Chapter 1G0Buyer
Define the wine before selecting fruit
The constructor begins with the intended bottle: category, colour, aroma, structure, ageing, intervention limit, volume and certification preference. These choices restrict the suitable fruit; they do not predetermine a fixed recipe for the vintage.
Chapter 2G1Constructor
Match the brief to grapes that are actually available
Only vineyards that have opted into co-creation enter the match. Vin-Q proposes a blend from registered parcels; the final proportion remains conditional on the chemistry, sanitary state and sensory character of the actual vintage.
Garnatxa Negra
Finca Fontanals · Falset
Primary aromatic and structural component
Candidate parcelMerlot
Finca Fontanals · Falset
Counterweight for balance and mid-palate
Candidate parcelSyrah
Finca Fontanals · Falset
Adjustment component after bench trials
Candidate parcelThis example uses grape profiles from participating vineyards. Registered users work with current parcel and certification records.
Chapter 3G2Farmer
Turn regenerative practices into verifiable operations
Regenerative viticulture is represented as practices and observations, not as a promise that every intervention improves every parcel. The operation calendar records what was planned, what was done, and what was measured afterwards.
| Practice area | Decision | Vintage record |
|---|---|---|
| Soil cover | Seasonal or permanent cover; species, dates and percentage cover recorded. | Cover, bare-soil periods, erosion observations |
| Soil disturbance | Cultivation is chosen from parcel condition, water competition and compaction. | Passes, depth, machinery, compaction |
| Organic matter | Compost, prunings or grazing inputs are logged by source, quantity and date. | Input, soil organic carbon, infiltration |
| Habitat | Flower strips, hedges and uncultivated margins are retained where practical. | Habitat area, mowing, indicator observations |
| Water status | Canopy, cover crop and irrigation decisions respond to measured vine stress. | Soil moisture, plant water status, heat load |
| Disease control | Downy and powdery mildew models inform scouting and treatment timing. | Risk curve, field observation, dose, operation |
Examples such as soil cover, reduced disturbance and habitat retention require parcel-specific management. Water competition, disease pressure and soil condition can change the appropriate operation.
Chapter 4ModulesBuyer
Choose the protocol modules and make them demonstrable
The Vin-Q Method is the whole production system; its protocol modules name the parts you commit to. Each module has a stable code and version, its own required evidence, and reaches the bottle only when that evidence is complete. External certifications sit alongside the Method in their own legal fields, never inside it.
Method protocol modules
- PV · Precision viticulture
- RV · Regenerative vineyard
- AN · Ancestral
- NF · Native fermentation
External standards, optional
- DO or regional origin requirements
- DO Cava production requirements
- EU organic operator and product records
- Added alongside the Method, in their own legal fields
Quality evidence
- Constructor target parameters
- Dated regenerative vineyard operations
- Harvest and cellar measurements
- Release analysis and sensory assessment
Chapter 5G3Farmer
Use the vintage to decide when and what to harvest
Harvest is a gate, not a date copied from the brief. The parcel can be picked, divided, held or excluded after the fruit is assessed against the intended wine.
2. Vineyard and harvest decision
Pick, wait, divide the harvest, or exclude the parcel.
Phenological stage
Locates the fruit within the actual vintage rather than a calendar average.
Weather and heat load
Rain, temperature, heat events, and forecast alter dilution, dehydration, and harvest risk.
Downy and powdery mildew risk
Links disease pressure to sanitary state and treatment timing.
Plant and soil water status
Distinguishes useful moderate stress from arrested ripening or shrivel.
Canopy and fruit exposure
Controls photosynthesis, berry temperature, sunburn, and aroma development.
Crop load and berry weight
Interprets concentration and expected lot volume.
Brix or potential alcohol
Measures sugar maturity and expected yeast stress.
pH
Indicates acid dissociation, microbial pressure, colour behaviour, and SO2 efficiency.
Titratable acidity (TA)
Measures total titratable acid reserve; report as g/L tartaric-acid equivalent.
Malic acid
Separates retained freshness from TA and anticipates malolactic change.
Phenolic maturity
Skin and seed tannin, anthocyanins, extractability, and bitterness.
Berry sensory state
Fruit, herbaceousness, seed lignification, skin texture, and flavour maturity.
Sanitary state and berry temperature
Rot, damage, insects, and heat determine acceptance and cooling urgency.
Chapter 6G4–G7Winemaker
Run the cellar route through explicit gates
Reception measurements can change the planned yeast, extraction, blending or sparkling route. Each later decision uses the current state of the wine rather than a fixed protocol detached from the vintage.
3. Reception and lot acceptance
Accept, sort, separate press fractions, redirect, or reject.
3. Reception and lot acceptance
Accept, sort, separate press fractions, redirect, or reject.
Parcel, variety, certification and lot identity
Preserves legal origin and chain of custody.
Weight, transport time, and temperature
Quantifies yield and oxidation or microbial exposure before processing.
Sorting and rot assessment
Records damaged, moulded, underripe, or desiccated fruit.
Brix/density, pH, and TA confirmation
Confirms the representative pre-harvest sample in the received lot.
YAN
Measures assimilable nitrogen for fermentation rate and H2S risk.
Must turbidity
Informs settling, nutrient availability, and fermentation kinetics.
Press yield and fraction
Separates clean juice from hard-press phenolics and potassium.
Gluconic acid or microbial screen
Used when rot or damaged fruit suggests hidden microbial load.
Individual organic acids
Tartaric, malic, and lactic acids are measured separately only when acidification, malolactic route, or tartrate stability requires them.
4. Fermentation launch
Proceed with the selected yeast route, change route, correct a limiting factor, or hold.
4. Fermentation launch
Proceed with the selected yeast route, change route, correct a limiting factor, or hold.
Yeast route and viable population
Native succession or selected culture must be an explicit decision.
YAN and nutrient plan
Matches nitrogen availability to sugar load and intervention policy.
Starting density and temperature
Creates the kinetic baseline and route-specific temperature range.
Must pH and microbial state
Sets biological risk at the moment fermentation begins.
Turbidity and solids
Controls lipid supply, aroma, reduction risk, and clarity.
Oxygen/redox plan
Defines protective handling or a measured oxygen addition rather than accidental exposure.
Vessel fill, capacity, and cooling
Checks headspace, heat removal, and operational feasibility.
5. Active fermentation
Continue, cool, aerate, feed, change extraction, or enter a fault-control route.
5. Active fermentation
Continue, cool, aerate, feed, change extraction, or enter a fault-control route.
Density decline and fermentation rate
Detects normal progress, slowing, or a stuck fermentation.
Temperature curve
Controls yeast viability, aroma retention, and extraction.
Volatile-acidity trend
Detects bacterial activity; a trend is more informative than one isolated value.
H2S and reductive sensory checks
Triggers nutrition, lees, or redox decisions before faults become fixed.
Oxygen/redox and headspace
Separates intentional oxygen management from oxidation or Acetobacter risk.
Cap temperature and extraction
Guides pump-over, punch-down, maceration, and pressing.
Microbial analysis
Used when kinetics or sensory state depart from the expected route.
6. Fermentation finish and assemblage
Finish dry, retain a stable residual sugar target, blend, begin malolactic conversion, or hold.
6. Fermentation finish and assemblage
Finish dry, retain a stable residual sugar target, blend, begin malolactic conversion, or hold.
Glucose + fructose
Confirms dryness or quantifies the microbial burden of residual sugar.
Alcohol
Checks style, legal category, and microbial pressure.
pH and TA after fermentation
Quantifies the new acid balance after precipitation and biological change.
Malic and lactic acids
Confirms whether malolactic conversion is intended, active, complete, or blocked.
Volatile acidity
Determines whether the lot can be blended or matured safely.
Phenolic extraction and tannin state
Sets pressing, blending, oxygen, and ageing decisions.
Free SO2 target and pH
Defines protection when sulfur is used; neither value is interpreted alone.
Dissolved oxygen and microbial stability
Tests whether transfer, ageing, or bottling can proceed.
Component chemistry and sensory trial
Sets blend proportions from the actual vintage rather than fixed percentages.
7. Maturation control
Continue ageing, rack, top, adjust protection, disgorge, or shorten the route.
7. Maturation control
Continue ageing, rack, top, adjust protection, disgorge, or shorten the route.
Temperature and time
Defines reaction rate, lees development, and release trajectory.
Headspace, topping, and dissolved oxygen
Controls oxidation and acetic-bacterial pressure.
Free and total SO2
Tracks protection and binding where sulfur is part of the route.
Volatile-acidity trend
Tests whether the wine remains stable during ageing.
Lees condition and autolysis
Separates useful texture development from reduction or dirty lees.
Pressure and bottle condition
Tracks sparkling safety, closure, and secondary-fermentation completion.
Microbial and sensory state
Checks Brettanomyces, lactic/acetic spoilage, mousiness, oxidation, and intended profile.
Chapter 7G8Reviewer
Release only when the wine and record are complete
The release gate combines analytical identity, stability, sensory assessment and traceability. A wine can be held, matured further, corrected within its declared rules, relabelled or rejected.
8. Release gate
Release, continue maturation, correct within the selected rules, relabel, or reject.
Alcohol, pH, TA, and volatile acidity
Final analytical identity and legal limits.
Glucose + fructose
Final sweetness category and microbial-stability burden.
Free and total SO2
Final protection, declaration, and certification limit where applicable.
CO2 pressure
Confirms sparkling category and bottle consistency.
Turbidity and visual stability
Records clarity or declared unfiltered presentation.
Protein and tartrate stability
Tests foreseeable haze and crystal formation.
Microbial stability
Confirms that yeast and bacterial activity fit the packaged wine.
Dissolved oxygen or total package oxygen
Quantifies oxidation risk introduced at bottling.
Sensory assessment
Checks the declared aroma, texture, balance, and absence or acceptance of faults.
Traceability and certification dossier
Confirms parcel, operators, practices, lot identity, label wording, and certificate validity.
Chapter 8ReleaseBuyer
Complete the Vin-Q Vintage Record
The Vintage Record connects the intended wine to its parcels, declared protocols, dated operations, measurements, analyses and deviations. It documents how the bottled lot was made and how its quality parameters compare with the constructor target and relevant literature.
Vin-Q Vintage Record
MADE ACCORDING TO THE VIN-Q METHOD
The bottle-lot record identifies the method used, the evidence collected and the quality parameters reached at release.
Wine brief and intended style
Parcel, variety and SIGPAC/DGC identity
Optional DO, Cava and organic certificate references
Vin-Q Method protocol modules applied, by code
Dated vineyard operations and inputs
Weather, disease risk and field observations
Harvest analyses and lot acceptance
Cellar protocol, measurements and deviations
Release analysis, sensory review and bottle lot