Archive for May, 2009

Not only those who enjoy home winemaking, but even commercial wineries often debate the pros and cons of a variety of closures for wine bottles. Of course, cork has been traditionally used but today, there are a wide variety of closures available including synthetic, screw cap and now even ones made from glass by Vino-Lok. What’s the argument against cork? Mostly it’s been because of wines ruined by something called “cork taint,” usually referred to as the presence of TCA. Many believe that cork closures and how they are made and processed are a major contributor to TCA in wine.

But of course, there is even debate on this.

One of the arguments against non-cork closures is the belief that cork breathes while screw caps, synthetics, and of course glass, do not. The very slow transfer of small amounts of air through the cork closure is often cited as one of the ways wine ages – and why over time, SO2 levels decrease in bottled wine.

But does cork actually breathe? Dr. Richard Grant Petersen, Ph.D has written a two part article which appeared in Appellation America. Dr. Petersen postulates that it is virtually impossible for cork closures to breathe due to the fact that cork cells are 14 sided, and points out that sparkling wines that contain high pressure inside due to carbon dioxide don’t lose carbon dioxide through the cork – so how could air at much lower pressure pass through a cork closure (properly sealed of course) into the wine bottle?

It makes for an interesting article that home winemakers might want to have a look at.

Part 1 – “Please Stop Telling People That Corks Breathe

Part 2 – “Corks Do NOT Breathe”

Home winemaking can be a lot of fun, coming up with wines made with different fruits and vegetables. Some years ago, I made a batch of garlic wine using this recipe here. When I’ve told people about it, the usual first reaction is to hold up their nose and have a quizzical look on their face. “Who’d want to drink garlic wine? What home winemaker would want to even make it?”

Well, I don’t drink it out of a glass. But I did have it with my dinner this evening. I took out a chuck roast out of the freezer – not the most tender of cuts and best cooked with liquid. After it had thawed, I decided to put it in a small roasting pan with a cup of garlic wine and a half cup of water. Into the oven it went at 250F for three hours. The roast turned out very good – and the gravy was wonderful!

After the roast had cooked, I added some oregano to the juice, a bit of salt and some corn starch to thicken it, brought it to a boil and then simmered for several minutes while constantly stirring.

If you’ve ever thought of a “different” kind of homemade wine to make, consider a gallon of garlic wine for cooking with. It does have a wonderful flavor and makes for a good marinade too. Again, here’s the garlic wine recipe.

Won’t get into the details – but an interesting, challenging, and tough week. Thanks to my family who where there for me. It meant a lot. More than I can say.

Hey, did I ever mention that I have an awesome 20 year old son named Alex who is a drummer in a Rock ‘n Roll band? Wise, Young & King is their name, and these guys are “GOOD!” That is, if you like the sounds of classic rock – and WY&K write all their own material. I’m listening to one of my favorite songs right now that has a LOT of meaning to me. I think this song was written especially for me sometimes. Or.. especially for “US.” It’s called “Angels Cry.” You can have a listen to it, along with a few other of their songs, here. Tell me what you think. They are all awesome, but of course, I’m especially proud of that drumming sound….

I was going to provide an update on my earlier Maple Wine that I started. My math must have been wrong, when I was checking the SG and adding water – I’ll write more on that when I go over my notes.

This evening, I discovered I had forgotten to add the Isokleer to the Liebfraumilch. I was wondering why it was still cloudy. This was an inexpensive kit wine that I wanted to make and bottle fairly quickly – six weeks to bottle – so I’d have some available for a special event that is/was to occur next weekend. Things are up in the air – we’ll see. Maybe. I don’t know.

I am still undecided as to how I will proceed with the “Special Wine” I’ve been carefully making and taking care of. Trying to decide when I will blend them together to age – or let them age as they are now, and blend later.

I always wished things could be perfect – even though I’m a realist and don’t expect it – but striving for it is good, no? Trying? Hoping? Mediocrity is something I’ve never settled for.

Ok.. back to Wise, Young & King!

I managed to obtain one Imperial gallon of maple syrup at a cost of $45.00. That’s a pretty fair price these days. What I have is dark syrup, which should have more nutrients – and flavour – over light syrup.

I am trying to decide what to do with it as far as some homemade wine. I’ve come across a few different recipes – all using American measurements. The one that seems the most popular – and easiest is John Gorman’s maple wine which calls for 8 to 9 pints of maple syrup, then water added to bring it to 5 gallons. An Imperial Gallon contains about 4.8 US quarts. So going by Gorman’s recipe, that should do 2 1/2 US gallons, or about 9.5 litres. But then, what yeast should I use? I suppose the best thing to do would be to make about 9 litres of maple wine and water solution and test the SG, and make some decisions about what potential alcohol I want while considering whether I’ll want dry or sweeter.

Or maybe I should just try Gorman’s recipe and see what I end up with. Not sure if I will start this homemade maple wine this evening – taking a break from some other things, or wait until tomorrow. Probably a good time to take stock of my yeast strains in the freezer.

Although some consider a maple wine to be a mead, or “mead-like,” some refer to it as an “acerglyn,” but I think this would be more correct if honey is also used in the recipe in addition to the maple syrup.

Decisions, decisions!

Yesterday, I spent a fantastic 8 or 9 hours in the company of Home Winemaking expert Daniel Pambianchi at his Niagara-On-The-Lake vineyard. For readers still not familiar, Daniel wrote the book, “Techniques in Home Winemaking,” a book that I recommend to any home winemaker that wants to improve their skills and learn more about the art and science of winemaking. My review of the book is here.

Daniel operates a 14 acre vineyard just off the QEW in a very pretty part of Ontario. When I arrived (about a two hour drive), I was met by Daniel and his friendly staff. We had fun discussing wine while sampling some of the delicious bottled wines that Maleta has produced. And then on to some Grappa! I’d never had Grappa before, but Daniel had several styles ready for me to try including one that had been aged in Oak, one that had been aged with a hot pepper in the bottle, and a delicious espresso version.

After the introductions were all made, it was time to learn more about Maleta Winery and the services they can offer those who make their own wine. I had brought down a small sample of my “Mystery Wine.” I was curious about the specific gravity being below 0.900 and wondered what the alcohol content was. Daniel “fired” up the DuJardin-Salleron ebulliometer, calibrated it, and we discovered that my fruit wine was 16% alcohol by volume. Yes, it does taste a bit hot, and I’ll experiment with it. I was then shown some of the other interesting tools and testing equipment in the lab and felt like a kid in a candy store.

It was soon dinner time, and we watched the sun setting while enjoying a barbecued dinner on the deck while discussing a variety of home winemaking subjects. Daniel was very helpful and gracious in sharing some of his knowledge with me and I’ve come away with some ideas on improving my own wines. Shortly after dinner, we explored some of the wines he has aging in French and American oak barrels – and all I can say is that you’ll definitely be wanting to keep Maleta Winery’s wines in mind! We sampled several different varieties (unfortunately, I was unable to fully enjoy it all as I was driving home later) it various stages.

All in all, it was a super day! I learned much, enjoyed very good company and was introduced to some very good wine! Thank you Daniel!