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Building A Wine Cellar - At Home The more you enjoy wine, the more wine you're likely to make. And, if you're like most home vintners – sooner or later you're going to think about a wine cellar. Now, if you happen to have an old bomb shelter in the backyard, you're in luck – because that kind of structure makes an ideal wine cellar. If not, you'll have to look around your home for the best possible storage spot. What you're looking for is a cool, dark place, away from light, heat sources, vibrations and strong odours. Bright lights will cause the wines to oxidize – sudden temperature changes will age the wines prematurely – vibrations will massage the wines and bake them into oxidation – and strong odours will permeate the corks, and taint the wines. When the warmth of summer is upon us we see the proliferation of cheap wine kits in grocery stores, and the unsightly spectacle of our competitors stacking their wares in the window, in the full glare of the summer sun. It's time to look at some hard evidence about how proper storage of the raw ingredients contributes to the success of your wine. A recent scientific publication deals with the proper storage of grape concentrates. It says that storing grape juice for even short periods of time turns the juices dark brown - and that wine produced from these juices stays brown. But quite aside from an unattractive color, these wines produce an "off flavour", and they're prone to an infection that bitters the wine, forms sandy deposits, and causes the wine to develop a phenomenal appetite for sulphites and sorbates, thus causing difficulty in stabilizing. Too much light Sudden temperature changes - wines should be stored between 9C and 15C. - A cellar that is too dry. The ideal air humidity is between 70% and 90% - Strong smells. Avoid storing wines close to petrol, onions and paint Lack of aeration Vibrations
You need to differentiate between wines to drink young, and those which can be aged. Nouveau and primeur wines (Beaujolais, Touraine vins de pays), light dry whites and varietal wines are to be drunk when they are young and fruity. Tannic reds, Bordeaux wines, the great Burgundies, Chablis, Mersaults, some champagnes and sweet wines age well. "Can I cut corners or simplify a process to save time?" Wine kit instructions may seem to be long and complicated, and the urge is to simplify them, or to standardise steps between different kits. This is always a mistake, for several reasons. First, the kit instructions are based both on sound winemaking techniques, and empirical trials. Development of the specific steps employed in the instructions came about through both learned theoretical winemaking practices and through repeated wine laboratory testing. Following the instructions to a 'T' affords the maximum opportunity for success. Second, if your kit fails to ferment correctly, or clear sufficiently, there may be no easy way to correct it if you have not followed the directions. This is sometimes a problem in that kit instructions are very different from those for wines made from fresh grapes. Trying to use the techniques described in winemaking textbooks will usually lead to problems: wine kits are another kettle of fish entirely. "How long do I stir the concentrate mix?" On day one, the kit needs to be stirred very vigorously. This is because the juice and concentrate are very viscous, and don't mix easily with water. Even if it seems that dumping the contents of the bag into the primary with the water has done the job, it hasn't. The wine lies on the bottom of the pail, with a layer of water on top, throwing off any gravity readings, and making the yeast work extra hard. When it comes time to stabilise and fine the wine, it has to be stirred vigorously enough to drive off all of the CO2 it accumulated during fermentation. This is because the dissolved gas will attach to the fining agents, preventing them from settling out. You need to stir hard enough to make the wine foam, and keep stirring until it will no longer foam. Only then will the gas be driven off so the fining agents can work their magic. "Can I leave sulphite out of my wines?" Some people believe that they are allergic to sulphites, and want to leave them out of their kits. While this is their option, it's a bad idea. True sulphite allergies are terrifically rare, and if someone has a reaction to drinking wine, it's almost always due to some other cause (for a complete discussion on this topic, see our handout "Sulphites: the Facts"). Besides, yeast make sulphites themselves during fermentation, so no wine can ever be sulphite-free, no matter what. Without added sulphites the kit will oxidise and spoil very rapidly. It will start to go off in less than 4 weeks, and be undrinkable in less than three months. What Kind of Water for My Wine? "Is water a factor in the success of my wine?" Water is not quite as critical as many people think. In fact, if your water is fit to drink, it is usually just fine for winemaking. However, if your water has a lot of hardness or a high mineral content, especially iron, it could lead to permanent haze or off flavours. Also, if your house is equipped with a salt-exchange water softener, that water can't be used for winemaking. If you're in doubt, go ahead and use bottled water to make your wine: you'll appreciate the difference. "My basement is cold. Is this a good place to make my wine?" Kit instructions tell you to ferment your wine within a specific temperature range. We recommend 18 to 24°C (65°F to 75°F). Yeast thrives between these temperatures. This is one of the situations where Brew King's instructions are different than commercial winemaking techniques. "The kit says 28 days. Is that when it's ready to drink?" Wine kits are ready to bottle in 28 or 45 days; they're not ready to drink! If you really, really can't wait, the minimum time before a kit tastes good is about one month. This is long enough for the wine to get over the shock of bottling, and begin opening up to release its aromas and flavours. What If My Equipment Isn't Clean? "What happens if equipment isn't properly cleaned?" 90% of all winemaking failures can be traced to a lapse in cleaning or sanitation. (Cleaning is removing visible dirt and residue from your equipment. Sanitising is treating that equipment with a chemical that will eliminate, or prevent the growth of, spoilage organisms). Everything that comes in contact with your wine must be clean, and properly sanitised, from the thermometer to the carboy, from the siphon hose to the bung and airlock. One single lapse could cause a failure of your batch. "What is the best way to handle the yeast?" If you look at the instructions in your wine kit (and please, do), they will likely instruct you to sprinkle your packet of yeast directly on to the must. Yet if you read the yeast package (and many winemaking textbooks) they recommend rehydrating the yeast. If the objective is to deliver the maximum number of yeast cells to the must, which technique is best? Do I Need To Use The Fining Agents? "Why is it necessary to add the fining agents (package #4) before transferring the wine must off the sediment that has built up in the carboy bottom? Wouldn't it be more efficient for package #4 to be added after the sediment has been removed?" It seems the clearing agent has to do more work to clear the wine by adding it with the sediment still in the carboy, especially when you're stirring this sediment up in the process. This one fools a lot of people, as it does seem at the outset that you'd want to get rid of the sediment first and then add the clearing agent, particularly when the wine in the carboy otherwise seems clear. The temptation is so great, many winemakers DO switch the steps themselves. This is not wrong - it's just less efficient, believe it or not. Organic foods are distinguished by three factors, according to the 1998 NOFA-NJ Organic Certification Standards & Procedures Handbook. They are produced: That's all really keen, but what exactly does it mean? How to Prepare Your Corks - The Basics Corks are made from the bark of cork-oak trees which are stripped when they are 15-20 years old. The virgin cork is coarse, but as the cork renews its tissue, successive strippings at intervals of 10-15 years yields a closer grained product - cork tissue that is threaded with small ducts called "lenticels" which have woody walls. Corks make excellent stoppers for sealing quality wines over an extended period of time. This unique material has low density, compressibility and impregnability to gases and liquids which make it ideal during long spells of contact with liquids (i.e. wine) The Preparation The Optimum Method is to bring a pot of water to steaming level, put as many corcks as required (usually 28-30) in the pot and cover it with a lid. Be sure to turn the stove OFF. Leave for 5 minutes MAXIMUM, remove from the water, then proceed to the corking process. Make sure the corker has been sterilized (with 'Pink Stuff ') prior to inserting the corks. |
