What is the Best Wine Aerator?

May 14, 2012 in Wine Accessories with Comments Off

I’ve been spending some time trying to figure out what wine aerator would be best for my home.  After doing some research earlier I’ve definitely come to the conclusion that proper wine aeration is critical to tasting wine effectively, and I figure that if I am going to dedicate the time, energy, and money to actually making my own wine I should probably expend a little bit of energy and money towards tasting it as well as possible.  So I set about shopping for a wine aerator that was effective and hopefully not terribly expensive either.

After reading a variety of reviews I settled on the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator (which is at a great price here).  The reviews on Amazon were all very positive and more importantly than anything else, one person had actually blind split test their wine tasting to make sure they could actually tell that the Venturi was aerating sufficiently.  Science!

There are a variety of other wine aerators that Vinturi offers, and if you look outside of that particular company, you’ll find that there are even more aerators.  I went with this one because of the spectacular reviews and because the price was really a steal.  I haven’t done any blind split tests to make sure that my palate notices the difference between Vinturi aerated wine and wine that is just poured from the bottle, but in my personal experience it is much tastier with the Venturi – this is because wine seriously needs a chance to breathe in order to offer all of its aromas and flavor nuances.

After getting in the habit of using this device I am beginning to regret all of the wine I drank without one.  There are some other options on Amazon like this pretty inexpensive one, and I may try a few different ones later on to see if I find the Venturi to be better than the alternatives, but for now I am quite content with my Venturi Essential Wine Aerator.

What is the Best Wine Book?

May 12, 2012 in Wine Making with Comments Off

There are a lot of different books about making wine, just digging through Amazon for ten minutes pulls up over a dozen that all look like they could teach me pretty much everything I want to know.  But that doesn’t really solve my problem.  Finding a wine book that is comprehensive but not too terribly boring would be nice…how about a book that will keep my attention as well?

Learning about wine is a long term task.  Obviously neither you nor I will become wine experts simply from sitting down in our papasan chairs and flipping through pages – experience matters too, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a book that helps with our experience, showing us what to look for in flavor, or even better, a book that explains wine from the beginning to the end without being dry.

This is what I like about The Home Winemaker’s Companion – which covers various wine making recipes, as well as lesser known secrets that experienced wine makers understand.  It’s critical that those of us who are still learning have some kind of head start and since most of us don’t have private tutors in the wine making world, it’s nice to find a book that can help us along the way.

The reviews on Amazon about this book are pretty excellent, which in my opinion is always a good sign as for the quality of the book, most Amazon reviewers can be pretty candid when it comes to a book that they don’t think is sufficient.  I certainly know I have been.

The other book that I am quick to recommend to folks who are getting started is The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home – which is a comprehensive guide in all things related to the art and craft of making your own wine.  It’s obviously not the sort of book that you sit down and read front to back, but a good book to read slowly, take notes, and keep around as a long term reference as you improve your own skill set.

Other than that, I wouldn’t recommend getting too involved in the book reading end of wine making – as just making a few batches will teach you a lot more about what to expect.  If you are just starting out, these two books will give you a solid academic foundation in the process, and then one of the many wine kits we recommend can get you started on your way to making great wine at home.

Happy fermenting.

What is the Best Wine Magazine?

April 19, 2012 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

If you are interested in wine (like I am), it’s pretty normal to want to find reading materials that can help to expand your knowledge on the subject. Personally, when I first started looking for the best wine magazine I wanted to find one that had a lot of experiential knowledge and hopefully interviews and reviews that could help me become a better wine aficionado or oenophile.

Now, the purpose of this blog isn’t just to teach people everything about wine or to even pretend that we the editors actually know all that much about wine – instead, our focus is on sharing what we are learning about wine and especially about making wine at home.

We think home wine making is one of the most exciting (and inexpensive) hobbies that you can get started in.
From our research and from digging through a variety of consumer magazines for people interested in wine we came across Wine Enthusiast (which is an important resource) as well as www.winemakermag.com which basically has everything that we were looking for. This site (and the magazine associated with it) are really in depth without any undue levels of pretension or snobbery. For people who are new to learning how to make wine it is a great way to learn more about the community, the methods, and the different outlooks on the process in general.

This is great.

For instance, there is a great article here on varying wine fermentation techniques that you probably didn’t know about. As I try to learn more about wine I try to read more articles like this one to further expand my knowledge.

If you are interested in seeing a lot of professional’s viewpoints on wine making and learning techniques that are new to you and very useful I would strongly recommend subscribing to this magazine or at the very least spending some time surfing their website. The entire site is a goldmine of information that you can use for your own home wine making escapades – and I for one have already learned a lot (including that fermentation technique) that I will be applying in my own home wine making.

I think subscribing to different magazines in the niche is a great way to get a feel for the community and understand what other people are doing – community is important, because we can learn a lot from each other and can gain new insights without having to waste time that we could be spending making high quality wine. I don’t think that I would subscribe to any other wine making magazines right now – but down the road, I might. Reading about wine is a great way to get a better understanding of the process.

Home Wine Making Supplies – A Buying Guide for Beginners

December 4, 2011 in Wine Making with Comments Off

Home wine making supplies are incredibly simple.  They require no machinery or any other forms of complex equipment.  In fact, many of the components in the average wine making kit you have probably already seen at your local hardware store.  However, being that most people do not know much about this hobby, you may need a crash course on how to shop for these materials.  This is what you will be finding out in the upcoming sections.

The Basic Components of an At Home Wine Kit

At home wine kits contain 8 major components.  They are as follows:

1.  The Carboy:  This is basically a large jug that holds your wine.

2.  Fermenting Buckets:   These containers house your grapes during the fermentation process.

3.  The Spigot: Spigots are used to pour water into the carboy.

4.  Bottle Fillers:  These components ensure that you pour the right amount of water into your wine.

5.  Tubing, Stoppers & Airlocks:  These keep excess air from getting into your wine.

6.  The Hydrometer: This is a device that is used to measure the sugar mixture you will have to add to your water.  It is designed to make such measurements while the mixture is dissolved.

7.  Sanitizers:  As you might have guessed, sanitizers are used to clean your equipment.  Considering that wine making does involve rotting fruit, you want to make sure that your sanitizers are top notch.  Otherwise, you risk contaminating yourself with harmful bacteria.

8.  Thermometers:  During the fermentation process, you need to measure the liquid to ensure it has reached the right temperature.  Wine yeast must be at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit before it can begin fermenting.

9.  Fruit:  Technically, wine can be made from any type of fruit, but grapes tend to be the preferred choice.  You can grow them yourself, get fresh ones from the store, or use juice.  The same principle applies to any other fruit you might decide to use.

10.  Wine making Ingredients:  To make wine, you need a medley of ingredients ranging from yeast to pectic enzyme.  It is highly unlikely that you would have to make these from scratch, even with the most primitive home making supplies.  If the ingredients are included, they would come already prepared.  You also have the option of buying them separately online.

How to Shop for Home Wine Making Supplies

If you prefer to shop at brick and mortar stores,you can find what you need at liquor stores or places like Walmart.  Online, you can either go to sites like Amazon or buy your kit from a smaller retailer.  Should you decide to go the latter route, you increase your chances of finding a better deal.  Either way, once you are ready to make a purchase, make sure you check out all of the customer reviews.  You need to see what is being said for both the product and the store you decide to buy from.  The last thing you want is to waste money on useless home wine making supplies.

With that being said, you might be wondering which brands wine making connoisseurs should be looking for.  Oddly enough, there are many generic brands that do not have any prominent name sake.  They can be just as effective as their brand name counterparts, but you should still be careful.  At least with a brand name product, manufacturers have an image to represent.  As such, they are more likely to offer a superior product.

In the world of home wine making supplies, some prominent brand names include:

1.  Vino Italiano:  This is a bestselling brand (at an incredible price here) among wine lovers.  Costing less than $50, this wine kit will offer both the ingredients and the wine making components mentioned above.  Their instructions are also easy to understand.

2.  Cornucopia:  This company offers a unique tropical wine.  Their home wine making supplies are the same, but the concentrate they provide is based on a proprietary recipe.  Like Vino Italiano, their kit is under $50.

3.  Grand Cru:  From the factories of Grand Gru comes the Pinot Noir Wine Making Kit.  Costing $69.99, it is one of the more expensive options for home wine making supplies.  However, they come with a very delectable concentrate.  Instead of concentrating on just grapes, the Pinot Noir also includes a medley of berries.  It even has a pleasing raspberry aftertaste, which is very unique in the wine making
world.

4.  Vineyard Classic:  Among this brand, you can purchase the Reserve Du Chateau 4 Week Wine Kit.  With a 5-star rating on Amazon, this is truly first class in the world of home wine making supplies.  Unfortunately, it is also very expensive, as it costs $96.67.

5.  Artful Winemaker:  Artful Winemaker is another expensive brand, as it costs $99.99.  However, its components are all housed in one unit.  This means all you really have to do is pour the solution to create your wine.  Add this to the company’s free shipping offer, and you have the perfect solution for creating wine.  Since all of the components are already housed in the unit, all you have to do is pour in the solution.

Conclusion

At this point, you should have a good understanding of what you need to look for when making wine at home.  Really, the buying process is not too difficult, even for beginners.  Every kit should contain the components mentioned here unless they are an all-inclusive system like the Artful Winemaker.  You also have the option of just purchasing from a brand name, as they pretty much guarantee the will have what you need.  Plus, with brand names, you can find exotic concentrates that might not be available with a generic kit.

Regardless, the main lesson here is that you should not rely on price alone.  If you are completely new to wine making, consider getting a less expensive kit for your first try.  By taking this approach, you will understand how the process works.  Should something go wrong, you would only lose a minimal amount of money.

A Crash Course in Home Wine Making Equipment

November 1, 2011 in Wine Making with Comments Off

Primary Fermenter
Get a big plastic bucket – with a hole in it. Why? So air can get out. Obviously.
Carboy
This is a glass container (typically five gallons). This is the standard container for home wine makers.
Plastic Buckets
You’re going to want to have some five to seven gallon buckets, for all sorts of wine related stuff like racking and mixing up all the stuff.
Airlocks
You need these, really. They let carbon dioxide out of the wine. They have a valve. For the non-mechanically savvy like myself that’s all you need to know.
Corks
Naturally Cut Corks – these are pretty much the real deal when it comes to corking wine, but they’re pretty expensive. If you’re new to home wine making these are too steep of an investment. At least they were for me.
Agglomerated Corks – these are awesome as long as you don’t care about the wine’s longevity. They don’t last too long, I wouldn’t waste my time with them.
Synthetic Corks – as the name makes pretty obvious, these are synthetic. What do we like about synthetic stuff? It won’t corrode. Durability is our friend.
Corker
I really can’t stress this enough – if you are new to making wine at home please do not waste your money buying one of these. When you go pro, then buy one. Until then rent them from a wine shop. They’re too expensive to justify early on.
Carboy and Bottle Brushes
Pretty self-explanatory, these are used to clean out bottles and your carboy. They’re real cheap too.
Hydrometer
It took me forever to figure out how to use this stupid thing – but, put simply, it measures the sugars in your wine by using ‘specific gravity’. Your own wine making kit will have information for you about the numbers you’re specifically looking for.
Siphoning Tubes
Another extremely self-explanatory device. They siphon your wine. Since you don’t want to try and pour a five gallon bucket of wine by yourself. Use a siphon.

A Guide to Finding Cheap Home Wine Making Kits for Beginners (and Experts Too)

October 21, 2011 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

Wine making is pretty awesome – almost as fun as drinking wine.  But using grapes takes a lot of extra time and energy that kind of detracts from the fun of the process.  The simpler the whole system is, the more enjoyable it is.  At least when you’re a beginner, as you mature into master of home wine brewing you may find that you enjoy using real grapes and evolving past kits – that’s fine.

But when just getting started, we highly suggest you start by using a wine making kit.  They’re designed for beginners (like you and me), and they are really cost effective.  Especially when considering the gobs of money you’ll be saving when drinking your own home brewed wine – it’s well worth the price of admission.

Where To Buy Wine Making Kits

I find that the best place to get a wine kit is on the internet – yes, if you know of a local wine shop that has a good selection of wine making kits, then that is a fine alternative for you.  However, where I currently reside there really aren’t any decent shops selling wine kits, and so I prefer ordering them off of the internet.

As always, the final decision is up to you.

What Are the Best Wine Making Kits?

Obviously, when looking for the right home wine kit for you it’s important to keep in mind what kind of budget you are going for.  The first time I bought a wine kit I opted for something much less expensive, because if I ended up not really enjoying the process or the wine I didn’t want to be out too much cash.

So I started out with the Diablo Rojo (Red Devil) Vintners Reserve Wine Making Kit (major steal price here by the way).  I don’t remember where I ordered it, probably from some obscure third party website (I search meticulously for deals).

I don’t know what my next wine making kit will be, but as I learn more about the different kinds from my own experience I will probably update this to keep it relevant.

And if anyone has suggestions for home wine making kits that they liked, I encourage you to drop some knowledge in the comments or send me an email.

 

There are some pretty awesome starter wine kits available, and I look forward to trying more of them as I go.  It’s a surprisingly enjoyable craft and not too difficult to get started in.  Besides, we have pretty thorough instructions on the process right here:

Making Wine From a Kit

 

We also recommend the book From Vines to Wines.

Calories in White Wine

July 5, 2011 in White Wine with Comments Off

Do you know how many calories there are in white wine?  On average a glass of white wine contains between 100 and 120 calories, this is an estimate based on a five ounce serving.

You can typically get an idea of the caloric intake of a wine based on its position on the sweet/dry continuum.  The sweeter the wine is the more sugar it has, the more sugar it has the higher it is in calories.  Dessert wines will have more than 120 calories whereas very dry white wines may fall below the 100 calorie mark.

What About Nutrition?

You may also want to look into red wine nutrition if you are watching your calories, as red wines typically contain both fewer calories and fewer carbohydrates.  There are plenty of sweet red wines that may satisfy your interest such as Pinot Noir.  If not, Pinot Grigio is probably your absolute best bet with white wines.  Kind of depends, Pinot Grigio is definitely my favorite.

It contains a mere 100 calories per five ounce glass and only 2 grams of carbohydrates.  Sauvignon Blanc is another excellent choice for the calorie counter as it only has 110 calories; however it has 3 grams of carbohydrates.

Alcohol Calories Are Better!

Also, the alcoholic calories that are consumed when drinking wine are mostly converted into acetate instead of fat.  This is something that is important to consider, because acetate is much easier to burn than fat is, ergo, even though the calorie count may be the same as something that you ate you will have less trouble burning off the wine than you will something that you ate.

There are a lot of different options when selecting white wines, and honestly none of the standard whites have a very high calorie count – especially when compared to other alcoholic beverages.  Still, it is not a bad idea to check out some red wines to get an idea of what you might like.

For more information check out Red vs White Wine.

Wine Making Instructions (Fundamentals)

July 4, 2011 in Wine Making with Comments Off

There are two ways to make wine on your own: from a kit and from grapes, beginners should only use a kit because it circumvents several of the most difficult steps and a kit will include everything needed – including detailed instructions.  After using a kit and juice concentrate to make many batches of wine oenophiles interested in upgrading their passion can consider ordering grapes from a vineyard.  In this case you will need a truck of your own and the ability to drop everything and pick up 70 or 80 pounds of grapes – you can never be sure when exactly the grapes will be ready.

The first step after picking grapes is to crush them into ‘must’.  The must is just the grapes crushed down, for white wines this is after the skins are removed, if red wines the grapes stay in.  Some people choose to keep the stems because they add nuances to the finished product, while others choose to remove them.  This is a matter of personal taste (this choice is bypassed for you if using a kit).

Next you press the must; the juice is then poured into a vat, yeast is added – the yeast is what allows the wine to ferment.  It ingests the sugar in the grapes and produces alcohol, which is why the longer the yeast is allowed to process the grapes the more alcoholic and the less sweet the wine will be.

The juice is then transferred into different vats through a process called ‘racking’ where bentonite is added.  The bentonite attaches itself to the yeast, making the compound heavier than the wine.  It sinks to the bottom of the barrel and can then be filtered out, leaving nothing but the wine behind.  Some purists will actually argue that the wine shouldn’t be filtered, this all comes down to personal taste and how much of an aged, ‘earthy’ taste you are striving for.  The less filtration a wine undergoes the more complexities it will offer, but for the new oenophile filtering the wine is recommended.

After this the wine is ready to be racked and bottled.  A normal kit will provide enough wine for 30 750ml bottles, and these bottles of wine should be excellent for at least two years.  They may take as long as six months to a year to age completely, depending on the body and type of wine.

Remember to always sterilize all of your equipment and follow the instructions your wine kit comes with, there is enough science behind wine making that you could dedicate your whole life to the process, but a fundamental understanding and the willingness to be patient and follow the instructions is all you need to make your own wine.

 

Home Wine Making Instructions (From a Kit)

July 4, 2011 in Wine Making with Comments Off

Making wine from a kit comes with all sorts of advantages that fresh fruit cannot offer.  While commercial wineries will choose grapes because of the additional complexities that can be extracted, shipping 80 pounds of fresh grapes to your home as a part of a hobby really isn’t realistic.  Luckily, wine kits have been consistently improving their quality over the last few decades and they come in varieties that can match anyone’s wine making needs.  Also, these kits come with simple wine making instructions that should always be followed – once you’ve produced a few batches you can start experiment some with the process.

Wine kits come in two distinct types: juice kits and concentrate kits.  These are pretty self-explanatory, a concentrate kit will need water added; a juice kit won’t.  Wine made from juice will possess more of the original grape than a wine made from concentrate, but concentrates are less expensive.  When looking into concentrates, juices, and mixtures of both there is always a direct relationship between the purity of the juice and the price.

 

The Basic Equipment:

Gallon Jug (glass) – for preparing sanitizing solution

Primary Fermenter – this is the plastic pail used to start your batch

Measuring Cups – a 2 quart capacity one for measuring water, and 1 cup one for measuring ingredients

Long Handled Spoon – used for stirring the batch, don’t use wood as it is harder to sterilize and can pick up more germs

Hydrometer – this is used for measuring the gravity of your wine

Syphon Hose (5 feet) – this is for transferring the wine from the primary fermenter to a carboy

2 Glass Carboys (5 gallon) – one carboy is used for holding the wine, the other is used when transferring it

Airlock and Rubber Bung – this attaches to the rubber stop, it allows carbon dioxide to escape the wine without allowing air in

Food Grade Funnel – for mixing ingredients

Wine Thief – for extracting must samples from a carboy

Bottling Attachment – this is for bottling the wine with the syphon hose

 

Getting Started

Open the container in the kit, you can take a small taste of the contents to make it sure it seems right: should be sweet and juicy.  Pour the contents into your primary fermenter; add the ingredient packets, and the water.  Stir it all up with your long handled spoon and add the yeast.

Keep your fermentation batch at a temperature above 68 degrees Fahrenheit, most reds typically like a temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  Above 90 degrees will be too hot for the yeast to properly initiate fermentation and the wine won’t taste right.  Use the recommended amount of yeast with your kit – one of the nicest things about adding yeast is that while you can add too little you really can’t add too much, if there is any doubt; err on the side of generosity.

Depending on the temperature you decided on it should take between 7 and 10 days for the must to reach the right gravity reading.  Use your hydrometer to check its specific gravity reading which should be 1.020.  On a side note it’s a great idea to measure the specific gravity when you first pour the contents into the primary fermenter, your kit will tell you what the specific gravity is supposed to be but it doesn’t hurt to double check.

Rack the Wine

Now that the must has reached 1.020 specific gravity you can rack it into a clean carboy.  Place the primary fermenter on a table with the carboy below it; place the end of the siphon in the bottom of the primary fermenter with the other end feeding into the carboy.  Suck three times then place that end into the carboy, this will begin the syphoning into the carboy.  Top the carboy with cool water that has been boiled, allowing it to fill up right below the rubber bung, connect the airlock.  Then wait ten days, repeat the process into another carboy, and wait three or four weeks.

For the final racking you will add 3/8 of a teaspoon of sulfite to the mixture in rinsed and sanitized carboy.  The best way to do this is to use your wine thief to extract a couple ounces, mix that with the sulfite and put that in the new carboy (this way it’s mixed together rather than just letting the sulfite sit at the bottom).

Now store the wine somewhere away from direct sunlight, the cooler and darker the better, and wait four to six weeks.

Filtering the Wine

Now we add bentonite to the wine, which connects to the yeast particles and settles at the bottom of the batch.  This is not a necessary step, and people will argue on both sides as to whether you should leave the yeast or fine it with bentonite.  This is up to you.

After adding the bentonite it is then time to filter the wine, which will extract the bentonite/yeast sediment and any other sediment that have developed in the wine.  This is also up to you, if you have been careful in your fining and haven’t added an excess of bentonite filtering isn’t necessary.  Some people do it consistently, others believe it not important.  You can loan or rent a filtration system, it isn’t a good idea to buy one until you’ve become a dead serious winemaker as they are quite expensive.

Bottling

You will need 26 750ml bottles for a 5 gallon batch of wine.  Attach the bottle attachment to the syphon, putting the other end into the very bottom of the carboy.  Siphon the wine again, and fill the bottles one half inch shy of the cork.  You may want to rent a corker for this process, but there are floor corkers which are very easy to use.  After corking allow the bottles to sit upright for a week so the corks expand out fully, then lay them on their sides so the wine immerses the cork – this way it won’t dry out.

Conclusion

Ta-da!  You’ve bottled your first batch.  Different kits will age at different rates, and last for different amounts of times.  Generally a kit wine is great for two years but it could last even longer depending on the fruits used.

The Ah-So Wine Bottle Opener

June 29, 2011 in Wine Accessories with Comments Off

It is time I come forth and admit what my favorite wine bottle opener is, especially since I didn’t list it in The Essential Wine Bottle Openers.  It is the Ah-So bottle opener, also called the butler’s friend.  I never leave my house without it.

One of the major selling factors on this super minimalistic accessory is its price: I believe I spent under fifteen dollars on my most recent one; I may have spent less than ten.  They are priced similarly to corkscrew wine bottle openers, and are about same size.  People like the corkscrew because it carries very historic image and is such a mainstay in the wine lover community – but I prefer the Ah-So wine bottle opener because I find it much easier to use.  Admittedly, I can be a little clumsy and I try to abstain from getting wine stains on my clothes and carpet when it can be avoided – the butler’s friend helps me with this.

However, it is not the ease of use or price that has me so faithfully sold on the Ah-So, or the number of other brands – like this kickass Pedrini.  No, it is the preservation of the cork.  The Ah-So doesn’t dig into a cork like a corkscrew or any other wine bottle openers, instead it slides two metal tongues between the cork and then pops it out without any damage whatsoever.  This is great if you’ve been considering collecting your corks, or already have been collecting nice corks with holes dug into the middle of them.  You can even select a cork kit and display your collecting proudly.

Either way, even if you want nothing to do with the corks it is still an amazingly sleek looking device, and I find it to be the most convenient for a quick bottle opener.  It fits in your pocket and takes no more than a few moments to pop off a cork and be enjoying some fine vino.

Page 1 of 3123»