Faux ice wine

The book, “Home Winemaking Step by Step” by Iverson has a section on making faux ice wine by concentrating the must by freezing.  Since the juice has a lower melting point than water, it will melt first.  The freezing was the easy part, I already keep all my must in the freezer.  I put a heavy colander over a bucket and inverted a 6qt plastic container of chardonel must into it.  After a little while it melted enough for me to remove the plastic container.

The book calls for a brix of 35-40°.  The highest mark on my hydrometer is SG 1.16 (which corresponds to about 38°).  The melting took 7+ hours, helped at the end by me with a heat gun.  I started with 5qt and ended up with just under a gallon.  The SG was 1.154 (the heat gun caused me to overshoot my SG goal slightly).  I reserved 10% of the must for back sweetening. Then I added yeast nutrient and DAP to the must and went to bed (since it was after midnight by this time).  I know that high SG is hard on the yeast, so I used double the yeast nutrient and DAP.  The must is at room temp this morning so I’ll be pitching the yeast shortly.

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Alea Iacta Est

I’ve finally done it.  I started my first wine batch this morning.

I scrubbed down the unused shower stall in my spare bathroom to give a place to keep my fermenter.  I finished reading Home Winemaking Step-by-Step again (some reason, I always get nervous about winemaking when reading that book), as well as a book from the library.

I started with the Vintners Reserve Pinot Noir kit that I picked up on Monday.  It had me mix bentonite and hot water as the very first step.  I thought that adding a fining agent at the beginning seemed odd, but a quick Google search said that it is not unheard of.  I then added the concentrate and diluted to 6 gallons.  I won’t drink my tap water, so I used bottled water for the wine.  It took 3 gallon jugs plus two 20 oz bottles.  I checked the specific gravity (SG) with my hydrometer and it read 1.0747 (adjusted for temperature).  That fell within the kit’s allowed range of 1.070-1.085.  To me this seemed really low.  That SG corresponds to a Brix of 18.13, which is way below the minimum of 22 recommended in Home Winemaking Step-by-Step.  I’m going to take it on faith and proceed per the kit’s instructions.  The temperature of the must was 65deg F when I added the kit’s yeast (Red Star Premier Cuvee).  Fermentation should start in 24-48 hours.

I set the lid on my primary fermenter, but did not seal it or close bung hole.  I wrapped it with some towels to provide some insulation and keep the temperature up.  I set a thermometer on top to roughly measure the temperature.  I’ll check the SG again on Thursday.

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Getting into wine making

I picked up the book, Home Winemaking Step-by-Step by Jon Iverson at a winery back in ’08 while on vacation. I eager read it, suffered sticker shock, and the book has since been quietly occupying space on my book shelf.  Well over the holidays the topic of wine making came up and a couple relatives said that they make wine, and it’s not really that difficult. The idea has been rolling around in the back of my mind ever since.  I couple weeks back, I saw an on PBS Create for a complete wine kit for $65. That pushed me over the edge.  I knew that for $65, the kit couldn’t be worth having, but I’d decided to give wine making a go.

A friend, who’s embarking on his own wine making journey, told me about a home brewing store in a nearby town that also does wine making.  Based on their website, I was skeptical (a blueberry-pinot noir concentrate…BLASPHEMY!).  I went down on a Saturday afternoon and quickly changed my mind though.  The staff was knowledgeable and helpful, although one of the guys had trouble giving me directions when I called.  I looked around and went home to mull it over.

The next day I’d made my decision and was going back Monday after work.  Sunday night, the weather man was calling for 6-10″ of snow and I wasn’t sure I was going to make the trip.  Fortunately, the weather man was mistaken and the snowfall did not result in any accumulation.  I picked up one of their wine starter kits.  The kit was really just a collection of off the shelf items for a package price.  With my first purchase, I got a 20% discount on a boxed wine concentrate kit, so I picked up a Vintner’s Reserve Pinot Noir.

I have started re-reading Home Winemaking Step-by-Step and picked up a couple of books from the library.  I hope to start the process this weekend.

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