Contents and Extracts from: A Winemaking Beginner's Factfile.
Kodak 1983
Many books have been written about winemaking, domestic or otherwise, and there are now detailed websites, (see References), so the following file is not about rewriting them all. It is rather, from hands-on experience, a short compendium of priorities, hints, imperatives, reflections, and memory-joggers that may help bolster prospective beginner confidence at that time when the books are laid down, and the first must is being planned. Similar principles are involved in beermaking, either traditionally, or with kits. Indeed, beermaking with kits is a useful introduction to winemaking, and there is also a convenient transfer of skills and equipment for the home winemaking hobbyist.
Note that the Factfile does not deal specifically with fortified wines, or sparkling wines, except for MLF wines.
Free PDF and WORD versions of the Winemaking Factfile updated 12.9.06
Contents:
Some basic principles of
winemaking
Preservation and stabilisation
Common sugars
Additives checklists
Notes on additives
Freezer storage guidelines
Temperature conversion
Yeast fermentation principles
Tirage caps on champagne bottles
For the Beginner on the Wine Web, (plus useful books in the PDF and Word
versions)
Home bottling of bulk wine,
(thanks to Southern Highland Wines,
www.southernhighlandwines.com for that great Cabernet, and also Highland Brewers, for the tip.)
Sample Winemaking Log
Common chemicals and constituents list
Selected chemicals and constituents notes
Some
basic principles of winemaking:
Never use
ingredients not already in
recipes, they may be poisonous, and/or unsuitable for winemaking. There
is already a long history of ingredient knowledge in existence,
thousands of years, in fact. Grapes are a fruit, a berry, like tomatoes
and dates, and all the others you will know so well, so enjoy your own
particular wines, perhaps add a proportion of those vine berries for a
vinous dimension to your must creations, and to help enhance the must
composition.
Understand that
winemaking principles,
well learnt and applied, are more important than adherence to recipes
in any given situation. Especially, ensure, before beginning
fermentation, that your must, whatever its principle ingredients,
resembles ripe grape juice in sugar, pH, and nutrients, for optimum
yeast performance, and ultimate quality of the result. Recipes may act
as useful guides to similar combinations, proportions, or ingredient
preparation, and for predicting possible results, in given situations
when similar ingredients may be utilised.
Use appropriate cultured
yeasts for wine
types as well, wild yeasts are variable, and have a low alcohol and
metabisulphate tolerance, with attendant risks. The wine yeast has a
long association with the vine-berry, and specific cultured wine yeasts
suit specific wine types, which you can also strive for in cottage
wines, using the ingredients at your disposal, and the appropriate vine
berry yeast. Make a starter, so that your chosen yeast multiplies and
colonises the must rapidly.
Use only food grade plastics, glass or (stabilised) stainless steel for all preparation, storage, fermentation, or maturation. Avoid scratching fermentor interiors by dissolving sugars, etc., before adding to must or wort. Never leave fermenting must or wort in plastic fermenters longer than 5 or 6 days, and do not mature wine in plastic. Brewing beer is handy learning preparation for winemaking, and basic equipment is common to both processes. But, not the bottles, as wine needs green glass, (against specific wavelengths), and also stronger glass for sparkling and/or MLF wines.
DO NOT USE PLASTIC BOTTLES, aka PET/Polyethylene Tetrepthalate/polyester, because the alcohol percentage of wine, plus storage time required, leaches the PET, and, if you also really care about making quality beer, do not use them for beer bottling either, not least because they are CO2-permeable, and thus unsuited for long-term storage use beyond a couple of months at cellar temperatures.
Special bottle-washing
powders are useful,
plus non-fragrant detergents, hot water, synthetic brushes, and firm
decision-making about discarding of doubtful containers, bottles, or
utensils! Always clean up immediately after a process is complete,
(this applies to beermaking also), never allow equipment or work areas
to dry out before attending to this important chore.
Take care with using
chlorine, which can
cause taint, as well as reacting with stainless steel. Developing a
winemaking process without chlorine may be preferable to risk of taint,
or where water is not so plentiful for the extensive rinsing required.
Chlorine, or chlorinated cleaning products can even pit stainless steel
in sufficient concentration, especially with no-rinse applications.
Chlorine and iodine,
(also used in
cleaning preparations), can react unfavourably, for taste, with
tannins. Also, any chlorine containing solids that react with acids,
even common household acids such as acetic acid in vinegar, will
produce chlorine gas, so beware. To repeat, better, probably, to
develop cleaning procedures for brewing and winemaking that do not
require chlorine or iodine compounds, especially when water is not
plentiful, and rinsing will be limited. Also, ensure chlorinated water
is boiled, or well aerated before using for must or wort preparation
Stainless steel should be
stabilised before
use with an acid rinse of citric or tartaric acid to remove any
manganese sulphide that may be present on the surface of the vessel.
(Ref. Making Good Wine by Bryce Rankine, p. 280,
ISBN
0725105631.) Otherwise, reaction with acids in the wine enables the
liberation of hydrogen sulphide, a cause of wine taint.
Use quality ingredients,
balanced and
compatible, including yeasts, enzymes, additives and supplements, with
some working anticipation of the final result. Check preparation
procedures for given must staples. Note: Clarified juice, easier for
beginners, nevertheless is low in nutrients, ferments more slowly than
unclarified, and needs careful must balancing with nutrient
supplementation, and good primary fermentation aeration. Nitrogen
nutritional balance using DAP, diammonium phosphate, is necessary to
prevent formation of the byproduct urea which the yeast cannot
metabolise.
Urea plus alcohol
produces ethyl
carbamate, an ester of carbamic acid, being a urethane, and a
carcinogen. Also, use only food grade DAP, which has no urea
contamination, and add the DAP before fermentation begins for optimum
results. Urea is a byproduct of fermentation, minimised by
optimal yeast nutrition, and urea as an additive is unnecessary and
pointless as well as potentially toxic.
Use optimum quality water, balanced with appropriate supplements if necessary. Optimum relevant temperatures of must and wine also contribute to ultimate quality of the final product. Do not use chlorinated water, so boil, or leave stand for 12 hours with occasional agitation to remove residual chlorine.
A further tip is to use plastic film to cover the fermenter, secure with string or rubber ring, pierce off-centre with knife tip, CO2 will form an effective air barrier. Beer wort kept at 25ºC should finish fermenting in 6 days, no bubbles should rise, and settling should be advancing. Wine must ferment stage at 6 days is not such an issue, and lift an edge to agitate the must and break the cap, but strain the must into glass or stainless steel after 6 days to avoid leaching the plastic with the increasing alcohol content as secondary fermentation continues.
Wines of low alcohol,
low tannin, and
higher pH and sugar will not age well, and may need stabilizing by
chemical means. Dry wines, red or white, of 10%-12% alcohol, are the
most stable, will age well, and need less hands-on and deadlines when
being made and matured. Tannin content will also influence longevity,
clearing, and the time required before optimum maturation. Alcohol
itself will inhibit micro-organisms, depending on volume percentage,
for this, ideal 10% and above.
Sugar for 10%-12%
alcohol, 1.075-1.088 sg,
can be added before fermentation to a well balanced must, and using
appropriate yeast, without risking a stuck fermentation. Higher alcohol
may be obtained by adding more sugar incrementally at successive
rackings, until fermentation stops, but this will unbalance a table
wine, although will help create a sherry or port base if that is
required. There will be no MLF at this level of alcohol. However, never
enable MLF in sweet wines, ie, with residual or added sugar, as
off-odours and tastes may result.
Work in a cool, stable
and controlled
atmosphere if possible, ensure adequate ventilation when using
metabisulphite. Early morning is ideal, the light is good, you are
fresh, and must and culture temperature are easily controlled. Wear
suitable comfortable and clean clothes, and employ optimum sanitation
procedures. Dusting, vacuuming, kids, pets, dirty clothes, odours, and
general traffic, etc., are all to be avoided in or near the proposed
working area, immediately prior to, or during, any winemaking
procedure. NB, Meta solution potentiated by citric acid will not store.
Isolate raw garbage, as
well fruit or
vegetables, especially if overripe, all of which may attract
undesirable yeasts, other microorganisms, and fruit fly. Boil any
leftover must, or gross lees if straining, before disposing in garden
or compost, to limit the development of colonies of super-breed yeast
which may cause problems for your future winemaking.
Preferably work on calm days, and close up the wine-making area, (after preparation when metabisulphate is used), or safeguard with very fine mesh, when preparing must or bottling, especially if the wine is sweet. Drosophila Melanogaster, the common, and very small fruit fly, is attracted to sugar/yeast/fermentation odours, and carries acetomonas/acetobacter/mycoderma aceti that causes vinegar formation.
This organism is a
thermophile, so cooler
fermentations and/or storage will have an inhibiting effect. Drosophila
M. may also enter airlocks if not discouraged by the presence of
metabisulphite solution. Note that excess oxygen will also
combine with alcohol to produce acetic acid and water, and thus
producing a high and unbalancing volatile acidity component.
Micro-oxygenation is preferred, and this will occur just with careful
transfer handling. Vinegar spoilage is irreversible!
In general, observe
optimum ambient
temperatures and working conditions at any stage of wine making. Cooler
fermentations, usually for white wines, will have less extraction,
especially of tannins, and a fruitier taste and bouquet. Warmer
temperatures for red, or "darker" wines will effect more colour
extraction, and of harsher tannins, or bitter constituents, if present
in the must. Alcohol will increasingly volatalise with higher
temperatures, most importantly for controlling secondary fermentation,
if projected alcohol levels are to be achieved with minimal testing and
adjustment. During maturation, and later aging, wine chemistry will
also evolve twice as fast for every 10ºC
rise above 10ºC,
so maintain a 10ºC-15ºC range if possible.
Maintain an uncluttered
and organised
working area, using careful handling practices. This includes optimum
cellaring and maturation conditions and handling, and cellar air must
also be clean and stable at all times, especially if corks and casks
are in use. Molecular exchange also occurs within airlocks, so beware
of ambient odors during late fermentation, and maturation.
Practice minimum
interference or
disturbance at any stage of wine production, thus lessening chances of
contamination and macro-oxygenation, and/or of inhibiting steady and
balanced maturation. Filtering and clarification are only really
necessary for show wines, and will otherwise remove molecules
beneficial to health. As well, lengthy aging will break down beneficial
molecules.
Tirage crown caps using a conventional capper and tirage bell are an easy, undemanding, and very efficient sealing method. Corks, for all their long tradition, have a chequered history, and there are too many failures to justify modern usage. The wine industry is seeking alternatives such as the screw cap for still wines, which may, in turn, become economical for home use. For homewinemaking, any CO2 pressure in wine bottles will still require the tirage cap, until a replacement is found, if ever.
Allow Time to do its
part, be patient, and
be pleasantly surprised that wine, given a chance, can be quite
forgiving of errors, except those of poor sanitation.
Any table wine of 10%-12% should mature in bottle for at least year
before drinking. Bottling small "tasters", which will mature more
quickly, will enable earlier taste checks.
Be also pleasantly
surprised how the rough
will become smooth, especially if the "right" malolactic bacteria, wild
or cultured, have been active, and/or unhurried chemistry evolves
during optimum undisturbed maturation time. "In bottle" is a reductive
environment, and MLF, by producing some CO2, will contribute to this.
Metabisulphate at sufficient strength introduced during rackings can
prevent MLF, if you prefer. Low-alcohol, low-acid, low tannin wines may
also benefit from sorbate addition at bottling.
Keep wine levels high under airlocks, to prevent gas reversal, but never touching stoppers. Use pure strong meta solution in the airlocks to discourage insects.
Key factors in successful winemaking are: PLANNING, ORGANISATION, OPTIMISATION, PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF CHOSEN YEAST TYPE, OBSERVATION, ORGANOLEPTIC TESTING, RECORD KEEPING, TIME, PATIENCE, and (CALCULATED) OPTIMISM. These principles are also applicable to successful home brewing.
The dominant general principle, applicable for any wine, (or beer making), is that of giving the appropriate yeast the best conditions, diet, and temperatures, to go to work for you to produce a desired and appreciated result. Home or country winemaking, as you will have now realised, means initially creating a must that closely resembles, (sugars, acids, tannins, nutrients, etc.), the must resulting from the crushing of optimally grown and ripened vitis vinifera berries, or, even better if possible, from the point of view of the yeast which so obligingly does the real work! Art, science, and skill, in equal proportions, are all needed for optimum must development by any good winemaker, however humble. May it also never be forgotten that the first winemakers were home winemakers, however humble their homes may have been, or, whatever their latitude, longitude, and original must ingredients were, for that matter...
On the Web: The doyen of home winemaking online is Jack Keller, and also refer to SARWG, a page Jack supervises that has many links, especially to scientific winemaking sites that are definitely worth your time.
Cornell University, FS430, Understanding Wine and Beer, is also recommended for good easy chemistry, amongst other things, being précis lecture notes of their wine course. Brock University and University of California (Davis) are also very useful, and accessible through SARWG, as is Lum Eisenman’s Home Winemaker's Manual, Amateur Winemakers of Ontario, and many more. Try Vineyard and Vintage View also. Jack Keller and Spagnol’s Wine Cellar both have useful information on acids and sugars in common fruits. For well-presented wine chemistry, try Chemistry in Winemaking.
AIM, and The Society of the Medical Friends of Wine, both have good commonsense information of wine and health, well worth the quest to educate yourself in these matters. New Scientist has an Alcohol supplement, also interesting.
Try Robin Garr’s Wine Lovers Home Page, and feast your eyes on the Wallpaper downloads for Desktop inspiration, as well as the masses of good info. For latest, and not so latest winemaking books, go to Barnes and Noble or Amazon com on the Net, great selection, easy to order. Also alibris.com and abebooks.com and others for access to second-hand books. Otherwise there are real finds to discover in libraries, op shops and second-hand book emporiums as well.
Earlier doyens of home winemaking were CJJ Berry and Ben Turner. Andre Simon, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, Bryce Rankine, Maynard Amerine, et al, are all quite good on those conventional vineberry varieties of winemaking.
Please refer to the PDF and WORD versions for the full Wine Factfile Booklist at: