Capeway Cellars - Adventures in home winemaking

1st batch in a while.

2010-08-23T16:07:00.000-04:00

So I've taken a little hiatus with doing anything really. Its been quite the busy summer with finishing my masters and all.

I decided yesterday, however, that it was time to jump back into the game. I started with checking the status of things in the cellar. I tasted a few of my aging wines and I've concluded that there are 2 gal of blueberry that are just going to get tossed. No good.

The apple wine I attempted to make last fall didnt turn out so great either. Its very thin and not too much flavor. Which, is too bad because it smells fantastically like apples. I'll see if any sort of time changes things.

Moving on to 2 other Blues- I have a 5 gal batch that is going to be really nice I think in a few more months and a 1 gal batch that is going to be a dessert wine. It is sweet and tastes great. Just wont drink well as a dinner drink or just a reg. ol' glass of wine drink.

After that I decided I wanted to try and make some wine from grape juice. I've seen countless recipes for Welch's grape wine and I figured it was a good place to start seeing as I haven't done anything grape based yet. I decided on 1 gal each of red and white. Now...I entered into this batch knowing that they aren't going to turn out like a prize winning bordeaux but the reports are that it makes a pretty decent table wine. They should be done fermenting in a month or so.

The readings are a potential 13% abv for the white, and 13.5% for the red.

I'll let you know how they turn out!

A weekend of bottling!

2010-06-13T15:29:00.000-04:00

So this weekend brought some much needed chores being done around the house and some bottling as well.

I had two gallons of pear wine aging in the cellar that I made from pears grown on my parent's property and I figured it was a good time to bottle them. They had both cleared nicely and had fantastic color. Interestingly enough, even though they were all made from the same type of pear, each separate gallon had very different color. One had a very deep gold/reddish color while the other was pale yellow. Each had a slightly different taste as well and both had a great aroma of fresh cut pears. These are both going to be a fantastic chilled wine and after a little more aging time in the bottle I think they're going to be quite enjoyable.

Note the color difference below:

Updates

2010-04-16T11:50:00.000-04:00

So its been a while since I've done anything wine related, mostly because of being busy, but also because it is difficult to ferment in the winter due to colder temps. I'm looking forward to starting up some springtime batches though so look for that soon.

Also, things were put on hold a bit due to flooding but thankfully none of the wine or equipment was ruined! I had to toss a few boxes I was using for organization but the wine was moved to higher ground before the waters really rose. We ended up having close to a foot in the basement but things are drying out now.

Thats all for now!

5 Gal of Blues

2010-02-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

My newest 5 gal batch of wild blueberry has finally finished fermenting and it is deeeelicious! Now it is time to stabilize and send it down to the cellar for aging. If all goes well we can be looking forward to enjoying this batch by Christmas. I'm really hopeful for this one; I think its going to be great. It has just the slightest hint of french oak to it and a really nice dry fruity character. It clocks in at 11% ABV so its a nice dry clean wine.

I have sent a bottle of my Raspberry off to be auctioned in a home made wine basket at the Holy Apostles dinner dance so that is exciting.
Also I had ended up bringing a bottle of the Cranberry/White Grape wine I made in Dec. of '08 to New Years eve and it was a huge success! We tried a bottle of it this past summer when I brought it to ME and it tasted just kinda like a wine cooler and I wasn't too happy with it. Well, a lot can be said for aging! The bottle we opened on New Years had evolved quite nicely. It had a richer body to it and the alcohol had balanced out a bit and it was really nice.

Maybe since today is a snow day I'll work on the blueberry.

blueberry qualms

2009-12-31T17:40:00.000-05:00

So I've just come up from the "cellar" where I was doing some tasting to monitor the progress of my blueberry wines.

I think I may have to chalk up the 2nd batch of blueberry (I had bottled one for the wine competition in sept.) to a failure.

I had tasted it a few months ago and it was tasting a little thin but I figured maybe i'd give it some time and see.

After aging for 3 months it has definitely not improved, more so taken a turn for the worse. one of the carboys tastes close to red wine vinegar, very acidic and flat, and the other is very acidic and lacks a decent flavor. I can't really expect too much more as I am far from a professional wine maker and have to assume that I will come across a failed batch at some point, so I'm going with this is the one. Prob wont be the last.

I did have part of this batch in a 3rd carboy which I have sitting on French oak chips and it definitely is a bit better than the other two however I may have over oaked it a bit. I was pleased though to see it showing some legs on the glass and it has good body albiet a tad tannic. My plan is to take it off the chips in a month or so and continue to age it for the better part of a year and hope that mellows it out a little.

Luckily I have another 5 gallon batch that is coming along quite nicely in 2ndary fermentation and a one gallon batch that I just stabilized that is a sweet more desert-ish variety but clocks in at 11.5% ABV. So while it is sweet and full bodied it will get you a lil bit funky if you have enough.

So...Happy new year to all and to all a good night!

-------
Batches to look forward to for around summertime:

Blueberry oak dry
Raspberry
Apple
Pear

Raspberry

2009-12-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

So true to my word; in order to celebrate vacation I have bottled 2 gallons of my raspberry wine. It has a really nice color to it which I am pleased with.
It was a bit tart and dry (almost to the point of pucker-age, but not quite) so I stabilized and sweetened it a bit and it is quite pleasant.

Check out the picture:

Holidays and topping up, and perhaps...bottling!

2009-12-12T16:12:00.000-05:00

So far if I have had to top up any of my carboys I have been doing so with purified water. This is the method that most books and forums recommend. I have noticed though that the downfall to this method is a thinning out of the wine in flavor, body, and color.
Recently I came across a few message board threads that recommend using glass marbles to displace the volume rather than water. I am definitely looking forward to trying this out!

Also, I really would like to have at least a bottle of my wine during the holiday festivities that lay ahead so I think I am going to bottle some wine either this or next weekend. I have some that have been aging for a few months and although a year is optimal, I'm not patient enough!

Ok thats the update for now!

The hardest part is waiting...

2009-11-28T17:31:00.000-05:00

I just did a little bit of racking and I have to say I think that the hardest part of winemaking is the waiting.

I want to bottle a few things and I think I might soon...but the blueberry I really want to let age for at least a year. That means I can't have any until....oof next summer!

I have high hopes for some of the batches I've made and others I think are just going to be so-so. But I am looking forward to having an official wine release party in the summer!

Hope everyone's holidays are going well!

shots from the cellar

2009-11-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

So I know it looks a tad disorganized but its not!

Cranberry wine

2009-11-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

The Cellar

2009-11-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

Well the start of the school year has kept me busy so I haven't had time to update! Here is the status of the cellar at the moment.

I currently have in secondary fermentation:

2 gal Bartlett pear (grown organically on Pippin Orchard Road)
1 gal apple (hand picked apples from Dame Farm in Johnston)
1 gal wild blueberry (french oak) 13.5 % PA
5 gal wild blueberry 12% PA

Currently aging:
1 gal blackberry
2 gal raspberry
3 gal wild blueberry
1 gal cherry
5 gal apple

Looking ahead, I'm excited for the fact that it is cranberry season and I am planning to start a batch of cranberry soon from fresh cranberries. I tried one as you may have read for the very first wine I made, however, that was from mostly cranberry juice concentrate. This one will be from 100% fresh berries! I will keep you updated!

The Winning Wine

2009-10-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

AWARD WINNING!

2009-09-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

Thats right! I can now claim that my wine is award winning!!

The wine tasting event was a lot of fun. I got to talk to a lot of other home wine makers, and taste some good wines.

When all was said and done I won the award for Most Unusual for my plum wine! All of the judges said it was unusual in a good way. There were tons of reds there and mine was the only white. They said it stood out as being nice and fruity almost like a pinot grigio and that they all unanimously enjoyed it.

Looks like I will be making that one again in the future!

-G

Wine Tasting!

2009-09-15T08:18:00.001-04:00

Well the time has come,

ready or not I will be featuring my blueberry wine at a fall festival wine tasting and competition! It is just a small church community event but it does actually see a pretty big number for attendance. Theres going to be a judging portion and also a time that people can walk around and try the different wines and talk to the winemakers about their wines, etc.

I'm pretty excited about it so I will be deciding this weekend which ones I want to feature.

I'll let you know how it goes-

-G

More wine??!

2009-09-07T20:18:00.002-04:00

So here is the monthly-ish update-

I just started a new 5 gal. batch of wild ME blueberry wine 2 weeks ago. It is in secondary fermentation right now and I'm experimenting with keeping this one on oak chips during fermentation rather than after its stabilized.

The cranberry wine turned out to make some really nice summery sangria but its not really great for drinking on its own. At least not the bottle we opened. We'll see in a few more months.

I currently have a bunch of stuff aging in the cellar:
5 gal apple
3 gal blueberry
2 gal raspberry
1 gal blackberry
3 bottles of cranberry
4 bottles of pluot

I also have 5 bottles of my blueberry wine in my wine cooler and another 5 bottles over in the aging cellar at pippin orchard rd.

So far everything seems to be going well! I'll see if I can get some pictures up a little later.

Its been a while!

2009-08-07T15:06:00.002-04:00

Well I've been traveling/vacationing most of the summer so I haven't had much time to update.

I'll just do a quick "whats up."

So most everything is now stabilized and aging. I've bottled two gallons of blueberry, one oaked and one not. I also bottled a batch of Pluot (yes, pluot-kinda like a plum). This one came out suprisingly crisp and I think it will turn out to be a good summer wine. Yesterday I bottled the Cranberry which I had aged for 4 months and I'm going to let it age further in the bottle. This one I'm still so-so about. Its good but not great. I ended up getting 4-3/4 bottles out of the gallon so we're going to make sangria out of the 3/4 bottle. I'm not counting that as an official uncoarking though! That'll be announced.

So I'm off to enjoy a week in ME. Going to visit a few wineries and maybe learn some tricks. Pictures to come soon!

-G

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

2009-06-30T17:14:00.003-04:00

All bottled up! and an important update

2009-06-22T20:46:00.003-04:00

Well this past weekend brought the bottling of the first gallon of blueberry! I even managed to design some lables. I ended up getting 5 bottles out of it so thats pretty cool!

I'm going to try and cellar it for about a year and then we'll see how it is!

Also I recently started a batch of Pluot. Yes... pluot. Thats a cross between a plum and an apricot. It smells fantastic actually so I'm hoping a good wine comes of it. Its quite pink, and I'm normally not a fan of rose wine but... we'll see, maybe it'll make a good gift! haha

I tasted the lemon wine as well which was started in march and I have to say its more or less un-drinkable. I think that one will be chalked up to a failed experiment. It was a great idea, just didn't pan out. It tastes kind of like cheap vodka with bitter lemon flavor.

-----

On to the next topic=

I've officially changed the name of my budding winery to Capeway Cellars. I think it sounds a bit more refined and "hip" if you will. I'm going to keep Pippin Orchard winery on as a cellaring location, seeing as I've already moved the cranberry batch over there. My parents house has a great root cellar that stays at the right temp and humidity all by itself. So the plan is to age the wines for a bit at my place (Capeway) and then move the bottled wines and others that I feel need additional aging over to the Pippin Orchard location.

Well that is all for now! I will post some pictures a little later.

June Updates

2009-06-13T20:08:00.002-04:00

So here's whats happening...

I had noticed that after I racked my apple wine for the first time that the fermentation stopped. Obviously this isn't supposed to happen until all of the sugar has been used up so I knew something was wrong. Did some research on stuck fermentation and ended up making a "starter" which is supposed to kick the fermentation back into action. Well I am happy to say that it worked and I've got the bubbles back again. I would've hated to have to dump 5 potential gallons of wine!

Also...
I've got a good amount (5 gal) of various wines now aging in the cellar, and another 10 gallons actively fermenting. Very exciting. By next year there will be a good amount ready for drinking!

Vineyard-

So for vines I now have 2 Frontenac, 2 Cabernet Franc, and 2 Traminette at my house. At the Pippin Orchard site I have 2 Cabernet Sauvignon and 3 Marechal Foch. I'm hoping in 2 years or so I'll get a small but decent enough yield to make some grape wines.

Thats all for now!

Raspberry!

2009-06-03T17:30:00.002-04:00

So this is quite interesting...

I started 2 gallons of Raspberry wine no more than....2 weeks ago? When I racked it from primary into its secondary fermenters, I noticed the next day that it was completely still. I gave it a few more days because sometimes the yeast will chill for a bit and then kick back in...but nothing. So I took some readings today with my trusty hydrometer and apparently it has already fermented out!

I tasted it too. Its very nice. Fruity, smells like raspberries, dry, and light. I think it will make a great summer wine. Too bad that will have to be next summer.

Cheers for now!
---------

Current List:

Wild/Highbush Blueberry Blend: (2 gal aging)
Wild Blueberry: (3 gal secondary ferm.)
Mead: (1 gal. clearing)
Lemon/Lime: (1 gal. secondary ferm.)
Cranberry/white grape: (1 gal. aging)
Apple: (5 gal. secondary ferm.)

The Vines! and etc.

2009-05-28T21:11:00.006-04:00

I actually have 9 vines total. There are 6 in my backyard (2 Frontenac, 2 Traminette, and 2 Cabernet Franc) and 3 Marechal Foch at the actual Pippin Orchard Site. The Traminette vines are growing like crazy; the top picture. One of my Frontenac's got eaten by some sort of night creature, but I have since purchased some organic animal repellant which seems to be working quite well. And luckily I had a few other buds on there and one has now developed a new shoot so it looks like it will come back. The Cabernet Franc arrived just a few days ago so they haven't done much yet, though I am quite excited for the prospects.
I also have in primary fermentation right now a Raspberry batch. The fermentation on this one started nice and strong and in another day or two its going to be time to rack. Thats all for now!

<--- the mascerating raspberries in cheese cloth. I know it looks kinda funky but all the raspberry wine I've ever had has been deeeelicious!

Time to Age!

2009-05-28T10:45:00.002-04:00

So my 2nd gallon of wild blueberry finally fermented out nice and clear. This was the gallon that I decided to oak.

I tried it yesterday as I was racking and prepping to age it. Let me just say... I am very excited for the potential that this one has! It is a bit heavy on the oak... though not overwhelmingly so. I am hoping and assuming that this will smooth out as it ages. But I have to say (patting on the back) that for my first try its pretty darn good!

I will definitely be planning a celebration for sometime next summer when I do the first pour!

More to come later!

update pictures!

2009-04-30T22:02:00.004-04:00

Difficult to see but the vines are there under the trellis

Racking the blueberry

L-R: Blueberry, Apple, Lemmon-Lime, Mead

Crazy updates!

2009-04-30T20:31:00.002-04:00

So!- Lots to tell. I think...

First-

My original intention was to oak the 2 separate gallons of blueberry at different points, however, 1 gallon fermented out completely in a shorter time than I had expected so I simply stabilized it and now it is aging in the cellar. The second gallon I did end up oaking and it is currently sitting on oak chips and there is still a bit of fermentation going on.

The mead is still bubbling every now and then but it is very clear and I am excited for when it finishes out and I can cellar it.

The lemon-lime is also fermenting and starting to clear very nicely.

I can't remember if I put this in the other posts (and I'm too lazy to go back and check!) but I currently have 5 gal. of an apple wine which is in its secondary fermentation and it has been undergoing a very steady and strong fermentation since it started. I chose to make this one because based on what I've read it doesnt take to aging very well and its a good wine to make and enjoy soon after it has cleared; and lets face it, I want to enjoy some of this wine before next year!!

Since I had an empty primary fermenting bucket and want to make as much wine as possible to learn as much as possible, I decided to make 3 more gal. of wild blueberry. It is currently in its primary stage of fermentation and going strong. I think that the warmer weather is definitely helping things out nicely.

Lastly- Something I'm VERY excited about!!-

I have acquired and planted 4 grape vines in my backyard! I bought 2 white (Traminite) and 2 red (Frontenac) and I am happy to say that they have started to bud and I am very much looking forward to the new growth and establishing the vines! I built a crude but pretty decent trellis out of 3 metal sign posts and some 12 gauge wire and its looking pretty good! (i'll post some pictures in a bit) They probably won't produce very much of anything until next summer/fall but it is exciting nonetheless.

Well that is all for now!

-G

Experiment

2009-04-06T20:23:00.001-04:00

So since I am in the process of learning about winemaking, I figure now is a good time to try some experiments-

I'm going to try oaking at different stages with the blueberry. I started the initial ferment on 3/5 and racked it into secondary on 3/15.

It has been in secondary fermentation for about 3 weeks and has thrown quite a bit of sediment so I'm going to rack it again. Since I have 2 gallons separated into individual gallon carboys I'm going to oak one now, and I'm going to oak the other after it has stabilized and cleared and is ready for aging.

Lets see what happens!

updates!

2009-03-30T21:52:00.001-04:00

So just an update of where the state of the "winery" is at now.

So currently I have the merlot that is from a kit aging in the cellar (not expecting much). I have also moved the Cranberry down to the cellar to clarify and will be racking it to age very soon. Its coming along quite nicely and while I dont think it will be amazing, I do think it will be good.
I did run into the issue of having a little over 1-1/2 gal. of the cranberry after all was said and done so Im experimenting. The batch that was in the smaller container clarified quite nicely so I stopped the fermentation on that one and bottled it. I want to see what it does. I'll be sure to let you know.
The Mead is well on its way to clarification as well, the sediment is settling out quite nicely and I racked it a few days ago. Its still a bit sweet so I am hoping that it dries out with continued fermentation.
The 2 gal. of blueberry is currently about 2 weeks into secondary fermentation and going strong. I will be racking it soon because there is quite a bit of sediment forming and I dont want it to taste funny.
I started 5 gal. of apple wine which I am really pleased with so far. The fermentation started very quickly and is going strong. The air lock is letting out bubbles like crazy. It will be time to rack it into the secondary by the end of this week. I'm definitely excited to see how this one turns out. I'm not a huge fan of white wine but after our experiences at Bartlett which I spoke about in the history post, my favorites of the white were the Apple and Mead.
Lastly, Em decided she wanted to try and make a lemon/lime wine which sounds and looks like it is going to be pretty neat. Basically all it was is about a gallon of simple syrup with tons of Lemon zest and bit of lime zest. it smells fantastic and is also fermenting quite nicely.

Thats all for now, I'll keep you posted!

Pictures of the Blueberry batch

2009-03-02T19:26:00.009-05:00

Blueberry Wine (pictures will be next post)

2009-03-02T17:49:00.000-05:00

So far from what I can tell, things are going pretty well. Last week I racked the mead into its secondary fermenter and its still bubbling which is good. The cranberry has also been racked into two separate glass carboys. I plan on doing the same thing again in a few weeks as I dont want it to sit on the sediment for too long at a time. I've read this prevents "off" flavors.

So the March variety will is going to be Blueberry! The inspiration is from Bartlett Winery in ME which makes their wine out of any other fruit but grapes and their wild blueberry is one of my absolute faorites. Its amazing how close to a Chianti or Merlot it tastes but the aroma is very much like blueberries. Pretty neat.

So here was the process: (you'll notice more new additives and stuff as I keep finding out more things to use via my research)

Items: (makes approx 2 gal.)

6 lbs fresh or frozen wild blueberries
2 gal water
4 lbs. sugar
4 tsp. acid blend
2 tsp yeast nutrient
2 crushed campden tablets
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 pkt. Montrachet wine yeast

Steps:
Put the water and sugar together in a pot and set to boil
Put all blueberries in a nylon straining bag (we used cheesecloth)
Place the bag into your primary fermenter and use your clean hands or a potato masher to crush. Make sure you mush it all up real good.
Pour the boiling sugar/water mixture over the berries
Add the acid blend and yeast nutrient
Wait until the mixture is cool before adding the crushed campden tablets
Cover and fit with air-lock
12 hours later, add the pectic enzyme
24 hours later (ie. next day) add yeast, cover and fit with air-lock
Stir everyday for two weeks
After two weeks remove the bag but dont squeeze it out.
After all the sediment has settled down rack into glass secondary fermenter
Rack at least once during secondary fermentation
Keep covered or in the dark so it doesnt loose its dark color
In 4-6 months, taste and bottle if ready.

I'll let you know how it turns out and will post pictures soon!

-G & E

Bubbles!

2009-02-14T10:19:00.001-05:00

Well good news! The mead has finally started to ferment. I suppose the yeast just needed a few days to get going. We'll see what happens!

To mead, or not to mead?

2009-02-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

So we decided to try and make mead which is a white wine made simply from honey. Sounds pretty simple, and it was but this seems to be our first roadblock in the winemaking process. Read on:

The recipe-

Approx 2/3 gallon of water
3 lbs honey
1 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp acid blend
1 crushed campden tablet
Champagne yeast

The process- as always remember to sterilize everything first
1.) Boil the honey and water together and skim off the proteins
2.) add to your primary fermenter
3.) Let the must cool completely and then add the crushed campden tablet (sulfur dioxide- it keeps the must sterile), acid blend, and yeast nutrient.
4.) Fit with a stopper/airlock and let sit 24 hours
5.) hydrate yeast in 1/4 cup of water at about 100 deg. before adding it to the must
6.) Refit airlock and place in a warm area to ferment.

Now a couple of things:
First of all you will see some new products listed above such as acid blend and campden tablets. acid blend is a mixture of three acids which is important in high sugar musts or else the yeast will more or less get sugar overkill. Campden tablet are sulfur dioxide which is a sterilizing agent. All that stuff you can get from any winemaking supply shop.
Secondly- The process of adding yeast (or pitching) in the making of mead is apparently a delicate process. Too early, and the sulfur will kill off the yeast. Thats why you need to wait the 24 hours. Also sometimes such a high sugar content (remember, its honey) will make for very slow fermentation or none at all. This is where we seem to be hitting our first problem.
So far (I pitched the yeast yesterday) we have no bubbles which means no visible fermentation. Also when removing the airlock there is a very sulfury smell coming from the must. I've done some reasearch and seen a few schools of thought.
Some say that meads take 24-72 hours to start showing signs of fermentation. Some say that the sulfur smell (from the campden) sometimes happens and should go away as the yeast becomes more active. Still others say that the sulfur smell means that its no good. SO I have decided to wait a few more days and see what happens. I'll keep you posted as things change and as I learn more!

Stay tuned for March's batch - Wild Blueberry.

Re-rack 1!

2009-02-03T10:43:00.000-05:00

So the time has come to re-rack the cranberry batch. I'm going by what I've read and instinct as well - when the bubbles start to slow down a little bit in your primary fermenter, it is time to re-rack into your secondary fermenter. This can be the same container as your primary which is what we did, you just need to clean out the container. So heres the process:

1) Sanitize a container that can hold 2 gal.
2) Remove airlock from the primary and siphon your wine into the 2 gal container making sure to transfer as little sediment as possible
3) Once the entire mixture is transferred, use a wire sieve to strain the remaining juice from the must
4) THOROUGHLY clean out your primary fermenter
5) Transfer wine back into the primary (now secondary) fermenter
6) top up the wine with about a cup or so of boiled water (cooled) until the wine reaches to just below the spout opening. - sorry should've told you to boil some water and cool it before starting!
7) Replace air-lock and there you go!

The idea is to ferment for another couple of weeks to a month to allow all the remaining yeast to do their work and let the sediment fall out of the wine, thus leaving a clear red wine that is ready to age. Now from what I've read, some of the fruit based wines like this will tend to not clear unless you at a pectin enzyme or something of that sort, but I will cross that bridge as I come to it!

Keep ya posted!
-G and E

Cranberry-White Grape wine; The First Experiment

2009-01-20T19:06:00.001-05:00

So our first try at making wine is a modified version of a recipe we found for Cranberry wine. I'll list everything we used and then how we did it in as much of a step-by-step process as I can.

Equipment:

Stove
Med Saucepan
Large Stock Pot (large enough to hold 2 gallons)
2 gal. spring or filtered water
2 gal. plastic food grade container with removable spout (i.e. the spring water jug that has the water in it!) This will serve as your primary fermenter. It helps to get the kind that are designed to fit in your fridge because you can stand them up so that the spout is at the top. This comes in very handy. I'll post pictures to show what I mean. Without naming any names, we used a very popular brand from ME. Even has the word springs in it. But I digress...
Elastic band
1 balloon or latex glove (cheap but effective air lock)
Measuring cups
1 food grade plastic funnel
1 wooden or plastic spoon for stirring
4 containers cranberry/white grape juice concentrate (100% juice, no high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners! you can find them in your grocery's freezer section)
1 package fresh cranberries (frozen ok in a pinch)
5 cups granulated sugar
1 package wine yeast (dry active yeast ok in a pinch ((its what we used, hence experiment)) do not use quick rise yeast)

Make sure you line your work area with old towels or newspaper to protect against staining and spills. The sink is a good place to do a lot of your pouring and such.

Now you are ready to start-

FIRST: It is very important to sterilize all of your equipment including your hands before you start preparing your wine. You don't want any harmful bacteria sneaking in the mixture.

Sterilizing:
1) Sterilize your stock pot by filling with warm tap water and adding a small amount of bleach. Let it sit for a few minutes and then dump and rinse thoroughly
2) Carefully pop the spout off of the spring water container and dump the water into your stock pot
3) Sterilize the inside of your container the same way you did with the stock pot. Don't dump down the drain! you will use this bleach solution to sterilize the other equipment
4) Pour some solution through and all over the funnel, spoon, container spout, measuring cups, and anything else you will be using. Rinse thoroughly and set on a clean paper towel to dry.
5) Pour bleach solution into small saucepan and swish around. Rinse throughly.
6) Empty the rest of the bleach out of your container and again, Rinse throughly.

Makin' da wine:
1) Add cranberries to med. saucepan. To that, add about 1 cup of spring water. Heat on med. low until all cranberries have burst and softened
2) let cool for a few minutes and then add to your primary fermenter (heres where your funnel comes in handy!)
3) Create a simple syrup using 5 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water by heating on low until all sugar is dissolved; add to fermenter. BE CAREFUL, YOU DON'T WANT SUGAR BURNS!
4) Agitate gently to mix
5) Add all 4 containers of juice concentrate to the mixture, agitate again to mix.
6) Now heres where the sink and a helper come in handy. Slowly start adding the water to your fermenter until it reaches just below the spout opening. We used a liquid measuring cup and just did one at a time...it didn't take that long.
7) Give it all a shimmy shake to mix.
8) Activate your yeast by mixing 1 package with warm (not hot) water and let sit until it gets all foamy
9) Add to mixture
10) TADA! You're ready to create your airlock and soon you'll be fermenting. We'll...your wine will be.

AIRLOCK-AGE and FERMENTATION, ETC:
The airlock is very important as it allows the fermentation gases to escape and no bad stuff to get in.

1) Rinse the inside of your balloon or glove as good as possible, just to remove any powder.
2) Using a pin, poke a hole in the top of the balloon or one of the fingers of the glove
3) Using the elastic, tightly fasten your balloon or glove over the spout opening of your fermenter and viola! you are now making wine!
4) Place your fermenter somewhere in your house that stays between 65 and 70 degrees and stir every-day with a sterile utensil until fermentation ceases. You'll know. It will no longer be bubbling like seltzer.
5) Now it is time to Rack your wine...

RACKING/SECONDARY FERMENTATION:
The purpose of this step is to get your wine off of the dead yeast and must (thats all the skins and foamy stuff). It also provides for further clarification and development of color. So at this point you will need another 2 gallon container, preferably a glass carboy.

1) Remove the airlock and re-attach the spout that you removed all that time ago. Its never a bad idea to re-sterilize that spout. if your model of fermenter doesn't have a spout then you will need a siphoning tube. you can get that from any aquarium supply shop.
2) Transfer your wine into the secondary fermenter.
3) Re-seal with your airlock.
4) Repeat the above steps as many times as you need to to make sure there is no more sediment or bubbles in your wine.

We haven't gotten to that part yet as we're only on day 2 of the primary fermentation but I will keep you updated as the wine progresses! Check back for pictures!

Pippin Orchard Winery...a brief history?

2009-01-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

We like wine. Simple as that. My wife and I have both enjoyed drinking wine with dinner and socially for the past few years but we have recently developed a higher appreciation for this "nectar of the gods" by going to various wine tasting events and sampling all different varietals. Most recently we went on our honeymoon to Niagara Falls and Niagara-On-The-Lake which has an amazing climate for grape growing so there are countless vineyards. We tried to do them all; quite impossible. Though we did come away with a better understanding of the differences between the different types of wines.
Me...I'm a red wine drinker...all the way. My wife has a greater appreciation for whites; although the both of us are trying to grow to like the ones we don't consider favorites. If I had to choose my favorite reds they would be Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. My wife enjoys Rieslings and Pinot Grigio.
So blah blah blah, wheres this all going? Well...I've come to the decision that I would love to one day own and operate a winery, and you have to start somewhere. Why call it Pippin Orchard? - My parent's own land on a street called Pippin Orchard road that I think one day would be a great starting place for a vineyard. Baby steps though... My wife and I bought a "make your own wine" kit just to get to know a little bit more about the process...it went pretty smoothly (although we wont really know for a year) so I decided to start this blog to detail the different experiments the two of us do with making different kinds of wine at home. So come on along with us and maybe we'll all learn something in the process! The next post will be all about the wine we're making now which is a blend of cranberry and white grape. see you soon!
G