Winemaking (Featured Articles)

Making your own wine at home is all the rage right now. Those how engage in it say it’s an educational, fun hobby.

There are lots of winemaking recipes available that make the process easy and claim to ensure success. It’s not as hard as it sounds. There are a few basic steps that, once learned, are simple to put into practice. And then there are the advanced principles that are not hard to master, although they’re not required for a good homemade wine.

Of course, the base ingredient is the grape. It contains, naturally, the right mixture of nutrients, tannin, sugar, and moisture for fermentation and preservation. It even has its own yeast.

But, what many don’t know is, wine can actually be made from just about any non-toxic plant if the correct additional ingredients are added. It may not be as good, but it is possible.

There is a lot of information and instruction available online about the art of winemaking. There are so many variables in certain ingredients, and tips and hints that are passed on from winemaker to winemaker that will help you avoid the problems and pitfalls of winemaking. For example, when a recipe advises you to gently squeeze the grape to extract the juice, what it’s really saying is that rough squeezing will lead to a cloudy wine that refuses to clarify. It just doesn’t say that in so many words.

This can be the hardest part of winemaking, all the little things that can make or break your wine. The problem is, finding all these tips without having to go through all the trial and error and storing of hundreds of bottles of bad wine in your garage.

So, if you’re thinking about making your own wine, or have a few failed attempts under your belt, these resources will help you accomplish the great-tasting homemade wine you’ve been dreaming of.

The Complete Guide To Making Wine
This guide states that it’ll have you making “Excellent, award winning wine for less than 29 cents a bottle”

Tips And Secrets To Making Great Wine
Over 190 of the best-tasting homemade wine recipes available

Home Winemaking Step By Step
Thanks to this powerful insider information, over 8,364 home winemakers learned to make prize winning homemade wine while avoiding the pitfalls that can occur

The Health Benefits Of Wine

Is wine really good for you? It’s true, a glass or two can help your heart, prevent cancer and more. In moderation, and of course, as part of a healthy diet, the short answer is yes!

Because of its alcohol content and the non-alcoholic phytochemicals (naturally occurring plant compounds), wine has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and even slow the progression of neurological degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

Of course, the amount of wine you drink matters. A lot. If you drink more than what’s recommended, the health benefits are lost and your health risks rise.

What’s considered safe and effective? Well, for men, no more than two drinks per day. For women, no more than one. “One” drink is defined as a 5-ounce glass of red or white wine.

When it comes to wine and its health benefits, here’s what we know:

It’s been proven that moderate amounts of alcohol can raise your good cholesterol (HDL) and thin your blood. This is thought to be one of the primary cardiovascular benefits from wine (red and white) (as well as hard liquor and beer).

Non-alcoholic phytochemicals in wine, such as flavanoids and resveratrol, act as antioxidants and prevent molecules known as “free radicals” from causing cellular damage in the body. Although some studies that have focused on the health benefits of resveratrol use much greater dosages than you’ll find in an average glass of wine, resveratrol has been shown to prevent blood clotting and plaque formation in arteries by altering lipid profiles and plasma viscosity.

Findings from a recent study suggest that resveratrol can produce potent anti-thrombotic agents that can potentially improve cardiovascular health and lower the risk for coronary heart disease. In animal studies, resveratrol even reduced tumor incidence by affecting one or more stages of cancer development.

Red wine provides much more resveratrol than white wine. That’s because the longer the skin is kept on the grape during the wine making process, the greater the concentration of resveratrol in the wine.

In the case of white wine and its production, the skin is removed before fermentation, giving white wines a lower concentration in resveratrol compared to red wines. Also, wines made in cooler climates have greater amounts of resveratrol too. So, red wines from cool climates have the most resveratrol.

Beginner’s Guide To Different Types Of Wine

The most important factor in the taste of a wine would be the grapes used to make the wine.

However, there are also other factors that affect the flavors, such as climate, exposure to sunlight, soil, how the grapes are fermented and handled, whether or not the wine is aged in wood, and the types of yeast used.

Because of all these factors, the same type of wine can be made in several different regions, but due to the variable factors, the wine will taste different. And that’s half the fun! Experiencing the numerous flavors available.

The word “varietal” simply refers to the variety of grape used to make a particular wine. Serious wine-producing countries and states regulate the amount of a particular grape that make up a particular wine. For instance, in California and Washington any wine referred to by the name of the grape (Chardonnay, for example) must be made up of at least 75% of that grape. Most varietals in Oregon must be 90% of the grape. Alsace requires 100%.

Here is a list of wines:

Red Wines       

Barbera
Cabernet Sauvignon
Chianti
Merlot
Nebbiolo
Petite Sirah
Pinot Noir
Sangiovese
Syrah/Shiraz
Tempranillo
Zinfandel

White Wines

Chablis
Chardonnay
Chenin Blanc
Gewurztraminer
Muscat
Pinot Blanc
Pinot Gris
Riesling
Savignon/Fume Blanc
Semillon
Viognier

Dessert/Fortified Wines

Madeira
Port
Sherry
Vermouth

Other Wines

Champagne/Sparkling Wine
Kosher Wine
Rose
White Zinfandel