Archive for December, 2005

I’m just about to head off to enjoy some wine with a good lady friend of mine, but before I go, I wanted to let you know about some new articles and thoughts.

First, I’ve written a review of the book, Making Wild Wines & Meads which you can read here.

Secondly, I’ve started a new wine – parsnip wine with apple concentrate. “Parsnip wine?” you ask? Yes. Find out more about this parsnip wine recipe here.

A note on the recipe – I don’t know if you have ever had parsnips before – for me, I think parsnips are wonderful with wild game such as rabbit or venison. Or in beef stew. Parsnips are a very under rated vegetable in my opinion, and I’m surprised at how many people have never eaten parsnip before.

When I was preparing my parsnip must, one of the things that was noticed in my household was the odour of the parsnips boiling in water – it was a wonderful smell with reminders of apple, yam or sweet potato, and a hint of cinnamon.

If you’ve never cooked with parsnips, I’d encourage you to give them a try. And note the wonderful odour! Then, consider making this parsnip wine recipe.

Tomorrow, if I have time, I’ll be posting another wine “kit” review as well.

Ah, country wines – yes, this is a fun hobby when the winds are blowing and a foot of snow has fallen in my backyard.

For now, I’ll leave you with the articles linked to above, and hopefully your thoughts and comments on parsnip wine!

I’ve had some discussions with some folk about possibly starting an amateur winemaking club for those in the Orangeville area, and I think there would be some interest in this.

I’ve even taken the opportunity to arrange for a guest speaker – someone who makes a lot of fruit wines – if we can get a club organized. Although I arranged my high school reunion, I have no experience in starting up a club so any ideas and suggestions would be appreciated.

I plan on approaching the winemaking stores here in town and around the county and asking them if they’d be willing to post flyers and perhaps provide some sponsorship for this endeavor while we guage interest in such a club.

I’ve registered the domain name, “dufferinwinemakers.com” (Dufferin County being the county I live in), and we’ll go from there. I guess the next thing to do, after creating some flyers, setting up a simple website, and getting names of interested winemakers in the area is to find a location to discuss this more formally.

Anyone else involved in a winemaking club? What sort of expenses are there, and what should be kept in mind in order to keep folks’ interest? I’m all ears!

I spent some time in my winemaking room this evening, and realized I had totally lost track of an “Old Vines Zinfandel” I started some time ago. I know I started it at least 6 weeks ago, and racked it – but that’s all I recall. It was one of those “I’ll start a log on this tomorrow” wines, but never did start one.

So I do not recall when I’ve done what to it – but I did rack it tonight off of some sediment in the bottom, and the wine was fairly clear – so I’m thinking I probably did stabilize and clarify it. But it reminds me that I really must keep track of what I’ve done!

I’ll give it another week, rack again, see how it looks and a quarter teaspoon of sulphite to it and likely bottle it in two weeks. I know I started it back in October, toward the beginning of the month. And I probably made notes, but I can’t find them right now.

Other notes: The Riesling is looking very clear – at least the one in the 19 litre carboy that I added liquid isinglass to – the 23 litre carboy, I added liquid isinglass a couple of weeks later, and it’s not quite so clear, but coming along nicely. If I put a large print book behind the 19 litre, I could probably read it through the wine.

The Liebfraumilch that I started five weeks ago is not as clear as I would like, and I racked it this evening off of some thick lees. After racking, I put the vacuum pump to it (which reminds me I have to return that pump or Bob is going to think I’m stealing it), and pulled out a lot of CO2. I’ll give it another week or so before bottling – if it clears up.

The gooseberry wine’s specific gravity is 1.040 – yeast activity is still strong – and it’s fun to watch the mini-explosions that are going on in that carboy. Stuff drops to the bottom, and then seconds later, stuff shoots upward towards the top while the airlock bounces up and down. Amazing the things that will humour a child, huh?

I did rack the gooseberry into another four gallon carboy though. I decided to strain the juice through a hops boiling bag into a pail, and from that, into the smaller carboy. There’s some headspace, but because it is still so active, I’m not worrying about that right now. The colour of the gooseberry has changed from the original lime green to a much lighter greenish/brownish pigment – it will be interesting to see the final colour of this.

Time for me to clean up, finish my glass of red Zinfandel, and get some sleep.

We’ve been busy! Yes, between watching hockey games (the Leafs sucked tonight), racking wine, starting new wine batches, playing with my youngest son, talking with my eldest son, and working, I’ve also added some new articles to the main site.

I started a Beer and Wine Kit Review section and the first review is on a Wine Kitz Limited Release Coupage de Soleil, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

Then, I wrote a book review on Home Winemaking Step By Step by John Iverson. An article on DV10 yeast rounds up my contributions to the main site over the past week.

Last but not least, Lance Levsen who makes beer in his spare time has continued his series on liquid yeast.
His on Liquid Yeast has been followed by Extending the Life of your Liquid Yeast – a must read for those who want to use liquid yeasts and find out how to get more bang for your buck when using liquid yeast.

Ah, such a fun hobby.

Winemaking is so much fun. This evening, I racked my gooseberry wine into a 6US gallon carboy – actually, (I can see the dollar signs in Bob’s eyes), I broke the racking wand while trying to get a raisin unstuck from the racking wand that lodged itself right in the curve of the wand.

And I ran out of cheesecloth – so I just decided to siphon the whole lot into the glass carboy. There is quite a bit of headspace, but that’s ok as the fermenation is still going strong, so any air is being forced out through the airlock as the CO2 bi-product continues to be manufactured by the yeast.

And because this will be a wine that will be similar to a white grape wine in colour, I also added bentonite to the carboy to assist in clearing.

I also had an email today from a client of mine who owns an apiary, and I’ll be getting over 100 lbs of honey sometime next week to make some different varieties of mead. From what I understand, mead was the “drink of champions” among my Irish ancestors – before they created Whiskey. For those interested in a little trivia, Irish Whiskey is the only whisky that is spelt “key” at the end – other whiskies are spelled whisky.

More trivia – Whiskey comes from the Gaelic expression, “Uisce Beatha,” which is translated as “Water of Life.”

And in my case, which I will tell you about sometime, whiskey being “water of life” is very true.

Anyhow, a bunch of different types of meads are on the horizon, including Melomels. We’ll discuss the different types of meads when the honey arrives, and I start this year’s batch of mead. I’ll also be using a liquid yeast and will try Lance’s advice.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Lance, an experienced home brewer, has provided the second part of his article on liquid yeast. This one is entitled “Extending the Life of your Liquid Yeast” and is well worth a read if you’re interested in using liquid yeasts and getting more yeast life for your buck.

I have an awesome eldest son, who through no fault of his, lives about 5 hours car drive from me. We don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like but I’m very proud of him, and I also have to say that I am very proud of the job his mother has done as well.

Alex and I have a lot in common – we both love to debate, argue, and think about reality, yet at the same time, we also enjoy the sensuality of music, appreciate emotion, and tonight after chatting with him on MSN, as on previous occassions, we both know there is a “link” to each we just “know.” He’s my eldest, and I’m proud of him. Even when he tries to turn my arguments upside down, and take some joy in proving me wrong – but I also know, just as my Dad did with me, I’ve always got something in my back pocket that I know he has not thought about – and can challenge him with.

Even though he has under achieved in some areas, where I know he could have done better.. well.. who am I to be critical? I did the same.. underachieved in areas I know I could have done better.. but that’s no excuse, I know.

Years ago, I wrote a poem. I’ve shared it with Alex, and I hope one day, he puts it to music, or rearrages so it can be put to music. It was a wine induced poem, while thinking about love, loves past, loves future, loves present. Stuff that Alex may never totally understand, but I have an idea that as he grows older, he will understad.

Here’s one of those wine induced poems:

I watched a Robin the other day
Making a nest it was the first of May
I listened to its song, its chirp did raise
My spirit from the winters grave.

I watched the sun set in the west
I knew it would soon be time to rest
The ruddy colours in the sky
There is beauty when the day doth die

I saw the daffodils so yellow in bloom
In a garden its keeper so carefully did groom
Its life from seed that has sat in soil
To become in Spring the Flower Royal

I spoke to the rushing river yestrday morn
And spoke in happy tongue, yet forlorn
I spoke of life all anew and love that is found
Fate knows the river to its banks are bound.

I heard the cry of coyotes, wondering
At what there howl was offering
Perhaps a wail for some missing kin
Or joyful yelp for new love found ag’in.

I smelled the spring time atmosphere
While walking through the forest near
My heart was happy, yet heavy still
And so I sat upon the yonder hill.

As I sat upon the rocky crest
I became aware of the beating in my breast
I felt my shoulders, they were bare
Pleading for fingers of one so fair.

I dwelled upon all I had seen and heard
I looked to the West for some sign or word
Of when my soul would feel complete
Fate, I know, me it will not cheat.

My heart cried like the coyote call
Her kiss wrapped round like winter shawl
Is what I want, is what I need
My soulmate is for all I plead.

My soulmate to talk to the river
With me, parting from me never
My completion, my rose like Seal’s
In front of her I need to kneel.

To dance together like Northern Lights
Creating our own colored love rites
To know, to feel, to love and admire,
Oh Fate, come, come lift me higher!

*************

Ok, so you think it’s silly. Wait till you read my John Donne immitation.

I’ve noticed during my Internet travels on winemaking bulletin boards and newsgroups that there are many questions about degassing wine. Questions I’ve had myself. I know that before I picked up my “Fixx-X” tool, I would spend copious amounts of time, stirring my wines to degass them.

And I would stir vigorously, as all the instructions and books say to do. Once, I even broke my long handled plastic spoon during a vigourous stirring session. Believe me, I’d rather have vigorous sessions involving other things than stirring with a spoon! As well, my poor old rotatar cuffs in my shoulders don’t like such vigorous stirring.

Tonight, I borrowed a vacuum pump from Winemakers. Bob was kind enough to let me take his home for the evening and try some experiments. First, he showed me how it worked, and I was impressed with how much CO2 this device would take out of wine. On one particular wine that was started about three weeks ago in his shop, the bubbling to the top was so much he had to turn it off quickly in case the foam that was created would escape into the tube.

Yesterday, I spent some time “degassing” a couple of my wines with a Fizz-X tool, and looked forward to using the vacuum pump to finish the job. But what I observed has me wondering if indeed I’ve needed to be so concerned as I have been in the past.

This evening, I attached the plastic cap to the carboy and turned on the pump. I expected to see lots of CO2 bubbles being pulled out of the wine, but to my surprise, there was nothing. This is a wine that just yesterday, as I used the Fizz-X tool, brought all sorts of foam to the surface.

So, to make sure it was working correctly, I used the vacuum on another wine that was only three weeks old – and sure enough, lots of bubbles began to come up through the wine to the top as the vacuum pulled out the CO2 gas.

I then tried the pump on a Riesling that was started back on October 3rd – over 8 weeks ago and which I spent very little time trying to manually degass. I have two carboys – a 19 litre and a 23 litre. The 19 litre passed no gas, while the 23 litre passed neglible amounts – some tiny bubbles would come to the surface but nothing much to be concerned about. With that in mind, I’m thinking I just might remove the airlocks all together and seal the carboys for further ageing.

So, what is it exactly that causes all that foam and the appearance of bubbles rising when we think we are degassing wine? I’m starting to be of the opinion that in fact, what we might be doing is introducing some air into the wine while stirring or using the Fixx-X tool. Not that degassing shouldn’t be done – but perhaps we are a bit too concerned after a wine has sat for four weeks, and when we go to stir, and see all those bubbles and foam, it’s tricking us into believing there remains high content of CO2.

Maybe the wine is simply passing the air we’re introducing, and doesn’t really have the gas we think it has. Sort of like the difference between a human farting or burping. What do you think?

Racked the six week Vieux Chateau du Roi, similar to Chateauneuf-de-Pape, this evening. I’d like to take extra special care with this wine, well.. just because. Actually, there are a few reasons that come to mind.

I also stabilized it and added Isinglass for clarification. I noted that there was quite a bit of CO2 in the wine, so I spent some time degassing it with my handy dandy Fizz-X device. After five minutes, there was in my opinion, a lot of foam on the top as the CO2 began rising.

The reasons I want to take care with this? This wine variety holds special meaning, to me. I’d also like to send a bottle of it to someone who knows why it holds special meaning, and I want it to be very good.

It will be very drinkable when I bottle it in another two or three weeks, but I’m counting on it getting much better with some ageing.

I may purchase another kit just so that I can bulk age for a longer period of time.