Cleanliness next to Godliness
We recommend after you finish drinking your wine, take about a ¼ teaspoon of chlorinated cleaner and drop it into the wine bottle. Fill it with hot water and shake the bottle by placing your hand on the top of the bottle. Let the bottle sit over night and then drain the bottle overnight. Now here is the key, place the bottle upside down in a box allowing the water to fully drain, and not allowing any pesky spiders from finding a new home. Your bottles will be mould free! A good thing to do is park a tub of chlorinated cleaner (pink stuff) under the kitchen sink for easy access.
If you are making wine at home we also suggest using the chlorinated cleaner to clean your carboys after each use. Simply add a ¼ cup of the cleaner and fill the carboy with cold or lukewarm water, never use hot water. Wine contains a small amount of protein that will stick to the inside carboy surfaces. The chlorinated cleaner will remove this protein from the carboy walls. If you notice that particles are sticking to the walls of your carboy that is because you have a protein buildup. Many customers who try this after we recommend using cleaner, tell us they are almost sick to see the brown “crud” that comes off the wall.
Whisky/Bourbon Ageing
In the wine business we constantly seeing different trends, some may call them fads emerge over the years. The latest one appears to be ageing wine in whisky or bourbon barrels. Back a few years ago several new commercial winemakers were entering the market and being capital poor could not afford traditional oak barrels for ageing their wine. But they could obtain used whisky or bourbon barrels. So they began to age their wine in thee used liquor barrels and the wine from this process was an immediate commercial success. And then in 2014 some of the big players began to produce wine that was aged in whisky or bourbon barrels. In fact even though their costs were significantly lower because they eliminated purchasing new oak barrels they, being good marketers sold this wine at a $3-4 per bottle premium. Since then these wines have grown in popularity.
Wines ages in whisky or bourbon barrels tend to be bold ripe reds at the core, with hints of vanilla, sometimes described as candied. You may detect some smoky elements in the wine as well.
A few months ago we had the Eclipse Bourbon Barrel wine kit and those that made it continue to rave about the quality of wine and how much they enjoyed it. So this month we have a Selection Limited Whisky Barrel Cab Merlot.
Ferment on Premises - Questions Part 2
What exactly does the customer have to do? Essentially with making wine in Ferment on Premise, the customer owns the wine. And we are providing the service to make it. The AGLC requires the customer to be involved in starting the wine, but we are allowed to assist in the process, particularly with regard to lifting. This will take 10-15 minutes to start a batch. We take over from there, stabilizing, racking and filtering your wine. We will then make an appointment for you to come in and bottle your wine. Again we are allowed to assist.
Can I use my own bottles? Yes! Please bring in your own bottles. Of course if you require bottles you can buy them from us.
Am I allowed to sample my wine before bottling? Yes, the AGLC allows you to test your wine prior to bottling. Each owner of the wine may sample up to 120 ml of the wine. After all it is your wine!
What does the Fermenting Fee include? We provide all the services in making your wine right through until the bottling stage. Things such as bottles, corks and labels are not included unless they are provided.
Ferment on Premises - FAQ's Part 1
What is the role of the customer? What does the customer have to do?
The customer owns the wine throughout the whole process. We provide the service of making the wine. The customer is responsible for pouring the wine into the primary, mixing it with water, and adding the yeast. If you are unable to pour the juice into the pail because of weight, we are able to help you with that.
After the wine has been filtered we will then call you to set up an appointment to come in and bottle your wine. You are responsible for sterilizing your bottles, filling the bottles, corking them, and placing labels and shrink wraps on the bottle. We will provide you with industrial equipment that makes the process much simpler than you may be using at home now. We are allowed to help show you how to use that equipment. Once the wine has been bottled it must be taken home. No finished wine can be stored at our facility.
Can I bring my own empty bottles from home and use them?
Yes! We will be obtaining a industrial washer that will sterilize the bottles in 5 minutes or so. If you do not have enough bottles we do sell them.
What is Creative Connoisseur’s role?
We provide the facility to make your wine. We are responsible for insuring your wine is made to the instructions stipulated by the kit manufacturer. So once the yeast has been added by you, we stabilize, rack and filter your wine. We are allowed to help with pouring the juice into the pail if you are unable to lift it. We are also allowed to show you how to operate all of the bottle filling equipment.
Next month we will delve into some of the more interesting specific questions of the rules pertaining to Ferment on Premises service as required by law.
What are those packages for?
Potassium metabisulphite has two very different purposes in wine making. It is a preservative, in that it will bind with oxygen molecules and therefore prevent free oxygen from oxidizing your wine. Some term it a scavenger of oxygen. Oxidized wines have a distinct “tinny” taste and while not harmful it is not a pleasant taste. The second purpose of potassium metabisulphite is to kill any bacteria and wild yeasts that could destroy your wine.
Potassium sorbate stops yeast from making more yeast. If you think back to high school biology you will remember cell division. Potassium sorbate stops or prevents cell division. Think of it as birth control for yeast. Some people might say it used to “kill the yeast”. This is not true as nothing that you could use to “kill” yeast would be harmful to consume. The yeast is not killed rather it can’t produce anymore yeast.
Whatever you do, always use potassium metabisulphite in your wine or it can be quickly oxidized. It is really harmless, and does no give you headaches, but that is for another discussion.
Ferment on Premises Update
The answer…. Soon, but we don’t know exactly. As lead representative for the retail wine kit store owners I met with the AGLC in July to give our opinion on the new rules and regulations for the Ferment on Premises. They took those recommendations to their executive and the rules and regulations have been approved. They are largely modeled on current laws in British Columbia and other provinces which have been operating for many years.
The new rules and regulations will now be presented to the Minister of Finance and his department for formal “blessing”. This is scheduled to occur in October. Once that affirmation is given the AGLC will invite retailers to submit for a license to operate Ferment on Premise. The AGLC indicates that this process is expected to take a month or so.
Of course we are only guessing as to when we will be allowed top operate, but likely sometime in December or January. But obviously this outside of our control. In the meantime, we are looking to relocate to a larger location and are currently negotiating on a space. Check out our Facebook page where we will be announcing when we have secured our new location.
Wine Trivia
Most white wine actually comes from red grapes
As white wine ages it gets darker, red wine gets lighter in colour
It takes on average 736 grapes to make a bottle of wine
A bottle of sparkling wine contains about 49 million bubbles
Wine has about the same number of calories as the same amount of grape juice
There are about 10,000 known grape varieties in the world today, how many do you know?
Clearing Agents - Revisted
What are the clearing agents?
Bentonite- Sterilized natural clay used as a clearing agent. Its primary role is removing protein from your wine. Failure to remove the protein could result in your wine having a haze, known as protein haze. In the fermentation stage the bentonite continually “boils up” to the top of your wine, grabs a negatively charged particle and drops to the bottom depositing the particle. It continues this throughout the fermentation time. It also helps fermentation by providing a site for the yeast to replicate on.
Kieselsol – Pronounced KEY-SEL-SOL is a fining agent that binds with suspended particles in the wine to aid in clearing. This is used in conjunction with Chitosan for clearing and is made from silicon dioxide.
Chitosan – Pronounced KY-TOE-ZAN is a fining agent that binds with suspended particles in the wine to aid in clearing. Chitosan is derived from the outer shells of crustaceans and is used in conjunction with Kieselsol (another fining agent). Because it is from the shell it is basically a Calcium source. Calcium has a positive charge so it is very effective in binding and removing negatively charged particles.
Specific Gravity
Specific Gravity (S.G.) is the winemaker’s compass reading – it can tell us where the wine is in its fermentation process and is very important to stay on track and not get lost along the way. You may remember from a previous article, new yeast sub-strains used in your wine kits do not cause excessive foam like we used to find years ago. With this in mind we can no longer rely on visual signs, but need t rely on the S.G. reading.
How do we get these readings?
Through a device called a hydrometer.
How does it work?
A hydrometer measures the density of liquid. As sugar in the wine is replaced by less dense alcohol (the job our trusty yeast friends are busy doing), a lower reading is given on the hydrometer. Using this information, you will be able to know if your wine is fermenting and when fermentation is complete. Once the S.G. does not change, the S.G. will remain constant over a few days. It is important to realize that the S.G. of pure water is 1.000, so wine juice being more have a higher number (usually 1.08 to 1.10 for most wines) and as the sugars are converted to alcohol, yeah!, the wine becomes less dense than water. The S.G. of pure alcohol is 0.787.
Ferment on Premises in Alberta
What are Ferment on Premises? In such a facility, consumers select the wine kit they would like to have, add the yeast that day, and then the store takes it from there, doing all the remainder of the steps until bottling time. The consumer then comes back and bottles the wine. The store invests in industrial filling equipment that looks like a commercial bottling plant. The consumer pays for this service.
The number of wine kit retailers in Alberta has consistently being declining, with 27 store closures in the last 10 years, with no new stores opening. Clearly, while the home wine making industry can sustain most of the stores still open, the home wine making market in this province is not thriving. Ferment on Premise would allow a more vibrant market and more consumer choice.
At the same time, Ferment on Premises in Alberta could offer an economic benefit. Estimates based on legalization in Nova Scotia, suggest that 400 more permanent jobs would be realized in Alberta, stimulating our economy.
While, many of our customers enjoy this hobby at home, the ability to make wine in a designed facility, with specialized equipment, might be appealing, especially to those who express concern over lifting carboys or perhaps find themselves downsizing from a house to a condo and may no longer have the space.
The Government of Alberta are indicating they might have an interest in allowing Albertans the same choice and freedom that 7 other provinces now provide their citizens. So, call, or email your MLA, NDP or opposition, and ask them to consider allowing Ferment on Preemies. We may have a narrow window to get this through, given the current political environment in Alberta. Your help would be appreciated.
Bentonite???
Well the simple answer to what bentonite is that it is clay, similar to that horrible stuff we may find in our garden and is goo-like containing a lot of water. Bentonite is used in wine kits because of the extremely large surface area it has plus the large negative charge. So, this then serves two benefits.
Because of the large surface area the bentonite serves as a “home” for the yeast to replicate and ferment those sugars and produce alcohol. And because of the large negative charge on the bentonite, positively charged particles will also attach. The primary substance that winemakers are concerned about is positively charged protein molecules. There is a small, but significant amount of protein in wine that must be removed or the wine will suffer from what is known is protein haze. This protein haze will result in a wine that is not clear.
The bentonite is added on the first day in order to take advantage of the vigorous fermentation action in the first few days. As the bentonite travels up to the surface through the active fermentation it will pick up protein and then drop to the bottom of the pail and drop that protein. It will continue to cycle through the pail many times to carry more protein to the sediment on the bottom of the pail. So in other words, the bentonite helps clear your wine.
Cider
The United Kingdom leads the world in cider consumption, this popular drink gaining great popularity as a staple in any neighbourhood or country pub. A great accompaniment for any pub food, like steak and kidney pie.
Cider is typically made from apples, but recent trends has pear cider shooting up in popularity. We are also offering a Blueberry cider. And of course the cider kits come from the UK. For those gluten avoiding folks, particularly celiacs, ciders provide, a great alternative to beer.
Questions
What is the difference to so-called 4 week and 6 week kits? Well the simple answer is how long it takes to make, but the real answer is ageing potential and body. You see, 6 week kits, like Selection have more solids in them because of their higher juice content. Because of this they generally have more body and more ageing potential. If, you intend to have all the wine consumed within 6 months, generally a 4 week kit like World Vineyard and Vintners Reserve would be suited for you. Essentially at 6 months, the wine from Selection wine kits will be superior in quality to a 4 week kit. So, if you tend to age your wines, we encourage you to make premium kits. You will be well rewarded for your patience.
I have to go away and by the instructions I have to do a step, what should I do? The only critical step is transferring the wine from the pail to the carboy. Don’t transfer it to soon, or leave it too long. After, it is the carboy, time is on your side. It is perfectly fine to leave your wine for longer periods of time. In fact there are some benefits to leaving it longer. For many, we leave it for as long as a year before bottling.
What colour of bottle should I put my wine into? Typically red wine goes into a green bottle and white wine in a clear bottle. The reason for this is most red wine is aged for longer periods of time. Direct sunlight can be harmful to wine, and thus the green bottle is looked upon favourably for red wine. However, realistically, most wine is stored in our basements and never sees direct sunlight. So, really then it makes no difference. We always say, the wine doesn’t care, so it is up to you what colour of bottle your wine goes into.
Filtering Myths
Myth – Filtering your wine removes taste from your wine. The taste of your wine comes from molecules which easily pass through the microscopic holes in the filter pads. What you might see on your pads is yeast, or complex proteins which if anything produce harmful flavours.
Myth – Filtering is a good way to clear your wine. Clearing your wine is the responsibility of the clearing agent. Filtering your wine removes some particles but chiefly haze. Essentially it polishes your wine. Never filter wine that is not clear, it will only result in plugged filter pads and likely lost wine that might end up on your walls.
Myth – Filtering your wine adds a cardboard taste. This might be partially true, as a minority of people say they detect this. If you do, you can soak your pads in a mild citric acid solution which will remove this taste.
Nearly 100% of commercial wine is filtered, we strongly encourage you to filter yours and be proud of the pristine appearance of your wine.
Best Sellers!
Selection White
2011 - Italian “Pinot Grigio, Australian Chardonnay, Piesporter, Gewürztraminer, Luna Bianca
2016 - Piesporter, Italian Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer, Australian Traminer Riesling, Symphony
Selection Red
2011 - Chilean Malbec, Luna Rossa, Chilean Merlot, Vieux Chateau du Roi, New Zealand Pinot Noir
2016 - Carmenere, Chilean Malbec, Luna Rossa, Chilean Merlot, Enigma
World Vineyard/Vintners Reserve - Red
2011 - WV Australian Shiraz, VR Merlot, WV Chilean Merlot, VR Vieux Chateau du Roi, VR Mezza Luna Red
2016 - WV Chilean Malbec, VR Mezza Luna Red, WV Chilean Merlot, WV Australian Shiraz, WV French Cabernet Sauvignon
WV = World Vineyard
VR = Vintners Reserve
World Vineyard/Vintners Reserve – Whites
2011 - VR Liebfraumilch, WV Italian Pinot Grigio, VR Gewürztraminer, WV German Muller Thurgau, VR Piesporter
2016 - WV German Muller Thurgau, WV Italian Pinot Grigio, VR Piesporter, WV Moscato, VR Viognier
Island Mist/Niagara Mist
2011 - IM Pomegranate Zinfandel, IM Peach Apricot Chardonnay, IM Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel, IM Green Apple Riesling, IM Black Raspberry Merlot
2016 - NM Black Cherry Pinot Noir, IM Pomegranate Zinfandel, IM Green Apple Riesling, IM Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel, NM Mango Strawberry Moscato
IM = Island Mist
NM = Niagara Mist
Cleanliness!!!
It is now suggested by kit suppliers that you also scrub your equipment. Bio-films, the products of the fermentation process, can build up on surfaces and become potential contaminants that may ruin a batch of wine or beer. A good analogy is your dishes. If you soak your plates in dish detergent after a meal, and then put them away, a build of bacteria can occur. No, everyone scrub these dishes to prevent harmful build up prior to their next use; goes without saying.
We recommend you periodically soak your, carboy and wine bottles in a solution of chlorinated cleaner, for at least 20 minutes. Use a bottle brush or carboy brush to scrub the surfaces of the equipment to remove any bio-film build up. For plastic primary pails, or if you use plastic carboys, then use a dish cloth to scrub the surfaces. In the case of plastic carboys put the dish cloth in the carboy and roll the dish cloth around the carboy and remove it by pulling it out of the neck. It is thought brushes can scratch the plastic surfaces and become home to evil batch-destroying bacteria. Alternatively, we do sell a drill-mounted carboy cleaner that has cloth pads that power scrub much like rollers in a car wash.
Try soaking your carboys and scrubbing them, you will be amazed at the sickly brown crud left in the bottom.
Return of the Cork?
However, corks might be making a comeback! Recent high end Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand and other countries are finding a quality difference between wines sealed with corks and screw top bottles. Blind taste tests of the same batch of Sauvignon Blanc; found that sommeliers and regular consumers preferred the wine from bottles with corks to the screw top bottles. The wine that had been corked was described to have a better aroma and be more expressive, and tasted more like a Sauvignon Blanc should. Why? Well corks allowed some oxygen into the wine and this reduced the sulphur compounds in the wine. On the other hand, screw top Sauvignon Blanc seemed to be fresher. Now this maybe specific to Sauvignon Blanc, as it has been found that higher sulphur compounds give Chardonnay more complexity. Several high end New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producers are now switching back to corks.
This is obviously a wine specific issue, and for the average wine drinker we will likely leave it up to the wine producer to determine the proper closure. But, for the home wine maker, this finding means more empty wine bottles to use for our own bottling. The screw top bottles often are not suitable for home wine makers.
Ypu are not allergic to Sulphites
You Are Not Allergic to Sulfite
Posted by Tim Vandergrift on January 25, 2016
One of the things I hear frequently from people who find out I’m a technical guy for winemaking is, “I’m allergic to the sulfite in wine. What can I do?” My heart sinks when I hear this. Sulfite allergy is such an all-pervasive myth that it seems like an endless tide of misinformation to stand against, and even some of the people who should know better (like wine educators and salesfolk) sometimes give the impression that there’s some validity to the idea that sulfite is in some way contributory to allergic responses or headaches from wine.
Because they don't. They literally can't.
A few quick facts about sulfite before we address the allergy issue.
- What is Sulfite?
- Where can Sulfites be found?
- All wine contains sulfite; even wines labeled ‘no sulfite added’. All wine produces sulfite naturally during fermentation, up to a level of about 10-PPM. Even with no addition of outside sulfite, wine always contains it—it cannot be removed.
- The legally allowable amount of sulfite is 70-PPM FSO2 in dry table wine.
- Nearly all dried fruit and meat contains sulfite. Raisins have up to 1250 PPM.
- Bacon, orange juice, potato chips, cider, candied fruits, sausages, and even pancake syrups contain sulfite: often at levels vastly higher than those found in wine.
- The human body produces its own sulfite as a by-product of metabolic activity–that’s right, you contain sulfite.
- The truth about Sulfite
Sulfite, a stable salt of elemental sulfur cannot provoke this immune response–it just does not work this way.
- Common (false) ideas about sulfite:
The class of drugs known as ‘Sulfa’ (actual name, ‘Sulfonamides’) don’t contain any sulfur in any form. The two aren’t chemically related. It’s like claiming to be allergic to pencils because you are also allergic to penicillin.
What about asthma? Sulfites trigger asthma.
Lots of things trigger asthma that are not allergens. When very high concentrations of sulfite dust or the vapor from a liquid solution comes in contact with mucous membranes (like the alveoli in your lungs) the moisture in them combines to make sulfuric acid. That makes everyone’s lungs cramp, not just asthmatics, but it’s not an allergy.
I’m allergic to sulfite. You’re not an allergist!
No, I’m not. But you’re not allergic to sulfite either. You may be very sensitive to it (as I am–surprise!) but that’s a very different thing.
I’m not a doctor/allergist/scientist, just a wine-guy. I wouldn’t possibly comment on this issue without a major backstop. My source is Dr. Janice Joneja, a pretty darn smart person and a renowned expert on allergies. She’s far more adamant about the allergic potential of sulfite in winemaking than I’ll ever be (in addition, she’s extremely patient and generous with her time towards geeky wine tech guys–thanks Dr. J.)
So, what does cause people’s problems with wine?
Shunting aside the obvious (drinking too much wine) the biggest contributor to negative response to wine consumption is bio-amines. Plants produce these as natural defenses against predators, and they work. In humans they provoke immune response, and are the reason why people take antihistamines.
Fully ripened grapes don’t contain massive amounts of bioamines, and the yeast that causes the fermentation process doesn’t add significant quantities of them either. The bioamines in wine generally come from a secondary fermentation treatment known as ‘malolactic fermentation‘, or MLF. MLF is caused when a bacteria (typically a cultured one added to commercial wines) consumes the malic acid in the must and converts it into lactic acid. This can be desirable for two reasons: first, malic acid is pretty harsh, tasting like green apples, while lactic acid is softer and easier on the palate.
Second, a by-product of MLF is the compound diacetyl, which lends a buttery or melted butter aroma to the wine. This is so strong that commercially synthesized diacetyl is the flavor ingredient used in microwave popcorn (which is why they call it ‘buttery’ rather than ‘buttered’). MLF is normally executed on red wines, some Chardonnays and very few other whites.
Unfortunately the bacteria also produces large amounts of bioamines, and these are probably the source for most people’s allergic response to wine–since only a few white wines get it, it’s the source of the ‘red wine headache’ trope–which is particularly amusing since white wines usually contain higher levels of sulfite than reds, yet it’s reds that get blamed, because of the bioamines.
Hydrometer Confusion
No rather, this water meter, measures the density of liquids, but more so it measures the relative density of a liquid. What does that mean? Well the hydrometer is calibrated so that the density of pure water is 1.00. We will leave it to the geeks to tell us that this changes with temperature, but for simplicity the specific gravity of pure water is 1.00. Therefore a good way to measure the accuracy of your hydrometer is to put it in water and make sure that the water floats to the 1.00 line.
Quite obviously the density of wine juice is higher than water, it is thicker. The typical density or specific gravity of the must (the term we give to wine before we add or pitch the yeast) is generally between 1.080 and 1.090. This essentially means your wine is 8-9% more dense than water.
Now alcohol is less dense that water, in fact the specific gravity of alcohol is approximately 0.8, or 20% less dense. So, as the yeast consumes the sugar in the wine, and converts it to alcohol, you are lowering the gravity of the must. After fermentation is complete, the specific gravity of you wine should be at, or slightly less than 1.00, usually 0.996. And you thought you would never use your high school science classes!
Of course you can use your hydrometer to determine the final alcohol of your wine. Simply record the starting specific gravity, remember to stir your wine well to get a true reading. And then record the final specific gravity. Subtract the initial specific gravity from the final, and multiply that result by 131, which is a conversion factor. That resulting number is the alcohol content of your wine in percentage terms. For an approximate number, you can use the other scale on your hydrometer, but again you have to record the initial and the final number. Fail that, come into the store and we will give you a lesson on how to use your hydrometer. That’s why we are here!
Personalize Your Wine
To circumvent this problem we have recently purchased a label printing system that will allow to print labels and to offer consumers a choice of labels. This has also afforded us an opportunity to create personalized wines for your well-crafted wine. In other words, if you want to put your name, even the month and year you produced the wine we can do that. So, be creative and come up with a name for your winery, Smith Estates, or Stinking Rose Winery, it is up to you. Better yet, we can make them on the spot. Next time you are in the store ask to see a sample.
To top up or not?
For years they have been recommending that you add water if the level of wine in the carboy is at or below the shoulders of the carboy. We usually recommend adding a similar wine (red for red, white with white). And now they are saying not to.
What’s the change? Well if makes sense when you think about it. The instructions tell you to rack and bottle the wine, two weeks after the stabilizing and clearing stage. The reason you topped up was to prevent oxidation due to the large surface area presented by wine that is not topped up in the carboy. Wine will not oxidize in two weeks, it is just not enough time, so there is no reason to top up.
However, if you wish to leave the wine in the carboy longer than the 2 weeks, or if you choose to bulk age your wine in the carboy, then we strongly recommend you top up your wine to minimize the surface area on the top of the wine, so that your wine will not get oxidized.
Help - My wine is not fermenting!
Well, you know us well, we always answer a question with a host of questions, like, what is the temperature, how did you add the yeast, and most importantly what is the specific gravity reading of the hydrometer. Silence, on the end of the line, well, um, I didn’t check that is the common reply. After checking the specific, lo and behold the wine is actually fermenting.
So, what is going on?
Well over the last few years, our suppliers have been choosing yeast strains that have the desirable characteristic of not foaming and bubbling a lot. Sensibly, people don’t want to head in to their wine making area and find the wine is escaping the primary pail and going all over the floor. The yeast may still be the all-popular EC-1118 species (Saccaromyces cerevisiae for the wine geeks), as an example, but it is a strain of EC-1118 that produces less foam and bubbling, but yet maintains the desired alcohol and taste profile. That’s science for you.
At the end of the day, we will always reiterate our statement, never rely on visual signs of fermentation, rely only on the hydrometer reading. That is why we recommend leaving the hydrometer in your fermenter at all time, so you can easily record daily readings to insure your wine is fermenting and to tell when it is “ready” to transfer to the carboy.
Why Limited Editions?
Limited Edition kits are always of outstanding quality and worthy of any cellar, but they offer something unique not usually found in our regular kit offering. So, why do kit companies market Limited Editions? For several reasons…
Sometimes they are testing out consumer acceptance and/or the source or provider of the juice. Many of the kits we currently have in our regular product line were at one time Limited Editions. The Selection Italian Montepulciano, Symphony, Australian Petit Verdot, and Chilean Carmenere are perfect examples of this. The juice in our Eclipse Mosel Valley Gewurztraminer comes from the same vineyard that the juice for the Limited Edition Gewurztraminer originated from.
Quite often the wine kit companies are able to secure juice that is of outstanding quality, but they would not be able to obtain this juice on a sustained year after year basis required for a named product. An example of this is the Limited Edition Triumph which has Cabernet Franc as one of the three grapes in this blend. A couple years ago we did have a Selection Cabernet Franc which was marvelous but because of it’s scarceness they were unable to continue to market it. However, as a Limited Edition they could make it an offering. Grab it; Cabernet Franc is an awesome wine with unique characteristics.
Blends are also very common to Limited Edition offerings. Most regular wine kits are single varietal wines based on consumer demand. However, Limited Edition blends are unique chances to sample some great wines. Of the 5 Winexpert Limited Edition kits, 4 of them this year are blends!
Whatever the reason, Limited Edition kits offer great ways to stock your wine cellar with a great cross section of different wines to tempt your palate.
Tired of Lifting?
Well a fellow retailer from Southern Alberta came up with the perfect solution. It is called “The Racker”. It uses an aquarium type pump with food grade hoses and stainless steel components. It can easily move your wine from the floor up to your carboy located on a work bench or counter top. It is inexpensive and a great way to save your back and allow you to continue to make wine without relying on others to do the heavy lifting. If you would like more information on The Racker and watch a video on it, follow this link.
Sanitizers
This makes obvious perfect sense, but why is it so important. Well, proper sanitizing eliminates or prevents the growth of spoilage organisms such as molds, wild yeasts or bacteria. These organisms could produce off odours, awful tastes or general haziness.
What are your choices of sanitizers? The most commonly used sanitizer is Sodium Metabisulphite. Sulphites have been used for hundred of years, back as far as the Egyptian days of pharaohs. Sulphur dioxide is produced from the mixing of sodium metabisulphite powder and water. It is this sulphur dioxide that actually stuns the microorganisms.
Sodium metabisulphite does have some downside. The fumes of the metabisulphite can be uncomfortable to those with lung problems specifically asthma. Also, sodium metabisulphite works better with lower pH conditions, so it is better suited for wine making than beer making. Because it only stuns the bacteria, stronger sanitizers maybe required particularly for beer making.
Iodophor is another sanitizer, which is commonly used in the food and medical industries. Basically it is an iodine based detergent, germicide and sanitizer. It requires no rinsing. It is a single use product and has a major downside in that it will stain, so be careful not to drop any on the floor or clothing.
For beer making we are now recommending Star San a phosphoric acid based liquid material that does require a 1-2 minute contact time to properly sanitize. It is also a no rinse product as well, but generally rinsing is always a good practice. Some beer makers who have used Sodium metabisulphite find that they have excess foaming in their bottled beer. This is because sodium metabisulphite is not sufficiently strong enough for beer making, remember it only stuns the bacteria.
Both Iodophor and Star San are better suited for people concerned about breathing issues when using sodium metabisulphite. We carry all of these products.
Lift free winemaking
Steps:
1.) Place your primary pail on the floor and your wine kit on a bench or a table. Leave the bag/bladder in the wine kit box and remove the cap. Use your siphon racking tube to move the wine from the bag to the primary pail. Add water to the primary pail as per normal.
2.) After the wine has fermented for the required 7 days or so, you can use your wine filtering machine (Buon Vino Mini Jet) machine to move the wine from the primary pail to the carboy which you place on the work bench or table. Use the hose that is placed on the drainage plate and attach it to the outlet on the pump housing. So in other words, you bypass the filtering part of the Mini Jet machine and use it strictly as a pump. You can see a picture of this on our Facebook page. If you don’t have a Mini Jet, you can borrow a filter machine from us at no cost as long as you purchased the kit from us.
3.) Now with the wine in the carboy, proceed through stabilizing and clearing stages. Rack the wine from the carboy to another carboy on the floor. Then filter your wine from the pail or carboy now on the floor through your Mini Jet Filter machine and into a carboy sitting up on the bench or table. You can then bottle your wine from the filtered wine on top of the bench or table.
Voila! Not once did you have to lift a carboy or pail! If you need a further explanation drop by the store and we can walk you through it, or visit our Facebook page!
Crushed Grape Kits
Commercial red wine is left on the grapes skins, and stems for some time during fermentation. This process, called maceration, allows the wonderful phenolic compounds to be extracted from the grape skins, seeds and stems. What are phenolic compounds?
Phenolic compounds are tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavour compounds. So in other words, wine that contacts the skins for a period of time will have more tannins, flavour and colour. Tannins give wine that astringent taste that can also be found in tea. Another example of the phenolic compounds is resveratrol which is the anti-oxidant that has received a lot of press as being beneficial to the health.
Rose wines are made by allowing the wine to contact the skins and this gain some of the colour from the skins. Most white wines the wine is not fermented on the skins, because of the colour extracted from the skins.
So, making a wine kit that utilizes a crushed grape pack will give you a full-bodied wine, complete with good structure and colour. Try one and find out for yourself.
Allergic to Sulphites - Not so!
One of the things I hear frequently from people who find out I'm a technical guy for winemaking is, "I'm allergic to the sulphites in wine. What can I do?" Twenty years ago, after approximately the hundredth time I heard this, I started to get a little short with my answers. In my justification, sulphite allergies are such an all-pervasive myth that it seems like an endless tide of misinformation to stand against, and even some of the people who should know better (like wine educators and salesfolk) sometimes give the impression that there's some validity to the idea that sulphites are in some way contributory to allergic responses or headaches from wine.
Fortunately for my continued work as a wine guy, I realised that if I didn't give the good information, it was my own darn fault if people didn't learn the truth. To whit: human beings can't be 'allergic' to sulphite. An allergy is an inappropriate immune-system response. Sufferers have excessively active white blood cells: when an allergen binds to the mast cells or basophils they produce antibodies that cause an inflammatory response, which can range from mildly annoying to lethal.
Sulphite, a stable salt of elemental sulphur cannot provoke this immune response--it just does not work this way.
Common protests against this statement are,
'What about sulfa drugs?'
The class of drugs known as 'Sulfa' (actual name, 'Sulfonamides') don't contain any sulphur in any form. The two aren't chemically related. It's like claiming to be allergic to pencils because you are also allergic to penicillin.
What about asthma? Sulphites trigger asthma.
Lot's of things trigger asthma that are not allergens. When very high concentrations of sulphite dust or the vapour from a liquid solution comes in contact with mucous membranes (like the alveoli in your lungs) the moisture in them combines to make sulphuric acid. That makes everyone's lungs cramp, not just asthmatics, but it's not an allergy.
I'm allergic to sulphite. You're not an allergist!
No, I'm not. But you're not allergic to sulphite either. I wouldn't possibly comment on this issue without a major backstop--the corporate liablity for it would be horrifying. My source is Dr. Janice Joneja, a pretty darn smart person and a renowned expert on allergies. She's far more adamant about the allergic potential of sulphite in winemaking than I'll ever be (in addition, she's extremely patient and generous with her time towards geeky wine tech guys--thanks Dr. J.)
So, what is it that causes people's problems with wine? Shunting aside the obvious (drinking too much wine) the biggest contributor to negative response to wine consumption is bio-amines. Plants produce these as natural defenses against predators, and they work. In humans they provoke immune response, and are the reason why people take antihistamines.
Ripe grapes don't contain massive amounts of bioamines, and the yeast that causes the fermentation process doesn't add significant quantities of them either. The bio-amines in wine generally come from a secondary fermentation treatment known as 'malolactic fermentation', or MLF. MLF is caused when a bacteria (typically a cultured one added to commercial wines on purpose) consumes the malic acid in wine and converts it into lactic acid. This can be desirable for two reasons: first, malic acid is pretty harsh, tasting like green apples, while lactic acid is softer and easier on the palate. Second, a by-product of MLF is the compound diacetyl, which lends a buttery or melted butter aroma to the the wine. This is so strong that commercially synthesised diacetyl is the flavour ingredient used in microwave popcorn (which is why they call it 'buttery' rather than 'buttered'). MLF is normally only executed on red wines, some Chardonnays and very few other whites.
Unfortunately the bacteria also produce bioamines, and these are probably the source for most people's allergic response to wine--since only a few whites get it, it's the source of the 'red wine headache' trope.
The super-ultra-hooray-for-me good news is that kit wine never undergoes MLF--I can no longer count the number of times people have told me that they can't drink commercial wine, but are able to enjoy their own home produced wine from my kits. This is just another of the uncountable reasons why it's an absolute genius move to buy wine kits from me and make your own wine for your own self.
Ageing your wine
While our wine kits are ready to bottle (depending on the kit) in 28 or 45 days, they're not ready to drink at that point. They still need at least a month to get over the shock of bottling, and to begin opening up to release their aromas and flavours. So one month is the minimum time you should wait, to allow the kit to start tasting good. But to do the wine proper justice, three months is much better, and will allow your wine to show much of its character.
However, for most of the whites, and for virtually all reds, the time needed to smooth out the wine and allow it to express its mature character is actually six months. Whites intended for ageing may display exceedingly high acid levels at first, which will soften over time, uncovering wonderful textures and flavours. With age, most red wines that begin life with obvious fruity aromas and some degree of astringency will develop softer, gentler, more complex aromas and flavours. The wines become richer, as the fruit mellows and the astringent tannins relax and contribute to the body and character.
To open a wine too soon is akin to trying to eat a cake that is only half-baked. Allowing time to do its work always produces the best, most delicious results.
Components of wines differ by variety or blend, and thus react differently to ageing. Some wines require longer ageing periods than others. For example, notice the differences between wines in the following chart:
Reds:
More Ageing - Cabernet Sauvignon, Barolo, Luna Rossa
Some Ageing - Merlot, Pinot Noir
Little Ageing - Bergamais
Whites
More Ageing - Chardonnay, Luna Bianca
Some Ageing - Sauvignon blanc, Johannisberg Riesling
Little Ageing - Liebfraumilch, Piesporter
The following factors exert influence on the rates of ageing, and can contribute to a better ageing potential:
Storage – Storage conditions are a very big factor. Wines must be stored at a constant temperature (the ideal would be 7-13C/45-55F), need to be shielded from light, should be stored where they will not suffer from vibration, and should be in a place with 60-75% humidity.
Cork quality - The longer and less porous the cork, the better the oxygen barrier, extending ageing potential.
Ullage - The amount of headspace in the bottle. Leaving 1 inch is best.
Sulphite level – Higher concentrations protect from oxidation.
The ageing period needed for different Winexpert products will depend on many factors. For example, using a high quality cork, such as Nomacorcs, or adding some extra sulphite at bottling will extend the maximum age period. Thus, the following is useful only as a general guideline:
Selection Reds - Best after - 3 - 6 months - Best before - 3 years
Selection Whites - Best after 3 - 6 months - Best before - 2 years
Vintners Reserve/World Vineyard - Reds - Best after - 2 months - Best before - 1 year
Vintners Reserve/World Vineyard - Whites - Best after - 1 month - Best before - 1 year
Chai Maison/Island Mist - Best after - Immediate - Best before - 1 year
Filter Pads - Which ones do I use
If you discover sediment in your bottles, this stems from a problem at the clearing and fining stage of your winemaking. But if you discover sediment in your carboy, after the wine has been filtered, that would instead be a filtering problem. Often the issue is as simple as using the wrong filtration pad for your pump. If you have or are using one of the Buon Vino filters, the answer is simple: use the Buon Vino #2 Polishing Filtration pads for everything, and you should have no problems. Except that you should only use the filter pump for filtering, and should not use it while you’re filling the bottles. Doing that could cause problems with the pump itself.
But Buon Vino isn’t the only company that makes wine filtering pumps, and not everybody uses the same designations for their filter pads. So the best way to decide which pad to use is to designate them as 'coarse', 'medium', or 'fine'. These labels refer to the type and size of the particles that the pads are meant to keep from going through.
Coarse filter pads have holes that are too large – or too coarse – to use with kit wines. The big holes in the pads let too many particles go through, and don’t effectively remove those that would cause a haze. Instead, it’s the medium pads that are generally recommended for kits of both red and white wines. After you filter your wine through medium pads, it will show a significant change in clarity and brightness.
Fine pads also do a good job on red wines, though they are usually used for whites. When the wine passes through, these pads remove many of the yeast cells it contains, leaving it sparkling clear. The finer pads will clog up more quickly than the mediums, but this means they are effectively retaining the materials that could potentially cloud the wine. However, medium pads will filter both reds and whites very nicely.
Some pads use a measurement of micron size in their descriptions as well. This refers to the limit on the sizes of the particles they filter out. So a 5-micron pad filters out all particles of that size or larger, while anything smaller than that goes through. The 5-micron pad tends to correspond to the Buon Vino #1 pad, which is the equivalent of 'coarse'. That means you wouldn’t use that size. Since the 1.8-micron pad fairly closely corresponds to the Buon Vino #2 pad – the size recommended for kit wines – that would be the size pad you’d use if you’re going by micron measurement.
How do they make the kits
Every wonder how they make wine kits. Well here is an article from Winexpert that does a great job in explaining the process.
From reading the side panels on wine kit boxes, you’ll see that Winexpert kits contain concentrate, juice and other winemaking staples like acid and sulphite. However, just how these things came together to make your kit isn’t as obvious. For the most part, about 75% of the methods used to construct wine kits, in the beginning at least, are exactly the methods used in making wine.
To start, Winexpert contracts to purchase grapes from growers by specifying conditions at harvest (acid, pH, brix, and colour), as well as organoleptic qualities (flavour and aroma). These specifications are very rigid, for although the grapes may change radically from harvest to harvest, the kits must maintain very high levels of consistency, so consumers can make repeat purchasing decisions. When the grapes are ripe, they are harvested and taken to a winery, where they are sulphited and crushed. At this point, white and red grape processing diverges.
White grapes are pressed, and the juice is pumped into a settling tank. Enzymes are added to break down pectins and gums, which would otherwise make clearing difficult after fermentation. Bentonite is added to the juice and re-circulated. After several hours, the circulation is shut off, and the tank is crash-chilled below freezing. This helps precipitate grape solids out, and prevents spoilage.
Red grapes are crushed, sulphited and pumped through a chiller to a maceration tank, where special enzymes are added. These break down the cellulose membrane of the grape skins, extracting colour, aroma and flavour. The tank is chilled to near freezing to prevent the must from fermenting. After 2 to 3 days, the red must is pumped off, pressed and settled, much the same way as with the whites.
When the tank is settled and the juice almost clear, it is roughly filtered, the sulphite is adjusted, and it is either pumped into tanker trucks for shipment to the kit facility, or into a vacuum concentrator.
A vacuum concentrator works like the reverse of a pressure cooker. When pressure inside the tank is lowered, water can be made to boil at very low temperatures. So boiling the juice at a low temperature prevents browning and caramelization. The water comes off as vapor, leaving behind concentrated grape juice. Because some aromatic compounds can be carried away in this vapor, a fractional distillation apparatus on the concentrator recovers these essences, returning them to the concentrate after processing.
Any acids, sulphur dioxide, or pectic enzymes added along the way in these processes are used in accordance with federal regulations regarding wine processing. The acids are used to balance flavour and achieve pH targets. The sulphur dioxide prevents browning and spoilage.
The juices and concentrates are now shipped to Winexpert's facility where they are pumped into nitrogen purged tanks, tested for quality and stability, and held at very low temperatures. This both speeds up the formation of wine diamonds (crystals of potassium bitartrate from the tartaric acid naturally occurring in the wine), and preserves them until they are to be used.
After the Quality Control checks are passed, the juices and concentrates are blended into the formulations that make up the different kits, in giant blending tanks. When the formulation is finally adjusted and approved, the must is pumped through the pasteuriser. This is a type of heat exchanger that rapidly heats and then cools the must, killing yeast and spoilage organisms, but not burning or caramelizing the must. From there it goes into the bag filler, which purges the sterile bags with a double flush of nitrogen, and then fills each bag to a very strict tolerance.
The bags are then automatically capped and loaded into the kit boxes that come from the box former, after which the packaged additives are placed on top. The boxes are sealed, shrink-wrapped and packed on a skid for a Quality Assurance microbiological hold.
Depending on the product, this hold can be from 3 days to more than a week, while the product is examined for signs of bacterial or yeast activity. If the product passes this examination, it is then shipped to the warehouse, and from there to dealers, and finally, into the hands of the winemaking customer.
My wine won't clear
First of all, if your wine is cloudy, don’t try to bottle it, because it won’t clear in the bottle. In fact, you’d have wasted your time, since any extra treatment you do to clear the wine would require you to dump out all the bottles, process the wine, and re-bottle.
Secondly, don’t filter the wine to clear it. Filtering is only good for clearing wines that are already almost completely clear. Fining agents still in suspension would quickly block your filter pads, and those that make it through would simply show up as sediment later on. So this would be another waste of time and money.
Your first step, if your wine hasn’t cleared, should be going back to the instructions and carefully reviewing them to be sure you followed the fining procedures exactly. Winexpert kits want you to add bentonite on the first day, while others want it on the 20th. Some kits must be racked prior to fining, and some must not be racked or the finings won’t work at all. But you’ll notice that the instructions regarding fining all contain the same phrase:
“Stir the wine vigorously”
Which actually means, really, really, really vigorously. In order for the finings to have the proper effect on the wine, it needs to be free of carbon dioxide. If it’s not, the fining particles will attach to the bubbles of CO2 and float back into suspension, over and over again, so that nothing settles out. So stir the wine until it stops fizzing. You may help this process if you warm the wine to the upper end of the specified temperature range; remember that CO2 is soluble in a liquid solution in inverse proportion to the temperature. When the wine is warm, it will be much easier to de-gas.
This leads to the next step: check the specific gravity. If the wine had not finished fermenting before you added the finings, you’ll have no option but to have to wait until it does. Nothing you do will influence the clarity until the yeast is finished fermenting all available sugars in the juice.
If all of the above suggestions are in order, double-check the instructions regarding temperature. While some fining agents work very well under cool temperatures (bentonite, kieselsol, etc), others (chitosan, isinglass) stop working at all below specified temperatures. Many grape winemaking textbooks advise lowering temperature to help the finings work but make sure this agrees with your instructions before you do cool the must down.
So, if your gravity is correct, and you’ve stirred the wine sufficiently, and you’ve got it at the right temperature, the best course of intervention is simply to wait an extra week and see if it clears up on its own. The principle of least intervention applies to all fining activities: try to get the most effect with the least amount of added finings and effort.
However, if weeks of patience don’t seem to make a difference, you can probably add an extra dose of finings. Use the same fining agent used in the kit, at a rate of 50% of the original dose. If that turns out not to be an option, the fining agent Sparkalloid is an excellent choice. It’s a little complicated to use, but the combination of carageenan proteins and diatomaceous earth makes it a very effective clean-up fining. Use sparingly and follow the package directions precisely.
If you do wind up stirring extra fining agents into the kit, be sure to increase the sulphite levels to match the extra processing and handling. As a rule of thumb, you can add an extra 1.5 grams per kit (one-quarter teaspoon) to offset any oxidation from the handling.
Excerpt from Winexpert
Top Kit Sellers - 2010
With all the award ceremonies this time of year, Grammy’s, Emmy’s, Oscar’s, it is time to announce our annual best kit sellers. So, envelope please, here are the winners in order....
Selection Estate Series Red - Stag’s Leap Merlot, Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon, Italian Barolo
Selection Estate Series White - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Sonoma Unoaked Chardonnay
Selection Red - Australian Shiraz, Argentine Malbec, Luna Rossa
Selection White - Piesporter, Italian Pinot Grigo, Gewurztraminer
World Vineyard Red - Trinity Red, Australian Shiraz, Italian Barolo
World Vineyard White - German Muller Thurgau, Italian Pinot Grigio, Australian Chardonnay
Vintners Reserve Red - Merlot, Vieux Chateau du Roi, Mezza Luna Red
Vintners Reserve White - Piesporter, Liebfraumilch, Gewurztraminer
Cellar Craft Showcase Red - Amarone, Rosso Fortissimo, Red Mtn. Cabernet Sauvignon
Cellar Craft 16 l White - Late Harvest Riesling, Washington State Geuwrztraminer, Italian Pinot Bianco
Cellar Craft 12 L - Grenache/Syrah/Mouvedre (GSM), Merlot, Pinot Noir
Cellar Craft 7.5l Red - Cabernet/Merlot, Shiraz, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
Cellar Craft 7.5l White - Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay Semillon, Pinot Grigio
Island Mist - Pomegranate Zinfandel, Peach Apricot Chardonnay, Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel
Baron’s Beer - Mexican Cerveza, Canadian Lager, Redwood Ale
My wine won't stop fermenting
Once in awhile we will get a phone call from a customer telling us their wine won’t stop fermenting. Bubbles continue to be seen in the airlock. How can this be, it should have been finished long ago?
Those of you that have made this very call, will have heard our pat answer… What is the specific gravity? If it is high, we would advise you to give it a good stir and be patient.
But if it is in the proper range, your wine might be a great weather indicator. Your wine may actually be finished fermenting, but due to changes in temperatures or barometric pressure your wine is out gassing carbon dioxide (CO2) at a rate that looks like active fermentation.
With temperature, CO2 is more soluble in a liquid the colder the temperature of the liquid. To understand this think of a can of pop. When it comes from the fridge and you open it, it barely fisses. If you were to grab it from a hot car in the summer and you opened it, it fizzes out like a volcano. The same can happen if the wine in your carboy warms up and the trapped CO2 tries to exit through the airlock. This is why we encourage you to keep you carboy temperature up when you stabilize your wine as the CO2 will be released easier, and you wine will clear properly.
Quite often, when a low pressure area marches through the area we will get a few phone calls with people telling us that their wine has started fermenting again. What happens? Under high pressure, clear skies and sunny, the higher atmospheric pressure acts to keep the CO2 in your wine. If there is a change in the weather, dropping barometric pressure, cloudy skies or rain, the pressure on your wine lessens and the trapped CO2 in your wine comes out of solution and you see bubbles in your airlock.
That is why, visual observations of your wine and it’s fermenting can not be relied upon. Using your hydrometer and tracking specific gravity is a more valuable tool to determine the progress and fermentation of your wine.
Cutting back on the Water
Every so often, we are questioned on the idea of cutting back on the amount of water added to the wine kit in order to increase the body. We do not endorse nor recommend this. Why? Tim Vandergrift, Winexpert’s Technical Manager answers this issue quite well.
The problem with this sort of manipulation is that it makes rough, unbalanced wine, with plenty of power but no finesse or elegance. The finished wine takes a very long time to age to drinkability, and few people can manage more than a couple of glasses before the acidity and tannins catch up with them.
By deleting 20 percent of the volume of the kit, you increase the acidity, tannin and total solids by 20 percent. Yes, this makes a strong wine, but think of making frozen concentrated orange juice. Does leaving out half the water make better orange juice, or just thicker, sweeter, stronger juice?
There are other considerations as well. The wine will take longer to ferment, and may not clear well. Some kits with high specific gravity (typically ones that emulate styles such as Amarone or “big” Chardonnay) already start with a specific gravity in excess of 1.100. Failing to dilute them correctly will give them a starting specific gravity so high that they will quit fermenting with several percent residual sugar remaining, resulting in hot, sweet wine – not everyone’s cup of tea.
People who are attracted to this technique would be better served by using a higher-quality kit instead. The juice-concentrate six week kits contain single-strength grape juice and very flavourful concentrates. Smaller kits (those that contain more concentrate and less fresh juice) make good wine, but tend to express less character. The big kits cost more money, but when you consider that you are getting nearly 25 percent more wine – making the full 23L you get 29 or 30 bottles, compared to 24 or 25 bottles from 19 L, the difference, particularly the difference per bottle, is very low.
Top Kit Sellers - 2009
It is time to announce our annual best kit sellers. Here are the top 3 sellers in each brand:
Selection Estate Series Red - Stag’s Leap Merlot, Washington State Cabernet Franc/Merlot, Italian Barolo
Selection Estate Series White - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Sonoma Unoaked Chardonnay
Selection Red - Luna Rossa, Argentine Malbec, Chilean Carmenere
Selection White - Piesporter, Italian Pinot Grigo, Gewurztraminer
World Vineyard Red - Chilean Merlot, Australian Shiraz, Trinity Red
World Vineyard White - German Muller Thurgau, Italian Pinot Grigio, Australian Chardonnay
Vintners Reserve Red - Mezza Luna Red, Merlot, Vieux Chateau du Roi
Vintners Reserve White - Piesporter, Gewurztraminer, Liebfraumilch
Cellar Craft Showcase Red - Amarone, Argentine Malbec, Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot
Cellar Craft 16 l White - Pousse Blanc, Italian Pinot Bianco, Late Harvest Riesling
Cellar Craft 12 L - Merlot, Barbera, Pinot Noir
Cellar Craft 7.5l Red - Rio Negro, Cabernet/Merlot, Shiraz
Cellar Craft 7.5l White - Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay Semillon, Pinot Grigio
Island Mist - Pomegranate Zinfandel, Peach Apricot Chardonnay, Green Apple Riesling
Baron’s Beer - Mexican Cerveza, Canadian Lager, Amber Ale
Oxygen - A Fermentation Essential
Occasionally we will come across customers that like to ferment their wine in a pail with an airlock on it. This in days past, was the suggested way to begin your wine. Today , we realize it is a no-no.
Yeast requires high levels of oxygen in order to do their wonderful job of taking sugar in the must (grape juice and concentrate) and making alcohol. To do this breeding yeast devours dissolved oxygen in your fermenting wine. This is especially important during the early hours and days of fermentation. Alcohol conversion doesn’t start to occur until the yeast reaches a certain population. By providing adequate oxygen this critical population is achieved earlier. For that matter warmer temperatures also encourage the yeast to breed.
Excluding the oxygen from the primary pail through the use of an airlock can slow down fermentation. You should choose a primary pail that allows air, but not fruit flies into the fermenting wine. The kit instructions also tell you to whip your wine or stir it very well before pitching the yeast. This is partially due to mixing the added water but more importantly it is to introduce oxygen into the must.
By racking (transferring) your wine to the carboy, you are also introducing oxygen to your wine. The oxygen “kick” we help aerate your wine and provide the yeast with a hit of oxygen to properly finish fermentation. After your wine has finished active fermentation oxygen is not required, and can actually be detrimental. That’s why we place the water-filled airlock on the carboy.
Oak it up!
Oak It Up! – July 2007
Many customers have sampled the wonderful oak flavours of some of our CellarCraft kits that include oak cubes. Now we will be offering these cubes for you to try in your wines if you are a big fan of big oakey wines. The cubes can be added to your carboy after stabilizing your wine. This results in a longer exposure time to the oak and consequently big bold oak tastes in your wine. You can still use the powdered oak that may come with the kit in the primary, simply use the cubes to increase the oakiness of your wine.
The oak cubes are approximately ½” in size and won’t plug your siphon hose when you rack or transfer your wine.
Yeast Instructions - Which to follow
Have you ever noticed the instructions on the back of the yeast package differs from the kit instructions as to how to add the yeast to your wine must. Which one should you follow? The kit instructions are what we recommend.
The yeast instructions recommend hydrating your yeast. What does this mean? Hydrating the yeast involves dissolving the yeast in warm, not hot water, 40-43C before adding it you your wine must. Pretty specific, pretty narrow, huh!
Rehydrating the yeast, as the yeast companies suggest gives the highest live cells and the quickest, most thorough fermentation. But, if your temperature is outside of this range, problems arise. If the water isn’t warm enough the yeast’s cell walls won’t soften and the yeast won’t hydrate properly. If the water is too warm, the yeast will cook and die. And then you have to wait for the yeast to cool to within 2C of your wine must before adding it, as the temperature difference can be too much of a shock to the yeast and they will die. Pretty scary, huh!
So this is why we recommend simply dumping the yeast on the top of the wine must. While, it will undoubtedly result in a less live cell count than rehydrating, the survival rate is sufficiently high to properly ferment your wine. We think you will also agree it is a lot simpler that properly hydrating your yeast. Oh, and it is not recommended to stir the must after sprinkling the yeast.
Sulphite Solutions
Sulphite is your powdery white friend, suppressing and preventing the growth of yeast, bacteria and spoilage organisms, as well as preventing oxidation of your wine during storage and ageing. One of the things that makes it so immensely useful is its ability to sanitize on contact: with only a quick rinse or spray, surfaces are sanitary enough to be used in winemaking, a great convenience for us and our consumers.
But there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind when using sulphite:
Make fresh solutions frequently. While sulphite solutions last a month or so in a tightly sealed bottle, there’s no good way to easily tell when the solution loses effectiveness. It’s cheap, so don’t re-use it forever.
Don’t store plastic or stainless steel equipment soaking in sulphite for extended periods: The HDPE plastic used in carboys, spoons and the vinyl used in racking canes and hoses will eventually succumb to sulphite’s acidic character, turning opaque and getting brittle and certain types of stainless steel can become pitted with long exposure. The best way to use sulphite is to wash your equipment with an appropriate cleaner (Aspetox), rinse away the solution and then treat it with sulphite. Allow it to drip-dry and put away dry. Before you use it again, a quick suphiting will get you on your way, and your equipment will last much longer.
When sulphiting the inside of bottles it isn’t necessary to rinse the sulphite solution away with water. After draining upside down for as little as five seconds the amount of sulphite retained in the bottle will only increase the free sulphite content of the added wine by a little over 1 part per million. You can rinse if you want to, but it won’t make any difference and takes extra time.
People have been successfully using sulphite in winemaking for over 400 years, and with a little attention we can keep our equipment ship-shape and in good condition for years. Article from Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager, Winexpert Ltd
Foam or Fizz
Degassing is a complex process, and one at the heart of efficient wine kit production. Unless you can ensure that carbon dioxide generated by fermentation has been removed from the wine can alter the flavour and mouth feel.
Vigorous stirring (using a drill-mounted wine-whip, I hope!) and careful attention to proper fermentation times and temperatures are the keys to effective degassing, but how can you actually tell if you’ve gotten all the gas? Sometimes stirring and generate a lot of foam in a wine, and telling the difference between foam and fizz isn’t always easy.
The best way to check for remaining gas is to do a “puff” test. Fill a hydrometer jar about half-way with a sample of the wine being degassed. Very carefully cover the top of the hydrometer jar with the palm of your hand, pressing lightly to seal it, and give it several, sharp shakes. Slowly release your palm from the top of the jar while simultaneously listening for a “puff” of escaping gas and checking for the sensation of released pressure against the palm.
That’s all there is to it, except for discarding the wine afterwards (it’s less than 100 ml, so unless you can guarantee that you’ve got sterile plams, don’t pour it back in the carboy). Article from Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager, Winexpert Inc.
Wine diamonds
Some of our customers have asked us about crystals they find from time to time in their wine, particularly, some of the high quality Cellar Craft Crushed Grape kits. These crystals are known as Wine Diamonds and are nothing to be alarmed about. Wine diamonds are actually tartaric acid crystals.
Tartaric acid, the principal acid in grapes, forms the component that promotes a crisp flavour and graceful aging in wine. When tartaric acid combines with natural occurring potassium ions in your wine they form potassium bitartrates, which are less soluble in alcohol and water. The result… they dropout.
In red wine, these wine diamonds absorb the red or brown pigments from the wine. In white wine they can look like shards of glass in the bottle. Wine diamonds are harmless, do not affect the flavour and really only impact the wine visually.
As a matter of fact, tartrates are routinely found in high quality commercially – produced wine. Some say that is actually a sign of quality. The process of tartrate crystal formation is very hard to predict, but tends to occur more frequently in pure varietal juices.
Wine diamonds can be avoided by cold stabilization. This is done by chilling your carboy to 10C for a week and then filtering. However, quite frankly, this is likely more hassle than it is worth, for the home winemaker. Just tell your friends that diamonds are a wine maker’s best friend, as they show quality. Commercial wine makers commonly cold stabilize to avoid this problem.
Corking - The Important Final Step
You spend great effort and time making sure that your wine turns out perfectly, and in the haste to get your wine bottled the importance of good corking is often overlooked. Shortcuts can lead to disastrous results.
Cork is a natural product made from the bark of the Cork oak, indigenous to Portugal and Southern Spain. Sheets of the bark are steamed flat, pressed, and the corks are drilled out with hollow drills. Like, other plant products, cork bark tends to vary in thickness, hardness and texture, and as a result there are corks of several different lengths and degrees of quality.
It is a fact that the longer the cork, the longer it is likely to remain an intact and viable stopper, and the more resistant it will be to allowing oxidation of the wine inside. This is important if you are planning extended ageing of their wines.
Acceptable corks have certain attributes which are easily identified. All good wine corks have smooth, straight sides and are not too hard that compression into the bottle is difficult or impossible. As well, there should be no elongated cracks or fissures running through the cork.
The styles of cork available have cost and quality implications, with the rule being the higher the quality, the higher the price. That is, natural or 5 year corks offer a higher standard than agglomerated “composition” corks.
Despite the fact that corks are typically disinfected and sealed in large plastic bags, proper storage and preparation of the corks prior to corking is highly recommended. Corks should be ideally stored in a ventilated, odour free environment, at temperatures between 15 and 20C in a humidity of 50-70%. If you want more information on this ask us about designing your own simple cork humidor.
Natural corks should be soaked in a mild sulphite solution and water to protect against dust, dirt, yeasts or mould they may contain. But, if left to soak too long, excess moisture and soluble materials will be pressed out into the wine. Never, soak corks in warm or hot water. We recommend soaking them for 20 minutes prior to insertion.
Synthetic corks are a different story, but we will leave that discussion for another day.
Combating Fruit Flies
Spring is here and for winemakers that means one thing: the inevitable return of our sworn enemy, Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly. Minute little flying monkeys of doom, they’re hard to exclude from your winemaking areas, and while they’re easy to kill, by the time you’ve swatted one, thirteen more have materialized out of thin air, looking for a free meal—females lay 400 eggs each, and they mature in as little as 7 days!
The reason why we need to be concerned over the little monsters isn’t just that they’re unsightly and chewy when you discover one inside a mouthful of Chardonnay. No, it’s their other name we need to think of, ‘Vinegar Fly’. The little blighters are filthy with acetobacteria, the organism that turns our delicious alcohol in to vinegar.
How to combat ‘em? First, understand that they don’t eat fruit: they eat mainly yeast. When they smell carbon dioxide and alcohol, they think it’s a piece of rotting fruit where they can lay eggs and get a delicious meal. When they smell a fermenting carboy, it’s their equivalent of a Vegas buffet ten thousand miles long. You’ll need to wipe up every single little tiny spill of wine or juice immediately, and sulphite the area to prevent any residue from getting a yeast film.
You can set up a wasp trap (available from hardware stores) for them. Make sure to fill it with the magic formula: apple cider vinegar with a couple of drops of liquid dish soap in it.
Also, check out natural pyrethrin-based insecticides: they’re made from plant oils, are mostly safe and can be used in food prep areas. Never use any other kind of insecticide around wine or food prep areas! Spray your winemaking area well just before you leave for the day and sweep up the little corpses next morning. (article from Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager, Winexpert Ltd)
Top Kit Sellers - 2008
It is time to announce our annual best kit sellers. Here are the top 3 sellers in each brand for 2008:
Selection Estate Series Red - Stag’s Leap Merlot, Washington State Cabernet Franc/Merlot, Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel
Selection Estate Series White - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Sonoma Unoaked Chardonnay
Selection Red - Luna Rossa, Chilean Merlot, Australian Shiraz
Selection White - Piesporter, Gewurztraminer, Italian Pinot Grigo
World Vineyard Red - Trinity Red, Australian Shiraz, Chilean Merlot
World Vineyard White - German Muller Thurgau, Italian Pinot Grigio, Trinity White
Vintners Reserve Red - Merlot, Mezza Luna Red, Vieux Chateau du Roi
Vintners Reserve White - Piesporter, Liebfraumilch, Gewurztraminer
Cellar Craft Showcase Red - Amarone, Argentine Malbec, Chilean Carmenere
Cellar Craft 16 l White - Pousse Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Late Harvest Riesling
Cellar Craft 12 L - Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah
Cellar Craft 7.5l Red - Cabernet/Merlot, Rio Negro, Pinot Noir
Cellar Craft 7.5l White - Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay Semillon, Pinot Grigio
Island Mist - Peach Apricot Chardonnay, White Cranberry Pinot Gris, Exotic Fruits White Zinfandel
Baron’s Beer - Mexican Cerveza, Canadian Lager, Canadian High Test
Water Into Wine
Since kit wines are almost all intended to make 23L and they start off at between 7.5L to 16L depending on the type of kit, they require the addition of 7.5L to 15L of water. Since the water was originally remove from the grape juice by some method of distillation it would follow logically that the only thing that should be added back would be a variant of distilled water – as pure as chemically possible. After all, no minerals or trace elements were removed, so water with minerals and such would alter the character of the wine.
This turns outs to be one of those things that while technically true, it’s also completely unimportant. It turns out that unless your water tastes or smells absolutely horrible or is contaminated with bacteria or high mineral counts, it’s just fine to use in making up wine kits.
Two of the most common concerns about water:
1. Chlorine added to disinfect municipal (city) water is a sterilant. It kills yeast and smells like a pool – icky.
It’s natural to assume that because you can smell chlorine or chloramines in your water supply (the additive is essentially the same as household bleach) that it’s going to affect the wine. What actually happens is this: all juices used in winemaking, be they kits or even fresh grapes, contain sulfite compounds. They’re present on all grapes. When added to a solution containing chloride ions (the form the chlorine takes in water) sulfites bind to the ions instantly, forming stable chloride salts such as potassium chloride or sodium chloride.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s common table salt. If you bind out 100% of the chlorine in municipal tap water with sulfite, you’ll wind up with about two grains of table salt per 23L carboy. That teensy amount won’t have much effect, especially when it’s mixed into a wine with a Brix of 25 and a whole lot of acid, sugars and solid material. So, there are no worries from municipal water treatment.
2. The pH of water varies a lot, so it’s better to add distilled water (with a pH of 7.0) to make sure the pH of the kit isn’t thrown off.
pH is a numerical scale running from 1 to 14. Right in the middle, 7 is considered neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline: pure water at 25°C is pH 7.0. Above 7 is alkaline; below 7 is acidic. Because wine contains a lot of acid, it generally has a low-ish pH, somewhere above 3 but below 4. A ph of 3.4 is a pretty sweet spot for most wines.
In a solution containing other ions (like a kit wine), activity and concentration will not generally be the same. Activity is a measure of the effective concentration of hydrogen ions, rather than the actual concentration; it includes the fact that other ions surrounding hydrogen ions will shield them and affect their ability to participate in chemical reactions.
So it’s not just the amount of acid in the wine kit that affects the pH, it’s a bunch of other junk in solution as well. This is sometimes referred to as buffering. Kit wines tend to be heavily buffered, partly because they contain very high levels of solid material and partly because the effects of concentration and pasteurization include some bonding of acids and sugars and some release of ions.
And water isn’t. And that’s why the pH of tap water is pretty much inconsequential – there’s almost nothing there to release hydrogen ions. When chemists calculate the pH of a weakly acidic solution, they usually assume that the water does not provide any hydrogen ions. Add the wimpy tap water to highly acidic, heavily buffered kit wine and POWIE! the water will meekly do as it’s told, and get swamped in a tsunami of acids and dissolved solids from the kit.
In the thirty years I’ve been making wine from kits I’ve never used anything but the water that came from the tap, and never given it a second thought. If it’s good enough to drink, it’s good enough for winemaking. But if you’re unsure go ahead and use bottled or filtered water: it can’t hurt your finished wine and will give you good exercise lugging around water bottles – always good for building up a thirst!
Tim Vandergrift is the Technical Manager for Winexpert.
Removing Commerical Wine labels
Sterilizing the Spoon
Corks and Corking
Once in a while you come across some information that is so good, rather than extracting parts it is best just to present the whole article. Please find below a copy of an article by Tim Vandergrift on Corks and Corking. Tim is Technical Services Manager for Winexpert, makers of our Selection, Vintners Reserve, Island Mist, Chai Maison and Barons kits. In 2003, Tim was awarded the prestigious Wine Maker of the Year Award.
Bottling and Corking Your Wine
Traditional corks are made from the bark of the cork oak, Quercus Suber, which is harvested once every 20 years without endangering the trees’ life. Today, however, there is a wider range of cork choices for the home winemaker than ever before:
Agglomerated corks are made from chipped cork pieces ground to a specific size and glued together with non-reactive polyurethane glue. Inexpensive and easy to handle, these are suitable for wines that will be held for three to six months. (note Creative Connoisseur does not carry this cork as we believe they are an inferior cork)
Die-cut natural cut corks are simply punched out from cork bark. They rely on the density and elasticity of the natural cork bark to seal the bottle. Depending on the quality of the cork, you can expect your wine to last from 3 years to more than 10.
Nomacork synthetic corks are made from food-grade, super high density, foamed polyethylene plastic. They are easy to insert and extract, do not chip, split, leak or rot, and are suitable for at least 5 years of ageing, and in good cellaring conditions, over ten.
How long should your cork be? Which cork is right for you? Look realistically at how long you expect to store your wine before drinking, and figure out how much cork fits in your budget. A good rule of thumb is 'You get what you pay for.' The cheapest cork isn't always the best deal, and if you do decide to keep some bottles for the future, you may find yourself having to re-cork them in a few years.
In addition, there is the problem of trichloranisole contamination. All natural corks, both agglomerated and die-cut, contain a bad-smelling substance called trichloranisole. Industry statistics show that as much as 5% of all wine is spoiled by contact with contaminated corks—that is to say that even the costliest natural corks can spoil wine. This is why Winexpert fully endorses Nomacork synthetics.
Preparing Your Corks
If you are use a small, hand-held corker (single or double-lever types) with natural corks you may need to prepare your corks by soaking them in warm water for 20 minutes. (Note Creative Connoisseur recommends using a sulphite solution to sterilize your corks) If you have trouble getting corks to pass through your hand-held corker, you may want to try adding 70 ml (¼ cup) of glycerine to every four litres (one gallon) of warm water that you use for soaking. This ensures that the corks get enough moisture to lubricate their passage through the corker. However, this may cause them to crumble in the long term. It’s a much better idea to purchase or rent a floor corker and dry-insert high quality corks.
Nomacorks never require any soaking or sanitizng. Insert them dry right from the bag.
Some books talk about boiling and long soaking in sulphite solutions, but these are very bad ideas. Cork is tree bark, and boiling destroys it. Long soaking does the same thing. Corks can soak up sulphite solutions and transfer them to the wine. Once you have opened a bag of corks, you may need to take special care of the unused corks.
The trouble with handling very dry corks is that it’s tough to judge how long you can soak them before they become mushy. However, there is a nifty technique that you can take advantage of, if you your corks are brittle either from age or low-humidity storage. You can construct a ‘cork humidor’.
You will need a sanitized plastic bucket and lid, an empty wine bottle, and a 1.25-% solution of metabisulphite, fifty grams(eight teaspoons) of metabisulphite) dissolved in four litres (one gallon) of cool water. Fill the wine bottle halfway with the solution, and carefully stand it up in the bottom of the bucket. Gently pour your corks into the bucket, filling the space around the bottle, and put the lid on tightly. Leave the bucket in a room-temperature area for about a week. In that time the liquid evaporating from the wine bottle will raise the humidity in the bucket to about 70%, in turn raising the humidity in the corks to 6% or so, making them pliant enough for easy insertion. The sulphur dioxide gas coming off the liquid will prevent the growth of moulds or spoilage organisms, keeping the corks sanitary. No further treatment of the corks will be necessary before bottling. 
If you want to store your corks this way, replace the solution in the bottle every four weeks, and keep the lid tightly sealed. That way your corks will always be ready for use.
Corkers
There are several types of corkers available. We highly recommend a floor corker with jaws that compress the cork in an irising motion. Other corkers (twin lever, single lever, and compression corkers) rely on human muscles to compress the cork and push it into the bottles. Floor corkers, while more expensive, use levers and mechanical advantage to carefully compress the corks and insert them precisely into the bottles. They also hold the bottles steady in a spring-loaded base. They are really worth the extra money.
Loose Ends
After the corks have been inserted into the bottles it's a good idea to dry the top of the cork off with a clean cloth. This will prevent any moisture from forming mould there. While a spot of mould on the top of the cork wouldn't hurt your wine, it does look unpleasant.
After all of your bottles have been safely filled and corked, you can choose to put capsules over the neck of the bottle. While not necessary to preserve the wine, they give a nice finished look to your bottles, and when co-ordinated with labels give your wine a very professional look. Capsules are often called shrink-caps, because heat is used to shrink the plastic onto the bottle neck, holding it tightly and smoothing out any wrinkles or seams in the plastic.
The best way to apply this heat is with the steam from a kettle. At a rolling boil the kettle will produce enough steam out of the end of the spout to shrink a capsule in only two or three seconds. Be careful not to burn your fingers!
While you can use blow dryers, they are very slow. Hot air paint-strippers work better, but they aren't as fast as a kettle, and are a bit more dangerous to use. In a pinch the heat from an electric stove element will also serve to shrink the capsules on, but again, be careful with a hot stove.
You should leave your wine bottles standing upright for at least the first 24 hours after corking. The compressed air inside the bottle has to work its way out past the cork, and it can only do that if the bottle is standing up. If you immediately turn the bottle on its side, the pressure will still be there, but the wine will now be pushing against the cork, and could force it out of the bottle. After 24 hours (or two or three days: it isn't critical) you should turn the bottles on their side for long term storage.
How long will your wine keep? This is a tough question to answer as it depends on so many factors. As long as you keep it safely in a cool (60°F or lower), dark room, with good care and attention to your bottling practices, your wine will last as long as the raw materials it was made from. Better quality ingredients usually mean a wine that will age longer.
Top Kit Sellers - 2007
It is time to announce our annual best kit sellers. Here are the top 3 sellers in each brand for 2007:
Selection Estate Series Red - South Australian Shiraz, Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap Merlot
Selection Estate Series White - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Sonoma Unoaked Chardonnay
Selection Red - Luna Rossa, Argentine Malbec, Australian Shiraz
Selection White - Piesporter, Liebfraumilch, Gewurztraminer
World Vineyard Red - Trinity Red, Australian Shiraz, Chilean Merlot
World Vineyard White - German Muller Thurgau, Italian Pinot Grigio, Trinity White
Vintners Reserve Red - Vieux Chateau du Roi, Merlot, Mezza Luna Red
Vintners Reserve White - Piesporter, Liebfraumilch, Gewurztraminer
Cellar Craft Showcase Red - Amarone, Walla Walla Cabernet Merlot, Argentine Malbec
Cellar Craft 16 l White - Sauvignon Blanc, Washington State Gewurztraminer, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris
Cellar Craft 12 L - Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cellar Craft 7.5l Red - Cabernet/Merlot, Rio Negro, Pinot Noir
Cellar Craft 7.5l White - Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay Semillon, Chardonnay
Island Mist - Blueberry Pinot Noir, Peach Apricot Chardonnay, Black Raspberry Merlot
Baron’s Beer - Canadian Lager, Canadian High Test, Brown Ale
So you like Wine in your Oak
Many kits contain packages of oak chips that provide excellent oak flavours to kits. Our popular Selection International Australian series of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Cabernet/Shiraz have up to 4 packages of oak and are often described as Chateau Plywood by those not enamored by oak.
So how do you obtain those oak flavours in homemade wine? Obviously, the first choice would be aging your wine in oak barrels as well. However, Canadian produced barrels exceed $400 per barrel and French oak barrels sell for over $580 plus freight. Typically, barrels can be used five times and therefore are cost prohibitive.
Some oak lovers however desire more oak than that provided in their favorite kits. So what are your options?
One way to boost the oak flavours in your wine is to add Oak-Mor which is essentially oak sawdust. It is packaged in a 50 gram bag. It can be added into the primary at day one, or added into the carboy at stabilizing time. If you choose to add Oak Mor in your carboy it is suggested you only add ¼ to ½ the amount of oak included in the kit. For example if your kit contains an oak package of 30 grams, you could add as much as 15 grams into the carboy. Any additional amounts may overpower your wine and truly result in Chateau Plywood.
Another way of adding oak to your wine is to use oak cubes. These oak cubes are about a third the size of a common sugar cube. Fans of oak cubes believe that these cubes are superior to oak sawdust or chips. Some believe that volatile compounds are evaporated from chips and sawdust because of their larger surface area. Oak cubes also eliminate the potential of plugging your siphon hose at racking time. The oak cubes can be used both in the primary and in the carboy. Apparently many wineries in the Napa Valley are switching to oak cubes because of economics.
We also carry French Oak Aging Compound. This liquid product can easily be added to your wine at any stage and is a simple convenient method of boosting oak flavours in your wine.
It is important to point out that you should never to use oak from the local lumber yard. Oak lumber has additives in it to prevent cracking and warping. These compounds may be quite toxic. Oak used in kits have not been treated with these chemicals.
Get the Gas out!
Well here is a solution!
Try a Vacuum pump! This device is used to remove the air from a bottle of wine once it is opened to preserve it after 1 or 2 glasses of wine has been removed. This can also be extended to your carboy. Attach the Vacuum pump to your carboy utilizing a plastic tube (broken siphon rod or bottle filler) and running that tube through a #7 bored rubber bung. By pumping the air out of your carboy you will be amazed about the amount of Carbon dioxide that bubbles to the surface. Note this does not replace a vigorous stirring of your wine at the Stabilizing stage; rather it is an additional tool to remove more Carbon dioxide from your carboy. If you are looking for an excellent Christmas stocking stuffer pick up a Vacuum pump,
Icewine - Keepin' it cool
Canada does not have the monopoly on Icewine, actually this delicacy originated in Germany. The creative Germans originated this delicacy quite by accident. The story goes that an unexpected frost, in Bavaria, back in the 18th century left the German growers with a dilemma, how do you make wine with frozen grapes. ... Well they found that the freezing process concentrates the sugars and results in an intensely sugary juice. More than half of the water being left behind as crushed ice. The resulting juice is so high in sugar that it will only ferment very, very slowly. The downside of the Icewine production is that when you leave the water behind, you are left with precious little volume. A whole vine might only produce half a bottle of ice wine. I guess this is the rationale for commercial Icewine selling for about $60 per half bottle.
In order to be called Icewine the process must adhere to the following rules:
The grapes must freeze naturally on the vines
There are strict minimums for starting gravity and residual sugar levels
You cannot add sugar to the must
Icewine from kits
Icewine kits are strictly speaking, Icewine style, that’s because the raw cost of naturally frozen grape juice, if it were available, would be something like $200/gall. And in kit form would likely run into the thousands of dollars. Therefore Icewine style kits are produced using concentrate, cold processed product from ripe grapes. If it weren’t for the legislative rules governing Icewine this is how everyone would make it, more practical, convenient and economical. The result is great Icewine like product which we would dare any to distinguish from the precious Icewine that sells for $60/half bottle.
Because of the high sugar content of commercial Icewine, fermentation can be extremely difficult. For this reason Icewine kits, contain a juice reserve pack (F-pack in Winexpert kits. (Sweet reserve in CellarCraft kits). This allows us “amateurs” to easily ferment the Icewine style kits.
Icewine style kits differ from regular wine kits in that they produce 30 half bottles (375 ml). Most people drink Icewine in small amounts and therefore this size make much more sense.
One very important piece of advice is to make sure you add the correct amount of water on day one. Without the correct amount of water added, the sugar level could be high enough to kill the yeast sprinkled into it. This could happen if you leave out as little as two cups of water.
Creative Connoisseur carries three different Icewine style kits. Our award winning Selection Speciale Riesling Icewine Style is a 7.5 litre kit which makes an excellent dessert wine with intense aromas and flavours of honey, peach, sweet citrus and marmalade.
We also have 2 excellent CellarCraft Icewine style kits both from Washington state juice. CellarCraft’s Icewine style kits contain 12 litres of full strength must and produce 12 litres of finished wine with the addition of no water. Their Washington state Riesling Icewine style kit produces Icewine with prominent peach, apricot and honey notes, while the Washington state Gewurztraminer Icewine style bursts with spice, lychee aromas and richly intense flavours.
Icewine can be enjoyed well chilled on its own, or to accompany any dessert, particularly with fruit based desserts. Or treat yourself to an almost sinful dessert by pouring your Icewine over your favorite ice cream.
Top Kit Sellers - 2006
It is time to announce our annual best kit sellers. Here are the top 3 sellers in each brand for 2006:
Selection Estate Series Red - Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon, Super Tuscan, Washington State Cabernet Franc/Merlot
Selection Estate Series White - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley Pinot Gris, Sonoma Unoaked Chardonnay
Selection Red - Luna Rossa, Vieux Chateau du Roi, Italian Montepulciano
Selection White - Piesporter, Gewurztraminer, German Muller Thurgau
World Vineyard Red - Australian Shiraz, Chilean Merlot, California Zinfandel/Shiraz
World Vineyard White - Italian Pinot Grigio, German Muller Thurgau, French Sauvignon Blanc
Vintners Reserve Red - Vieux Chateau du Roi, Pinot Noir, Merlot
Vintners Reserve White - Piesporter, Liebfraumilch, Gewurztraminer
Cellar Craft Showcase Red - Amarone, Rosso Fortissimo, Argentine Malbec
Cellar Craft 16 l White - Washington State Gewurztraminer, Pousse Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc
Cellar Craft 7.5l Red - Cabernet/Merlot, Shiraz, Beau Soleil
Cellar Craft 7.5l White - Chardonnay Semillon, Pousse Blanc, Gewurztraminer
Island Mist - Peach Apricot Chardonnay, Mango Citrus Symphony, Black Raspberry Merlot
Baron’s Beer - Canadian Lager, Mexican Cerveza, Redwood Ale
Keep those Carboys Topped up!
As you are no doubt aware we encourage our customers to take their time making their wine. Remember it’s a hobby, and in no way should your wine dictate your life plans. However, if you are planning on leaving your wine in the carboy for a longer period than indicated in the instructions, you should consider topping up your wine. One of the ways in which wine can be spoiled is through oxidation. Wine is basically a fruit, and like a cut apple left on a table it will go brown. The same may happen to your wine. So, to slow this process down, we want to minimize the surface area of the wine to air contact. If the surface area of your wine is the size of a dinner plate, there is a lot of area for oxidation. But if the surface area is the size of a golf ball, the chance of oxidation is far less. So top up your carboys.
What should you top up with? Well the kit manufacturers allow up to 750 mls.(a standard size wine bottle) of water without affecting the quality. If you should need to top any more than this add a similar wine. What do we mean by similar? Well if is red add red, if it is white add white. As simple as that. And don’t forget you are simply lending the wine, as at bottling time you will get back that wine that you added. You may as well add a young wine and save your older aged wine.
Note that topping up is only required after stabilizing. Why not when you transfer from the primary to carboy? Well at this point your wine is producing sufficient Carbon dioxide to protect your wine during this stage.
Those Dreaded Flies - The Importance of Protecting your Wine
While we enjoy the benefits of summer such as backyard BBQ’s, warm weather, and the beauty of nature’s bounty there is a downside. Yes, those dreaded insects. Mosquitoes may drain us of a pint of blood or two, wasps may liken us to a piece of steak, but winemakers must be aware of another summertime pest, the dreaded Melonagaster Drosophila. No, not the latest dinosaur discovery, far from it, this pest is the common fruit fly.
Fruit flies are actually poorly named. They should be named Yeast flies, for it is yeast that they actually seek. So when you have ripened fruit, particularly bananas you have yeast. And guess what also has yeast! Your wine!
While some may be able to tolerate a few dead flies that is not the end of the problem of this pest for winemakers. The Fruit fly relies on a bacteria species in its stomach to digest the yeast. The name of these bacteria is acetobacter, and it is a bacteria you should fear! Acetobacter loves alcohol! It breaks down alcohol and makes ----- Vinegar!!! In fact, that’s how vinegar is made, using commercial preparations of acetobacter, known as Mother of vinegar.
So if you have Fruit flies doing the back stroke in your wine, their little tummies may rupture spilling acetobacter into your precious wine. Voila! Do you like vinegar on your fries? Acetobacter makes your wine smell like nail polish remover and taste like vinegar. Yum Yum, huh!
So, now that we have scared you about fruit flies, how do we protect our wine from the summer plague of Fruit flies? Cleanliness! Clean up any spilled wine, throw away filter pads (a smorgasbord for Fruit flies). Treat all surfaces with sulphite solution. Sanitise all of your equipment with Chlorinated cleaner (the pink stuff). Makes sure your airlocks are filled with water and secured.
If you have a fruit fly problem, you may want to consider building a Fruit fly trap. You can construct one out of a 2 l pop bottle, similar to a wasp trap. Bait it with Cider vinegar. Or make a paper funnel and place in a large yogurt container with the narrow end near the bottom of the container. Pour ½” of Apple cider vinegar in the bottom. Fruit flies love Apple cider vinegar.
Summer Wine Bottling
Last months article focused on one of the most time consuming of the wine making procedure…. bottling. This month we will try and save you some grief for your summer wine making.
We all know that those refreshing Island Mist kits just seem to go down oh so quickly, especially on a warm summer day. Before you know it another bottle has bit the dust. Do you want away to save on bottling and make life just a little bit easier.
Perhaps you should consider a foil bladder to store your Island Mist wine. Save the foil bladder that your Island Mist came in and use it to store your wine in rather than bottling your favourite Mist. Be sure to wash it out thoroughly, and use a bit of sodium metabisulphite (aka sterilant) to knock down any harmful bacteria that want to take up residence.
The beauty of the bladder, similar to boxed commercial wine is that the bladder collapses as the wine is drained and this eliminates air and thus oxidation. Creative Connoisseur sells the tap spigot that goes on the foil bladder for you to dispense your Mist. We also sell foil bladders to supplement your collection. We have one customer that has found buying a new bag is easier than insuring the bladder is entirely clean.
Save the wine kit box to use as a storage device for the bladder and to dispense directly from the fridge. Many customers find the bladder easier to transport, especially to the cottage or even camping. The bladders can be pre-chilled and used to keep things cool in the cooler.
Next month – Invasion of the Fruit Fly
Dishwashers - Yea or Nay
Undoubtedly, to many, washing bottles is the most tedious job when it comes to making a batch of wine. One way that many people try to save time is to utilize the dishwasher to wash their bottles.
What do we think? Dishwashers are great way to wash the outside of your bottles. Let me repeat that…. Dishwashers are great way to wash the outside of your bottles. Dishwashers do not do a good job of cleaning the inside of your wine bottles. Dishwasher detergent is also perfumed and can leave a film on your bottles that may taint your wine.
Some people like to think that by putting their dishwasher on the heat cycle they will sterilize their bottles. Not true! The temperature does not get high enough to rid of nasty creatures that can harm your wine.
So, dishwashers are not effective for cleaning bottles. Now, if you remain unconvinced, please, please don’t use dishwasher detergent. Instead fill your reservoir with chlorinated cleaner – the pink stuff. Chlorinated cleaner is not perfumed and will not produce a film on your bottles.
What do we recommend? Keep a tub of chlorinated cleaner near your sink. Always wash your bottles with chlorinated cleaner after you finish drinking your wine and before the wine dries in the bottle. Then put your bottles away upside down, in a cardboard wine box so the water runs out. This will prevent any mould forming in the bottles. When it is bottling time, remove your clean bottles from the cardboard box and sterilize. One less step in the process.
Spring Cleaning your Equipment
What is it about spring that tells us that it is time to go into a frenzy and clean the house? Perhaps you should consider adding your wine making equipment to that list of spring cleaning things to do this month.
During the wine making procedure an organic film can actually build up on the surface of your equipment, especially your primaries and carboys. It is recommended that you clean your primaries and carboys every 10 batches to prevent excessive build up. We suggest rather than remembering when you have reached 10 batches that you clean your wine making vessels once a year.
What is the best way to remove this film? Pour ¼ cup of Chlorinated cleaner into each primary and carboys. Fill these vessels with lukewarm water and stir the cleaner into solution using your spoon. Remember never fill your carboy with hot water in order to avoid potential cracking. Leave the vessels to soak for 2-3 days.
There is no need for scrubbing as the solution will remove the film. You will be surprised on how sparkling clean your wine making vessels are after the soaking. If lifting a filled carboy or primary is too much, you can fill the vessels on a workbench or countertop and when it comes time to empty you can use a siphon to drain the carboy or primary.
Shrink Caps
After last month’s Tip of the Month regarding Corks and corking we had a flurry of comments on putting shrink caps on bottles. Many do not share Tim Vandergrift’s recommendation of using a kettle, or stove top element to put on the shrinks on bottles. And we agree!
One of the best ways to heat your shrinks is to use a pot of boiling water. Bring a pot of water containing a minimum of 3” in the bottom of the pot to a roaring boil. Continue the boiling throughout the process. Use a spoon or a Fast-seal tool to hold the shrink cap in place on top of the bottle and dip the bottle into the pot of boiling water. Basically in and out is all that is required
If you would like to see what the Fast Seal tool looks like ask the next time you are in the store and we will show you. This in-expensive device sells for $4.95 and will save your precious digits from any hot water.
Someone gave me an old kit- What should i do?
If the kit is less than a year old you can make it without any worries. However, if it is over a year old the juice/concentrate you may see some deterioration from oxidizing. Oxidized wines are typically brownish or rusty coloured and will have an off taste. The yeast as well may not ferment the wine.If you have trouble determining the product date from the manufacturer date code (sometimes the CIA might have trouble de-coding them) bring it into our store and we will help you, whether the kit was purchased from us or not.
Note some kit manufacturers, usually those who supply grocery stores use “best before” dates as the grocery stores are accustomed to this practice. The dates sometimes are far into the future because of the addition of extra preservatives.
What do we suggest? Well being frugal, we would suggest make it. Start with a fresh package of yeast, what do you have to lose. However, if you do see signs of oxidation, it is probably not worth the effort.
Determining Alcohol Content
Want to calculate the alcohol content of your wine. Here is how. Measure the specific gravity of your wine with your hydrometer when you start the kit and mark the number down. Prior to adding the additive packages (Stabilizing) measure the specific gravity again. Subtract the lower number and then multiply this resulting number by 131. This will be your alcohol content.
For example:
Initial Specific gravity – 1.085
Stabilizing Specific gravity – 0.996
Difference x 131 = 11.66% Alcohol
Specific gravity must be measured prior to adding an F-pack to the kit as this will increase the specific gravity and give you a false alcohol reading.
Carbon dioxide - Wine maker's foe
The CO2 in your wine will bind to the sediment particles in your wine making them like little balloons floating through your wine. These lighter particles will continue to float in your wine, causing the wine to appear cloudy. This binding action makes your finings agents (chitosan, isinglass, kiesosol) job more difficult and can make the clearing process longer or produce unsatisfactory results. Okay, so we have you convinced that it is important to get the out CO2 of your wine at stabilizing time. So what’s the tip to do it? In a past newsletter we introduced you to the Vacuum hand pump, but here is a simple idea that also works. The key to improving CO2 removal is to maintain warm temperatures in your wine from day 1 to stabilizing time. Keep your carboy in a warm place and keep the temperature close to 23 - 25C. Cooler temperatures will make CO2 removal more difficult.
Stirring your wine well is also very critical. Stir until your arm feels like it is ready to fall off, and then stir some more. Alternatively you can use a Fizz-x which attaches to an electric drill.
Carbon dioxide when left in your wine can also leave a flat taste in your wine. So getting rid of CO2 is very important.
What to do with those leftover corks
Grab an empty ice cream pail (if you want to you can bring a half empty pail of Heavenly Hash to the Creative Connoisseur guys with a couple of spoons and we will help you finish it). Cut a hole in the lid, large enough to drop in a cork. Place your leftover corks in the pail. Next take an empty wine bottle and half fill it with a solution of Sodium metabisulphite. Put the half filled wine bottle into the bottom of the pail. Place the ice cream pail in the bottom of the primary. Put the lid on the primary. The fumes from the Sterilant will keep the corks free from contaminants and insure they don’t dry out. When you are ready to cork, just grab the corks and no need to soak or sterilize the corks.
Getting the Labels off - Another way
Hauling water?
Want a solution? Use the bladder from the kit. The kit instructions tell you to rinse out the bladder with warm water to remove any residual product. Why not carry on and use the bladder to haul the water to the primary. If you have a premium 15 litre kit you will need less than one fill. A 7.5 liter kit needs 3 trips with water.
Shell fish Allergies?
Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager of Winexpert, makers of our Chai Maison, Vintners Reserve, Selection, Island Mist and Barons beer kits has answered this commonly asked question in an informative matter. So we have inserted his response to this question.
Chitosan is a long-chain sucrose polymer, structured much like polyester (of all things!). It’s not a protein at all, so it can’t provoke an allergic reaction of any sort. (Allergic reactions are the immune system response to the presence of foreign protein chains. No protein chain, no reaction). Chitosan is derived from the shells of lobsters and shrimp, but the way it is processed ensures that any proteins or partial protein chains are destroyed and eliminated. The shells are ground to a powder and then boiled in a high-caustic solution (pH 13.5+).
After the first boil the sucrose polymers are harvested, purified, and then boiled again, to ensure that no possible level of protein can survive. This precaution is used because Chitosan is a common processing agent in municipal water supplies: turbid water cannot be effectively sanitised with chlorine or chloramines, and has to be cleared of turbidity first. Chitosan is very effective, but of course if you’re going to be adding it to a municipal water supply, you need to be sure it won’t provoke a reaction in the general population. Chitosan is also sold as a dietary aid, both in Canada and in the USA. (Claims have been made that it binds to fat in the intestines, preventing caloric uptake. I tried it, and it didn’t work for me. Too bad!) The USFDA has approved Chitosan for general use without an allergy warning, something it could not do if Chitosan were implicated in allergic reactions. The only people who need to be concerned about Chitosan are Jews who observe a kosher diet, and consider shellfish treyf (unclean). They can substitute isinglass, but not gelatin, as all winemaking gelatin is derived from swine---another treyf animal.
Hope this clears things up.
Potassium metabisulphite Ageing Insurance
Potassium metabisulphite (KMS) is used in wine production to protect wine from being oxidized. The best analogy to this is what happens when you leave a cut apple out on a table. It will quickly turn brown when it is exposed to air. This is known as oxidation. The same thing can happen to your wine. Red wine, when oxidized, will take on a brownish colour which is particularly noticed on the edges of the wine. White wine on the other hand will take on amber to brownish colour when oxidized. The resulting taste is best described as metallic or “tinny”.
Kit makers are faced with a major dilemma. Most wine produced from kits is consumed within 6 months of being bottled. Yet a portion of home winemakers age their wine for longer periods of time. If kit manufacturers put sufficient KMS in the kit to protect your wine for 1-2 years and you open a bottle after 1 month you may likely smell and taste the KMS.
Winexpert, makers of our Vintners Reserve and Selection wine kits take the position of giving you the home winemaker the option and flexibility of choosing the level of KMS in your wine. They provide sufficient KMS to protect your wine for a minimum of 6 months. If you want to age your wine longer, then they advise you to add ¼ tsp. of KMS prior to bottling or at the stabilizing stage. We think this is the best approach. Many other kit makers prefer to “cover all the bases” and put in higher amounts of KMS in their kits. So if you have ever tried someone else’s wine and detected a chemical smell you now know the reason.
You may be interested in knowing that most commercial wine uses 10 times the amount of KMS in their wine versus kit wine due to long storage periods and to cover different storage conditions.
Creative Connoisseur recommends only adding KMS if you are not going to drink your wine within the first 6 months. If you put away your wine for longer periods we recommend adding KMS. So what should you do if you put away say half the batch for long term, and drink the rest within 6 months? You could bottle the first half of the carboy without additional metabisulphite and then add the metabisulphite to the second half of the carboy. Mark the bottles separately so you know which is which.
Topping up your Carboys - Have we Lost our Marbles
While it is not a problem in the relatively short period in the carboy prior to stabilization, if you bulk age or leave your wine until you are able to get at it the wine should not have too much airspace in the carboy or oxidation can occur. The wine kit manufacturers suggest you top up with a similar wine or water. (Note wine should only be added after the wine has been stabilized for at least 2 weeks). Many shudder at adding water to their precious wine and others hate adding a similar wine thinking that it will negate the true flavour of the wine. While this is a small portion of the 23 litres we would like to suggest another idea.
Why not add marbles? Yes marbles! The marbles will displace some of the room in the carboy and being inert; will not harm your wine. They can be removed from the carboy easily after the wine has been racked. Of course the marbles should be sterilized to prevent contamination. We are trying to figure out what goes best with your Spanish Rioja, cat’s eyes or beauties!
The Gooey Mess - Bentonite
Bulk or Bottle Ageing - Which is Better?
Some commercial wine makers indicate that the wine aging process is dependent on surface area. That is the greater the surface area that the wine encounters the more quickly it ages. This means that the smaller the bottle the more surface area (never been able to figure that one out) the wine contacts. Some sommeliers (professional wine tasters) indicate a wine tastes different in a 375 ml bottle versus the common 750 ml. bottle due to this phenomenon. There are two advantages to bulk aging that have nothing to do with the aging process. Firstly if your wine making area is subject to large temperature swings, it is better to bulk age as the greater thermal mass will mediate any wide temperature swings.
Bulk aging also gives you more discipline. It is harder to sneak a taste if you age in the carboy rather than sampling a bottle for those of us that are im-patient.
Whatever you prefer bulk aging or bottle aging, there is likely no difference in the end result when it comes to taste.
If you like to bulk age your wine in a carboy here a couple of tips:
Keep your airlocks full – This prevents oxidation and keeps out those pesky fruit flies. Many customers tell us they find dead fruit flies in their airlocks, those pesks can get inside the holes in top of the airlock
Use a solid bung – If and only if your wine has completely stopped, try a solid bung rather than an airlock. We recommend a #7 bung rather than the #6.5 bung used with your airlock. It gives a tighter seal for long term storage
Filter your wine first – Taking your wine off the sediment prior to bulk aging prevents the wine from taking on a yeasty taste. If you don’t filter, rack your wine off the sediment.
Top-up – If you have lots of space in your carboy, top it up with a similar wine to minimize air space
What is Potassium sorbate
Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager of Winexpert, makers of our Chai Maison, Vintners Reserve, Selection, Island Mist and Barons beer kits has answered this commonly asked question in an informative matter. So we have inserted his response to this question.
Tim says....
Sorbate is a polysaturated fat, derived from a naturally occurring substance, in the form of sorbic acid (it's made into potassium sorbate by reacting it with potassium). It's found in blueberries, huckleberries and mountain ash berries in large amounts.
One of the more thorough studies I've seen quoted the only side-effect to large-dose feeding of sorbate to rats was a slight extension in life span, attributed to a protection against lung infections engendered by the sorbate. Otherwise the rats were all very health. Potassium sorbate is recognised by Health and Welfare Canada as an approved food additive.
Ok. So that being said, what is it in my kit for?
Think of potassium sorbate as birth control for yeast. It doesn’t kill your yeast; rather it prevents any remaining yeast in your wine from making more yeast. It prevents the yeast cells from dividing. What actually kills the yeast is lack of sugar or believe it or not, alcohol.
What would happen if you didn’t add it, is perhaps the better question? If you add a sweetening agent or an F-pack to your kit the wine will likely start fermentation again. Not only would this result in a dry wine but the fermentation could take place in your bottles. Re-fermentation in your bottles is like champagne. I have heard of people who have been awaken by “gunshot like” sounds emanating from their basements. The cause…. Popping corks from wine that has taken off on them and started re-fermenting.
What about dry wines, is potassium sorbate necessary? Occasionally, you may have stuck fermentation which may take off when the temperature rises. This again will result in fermentation re-starting again. Adding the potassium sorbate is cheap insurance, is safe, and will help insure quality wine. Use it!
Too Cold - Heat it up!
What is the ideal temperature? Temperatures should not dip below 18C (68F). What is also important is fluctuating temperatures which yeast does not “like”. If you have a programmable thermostat and lower your house temperatures at night this could be a problem for your yeast. So consider a brew belt. I personally am trying to figure out how to attach one to my wife’s feet so I don’t get the Popsicle feeling each night. Sssshhh, don’t tell her I said that.
Siphoning problems?
Protect those Carboys
Pails vs Kits
Quite often it is buyer beware on these pails. Check to make sure they are in fact wine juice and you are getting what you think you are. Many of these juice pails are in fact reconstituted juice, or in other words made by adding water to the concentrated juice somewhere remote to the vineyard. How do you tell? Look at the pail and if you see the words wine “must” or “may contain grape juice and or concentrate and or liquid invert sugar” you have reconstituted juice. Don’t be mislead.
Another good clue is the price. A true 100% juice kit retails for $70 + with most good ones selling for around $100. If it is less than this you likely have reconstituted juice. So in fact all you may be getting is a product where the water is added in some factory just prior to sending it to the store. You should also consider that usually the product in the discounter is likely there because they had the lowest price.
True 100% juices are not for the average home winemaker. They take 3 – 6 months to make and at least double that time to properly age. Be very cautious of pails of juice that do not require the addition of yeast. These pails rely on wild yeast, which sounds romantic, but may not produce the best quality wine. Commercial wineries never rely on wild yeast, so neither should you. True juices are not pH balanced and may require the addition of acid/base additives in order to get proper quality and fermentation.
While Creative Connoisseur does bring in true juice in the fall, we are not big advocates of these pail products. Kit manufacturers comb the worlds vineyards for quality product and test all the juice prior to including it in their kits. The addition of some grape concentrate is also beneficial to earlier ageing and better clearing. We have all heard of the inconsistencies of true juice or even reconstituted juice in pails, but the consistency and ease of making wine from Winexpert or CellarCraft kits insures you get quality wine kit time after time.
Keep those Additive Packs straight
Here is a simple solution. Take all of your instructions, additive packages, labels, corks, F-packs and put them in a plastic grocery bag. Place the grocery bag around the carboy neck along with your Creative Connoisseur wine log and be sure to keep things straight.
Summertime Wine and Beer Making tips
We all know wine improves with age, so why not fill those carboys now and let them age over the summer. You will be well rewarded with excellent wine in the fall, and not be in a panic or have to slip into the commercial wine store and pay exorbitant prices.
If you do want to produce wine in the summer, we suggest you proceed to the stabilization stage as normal. Then let the wine clear, for a minimum of 2 weeks. You can then rack the wine off of the sediment, but no worries if you can’t get to this task right away. Then let the wine or beer bulk age.
In the primary, be watchful of the temperature. While it might be hot upstairs your basement may be too chilly for the yeast to ferment. You may need to provide some supplementary heat at this stage.
If you are bulk ageing, don’t let your airlocks go dry, or you will be sadly disappointed. Not only could your wine get oxidized, but it provides an avenue for those pesky fruit flies to get into your wine and destroy it. You could use a solid bung, but only if you have successfully de-gassed your wine and fermentation has halted.
If you are leaving any carboys empty over the summer months, we suggest you add a cup or so of sterilant (sodium metabisulphite) to the bottom of the carboy. This will prevent any molds, bacteria or other nasties making a home in your precious carboy. Either put a solid bung in the carboy or keep the airlocks filled.
Deciphering the differences between kits
What is the right kit for you, a 7.5 litre, 15 – 16 litre premium kit or a complete 23 litre pail? Kits are made from combinations of juices and/or juice concentrates. Concentrates are simply grape juice with the water removed.
Another important component of juice and concentrates is Total Dissolved Solids which is what is left over after every bit of water is removed from the juice. The more total dissolved solids (TDS), the more aroma and flavour compounds your wine will have. Concentrate only kits have the lowest TDS levels while premium kits, which contain mostly juice, have the highest. Fresh juice has the most TDS, but this comes at a sacrifice that we will discuss later.
Our 7.5 litre Chai-Maison kits are 100% concentrates and because they have the lowest TDS they mature very quickly and can therefore be drunk soon after bottling. These kits are ideal for those wanting to drink the wine on the early side or who need to stock their cellar quickly. We believe that the Chai Maison concentrate kits are the best in the industry in their class because of the proprietary manufacturing technique employed by the manufacturer, Winexpert, which allows retention of high levels of TDS.
Our 7.5 litre Vintners Reserve kits are excellent mid-line products that produce high quality flavourful wines. They are a combination of juice and concentrate, with approximately a 30/70 split in juice to concentrate. As such they have higher TDS and will improve with age. The wine from Vintners Reserve will improve with time due to the juice component. Generally whites should be aged for 1 month and the reds for 2 months. They are best at 6-9 months and improve until one year of age.
The 15 litre Selection Original and International Series are comprised of approximately 80% juice and 20% concentrate and have more Total Dissolved Solids than 7.5 litre kits. This is the chief reason they take longer to make as the higher solids component means more clearing time. With the higher juice component these kits should be aged at least 1-3 months for whites and 3-6 months for reds in order to fully appreciate their capability. These premium white wine kits will dramatically improve through 1 – 2 yrs while the reds can be fully appreciated from 1 – 3 yrs.
The super premium Selection Estate Series are comprised of even higher amounts of juice and as such should be aged for 2 – 4 months if white and 6 – 9 months if red. These kits will improve through 2 – 3 yrs. if white and 3 – 4 yrs if red.
Fresh juice, which we offer every fall has the highest levels of TDS but there is a major trade off. White wine made from fresh juice will often taste “green” until 18 months of age and don’t start to show quality until at least 2 years. While red wines require at least 2 yrs. to pass the green stage and aren’t reaching their peak until after three years. Using fresh juice is also for the experienced winemaker as these products are not balanced for pH, potential alcohol, flavour and aroma like the kits are. The clearing time can be as long as 6 – 12 months so be prepared to tie up your carboys for some time. Given all the intangibles with fresh juice and the variability inherent with the product, juice is not suited for all winemakers.
The other important component is the amount of sugar that is added to the kit. Kits that only contain concentrate must have glucose added to them in order to provide the desired alcohol level. While the Estate Series do not have any added glucose. In between the Selection series may or may not have added glucose depending on the specifications of the juice.
All of these kits produce excellent quality wine. The choice you make is dependent on how and when you consume the wine. A concentrate-only kit may initially offer early drinking but will not develop the flavours and aromas as those higher TDS/juice kits. On the other hand Premium kits may not “drink” as well if consumed young but continue to develop spectacularly over time.
Making Sherry, an old favourite
Sherry is best enjoyed as an aperitif, and as such has been said to act as an appetizer before a meal that increases one’s appetite. Frankly, I think the delay in eating while you enjoy the sherry is more the reason for the increased appetite. It is best served slightly chilled.
Sherry is made primarily from the Palomino grape (yep same as the horse). The Palomino grape is known to make questionable quality wine, but its usual low level of sugar and high pH make it an excellent grape for Sherry. Other grapes such as Perdo Ximenz and Muscat can also be used.
Commercial Sherry is fermented much like regular wine, finishing at 11-12% alcohol, finishing quite dry. It is then stored in oak barrels and fortified with a Spanish alcohol known as aguardiente (Winexpert’s Tim Vandergrift calls it Spanish rocket fuel).
After adding the alcohol, a second fermentation occurs which actually lowers the overall alcohol. Sherry finishes with alcohol content of 15-22% depending on the finishing process. Famous Cream Sherries are dark, somewhat sweet and higher in alcohol.
Sherry from kits
Sherry kits, like other dessert wines are produced in 11.5 litre kits (that’s 30 of the small 375 ml bottles). Winexpert’s Sherry kit is a blend of juices and concentrates, that has dark, nutty richness with hints of almonds and hazelnuts. The starting specific gravity of Sherry kits is 1.100, much higher than the typical wine kit. This is because Sherry is a very thick and viscous liquid. Of course having a higher specific gravity means more alcohol potential. Darn!
The three top hints in making Sherry are:
Stir lots
Stir lots more
Stir, stir, stir!
The temperature of the must (the wine mix) should be run a little on the high side versus wine (75-77F, 24-25C). You will see in the instructions there is a sugar feeding required partially through the fermentation which again results in higher alcohol.
Winexpert’s Selection Speciale Sherry kit can either be finished dry or cream-style (sweeter). This can be done by adding or leaving out the F-pack. The Sherry kit should finish with an alcohol content of 14-16%. You can fortify the Sherry by adding alcohol. This additional alcohol will increase the mouth feel of the Sherry. Some disapprove of adding Brandy as they feel it overpowers the Sherry while other rave about their brandy fortified Sherry. Sticklers of maintaining the Sherry taste recommend Everclear or another grain alcohol.
To Filter or not to filter
What purpose does filtering serve? According to Tim Vandergrift, Technical Services Manager with Winexpert (many of you have met Tim at our annual Wine Tasting) indicates that “filtering clears wine by removing fermentation debris and some of the yeast. This prevents the material from breaking down during ageing.” Removing these organisms through filtering reduces the amount of preservative required to prevent these “critters” from re-starting fermentation later in your bottle.
Filtering also serves to push wine along in its ageing process. As wine ages, compounds combine and settle out resulting in the smooth taste associated with mature wine. Filtering facilitates this process, allowing smother tastes while still young.
Many people feel that filtering wine removes flavour and colour. The components in wine that give it flavour and colour are individual molecules, most notably phenols. Remembering back to High School Science days, molecules are…. microscopic, or is that electron microscopic. Whereas as the yeast cells are massive organisms in comparison and are easily filtered out. Being a guy, let’s use a sports analogy. If your filter pad was a hockey net, the flavour and colour molecules would be the size of a pin head and would easily pass through the net. Whereas the dead yeast cells and other fermentation debris would be the size of a basketball and easily stopped by the hockey net. According to Tim “there is no home system available with filter pads fine enough to “strip” flavour, colour or aroma out of a wine.”
OK, some argue, “If it doesn’t remove colour how come the pads are always stained red after filtering.” The reasons the filter pads become stained is that the proteins and yeast cells are stained with the wine pigments. Removing the sediment by racking (transferring your wine via siphoning) makes no difference as the yeast is still stained.
All right if you still aren’t convinced that filtering is not the way to go, we would like to leave you with one consideration. If you remove the sediment with several rackings, we strongly suggest you add some anti-oxidant (potassium metabisulphite). Every time you handle your wine as your are subjecting it to oxidation. Remember, wine is fermented fruit juice and all fruit is subject to being oxidized (browning). So make sure you add some extra potassium metabisulphite to your carboy.
Yuck! That terrible smell... Any alternatives?
However, from time to time, customers remark that they have heard of a “non-smelly” sterilant. Well in fact they do exist and we thought we would let you know about them.
The first is a product called Iodophor. As the name suggests Iodophor, is an iodine based material with relatively no odour. Many of you will remember Mom putting iodine on our cuts as children to ward of any infection. Yah remember the ouch! While it can be used as a sterilant, Iodophor does have some limitations. Iodophor, must be mixed with water and used within 24 hours of mixing, or it will become ineffective. It also can not be re-used. Iodophor must also contact the surface to be sterilized for a minimum of 20 minutes in order to sterilize properly. While this maybe practical for glass bottles, carboys and primaries, it would be difficult to achieve this in a filter machine or a siphon hose. Reportedly, items sterilized with Iodophor do not have to be rinsed with water afterwards. Just let them drip dry. However, I would feel more comfortable to rinse with water.
Creative Connoisseur sells Iodophor in our additives section. It comes complete with instructions.
Another possible sterilant is Chlorinated Cleaner, aka the “pink stuff”. The chlorine contained in the cleaner is the responsible agent for sterilizing. However, like Iodophor, the cleaner solution must remain in contact with the surface to be sterilized for a minimum of 20 minutes.
What is the conclusion? Sodium metabisulphite remains the most effective sterilant, in terms of not only effectiveness, but also ease of use. Having said this Chlorinated Cleaner is a “must” for insuring clean conditions for your precious wine. The cleaner is excellent in removing stains and the film that collects on glass, which may contribute to off tastes. While Sodium Metabisulphite may be an excellent sterilant, there is no point in sterilizing “dirt” so include the double treatment of cleaner and sterilant.
What are those packages - Part IV
There is a whole host of Clearing Agents available, however there are 3 or 4 primary Clearing Agents commonly found in your wine kits. And don’t forget that bentonite is also a clearing agent. However, while bentonite is negatively charged and able to clear out positive charged particles, the following clearing agents are exactly the opposite, they are positively charged and remove negatively charged particles in your wine. And who thought, winemaking wasn’t an electrifying experience.
Isinglass: Is mainly used in white wine kits. This extremely pure form of gelatin is actually a natural compound. Those of you weak of stomach may want to skip the next sentence, but you really want to know where isinglass comes from. It is made from the bladders of certain fish. Oh well, some people also eat caviar, huh.
Chitosan: Another naturally occurring compound, this time derived from seashells. No worries, though, for your friends with allergies, as people with allergies to fish or scallops, are allergic to the protein in these sea creatures. There is no protein in the shell; it is primarily composed of calcium. Chitosan contains no protein and therefore is non-allergenic. It is actually approved by the Government as a food substance for dietary use (calcium supplement).
Kieselsol: AKA Colloidal silica. This clearing agent is often used in conjunction with gelatin another clearing agent. CellarCraft is a firm believer in this one, two punch. However, Kieselsol is sometimes used alone.
Gelatin: Another of the organic clearing or finings agent. Gelatin will remove some of the tannins so it is often avoided in white wine or those bold wines where tannin is a feature.
So now you know what those packages are used for and the importance of not forgetting one along the way. Thank goodness the kit manufacturers take the guesswork out of the amounts to add and which clarifying agent to use with what wine. Keep it simple thanks.
What are those packages - Part III
Not to be confused with Sodium metabisulphite (the smelly stuff), which is the sterilizing agent, used to insure clean bottles and equipment. However, both potassium (KMS for short) and sodium metabisulphite share the same ability that when reacted with water they form sulphur dioxide (SO2 for the chemists). SO2 is the culprit that kills harmful bacteria that can spoil your wine. KMS is preferred to its cousin sodium metabisulphite because it does not contain sodium an important consideration for those on low sodium diets.
KMS also serves another function. It is an anti-oxidant. If KMS were not added to your wine it would not likely last longer than 6 months before going bad. We recommend that if you intend to keep some of your wine longer than a year you should add an additional small amount of KMS just prior to bottling. We sell KMS in 50 gm. bags.
Next month... Clearing agents
What are those packages- Part II
This additive is added to the wine at time of stabilization. Stabilization is the term used for the stage of winemaking where you stop fermentation. Potassium sorbate is often accused of being the “stuff” that kills the yeast. Well in fact, this accusation of cold-blooded murder of yeast is untrue. Potassium sorbate actually, doesn’t kill the yeast rather it bonds with the yeast and prevents it from reproducing and causing further fermentation.
The amount of potassium sorbate in our kits is sufficient for stopping fermentation. However a word to the wise, it will not be sufficient under the following circumstances
Additional sugar was added to the primary, sometimes done to increase alcohol content, or accidentally adding the F-pack in the primary.
Stabilizing to early. If this occurs there could be still too much sugar as fermentation by the yeast hasn’t consumed the natural sugar.
Remember Potassium Sorbate cannot stop active fermentation, so make sure you don’t rush your wine in the carboy. Next month... Potassium metabisulphite.
What are all those packages - Part I
This month, bentonite.
You have heard the expression “Here is mud in your eye” when someone offers up a cheers. I wonder if they had bentonite in mind when they came up with that expression, because that is in fact what bentonite is. More specifically it is a naturally occurring clay that is collected in Saskatchewan, Wyoming and in the Great Lakes states.
It is added in the Primary (the plastic pail), to act as a finings agent. Fining is the fancy name for the clearing process for wine. Bentonite has a significant negative electrical charge and therefore it can effectively remove positively charge sediment or particles in your wine.
It is added in the primary because bentonite also serves another purpose in that it acts as a site for yeast cells to begin fermentation. This helps insure a good healthy start to fermentation and without it fermentation would be slower.
Adding too much bentonite to your wine can remove some of the colour, a particular problem in red wine. A sure sign of an inferior kit is one that does not include bentonite or includes elderberries to overcome the colour loss in inferior red juice.
Next month... Potassium sorbate
Help! I am out of wine, I need something quick
The solution to your problem might be in choosing the right type of wine. If your preference is for a red wine, you might want to consider a lighter bodied red wine such as Bergamais (Vintners Reserve) or BeauSoleil (CellarCraft). These two wines contain Gamay juice, which is also found in the popular Beaujolais wine. These wines are renowned for their ability to be consumed on the young side and yet be very enjoyable.
Other lighter bodied red considerations are Pinot Noir, and possibly the Italian superstars, Valpolicella and Chianti. Drinking fuller bodied wines on the young side really doesn’t do them justice. However, if you must and your find your wine has a bit of an “edge” to it you may want to consider the addition of a small amount of glycerine. Glycerine will smooth your wine out, and really does not sweeten your wine when added in small amounts. If you want people to ooh ad aww at your wine you will be surprised at the effect of glycerine. Glycerine will give your wine, legs (no it won’t walk away on you).
If your preference is white wine your choices are a little more extensive. It is probably easier to tell you what not to choose rather than what to choose as is the case with the reds. Stay away from kits containing Chardonnay juice and possibly Riesling as both these wines deserve to be aged to reveal their true character. Blush wines also are consideration if you will be consuming wine on the young side.
At the end of the day, use the old home winemakers adage, aaahhh September , a fabulous vintage!
Accurate Hydrometer readings
Keep a pitcher of water close to the primary so it stays at the same temperature as the wine. Any deviation from 1.000 would be due to calibration discrepancy or temperature adjustment and, if it reads high or low, the reading of the wine will be equally high or low. So, for example, if the reading in the pitcher of water is 1.002 you would subtract .002 from the reading you get in the wine; if the reading of the water is .998, you would add .002.
Floor corker maintenance
So, how should you properly maintain your floor corker and insure it will cork thousands of bottles in its lifetime. Here are a few suggestions:
Water is the floor corker’s worst enemy. Never pour Sterilant on the plastic jaws (the things that wrap around the cork). Don’t over-soak your corks as they absorb excess water which will come out when corking. Always dry your corker with a dry towel after using it.
Never put WD 40 or similar solvents on the plastic jaws as it will corrode them and shorten the life of your corker. Besides these materials are toxic and obviously not recommended in your diet.
Use a small amount of petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) on the jaws as a lubricant.
If the spring shaft sticks, lubricate it with WD 40.
If you have problems with the plastic jaws or inner workings be extremely careful if you open it up. The plastic jaws are held in place with powerful springs that can leap out when the cover is removed. Re-positioning the springs can also be an exercise in futility.
If the bottle platform fails to return when the corking arm is returned to the top position, tightening the two small screws on the bottom of the front leg can increase platform tension. Adjust them clockwise one turn at a time.
Recently we have a couple of customers who have been finding they have leaky corks. Close examination of the plastic jaws has found ridges or sharp edges which have been causing channels on the outside of the cork. This is more pronounced with synthetic corks than natural corks. Filing these sharp edges has corrected the problem. Or, it might be time to retire that floor corker and get a new one.
If you have any questions on your floor corker be sure to bring them up on your next store visit.
Screw caps for Homemade wine
It used to be screw caps on wine were associated with “cheap” wine. However experts tell us that there is no difference in the aging of wine whether corks or screw caps are used. In fact the use of screw caps will eliminate wine that is tainted by cork problems. More and more high quality wines are using screw caps. However, companies using screw caps make large dollar investments in proper bottling equipment in order to use these screw caps. This elaborate equipment prevents any air getting into the wine bottle forming a perfect barrier to the atmosphere. This equipment is out of the price range for home wine makers, so we are stuck with corks. To many you will never replace the romance of corking a bottle of wine.
Help, I will be away for stabilizing day
Really the only critical stage is Stage 1 while you are still in the primary. Do not leave your wine for too much longer than required as your wine may become susceptible to harmful invaders. The Carbon dioxide produced during fermentation protects your wine during this stage but as fermentation slows down the protection breaks down.