Moved to blog.cellarer.com
I just copied the posts here to my new address. From now on I’ll publish there and you will see no more posting here.
The reason is not to change the blogging platform since I find WordPress both engaging and tremendously enabling. The reasons are to gain more flexibility in both the naming (my own domain) and the web design.
See you there!
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A pre-requisite to applying this recipe is to learn the basics of winemaking.
Ingredients
* 18 lbs. ripe red grapes
* 1 campden tablet
* Tartaric acid, if necessary
* Table sugar, if necessary
* 1 packet wine yeast (like Prise de Mousse or Montrachet)
Making process
1. Harvest grapes once they have reached 22 to 24 percent
sugar (22° to 24° Brix).
2. Sanitize all equipment. Place the grape clusters into the nylon straining
bag and deposit the bag into the bottom of the food-grade pail. Using
very clean hands or a sanitized tool like a potato masher, firmly crush
the grapes inside the bag. Crush the campden tablet (or measure out
1 teaspoon of sulfite crystals) and sprinkle over the must in the nylon
bag. Cover pail with cheesecloth and let sit for one hour.
3. Measure the temperature of the must. It should be between 70°
and 75° F. Take a sample of the juice in the pail and measure the
acid with your titration kit. If it’s not between 6 to 7 grams per liter
then adjust with tartaric acid.
4. Check the degrees Brix or specific gravity of the must. If it isn’t
around 22° Brix (1.0982 SG), add a little bit of sugar dissolved
in water.
5. Dissolve the yeast in 1 pint warm (80° to 90° F) water and
let stand until bubbly (it should take no more than 10 minutes). When
it’s bubbling, pour yeast solution directly on must inside the nylon
bag. Agitate bag up and down a few times to mix yeast. Cover pail with
cheesecloth, set in a warm (65° to 75° F) area and check that
fermentation has begun in at least 24 hours. Monitor fermentation progression
and temperature regularly. Keep the skins under the juice at all times
and mix twice daily.
6. Once the must has reached “dryness” (at least 0.5°
Brix or 0.998 SG), lift the nylon straining bag out of the pail and
squeeze any remaining liquid into the pail.
7. Cover the pail loosely and let the wine settle for 24 hours. Rack
off the sediment into a sanitized one-gallon jug, topping up with a
little boiled, cooled water to entirely fill the container. Fit with
a sanitized bung and fermentation lock. Keep the container topped with
grape juice or any dry red wine of a similar style. After 10 days, rack
the wine into another sanitized one-gallon jug. Top up with dry red
wine of a similar style.
8. After six months, siphon the clarified, settled wine off the sediment
and into clean, sanitized bottles. Cork with the hand-corker.
9. Store bottles in cool, dark place and wait at least six months before
drinking.
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Tags: harvest, red wine, winemaking
Location: France, Rhône Valley, Northern Rhône, Cornas
The Rhône Valley is beautiful. Currently the Cornas part is threatened to be uglified. In France, the entity for building authorisations is the municipality. So the debate should grow locally during the campaign for the next municipal elections in March 2008.
Anyway here is a primer on a prominent local grower: Jean-Luc Colombo.
From his beautiful farm high up behind the village of Cornas, Jean-Luc Colombo manages to be a domaine owner, a negociant and a wine consultant for many of the most important producers in the region.
His vines, forming Vignobles Jean-Luc Colombo, occupy 55 acres in the appellations of Cornas and Côtes du Rhône. The benchmark from these vineyards is the Cornas Les Ruchets, a powerful syrah with 45 percent new-wood aging. A recent addition to the range is La Louvée which is a special vineyard selection.
As a negociant, Colombo keeps the wine he buys in the producer’s cellar rather than bringing it to his own.
Jean-Luc and his wife, Anne, founded Le Centre Oenologique des Côtes du Rhône in 1984. As a consultant, his influence, particularly in the use of new wood for aging, has been considerable in the Rhône valley. His winemaking style is international.
Winery:
Pied La Vigne
Cornas
Phone: +33 (0) 4 75 40 36 09
Filed under: French wine, Rhône Valley, Shiraz | Leave a Comment
Tags: development, France
A pre-requisite to applying this recipe is to learn the basics of winemaking.
Ingredients
* 18 lbs. ripe white grapes
* 1 campden tablet
* Tartaric acid, if necessary
* Table sugar, if necessary
* 1 packet wine yeast (like Champagne or Montrachet)
Making process
1. Harvest grapes once they have reached 19 to 22 percent
sugar (19° to 22° Brix). Pick over grapes, removing any moldy
clusters, insects, leaves or stems.
2. Place the grape clusters into the nylon straining bag and put into
the bottom of the food-grade plastic pail. Using very clean hands or
a sanitized tool like a potato masher, firmly crush up the grapes inside
the nylon bag.
3. Crush the campden tablet (or measure out one teaspoon of sulfite
crystals) and sprinkle over the crushed fruit in the bag. Cover pail
and bag with cheesecloth and let sit for one hour.
4. Lift the nylon straining bag out of the pail. Wring the bag to extract
as much juice as possible. You should have about one gallon of juice
in the pail.
5. Measure the temperature of the juice. It should be between 55°
to 65° F. Adjust temperature as necessary. Take a sample of the
juice in the pail and use your titration kit to measure the acid level.
If it is not between 6.5 and 7.5 grams per liter, then adjust with tartaric
acid as described above.
6. Check the degrees Brix or specific gravity of the juice. If it isn’t
around 22° Brix (1.0982 SG) adjust accordingly.
7. Dissolve the packet of yeast in 1 pint warm (80° to 90° F)
water and let stand until bubbly (no more than 10 minutes). When it’s
bubbling, pour yeast solution directly into the juice. Cover pail with
cheesecloth, set in a cool (55° to 65° F) area and check that
fermentation has begun in at least 24 hours. Monitor fermentation progression
and temperature at least once daily.
8. Once the must has reached dryness (at least 0.5 degrees Brix or 0.998
SG), rack the wine off the sediment into a sanitized one-gallon jug,
topping up with dry white wine of a similar style. Fit with a sanitized
bung and fermentation lock. Keep the container topped with white wine.
Be sure the fermentation lock always has sulfite solution in it. After
10 days, rack the wine into another sanitized one-gallon jug. Top up
with wine again.
9. After three months, siphon the clarified wine off the sediment and
into clean, sanitized bottles and cork them.
10. Store bottles in cool, dark place and wait at least three months
before drinking.
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Guigal, Rhône Valley
Location: France, Rhône Valley, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Guigal is a big name in Côte-Rôtie, where vines have been cultivated for 24 centuries. With his cuvées such as Brune et Blonde, La Turque, La Mouline and La Landonne, Marcel Guigal has led the revival in the appellation that has put it among the top red-wine regions of France.
Guigal winemaking incorporates the pure fruit from low yields in the vineyard with new oak in the cellars. Recent additions to the whites include strict temperature control during fermentation.
Having taken control of Vidal-Fleury, the other major négociant in Côte-Rôtie, Guigal now manages more than a third of the production of the appellation. The firm also produces a white Condrieu and larger quantities of Côtes du Rhône.
Winery:
Château d’Ampuis
69420 Ampuis
Phone: +33 4 74 56 10 22
Filed under: French wine, Rhône Valley, Shiraz | Leave a Comment
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