Category: Zinfandel Wine

How to Conduct a Wine Tasting

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Wine tasting is a fine art that has been perfected over time. While professional wine tastings are conducted by wine merchants and buyers, it is easy to have your own informal wine tasting at home with friends. Here are some tips to properly taste wine.

First, pick 3 to 6 wines. If you aren’t very familiar with wine yet and are just looking to explore some wines, pick some that you have been eying at the store, anything from red to white. If you want to conduct a more sophisticated wine tasting, limit your wine selection to one type of wine, such as Merlot or Chardonnay, or even to one vineyard. If you want each taste to be a surprise, put the bottles in brown bags so that you and your friends can’t see what wines have been chosen.

For each wine, pour a small amount of wine (2 ounces or less) into stemmed glasses. Smell the wine first to get an impression of the aroma. Taste the wine, then spit it out discreetly, or if you prefer to make your wine tasting more lively, feel free to consume the wine!

Between each sampling, have some small snack foods available to cleanse your palate. Bread with cheese and mild fresh fruit usually work well. Don’t get anything too strong that will interfere with the taste of the wine. Have water available and rinse the wine glasses by swirling some water inside and dumping it out. Continue with each wine until you and your friends have had a chance to taste them all. To make it more interesting, you could set up a contest to see who can correctly guess the type of wine for each bottle.

Wine tasting is a great way to try several wines and learn about the large diversity of wines available. While wine tasting can be as sophisticated and formal as you desire, it can also be as fun and unique an experience as you and your friends want. Think of your own fun personal touches to add to your wine tasting, such as a theme, blindfolded tasting, making special snacks, and more.

For more information on foods to pair with your wine and recipes to try, please visit the informative, interactive food website CD Kitchen here.

Sulfites in Homemade Wine

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Sulfites are a source of much discussion in wine making. Let’s start our discussion by finding out exactly what sulfites are and why they’re important to winemakers.

Sulfites occur naturally on all sorts of foods, including grapes, garlic, onions and lots of other plants. This is nature’s way of preventing the growth of microbes.

In wine making, sulfites are used by wineries as a preservative and sterilization agent. They also use sulfites during the initial grape crush to kill off the native yeasts that occur on all wine grapes. When the wild yeasts have been eliminated the winemaker can introduce his own yeast to better control the fermentation and also the end product.

Are sulfites dangerous? The answer is yes, they can be. A person who is sensitive to sulfites can have asthmatic reactions and also headaches that range from mild to severe and even life threatening. If you’ve ever had a bad headache from one glass of wine, you may be allergic to sulfites.

There are laws that regulate the use of sulfites, and manufacturers are required to label all products that exceed 10 parts per million. Wine containing less than 10 PPM sulfites don’t have to be labeled. In fact, the use of sulfites has been banned for use in fresh fruits and vegetables by the FDA.

You can find wines produced by some wineries that contain no sulfites, although some folks will argue that grapes naturally contain sulfites and so therefore can never be sulfite free. However, the levels of sulfite can be so low as to be undetectable, and the winemaker will add no sulfites at any time during the process. Wine purists are able to appreciate the bouquet and fruit flavors of a wine without sulfites.

So, should you use sulfites in your homemade wine? My answer is yes, as recommended by the kit or recipe that you’re following. But it’s really a personal decision, and there’s lots of room for argument and experimentation.

I believe sulfites make up for less than sanitary conditions that are present during homemade wine making, and can extend the shelf life of your wines. I would, however, encourage experimentation on your part if you think you’d like to try making wines without adding sulfites.

Just ensure your cleaning and sanitizing are impeccable and give it a try!

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Racking Your Homemade Wine

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Racking your homemade wine is vital to producing a high quality product. Don’t be put off by the term, though. When winemakers rack their wine, they are simply transferring it from one vessel to another. A typical batch of homemade wine will be racked at least 2 times, and can sometimes need to be racked up to 4 times.

The most important aspect of racking wine is to leave the sediment behind. This will help the wine clarify and can also prevent the wine from picking up unwanted flavors and odors that can come from sitting too long on the sediment.

When to rack your wine is an important consideration. When you start a batch of wine, the initial fermentation will be very vigorous as the yeast consume the sugar in your must and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide. This is called primary fermentation and usually takes 5-7 days. Approximately 70 percent of the wine’s fermentation will take place during this stage.

After primary fermentation slows down, your wine can no longer protect itself from contamination and needs to be protected by an airlock. This is the first racking, and a simple siphon method through a flexible food grade plastic tube will accomplish it. Gravity does all the work, so carefully place your primary fermenter a couple feet off the ground and start the siphon process.

There are items available to assist with racking. One is called a racking cane. This is a rigid piece of plastic about 2 feet long. One end is specially made to sit on the bottom of the vessel while not drawing excess sediment into the tube. You can get by without one, but it’s a great tool to have in your wine making toolbox.

For the first racking, try to leave as much sediment behind as possible. If a little is transferred into your secondary fermenter, don’t panic. It’s not as important on the first racking, so get as much liquid as you can.

The second racking should take place after your fermentation is complete. This can be a week or two or even 6 or 8 weeks, depending on how your fermentation progresses. This time you can be a little more careful about leaving sediment behind, even if it means losing a little liquid. Again, the same procedure as above applies. Start a suction and let gravity do the work for you. Don’t forget to put the airlock right back on the wine, as exposure to air will oxidize your wine.

The third racking should take place after your wine has completely cleared. Remember, it will not clear in the bottles so be patient with this step and don’t rack until you’re sure it’s as clear as it can be. Leave every bit of sediment behind during this racking. This is also the time you can add Sodium Bisulfite to the wine. This will drive off any excess oxygen that was created during racking.

Racking is an important step in homemade wine making. The better you understand and perform this vital step, the better your finished product will be.

How to Make Homemade Wine

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How to Make Homemade Wine | Discover How to Make Your Own Unique Wine

If you want to learn how to make homemade wine, there is no reason for not doing it. You don’t need a license, a cellar, and the utensils you need are probably in your home to begin with. It doesn’t take a lot of work either to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.


The first issue you need to learn is the do’s and don’ts of winemaking.

Do

– Rack at least once, and twice if possible.

– Use new corks and boil the old ones.

– Keep your first ferment covered.

– Keep the secondary fermentation air-free.

– Keep your equipment clean.

– Keep all bottles filled.

– Add sugar by stages and keep records with high level of detail.

– Keep red wines in dark bottles so they don’t lose their color.

– Use trustworthy yeast nutrient frequently.

– Make wines too dry rather than too sweet: add sugar later.

– Use fermentation traps.

– Taste the wine at intervals to make sure the process is going well.

Don’t

– Sell your wine. It is illegal. Don’t try to distil your own wine either.

– Let vinegar flies come in contact with your wine.

– Use metal containers.

– Use tools or containers made out of resinous wood.

– Forget to stir a must twice a day.

– Use too much sugar.

– Try to speed up fermentation by increasing the temperature.

– Be impatient.

– Let dead yeast or sediment anywhere close to your wine.

– Filter for no reasonor too soon.

– Store your wine in unsterilized jars or bottles.

– Bottle your wine before it’s done fermenting.

– Employ screw-stopper bottles.


Now that you have a good sense of what you should do and what you shouldn’t, I will share with you one of my favorite wine recipes and in no time you can learn How to Make Homemade Wine.


Either black, green or amber grapes can be used for this recipe and the resulting wine will suit almost every taste.


2 bags (4 lb.) of grapes – 2 bags (3½ lb.) of sugar – 1 oz. yeast

1 gallon water.


Separate the grapes from the stalks and then crush them by hand. Pour the boiling water over them and leave to soak for forty-eight hours. Strain and put the juice through a jelly-bag. Allow to drain and then pour into the fermenting vessel and add the sugar.


Mix until the sugar is dissolved -this will take a lot of time with cold grape-juice. When all the sugar is mixed well sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Seal, and ferment for fourteen days; after which proceed with bottling. It’s so much bliss to learn How to Make Homemade Wine.


If you want to get over 145 step-by-step recipes and learn all the secrets to making your own wine, visit my website: www.SecretsOfWinemaking.com – How to Make Homemade Wine

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A Wine Lover’s Weekly Review Of $10 Wines – A Sweet Low- Alcohol Italian Wine

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Did you ever want to drink a wine with a very low alcohol level? Here’s your chance. Today’s wine is kosher, marketed by the largest kosher wine distributor in the world. It comes from the Asti province of the Piedmont region of northern Italy home to some fabulous wines that, at least usually, aren’t low-alcohol or bargain priced. This wine comes from the Moscato Blanco grape, the most widely planted Muscat in Italy. This is the oldest known grape variety in Piedmont, and perhaps one of the oldest grape varieties in the world. You’ll find this grape in well-known French Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOC and the quite pricey South African Constantia, both dessert wines.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Bartenura Moscato 2007 5.0 % alcohol about $ 10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : Classic Moscato with aromas of peach, table grape and apricot. Medium sweet with a slight effervescence and a low alcohol. There is a pleasant minerality that gives the wine structure. Soft and pleasing. Enjoy with spicy seafood dishes or serve with fruit custard desserts. Tasting Note : Pale straw yellow color; spicy apple, citrus and light pear aromas; sweet apple and pear flavors with balancing acidity, with peach and litchee notes on the finish.

And now for my review. At the first sips the wine was sweet, and I tasted some honey. Its first pairing was with a commercial barbecued chicken and a side of potatoes roasted in chicken fat and a light, tomatoey sauce. The wine’s acidity picked up with the chicken wings and breast, and the potatoes. The stronger tasting chicken leg choked out the wine. When paired with a mixed tomato salad containing basil the Moscato lost acidity but picked up some fruit. It became too sweet.

The next meal involved ground beef in ground semolina jackets and a sour sauce containing Swiss chard. This is a delicious Middle Eastern specialty known as Kube. The wine had honey and refreshing acidity, but this wasn’t a good way to do sweet and sour. The Moscato’s honey taste picked up with fresh strawberries.

My final meal was composed of a Portobello mushroom omelet accompanied by a spicy salsa containing tomato, onion, green pepper, cilantro and other ingredients. The wine struck me as bold and its honey taste was strong. Interestingly enough the salsa intensified the wine’s sweetness.

I finished this bottle with Matjes herring followed by two local cheeses. The results were basically the same, apples, honey, and light acidity. The herring brought out increased apple taste, and the Swiss cheese intensified the honey. An asiago cheese split the middle.

Final verdict. I will not buy this wine because while above price represents the American market, I had to pay considerably more. But at the American price I would definitely buy it, especially for those times that I want a sweet low-alcohol wine that tastes pretty good.

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