THE WINE CELLAR - WINE MAKING and All Things WINE Related

WINE HISTORY has a long and interesting story to tell, but in this small space we'll just go over the more interesting highlights, shall we?

One of the very first instances of wine making can be found in ancient Egypt. In the tomb of Tutankhamun, many amphoras (earthen vessels with two opposing handles meant for holding wines) were found, bearing the name "Kha'y", one of the royal vintners.

Another bit of wine history meriting note; Ancient wine has also been found in the central Asian area known as Xinjiang, dating within the neighborhood of 2,000 years B.C. - now THAT'S AGING!! haha ^_~

Even in the Neolithic site of Jiahu, Henan, pottery jars have been found, containing traces of tartaric acid and other organic compounds commonly found in wine.

Now that we've entertained ourselves with a tiny bit of wine history (more to post in this section soon), let's move on to other interesting things...

WINE MAKING can be quite an enjoyable pursuit, but it can also be fraught with nasty little disasters... long awaited agings only to reveal a vinegary, turpentine flavour, minor fizzy explosions, and so on. There needs to be a balance of many things.

THINGS TO KNOW FIRST

When engaging in wine making, you need to be aware of the proper acidity, the right amount of sweetness, and you must be absolutely certain of the sterility of your equipment. There's much to know and understand when learning how to make wine.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

You will need a few things first, such as bottles, corks, and a corker for stuffing the corks into the bottles with. You will also need siphon tubing, as well as primary and secondary fermentation containers (sanitized gallon milk jugs work well), wine maker's yeast, and Campden tablets. The tablets are used to kill off bacteria and prevent certain wild yeasts from growing while allowing the wine maker's yeast to do it's trick, as well as also helping to eliminate chlorine from water used from municipal sources. You'll also need potassium sorbate to stabilize the wine while being bottled, an acid tester, a hydrometer for monitoring specific gravities in winemaking, and an airlock* for one of the containers to allow air out, but not in.

CHECK THE QUALITY OF YOUR INGREDIENTS

Whether you use grapes, fruit, sweet or spicy peppers, teas, fruit juice concentrate, herbs or what have you, these main ingredients should have a high sugar content to feed the yeast, which in turn produces the alcohol... in some cases, you may need to add more sugar by dissolving it in hot water, letting it cool, and then adding it to the mix.

LET'S BEGIN

However you do it, crushing, blending, juicing, making tea and cooling, mixing concentrate, etc., take your juice mix and get ready to begin.

Add a crushed Campden tablet per gallon of mixture, then cover with a cloth or paper towel, holding it in place, to allow it to breathe and keep insects out. This mixture, called the "must", should sit overnight. The next day, add the yeast, and within 24 hours, it should start to fizz a bit. After it has been fizzing for at least 24 hours more, stir well with something sanitized, or shake well. Return the cloth or paper towel covering it, and let it ferment for 8-10 days. This should be constantly kept between 72-78 degrees F throughout the whole process.

NEXT, YOU...

From then, you need to pour off the must into the secondary container, leaving behind the dead yeast sediment that has rested at the bottom of the mixture. Once poured into the secondary container, cover with the airlock* and leave it sit for 2-4 weeks (until it becomes clear or uncloudy).

IS IT WINE YET?

Once clear, it is wine. At this point, add 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon to stabilize the wine - bottling it without this can cause explosions. 3-4 days later, you're ready for bottling. Use your siphoning tubing to do this so the sediment (there will be more of it now) stays in the fermentation container and not go into the bottles, as well as to keep from aerating the wine as it's being bottled. Start drinking from here on out, or age as long you like.

DRINK 'TIL YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!

*For more information on airlocks, where to get them or how to make them simply, or if you'd like to learn anything and everything about wine making, please visit the WINE MAKING WEBSITE. You can download two free e-books... one on how to make wine, and another on 50 free wine making recipes - much more deeply advanced tutorial information (including videos) can be gotten as well from that site, if you so desire.

WINE VARIETIES such as red wine, rose wine and white wine can all be very different, yet they can all come from the very same grapes. The difference lies mostly in "skin contact".

No, I don't mean that some daft buffoon is running about, sticking his filthy fingers into the aging barrels of wine, no, no, no... I mean the skins of the grapes themselves. A white wine isn't made by using white grapes. I mean, well, you can make white wine with them, but well, that's not what makes a white wine white.

Grapes that are fermented into wine without the skins becomes white wine - leaving the skins and all in for a while makes rose wine, and leaving them in for longer periods of time makes a red wine. It's the tannins in the skins of the grapes which give that distinctive flavour.

There are also the major wine varieties of these three types, the eight most widely known types popular today... these are; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Noir for red wines, Pinot Grigio for white wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay.

One other type of wine worth mentioning, is the special kind known as Champagne - this is a sparkling wine, and international law mandates that only those made in the city of the same name in France can be called "Champagne" - all else must be called "sparkling wines".

WINE MAKING RECIPES are part of the fun of wine making, because you get to stretch out your creative mind's muscles to create new wonders... as mentioned above, one isn't restricted to certain types of grapes, or even grapes at all - why not make peach or blueberry wine, right? What would a strawberry wine be like?

Let's take a look at a few different wine making recipes below;

DANDELION WINE RECIPE

Dandelion Wine - makes one gallon.

Ingredients:

7 cups Dandelion petals

1 chopped light Raisins or 1/2 pt. white grape concentrate

1 gal. Hot Water

2 lb. Sugar

1/4 tsp. Tannin

3 tsp Acid blend

1 pkg.Wine Yeast

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient

Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar
and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one
location to another. This recipe is a general recipe to use which you
may have to adjust.

Directions:

1. Cut off yellow petals only when flowers are fully opened. Avoid any sprayed plants and discard all leaves.

2. Wash and drain petals. Put petal and raisins, if used, into straining bag and tie. Place in primary fermenter.

3. Mix sugar in hot water until dissolved and pour over petals and raisins.

4. Stir in all other ingredients, except yeast.

5. After 24 hours, add yeast. Cover primary fermenter.

6. Stir daily , check S.G. (Specific Gravity) and press pulp to aid in extraction.

7. When ferment reaches S.G. 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice
from bag and syphon wine off sediment into glass jug secondary.
Attach airlock.

8. When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is
complete. Syphon off sediment into clean glass container. Re-attach
airlock.

9. Syphon again in two months and again, if necessary, before bottling your dandelion wine.

STRAWBERRY WINE RECIPE

Strawberry Wine - makes one gallon.

Ingredients:

3-1/2 lbs. Strawberries (fresh or frozen)

7 Pints Water

2 lbs. Sugar

1 tsp Acid Blend

1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme

1 Campden, crush

1 Pkg Wine Yeast 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient

1/4 tsp Tannin

Starting S.G. (Specific Gravity) - 1.090-1.095

Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar
and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one
location to another. The recipe above is a general recipe to use which you
may have to adjust.

Directions:

1. Pick berries when they are fully ripened but not moldy. Remove any stems, leaves and foreign matter (bugs).

2. Wash and drain the berries using nylon straining bag (or press), mash and strain juice into primary fermenter. Keeping all pulp in straining bag, tie top and place in primary.

3. Stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT yeast. Cover primary.

4. After 24 hrs., add yeast . Cover primary.

5. Stir daily, check hydrometer reading (S.G.) and press pulp lightly to aid extraction.

6. When ferment reaches S.G. 1.030 (about 5 days) strain juice from bag. Syphon off sediment into clean secondary. Attach lock.

7. When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is complete. Syphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Reattach airlock.

8. To aid in clearing, syphon again in 2 months and again, if necessary, before bottling.

9. Allow the wine to age. If a slightly sweetened wine is more to your taste, add 1/2 tsp. of stabilizer and 1/4 cup of dissolved sugar at bottling your strawberry wine.

COFFEE WINE RECIPE

Coffee wine - makes one gallon.

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp. Instant Coffee

7 pints Water

3 Lb. Honey (or Sugar)

3 tsp. Acid Blend

1 Campden Tablet, crushed

3/4 tsp. Yeast Energizer

1 pkg. Sherry Yeast

Directions:

1. Pour instant Coffee and honey (or sugar) into primary fermenter.

2. Pour water (hot) into primary fermenter and stir thouroughly.

3. Add remaining ingredients, except yeast. Stir well.

4. Cover primary fermenter.

5. Wait 24 hours, then add yeast and re-cover primary fermenter.

6. Stir daily and check S.G. (Specific Gravity).

7. When S.G. reaches 1.040 (usually 3-5 days), strain juice from bag. Then syphon juice into glass container and attach airlock.

8. When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 3 weeks), fermentation is complete. Syphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Reattach airlock.

9. To aid in clearing, syphon again in 2 months and again, if necessary, before bottling your coffee wine.

10. Allow the wine to age.

BLACKBERRY WINE RECIPE

Blackberry wine - makes one gallon.

Ingredients:

1 49 oz. Can Blackberry Puree

5 Pints Water

1-3/4 lbs. Sugar

1/2 tsp Acid Blend

1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient

1 Pkg Wine Yeast*

*Red Star Cote de Blanc or Lavlin 71B-1122 is recommended.

Keep your acid tester and hydrometer handy. As with all wild fruit the sugar and acid content varies greatly from year to year and even from one location to another. The recipe above is a general recipe to use, which you may have to adjust.

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar in and additives, except yeast in 1 quart of warm water.

2. Take Specific Gravity (S.G.) reading. Your must should have an S.G. of 1.090 - 1.100. If it is too low add sugar to raise the S.G. (Generally, 4 ounces of sugar will raise the S.G. 10 points in 1 gallon of water, i.e., from 1.080 to 1.090.)

3. Make up a yeast starter by re-hydrating the yeast and add to the must.

4. Cover primary.

5. Stir daily until S.G. reaches 1.030 (about 5-7 days)

6. Rack into clean secondary.

7. When S.G. reaches 1.000 (usually about 2-4 weeks), fermentation is complete. Siphon juice off sediment into clean glass container. Re-attach airlock.

8. Rack into clean secondary. Add fining agents, such as Sparkalloid and reattach airlock

9. Allow to sit for 4 weeks.

10. When the wine is clear and stable, it is ready to be bottled.

For a sweeter wine, dissolve 2-4 tablespoons sugar into 1/4 cup warm water and
add to wine after stabilizing with 1/2 teaspoon potassium sorbate prior to bottling your blackberry wine.

50 FREE WINE RECIPES for making wine from many types of fruits and berries (grapes, as well as even apricots, pineapples and bananas... or coffee, teas, or even jalapeno peppers!), can be gotten from the WINE MAKING WEBSITE, as well as *EXCELLENT* free information on how to make wine, both are free downloadable e-books that are yours for the taking.

HAVE A LOOK AROUND...

In wine making, you can make some very basic searches online, and you can very easily find a lot of interesting information about wine making, and I recommend that you do so - you'll find it to be a fun and educative experience. However, do take for yourself the free e-books I mentioned above. Now, I don't merely recommend them because they're free - allow me to explain...

JUST WHAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR

I have found these particular resources quite invaluable, and much more detailed than anything I've ever found online, even on YouTube, as helpful as that other information is. For something that's completely free, I was quite surprised with the richness of the content. I had all my major questions asked, and I found myself more than well equipped for my wine making experiences! The author's blog was also quite a treat, as well as his newsletter that I chose to subscribe to. The wisdom (as well as the humour) to be had and benefit from is quite impressive indeed! ^_^

THE BEST FREE WINE MAKING TUTORIAL AND RECIPES

The fact is, the free winemaking tutorial and free wine recipes and other detailed information to be had from the WINE MAKING WEBSITE on ripeness, acid testing and monitoring, fermentation times according to fruit type, where and what times to get the very best fruit and a myriad of other aspects, just aren't touched upon with any efficiency (if at all) in any other online resource that I have searched. If you really wish to get into this pleasurable activity fully prepared, and desire to avoid many a fizzy faux pas, the wisdom is there for you. Take it in, and enjoy it well ^_~

To BUILD WINE CELLAR structures that are sound and stable, one needs to understand a certain few fundamentals quite fully first, or much work will have been done for naught.

THE BASICS

Basically, for all intents and purposes, you'll need to design and build wine cellar structures as though you were building a refrigerator. Ideally, if you are using no refrigeration other than the natural coldness of your cellar (provided it's sufficient), you'll be designing it to utilize the passive refrigeration properties of such a space. The temperature of your wine cellar should be maintained at about 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit or 10-12 degrees Celsius. However, whether you use passive or active refrigeration (electrical units), the same basic problems need to be addressed.

GUARD AGAINST DAMPNESS AND MOISTURE

For example, there are also things to consider such as dampness of the cellar itself, and using barriers to separate the wine cellar from this dampness. You'll need to protect the floor, the walls, as well as the ceiling, in order to prevent damage done to these - as well as to the wine itself. This is most often done by using "green board" types of drywall, and plastic sheeting for a vapor barrier.

GUARD AGAINST MOLD

As for the flooring of a wine cellar, one should never carpet it or lay rugs down, as these would simply attract the dampness, retain the moisture, and breed mold... a very bad thing indeed for walls and such, destructive to woods, and quite deadly to wines, as well as to some people with deadly allergies to mold. It's best to have a tile, stone or ceramic floor, or even simply sealed concrete.

USE THE RIGHT WOODS

The woods used in construction should be strong and resilient, like oak or maple (redwood is used quite often), although more pricey woods such as teak or purpleheart are ideal, as these can even be left outdoors untreated and never rot, due to their exceedingly high silica content. Unfortunately, also due to this very same content, it tends to eat blades something fierce when cutting or planing them. Aromatic woods such as all cedars should *NEVER* be used, as the aroma will taint your wines.

FOR MUCH MORE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION...

Anyone out there wishing to fully learn and understand precisely how to build a wine cellar for yourselves to whatever designs and specs you desire should start with the proper education and work your way from there.

The way you build your wine cellar can actually indeed affect how well your wines will age. If you'd like to gain in-depth knowledge on this subject, please allow me to suggest this very excellent and informative read, which you will find by visiting the page HERE.

WINE TASTING can be fun, educating, very happily social, a great way to meet new wine lovers, and a truly marvelous way to spend genuinely quality time with your friends and loved ones. Wine tasting can be a very sensual experience, as it feeds the deep memory, can be a very deep activity-rich experience for the brain, and it does the heart some happy goodness as well.%u3000

USE YOUR COMMON SENSES

In wine tasting, a great deal of the sense of smell is involved as well as taste, but the sense of sight also has its role to play. Begin with sight - look at the colour to test the wine's clarity.

JUDGING CLARITY

View red wines from the side of the glass to see the colour of the wine at the edge of the surface. Tilt the glass a bit... if the colour at the edge is dark, it's a fairly young wine - older wines will be slightly lighter here.

View white wines down into the glass from above to check for sparkles to test the clarity.

JUDGING BODY

Test the body of the wine... set the glass down on the table, and rest your fingers on the footpiece of the pedestal of the glass. Slide the glass upon the table in tight, gentle circles to swirl the wine about within the glass, to see if any wine momentarily adheres to the sides of the glass as it slowly settles. Some times none will adhere. The more it does, the greater the body of the wine.

GET THE "SCENTS" OF IT ALL

Test the scent... swirl the wine gently about in the glass to aerate it somewhat, and allow the aroma to flow more freely. Inhale the scent into your nostrils... younger red wines will have a berry-like scent, and you may also detect what might smell similar to the scent of chocolate, liquorice, spices, mint... older wines will perhaps smell more along the lines of somewhat like raisins or prunes - if it smells like vinegar, it's gone bad and can pretty much only be thrown out.

TASTING TECHNIQUE

Take a small sip and hold it in your mouth, turn your head downwards, and "whistle backwards" - pucker up as though to whistle, but breathe in. Let it bubble within your mouth and lightly spray the back of your throat, just don't go breathing wine into your lungs - you want to be working with just a small sip here, so use your common sense and breathe in lightly and slowly, just enough to bubble it. Fill your mouth and throat with the wetness of the wine. This will also allow you to smell it in the back of the sinuses while you taste it.

DETECTING TANNINS AND FRUITINESS

If you feel the flavour as being dry, this indicates a high tannin content, and you will notice this more with the darker red wines. Before and as you swallow, detect the depth of the fruitiness of the wine. Experience it to the fullest.

FOR MUCH MORE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION...

For more information on precisely what to detect in wines and how to judge them while wine tasting, more in-depth information on techniques, or how to put together a rather successful wine tasting party, please see this website for further education and a deeper understanding.

This page has started on 5/27/09, and is a CONTINUING WORK IN PROGRESS... it's going to be somewhat enormous, so please feel free to bookmark this page into your browser's favourites section for future reference - you can do this by holding down your keyboard's "ctrl" button and pressing "d" at the same time - then you can come back and check in on what new things I've added here! ^_^