It's looking like I found my press.
When it comes to home winemaking, there are really 4 kinds of presses.
First: your hands and a mesh bag. I've actually done this, and it's messy, but good for small (1-2 gallon) batches.
Second: Tabletop presses. These are small presses, usually about 1-2 gallons in size, and great for making jellies, and small batches of wine. They're sometimes called screw-presses because you're just turning a handle to lower the block the presses the fruit.
Third: Ratchet Presses. These are kinda like a reverse car jack, a handle on top, attached to a ratchet that pushes down wooden plates, forcing the juice from the fruit. The ratchet mechanism means you can generate a lot more pressure on the grapes.
Fourth: Bladder Presses. These are hydraulic presses that have a bladder inside that fills with water, applying pressure to the grapes, and out comes the juice. These are supposed to be the most gentle on the grapes, while still getting a lot of liquid.
I'm taking option 3. 1 and 2 aren't reasonable, and bladder presses start around $900. So that means I have to determine the size of the ratchet press I want. They come in a variety of sizes. If you look at the pictures on this site, the press in them is a #45. I was looking at a #25 or #30, but am finding that the price difference is usually only 50-100 dollars.
I plan on buying one press to last me the rest of my home winemaking life. The #45 will hold enough grapes to press out one demijohn, but I only make on demi per year, and like to experiment. I don't see me needing something that big. Plus, Tony has the #45, and there's no way I'll miss 'Pressing Day' at his house.
So I settled on the 40. It's a bit more than I need right now, but show me a winemaker who ever got 'smaller' over the years. Holy crap do the prices vary wildly! I got prices from $400 up to $800 for the press, and the more reasonable the price, the more unreasonable the shipping! I lucked out, and it looks like I'll be able to get it locally for a great price.
If I get it from this place, I'll be posting a link to their site and asking you to do business with them.
So, one item is about to be checked off my list for the fall.
Two weeks. I have a busy first two weeks of August, but once the 15th arrives, I really have to get things in gear.
Just sipping some of 2007's Zin. Lot of acid, should have done a malolactic fermentation. Won't make THAT mistake again.
Till then...
Sean
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Two months to go
Hello everyone,
It's July 27th, that means within about two months, I'll be knee deep in winemaking.
This is going to be a big year for me. I'm buying my own press and am trying several small batches of wine from grapes, instead of just one big batch and several gallons of juice.
That's not to say the traditional Sunday afternoon pressing at Tony's won't happen...it will. I'll just be doing some pressing at home as well.
So, I have 2 months to accomplish the following:
Find a press. Easier said that done. Plenty are available online at good prices, but I want to see the press before I buy it, and I can't imagine what some of the shipping would be.
Find a supplier. We've been using one place locally, and I have no complaints, it's simply that I want to see who has what grapes, so I can pick and choose.
Decide what I want to make. I'm definitely doing Zin, Sangiovese and Chardonnay. I'd love to try a Syrah/Shiraz, a Riesling or Gewurtz, and maybe a Pinot Noir. I have a few books with tips for making wine from several types of grapes, so I'm open to more varieties. IN the end, I'd like to have one demijohn of Zin, and 5-6 carboys of something else.
Decide HOW I'm going to make them. Holy Crap! If you pick up 3 books or magazines with 'recipes', you'll have 3 different ways to make any given wine, and even within those recipes there will be subtle variations.
Bottle what I can of last years vintage. The Ruby Cab and Zin are ready. I'm hoping the Chardonnay is as well.
Finally, I have to brush up on my chemistry. When making wine from juice, the acid and sugar levels have already been set, taking a lot of the work out of the process for you. No such luxury this year.
I'll be posting what I find in a press, what recipes and techniques I use, and how last years vintage turns out. Bear with me.
Happy wine drinking!
Sean
It's July 27th, that means within about two months, I'll be knee deep in winemaking.
This is going to be a big year for me. I'm buying my own press and am trying several small batches of wine from grapes, instead of just one big batch and several gallons of juice.
That's not to say the traditional Sunday afternoon pressing at Tony's won't happen...it will. I'll just be doing some pressing at home as well.
So, I have 2 months to accomplish the following:
Find a press. Easier said that done. Plenty are available online at good prices, but I want to see the press before I buy it, and I can't imagine what some of the shipping would be.
Find a supplier. We've been using one place locally, and I have no complaints, it's simply that I want to see who has what grapes, so I can pick and choose.
Decide what I want to make. I'm definitely doing Zin, Sangiovese and Chardonnay. I'd love to try a Syrah/Shiraz, a Riesling or Gewurtz, and maybe a Pinot Noir. I have a few books with tips for making wine from several types of grapes, so I'm open to more varieties. IN the end, I'd like to have one demijohn of Zin, and 5-6 carboys of something else.
Decide HOW I'm going to make them. Holy Crap! If you pick up 3 books or magazines with 'recipes', you'll have 3 different ways to make any given wine, and even within those recipes there will be subtle variations.
Bottle what I can of last years vintage. The Ruby Cab and Zin are ready. I'm hoping the Chardonnay is as well.
Finally, I have to brush up on my chemistry. When making wine from juice, the acid and sugar levels have already been set, taking a lot of the work out of the process for you. No such luxury this year.
I'll be posting what I find in a press, what recipes and techniques I use, and how last years vintage turns out. Bear with me.
Happy wine drinking!
Sean
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Wine Festivals
Hey everyone,
It's been about two weeks...sorry for the time between posts.
We went to a wine festival a few weeks ago. A co-worker is going to one next weekend in NY. It's July, and in Pennsylvania that means air you can drink (like that rat in the Abyss who was breathing liquid). Is an outdoor wine festival a good way to open yourself up to new wines?
Watch Gary Vaynerchuk (HERE. He signed with Rev3. I fear maybe 2 of my readers know how cool that is.) He doesn't swallow the wine, he spits into a Jets bucket. Say what you want about his choice of teams, but he knows something important; If you drink the wine you will get drunk and that will dull your taste buds. It's the law of diminishing returns.
When you taste wines, where do you start? A good winery will list their wines red to white, dry to sweet. The sweeter whites can overpower your taste buds, and change the flavor of a drier red, or even a drier white. It's kinda like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth.
Right now I can safely say NONE OF YOU are spitting your wines at a festival, and most places are so crowded, you might try to work your way from dry to sweet, but if something out of order comes by, you'll grab if.
So you're getting drunker and ruining your taste buds.
Then, like I said, deep breaths in a PA summer can be like waterboarding. How much do you want an oaky cab while standing in the hot sun? No, you want something sweeter that can kinda' quench your thirst. I wrote it before, and a wiser winemaker once told me 'Sweet sells' and that's what they have there. Doesn't hurt that the sweeter wines are best served chilled.
These festivals can be a great place to explore wine, but too often they're more about getting drunk and wineries getting some exposure and profit from their sweet wines. I see the same thing with wine buses, driving a load of people to get liquored up and have a designated driver.
It's all one huge mixed message. Winemakers have to make money, but they're also (usually) proud of their good stuff. Sometimes you can ID one of the owners and ask them what they suggest, and get a special treat. More often than not they've staffed the place with friends and family who by the 4th hour are hot, tired and fed up with the drunks. They just want to pour you the 1/2 ounce and get out of there.
I'm all for more people discovering wine. It's one reason I'm doing this blog. I would never look down on someone for liking a particular style of wine. My question to you: Have you ever gone to a wine festival with the purpose of broadening your horizons? Have you ever said 'I'm going to see what the big deal is about Cabernets?'
Okay, so they can also be about hanging with friends, hearing a few good live bands, and tasting some delicious beverages. Not everyone has a desire to expand their wine library...they like Concords and that's it.
Maybe the real magic comes later, when you open a bottle you bought and share it with someone. We come home with at least 24 bottles every year, and I don't take notes. Every bottle I open can be a surprise. Had a heckuva surprise with a whole case (see my last blog.)
So, to get back on track, is an outdoor wine festival a good way to expose yourself to new wines? I think it can be. If you research the wineries, find what they'll be bringing, and what might be interesting...then make your way to them. Ask if the owner is there, and what they suggest. But that sounds like a lot of work to me.
What about you? Have you found any 'gems' at a wine festival? Something that shocked you, in a good way?
And that's Sean's stream of consciousness for today.
It's been about two weeks...sorry for the time between posts.
We went to a wine festival a few weeks ago. A co-worker is going to one next weekend in NY. It's July, and in Pennsylvania that means air you can drink (like that rat in the Abyss who was breathing liquid). Is an outdoor wine festival a good way to open yourself up to new wines?
Watch Gary Vaynerchuk (HERE. He signed with Rev3. I fear maybe 2 of my readers know how cool that is.) He doesn't swallow the wine, he spits into a Jets bucket. Say what you want about his choice of teams, but he knows something important; If you drink the wine you will get drunk and that will dull your taste buds. It's the law of diminishing returns.
When you taste wines, where do you start? A good winery will list their wines red to white, dry to sweet. The sweeter whites can overpower your taste buds, and change the flavor of a drier red, or even a drier white. It's kinda like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth.
Right now I can safely say NONE OF YOU are spitting your wines at a festival, and most places are so crowded, you might try to work your way from dry to sweet, but if something out of order comes by, you'll grab if.
So you're getting drunker and ruining your taste buds.
Then, like I said, deep breaths in a PA summer can be like waterboarding. How much do you want an oaky cab while standing in the hot sun? No, you want something sweeter that can kinda' quench your thirst. I wrote it before, and a wiser winemaker once told me 'Sweet sells' and that's what they have there. Doesn't hurt that the sweeter wines are best served chilled.
These festivals can be a great place to explore wine, but too often they're more about getting drunk and wineries getting some exposure and profit from their sweet wines. I see the same thing with wine buses, driving a load of people to get liquored up and have a designated driver.
It's all one huge mixed message. Winemakers have to make money, but they're also (usually) proud of their good stuff. Sometimes you can ID one of the owners and ask them what they suggest, and get a special treat. More often than not they've staffed the place with friends and family who by the 4th hour are hot, tired and fed up with the drunks. They just want to pour you the 1/2 ounce and get out of there.
I'm all for more people discovering wine. It's one reason I'm doing this blog. I would never look down on someone for liking a particular style of wine. My question to you: Have you ever gone to a wine festival with the purpose of broadening your horizons? Have you ever said 'I'm going to see what the big deal is about Cabernets?'
Okay, so they can also be about hanging with friends, hearing a few good live bands, and tasting some delicious beverages. Not everyone has a desire to expand their wine library...they like Concords and that's it.
Maybe the real magic comes later, when you open a bottle you bought and share it with someone. We come home with at least 24 bottles every year, and I don't take notes. Every bottle I open can be a surprise. Had a heckuva surprise with a whole case (see my last blog.)
So, to get back on track, is an outdoor wine festival a good way to expose yourself to new wines? I think it can be. If you research the wineries, find what they'll be bringing, and what might be interesting...then make your way to them. Ask if the owner is there, and what they suggest. But that sounds like a lot of work to me.
What about you? Have you found any 'gems' at a wine festival? Something that shocked you, in a good way?
And that's Sean's stream of consciousness for today.
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