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Wine Finds: The Wine Rack Bra

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The Wine Rack

It’s Wine Rack Friday…LOL!!!!

Women, If you are every looking to conceal some wine or just want a little extra push up! Well, I’ve found the product for you…The Wine Rack Bra!

I can’t even keep a straight face while typing this…But I guess there is something out there for everyone! Who want’s one?

Wine Making Class: Final Class – Bottling

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Our last wine making class was absolutely amazing!

I brought in the Brie Toast with Chardonnay Soaked Raisin (Recipe) and received tons of compliments.

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Now for the fun…
Throughout our previous classes, we made different types of wine (Riesling, Malbec, Raspberry Mead, and a Blend with Table Grapes).

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So, now it’s time for bottling!

Step 1: Sanitize Bottles and Corks

We used the following sanitizing rack. Simply add your sanitizer to the top with your corks. Then you can insert each bottle over the white tip and push. It will shoot sanitizer into the bottle. Once done, you sit the bottle on the rack go dry.
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Step 2: Siphon Wine into Bottles

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Step 3: Cork Bottles

We used the following corker model, which inserted the corks easy.
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Step 4 & 5: Label and Heat Seal Wrap

We used the following equipment to seal the pvc wrap on the bottle.

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The final product:
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After bottling our batches of wine, we had Graduation. So, it’s official! I now have my Doctorate of Winemaking 😉
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Wine Making Class: Week 2 – Racking, Mead Wine & Wine Tastings

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Link to Wine Making Class – Week 1

Week 2 of Wine Making class gave us the opportunity to rack wine and create a mead wine.

Racking

In week 1 we created a red and white wine, which needed to be racked in week 2 (transferred) from the primary fermentor to the secondary (The picture above is a secondary fermentor aka carboy). The primary is used to give the must (wine ingredients) enough room to vigorously ferment within the first week. After the first week, fermentation slows down and can be transferred to the secondary, which is a tighter space and limits the amount of oxygen with a airlock (located in the picture above and is the closure at the top of the fermentors). Racking is also used in the process of clearing wine. When you transfer the wine from one fermentor to another, you are able to leave the sediment at the bottom and get a clear and vibrant color from your wine.

Mead Wine

Another first for me in the class, was the process of creating a mead wine. Mead wine is wine that has been fermented from honey (the honey is converted into alcohol). Keep in mind, this is different from wine that has been sweetened with honey. We made a Blackberry Mead.

Blackberry Mead 1 Gallon Recipe (from DeFalco’s)

Ingredients:

  • 1-2lbs Blackberries
  • 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. (about 26 – 32 fl. oz.) unprocessed honey (dry to semi-sweet)
  • Water to one gallon (Specific Gravity – 1.085 – 1.105)
  • 1 tsp. Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
  • 2 tsp. acid blend (or 3/4 tsp. tartaric acid & 1 1/4 tsp. malic acid)
  • 1/4 tsp grape tannin
  • 1 campden tablet* (crushed – or substitute 1/8 tsp. sodium/potassium metabisulfite)
  • 1-2 pkgs. wine (e.g. Premier Cuvee, Champagne, Cote des Blancs, Lalvin D-47) or mead yeast

Instructions:

  1. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the yeast and the campden tablet. Stir the must until the honey and additives are completely dissolved. Cover the pail to keep out dust and air with the large plastic sheet.
  2.  Crush and dissolve the campden tablet in 1 oz. of warm water. Add this to the must and stir well. Cover the pail again and tie down the plastic sheet. Let the must stand for one day, stirring several times.
    *ALTERNATIVE: Heat honey with an equal volume of water to 180°F and let stand for 15 minutes to pasteurize. (DO NOT BOIL!) Cool and add remainder of water before proceeding to next step.
  3. Rehydrate the dried yeast by sprinkling it into 1/2 cup lukewarm (95 – 100° F) water in a sanitized jar and cover for 20 minutes. (If using “Mead” yeast, prepare a starter 48 hours prior to using.) Add the yeast “slurry “/starter to mixture. Re-cover the primary fermenter and allow fermentation to proceed for 5-7 days or until foaming subsides.
  4. Syphon the mead into a sterile glass jug. Avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration as much as possible. Be sure the mead completely fills the jug – into the neck. Attach a fermentation lock and allow the fermentation to go to completion (.995 – 1.020 S.G.).
  5. One week after fermentation has ceased, syphon the mead into another sterile glass jug. Again, avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration. Crush, dissolve and add 1/2 campden tablet per gallon to the mead. Allow the mead to stand for one month in a cool dark place and repeat “racking” process. If at the end of three months, the mead is clear – bottle it. If it is not clear, repeat this step every month until it is clear and then bottle it. The mead may be sweetened to taste with additional honey, if desired, after stabilization (1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate & 1/2 campden tablet per gallon).

Note: All equipment should be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulphite. Fermentation temperatures should be no lower than 60 degrees F. or higher than 80 degrees F.

Ratio for different meads – (parts by volume honey: parts by volume water)
DRY: 1:4 (2 1/2 lbs. honey per gallon – the dry recipe above)
SEMI-DRY: 1:3 (3 lbs. honey per gallon – our most popular – the semi-sweet recipe above)
SWEET: 1:2.5 (4 lbs. honey per gallon)

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Mead wine will need to be racked more than traditional wines in order to obtain a natural clarity. It will also need to be aged longer as well. Similar to other wines, meads can be dry, semi-dry, or sweet. Our instructor Scott, recommended us setting aside 1/2 to 1 gallon of the un-fermented juice and using it to the final batch at before bottling.

Wine Tastings

Below are the wines we tasted in Week 2:

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  • Martin Codax Albarino 2011 – (My Favorite) From Rias Baixas, Spain the wine is fruity, crisp, medium-bodied white wine with a dry finish
  • Seven Sinners Petite Sirah 2012 – From Lodi District, France the wine is rich, with flavors of jam, heavy tannins, with a dry finish
  • Raspberry Melomel 2011 – A mead wine made buy the store’s staff. It was fruity, light-bodied, acidic, with a semi-dry finish
  • PluBerry – A Japanese Plum & Blackberry wine made by one of the students in the class. It was boldly fruity, medium-bodied, acidic, with a sweet finish
  • Erath Pinot Noir 2013 – From Oregon, USA the wine is a light and fruity wine with lighter tannins and a dry finish
  • Carmenere 2012, A chilian wine, with bold berry flavors, heavy tannins and a dry finish. I forgot to write down the brand

All in all, week 2 was another great class filled with learning and wine.

Until next time…Our should I say next, next time since I’ll be missing Week 3’s class 😦

Check out Week 3!!!

The Liebster Blog Award

/ winebyari / 3 Comments

liebster-award

I would like to thank Yecheilyah for giving me my first nomination of The Liebster Blog Award, it is truely appreciated. I accept the nomination and will continue to blog about my wine making journey and all things wine. My goal is always to educate and inspire others about wine making and drinking. Infinite thanks for your support and happy blogging!

So what is the Liebster Blog Award:

  • A internet award given by bloggers to bloggers
  • Liebster has German origins, with meanings such as dearest, sweetest, kindest, etc.

Here are the Rules:
1. Link the person who nominated you to your blog post and let them know you answered their questions.
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominator.
3. Nominate other bloggers for the award.
4. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

Questions:

1. Why did you start your blog?

As I started my Wine Making journey, I thought it would be awesome to express my passion and love for wine by creating a blog. I figured I could educate and inspire others, as well as gain knowledge from others on the same path.

2. What is your favorite city to visit?

Tampa, FL!!! That’s my hometown and I absolutely love when I can visit and spend time with family and friends.

3. If there is one post you think best defines your blog, which is it? Post the link too!

I truthfully believe all my post define my blog, but if I had to pick only one I would choose Wine Making: Bottling & Labeling. This post represents the bottling and labeling of my first batch of wine for my mom’s 60th birthday.

4. What’s your favorite color?

Navy Blue

5. If there is one thing you’ve learned about blogging that has helped your writing or career, what is it?

Only write about what I’m passionate about!

6. Other than Writing/Blogging, how best do you like to spend your time?

Family and Friends are my everything, however just doing something makes me happy! (I’m absolutely not a home body)

How would you define happiness?

Doing what I like, with the people I love!

8. Coffee or Tea?

Tea…All Day!

9. What is the one thing that keeps you motivated?

Me, I’ve always been self motivated/driven to accomplish my goals.

10. What’s your favorite movie and why?

I have sooo many, but my most recent is Insurgent (Divergent Series). I love movies where individuals break outside of the stereotypical norms and become the best them possible despite what others say or do.

11. If you follow The PBS Blog, what do you like most about it or would like to see more of?

I like the diversity…everything from life hacks, quotes, history, etc. Keep up the great work!

I now nominate the following blogs for The Liebster Blog Award:

Accidentally Cooking

Bppwinesociety

Cabinet Wine Maker

Foodie WineLover

Winedowntasting

Here are Your Questions:

1. Why did you start your blog?

2. What is your favorite place to visit and why?

3. If there is one post you think best defines your blog, which is it? Post the link too!

4. What’s your favorite wine?

5. If there is one thing you’ve learned about blogging that has helped your writing or career, what is it?

6. Other than Writing/Blogging, how best do you like to spend your time?

7. How would you define happiness?

8. White or Red Wine?

9. What is the one thing that keeps you motivated?

10. What’s your favorite movie and why?

11. If you follow The Wine by Ari Blog, what do you like most about it or would like to see more of?