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.

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

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.

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

There are many kinds of grapes to choose from, depending on where you live. Vitis vinifera is the classic choice for flavor, varietal character and historic authenticity. This famous European wine-grape family includes such renowned varieties as Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the United States, to make a sweeping generalization, v. vinifera grapes thrive in California and the Pacific Northwest. They also grow well in microclimates scattered from New York to the Great Lakes, the Mid-Atlantic states and beyond.

Those who live in colder, wetter climates may not be able to find v. vinifera grapes grown locally. Don’t be discouraged. Fine hybrids and Vitis labrusca grapes, which are less susceptible to cold and disease, may be growing near your home. Other options include ordering grapes through your favorite local winemaking shop or from a produce wholesaler. Whatever kind of grapes you use, the general techniques, equipment and ingredients are the same. Here’s an overview of some key steps along the way.

Inspecting the Fruit

Winemaking starts with inspecting the grapes. Make sure they are ripe by squishing up a good double handful, straining the juice and measuring the sugar level with a hydrometer, a handy device you can buy at a winemaking supply shop. The sugar density should be around 22° Brix – this equals 1.0982 specific gravity or 11 percent potential alcohol – and the fruit should taste sweet, ripe and slightly tart.

The grapes also must be clean, sound and relatively free of insects and other vineyard debris. Discard any grapes that look rotten or otherwise suspicious. Also, it’s very important that all the stems are removed, since they will make your wine bitter.

Keeping it Clean

Winemaking demands a sanitary environment. Wash all of your equipment thoroughly with hot water, boiling what you can. It’s also wise to arm yourself with a strong sulfite solution to rinse any equipment that comes in contact with your wine. To make it, add 3 tablespoons of sulfite powder (potassium metabisulfite) to a gallon of water and mix well.

Adjusting the Juice

Adjusting the juice or “must” of your wine is critical. Luckily, it’s also easy. Acid content is measured with a simple titration kit; you can buy one at a supply shop. The ideal acid level is 6 to 7 grams per liter for dry reds and 6.5 to 7.5 grams per liter
for dry whites.

Here’s an example: If your must measures 5.5 grams per liter, then you need to add 1 gram per liter of tartaric acid to bring it up to 6.5 g/L. Since 0.2642 gallons equals 1 liter, 1 g/L is equivalent to adding 3.8 grams of tartaric acid to your one-gallon batch. Add this powder in one-eighth teaspoon intervals, checking acidity carefully after each addition, until the desired level is reached. You can buy tartaric acid at your supply shop.

You also need to monitor the sugar level with your hydrometer. The must should be about 22° Brix for both reds and whites. To bring the sugar concentration up, make a sugar syrup by dissolving one cup sugar into one-third cup of water. Bring it to a boil in a saucepan and immediately remove from heat. Cool before adding in small amounts,
one tablespoon at a time, until the desired degrees Brix and specific gravity is reached. To lower the sugar level, simply dilute your must or juice with water.

The temperature of your must can also be adjusted to provide the perfect environment for yeast cells. Warming up the juice gently (don’t cook or boil it!) is an easy way to bring it to pitching temperature without damaging the quality of the wine. Fermentation can sometimes reach into the 80° to 90° F range, though the 70° F range is standard for reds (whites often are fermented at cooler temperatures).

If your grapes have been refrigerated or are too cold, use this unorthodox but quick trick: Heat up a small portion of the juice in the microwave, mix it back into the fermentation pail and re-test the temperature. An electric blanket wrapped around the fermentation pail also works, but takes longer. For cooling, add a re-usable ice pack and stir for a few minutes. Pitch the yeast when the temperature reaches 70° to 75° F for reds and 55° to 65° for whites.

Racking the Wine

“Racking” means transferring the fermenting wine away from sediment. You insert a clear, half-inch diameter plastic hose into the fermenter and siphon the clear wine into another sanitized jug. Then top it off and fit it with a sanitized bung and fermentation lock. This
can be a delicate operation and it’s important to go slowly. You don’t want to stir up the sediment, but you don’t want to lose your siphon suction.

Bottling the Batch

Bottling may sound complicated, but it’s really not. To bottle your wine, you simply siphon your finished product into the bottles (leaving about 2 inches of headspace below the rim), insert a cork into the hand corker, position the bottle under the corker and pull the lever. It’s always wise to buy some extra corks and practice with an empty bottle before you do it for real.

Wine bottles can be purchased at home winemaking stores, or you can simply wash and recycle your own bottles. These supply stores also rent hand-corkers and sell corks. You should only buy corks that are tightly sealed in plastic bags because exposure to dust and microbes can spoil your wine. Corks can be sterilized just before bottling, with hot water and a teaspoon of sulfite crystals.

A one-gallon batch will yield about five standard-size (750 ml) bottles of wine. If the fifth bottle isn’t quite full, then either drink that bottle or use smaller bottles to keep the wine. The key is to have full, sealed containers that are capable of aging.

Now you’re ready to make your first batch of fresh-grape wine. Below you’ll find step-by-step recipes for a dry red and a dry white table wine. The recipes have similar steps and techniques, with one important difference. Red wines always are fermented with the skins
and pulp in the plastic pail; the solids are pressed after fermentation is complete. White wines are always pressed before fermentation, so only the grape juice winds up in the fermenting pail.

This series will continue with a recipe for making white wine and a recipe for making red wine. In early October I’ll write a snap view of the 2007 vintage. Your feed reader will be automatically updated of the posting if you subscribe.

Location:
United States, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley.

Wines Produced:
Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dolcetto, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Merlot, Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Port, Red dessert wine, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Viognier, Zinfandel

Special Wines:
Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel, Sonoma County Reserve (San Lorenzo Vineyard)

Production: 200,000 cases annually

Formerly the winemaker at Belvedere, Erich Russell has since been developing his 40-acre Russian River vineyard. Rabbit Ridge operations now include new acreage in Paso Robles, California, as well as the ranch on West Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg.

Today he and winemaker Susie Selby rely on both estate-grown and purchased grapes.

The Rabbit Ridge lineup includes traditional wines, as well as what Russell refers to as “odd duck” wines such as marsanne, sangiovese, dolcetto, barbera and grenache.

Street address:
3291 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Phone: (707) 431-7128

Vitis vinifera is currently harvested in the Northern hemisphere. You have other options for obtaining wine grapes. I’ll talk about them in the upcoming guide to making your own wine starting in a week.

Harvesting is very hard work and is labor intensive.

The Northern hemisphere shows grape harvest about two or three weeks earlier than usual. In Western Europe this is not because the summer was sunny and dry like in 2003. It was not. “In 2007, the whole season was early, right from the budding, because of the mild winter and spring” said Luca Vietti, winemaker at the Vietti winery, in the Piedmont (as reported by the Wine Spectator).

Harvest in the first half of August only concerns some white grapes. The regions where vintners began harvesting in the first half of August are:

• In the USA: the Napa Valley in California;
• In France: Alsace and Roussillon;
• In Italy: Lazio, Veneto and Trentino.

Other websites show recent reports on the current harvest: in California, in Texas, in North Carolina, in New York, in France (there and there), in Italy, in Germany. The present post is the first in a series on the grape harvest. The series will end with a snap view of the 2007 vintage. Your feed reader will be automatically updated of the posting if you subscribe.

Don’t believe mentions of a good vintage yet: it’s too early to address this fuzzy concept: wait until the wine is made! Still we already know that it will be very difficult for even expert winemakers to make good wine in the following parts: Texas, Bordeaux, Puglia and Sicily.

The corkscrew is such a simple, essential tool in the kitchen that most people don’t realize the differences in the styles available. Knowing why each corkscrew is shaped the way it is and what benefits it offers might help consumers in choosing one that best meets their needs.

The Wing Corkscrew:
Once the screw mechanism is inserted into the cork, this design has two wing-like levers that pull the cork up through its frame when depressed. This model is easy to use and an excellent version for anyone.

The Power Corkscrew:
A wire screw mechanism is inserted into the center of the cork and pulled out with sheer force on part of the user. This one piece design is very portable and has no mechanical parts to lose or break. The design and function are simple but require strength, as the name implies, and some practice. Beware not to spill wine when opening! You may wish to just avoid it.

The Waiter’s Corkscrew:

The waiter’s corkscrew gets its name due to popularity with restaurant staff and bartenders. This compact model folds like a pocket knife and includes a knife for removing wine seals. Its handle is hinged and one end has a support, which rests on the lip of the bottle. Requires some skill but if pulled straight up it works very well. Excellent for those with small kitchens and limited drawer space.

The Twin Prong Cork Puller:
Preferred by wine enthusiasts because it does not damage the cork. This is useful for recorking the bottle or of for closing up new wine.
Instead of using a screw mechanism, this version features two prongs that are wedged into either side of the bottle between the cork and the glass. With a quick twisting motion, the cork is removed from the bottle unscathed. However, this style requires practice to keep from punching the cork into the bottle.

The whites are made from chardonnay grapes. They are firmer and, when young, more acidic than many burgundies, but these characteristics allow them to age well.

Rich reds from pinot noir are the hallmark of the firm, whether from domaine vineyards such as Chambertin Clos de Bèze or Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques, or from its negociant wines.

Street address:
21 rue Eugène Spuller
Beaune
21200

Phone: +33 (0)3 80 22 10 57

I’ll profile other well-known Burgundy wineries in the next weeks. Please subscribe to the Chardonnay feed or to the Pinot noir feed.