Posted on 05 July 2010. Tags: article, Feet, Grape Vines, grapes, Kinds Of Grapes, Path, Period Of Time, Plant Vines, Plants, Rain Water, Sun Shine, Trellis, Vine, What This Means, Winemaking, Wonderful Way, Your
If you’re interested in the art of winemaking but you’d rather use your own grapes, there are things which are necessary to understand before you go out and plant vines. The first of these things is to understand which kinds of grapes grow in the locale which you live. You should understand that it takes anywhere from one to two years to get any grapes which can be picked. If you feel you have no problem with all this, then all you have to do will be to visit the nursery where you want to purchase plants and see whatever it is that they have to offer you. You should ensure that whatever place you intend to plant your grapes offers you and your vines what you need.
Of all the parts of the vine, the trunk happens to be the only one which is permanent and as such it tends to stay where it grows from. This is where the roots start and they will fixate themselves from anywhere from four to twenty feet in depth over a period of time. The place where you plant your vines should have nothing that will interfere with the growth of their roots. These vines should also be planted in a place where the sun tends to shine for most of the day. They shouldn’t be placed in a location that has a lot of shade or they won’t do well. If they are planted along a trellis, this will improve the growth of the vines in a wonderful way. They need a path to follow and somewhere to go.
Another thing which you should make certain of is the fact that the vines you purchase should be dormant. What this means is that the vines should not have blossomed previously. They should also have enough water without being drowned in it. An average inch of water is required at least on a weekly basis. If it doesn’t rain well enough to satisfy their water needs, then you should ensure that they are watered on a weekly basis. Another important aspect with grapes is the practice of pruning. You will discover that a lot of growth is to be cut back from your grape vines. It may seem somewhat extreme but if you fail to follow through with this, each vine will grow too many grapes and your vines won’t be able to provide them with the required support. This way you have a lot of growth but few crops which can actually ripen. Remember that each bud on a vine doesn’t stand for one grape but an entire bunch of grapes.
Weed control is another essential aspect in grape growth; you should ensure that you try to get rid of your weeds on a regular basis. You should ensure that this is done by hand instead of through the use of chemicals and weed killers. Everything which you put in the growth of your vines will end up within you and you don’t want to accumulate a bunch of harmful chemicals in your system. This same advice is necessary with the use of fertilizer. Grape vines can actually be fertilized through natural means such as compost or animal manure.
A look at all the requirements for the growth of grapes may make you feel that this is a lot of work for something so little. If you feel this way, you can easily make your wine by purchasing your grapes or purchasing concentrate from the same store through which your purchase the equipment you use to make wine.
Posted in Featured, Winemaking 101
Posted on 31 May 2010. Tags: Break, Clarification, down, End Result, fermentation, Food Grade, Generations, New Generation, Nutrients, over, Period Of Time, rack, Running, Sediment, Sucking, Sugars, Wand, Wine, Winemakers, Yeast Cells, Yeast Fermentation
The process of racking involves siphoning the wine away from the sediment. Sediment is primarily comprised of inactive or dead yeast cells. While yeast is beneficial to the must in the beginning, over time it becomes multiplied many times over. As each new generation of yeast is produced, older generations die off. Most of what you will see at the bottom of your fermentation container is dead yeast cells.
As the fermentation nears the end of the cycle, there should be a significant amount of active yeast cells which are beginning to wind down because they are running out of fuel; or sugar. After the sugars have become consumed the active yeast will begin to starve and feed on itself. An enzyme will be produced that will break down the inactive yeast cells. The purpose of this is to release the nutrients in the dead yeast cells that can be used by the yeast cells that are still active. This process is called autolysis. Over a period of time, an otherwise perfectly good batch of wine may be ruined as a result of this process.
Racking is also important because it can assist in the clarification of the wine. If wine is not racked, the end result will be wine that may be clear on top; however, the bottom will be somewhat thick and hazy.
The racking process is not terribly difficult. In fact, it is quite simple. A siphon is necessary for racking. The key; however, is to make sure that you siphon off the wine without stirring up any of the sediment. It should be noted that while food grade hosing can be used many winemakers do prefer to use what is known as a racking tube in order to rack their wine. This is because, if you are not careful; using a hose to rack the wine can cause the sediment to become stirred up and it may also move around. A racking tube fits on the end of the hose and serves as a type of wand that gives you control over where in the container you draw the wine.
In the old days, wine was racked by manually sucking on the end of the hose; however, today there have been numerous advancements made in winemaking equipment. One of those advancements is an automatic siphon that works with a pump in order to start the siphoning action.
Keep in mind that during the first two to three rackings, it is not essential to remove all of the sediment. You should try to siphon as much of the wine liquid as possible; however, even if you do bring up a small amount of the sediment this will be fine. It is during the final racking that it becomes imperative that you make sure that all of the sediment is left behind with none following through into the wine.
After the fermentation process has been completed, it you still need to rack the wine (such as when storing wine long-term in bulk) it may be necessary to add Campden Tablets to the wine. The purpose of this is to ensure that any air that may have entered the wine during the racking process is driven out. Campden Tablets will also help to minimize oxidation. Keep in mind that this is not a problem when racking wine while the fermentation process is ongoing as the CO2 that is produced during fermentation will naturally eliminate any air that may have been introduced.
Posted in Winemaking 101
Posted on 12 February 2010. Tags: Abundance, Amount Of Time, Comprehension, cork, Corks, Horizontal Racks, humidity, Mature, Ones That Stack, Period Of Time, rack, Secure Place, Sediment, Sediments, Short Period, Stack Wall, Storing Wine, Vertical Racks, Wine, Wine Rack, Wine Racks, Wine Wine
If you want your wine to mature in the correct way, you should have the right humidity, temperature, light condition, and movement. When you are storing wine for any amount of time, you’ll need to ensure that the wine is in a secure place. Even if you have a few ways to choose to store wine, not any are safer or smarter than using a wine rack.
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Why Use A Wine Rack.
As soon as you make a decision towards the sort of wine rack that goes well with your needs, you should at all times consider selecting one that will store up your wine perfectly. On the market you’ll find more than a few kinds to choose from, including the ones that stack, wall mounts, and side mounts. You should also focus on to dimension as well, as the sizes sort from piling a few bottles to storing hundreds. You’ll also have an abundance of types and designs to choose from, depending on your wants and your space.
Along with the best types of wine racks are the horizontal racks. Contrary to what many might imagine, vertical racks aren’t an outstanding option for collecting your wine. Wine that is stockpiled on vertical racks are stored vertically, which means that the cork will dry out and ultimately start to shrink, conveying air into the wine and ruining it. On the other hand, vertical racks could be practical when storing wine for a short period of time, or wine that is best consumed at an early stage.
Tilted racks are another type of rack you should avoid using, as they can dry out the corks or deposit the sediments too close to the cork. As for your wine storing requirements, you should always choose a horizontal rack. Horizontal racks will keep the cork moist, and keep out the surplus air from making contact with the wine. The sediment will drop towards the side of the bottle, preventing spillage when you pop the cork.
Horizontal racks are as well very well within your reach and you can always add more racks to the design without any problem.
The material used for wine racks are normally wood or metal. You can mount them on the wall, suspend them from ceilings, or just place them on the floor. Metal racks are the strongest, even though wood is more flexible. Wooden racks offer a bit more storage, for the simple fact that you can constantly add to them. Wood racks are also visually appealing, durable, and supply plenty of strength.
We can say for sure that a wine rack is a good investment for everyone who likes wine. There are different sizes to choose from, all of which are very reasonably priced. The small to medium sizes work best for homes, while the large styles are best for commercial settings. Regardless of where you keep your wine – you can count on a wine rack to keep your wine stored for years to come. That is all we had to talk about why to use a wine rack and if you are satisfied with what you have learnt here, our task has been satisfied.
Posted in Wine Storage