Below you will find the basic steps to making a delicious wine. This method can used both for whites and reds. It’s great for beginning winemakers who are looking for a simple recipe, with simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

11 ½ kg of Grapes
5 ½ kg of sugar
10-11 liters of Water (plus more for topping)
2 ½ tsp. dried Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden Tablets
4 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
1 package of Wine Making Yeast
6 ½ tsp. Sparkalloid

Winemaking Method:

1. Put 5 Campden tablets in a jug of water and spray the solution onto your work area. Let act for 10 minutes. Rinse and let air-dry.

2. Use a crushing grate to process our grapes. Extract as much juice as possible, and remember to remove any stems.

3. Dissolve 4 kg of the sugar into 8 liters of warm water. Pour into primary fermentor, along with the must.

4. Add water to the fermentor until you reach the 5-½ gallon marker.

5. Use a hydrometer to test the prepared must. You must look for a SG of 1.113-1.1123, and a PA of 15.

6. If the hydrometer reads the proper numbers, allow the must to rest for one day.

7. Combine the yeast nutrient with yeast, some sugar and lukewarm water. This will activate the yeast. Let sit for 20-30 minutes. It should become bubbly and cloudy.

8. Incorporate the yeast mixture into the fermentor and cover, without mixing.

9. For best results, temperatures must be between 18°C-24°C. Once two days elapse, mix the fermenting must once or twice a day to ensure even fermentation, for 5-7 days.

10. Test the mixture in a hydrometer for a SG of 1.03.

11. Eliminate any pulp from the top using a strain. Make sure to remove any liquid that has been left behind in the pulp.

12. Use a hose to siphon the wine into a secondary fermentor. Once again, top with water to 5-½ gallon marker and equip the carboy with a wet airlock. Allow to ferment for another 4-6 weeks.

13. Siphon the wine once more.

14. Use a fining agent, such as 6 ½ teaspoons of Sparkalloid to clarify the wine.

15. At this stage, maintain wine at temperatures between 5-10 degrees Celsius.

16. Before you bottle, you should taste the wine for sweetness. If you decide to add more sugar, make it into syrup so that it thoroughly dissolves in the wine. To stop any yeast being awakened by the sugar, add a dose of crushed Campden tablets or sodium bisulfite. If adding sugar, allow to rest for at least one week before you bottle.

“Is wine good for you?” – perhaps one of the top 10 most regularly asked questions in our wine tasting events. It’s always interested me that this question is at the forefront of many wine drinker’s minds, and it’s clear this is linked to the increasing interest in what goes into wine, and how it is produced.

It’s regularly notedthat wines (particularly reds), when consumed in moderation help combat cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and even Alzheimers. Epidemiologists for instance have consistently shown that the moderate consumption of alcohol and wine helps lower cardiovascular events such as heart failure. Why? Well although alcohol is a toxic substance, in moderation amongst other things, it is an anticoagulant (which in turn prevents blood clots).

It’s not only alcohol however – phenolic compounds present in wine are also known to be beneficial. One of these, Resveratrol (seemingly the wonder compound) seems to have an extraordinary breadth of benefits, from attacking cancer cells, protecting the heart and brain from damage, reducing inflammation, and lowering the instances of diabetes. Resveratrol has even been credited with reducing age related illnesses. Interestingly, 100 times more resveratrol is absorbed by the mouth than by the stomach. Because of this, it’s recommended you sip wine, rather than knock it back.

On this point, it’s not just how much you drink, but how you drink that matters. A further study (in Italy) has shown that consuming wines with a meal significantly reduces the risk of a heart attack.

THE FRENCH PARADOX

The perceived benefits of wine drinking are not new however. The well known French Paradox (essentially the observation that the French have a relatively low incidence of coronary disease, despite having a diet rich in fat) was first brought to light by an Irish doctor by the name of Samuel Black in 1819.

This phenomenon was revisited in 1991 on 60 Minutes, a CBS news program in USA, with the suggestion that red wine decreases the incidence of cardiac arrests. The follow-on? A 44% increase in red wine consumption, with US based wineries lobbying for the right to label their wines as “health foods.” The reaction from the American public was so great that wine brand Gallo had to put their Hearty Burgundy wine on allocation.

Inevitability, there have been dissenting voices, not least the statistics collected between 1990-2000 by The World Health Organisation who have shown coronary disease in the French may have been underestimated, and may be similar to those of neighbouring countries in Europe.

Despite all the research, as usual it’s all about moderation. Moderate drinkers have been defined by some as those who consume two 5 ounce glasses of wine a day, although sex, age, build, and general health all make generialisations risky. We know where the limits are – go overboard and all the adverse effects of excessive drinking are yours for the taking (liver disease, pancreatitis, cardiovascular disease..).

The future for wine and health? Well just last year in 2008, Philip Norrie, a Sydney based winemaker, created a wine with 100 times more resveratrol than standard wine. He calls it a “vascular pipe cleaner” – watch this space.

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