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Notes From the
Vintner
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Welcome
to our column. We hope that you will return to
learn interesting notes on wine, and related
subjects. Wine is a great gift from God to be used
for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should
be treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body
and lighten the soul. 07/1/01
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The Fruit is
a coming….
in fact,
some of it is here. Many home wine makers are making
Blackberry, Strawberry, Plum, and Blueberry wines. But the
main stay, the Grape, has not yet arrived. So you still have
time to get everything ready to make a great batch of wine.
Let's get started! ! !
This
is the time of the year that you re-clean all of your
equipment. Use a solution of water and bleach to clean all
of your glass and plastic vessels and hand equipment. Mix
¼ cup bleach to one gallon of water and allow the
solution to stay on the equipment for several minutes. Then
rinse with a goodly amount of hot water at least twice or,
better yet, three times. Now it is time to clean the
equipment with a solution of sulfite and citric acid. Mix 3
grams of potassium meta-bisulfite and 12 grams of citric
acid into one gallon of water. Take this solution and rinse
all your equipment with it and let it air dry. Now you are
set to use the equipment for wine making. Just before you
put the items into use, rinse them again with the above
solution of sulfite and citric acid. Cleanliness is next to
Godliness…and good wine making.
Be
sure, when you are starting to crush, that you use a good
yeast to get the ball rolling. There is wild yeast on the
fruit, but you need to inhibit this yeast, and use a pure
wine yeast to start the wine. The other yeast will work, but
may not give the best results. Baker's yeast will work, but
again, not with the best results. Be sure that the fruit is
clean, absent of foreign matter, and not spoiled. Buy your
yeast ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until
you use it for wine. Be sure that you also have all the
testing items ready to test the juice when you
crush.
Well,
we are ready…bring on the grapes…
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