AFTER THE MACERATION STAGE

Here’s a little snippet I found the other day that may interest you.

According to Winepros.org, a good site to check up on, but a little too hoity-toity for the likes of me, they say “Moderate consumption of red wine on a regular basis may be a preventative against coronary disease and some forms of cancer.” Chemical components of red wines function as anti-oxidants, preventing free radicals from doing cellular damage. Other compounds help to “boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life.”

This information has shocked milk and tea drinkers the world round. However, with this information, there has been an increase in the consumption of wine by those who would have never considered it before. According to winebusiness.com, wine sales in the United States were higher in 2006 than ever before. The site also says that the sale of red wine in particular continues to surge.

This news is ‘old hat’ for me, apart from the cancer side of things, as red wines are the best bet in my opinion, and this sort of thing relating to the heart has been known about for a few years now.

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Anyway, back to our wine making; the grape must has been fermenting for almost a week now and it is time to take the liquid from the solids, that way removing the skins and pips so that the final wine is not over-rich in tannins. That way it does not have to be laid-down for an eternity to reduce the harshness of the tannin levels, and can be quaffed readily after a period of around six months to a year.

If you leave the skins in any longer than a week, you will find the wine will be undrinkable for yonks and yonks, and you will not be a happy bunny.

Obviously, with any deep, rich wine, the longer it is stored at an even temperature then the better it becomes.

The process of removing the liquid from between the flotsam (froth) and the heavier solids, is to simply siphon it into a clean five gallon fermenting container, leaving as much as possible of the residues in the first container and disposing of them in the good-old compost bin (go on, let the worms get tiddly, give ‘em a treat).

Your wine will need to be covered to keep out oxygen and bacteria, as after the first mad rush of the fermentation (which produces a protective layer of carbon-dioxide to keep the wine safe) is over, the carbon dioxide production is reduced drastically, so it is for this reason it should be transferred into a proper fermenting vessel with a lid having an air-lock incorporated in the lid.

Once this transfer is done, the level can be topped up to the five gallon mark with neat grape juice, or if it is not too far below the five gallon mark, simply do not bother topping it up.

Alternatively, at a push, you could top it up with boiled/cooled water, but this is not the way I would go about things.

Once that is done, simply tighten on the cap, if necessary use a little petroleum jelly on the screw thread of the top to get a good seal so that no air can get into the container, and then fit the air lock with a little boiled/cooled water in it to form a trap, with a little of the petroleum jelly around the bung to seal that also.

All that’s needed now for the next three or four weeks is to keep it in a dark and warm place, preferably where the temperature does not fluctuate too much, and keep your ears open for the plop-plop-plopping to either slow right down or stop.

More than likely your wine will take around six to eight weeks to ferment thoroughly, although I have known wines to go on for over three months, but they were belters when they were done, but this is assuming you started the must off with a high S.G. in the first place, but for the time being just keep your ears open.

From what I have gathered, it appears that the longer the fermentation period, then the better the end result, so that says a lot for these fancy kit produced wines, doesn’t it.

Til next time,

George

If you are looking at growing vines in a greenhouse, why not check out www.vines-make-wines.com and get the whole story.