The Wine Maker's Toy Store®

Bringing family and friends together...One sip at a time!

Welcome to Pressing News, the monthly newsletter published by Fine Vine Wines, LLC, designed exclusively to assist the home vintner in the pursuit of their hobby!

THIS MONTH ON THE VINE!

WELCOME

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Fine Vine Wines, LLC, "The Wine Maker's Toy Store". Whether you need home wine making or home brewing products or just need information, we are here to serve you. I want to extend my thanks again for making The Wine Maker's Toy Store your home for your wine making and beer brewing needs. It continues to be my hope that every time you visit our web site or retail store, you find something of value.

As a reminder, we continue to add products and content to the web site; therefore, if you have any special requests, please let us know. We like to hear what you have to say about our site, our products and/or our customer service, good or bad. Please send your comments and/or suggestions to winemaster@finevinewines.com.

HOW TO MAKE A WINE KIT CLASS

On Thursday, August 10th, 2006, we are going to make a Winexpert Wine Kit from start to finish! Actually, we will be working on several kits, so we can demonstrate every step in the wine making process from mixing the must to bottling the finished wine. The class will start at 7pm and will last until 9pm. After the class, we will have a wine tasting which will include the wine bottled that night.

We are going to limit the attendance to 12 for the first class on a first come basis. Please give us a call at 1-866-417-1114 to reserve your seat.

We will have more classes and it is our intent to have at least 1 event at the store per month. If you have a suggestion for an event, please give us a call.

CUSTOMER REFERAL PROGRAM

In case you missed it, we have a customer referral program that provides additional discounts to registered users. We will give you a coupon worth 10% of the first order placed by any person that you refer to our web site. The stipulations are as follows:

That's all you have to do to get another discount from finevinewines.com.

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PROGRAM - FVW GROWERS CLUB

Please check out our FVW Growers Club. You can get all of the details on our web site, but the bottom line is we want to buy your loyalty! Once you spend $500 with us, you get a 5% discount on everything you buy from us. Find out more on the web site.

FORUM

When you have a question or just want to learn more about wine making, don't forget our forum! We have 429 registered users, including some extremely knowledgeable wine makers with loads of valuable information and willing to assist you in your wine making needs. As of the printing of this newsletter, we have over 21,000 posts. We also have 4 moderators and an administrator. Responses to most posts are made within minutes.

Whether you are an expert or a novice, it is an excellent place to ask questions, exchange ideas and meet other home wine makers. If you haven't logged into the forum, try it sometime. I think you will find it most informative and enjoyable, as well as, a great place to meet fellow wine makers. We are also known to have a contest or two only available to forum members.

FEATURED ARTICLE - SULFITES: LOVE EM' HATE EM' NEED EM'? - Part II

Well here we are again. After examining our sulfite levels we are ready to put our math to a test. Last month we examined how to get various sulfite levels in our wine. Yes, this is great if we have all the testing materials, but what does this mean if we are just following directions in a wine kit, or are making our first homemade batch? I purchased a Titrets set from George and conducted a few experiments on my wine.

I tested a number of kits, store bought, and homemade wines. The results are certainly interesting and informative. I tested two kit wines, two store bought wines and two homemade wines.

Kit Wines: Both are Vintners Reserve Beaujolais’ kits. I picked these kits because they are very popular due to their early drinking. The first one I ruined because of cleanliness issues. The second one turned out great and I am enjoying a glass right now. Here are the results.

#1 – I added an extra 1/4 tsp. of K-meta to try and salvage the first wine, but I just sprinkled it on top and did not dilute it first. Using the Titrets from George I measured 40 ppm after approx. 5 months in the bottle.

#2 – For the 2nd VR Beaujolais kit I did not add any extra K-Meta. I followed the directions and did not add any extra K-Meta for aging. Using the Titrets kit I ended up with 36 ppm after approx. 2 months in the bottle.

Store bought wines: Both are whites from 2004. The first is Robert Mondavi’s reserve Riesling, the second is Covey Run’s 2004 Riesling. Mondavi’s is from California and Covey Run’s is from Washington.

#1 – Mondavi’s 2004 Riesling tested at 12 ppm using the Titrets set.

#2 – Covey Run’s 2004 Riesling tested at 12 ppm.

Homemade wines: I have made an apple/raspberry wine and an apple cider from juice.

#1 – The apple/raspberry was made from Wal-Mart apple juice and some frozen apple/raspberry concentrate. They both stated no preservative. After about 2 months of bulk aging the wine tested at 70 ppm. WOW!! No preservative? That’s what it said on the bottles of juice I used; don’t know if I believe it.

#2 – I made some apple cider and here are the results. Using Kroger apple juice I tested it twice at 100 ppm. The interesting thing about the cider is that I never added any K-Meta to the must. The only K-meta I used was to clean the primary and the carboy for secondary fermentation. I always rinse any residual K-meta from the surface using boiling water to ensure I get it rinsed clean. I used Champagne yeast to ferment the cider and can’t believe it would give off that much SO2.

I have come to a couple of conclusions concerning K-meta use in you wine.

1. Use as little as possible to get the desired result. Consistently go for the 30 to 40 ppm for your wine in the bottle.
2. Don’t trust a juice that says “no preservative’s” to be completely free of K-meta. I just can’t explain 100 ppm in a completely “preservative free” cider.
3. Follow the directions of your kit wine. This will give you a fantastic product of good quality drinkable wine, not some science experiment gone awry.

Matt Secor

My references are:

Fine Vine Wines web site

Home Wine making Step by Step by Jon Iverson

WineMaker Magazine

A study conducted by Alan T. Bakalinsky :  Why are wine yeasts resistant to sulfite?

For writing this featured article, Matt will receive a $100 gift certificate from The Wine Maker's Toy Store. I am always looking for people to write featured articles and I will give you a $100 gift certificate from The Wine Maker's Toy Store if you summit an article that I use in my newsletter. Just send me your article and when it appears in Pressing News, the gift certificate is yours.

TOYS OF THE MONTH

With the fresh fruit season rapidly approaching, everyone needs a good way to determine the amount of acid in your wine. The Acidometer makes this task easy and with the Iodic solution (sold separately), you can also test for SO2 (sulphur dioxide). Both items are marked down 15% to make sure your wine making arsenal is fully loaded for your home made wines.

Part Number	Image	Description	Regular Price	Current Price	Order
6856		Acidometer - Vinoferm Complete kit to determine the acidity of musts and wines. Contains graduated cylinder, blue indicator solution, litmus paper and complete instructions.	$20.99	$16.99	Order
6894		Iodic (SO2) Solution Measures free sulfites in wine; use with Acidometer #6856.	$11.99	$8.99	Order

NEW PRODUCTS

Although we don't have anything new this month, we will be adding several new items in July. Included in those will be some new kits from Winexpert, including a new Amarone kit in a 6-gallon size.

We will also be adding some larger fermenters and a new fruit press. Be sure to check our New Products Page whenever you visit the web site.

If you are looking for a product that I do not carry, my primary distributor is LD Carlson and you can see their complete product list at their public catalog. If you find anything you would like me to add, please let me know.

CALL US!

If you have any questions about our products, our service and/or wine making, please call us. We are not Corporate America! We are here to serve you. I bring this up, because a number of my callers apologize for bothering me or using my toll-free line. You are definitely not bothering me and I have a toll-free line so you WILL call me.

Sometimes, I am unable to answer the phone. If you get the voice mail, please leave your name, number, brief message and a best time to call. I will return your call as soon as I can. I now have the Company Line forwarded to my cell phone when I am not in the store. As a result, I am now available almost 24-7. I do need to sleep!

If you don't want to call, just send me an email. I usually answer my email daily. In addition, your emails and/or calls do not have to relate to wine. I will discuss any topic you like, so please remember, I am your resource and I am here for you.

WINE OF THE MONTH

How about ......... CHARDONNAY? That's right, this month, we have all of our chardonnays on special for at least 10% off. Whether you like the buttery style or tannic style, we have chardonnay for you. To learn more about each of these kits, go to our Wine Varietals page.

Part Number	Image	Description	Brand	Regular Price	Current Price	Order
HAR001		Peach Apricot Chardonnay Concentrate and ingredients, equipment sold separately. Makes 30 - 750ml Bottles.	Island Mist	$49.99	$44.99	Order
3125		Australian Chardonnay Full, supple, buttery, & fruity, this golden wine delivers from the moment the first sip reaches your palate, to the clean, lingering finish.	Winexpert Selection International	$93.99	$83.99	Order
3234		Chilean Chardonnay Lively, medium-bodied wine with citrus & apple notes.	Winexpert Selection International	$75.99	$68.99	Order
3239		French Chardonnay King of the whites. Rich & fruity with soft subtle nuances.	Winexpert Selection International	$86.99	$76.99	Order
3102		Sonoma Dry Creek Valley Unwooded Chardonnay A fresh, well-balanced wine with typical Chardonnay characteristics of tropical citrus aromas and flavors. Undimmed by oak, the fruit quality of these grapes is allowed to come through, and the rich, round mouthfeel lingers to a long, crisp finish.	Winexpert Selection Estate	$104.99	$93.99	Order
3564		Australian Chardonnay The new Passport Australian Chardonnay is deep golden in color with tropical fruit aromas, enveloped in a wonderful oak finish.	Vintners Reserve Passport	$57.99	$51.99	Order
3188		Chardonnay Dry with pleasant acidity & a fruity bouquet.	Vintners Reserve	$60.99	$54.99	Order

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

We appreciate all of your comments, whether good or bad. To demonstrate our commitment to outstanding customer service, I have created a web page with your feedback. As we receive emails that comment about our service, I will post them on this page.

NEWSLETTER SPECIALS

To reward those of you that take the time to read our newsletter every month, we are adding a newsletter special. We promise to offer an outstanding value each month via this feature and this special pricing will only be available through a link from the current month's newsletter. A link to the newsletter special will appear somewhere in the newsletter.

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