More Mead Info

This is the first write-up I found on Mead, I figured I would share it with you.

Types of Mead

Dry mead is made of honey and water only. Stronger than wine made from grapes and can reach 18% abv.

Sweet mead is slightly weaker that dry mead and has stronger honey flavor and character.

Cyser is a combination of honey and apple cider. This is the strong drink of Biblical times. Both the honey and the cider will ferment to a clean dry wine which makes a great sparkling wine when primed with corn sugar or honey when bottled.

Pyment blends honey, grape juice and water. It is a great light wine for summer. You will be amazed at how much grape character comes through and the honey flavored finish is
excellent. 

Melomel is made from honey, water and any fruit other than grapes or apples. We use seedless fruit puree in our Melomel which gives perfect results batch after batch. 


Metheglin starts with traditional mead but has herbs and spices added. A simple kitchen spice rack will provide what you need or for a more exotic wine check our herbs and spices for beer, wine and mead makers.

Hippocrass is a combination of Pyment and spices. You must choose your spice wisely so as not to impair the flavor of the honey and grape. 


Braggot marks the invention of Ale. Brewed from honey, malted barley and sometimes hops. A ratio of one part honey to one part dry malt extract is a good place to start. Choose a low alpha acid hop to avoid making a bitter ale. I prefer to use Fuggles or Saaz.



Special Equipment Needed
* Fermenter Pail with Lid
* 3 gallon gallon Glass Carboys
* Air Lock with Rubber Stopper
* Siphon Hose and Accessories
* Bottle Filling Wand
* Easy Clean Sanitizer
Kitchen Equipment Needed
* 12 quart Stock Pot
* Stainless or Plastic Mixing Spoon
* Pot Holders
* Thermometer
* Funnel


Brewing Instructions
* In a very clean Stock Pot combine 1 gallon of bottled spring water (do not use distilled water) with the honey. Rinse honey jar with water from the pot. Heat to 180 degrees F. Reduce the heat and hold the temperature between 175 and 180 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim any white film off of the surface. Do not allow to boil.
* Remove pot from the heat and place it in a sink of cold water to reduce its temperature. Stir every 10 minutes and then change the sink water. Do this 3 times.
* Add 1 gallon of bottled spring water and acid blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, and grape tannin per recipe chart above. Stir well.
Preparing the Must (Traditional Mead Makers skip to Starting Fermentation)
* Open fruit puree or grape concentrate.
* Pour contents into the brew pot along with acid bland, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, grape tannin and citric acid.  Stir well. Use mixture from the pot to rinse out the fruit can.
Starting Fermentation
* Clean and sanitize your fermenter pail, lid and airlock.
* Open the packet of wine yeast and pour it into the fermenter pail.
* Pour the Must onto the fermenter.  Add bottle spring water to make a full three gallons.
* Close the fermenter pail and attach the airlock.
* Allow to ferment at room temperature for 3 weeks.
1st Racking
* Racking mead should be done by gently siphoning. We do not recommend using wine pumps or filters. Mead is very susceptible to oxidation.
* Move the fermenter pail into racking position at least 2 days before actually transferring the mead. This will allow time for the sediment to settle back down.
* Clean and sanitize a 3 gallon glass carboy, stopper, air lock and siphon set up.
* Crush 3 Campden Tablets and place them into the carboy. Gently siphon the mead from the primary fermenter into the bottom of the carboy. Be careful not to disturb the sediment.
* Add distilled water to bring the level of the mead up to the bottom of the carboy neck.
* Close the carboy with an air lock and allow to ferment in a dark place for at least 30 days but not more than 45 days.
2nd Racking
* Clean and sanitize the fermenter pail then siphon the mead from the carboy to the pail. 
* Clean and sanitize the carboy and repeat the 1st Racking Step but this time use only 2 crushed Campden Tablets. Sweet mead makers must add 1-1/2 teaspoons of potassium sorbate at this time.
* Allow the mead to rest in a dark place at least 30 to 45 days or until it clears. To check clarity, hold a flash light on one side of the carboy and look at the light from the other. When you can clearly see the bulb of the light the mead is clear.
3rd Racking
* There is no substitute for time when making mead. The more mature the mead is prior to bottling the better it will be. A third racking will allow the mead to brighten and age. All recipes except Sweet Mead do not use any additives on this racking.
* Sweet mead makers must add wine conditioner at this time.
Bottling
* Mead can be bottled as you would wine or beer. I prefer to bottle in 375ml wine bottles or 7oz clear beer bottles. These smaller sizes reduce waste caused by leftovers. If the beer bottle method is used the caps must be the oxygen barrier type. Wine bottles should be closed with a 1-3/4 inch cork.
* You can make your mead still, sparkling or both. Sparkling mead can only be sweetened with a sugar substitute and must be bottled in beer bottles or champagne bottles with special corks and wires.
* Clean and sanitize your bottles, caps, siphon and bottle filling equipment. Gently fill each bottle but do not cap until all are filled.
* When filling is complete you have the option of making some of the mead sparkling. To do this, add 1/2 teaspoon of corn sugar to each sparkling bottle.
* Cap or cork the bottles. Store them upright in a dark cool place. Mead will take time to age and in my experience it will under go many changes. A batch which tastes great a bottling time may taste bad after 3 months in the bottle and then fabulous at 6 months.

Mooched from: http://www.leeners.com/meadrecipes.html

Juice Extraction methods

Gunk left by pressing fruit Vs Steam extraction method




There are many opinion on the best way to extract fruit juices for making wine.

Steam juice extractor I have one of these extractors and would not go back to the old way. The best part is seeds are kept out and the resulting juice is pure. An added benefit is the killing of many wine damaging bacteria.

Electric Juice extractor which physically remove the juice from the fruit. Since these units do not use heat as the method of extraction, the juice could be considered more pure. However, I have not noticed a difference in the end result.

The Old school method is to use Cheese Cloth, this method of juice extraction involves putting the fruit in the Cheese Cloth and letting it ferment in sugar water. The juice ends up coming out leaving the pulp behind. It is always a good idea to keep a fair quantity of Cheese cloth on hand because it can be used to filter out the must after secondary fermentation.

Personally, I prefer the Steam extractor, although I have noticed a slightly sweeter taste with the Electric extractor the cleaning is just abit more arduous and the juice is not as "clean" (potentially wine damaging bacteria are not killed.)

If you use the old school method, many recipe's recommend freezing the fruit prior to wine making as the cold breaks up the juice molecules releasing more flavour.

Sulfite Free Organic Wine

Sulfite free organic wine does not exist in nature. It’s physically impossible. But, organic wines low in sulfites or no-sulfites-added organic wines are becoming more popular in some circles. There is a movement in the organic wine making industry that wants to rid wine of added sulfites. Why? It’s a chemical preservative. But let’s look at what it actually does.
What are Sulfites?
Sulfites are typically added during winemaking to prevent bacterial growth and oxidation. In sulfite-free wine, no sulfites can be added to the wine during the winemaking process, although they are naturally produced in the fermentation process. So, there is technically no such thing as a sulfite-free organic wine.These days non-organic winemakers have often overused them to mask odors from the wine or a poor quality crop of grapes. Sulfites have been linked to headaches, respiratory problems, rashes, and other allergic reactions. The sulfites that are added cause these allergic reactions, whereas the naturally occurring sulfites usually cause no side effects. The biggest complaint about sulfites is the side effect of headaches. While added sulfites can cause headaches, naturally occurring tannins released from the skins of the grapes are more likely the cause of headaches. But people are unsure and no conclusive testing has been done to demonstrate the harmful side effects of sulfites. So for now, organic proponents will say that if it isn’t naturally occurring, it shouldn’t be added.
What about Organic Wine and Sulfites?
Organic wine has no added sulfites, but sulfites are a naturally occurring result of fermentation, coming from the skin of the grapes. So, organic wines must maintain a level of sulfites less than 100 parts per million (ppm), as opposed to the 350 ppm limit for non-organic wine makers.
If you are concerned with added sulfites, you should be aware that European wines have significantly more sulfites than American wines. Also, white wines need twice the sulfites red wines do.
Taste of Sulfite-Free Wines
Many people have complained over the years about the taste of wines with no added sulfites. This is what has prevented organic wines from flying off the shelves. But organic vineyards are doing better with this.
Although sulfite-free wines have a brown tint to them, organic wine lovers are touting the rich, true flavor of the wine when no sulfites are added. But, still others will swear that sulfite-free wine tastes like battery acid.
Since wine tasting is such a personal thing, only you can decide if you like the flavor of truly organic wine with no added sulfites. Many times the good organics never get to the wine shop shelves, but can be found at local restaurants and wineries. Since the nature of sulfite free wine is that it cannot sit for long periods of time without some spoilage, these untainted bouquets may never be for mass consumption.


The concept of organic wine refers to grapes grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and no other chemical additives to the wine. But, when you wander through the wine shop for organic wines you may be confused by the different levels of “organic” found on the labels.
When the label says “100% Organic” this means that the wines are made from certified organic grapes and no sulfites have been added in its creation. This is the most pure form of wine possible.
If you see “Organic Wine” on the label then 95% of the wine’s ingredients are certified organic. The other 5% is usually yeast.
American organic winelabels that have the words “made from organically grown grapes” or “organically grown” means the vineyards have complied with the organic certifying agency of the state in which the wine was made. These wines may have sulfites added though.
French organic winesmay be labeled as such without certification. If you are looking for a certification from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) you may find a stamp from Eco-Cert, Terre et Vie, or Nature et Progrés on the label.
The whole organic movement is spreading around the world in an effort to get back to the natural properties of foods and to avoid the chemicals that cause health issues. In fact, organic wines have become more popular in Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, and the U.S. over the last few years. And, while many vineyards are following organic standards and using sustainable agriculture, using environmentally friendly techniques, some large vineyards have decided not to get certified.\
Why not get the wines certified organic? Because it’s a lot of hassle for vineyards. And, which organization should they get certified with? Since there is no centralized international organic wine certification, the rules are different with each certification. Organically certified wine is such a new issue, the regulations for determining a truly organic wine is changing all the time. This can be expensive for vineyards to comply with an ever moving target.
Sulfites in Wine
Sulfur dioxide is added to wine in small amounts to maintain freshness and prevent oxidation. When the sulfur dioxide dissolves in the wine, it destroys impurities and creates sulfites. Some people have allergies to sulfites and experience headaches.
Organic wine has no added sulfites, but sulfites are a naturally occurring result of fermentation, coming from the skin of the grapes. So organic wines must maintain a level of sulfites less than 100 parts per million (ppm).
If you are concerned with added sulfites, you should be aware that European wines have significantly more sulfites than American wines. Also, white wines need twice the sulfites red wines do.
Benefits of Organic Wine
Organic wines are made with no added chemicals or preservatives. This makes for a healthier wine. But for wine lovers it also means a richer tasting wine, in which the full flavor of the fruit can be enjoyed.

New batch of Blackberry wine

OK, so in the past i have been using Honey to provide the sugar in my blackberry wine / Mead. After a successful usage of brown sugar in a batch of yellow plum wine, I decided to go the same route with my Blackberry. I brought the Spec Gravity up to about 1.088, which is about as high as I could get it. I ran out of brown sugar so I used raw sugar and some Maple Syrup for the last few Brix. Once I organize my thoughts around the recipe, I will post it as an addition to this posting.

Cheers,

Heinz

Here is an interesting little article on Cork I found in the LA Times Business section. Something for those who have switched to alternate bottle stoppers to think about. Personally I use the real thing, there is something about tradition as well as the long term storage ability over the synthetic counterpart.

Heinz

Article Source:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cork15sep15,0,5149781,full.story?coll=la-tot-business

Producers try to cork wine bottle-top switch
By Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 15, 2007

ARNEIROS, PORTUGAL -- -- Except for the cellphone hitched to his belt, 79-year-old Jose Joaquin da Silva Perdigao has been harvesting cork in Portugal's forests in much the same way for more than half a century. Today, three generations of the Perdigao family work among the giant oaks, peeling the spongy bark that makes cork.

The men (it's always men) use axes to split the bark in just the right place, tap it loose, and then with their bare hands pull off long, dark strips. Perdigao says his 12-ax team can shave 1,000 trees in a day.

"It's very hard now to find people who want to do this work," Perdigao said of his age-old business.

Although little has changed in the way the cork is harvested, Portugal's top producers are introducing major changes in the way the material is processed and marketed -- crucial, they say, if the industry is to recover after years of slumping sales and fleeing customers.

Cork is essential to Portugal's economic and cultural identity. Portuguese babies hear lullabies about cork; children study it in school. It is against the law to cut down a cork oak.

This small country is the world's top producer of cork, which accounts for nearly $1.2 billion in exports annually (the only product for which Portugal can claim to be a world leader).

But the industry took a crippling hit when bottlers of wine began shifting away from cork stoppers in the 1990s and replacing them with plastic plugs or metal screw-tops.There were several reasons behind the shift. Especially for fast-growing wineries first in California and then Australia and New Zealand, cork imported from the distant Mediterranean country was expensive.

And the tendency of cork to develop a mold that can taint wine, making even the finest vintages undrinkable, was ruining its reputation and turning many dealers away.

Now, Portuguese cork producers are fighting back. They say they have found ways to substantially reduce the risk of taint. And they are promoting cork as the environmentally beneficial alternative; cork, it turns out, is green.

"We have felt our position under threat," said Antonio Amorim, chief executive of Portugal-based Amorim & Irmaos, the world's largest purveyor of cork stoppers.

Amorim, who is also president of APCOR, a national association of cork producers, said he believed that consumers still appreciated cork as a sign of good wine and that they were wising up to what he saw as the disadvantages of plastic and rubber.

But just as he and his colleagues were regaining some of the ground lost to such synthetics, a new enemy, the metal screw-top, began to grow in popularity.

Amorim, 40, heads the company founded by his great-grandfather in 1870 and that today produces 3 billion wine corks a year, 25% of the world's output. Energetic and pragmatic, he acknowledges that cork will never regain its dominance among wine bottle closures, but he is confident that it will make great strides.

Amorim & Irmaos has seen its market share fall by about 20% in the last decade, although the overall market has continued to grow, the CEO said.

"We won't get back all of the market," Amorim said in an interview over fish and mussels at a Lisbon restaurant.

"But we can get back the middle- to high-level wines, the reds and aged whites." (For inexpensive wines consumed quickly, the stopper is of little importance; it's when a wine is to be aged that cork, because of its porous quality, is considered by most connoisseurs to be crucial.)

Portuguese cork producers acknowledge that they were slow to bring science and the latest technology into the problems facing their industry.

In the last five years they have invested nearly half a billion dollars in upgrading and modernizing their processing systems.

Amorim said that since 2000 his company has plopped $60 million into research, aimed specifically at the tainting problem and finding cheaper ways to produce quality stoppers.

Researchers at Amorim & Irmaos have developed a procedure that the company says reduces the presence of the chemical produced by mold that causes cork taint by 75% to 90% over previously detected levels. It involves better cleaning, drier storage and more quality control.

At the company's 22-acre plant in Coruche, 40 miles east of Lisbon, hundreds of tons of stripped bark are stacked awaiting processing and looking something like mountains and canyons of carpet remnants. Forklifts carry 5-foot-high pallets of bark to vats of boiling water, the start of a long process of cleaning, cutting, flattening and punching.

A key step in the new process is steaming, which officials say removes the chemical compound trichloroanisole, or TCA, that is caused by natural fungus and is responsible for spoiling the taste and smell of a small but significant percentage of wines.

The company also uses sophisticated gas chromatography machines that search for TCA.

Previously, inspectors relied primarily on their eyes and hands to weed out bad cork.

Other preventive measures also are being taken, said Amorim's marketing director, Carlos de Jesus. These include storing the bark on concrete to prevent contamination from the soil and requiring suppliers to cut higher up the trunk of the tree for the same reason.

Amorim & Irmaos has also expanded its trade in other areas where cork is used, including flooring, shoes, space rockets and insulation for recording studios.

The new strategy appears to be working for the company, whose sales began to pick up slightly in 2005 and increased by 3.4% last year. It has become a prized pick on the Portuguese stock market, according to Bloomberg News.

Still, several big wine sellers, notably in Britain, have recently opted for screw caps, and others in the global wine industry are not convinced that the Portuguese cork-producers' efforts are sufficient.

Jon Fredrikson, an analyst at Woodside, Calif.-based Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, said alternative closures would continue to be developed for most wines, with the exception of premium reds.

"While [cork producers] have tried hard to lower the incidence of TCA, it is still higher than most consumers will accept," Fredrikson said by telephone. "Even if it's down to 5% or 4%, name another product that consumers will accept with that high a failure rate."

Undaunted, Amorim & Irmaos and other Portuguese firms have mounted an aggressive marketing campaign that emphasizes cork as the ecologically friendly alternative because it is biodegradable and recyclable, and trees are not destroyed to produce it.

Cork "is a politically correct product," CEO Amorim said.

"You cannot say 'no' to plastic bags and 'yes' to plastic corks," he added. "You cannot say 'global warming' and 'aluminum screw-caps.' You can't have organic wines produced without chemicals and pesticides, and then put a plastic stopper in the bottle."

Environmentalists look favorably on cork forests, almost all of which grow in the arid climes of Portugal, Spain and parts of northern Africa, because they protect ecosystems that are habitats for endangered animal and bird species, including imperial eagles, black storks, the Iberian lynxes and Barbary deer.

Cork oaks grow slowly, live for more than 100 years, are resistant to fire and use little water. By law, the harvesters cannot touch a tree until it is 25 years old, and then it can be stripped every nine to 15 years.

A tree that has given up its bark is left with a funny terra-cotta color.

But, as long as the harvesting was done correctly, it will live on and regenerate its bark.

"You have to hit the tree with the blade at the right place, then pry the bark loose," said Perdigao, the patriarch of the cork-harvesting team, working in Arneiros. "It is difficult work and you need a lot of strength. By the time evening comes you're exhausted."

Some ranchos have begun to use electric saws instead of axes, but not Perdigao and his men, who are suppliers for Amorim. Cutting too deeply can leave the tree mangled and sickly.

"You have to have the skill to do this without damaging the tree," he said, standing amid the oaks and wearing a plaid beret and wool sweater despite the summer heat.

Around him, men with axes were scaling the grand oaks, high above the sandy soil.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

Fruit wines and your health, a matter of science.

Not to bang the fruit wine drum too much, but here is an article I found on another blog site: http://fruitwines.blogspot.com/. Now I have a scientific health reason for the mess in my kitchen.

Heinz


A new study confirms winemakers' beliefs that fruit wines have potential positive health benefits.

In a recent study, scientists emphasized that Ontario's Fruit Wines have positive health benefits. The study conducted by the Guelph Center for Functional Foods, Laboratory Services at the University of Guelph by Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe and his colleagues, was initiated to determine whether fruit wines possess basic health related constituents in comparison to traditional wines.

Scientists collected 10 major categories of fruit wines, red, white and ice wines, and tested them for a number of health promoting constituents (total phenolic content, total antioxidant capacity and mineral elements) as well as health problem causing constituents, namely histamines. The study concluded that total antioxidants and phenolics are the highest in red (grapes), elderberry, blueberry, and black currant wines, moderate in cherry, raspberry, cranberry, and plum wines and lowest in apple, peach, ice (grapes) and pear wines. It was also found that potassium was the most abundant element distributed throughout all categories of wines. Elderberry wine contained the highest levels of magnesium. Interestingly, compared to red wines, all the fruit wines had much lower levels of histamines, which is often referred to as the "headache inducing" biogenic amine present in wines.

Dr. Rupasinghe's findings are encouraging to the fruit wine industry. "We have always trusted in the health benefits of our fruit wines," explains Jim Warren, executive director of Fruit Wines of Ontario. "This project will help us achieve the market advantage that Ontario's quality fruit wines deserve." The study was partially funded by the Ontario Government and studies are underway to explore better fruit wine manufacturing practices to improve the overall quality of Ontario-produced wines.

For more information on Dr. Rupasinghe's study and Fruit Wines of Ontario, contact Forefront Communications at 416-398-3335 or milford@forefrontcom.com.

Basic Mead

I've been talking about Mead for the past while so I figured I would toss in a basic Mead Recipe I dug up The wonderful thing I noticed is no mention of Sulphites:

Ingredients:
4 lbs. honey
1/2 tsp. tannin powder
2 tsp. citric acid
1-1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient
1 packet sherry-type yeast

Step by Step:
Prepare the yeast starter in advance to activate the yeast. Suspend yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water (100° F, 37.8° C), until bubbly. Place honey in the initial fermentation vessel or bucket and fill up to 1 gal. with hot water. When cool (70° F, 21.1° C) add the tannin, nutrient and acid, and stir well to dissolve, then add the activated yeast. Cover closely. After seven days, transfer to a demijohn, topping up to the shoulder with cooled, boiled water if necessary. Fit bung and airlock and keep in a warm place. Ferment to completion. Rack from the lees when mead is star-bright. (Recipe courtesy of "Step by Step Homemade Wine" by Judith Irwin, Quadrillion Publishing Inc.)

I found this handy little chart which gives approximate measurements of fruit vs Sugar and all the other crap for making fruit wine. Personally I have just been winging it and of course I leave out the chemicals

Cold Filtering and a Brita Filter – an experiment in wine filtering.

OK, I’ll be the first to admit this next experiment in winemaking is about as controlled as a Donkey on speed. After reading a little bit on using a Brita type filter to remove corking flavour from wine, a little light bulb (OK compact fluorescent) came on above my head. Hence the reason for today’s trial.

A few weeks ago, I tried running my accidental batch of “Blackberry Mead” through a Brita Filter with no luck. Problem being, the wine had more of a syrup consistency, pretty much due to the fact it had not been racked and I really didn’t know anything about what I was doing. A few weeks later, not knowing all too much more other than the wine now looked and felt a little more like wine. The original overly sweet cough syrup flavour had been replaced with a fairly dry red. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of dry wines, I tend to prefer a little sweetness - not as much as Little Red Riding hood but I’m sure you get my point.

OK, my first experiment was with a batch of Plum Mead I had put in the fridge last week in order to see if it would clarify any better than the one in the basement. Not overly surprising, the cooled batch did have a lot more sediment on the bottom. My assumption now being… “Cold filter Wine Good Uggg.”

Not to cast any doubt on my Cro-Magnon alter ego, I decided to take this one step further and run it through a Brita Filter. The result was quite interesting, seeing as the Mead was already fairly sweet and the bite was actually enjoyable, as it was not dry. The end result was quite abit milder of a wine than I had anticipated, in fact, it ended up tasting more like a plum juice… The good news being, the alcohol content did not seem to be effected, I’m thinking I will add this experiment back into the un-brita’d batch; after all I am making wine here and not Juice.

Now onto the very dry Blackberry Mead. This is actually a mixture between my very small original accident batch and my second attempt which actually involved adding yeast. Like I said, after about a month, it was definitely not Vinegar, but it did have a bite strong enough to make the back hairs on a fish stand on end… This batch had also been stopped by pasteurization and adding Brandy. See what I mean by uncontrolled experiment.

Well as far as the result goes, the end drink was actually palatable. Since the Blackberry Mead was so much stronger than the Plum on the onset, it maintained the taste of alcohol. The bitterness and after shiver was drastically reduced. It didn’t taste any sweeter, as there was no sweetness which was being masked by the alcohol. The additional factor of lack of prior cold filtering may also have played a roll. In addition, the batch of Blackberry Mead was aged quite abit more and really did not need much filtering for clarity.

When compared to my later use of a pump filter, the Brita filtration paled in comparison. Yes it is great if you just want to finish it off nicely, or remove a little flavour of corking, but I would not recommend the brita filter as a replacement for one of those little pump filters.

Organic winemaking is here to stay

Seeing as I am on this sulfite free bent, I found this abit interesting seeing as the commercial market is also going that way. If anyone has any experience in organic / sulphite free wine making process feel free to share your experiences and comments here.
I know there are issues with preserving and so forth, I will be trying pasturization (Heating) to kill all the yeasty beasties.

Cheers,

Heinz

By Michael Gianunzio
Herald Columnist

Every day in America consumers are inundated by the promotion of "green" and "organic" products. To have an "eco-friendly lifestyle" we must buy green, eat green, vote green, live green, build green and even travel green.

What could be more green or organic than growing grapes and making wine?

In reality, growing grapes and making wine have some impacts on Mother Earth.

Eight gallons of water are needed to make one gallon of wine.

Soil erosion from vineyards and access roads around them may affect streams.

Pesticides and fungicides used on grape vines can sometimes get into groundwater and contaminate it. Vineyard workers may be exposed to these chemicals, if they are not protected.

Wineries are working hard to address these concerns.

There is a serious movement in the American wine business, albeit fairly modest at the moment, to produce truly organic wine. A "natural viticulture" is already emerging, especially in the Western states.

What does it mean to be an organic wine? Is it just some Wall Street ad agency version of "greenwashing," the buzzword for overstating the environmental benefits of a product for marketing purposes?

A trip to Sonoma County, Calif., wineries convinced me that organic wine making is a real phenomenon.

For some winemakers, it is a spiritual journey that involves using renewable resources to reinvigorate the soil they cultivate. There is an effort to go back to practices common a century or more ago of giving back to the land when we harvest grapes and make wine.

To be labeled organic, under U.S. Department of Agriculture standards today, a wine must be made with grapes from a certified organic vineyard, in a winery that is also certified as organic.

To achieve this status, a vineyard must operate for three years without synthetic chemicals.

The wine produced must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients.

And sulfite can't be added as a preservative during production. That's a tough standard because sulfites are usually added in minute quantities to preserve wine and allow it to age gracefully over many years.

At the Benziger Family Winery in Sonoma, I rode on a biodiesel-powered tram and toured their lush organic vineyards. An assortment of ground cover, such as mustard plants, tuned to select types of grape vines, helps replenish the soil.

The Benzigers understand how insects, birds, plants, animals and microorganisms can be put in the right microenvironments to grow their grapes, keep the soil moist and return nutrients to the earth without chemical fertilizers.

In some vineyards, cows and sheep mow down ground cover where tractors once tread.

The result at Benziger Family Winery, Fetzer Vineyards, Frey Vineyards and many other organic wineries in California, Oregon and Washington, is great wine, coming from practices that are sustainable, ecologically sound, financially viable and socially responsible.

You will be hearing more about organic vineyards and wines.

In our state, the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers has published a sustainability guide, Vinewise; see www.vinewise.org. Many wineries are signing on to these practices, including Woodward Canyon, Seven Hills and Pepper Bridge.

Eco-friendly wineries may advertise that they use sustainable practices: They recycle, conserve energy and water, and minimize the use of chemicals, plant cover crops and use compost and renewable resources where possible.

Cayuse Winery in Walla Walla has reached the level of producing a certified biodynamic wine, above and beyond organic status. It is in an elite group of wineries in America who have eliminated chemicals, and like homeopathic medicine, the wine estate is treated like a self-sustaining organism.

Certification comes from an international entity called the Demeter Association. Everything in the biodynamic vineyard is interrelated and recycled.

Only indigenous yeast is used in fermentation. There is a spiritual connection between the land and the wine produced.

Closer to home, Lopez Island Vineyards is both a certified organic grape grower and an organic processor, the first winery to get this designation in Western Washington.

It may seem mystical, but this is all about ecological balance a great step in a good direction.

To some vintners, there are subtle enhanced differences in the quality of organic wines, a measure that is difficult to quantify.

These wines are more expensive to make and have higher retail prices. But, to focus on creating sustainable ecosystems in our nation's vineyards is a worthy cause for the environment and for our collective soul.

Michael "Gino" Gianunzio is a local lawyer, winemaker and artist who lives on Camano Island. He can be reached at theislanditalian@yahoo.com

Organics sampler

Here are some American organic wines to try:

Bonterra Vineyards Mendocino County Syrah and Chardonnay (www.bonterra.com)

Benziger Family Vineyards wines (www.benziger.com)

Frey Vineyards Petite Syrah (www.freywine.com)

Willakenzie Estate Pinot Gris (www.willakenzie.com)

Ponzi Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (www.ponziwines.com)

Cayuse Syrah Walla Walla Valley Bionic Frog (www.cayusevineyards.com)

Badger Mountain Vineyard wines (www.badgermtnvineyard.com)

Cooper Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir (www.coopermountainwine.com)


© 2007The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA
Labels: natural wine, organic wine, sulphite free wine, wine, wine and headaches, winemaking

The wine industry's little secret

An interesting little article I found on the net
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/weekendlife/story.html?id=aef16415-934d-486e-964b-288d6e424a6d&p=1

BILL ZACHARKIW
Freelance


Saturday, September 08, 2007


Barry Bonds is the new "home-run king" of baseball. However, rather than immediately raising Bonds to iconic status, the media have focused on his use of steroids and how his accomplishment should be recognized in the context of modern, professional sport. In short, was Barry cheating and if so, how do we deal with it?

It's a fair question.

I only wish the mainstream wine media would do the same.

We are at somewhat of a crossroads in the wine industry.

Today's winemakers have access to such an impressive array of technologies, analytical tools and ingredients that it begs a question: When is a wine no longer a wine but rather an industrial beverage, comparable to Snapple, Gatorade and Michelob?

And much like the debate over steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, purists are pitted against modernists, with one side claiming that the way many wines are being made today is an affront to tradition, creating unfair advantage and destroying diversity.

The other side asks what is more important: the wine in the glass or how it was made?

How should wine be made?

To put this into context, let's talk winemaking. On one extreme we have the "natural" wines. These wines are the closest to how many of us imagine a wine is made, and the image that the industry cultivates. Its essence is simple: Grapes are crushed, the juice ferments, is separated from the skins, left to age a bit, then put in bottles as wine. These wines, for better or worse, are a reflection of where the grapes were grown and the year the wine was made.

They are also rare.

On the other end of the spectrum are the "industrial" wines. The people making many of these wines start with a certain taste profile in mind, and with the aid of gas chromatography and other analytical tools the grapes are tweaked into wine with the help of colourants, sugar, acids, enzymes, water, aromatic yeasts and other flavour enhancers.

These wines have little to do with the name of the grapes on the bottle, or when and where they were grown. Rather, they are engineered to taste a certain way and are an expression of the winemaker rather than nature.

These are the inexpensive wines that fill up the supermarket shelves and many of the branded wines at the low end of the price spectrum. To be fair, while they often taste the same, they are much better than they once were. Boring is better than bad.

Image versus reality

If given a choice between the two extremes, I hazard that most wine lovers would rather their wine be made by the more natural method. However, the reality is that the majority of winemaking takes place in a gray area somewhere in between the two.

Pretty well all wines have things added to them. In cooler growing areas, such as in France, sugar is often added to the juice to make up for a lack of ripeness, a process referred to as chapitalisation. In hotter climates, winemakers often add tartaric acid, powdered tannin or even water to make up for over-ripe grapes. These additives are so commonly used that they are a part of the winemaking traditions of certain regions, and are even regulated as to when and how much of these additives may be used.

So what are people fussing about?

While the purists regard even the above interventions as too much, a number of other manipulations are much more debatable. Techniques like reverse osmosis and spinning cones are used to either remove alcohol or concentrate the juice. Micro-oxidation, a technique whereby small amounts of oxygen is injected into the wine, softens up the tannin, effectively mimicking what would normally happen if a bottle of wine were aged, doing in hours what would take years in a cellar.

Even more controversial are those additives that are used to flavour wine. These include wood chips, which are used to make your wine taste of oak though at a fraction of the cost of real barrels, certain industrial yeasts that are used to boost aromatics, and colourants and enzymes like Mega Purple, which add not only colour, but also alter the flavour and texture of the wine.

This is not a question of New World versus Old World, and their use is not restricted to any particular price range. Those who support the use of these technologies believe they are simply tools that give the winemaker the ability to craft their wines, to fine-tune them as it were, ultimately making a better wine.

The other side sees them as producing fake flavours, fake aromas, fake textures, in short, fake wine. Every extra manipulation peels away another distinctive quality that makes a wine unique.

The pandering problem

What I see as the big problem is perhaps best exemplified by a service that a company called Enologix offers to its winemaking clientele. Enologix uses spectrometres and chromatographs to separate and measure particular chemical compounds in a vintner's juice. The resulting index, the ratio of phenols, terpenes and other chemicals, are then compared to a "benchmark" wine, which is in effect what they believe is the perfect wine. And where does this perfect wine come from? Enologix has done a similar analysis of a number of wines that have received high scores from influential members of the American media, and have simply averaged out the values.

The premise is simple: "The score" is everything, and by modelling one's wine after those that have received high scores, one will receive a similar benediction, and thus sales.

So as winemakers gain more and more control over how a wine will eventually taste, there is greater temptation to follow recipes like those offered by companies like Enologix to assuage a same small coterie of tastes. The result is that wines begin to taste the same and regional variations diminish.

And this is what scares me.

Over the last couple of years, I have found it increasingly difficult to "place" many wines. They are good, they drink well, but they could almost come from anywhere. One of the benefits of living where we do is that we have access to a selection of wines from the four corners of the wine world. It would be a shame if such a rich diversity were lost.

These technologies have enabled winemakers to make good, cheap wine from often substandard grapes, and the world needs that.

But the question must be asked: In the hand of the skilled winemaker, are these manipulations really necessary? Where should the line be drawn?

The French have made moves to regulate the use of wood chips, for example, as have some other countries. It is a start, but more needs to be done. The real enemy is perhaps not the technology itself, but those winemakers who are simply not good grape growers or skilled enough wine makers, and are thus forced to use extreme measures to finish their wines.

But if you want to know what went into making your wine, you are out of luck. The vast majority of wineries simply don't like to talk about it. The industry wants you to believe that wonderful bucolic image it has so deftly created, and it fears that it will be shattered by disclosing how some wine is actually made.

Unfortunately, the mainstream wine media also do little to trumpet authenticity and diversity. They seem unwilling to get involved in a debate that is already happening among winemakers, on the wine blogs, and between many wine lovers.

I'll try to do differently here in my small corner of the world of wine journalism, and every now and then dig a little deeper into issues like this.

You might have noticed that many of my reviews use the words classic, traditional or unique.

For me, simply being good is no longer good enough.

But in the end it will be you who decides what it is you want to drink, whether Barry Bonds was cheating, and if it really matters.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

FERMENTATION - TURNING GRAPE JUICE INTO ALCOHOL

Here is a little tid-bit I found somewhere online. I don't know where it came from but I found it quite infomative.


Grape juice is turned into alcohol by the process of "fermentation." Grapes on the vine are covered with yeast, mold and bacteria. By putting grape juice into a container at the right temperature, yeast ( SACCHROMYCES ELLIPSOIDUES ) will turn the sugar in the juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The grape juice will have fermented. Fermentation is carried out in stainless steel vessels.

Yeast also gives flavor to the wine. But the yeast that is on the grape skin when it is harvested may not have the desired flavor. Other things on the outside of a grape are not good for wine (for example, acetic bacteria on the grapes can cause the wine to turn to vinegar). The winemaker can eliminate unwanted yeast's, molds and bacteria, most commonly by using the "universal disinfectant," sulfur dioxide. Unfortunately, the sulfites which remain in the wine may cause a lot of discomfort to some wine drinkers. (See ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO WINE.). Some winemakers prefer NOT to do this, and purposely create wines that are subject to the vagaries (and different flavors) of the yeast that pre-exist on the grapes ("wild yeast fermentation").

The winemaker has many different yeast strains to choose from (and can use different strains at different times during the process for better control fermentation ). The most common wine yeast is Saccharomyces.

This is a good point to stop and mention "Brett," also known as the Brettanomyces strain of yeast (which can be added or come from wild yeast fermentation). As yeast works, it causes grape juice ("must") to get hot. But if there's too much heat, the yeast won't work. Cooling coils are necessary to maintain a temperature below 30° C.

A less modern, but still wide widely used way to ferment wine is to place it in small oak barrels. "Barrel fermentation" is usually done at a lower temperature in temperature controlled rooms and takes longer, perhaps around 6 weeks. The longer fermentation and use of wood contributes to the flavor (and usually expense) of the wine.

The skins and pulp which remain in a red wine vat will rise to and float on top of the juice. This causes problems (if it dries out, it's a perfect breeding ground for injurious bacteria), so the winemaker will push this "cap" back down into the juice, usually at least twice a day. In large vats, this is accomplished by pumping juice from the bottom of the vat over the top of the cap.

Eventually the yeast is no longer changing sugar to alcohol (though different strains of yeast, which can survive in higher and higher levels of alcohol, can take over and contribute their own flavor to the wine-as well as converting a bit more sugar to alcohol).

After all this is completed what you have left is the wine, "dead" yeast cells, known as "lees and various other substances.

MALO-LACTIC FERMENTATION

The winemaker may choose to allow a white wine to undergo a second fermentation which occurs due to malic acid in the grape juice. When malic acid is allowed to break down into carbon dioxide and lactic acid (thanks to bacteria in the wine), it is known as "malo-lactic fermentation," which imparts additional flavor to the wine. A "buttery" flavor in some whites is due to this process. This process is used for sparkling wines.

FIRST RACKING

After fermentation completed naturally or stopped by addition of distilled spirit, first racking is carried out. This involves the wine to stand still until most yeast cells and fine suspended material settle out. The wine is then filtered without disturbing the sediment or the yeast.

WINERY AGING

The winery may then keep the wine so that there can be additional clarification and, in some wines, to give it a more complex flavors. Flavor can come from wood (or more correctly from the chemicals that make up the wood and are taken up into the wine).

The wine may be barrel aged for several months to several years. No air is allowed to enter the barrels during this period.

Ignoring any additional processing that might be used, you could empty the barrels into bottles and sell your wine. However, during the winery aging, the smaller containers may develop differences. So the winemaker will probably "blend" wine from different barrels, to achieve a uniform result. Also, the winemaker may blend together different grape varieties to achieve desired characteristics.

STABILIZATION, FILTRATION

Stabilization is carried out to remove traces of tartaric acid. These tartarates present in the grape juice tend to crystallize in wine and if not removed completely can slowly reappear as glass like crystals in final bottles on storage.

Stabilization with respect to tartarates may involve chilling of wine that can crystallize tartarates and these crystals can be removed by filtration.

PASTEURIZATION

If the wine has an alcohol content less than 14% it may be heat pasteurized or cold pasteurized through microporous filters just before bottling.

BOTTLING WINE

Producers often use different shaped bottles to denote different types of wine. Colored bottles help to reduce damage by light. (Light assists in oxidation and breakdown of the wine into chemicals, such as mercaptan, which are undesirable.)

Bottle sizes can also vary.

CELLARING WINE


Most people assume that the longer that you keep a wine, the better it will get Since its best to store wine under certain conditions, like in a cool damp underground cellar, this is known as "cellaring" wine.

It is a misconception that you MUST age wine. The fact is, throughout the world, most wine is drunk "young" (that is relatively soon after it is produced, perhaps 12 to 18 months), even wines that are "better" if aged. While some wines will "mature" and become better over time, others will not and should be drunk immediately, or within a few years.

Tannin is a substance that comes from the seeds, stems and skins of grapes. Additional tannin can come from the wood during barrel aging in the winery. It is a preservative and is important to the long term maturing of wine. Through time, tannin (which has a bitter flavor) will precipitate out of the wine (becoming sediment in the bottle) and the complexity of the wine's flavor from fruit, acid and all the myriad other substances that make up the wine's character will come into greater balance. Generally, it is red wines that are the ones that CAN (but do not have to be) produced with a fair amount of tannin with an eye towards long term storing and maturation. The bad news is that you shouldn't drink it young since it will taste too harsh (and probably cost too much, besides). The good news is that after a number of years, what you get is a prized, complex and balanced wine.

Remember that red wines get their color from the stems and skins of the grape. This gives the wine tannin and aging capacity. White wines may have no contact with the stems and skins and will have little tannin (though some can be added, again, through barrel aging). Therefore most white wines don't age well. Even the ones which do get better through time will not last nearly as long as their red cousins. A fair average for many "ageable" whites would be about 5 to 7 years (some might go 10). On the other hand, really "ageable" reds can easily be kept for 30 years and longer.

STORING WINE


For wines that should be aged, a cellar should have proper :Temperature which does not have rapid fluctuation. 55 degrees Fahrenheit is a good, but you can live with 50 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 14 degrees Centigrade). Wide swings in temperature will harm the wine. Having too high a temperature will age the wine faster so it won't get as complex as it might have. Having too low a temperature will slow the wine's maturation.Humidity. About 60 percent is right. This helps keep the cork moist. The wine will oxidize if the air (and its oxygen) gets to it. If the cork dries out, it can shrink and let air in. This is another reason to keep the bottles on their sides. The wine itself will help keep the cork moist.

Lack of light.

Lack of vibration.

Lack of strong odors. Whatever it is that is causing the odor stands a good chance of getting through the cork and into the wine

My first wine making experiences

In mid 2007 I decided to look into making Blackberry wine. This is something which I have been thinking about for a few years already and was resisting because I did not want to waste the blackberries on vinegar. So began my journey.

After an accidental blackberry fermentation on my fridge, I started doing abit of reasearch on winemaking and fruit wines I decided to jump into the whole winemaking adventure... well with a couple of toe's first. OK maybe not quite a jump. I picked up the basics from Bosa foods, a local Italian owned store in the Vancouver area which in addition to a great selection of imported food, carries a wide selection of wine making supplies at a great price.

My shopping list

Sodium Metabusulphate - used to steralize the containers.
Vinometre - similar to a thermometer this handy little device tells you the alcohol content of your wine
Hydrometer - required tool which tells you the potential alcohol in your wine as well as a few other measurements which will be of use to you in making your wine the way you want.
1 Gallon Jugs - Because I am getting into winemaking slowly, I decided to go with smaller carboys. These one gallon jugs work perfectly.
Airlocks - These are used to keep oxygen from hitting the wine during secondary fermentation.
Wine bottles - for obvious reasons
Thermometer - very handy as wine making relies heavily on the proper temperature
Yeast - Although most wines will ferment on their own - eventually - yeast will help the process along
Yeast Nutrient - The Yeasty-beasties need some food
Yeast energizer - It is good to have this in wine-making just in case your must stops fermenting pre-maturely.
2 Gallon glass jars - You can use buckets, but I found these great glass jars in the kitchen section of a local department store. They have a loose fitting glass lid which lets Oxygen into the must but keeps the fruit flies out - for the most part.
Honey - Instead of using sugar I wanted to try something different.

That was pretty much it, some people use Campden tablets of some other sulphite to preserve the wine after fermentation, however being the stubborn Kraut that I am, I decided to do things my own way. Hopefully the wine doesn't spoil but we will soon see.

Cheers,

Heinz

Welcome

Hello,

I have recently started to delve into the art of winemaking, Particularly fruit wines and Meads.

This is a journey of discovery and hopefully you will come along for the ride.