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 Difference Between Red And White Wines.

You probably have your favorites when it comes to wine. Most likely you’ve tried several varieties of red and white wine. But what is the real difference between reds and whites? The difference goes much deeper than just the color.

Both red and white wines can be either dry or sweet. It depends on how much of the sugar was converted to alcohol during the fermentation process. But, if you taste a glass of red wine and a glass of white wine and you’ll notice that the red wine, overall, will be more robust and complex than the white wine.

You see, there are more layers of flavor in red wine that don’t exist in white. The difference has less to do with the grapes used and more to do with the fermentation process. That is the primary difference.

In the fermentation process, in white wines, after the grapes get pressed, the seeds, skins, and stems are removed from the juice. But, with red wines, the seeds, skins, and stems are all left in the juice during fermentation. This allows tannins to be released into the juice. It’s the tannins that give red wine its comlexity and full bodied flavor.

Tannins are plant compounds that exist in leaves, barks of trees and grapes. You may have tasted tannins in a strong cup of tea. Tannins cause an astringent, bitter taste.

The tannins that are released during fermentation react with proteins and help prevent the wine from oxidizing as it ages. As white wines are not aged as long as red wines, usually, the tannins aren’t needed. But, they are needed to help the red wines age properly.

Tannins also provide another layer of flavor and complexity. As the wine ages, the tannins mellow and blend with the wine, losing most of their astringency.

And now, the next time you choose a wine, you’ll know why it has the color and flavor that it has. Tannins.

How To Taste Wines.

Learning how to taste wines is an easy adventure that will increase your appreciation for both wines and winemakers. The look, the smell, the taste – start with your basic senses and expand from there and you’ll be tasting wines like a pro in no time!

Bear in mind that even though you can smell thousands of unique aromas, your taste perception is actually limited to sweet, salty, bitter and sour. It’s the combination of smells and tastes that allows you to discern flavor.

Look

Check out the Color and Clarity. Pour a glass of wine into a wine glass. Take a good look at it. Tilt the glass away from you and notice the color of the wine from the rim to the middle of the glass.

What color is it? Look beyond the obvious red, white or blush.

If it’s a red wine, is the color purple, red, brick, maroon, ruby, garnet, or even brownish?

If it’s a white wine, is it clear, straw like, golden, light green, pale yellow, amber or brown in appearance?
What about the wine’s opacity? Is it dark or watery, opaque or translucent, brilliant or dull, clear or cloudy? Can you see sediment? Tilt the glass a bit, swirl it a bit and look again. Is there sediment, bits of cork or any other floaters? An older red wine will be more translucent than younger red wines.

Smell

Your sense of smell is critical to correctly analyze a glass of wine. To get a good impression of the aroma, gently swirl your glass to help vaporize some of the wine’s alcohol and release more of the natural aromas, and then take a quick sniff to get a first impression.

Now stick your nose down far into the glass and inhale deeply. What’s your next impression? What do you smell? Vanilla? Citrus? Berry? Oak? Flowers?

The aroma is an excellent indicator of the quality and unique characteristics of the wine. Continue to gently swirl the wine and let the aromas mingle, and keep sniffing until you define your impression.

Taste

Finally, taste the wine. Start with a small sip and let it roll around on your tongue. Pay close attention to the alcohol content, tannin levels, acidity and residual sugar. These four pieces to the puzzle cause sensations to your palate. Ideally, these four components will be well-balanced. Each piece will not be more prominent than another.

These four pieces do not display a specific flavor. They meld together to offer impressions in intensity and complexity, soft or firm, light or heavy, crisp or creamy, sweet or dry, but not necessarily true flavors like fruit or spice.

Next, discern the flavor profile of the wine. If it’s a red wine you might notice fruit – berry, plum, prune or fig. Or perhaps some spice – pepper, clove, cinnamon, or maybe a woody flavor like oak, cedar, or even a bit of smokiness.

If it’s a white wine you may taste apple, pear, tropical or citrus fruits. Or the taste may be more floral in nature or consist of honey, butter, herbs or a bit of earthiness.

And now, for the finish. How long did the flavor last after the wine was swallowed? This is where the wine culminates, where the aftertaste comes into play.

Did it last several seconds? Was it light-bodied like water or full-bodied like milk? Can you taste the remnant of the wine on the back of your mouth and throat? Do you want another sip or was the wine too bitter at the end? What was your last flavor impression – fruit, butter, oak? Does the taste persist or is it short-lived?

After you have taken the time to taste your wine, you might record some of your impressions. Did you like the wine overall? Was it sweet, sour or bitter? How was the wine’s acidity? Was it well balanced? Does it taste better with cheese, bread or a heavy meal? Will you buy it again? If so, jot the wine’s name, producer and vintage year down for future reference.

Because, after all, the most important thing is how it tastes to you!