First Tasting: ** 2008 Chez Ray Riesling, CT

Posted by James DeRosa in General, OtherNov 11th, 2008 | No Comments
This is the first tasting of the 2008 Chez Ray Riesling, just out of the fermentation jug. The grapes were harvested from Westport, CT, and fermented cool with ICV-D254 yeast.

In the glass, the riesling is light vanilla in color, still with a touch of haze and a bit of spritz. This will likely clear nd settle in time. Aroma is yeasty and sweet, still with overtones of honey. On the palate, there is a bright front, followed quickly with an alcohol blast. Pretty unbalanced at this stage, and the fruit is quite shy. I can only award two stars out of five on the Spirit of Wine scale.

Natural Wines = Avoided Hangovers?

Posted by James DeRosa in Agricultural, HealthNov 11th, 2008 | No Comments

Can this be true? Organic wines can help avoid the nuisance of a hangover. Seems to be the case or at least the latest speculation. We have now become a society obsessed with the organic culture and why not throw wine into the mix.

The older – and wiser – you get, the more you worry about what you drink. Or that’s the theory, and one which a new bar, Terroirs, is banking on as the first natural wine bar in Central London. Opening this week, it promises the biggest selection of natural wine in the country – and no hangovers.

Fiona Sims wrote and article over at TimesOnline – Titled: How to avoid a hangover with natural wines

Interesting write up on what will be the next big trend in winemaking. Personally I am surprised I have not seen more articles like this.

Is The IPA Myth, A Myth?

Posted by Ben in HealthNov 11th, 2008 | Comments Off

Old Fashion “Dago Red” Recipe

Posted by James DeRosa in Process, Recipes & FormulaeNov 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment

I want to start off with an apology to anyone who is insulted by the name of this wine, it is not intended to be an ethnic slur. Being an Italian American myself I have nothing but the highest regards for people with Italian heritage. I take no offense – I hope that you don’t either. It is a thing to enjoy!

This photo is not of me it was supplied by army.arch from Flickr.

I enjoyed the sites as a child to watch my grandfather make his magical wine in his basement. The smell, that slight chill to the air and the sound of wine being racked. These elements plus the screaming of Italian men, while eating cheese and prosuttio is what family was to me. The wine seemed to tie it all together. I would concentrate on my grandfather’s hand while he was pouring that wine from the jug. Seeing out of focus faces laughing and carrying on in the background. It was the lifeblood of those times. That wine was referred to as “Dego Red.”

There isn’t any particular recipe for "Dago Red." The name merely refers to any red wine made in an Italian style outside Italy. It is probably the most requested recipe, usually after the passing of an older family member who didn’t teach anyone how to craft his wine or, no one was interested in helping and learning at the time. More often than not this idiom is used by friends of Italian families that want to brag what they had at dinnertime with the family of 24 down the street.

Truth be told, you really need to know where the departed got their grapes, as the wine referred to can only be made in the same way if they use the identical grapes. Since this is usually information not on hand, simply whipping up a batch of red wine is the accustomed alternative.

Here is a basic recipe and procedure:

 

Classic “Dago Red” Wine – Yields: 5-6 gallons of finished wine

1. Take approximately 45-50 lbs. of Concord grapes.
2. Crush grapes just enough to break the skins.
3. Put into a clean, open top container, plastic is ok at this point.
   1. Add 15 lbs of sugar to 1-2 gallons of lukewarm water (100°F to 110°F). Stir until dissolved and add to must.
4. Cover container to keep out contaminants.
5. In 24 hours add one and one half packs of wine yeast.
6. Stir must twice a day for 5-7 days pushing the pulp down.
7. Siphon out the juice in 5-6 days if the room temperature is hot (80°F to 90°F) and 6-7 days if the room temperature is cooler.
8. Press the pulp, if you can, for more juice. Although this will create more work in the future in more racking to clear wine.
9. Put wine into a wooden barrel but do not fill up to top, room is needed for expansion while it is working. Optionally you can use glass carboys with airlocks if you wish.
10. Ferment juice for a few weeks gradually topping off. Keep loosely covered if in a wooden barrel
    1. Ferment for three more weeks with airlock left on at all times and then rack. Attach airlock again.
    2. Rack again in another 3 weeks.
11. When it slows down or stops fermenting, about Thanksgiving, cap tight.
    1. When it stops fermenting completely, rack again, wait 7 days then bottle.

 

Once bottled it is best to have this sit for at least a year to give it that authentic flavor, but if you need to… you can enjoy a glass now! No harm done.

Salute! Chindun!

Weekend Wine Word – Reverse Osmosis

Posted by James DeRosa in Weekend Wine WordNov 7th, 2008 | No Comments

Reverse osmosis is a more economical operation for concentrating food liquids (such as fruit juices) than conventional heat-treatment processes. Research has been done on concentration of orange juice and tomato juice. Its advantages include a low operating cost and the ability to avoid heat treatment processes, which makes it suitable for heat-sensitive substances like the protein and enzymes found in most food products.

Reverse osmosis is extensively used in the dairy industry for the production of whey protein powders and for the concentration of milk to reduce shipping costs. In whey applications, the whey (liquid remaining after cheese manufacture) is pre-concentrated with RO from 6% total solids to 10-20% total solids before UF (ultrafiltration) processing. The UF retentate can then be used to make various whey powders including WPI (whey protein isolate) used in bodybuilding formulations. Additionally, the UF permeate, which contains lactose, is concentrated by RO from 5% total solids to 18–22% total solids to reduce crystallization and drying costs of the lactose powder.

Although use of the process was once frowned upon in the wine industry, it is now widely understood and used. An estimated 60 reverse osmosis machines were in use in Bordeaux, France in 2002. Known users include many of the elite classed growths (Kramer) such as Château Léoville-Las Cases in Bordeaux.

Reverse osmosis is used globally throughout the wine industry for many practices including wine and juice concentration, taint removal; such as acetic acid, smoke taint and brettanomyces taint; and alcohol removal. The patent holder for these processes, Vinovation, Inc., claims to have served over 1000 wineries worldwide, either directly or through one if its licensed partners, in the last 15 years. Its use has become so widely accepted that patent infringers have sprung up on several continents.

Learn more about it here and here.

WineMaking Radio – A Podcast for Winemakers

Posted by James DeRosa in GeneralNov 5th, 2008 | No Comments

There aren’t too many audio shows or Podcasts out there for winemakers, but I did happen to come across a good one today. WineMaking Radio. Seems to cover a lot of good bases and is great to listen to while you are performing your hobby with friends. It helps to strike up good conversation points (which should already be underway already!)

From the site:

WineMaking Radio was formed out of a love for audio programs (entertainment before people had televisions in their homes) and a very special hobby called winemaking. Robert Linder, the co-founder of Clear Data and the producer of WineMaking Radio, has been a beer homebrewer for fifteen years and an amateur winemaker for eight years. His love for all things wine, especially the people who support the hobby, has led him to this opportunity to create audio programs that inform, entertain and inspire us to be better winemakers.

WineMakingRadio.com

An Old School Resource – Newsgroups

Posted by James DeRosa in OtherNov 3rd, 2008 | No Comments

Back when I first started using the internet newsgroups were a great way to gather information. This was before forums and blogs, but they still hold some good information. I thought I would share a few links to help get you started on Google Groups. If you prefer to use a third party newsgroup application – just add these links to your reader. Otherwise just click on the links below to go to these specific groups.

rec.crafts.winemaking – dedicated to the discussion of the process, recipes, tips, storage, techniques and general exchange of lore on the process, methods and history of wine making. This group is to be general enough to encompass both traditional grape wines as well as wines which are generally described as country wines, sparkling wines, and champagnes. In general, the appropriateness of a particular beverage will be determined by the process involved in its making. Essentially, if the process used is that of winemaking, then the discussion is considered appropriate. This may include such beverages as cider or mead. It is recognized that there are topics, which are of interest to both wine makers and brewers, and posting and cross posting of such topics, is considered both appropriate and desirable. Personal stories and experiences shall be welcome as long as they pertain to the craft of wine making.

alt.food.wine – welcomes all questions relating to wine (in relation to consumption and food pairing), though questions
concerning winemaking might get more responses in the related newsgroup
rec.crafts.winemaking.

Question Of The Week: How Do You Clean Your Wine Making Equipment?

Posted by Scott Young in General, OtherNov 1st, 2008 | No Comments

I was asked the other day how I clean my wine making equipment so I thought this would be a good topic for my “question of the week” as I’m sure there are others curious as well. So here’s what I do to keep the germs off my winemaking gear:

I call it the “Double Whammy”!

Step 1 - Pink Solution (Sani Brew)

It’s comes as chlorinated pink powder that you dissolve 3.5 g per litre of cold water (5 tsp. per gal). Soak stained equipment up to 48 hours. Rinse thoroughly with hot water. Because it’s a chlorine product you want to be careful with stainless steel equipment and you’ll also want to make sure you rinse really well. I like soaking my wine and beer bottles in it for several days to clean all the “gunge” out of them, especially if they’re used. It’s also great for removing stains from your equipment (especially your primary).

Step 2 - MetaBisulphite spray down.

This is a good sanitizer as well but doesn’t clean like in step one hence why I do both.  I use a spray bottle like the one below as it really helps get you good coverage.  The nice thing about the MetaBisulphite solution is that it is reusable for up to a month.  Note that it has a strong sulphur smell so use it in a well ventilated area so you don’t irritate your lungs.  I typically rinse my equipment after using it but some people just let their equipment drip dry as it won’t be a bad thing if it gets into your wine as it will help prevent oxidization.

Anyhoo, that’s basically what I do to clean my equipment.

Oh … one thing you might want to do is go to your hardware store and invest in a short garden hose that you can attach to a tap as this’ll help you clean your primary and secondary.  I was able to pick one up that was about 6 feet long with one end open and the other with the tap connector. I’ve used it for years and it makes things really easy. Make sure that you clean this out first (i.e. in step 1) so that you clean out any bugs that might be lurking in it as well.

If you’re interested in some more details on how to clean your equipment here are two good resources for you:

• http://www.clickabrew.com/cn-0903.html (scroll down the page and look for “Cleaning & Sanitising your Winemaking Equipment”
• http://www.eckraus.com/Cleaners_-and-_Sanitizers.html (an online store where you can buy some of the sanitizers)
• http://www.grapestompers.com/sanitation.asp (lot’s of great detail here)

If you have any interesting cleaning methods please share below!

- Scott

Making Correct Food And Wine Pairings

Posted by Scott Young in General, OtherNov 1st, 2008 | No Comments

The selection of appropriate food and wine pairings was at one point an art practiced only by the gourmand, the Maitre d’ or the sommelier at your favorite expensive restaurant. Today the choices of wine in the grocery and wine stores across the world are incredible. It is in fact possible to make food and wine pairings using almost any good quality wine and well prepared food. However, many folks still regard it as important to only combine appropriate wines with certain foods.

Food Selections With Red Wine

Red Fruit Wines is said to enhance the flavors of the food and in most cases provide a set of supporting not overpowering tastes to your meal. Red wines are described in terms of body, depth of color, smoothness and mix of tastes and tannins. Cabernets and merlots are red wines that should not bite when they go down and should be soothing to the palette. It is for these reasons that the traditionalists favored food and wine pairings that combined these red wines with red meats such as beef, and exotics such as ostrich and emus. Other red wines that are usually paired in this way are varietals from Spain, such as the Rioja and the red Bordeaux’s from France and some of the Tignanellos from the Tuscany region in Italy. Of course not all red wines should be thought of in this way.

There are many red wines today that are more sweet or lighter in nature. Food and wine pairings for Texas red, Beaujolais Nouveau or a Valpolicella can be extended to almost anything you eat. These wines are often drunk a little chilled and can add to any meal. Roses can also be included in this category and outstanding food and wine pairings with a good Rose are easy.

The other most frequently drunk red Fruit Wine in Italy is the Chianti. It has been said that the right Chianti can be paired with almost any food and it is truly hard to argue that there is food and wine pairing that is wrong for good Chianti. However, there should be a warning on the label, bad Chianti ranks among the worst things anyone can imbibe. If you are serving up a grand meal make sure that you choose a good Chianti or the occasion will be a real disaster.

Food Selections With White Wine

Food and wine pairings for white wines and Liqueurs are traditionally very broad. Often lighter and crisper in taste many white wines can be used at all stages of a meal, depending on your palette and taste. Common main course food and wine pairings for white wine include Chardonnays with fish, poultry and roast pork. As deserts are offered sweeter desert wines such as a Sauterne may be offered. In fact, as with red wines there are perhaps no food and wine pairings that are bad if good choices are made. Wines such as Fume Blanc, or Cabernet Blanc or even a good Chablis or German wine can be served with any food. Who is to say what is right and wrong, as long as the particular food and wine pairing provides a pleasant eating experience.