Tag: Wine

Wine Making

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The science of wine making is called enology. Most home wine makers are not scientists and may not be familiar with the term, but they are wine lovers that appreciate the great taste of wines. If you make wine yourself the satisfaction is especially rewarding. Making your own wine has a number of benefits. First, it is less expensive than buying wine commercially. You have control over the recipe and the ingredients that go into the wine you produce. Second, making your own wine is enjoyable, especially when you share it with friends and family.

Making wine is extraordinarily simple. Wine is made when yeast is added to grape juice or most any other kind of juice. The basic ingredients are juice, yeast, sugar and water. The yeast consumes the sugar in the juice mixture and produces carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. The carbon dioxide gas bubbles out of the juice and what is left is wine. It’s just that simple.

The question is often asked “is drinking wine healthy?” Beyond the fact that wine contains alcohol, which taking in moderation, is not considered adverse to good health. The presence of other compounds in wine, particularly red wines, promotes good health for most wine consumers. The compound poly-phenolic flavonoids, which are antioxidants, are of particular benefit in promoting good health. Chiefly found in red grape skins, the concentrations tend to be high in red wines because the skins are included in the fermentation process.

Alcohol’s health benefits favor the cardiovascular system, and dramatically reduces the risks of atherosclerotic heart attacks, ischemic strokes and limb amputations due to compromised blood supply. In addition, the antioxidants in wine modulate the blood clotting that climaxes heart attacks and strokes. They also help by inhibiting the oxidation of LDL, the bad cholesterol, to its dangerous form. Research data supports moderate consumption of wine with a longer and healthier life than that of abstainers.

However, wine is not for everyone. Certain medical conditions are worsened by the consumption of wine, so it’s vital you seek the advice of your personal physician if you are in less than good health.

How to Make Wine
The easy way is to purchase a home wine making kit that usually consists of a three to five gallon container (fermentor), hydrometer, stopper and fermentation lock, syphonhose, sterilizer and reference book. The ingredients (grape juice, sugar, and yeast) are usually sold separately. There are many different types of kits to choose from or you can obtain the items separately from local resources. Typically a four or five gallon water container serves very well as a fermentor.

Any fruit juice may be used to make wine. The basic fruit must be mashed or liquefied to release the active ingredients in the fruit. This can be done with a small fruit press or even a kitchen blender. My basic recipe is as follows:

• 4 gallons of red grape juice
• Approximately 4 pounds of sugar. The amount of sugar is determined by the specific gravity of the mixture. I usually shoot for a specific gravity reading of 0.9960 of the mixture before fermentation. Determining the specific gravity at start will determine the alcohol content at finish. The amount of sugar also determines if the finished wine will be dry or sweat. Carefully read your hydrometer as each hydrometer is different. You should consult the booklet that comes with the hydrometer for correct use.
• Approximately one gallon of water to dissolve the sugar
• One half teaspoon of baker’s instant yeast dissolved (activated) in water.
• Stir the mixture and install the fermentation lock. I use a cork with a quarter inch plastic hose that ends in a small bottle of water. This trap is necessary to prevent the atmosphere from contaminating the mixture.
• Place the fermentation container in an environment that is between 70 and 80 degree. Fermentation (bubbling) will start almost immediately.
• Fermentation will end (bubbling stops) in about 21 days at which time drain the contents less the sediment into another container using a siphon hose. This is called racking.
• Let set for three to six months and bottle

This is a basic recipe that can be altered by experience and personal preference.
Happy wine making.

How To Distinguish Red Wine And White Wine?

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Red wine and white wine has many differences not only in color. For instance, you can taste either of them to test. Red wine tastes much heavier and more complex than white wine. In common, red types are not sweet like white type.

 

White wines are made from white grapes by separating the skin of the grapes from the juice, after which yeast is added for fermentation purposes right until the juice turns into white wine. Then the wine is stored for aging in stainless steel or oak wood containers.

 

On the other hand, when you make red wine, the process is a bit different. It is made of red or black grapes and here the grapes are crushed first and then they are added along with their skin to a fermentation process that takes about 1-2 weeks to end. Towards the end, the skin raises to the surface and forms a top layer which is usually mixed back into the must (the fermenting juice). When the fermentation period is over, the wine is then pressed into a press wine to be first clarified and then stored away in oak containers for a couple of months before it can be transferred into bottles. When you store the red one into oak containers, you transfer to the wine extra tannin that the oak barrels contains, which gives that extra flavor to the red wine that you can’t find in any white wine.

 

This is actually one of the main differences between the two wine types, the amount of tannin they usually contain. Of course the red one has more of it since the tannin is coming from the skin of the grapes, and the white wine is made without the actual skin.

 

Another main difference is the fact that you are likely to find more flavours between red wines compared to white ones. And if you believe what they say about the health benefits that the red type gives regarding resveratrol, one more reason to go with red during your next wine shopping spree:)

 

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Spanish Wine – Rioja

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In the competitive wine market, Spanish wines offer both quality and values. Its red wines are intense and fruity, while its white and rosé wines enjoy the crispness, refreshing acidity and minerals that are characterful.

Of the many and confusing wine producing regions, Rioja DOC- DOC is a quality wine classification – made its fame long before all other regions in the modern days. At any wine store with Spanish wines, you would be able to spot at least a few Riojas.

What makes it the first love for many wine drinkers when it comes to Spanish red wines?

Is it its fruit aromas? Is it the successful marketing campaign worldwide? Is it the quality of the wine? The answer is yes. It is the combined factors that bring out the result benefiting both the Rioja trade and the wine lovers everywhere.

Rioja is more known for its red than white wines. After all, more than 75% of its production is red wine. The rest of the Rioja wines are rosés and white wines. One of the current trends is to make single vineyard Rioja from Tempranillo grape, the number one red grape in Spain.

Tempranillo in Spanish means “the little early one”, indicating its early-ripen quality in the vineyard. Because it ripens early in the hot climate, the grape naturally contains higher amount of sugar, which with fermentation becomes higher alcohol. All great wines begin in the vineyard. In superior winemaking of lesser cellar manipulation, the individual characteristics of the grape determine the style and quality of the wine. Thus the knowledge of the wine grape becomes very helpful for a wine lover. The other red wine grapes for Rioja are Garnacha (Grenache in French), Mazuelo and Graciano.

The modern Rioja expressions are the strawberry (from Tempranillo), a jammy quality, some vanilla, good concentration. The interplay of high alcohol and abundant fruit on the palate creates the impression of sweetness, but this is definitely not a sweet wine. Depending on the aging time in the oak, Riojas could be Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva. With the aged wines, the aroma and flavor would naturally start to include savory, meaty notes, in addition to the youthful fruit.

Does all the wine talk make you thirsty? If you have not tried any Spanish wine, it is time to get up and close with it, starting with a Rioja.

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How to Enjoy Wine

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The question may seem absurd to some! You just drink it. Well, yes that the basic idea of course. You find a wine you like and then drink it, but let’s delve a little deeper.

First of all, what makes a good wine, a wine you’ll be more likely to enjoy? It’s very simple: it you like it, it’s good. If you love it, it’s great. Wine is about enjoyment. Scrap notions of imagine or popularity or other nonsense. And although prices of the world’s most famous wines like Chateau Latour and Lafite have skyrocketed out of range of all but the rich, the availability of really good enjoyable wine for under 10 or 20 dollars a bottle has also skyrocketed!

If you try a wine and don’t enjoy it at first, don’t give up yet. It may need some time to breathe, to loosen up since the bottle was open. Many bottles may soften and blossom with a little time in your glass. Also a wine may taste totally different when you have it with food, and yes, often much better.

Keep in mind that occasional bottles of wine may be “off” or bad.” If it tastes bad, the bottle may be bad. Wine doesn’t like hot weather so it may have been literally cooked during shipment or storage or it may have been contaminated by the cork.

When I first open a bottle and pour a glass, I usually first look at it in the glass, then smell it, and have a taste. Good wine looks good, smells good, and taste good. Don’t be surprised if the tastes are unexpected or surprising, only pay attention to whether you enjoy the wine or not. Sometimes it may take a glass or two to be sure, especially with the myriad of wine tastes and aromas that are out there, ranging from earth and dirt to fruit to minerals and everything in between.

It’s simple to find wine you enjoy. Feel free to experiment with different wines as well as drinking them with different foods. There are no rules. Just open a bottle and enjoy.

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Storing Red Wine in Wine Bottle Refrigerators

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When you think of wine bottle refrigerators, chances are, you think of storing white wine there. In North America, most people are accustomed to serving red wine at room temperature and white wine chilled. This is actually not necessarily the best way to go.
 
You see, red wine is meant to be served at room temperature . . . but not the room temperature that we are accustomed to. Consider that for centuries, wine was stored in wine cellars, which were almost always underground. If they were not built below the earth, then they were in heavily walled rooms without windows, providing a cooler “room temperature”.
 
These days, our homes are fairly warm and not really suitable for wine storage. Since the vast majority of people don’t own a wine cellar, we need to improvise. Wine bottle refrigerators offer a carefully controlled climate that you decide. It will help the wine mature correctly and provide better flavor, since the temperature is just right and these refrigerators are built to eliminate the harmful vibrations that most kitchen fridges have.
 
Not everyone will need a wine refrigerator, of course. If you are someone who rarely drinks wine, then it probably isn’t necessary. However, if you drink or serve wine on a regular basis, at least twice a month, you should definitely consider investing in one.
 
Your red wine will have a fuller body to it, better flavor and more complex components when stored at the correct temperature. Every wine expert knows that your red wine should not be kept at the average room temp, but at around 55-60°F / 12.7-15.5°C. This mimics the coolness of a wine cellar where your wine would be allowed to mature at a gentle rate.
 
Most people don’t realize just how bad it is for their wine to be kept in the kitchen fridge or pantry. If you plan to use it for cooking, go ahead and do that, but if you want to really get the most out of your evening cup, then you need to take a little better care. Whether your wine is the finest Italy has to offer, a Chilean brand or something you whipped up yourself, it is vital that it be stored correctly.
 
There’s no reason to ruin a great bottle of red wine. If you don’t have an adequate place to store your wine, it is time to consider investing in a wine bottle refrigerator that will allow you to maintain those bottles at the proper temperature in a cool, dark environment.

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