December - Wine Guide
Wine making tips one and two.
You can try for years and home made wine will never taste as good as a real wine from a Mediterranean country, or more recently the wines of the Southern hemisphere. OK, occasionally there is an exception, but the abundance of chemicals used in making wine at home frequently taints it.
My grandfather who was otherwise a pretty sane chap and fountain of knowledge, having spent a lot of time in India, started making his own wine when he retired. My first taste of homemade wine was when I was about 7 when I was allowed a few sips of his "vintage" blackberry wine. Even at that tender age I could tell that it was immensely alcoholic but tasted awful. He belonged to a wine making "Circle" who used to give out wine making tips to other keen winemakers. Because all the members used the same chemicals they did not notice them at their 'tastings'. Anyone used to real wine would rather have a G&T or a Scotch.
I must admit that later in life I dabbled in winemaking myself. I should have known better, I know, but living in the English countryside with often more produce than I needed I decided to do something with the gluts of apples, pears and other fruits in the garden, as well as picking blackberries and elderberries from the local hedgerows.
I invested in a load of gear, bottles, books, corks, demi-johns and tried to make wine without chemicals, having remembered the times I had been forced to try various friends' unpalatable brews, "Oh you must try my carrot wine, it tastes just like Frascati". (It was more like battery acid and bore no resemblance to that fine wine).
So I read loads of books, most of which told me to use lots of chemicals without which one could not make wine, and gave it a go. A few gallons of apple vinegar (which was great for cooking), several gallons of funny tasting water and a year or two later I finally made a small batch of very drinkable elderberry wine using a port yeast. It was rather like a half-decent chianti. So having invested in all the equipment, spent many, many hours picking fruit, washing it, bottling-up, siphoning-off and all the other numerous tasks necessary in home-made wine making, I ended up with some very good vinegar (around 10 years worth) and 7 bottles of drinkable wine.
Nowadays I'm very happy to go to the local shop and get a decent bottle of the real thing. One of the main problems with homemade wine is its unknown strength. Yes I know there are various gadgets for measuring that sort of thing, but that is rather throwing good money after bad, and if it doesn't really taste very nice anyway why bother?
Sitting here with a glass of chilled Frascati and a smoked salmon sandwich I really wish I had taken the two most important wine making tips before I even started. It would have saved me a lot of aggravation.
SEO Solutions and one way link
publicity services provided by LinkAcquire.
David C Skul - CEO
LinkAcquire.com and Relativity, Inc. can provide
global market exposure and solutions
About the Author
None
Thoughts about Wine Guide
Wine making tips one and two.
You can try for years and home made wine will never taste as good as a real wine from a Mediterranean country, or more recently the wines of the South...
Click Here to Read More About Wine ...
Recommended Wine Guide Items
The FTD Red & Ivory Standing Spray - Premium
Uniquely designed spray of carnations and stock, this arrangement will convey your heartfelt wishes. Appropriate to send to the funeral home. Arrangement is delivered with an easel for display. S25-3146P
Price: 164.99 USD
News about Wine Guide
Italy Travel: Chianti Wine Tours in Tuscany
Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:18:14 -0800
If you love wine and are traveling to the Tuscany region, wine tasting is a must.
Studio Vertu site offers custom coasters (BizJournals)
Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:05:53 -0800
The founder of Studio Vertu, a maker of lightweight decorative fresco tiles in Over-the-Rhine, has launched a Web site where shoppers can custom-make coasters in the same style.
Wine Spectator and musings on alcohol levels
Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:38:54 -0800
The December 15, 2008 issue of Wine Spectator included a letter to the editor from San Francisco-based wine importer Bartholomew Broadbent (son of Michael Broadbent, a British Master of Wine and director of Christie’s wine department) asking why the Spectator doesn’t publish alcohol levels along with its wine reviews. Broadbent pointed out that with red wines ranging from 12-16 percent nowadays, alcohol levels are a very important piece of information when making a buying decision. I happen
Gangster Wine Showdown
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:33:30 -0800
Gangster Wine Showdown by Michael Y. Park on 11/28/08 at 05:43 PM A little while ago, realizing that there's now a gangster-wine trifecta in play with the introduction of a line based on "The Sopranos", a couple of unnamed informants and I decided to see which vino most deserved the title of Godfather of Gangster Wines. Here are the wines that we tried out: The Sopranos Pinot Noir The Sopranos Chianti DOCG Francis Ford Coppola Cabernet ("The Godfather," etc.) Bracco Wines Barolo (as in
MarbleCoasters.Com Rocks The Internet With Customized Marble Coasters And A Chance To Win A Trip For Two To Florence, ... (Centre Daily Times)
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:09:29 -0800
MarbleCoasters.com – a newly launched ecommerce site that makes ordering customized marble coasters for timeless, personalized gifts as easy as an Italian ocean breeze – is offering early visitors to the Web site a free chance to win a trip to the Cradle of The Renaissance, Florence, Italy, including five nights at the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo overlooking the historic city and a day tour of ...
Marques de Riscal Reserva 2004
Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:00:12 -0800
Anthony at Boccaccio Cellars has been raving about this, so I thought I’d better give it a run. The comeback vintage of 2001 was a big hit, and the 2004 is on a similar level. So, I line up the 2004 and 2001, along with the 2004 Roda Reserva after Griff’s call that this is a ‘better’ wine. I’ve put the note for the 2001 in the ‘From the cellar’ section, but it’s drinking very well at the moment. A few more years in the cellar and it will be a mighty drink. Comparing this wine and Roda Reserva
Housewarming Wine?
Kosher Wine
Labels: Wine Sales
