The wildly popular Chocolate Raspberry Port is back along with the enticing Peach Icewine Style and last year’s hit, Blackberry Port.

Also back for a limited engagement is Selection International French Gamay Nouveau.  

As you know, these wine kits sell out VERY quickly.  Because of the special nature of these kits, they are seasonal and available by pre-order only.

PRE-ORDER ARE NOW BEING TAKEN FOR 2011 for delivery Mid Sept 2011 (Your Credit Card will not be billed until your wine kit(s) ship or are ready for you to pick up in our store. (PayPal payments are immediate)

These LIMITED EDITION Winexpert kits are hugely popular every year, many of our customers were left wanting more or some just plain missed out. This year, be sure to pre-order enough to meet your needs.

Segnala presso:

Whether you’re looking to throw a spring fling fiesta, a summertime backyard BBQ extravaganza or you just want to relax in the sun with good company, these three fun-loving cocktail flavors have got you covered.  Each Twisted Mist flavor is fantastic chilled down all on its own, but you can also mix it up a little.  Serve them over ice cubes, blend them up with ice, add fresh fruit, a little soda or dry ginger — absolutely anything that sounds appealing to you.

Segnala presso:

Wine Sweetness: Dry

Segnala presso:

Wine Sweetness: Dry

Segnala presso:

Wine Color: Red

Wine Varietal: Primitivo

ORDER NOW

Segnala presso:

Wine Kit Timeframe: 6 Week Wine Kit

Wine Sweetness: Dry

Segnala presso:

Some wines are more susceptible to poor storage conditions. Generally, white wines – particularly off-dry wines and champagne – are more frail than reds. Grape variety can also make a difference; for example, Cabernet Sauvignon wines are generally more resilient than Pinot Noirs. However, no matter what the wine, it always pays to minimize the risks associated with bottle storage:

Temperature – Constant temperature is the key. By causing the wine inside the bottle to expand and contract, swings in temperature rapidly ruin bottled wine. Ideal cellar temperature is 45 – 55 F (7 – 13 C). At lower temperatures, maturation is slowed, though more complexity is allowed to develop. Wine could be safely stored to within a degree or two of freezing, but it would take decades to develop. On the other hand, wines can be stored at up to 68 F, where they will mature quite rapidly. Higher temperatures than this will quickly damage the wine.

Light – Sunlight and ultraviolet light (ie. fluorescent lamps) are as bad for wine as excessive heat, but are problems usually much easier to overcome. Though most wines are protected to some degree by colored glass bottles, place wines in areas away from direct light or cover them with a blanket.

Humidity – Some degree of humidity is beneficial for long term storage, to ensure that the exposed end of the cork does not dry out and allow oxygen into the bottle. Beware of air conditioners, as they actually suck moisture out of the air. Ideally, relative humidity should be between 60 – 75%. Humidity higher than that encourages mould growth in your storage area (not to mention label deterioration!).

Movement – Wine does not take well to constant movement or vibration (particularly if there is sediment present), thus a secure storage space is a must. Don’t put your bottles next to the washing machine, or in a storage area where they will have to be moved often to reach other items. Secure storage should also mean storing bottles horizontally, allowing constant contact of the wine with the cork, preventing the cork from drying out and letting air in.

A simple check of all environmental influences in or near your storage area is advised. For example, areas such as garages or attics, which seem cool, may be subject to temperature fluctuations due to lack of insulation. A good option is to insulate a small room, large cupboard or area under the stairs, void of any heat sources like a water pipe or a boiler. Periodically checking the area with a thermometer is a good idea. A good way to do this is to put a floating thermometer in a one litre jug of water, and leave it covered in the space for 24 hours. This will let the water stabilize to the ambient temperature, and give you an accurate reading.

Allowing for the ageing of your finished wine in an environment which helps to preserve its finer qualities will pay big dividends in ensuring that you will have the best wine possible to enjoy with friends and family.

Segnala presso:

It turns out that the answer is not as simple as one or the other, but the main point is that rehydration is not really necessary. You can rehydrate your yeast if you absolutely want to, but be sure to do it accurately and precisely, as explained further below. The rest of us will tear open the package and dump it in, and spend the extra time sampling our last batch!

When performed correctly, rehydrating gives the highest live cell counts, and the quickest, most thorough fermentation. The catch is, it has to be done precisely correctly. Lalvin EC 1118 champagne yeast, for instance, asks you to add the yeast to 10 times its weight in water at 40-43°C (104-109°F).

Breaking it down, the amount of ’10 times’ is important if you’re trying to maximize live cell counts. That’s because the yeast is dried on a substrate of nutrients and sugars. At a ratio of 10:1 water/yeast, the osmotic pressure allows for maximum nutrient uptake (osmotic pressure is influenced by the dissolved solids in the water, like nutrients and sugars). If too much water is used, the yeast will grow only sluggishly. If too little water is used, the cells may burst from the flood of liquid and nutrients forced into them.

Secondly, the temperature range is inflexible. The outer integument of a yeast cell is made up of two layers of fatty acids. These layers soften best in warm water, much as greasy film will come off of dishes best in warm water. Once it has softened up, it will allow the passage of nutrients and waste products in and out of the cell much more efficiently. If the water isn’t warm enough, the cell won’t soften. If it’s too warm, generally anywhere above 52°C (125.6°F) the yeast cell will cook and die.

The next thing you have to worry about is temperature. Yeast is terrifically sensitive to environmental conditions. If it goes too quickly from a favourable temperature to a less favorable one, weakened cells may die, and others may go dormant, in an attempt to ride out the temperature shift. This reduces the numbers of live, viable cells available to ferment the must, and gives spoilage organisms a chance to get a foothold, and potentially ruin your wine. So if you are rehydrating your yeast, you’ll have to wait as the yeast cools to within two degrees of your must temperature before adding it: accuracy counts!

On the other hand, simply dumping the yeast onto the top of the must should result in lower cell counts. Empirical evidence shows this isn’t the case: the yeast appear to know what they’re doing. Generally, a five-gram packet of yeast will have less than a six-hour lag phase on an average wine kit. This is perfectly acceptable, and isn’t long enough to allow spoilage organisms to get a foothold in your wine. Plus, it’s a heck of a lot simpler than going through the rehydrating process.

Segnala presso:

     Winemaking equipment, such as pails, carboys, air locks and spoons are often similar to items around the home. However, in many cases, proper winemaking equipment and utensils are made of special materials, and this can influence your finished product.

     Re-using plastic pails from other sources, like buckets that previously held food, is always a mistake. The food odors will have sunk into the plastic, and will taint the wine. Also, plastic items not intended for food purposes, such as brand-new garbage pails must never be used for winemaking. The pigments, UV protectants and plasticizers (chemicals used to keep the plastic from becoming brittle) will leach into the wine, and could affect your health. Saving a few dollars by using bad equipment is not worth it.

2. Cleaning and Sanitation    
     90% of all winemaking failures can be traced to a lapse in cleaning or sanitation and yes, they are two different things. Cleaning chemicals remove visible dirt and residue from your equipment.

     Sanitizing is treating that equipment with sanitizing chemicals that will eliminate, or prevent the growth of, spoilage organisms. Everything that comes in contact with your wine must be clean, and properly sanitized.   One single lapse could cause a failure of your batch.

3. Failure to Follow Instructions

     The kit instructions are based both on sound winemaking techniques, and trials. If your kit fails to ferment correctly, or clear sufficiently, there may be no easy way to correct it if you have not followed the directions.

 4. Bad Water
     Water is not quite as critical as many people think. In fact, if your water is fit to drink, it is usually just fine for winemaking. However, if your water has a lot of hardness or a high mineral content (especially iron) it could lead to permanent haze or off flavors. Also, if your house is equipped with a salt-exchange water softener, that water can’t be used for winemaking. If you’re in doubt, go ahead and use bottled water to make your wine. You will appreciate the difference.

5. Poor Yeast Handling
     It doesn’t take much mishandling to make wine yeast sulky and uncooperative. The packet of dried yeast that comes with your kit is of very high quality, but it is a living organism that needs to be revived in a specific way.

     You can re-hydrate the yeast if you wish, but be aware that anything less than utterly strict adherence to proper re-hydration procedures will kill your yeast instead of helping it. There’s a long scientific explanation for this, but it boils down to viability. Simply sprinkling the yeast on top of the must will give you a higher live cell count than re-hydrating in most cases, and will be far less trouble.

6. Poor Temperature Control    
     Kit instructions tell you to ferment your wine within a specific temperature range. We recommend 65°F to 75°F. Yeast likes these temperatures and it doesn’t like fluctuations.

     For the home wine maker, if the fermentation area is too cool the wine will ferment very slowly. This will lead to an excess of CO2 gas (fizz) in the wine, and it may not be ready to stabilize and fine on the appropriate day. Even worse, the kind of fining agents included with kits don’t work well at temperatures outside of the 65°F to 75°F range. Below 64°F your wine kit may not clear at all!

7. Adding Sulfite and Sorbate at the Wrong Time   

   Sulfite and Sorbate, the stabilizers in the kit work to inhibit yeast activity. If, by mistake, you add them too early your wine may not finish fermenting.

If you add the sorbate on day one, the yeast will never become active, and the kit will not ferment.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

8. Leaving out the Sulfite    
     Some people believe that they are allergic to sulfites, and want to leave them out of their kits. While this is their option, it’s a bad idea. True sulfite allergies are terrifically rare, and if someone has a reaction to drinking wine, it’s almost always due to some other cause. Besides, yeast make sulfites themselves during fermentation, so no wine can ever be sulfite-free, no matter what.

Without the added sulfites, the kit will oxidize and spoil very rapidly. It will probably start to go off in less than 4 weeks, and be undrinkable in less than three months.

Also, if the sulfite is left out, but the sorbate is added, the wine could be attacked by malolactic bacteria, which will convert the sorbate into the compound hexadienol, which smells like rotting geraniums and dead fish.

 9. Not Stirring      

     On day one, the kit needs to be stirred very vigorously. This is because the juice and concentrate are very viscous, and don’t mix easily with water. Even if it seems that dumping the contents of the bag into the primary with the water has done the job, it hasn’t. The wine lies on the bottom of the pail, with a layer of water on top, throwing off any gravity readings, and making the yeast work extra hard. This is so important that special stirring accessories are available.

     When it comes time to stabilize and fine the wine, it has to be stirred vigorously enough to drive off a//of the CO2 it accumulated during fermentation. This is because the dissolved gas will attach to the fining agents, preventing them from settling out. You need to stir hard enough to make the wine foam, and keep stirring until it will no longer foam. Only then will the gas be driven off so the fining agents can work their magic.

10. Not Waiting

     If you really, really can’t wait, the minimum time before a kit tastes good is about one month. This is long enough for the wine to get over the shock of bottling, and begin opening up to release its aromas and flavors. Three months is much better, and the wine will show most of its character at this point. For most whites, however, and virtually all reds, at least six months is needed to smooth out the wine. Heavy reds will continue to improve for at least a year.

Segnala presso: