Archive for March, 2009

There is always debate about whether wines should be fined and/or filtered before bottling. It can be confusing to those who enjoy the hobby of home winemaking to know what to do. There is even disagreement among professional winemakers and wine tasters. Most would probably agree that fining and filtering have much to do with the appearance of wine, but what about taste and aroma?

There are some who claim that using Bentonite and other fining agents, and then filtering a wine strips away some of the flavors and aromas, while others say any such reduction is imperceptible to most.

In Forbes Magazine, there was an interesting discussion about this along with a list of ten commercially available unfiltered/unfined wines that wine enthusiasts can try for themselves. Article is here.

My “wee man,” Data, The Who, and an interesting read. What does it have to do with home winemaking? Well, just read on!

It’s about 3AM. Normally, I’d be falling asleep by now, or soon to be sleeping – but it’s an atypical night. We’ll get back to typical tomorrow, I’m sure.

For those who have read this blog for any length of time, they will know that I have a “wee man” (who is a real good looking boy!) that I adore, and from time to time, he sometimes expresses adoration toward me. Lately, his adoration has been more about Lego sets that he wants, and has already written down on Christmas and Birthday lists – events that won’t occur for 5 and 10 months from now. But he knows I enjoy making wine and has been a companion on more than one trip to pick up juice or fruit so the “auld man” can experiment and do some home winemaking.

This evening, he decided he needed to help me with some home winemaking. During that time, he wondered what he would be when he “grew up.” A magician? Maybe on stage with The Who? (He loves The Who – he’s probably got the record for being the youngest to take in a The Who concert). Perhaps a fireman. And then, when we started using the Hydrometer, he thought maybe he should be a “Detective.”

“Detectives are good at writing things out and figuring out stuff, right Dad? And I’m good at that.”

I took him into the wine making area, with a piece of paper and a pen. He was to write out the specific gravity readings for the wines I was testing. “How do you spell ‘Zinfandel’, Dad?” I spelled it for him. “Do you want the number beside or below?”

“Beside will do fine, son!”

I spelled out Z-I-N-F-A-N-D-E-L for him. Put the wine thief into the carboy, pulled out a sample, and said, “David, write this down – 0.996.”

He did. And went through it all in the same way. I’d take the sample, read it, call it out after he’d written down which wine batch it was.

Zinfandel: 0.996
GSM: 1.000
Mystery: 1.046
Potato: 1.032

And I’m keeping his piece of paper with his recordings on it, in my winemaking log book. Maybe someday, he’ll decide to be a winemaker!

So that was the Data part of the evening.

Other thoughts:

As mentioned above, The Who is one of my wee man’s favorite artists. He comes by it well! His “auld man” has been a fan of the hard rocking, often libertarian, sometimes about heart wrenching, other times about personal integrity, and always awesome music of The Who. And I’ve been reading Jack Keller’s list of music (on his blog) that has something to do with “wine” in the title. And of course, there is “Old Red Wine” by The Who. I’m listening. Has something to do with Keith Entwistle, apparently. Very good song to listen to, as are all The Who songs.

I’ve also been reading a book. I thought I knew a good amount about home winemaking. Wow.. I have learned so much this past evening, reading this book! I think I might become a mad scientist… although winemaking is not just about science. Or is it? Maybe there’s just not enough data, observations to go with the data, and other situations that seem uncontrollable to making wine that is awesome for any occasion (including to listing to The Who).

I’ll have more about this incredibly interesting book I’m reading shortly. I wonder if many people realize just what goes into that wonderful flavour on their tongue when they put a wonderful wine to their lips and take it into their mouths. Most don’t care about formulas for acids, alcohol accuracy, or learning about the tiny vermin that make wine what it is… yet, it is fascinating to learn about in detail.

And those are enough thoughts to write about, for now. But I’m looking forward to soon pulling out another bottle of Zinfandel that has been aging down in the basement, to be shared and enjoyed. Very soon! While I make more that in years to come, will be enjoyed and shared and perhaps memories of the times while that wine was fermenting can be laughed about, sung about, written about, and even made into poetry.

And with all of that.. it’s the data that is still important!

The day this book arrived, I started going through it, reading some chapters and sections that immediately grabbed my attention while gazing at the beautiful photographs. I wondered how one person, Andre Domine, could have ever written such a volume! 926 pages thick, and covering such an enormous amount of information…

read the rest of the review.

Sometime ago, I was asked about the “easiest” way to make wine. A question that is not necessarily easy to answer, depending on what one means by “easy.” But let’s assume the person also wants something that is going to be drinkable and enjoyable. The “winemaking for dummies” version of winemaking.

For centuries, wine was made by simply leaving out juice and hoping wild yeast would inoculate the juice. And by all means, you could do that today as well. I’ve heard of people leaving out a mixture of pressed/crushed raspberries, water and sugar – and there’s a good chance that will ferment. Who knows what you’ll end up with though? It could very well be wine, but I wouldn’t recommend that method if you’re hoping for something good.

So, if you really are looking for the “winemaking for dummies” seriously consider a wine kit. The less expensive ones can be had for less than 50.00 which will make net you 30 standard 750 ml bottles of wine. You don’t even have to make it at home. Many wine supply stores also have an area where you can “make” your wine on their premises. In Ontario, there is one legal requirement: You must sprinkle the yeast on the juice. Almost all the other work is done for you, (for a small additional fee) including the mixing of the concentrate with water, the addition of fining and preserving agents, and the racking.

You’ll have to come back on the day the wine is ready to be bottled to help with that part, most likely.

So, if you really want the winemaking for dummies version, visit your local winemaking at the premises shop. You won’t learn a lot if all you ever do is make wine from kits, and especially if it’s all done on the premises of the shop that you purchased your kit – but you’ll likely have better wine than leaving out raspberry juice for wild yeast.

Same yeast, same ambient air temperature, different sugar and different base.

March 11th, I started the “Mystery” Berry Wine. At that time, it had a starting specific gravity of 1.104

On March 13th, it was 1.092
Today, March 19th, 1.054. This is after 8 days.

March 15th, started the Potato Wine (using Demerara Sugar). Starting SG of 1.128
Today, March 19th, SG is 1.050. This is 4 days of fermentation.

In both, I used EC-1118 yeast.

I didn’t realize until recently that there is a very small wine making industry in Nova Scotia, Canada. Canadians who drink and appreciate wine are likely familiar with Pelee Island and the Niagara escarpment areas of Ontario as well as the wine regions of British Columbia. But I’ve never seen a bottle of wine from Nova Scotia at our LCBO. Because of the climate and short growing season, there can be challenges for Nova Scotian wine makers.

According to the Globe & Mail, one winery is learning from a technique developed in Italy that is used to make Amarone: Drying the grapes after they have been harvested to reduce the moisture and increase the sugar percentage. And apparently it’s working out for them.

“Mr. Ewert’s new effort, called Alchemy, has already garnered a gold medal at the All Canadian Wine Championships and is drawing parallels with, of all things, the rich reds of sunny South Australia.”
~ Globe & Mail

There will be lots of potatoes in my diet over the next little while. But being from Northern Ireland, I shouldn’t have any problems with that!

I was in an experimental mood today and thought I’d try a recipe for Potato Wine that I found in a book. But first, I needed to find some ingredients I did not have in hand: Citric acid and Amylozyme. Wasn’t sure exactly where I’d find them but on a hunch which turned out to be a good hunch, I called Bob over at Orangeville Winemakers. Sure enough Bob had the Citric Acid. “Amylozyme?” he asked. “What’s that for?” I told him it was an enzyme used to break down starches. “I have Amylase which does that.”

Yes, the same thing, I think. The book that the recipe is in was published in the UK so some terminology might be different. Now that I knew I could get the ingredients today, I planned on making the wine in the evening. Here’s the recipe for potato wine.

This is a winemaking blog, and I’m not about to turn it into a cooking or baking recipe blog. However, good wine, whether purchased at the retail store or made at home goes well with food, of course!

Many will spend much time and energy pairing wines with the food they will eat. And there’s nothing wrong with this at all. Wine can compliment a dinner, or it can leave a bad taste if not correctly paired with the food one is eating.

Another addition to dinner that we usually enjoy is some type of bread. (Perhaps I have too many hobbies – from fly fishing to winemaking to bread baking but I enjoy them all and sometimes, together! Although I’ve been known to take a certain flask with me when fly fishing, and sip some Bushmill’s Black Bush from it.)

A few years ago, maybe four, I came across a recipe in the New York Times, I think it was. It was interesting to me, relative to my winemaking hobby. We commonly make bread with yeast, just as we do our wines. Although I also enjoy making non-yeast breads such as Irish Wheaton and Soda as I grew up on it. But I digress – this recipe I found called for a small amount of yeast, no kneading of the bread, and instead, just time – lots of time – to allow the yeast to work, the dough to rise and the flavours to yield themselves.

I make it quite often and enjoy a slice with butter (it has to be real butter – not margarine) and a glass of red wine. Here’s how I make it:

Ingredients:

3 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon “Quick Rise” yeast
1 1/2* cups water

Notes:
Quick Rise yeast is the same as that used in bread machines
* it’s approximate. I usually need to add a few tablespoons of water to this amount.

Method:

Measure out flour into a mixing bowl.
Add the yeast and the salt to the water. Stir well.
Pour the water into the mixing bowl. Stir the water and flour so that you end up with a “shaggy” dough. I’ve found that the amount of water, 1 1/2 cups is only a guideline – some flours seem drier than others, and I need to add more. You are not looking for a soaking wet dough here, keep in mind. You’ll sort of shape it into a ball like form.

Cover the mixing bowl with your favorite brand of cling wrap. I have found the so called extra cling stuff made by Glad to be useless. It seems to stick to itself alright, but not to anything else. Saran wrap is better.

And that’s it for now! The above steps take all of five minutes. All you’re going to do now is treat that dough as if it was wine. You’re going to let the yeast go to work, all on their own, for at least 14 hours. So this bread won’t be ready until tomorrow.

14 or more hours later, place a piece of parchment paper on your work surface and sprinkle it with flour. You’ll also want to sprinkle flour over your hands too. This dough will now have become quite sticky. You should see lots of bubbles in the dough, and it will have risen considerably. It will also be sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl.

Roll out the dough onto the parchment paper, and quickly shape it into a ball, after turning the dough into thirds, over onto itself.

Cover the dough with a tea towel for another four hours.

After three hours of the secondary rise, turn your oven on to 450 and put a 4 to 5 quart crock pot that has a lid in the oven, but don’t put the lid on the pot. Let the oven warm up completely.

After the fourth hour (and you don’t have to be exact here – if you want to wait five hours, you can), roll the dough from the parchment paper into the crock pot. Jiggle the crock pot around a bit to have the dough be as centered as possible. Put the lid on the pot, close your oven door, set the timer for 30 minutes, and go have a glass of wine.

When the timer goes off, take the lid off the pot, and let it bake for another 15 minutes.

As it’s baking, your kitchen will fill with an aroma that just smells so good! And you’ll be tempted to cut off a slice of that bread immediately after you take it out of the oven. Hey, I’m not going to tell you not to do that – I enjoy a glass of new wine too – but if you just take the bread out, place it on a cooling rack, you’ll be able to hear it crackle as it cools down.

Use a serrated knife to cut this – you’ll have a crusty, delicious bread, good for almost any meal. And people will think you spent hours on it!

Enjoy!

I’ve added a new link to my sidebar – a new blog just recently started by Daniel Pambianchi.

Daniel took time out of his day to comment on my post, “A Bulk Aging Disagreement” and provided some of his thoughts. I’m looking forward to watching Daniel’s blog grow and I’m sure many of us will learn a thing or three from him.

Daniel is the President of Cadenza Wines, Inc. and the General Manager of the Maleta Winery in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. One of their wines, a Riesling, won Silver at a major competition last week.

As well as being the Technical Editor for WineMaker Magazine, Daniel has written “Techniques in Home Winemaking: The Comprehensive Guide to Making Chateau-Style Wines” and another book that should be of interest to home winemakers wanting to improve their skills with making wine from kits, “Kit Winemaking: The Illustrated Beginner’s Guide to Making Wines from Concentrate”

Welcome to world of home winemaking blogging, Daniel!

Daniel’s blog is here.

Do you enjoy mysteries? Sometimes, I do. It is a mystery to me how this wine I started this evening will turn out. But from the taste of the juice, it just might be very good.

Sometime ago, I purchased what I thought were 2 lb bags of gooseberries. I bought 10 lbs in all, hoping to make some gooseberry wine similar to this one. Except, what I ended up with in those five bags was nothing like the gooseberries I used for that wine. I’m not sure what I have. They do have the appearance of gooseberries in shape. But they are a very dark colour. Darker than the purple gooseberries I’m familiar with. And they were of assorted sizes. The smaller ones looked almost like overly large currants. There were some that were sweet to the taste, and some that had that tart flavor I associate with gooseberries. The juice was a very rich purply red color. I think they might have been some variety of gooseberry that I’ve not seen before, but I can’t say for sure.

I had taken all the bags out of the freezer to make up a five gallon batch, and thought… “Well, what the heck. Let’s get at it.” I know that some people put all their fruit into a straining bag – I’ve done that as well, but sometimes I’ll just liquify the fruit in a blender. Which is what I did. I heated up some water and added sugar to the hot water, in one gallon batches. Added 2 1/2 teaspoons of pectic enzyme. The total amount of sugar I added was 5 KG or about 11 lbs. The starting SG was 1.104 – but that is not exact with some of the fruity bits floating around in there. By the time I had taken the SG, much of the bits had come to the top, so I was able to get a fairly clear sample of the juice to measure the SG.

Pitched some yeast – and let’s see what happens!