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. 7/01/08 |
Clean, Clean, and Reclean… there can never be enough said about being clean and sterile in your wine making. I had a problem with my filtering this month. I clean and make all of it sterile before I bottle. But I had a problem with some wine starting to work that I had bottled. I could not figure out where the problem was coming from, and just how to prevent it in the future. This just proves that some times you cannot see the forest for the trees. After thinking about the problem for a couple of days, it hit me where the problem could be, and how to correct it in the future. It is important to step back from your work now and then and check and see just what you are doing and if all the steps are correct. So I would suggest that you take time every few months and check out your procedures in wine making. There may always be room to improve.
Be sure to keep the SO2 checked in your wine. Winemakers who use plastic water bottles need to know that the plastic will over time allow air to enter the wine. That is why glass is better…"but sometimes us poor boys have poor ways”... Plastic can work to make wine, but watch what you are doing.
Also you should be aware that the only five and up gallon bottle plant in the Americas closed. This means that the larger jugs will now have to come from Europe…which means that the price has gone through the ceiling. So if you can find any at a garage sale, you better buy them. It is also nice to have a wooden frame to keep the glass bottles in; this will help to keep them from breaking.
It is time to be checking your equipment so that everything is ready for the crush…for it is just around the corner. And speaking of checking, shall we check out a bottle of wine in the cellar ???
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Robert G Cowie
Wine Maker |
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