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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. 9/1/02
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The
Wine is ready for the
Barrel…is
the barrel ready for the wine?
Some people and
most wine makers wait till the last minute to do
things…like getting the barrels ready for the new wine.
You should have the grapes in by now, and the wine should be
ready to be placed in barrels for the second fermentation.
Here is what you should have done to the barrels several
days and weeks ago…Be sure not to use a barrel if it
smells bad and has mold inside it.
The way to
store barrels for a long time is to do the
following:
- Clean the
barrel and rinse the barrel several times with cold
water.
- Fill the
barrel about half way and add 180 grams of citric acid
and finish filling the barrel. Be sure that the citric
acid is dissolved when you add it to the water in the
barrel.
- Let the water
and acid stand for two days and then drain the
barrel.
- Rinse several
times with cold water and empty…allowing the barrel
to completely drain all of the water out. (Water and SO2
gas will form sulfurous acid and soak into the
wood.)
- Hang a lighted
sulfur stick in the barrel, placing the bung on very
loosely. Pressure will build up with the burning of the
sulfur stick and can blow out the bung. BE CAREFUL, never
hold your head over the bung to observe if the stick is
burning.
- After about 5
minutes, remove the burnt sulfur stick and place bung in
tightly. The burning of the sulfur stick burns up the
oxygen in the barrel, killing bacteria and
mold.
- Store the
barrel in a cool, dry and dark place. Each month rinse
the barrel with cold water once and burn a new sulfur
stick to keep the barrel sound.
- Before you are
ready to use the barrel for storage of wine, soak it
again with citric acid, 90 grams of KMS, and cold water
for two days and then rinse….You are now ready to
add the wine.
Now see that
was easy…why are we just now doing it??? Okay,
now let's look and see which barrel we need to finish
emptying so we can try all this stuff. I have a couple of
wine glasses; so we can get started. To us…! !
!
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