Archive for May, 2006

Finally had a chance to read through this current (June-July 2006) issue of WineMaker Magazine. Some really interesting articles and some country wine recipes provided by Jack Keller.

One article though in particular, the “Winemaker Profile” column on Chuck Blethen really caught my attention. In fact, there are two things he is quoted as saying that I wonder about.

First, on the use of sulphite:

“… once the initial Campden tablets run out following the rogue yeast kill, I don’t add sulfites to our wines. I have found that many people who are allergic to sulfites can drink our wines and not get headaches or get sick from allergic reactions.”

There is some controversy about “sulfite allergies.” The fact of the matter is that sulfites are used in food preservation in a vast array of prepared foods that you might purchase at the grocery store. Those who say they get headaches after drinking red wine will sometimes put this down to “sulfites” in the wine. Many think this is doubtful – it is more likely the alcohol in the wine – or some other component in red wine that is not in white wine. Sulfite allergies, as I understand it, with the amount used in food or wine preservation are very rare. So when Blethen says, “many people who are allergic to sulfites,” one wonders how he knows for sure that these people were indeed allergic to sulfite in the first place – simply their claims of such? Have they been tested for this allergy?

And at the same time, I then wonder about how long he dares age his wines without sulfite. Unless he is using absolutely sanitary conditions where there are no fruit flies or any other organisms even off of his clothing – I really can’t see him being able to guarantee that a good number of bottles from any batch will survive even one year’s ageing.

Another thing Blethen says is this:

“I have found that filtering my wines causes them to lose about 50% of the flavour.”

Wow! How in the world did he come up with that figure of “50%?” That just seems absurd to me. Now, I have heard that filtering wine can reduce flavour – and truth be told, I don’t filter a lot of my wines either. However, I have conducted my own “taste tests” on some wines I’ve made, and my tongue couldn’t tell the difference between wine I had filtered with #2 pads vs. wine from the very same batch that had not been filtered.

Perhaps some can tell a difference. I’d certainly be agreeable to considering that some folks will have a much more sensitive palatte than I do – but to come up with an objective number – 50% or, in other words, “lost HALF” with something so subjective as flavour seems to be pretty much nonsense to me. How does one measure “flavour” anyhow?

And what is the “fineness” of the filters that Blethen was using that apparently took away so much flavour? Is he suggesting that #3 filters will remove the same “amount” of taste as say, a #2 or #1?

Getting back to the sulfite – if you make your own wine at home, use it or don’t age your wine for very long. Unless you are extremely confident that your wine making area is 100% bacteria and germ free.

I’m “tipsy.” I really ought to be in bed. I am supposed to be helping out a friend in the morning, but I’m way past by bedtime.

I’ve been racking wines – while at the same time, sipping on a bottle or two of SuperTuscan. Sampling wines as you rack them do seem to have interesting effects, which at this very moment, I can attest to.

I’m not even sure I can recall all the work I’ve done this evening as far as my wines that I’m making, but regardless for the most part, am quite happy with them all. There are a few, like the meads, that were .. “ok,” but I figure in a year from now, they will be much more than just “ok.”

I also started two new kits this evening – both R. J. Spagnols “Limited Quantiy” kits which I will write more about later. I purchased these kits from one of my favorite suppliers, Wine Makers.

There are a couple of readers that I recently promised a bottle of the black currant wine – bare with me – I haven’t bottled it yet, and I have not forgotten about you either.

Anyhow, time to sleep off the tipsiness – and hopefully get up in time to get to work in the morning to help out my very good friend.

Taking a look at the dry mead I started on February 5th, I noticed that there was a lot less CO2 than a month ago – but still enough that some degassing with the handy dandy Fizz-X tool was called for after racking.

As far as the mead clarifying, it needs some help. Interestingly, the melomels that I made this year have all done a great job of clearing on their own – but this dry mead still has a haze which I’m not happy with.

I don’t really know what is causing the haze – so I thought I’d start with the good old eggshell fining agent – and added 1 teaspoon of finely ground eggshell (after the eggshells were dried, of course!) powder to the mead and gave it a vigorous stirring.

I’ve also been quite enjoying the Barolo wine – as have some of my friends – so it was time to start another of those. This time, I will definitely be putting some bottles away for longer ageing.

I am hoping to see a drastic improvement within the next 24 to 48 hours. If not, I’ll go to Plan B. I’m not sure yet what Plan B is.

As mentioned in the previous post, it was turning out to be a great day, and indeed it was!

As well as the Supertuscan, I bottled approx. 60 bottles of one of the most awesome Reislings I’ve ever had. Although generally speaking, I prefer reds to white wines, this Reisling is probably one of the best wines that I’ve made. As I reported back in October, I travelled to Lakeview Vineyards near Beamsville Ontario, and picked up fresh pressed pure Reisling juice. After the fermentation and clearing, I’ve been storing it in bulk (in the carboys). I decided to bottle today. The colour is wonderful, clarity is excellent, and the taste is just.. mmm.. I’ll have more on that another time – but one thing – I love the hints of lime that come through. This wine is going to be excellent with seafood, spicy currie dishes, or just sitting outside sipping a chilled wine in the summer.

So in total, I bottled about 90 bottles of wine, and I did go fly fishing as well. I finally had an opportunity to meet with two of my teammates on a team we’ve formed for the upcoming Canadian Fly Fishing Championships. One of them, Ernie Kalwa, also happens to make wine. So we had a lot to talk about – the hatches, the catches, the flies, and wine.

To top off the day, I spent about an hour fishing and caught 7 beautiful small brown trout along with a chubby chubb.

I’ll have more on the fly fishing championships, the team, and our progress over at About Fly Fishing. But for now, I’m going to grab some sleep and recover from the pushing, lifting, pulling of carboys, corkers, and fish.

A beautiful Sunday morning here, although a little on the chilly side earlier. When I woke up at 7AM, it was only 35 degrees F in my town. But the sun was shining and it’s really nice to see the spring flowers blooming and foliage on the trees.

I just completed racking the Valpolicella that I started last week, to the secondary. Specific Gravity came in at 1.015. I’m not sure what the yeast is exactly, but there is not a lot of foam or the appearance of vigorous action – but it’s obviously doing its job.

Some of the airlocks on the wines, including the raspberry, black currant and garlic needed topped up, and a few other odd jobs were done.

I’ve also filtered a Supertuscan and will bottle it as well as bottling some Reisling that was filtered awhile ago.

Then, I’m off to do some fly fishing this afternoon and evening! I may also start a couple of wine kits that I’ve had for a few weeks but have not had the time to begin.

In October of 2005, I made a wine from a Wine Kitz kit: Coupage de Soleil, which I reviewed here.

Yesterday, I decided to open a bottle and here’s my tasting notes:

Bouquet: dark cherry and blossoms.

On The Tongue: black cherry, black currant and pepper. Excellent mouth feel. I personally enjoyed this wine very much.