The Wine Maker's Toy Store™
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
- Retail Store Information
- Tip from the Pro - Stirring and De-Gassing Your Wine
- New Trademark
- Winexpert Exclusively
- Online Discussion Forum
- Tim Vandergrift is coming to Dallas!
- T-Shirt Contest
- Featured Article -
Understanding Sulfite and Its Important Role in
Wine Making
- Toy of the Month
- Free Wine Ingredients Kit
- New Products - Did Someone Say BEER?
- Call Us!
- Wine of the Month
- Customer Appreciation Program
- Customer Referral Program
- Customer Feedback
- Unsubscribe
WELCOME
I would like to thank each one of you for visiting our site.
I hope it was an enjoyable experience and you were able to find
everything for which you were looking. As I indicated on our
web site, we started this business in 2003, so unlike big business,
we are extremely flexible and nothing we have done so far is “etched
in stone.” As a result, being an early user of our site
and subscriber to our newsletter gives you the ability to influence
the future of our site and our company!
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.
I want to extend my thanks again for making
finevinewines.com your home for your wine making needs. It continues
to be my hope that every time you visit finevinewines.com you
have an enjoyable experience and you find everything for which
you are looking.
RETAIL
STORE INFORMATION
Information about our retail store, including
hours, location and a map can be found on our Retail
Store Information page.
TIP FROM THE PRO - STIRRING AND DE-GASSING YOUR WINE
Just a quick redux of the stirring issue for my (Winexpert) kits:
- If you've fermented at the right starting volume, the right temperature, and you've achieved the recommended specific gravity levels, then you'll be able to stir the wine to de-gas within the time-frames specified in the instructions.
- If the wine was started at anything other than the full 6 US-gallons (23 litres) or it was fermented cooler than 68 F, or if your gravity readings were not at or below the recommended levels when you did the process, you will not experience consistent success.
- You only need to stir a Winexpert kit four times.
- On day one, you have to beat the snot out of the must to mix it properly. A good, arm-cracking one minute stir to froth it up and mix the juice and water will get you off to a good start and a thorough fermentation
- On fining/stabilising day, after you've double-checked
the SG, then you can first stir the kit without adding
anything--and without
racking it off the sediment! (Unless it's a Crushendo
kit, but that's covered in the instructions--no racking
for any other kit. If you choose to rack it, you will
not experience consistent results. This first stirring
will be to greatly de-gas the wine, prior to adding any
of the fining agents or stablisers. Beat the hell out
of it, for one full minute. Use a watch or clock--one
minute is a lot longer
than most people think. If you can scratch your head
with your stirring hand after that one minute, you haven't
stirred hard enough. It should be an all-out blizzard
of effort that costs you all of your strength, and you
should see spots in front of your eyes (see why I tell
people to buy a drill-mounted stirring whip?)
- Add the sorbate and the sulphite, and stir again, for one full minute. This time you may break one or two small bones in your stirring arm, but don't slow down--if anything, stir harder.
- Add the fining agent and the F-Pack (if the kit has one) and stir for one more full minute. Have the paramedics standing by with a bag of ice to carry your stirring arm to the hospital where it can be re-attached. Top up with water and call it a day.
Now, if you have fizzy wine after this regimen, you don't have
a stirring issue. You have either got an incomplete or ongoing
fermentation, or you're mistaking foam for fizz, or you may have
an incipient lactic acid bacterial infection that is making a
bit of CO2 in the wine.
The amount of stirring described will reduce SO2 slightly in the kit: however,
the amount it is reduced by is minimal, because rather than up taking oxygen
during this process, the wine out-gasses CO2, which actually scrubs some of the
oxygen out of the wine.
If you stir at a time when the wine is not saturated with CO2, you may experience reduced SO2 and potentially expose the wine to oxidation. But then, why are you stirring wine if it's not fizzy?
Hope this helps out!
Tim Vandergrift
Technical Services Manager, Winexpert Limited.
NEW TRADEMARK
On March 11, 2005, the trademark "The Wine Maker's
Toy Store" was issued to Fine Vine Wines, LLC. Over time, we
will be using the trademark more and more and less of the name,
"Fine Vine Wines". We are extremely happy with the trademark
and feel that it better identifies who we are. In addition, have
you ever tried to say Fine Vine Wines, three times in a row?
WINEXPERT EXCLUSIVELY
For a variety of business reasons, we have decided to focus our business on only one brand of wine ingredients kits, those manufactured by Winexpert. This includes the Vintner's Reserve, Vintner's Reserve Passport, Selection Premium, Selection International, Selection Estate and Island Mist. With over 100 different wine ingredients kits from which to choose and more in development, we are confident this line will serve our customers well.
In order to make room for other products, we have marked all of our remaining Spagnols kits down by 20%. When they are gone, we will not be ordering any more. To see a complete list, click here.
Please note that our good friends at grapestompers.com still carry the complete line of RJ Spagnols products. If Spagnols is your preference, please give Tom Burgiss at grapestompers.com a call.
FORUM
In April, we had the Awesome April contest in
the Discussion Forum in
which we gave away $50 in gift certificates. If you want to find
out what the winners did to receive their certificates and what
you have to do this month to qualify for one for yourself, you
will have to visit the forum. We now have 157 registered users,
including some extremely knowledgeable wine makers and loads
of valuable information. Whether you are an expert or a novice,
it is an excellent place to ask questions, exchange ideas and
meet other home wine makers. It is rumored that even Tim Vandergrift
makes an occasional post!
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.
TIM VANDERGRIFT IS COMING TO DALLAS!
That's right! Tim Vandergrift is coming to Dallas. Tim is the Technical Services Manager for Winexpert and his job is to design and test all of the wine kits made by Winexpert. Before joining Winexpert, Tim held a comparable position with RJ Spagnols for 10 years. In addition, if you have ever picked up an issue of WineMaker Magazine, you will have found an article by him. He is one of the home wine making gurus!
Since I now sell the Winexpert line of wine kits, Tim has graciously agreed to come to Dallas for a one day event. During this event, Tim will make a presentation of the Limited Edition series for 2006. We will also try to work in a question and answer session, as well as, a wine tasting.
Although I do not have a date yet, it will be sometime in October or November and most likely, during the week. As soon as I have more information, I will post in on the web site and in the monthly newsletter.
T-SHIRT CONTEST
You still have time to enter The Winemaker's Toy Store T-Shirt contest. Since we are always trying
to be unique, we would like out T-Shirt to be unique as well.
Because of this, we want to allow you to design our T-Shirt and
in exchange, the person submitting the winning design will receive
a $100 gift certificate from Fine Vine Wines.
Please use the following guidelines for your
submission:
- Somewhere in the design use the phrase "The Winemaker's Toy
Store".
- Center your theme on the home wine making hobby.
- Do not use anyone else's copyrighted material.
- You can design a front or a front and a back.
- Email your design to me at geocorn@finevinewines.com or
mail it to: Fine Vine Wines, 1410 Dunn Dr., Carrollton, TX
75006
- Submit your design by May 25, 2005 (I want to publish the
winning design in the June newsletter, in conjunction with
the beginning of our third year in operation.)
FEATURED
ARTICLE -
UNDERSTANDING SULFITE AND ITS IMPORTANT ROLE IN MAKING WINE
Background
Sulphur dioxide, often called sulfite or SO2, has been used
in wine making for over 2000 years. It is used in modern wine
making mainly for its ability to prevent fermentation of unwanted
wild yeasts, bacterial action, and its anti-oxidant properties.
When too much sulfite is used it will certainly affect the
taste of the wine and can also cause an odor like a burnt match
smell when the wine is poured into a glass. It is possible
to make wine successfully without using sulfites, but this
is very risky due to not having the protection against microbial
contamination and oxidation. This is best left to the experts
or to the very experienced home winemaker who is willing to
take the risk.
There are two forms of sulfite typically used in home wine
making: Potassium
Metabisulfite and Sodium
Metabisulfite. Potassium metabisulfite is often referred
to as “K-meta” and Sodium Metabisulfite is often
referred to as “Na-meta” (In the periodic table,
K is the elemental symbol for potassium, while Na is the same
for sodium) . Home winemakers generally prefer to use the potassium
form for sulfite additions since some claim that the sodium
form can cause the wine to have a `salty' flavor. Two common
methods of measuring SO2 include the Ripper/titration method
and the aeration oxidation method.
Uses of Sulfite
Home winemakers use metabisulfite as a sanitizing solution
to rinse their equipment when making their wines. There are
better cleaners available for cleaning equipment than metabisulfite
but it is an excellent sanitizer. Remember, you need to clean
AND sanitize. Tim Vandergrift the Technical Services Manager
of Winexpert Limited recently wrote the following information
on this subject: “ The sanitizing solution Winexpert
recommends is at 1250 PPM, 50 grams in 4 liters, or about three
tablespoons of sulfite powder per US gallon. A little heavy
hurts nothing but don't go lighter. It will keep for a month
or two in a sealed jug” and “ technically Sodium
meta is about 8% more active in a given solution than Potassium
meta. In practice, this means that if you dose with a quarter-teaspoon
in 23 liters (6 US-gallons) you'll yield 20 PPM of free SO2
with Potassium and 21.6 PPM with Sodium. And both are equally
effective as a surface sanitizer and wine making additive plus
Sodium metabisulfite is much, much cheaper than potassium”.
How sulfite works
A portion of the total sulfite added to wine will become
bound with other compounds in the wine and is therefore referred
to as "bound" SO2. The remainder is called "free" SO2. "Total" SO2
is the sum of free and bound SO2. Grape and other fruit musts
contain compounds that will bind with roughly 50% of the total
sulfite added. While binding is not instant, it is the fastest
within the first 24 hours of SO2 addition and can take 4-5
days before full bonding is complete. NOTE: when you test for
sulfites you are testing the free SO2 not the total. Also when
measuring sulfite levels “ppm” and “mg/l” are
the same and are used interchangeably in the industry.
The free SO2 protects your must from oxidizing and browning
before and during fermentation and also helps with color extraction
when using fresh grapes. While sulfites will prevent fermentation
of unwanted wild yeasts, today’s cultured yeasts used
by home wine makers are tolerant to sulfites up to 150 ppm
and higher; however, it is best to keep the free SO2 to less
than 50 ppm to provide the protection you need and prevent
problems with fermentation. Sulfites also protect your wine
in the bottle from oxidation and spoiling from microbes. Bottled
wine will slowly lose some of its free SO2 over time. That
is why most instructions in wine kits tell you to add more
sulfite if you plan to age your wines for an extended period
of time. Since the new wine kits that come with crushed grape
packs (like the Crushendo Series from Winexpert) are designed
to be aged longer then come with bigger pre measure packets
of K-meta.
pH and Sulfites
Molecular SO2 is the principal form of free SO2 that is responsible
for anti-microbial activity. The amount of molecular free SO2
available is a direct function of the pH of your must or wine.
Since the lower the pH (more acidic) the more molecular SO2
is available, sulfite additions should be calculated with reference
to pH. Not every home wine maker has a pH meter so general
guidelines are written so the amount of sulfite added would
provide the protection your wine needs based on a average pH
for the style of wine. It has been written that the amount
of molecular SO2 needed to protect your wine is a level of
~0.8 mg/l. The chart below shows the amount of free SO2 needed
to provide protection of molecular SO2 at the level of 0.8
mg/l. Remember that the level of free SO2 will slowly decrease
over time, so if you plan to age your wine for an extended
period of time you need to increase the amount of sulfite added
so you don’t lose the protection over the years
Free SO2 required for a level of 0.8 mg/l molecular SO2
pH
Level |
Free
SO2 |
2.8 |
8 |
2.9 |
10 |
3.0 |
12 |
3.1 |
16 |
3.2 |
20 |
3.3 |
25 |
3.4 |
31 |
3.5 |
39 |
3.6 |
49 |
3.7 |
62 |
3.8 |
78 |
3.9 |
98 |
4.0 |
124 |
Forms and Measurement
There are basically two forms of sulfites which are powder
form and campden tablets. Home winemakers due to the ease of
adding tablets without measuring as with the powered form often
use campden tablets. Campden tablets were designed to have
a mass of 0.44 grams of potassium or sodium metabisulfite.
Consistency of the tablet size in manufacturing is questionable,
and many winemakers claim there is little certainty that tablets
contain the amount of metabisulfite they are intended to. I
ran my own series of tests on two different brands of campden
tablets and found up to a 60% variation in the amount of free
SO2 that was added. Some winemakers claim that the fillers
used in making campden tablets to increase the bulk size of
the tablet taint wine flavor and affect clarity. They also
need to be crushed and completely dissolved in order to work
properly. Using the powdered form requires an accurate measurement
with a good set of measuring spoons (1/8,1/4,3/8 tsp). Better
yet I prefer to use a good quality gram scale to measure the
proper amount as it is done with the measured packets included
in wine kits.
Summary
As you can see sulfites play an important role in sanitizing
equipment, preparing musts, and protecting your wine after
fermentation and bottling. If you are making your wine only
from kits you should follow the instructions included in the
kit for additional sulfite additions for extended aging. Making
wine from fresh grapes or fruit requires more knowledge of
adjusting acid levels and pH and a decision of what type of
sulfite to use plus a good way to measure it. I hope this information
will help you understand the use of sulfite in wine making
and why it is an important part of producing a quality wine
that you can be proud to say you made yourself!
Scott Irwin
References:
Ben Rotter, tripod.com
Tim Vandergrift, winepress.com
---If you would like to offer your comments
and/or suggestions, please send them to geocorn@finethevinewines.com.
TOY
OF THE MONTH
For those of you that have been waiting, this
month's toy is the Floor Corker and Bench Corker! If you are
tired of your old double lever corker or your plastic model,
here is your chance to upgrade to a floor or bench corker and
save 15%. If you have any questions about which corker is right
for you, just give us a call. We are always ready to answer your
questions.
One of these would also make a great Father's Day present!
This month's special pricing is listed below:
Part
Number |
Picture |
Description |
Regular
Price |
Current
Price |
Order |
<%
While ((Repeat1__numRows <> 0) AND (NOT rsJuice.EOF))
%>
4041 |
|
Floor Model Brass Iris Italy |
$89.99 |
$76.49 |
|
4042 |
|
Floor Model Nylon Iris Portuguese |
$52.99 |
$44.99 |
|
4045 |
|
Super Zenith Bench Corker |
$89.99 |
$76.49 |
|
<%
Repeat1__index=Repeat1__index+1
Repeat1__numRows=Repeat1__numRows-1
rsJuice.MoveNext()
Wend
%>
FREE WINE INGREDIENTS
KIT
This month we are giving away another free wine ingredients
kit from Winexpert. Every Winexpert wine ingredients kit you
order during in the month of May 2005 will automatically enter
your name into the hopper. At the end of the month, we will have
a drawing and the lucky customer will get a free wine ingredients
kit of their choice equal in value to the highest dollar kit
ordered. If you order a Vintner's Reserve kit and win, you will
get a free Vintner's Reserve, if you order a Selection Estate,
you can choose any Winexpert kit, including a Crushendo!
The winner for April was Rodger Eddlehauser of Paris, Texas, who purchased 2 Winexpert Selection Premium kits. For his free kit, he gets to choose any Winexpert Selection Premium Kit. Next month's winner could be YOU!
NEW PRODUCTS - DID SOMEONE SAY BEER?
As one of my customers commented, "You finally succumbed to the Dark Side and started selling home brew equipment, supplies and ingredients." I would add, "A nice Dark Lager would be nice." With so many customers asking for beer related items and since we already carry so many items needed for making beer, the addition of home brew items just made good business sense!
For those of you just starting in the homebrew hobby, we are proud to offer a Beginner's Beer Package for $94.99 which includes our deluxe beer equipment package #1002 and either a Baron's Premium Beer Kit or a Brewer's Best Ingredient Kit. If you have any questions about this hobby, please give us a call.
In addition, Winexpert has released 2 new products,
the Island Mist Mango Citrus Symphony and the Selection Premium
Symphony. To see a complete list of all our new products, click
here.
My primary distributor is LD
Carlson and you can see their complete product list at http://www.ldcarlson.com/public%20catalog/ptoc.htm. 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
This month we are featuring the German Muller
Thurgau. Developed as a cross combining
the lively qualities of Riesling with the viniculture reliability
of Sylvaner, Germany’s most widely cultivated grape attains
rare heights in aroma and flavor.Winexpert's German
Müller-Thurgau is crisp and clean, with a grapey fruit character,
low to medium acidity, and a pleasantly fragrant aroma. Vibrant
flavors of crunchy green apples are imparted in its floral residual
sweetness, aided by the addition of an F-pack™ finishing
package.
For those of you that like a good Riesling,
but consider it too dry and think the Piesporter is too sweet,
this wine is could be the great choice for you.
Click
here to find out more.
CUSTOMER
APPRECIATION PROGRAM
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.
CUSTOMER
REFFERAL PROGRAM
Effective March 1, 2004, we have a customer
referral program that provides for 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:
- You must be a registered user of finevinewines.com,
- The person placing the order must register and provide your
name in the appropriate field on the registration screen, and
- The discount is only good for future orders with finevinewines.com
and is not redeemable for cash.
That's all you have to do to get another discount from finevinewines.com.
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.
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Vine Wines.
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