and fermentation converts sugars into alcohol—so they don’t accomplish stem removal.

Destemming is the step that strips grapes of their stems. It uses a destemmer to separate the woody stems from the grape berries, preventing those stems from entering the must and potentially adding unwanted tannins or green flavors. After destemming, the grapes are typically crushed to break the skins and release juice, but the specific action of removing the stems happens during destemming. Crushing, pressing, and fermentation have other roles—crushing breaks the berries to release juice, pressing extracts juice from crushed grapes, and fermentation converts sugars into alcohol—so they don’t accomplish stem removal.

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