Posts for 'Wine Making' Category

While quite a few people are starting to imbibe wine in India, not too many really know how wine is made, or what constitutes “good” wine. Since I’ve been carrying on about the stuff for some time now, it’s high time I delved into the subject, on the principle that to appreciate anything one needs to understand it a little.

Wine grapes...
Wine is made from wine grapes. Wine grapes are different from table grapes — they have an acid-sugar balance that provides that essential “crispness” and natural aromas derived from the skin and juice. About 80 per cent of the quality of a wine is due to the grape — it’s possible to make poor wine from good grapes, but there’s no way anyone can make good wine from poor-quality grapes.

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One in 10 bottles of wine consumed in Australia today is imported. Yes, that's a very striking fact. And we should be struck.

As a nation producing roughly 1236 megalitres of wine a year – and wine in a myriad styles – it might seem a little odd that we should need any imported wine at all.

Why so? Are we drinking imported wine because we are all true internationals? Are we drinking imported wine because we want to be true internationals? Or is there something else  something more substantive  behind this growth in imported wine sales in Australia today?

Because sales are certainly growing. Over the past six years, imported wine sales have grown nearly 400 per cent. Last year, imported wine represented 11.1 per cent of Australian wine sales.

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Wölffer Estate Vineyard will release the 2005 “Christian's Cuvée" Merlot, a proprietary Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc dedicated to the memory of the estate's visionary founder, Christian Wölffer, on Aug. 3. A pioneer in Long Island winemaking, Wölffer died Dec. 31, 2008 just months after the winery's celebration of its 20th Anniversary.

“Christian and I worked together for seventeen years to realize his vision of excellence at Wölffer Estate," Roman Roth, winemaker and Technical Director of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, said. “It is only fitting that our commemorative “Christian's Cuvée" adheres to his uncompromising standards of quality and showcases the amazing potential that he foresaw in these former potato fields to create world-class wines."

The pinnacle of Wölffer Estate winemaking, “Christian's Cuvée" Merlot is a blend of 83 percent Merlot, 14.5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2.5 percent Cabernet Franc, sourced from the estate's finest vineyard sites. Harvested in mid-October 2005, the grapes were hand-picked and hand-sorted, then separated to ferment the Merlot in a 6,000-liter upright French oak tank, and other lots in 1 ton bins. Following an extended fermentation, the wine was gently pressed then transferred to 100 percent new oak French barriques for 21 months of aging. Winemaker Roman Roth notes that the finished wine is dark red, almost black in color.

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All wine lovers dream of fleeing the big city, buying a few acres, planting some grapes, and living out the rest of their lazy days swirling and sipping under the sun.  Keep dreaming. Meanwhile, there's Gallaghers' Where-U-Brew, just 15 miles away from Seattle in Edmonds.

A popular beer- and winemaking facility, Gallaghers' plays host to home crafters of all sorts: from fun-loving first-timers to semipros customizing their own recipes to, most recently, a growing number of root beer fans.

When Dennis Gallagher and his wife, Sandy, opened Gallaghers' in 1995, the operation mostly drew beer buffs interested in demystifying the microbrewery process but unwilling to invest in the equipment needed to seriously hone their hobby.

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If you are interested in wine making then you need to do a little homework before you get started. Wine making is not something that you can just plunge into and learn along the way, you need to do some research so that you know that you are not missing any vital wine making steps or processes. If you do miss these wine making your wine could very well turn out tasting like anything but wine.

Wine making is a something fun that you can do in your spare time and at the end you will have a glorious result. Wine making is something that people tend to get hooked on because the very first batch is not usually perfect, it may taste delicious but it will not be perfect. As you learn about wine making and as you get the wine making experience behind you your wine will get better and better. You will undoubtedly pick up tips and tricks to help you improve your wine making capabilities.

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When most people think of fine wine, the Tenderloin is probably not high on their list, unless they happen to be planning a Bev-Mo run. However, even in these shady byways and backalleys, culture has found a place to roost. Rather than a pub crawl, consider this an informative brochure of locations to be visited in the Examiner spirit of the Tour de France competition: while they tour the countryside, you'll be touring the stemware.

Jardiniere: Not only is this perhaps one of my favorite restaurants in all of San Francisco, but you simply cannot turn up your nose when it comes to their extensive wine selection. Their sommelier, Eugenio Jardim, has a penchant for unearthing new and exciting wines from little-known wineries on a smaller scale, which keeps their wine list interesting and ever changing. For white-lovers, they have a flavorful 2006 Burgundy from Château de la Maltroye, Chassagne-Montrachet, France. And red-lovers, you have reached your mecca, and probably can't go wrong no matter what you choose. Don't forget to order cheeses to top off your night of revelry - a number of those on their July cheese list are also hailing from across the pond.

Chez Papa: Don't let the jovial name fool you - you don't get to be the father of the house without knowing a thing or two about food and wine. Where most restaurants save their tastier vintages for bottle-buyers, Chez Papa has an extensive and striking availability of their French wines by the glass. While you may still want to opt for a bottle in a group, this means even a solo search will find satisfaction. Try their Mont. St. Emilion, from Château Faizeau in Bordeaux, 2002, or the more unusual Bourgogne, from Moulin Neuf, Danjean Berthoux. Especially exciting is a white wine on their glass list from the Loire Valley, a 2006 Pouilly Fumé out of Régis Minet, Vieilles Vignes. And of course, my recommendation that you indulge in their selection of artisinal cheeses holds strong.

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Amongst the working class wine tasting can seem like an intimidating and swanky event.  However, Connecticut's Wine Trail is a great introduction to wine and wine tasting by offering a variety of wines, quaint New England surroundings, and an inexpensive social outing. The Connecticut Wine Trail is composed of over 20 local vineyards and wineries which boast as being charming, entertaining and tasty.  Every Connecticut county is included in the wine trail, from the Litchfield hills to the Quiet Corner and along the Long Island coast.   
 
Wine tasting provides a relaxing yet exciting experience that can be enjoyed by all, whether you've never drank a glass of wine to international connoisseurs.  Set on farm land (without the farm smell) or along rolling hills, vineyards provide scenery that will relax even the most stressed.  All wineries have small friendly staff that are willing to answer any wine question.  The owners and operators offer informative tours of their properties which creates a full experience.  Many stops on the trail encourage you to bring a snack or lunch to compliment each tasting, which will keep the overall experience very affordable.

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Do you make wine? Do you want to learn? How about tasting homemade wine – do you like doing that? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, chances are you would have felt right at home yesterday.
June 13 marked the fifth annual Wine Competition held by Harrisburg's very own Italian Coffee Club, a local group of Italian-Americans with big hearts and a passion for all things Italian. Wine making is one tradition that this group is particularly fond of, thanks to club founder, John "Gennaro" DiFabio, and his better half, Judy "Giuditta" Weir. Several times a year, DiFabio arranges excursions to Philadelphia and New Jersey to pick up wine musts. He has taught every one of us how to turn that must into wine, right down to the corking process.

Yesterday DiFabio and Weir opened their North Second Street home for a celebration of the club's homemade wines. Over the years, I've somehow acquired the job of running the wine judging portion of the festivities, and I'm more than happy to help. This year we had a total of 37 wines entered, spanning the categories of dry white, sweet white, blush, dry red, sweet red and novelty wines. Every category had a panel of judges who marked their scores on special rating sheets. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in every category, with Cy "Rosario" Rosito's lambrusco taking the grand prize medal. A wine label competition also followed. Naturally, the wines were accompanied by tables overflowing with delicacies, complete with DiFabio's homemade sausage.

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Central Massachusetts includes hidden delights for travelers and locals. Why travel to far away locations when you can enjoy free, local wine tastings right here in Central Massachusetts. Find free wine (or nominal fee) tastings, winery tours, wines for holidays and special occaisions, and local wines that you can give as thoughtful gifts.

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Every true fanatic for wines will realize the ecstasy of preparing their own wine at home and savoring it. You may think wine making at home is difficult, but you will be happy to know that it isn’t and is quite easy.

Initially you will need to know the steps involved in making wine in a domestic setting and then you can use them to make your own wine.

In order to make wine at home you will need either grape concentrate or grapes. Grow some grapes if you have a piece of land and use them whenever you make your wine. If you are using grape concentrate, nothing but the best quality will do.

You can get such high quality concentrate online and in domestic supply stores. Now you will have to get home brewing equipment and some yeast.

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