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Guide to Better Wine making Courtesy of Ritchie Products.
Type of Kit
There is no doubt about it, the more you pay the
better the wine. Well it's certainly the case with any kit bought from
us The volume in the kit is also an indication as to how good it
is. The more of the grape juice the better the result. Needless to say,
it's also the type of grape juice we use that adds to the quality of
the wine. There are manydifferent ranges that we recommend with total
confidence. There is as wide a choice of grape varieties (Chardonnay,
Merlot, Shiraz etc) and wine styles (Liebfraumilch, Beaujolais,
Australian Reserve etc) in Wine Kits as there is at Wine Merchants
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Vintners Reserve: New range
we have introduced. Contains 7.5 litres of fresh grape, concentrate
grape and sugar. Makes up some fabulous wines which have approx. 12%
ABV. Optimum drinking time; whites 3-12 months, reds 6-18 months. The
best selling wine kit in the world.
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House of Beaverdale: Our most
popular and longest established range. The popularity of this product
just keeps on increasing. Made from grape concentrate and sugar. The
special bags used for packaging allow the product to be totally fresh -
all 5.5 litres. ABV is 12% and optimum drinking time for whites 3-12
months, reds 6-18 months. The UK's best selling sugar inclusive wine
kit.
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With all these kits it's important to realise the
biggest improvement is during the first 4 weeks of keeping. It's much
slower over the next few months. All these ranges we strongly recommend
to you, don't be passed off with inferior (cheaper!!) products, it's
just not worth it. Remember you'll probably have to drink 30 bottles,
and when you work out the price difference per bottle, is it really
worth it? The making time and bottling time is just the same. Work out
the cost per bottle of your wine kit. A £45 kit is only
£1.50 per bottle.
Picking out your favourite wine style will also help
to ensure you enjoy your homemade wine.There is as wide a choice of
grape varieties (Chardonnay, Merlot, Shiraz etc) and wine styles
(Liebfraumilch, Beaujolais, Australian Reserve, Port, Sherry etc) from
Wine Kits as there is are from the off licence! Wine
Sterilisation
It is important that all the equipment that comes
into contact with the wine is clean and sterilised. If it's not then
the wine can become infected. Don't use bleach or sodium
metabisulphite, they are not effective for quick sterilisation and can
leave bad after tastes. Most sterilisers need rinsing after contact
with clean water. It's important to do this
Temperature
Most wine kit manufacturers recommend a temperature
in their instructions which is frankly too high. This is normally
because if it's hotter than is needed not much can go wrong - except it
ferments out quicker. However, we have proved over the years that if
you can maintain a constant temperature of between 17-20 degrees
Celsius (63-68F) in the long run, your wine will certainly taste much
better. Why don't we recommend this in our instructions? Well for the
same reasons given above, and people are impatient. They want
everything yesterday. So if you can maintain a constant (it's no good
being too hot one minute or too cold the next) temperature we recommend
you follow these guide lines.
Water
We are constantly being asked what difference does
water make to the wine? Lets think about it for a minute. Would you
drink water that wasn't clean? Well why not add the cleanest water
you can to the wine? We would always recommend you run it through a
water filter to remove any impurities. If you haven't got one, then
boil it. Failing that taste it first and if it's good (not full of
chlorine) then use it. If it's no good then don't do it today do it
another day.
Transfer
Through much research we have found that it is of
increasing benefit to transfer the wine when the gravity reaches 1010
(1005 - 1015 is perhaps more realistic). We would recommend the initial
fermentation is done using a fermentation container with a large
opening. A bucket is ideal or alternatively a fermenter with a large
top (which can be left loosely placed to avoid anything dropping into
the wine). The advantage of this is that firstly it allows the carbon
dioxide given off during fermentation to escape, and release itself
from the wine quickly (an airlock with a small opening doesn't allow
this to happen). Secondly, the larger surface area of the opening
allows the yeast to grow more gradually (creating less frothing
problems). This is then a great benefit when it comes to degassing and
clearing. The carbon dioxide is not trapped in the wine. The advantage
of the transfer at 1010, is that it removes the wine from the dead
yeast cells. If the wine has oak chippings or elderflower then this
also drops to the bottom of the container. Life is then much easier
with clearing and filtration.
We do strongly recommend that a glass carboy is used
at the 1010 transfer, as the slower fermentation (from 1010 to the
finish gravity) can take some time, and the wine does benefit from
glass. There is also less chance of infections. Whilst it's exciting
making wine, don't spend all your time looking to see what's happening.
Don't keep opening the container, this destroys the blanket of carbon
dioxide gas protecting the wine from oxidation and contamination.
Degassing
Many people ask why it is necessary to remove the
carbon dioxide from the wine. If the wine is left long enough this will
come out naturally, but in the case of home-made wine it is advisable
to aid this by shaking the container until this is all gone. It is
almost impossible to clear the wine with finings until this is done.
You can purchase a "Ritchie" degasser which will make this very easy.
The degasser fits onto any battery power drill and simply stirs the
wine vigorously.
It makes a messy job easy.
Syphoning
We always recommend syphoning your wine off the
sediment (when the wine is in the bucket and reaches a gravity of 1010
- see transfer above). The next time is when the finings have been
added and wine is clear (bright). Syphoning is important, as using the
wrong equipment will mean dragging the yeast cells which have formed at
the bottom of the container. This is only important when the wine is
clear. It is also important to make sure the syphon tube is long enough
to reach the bottom of the empty container you are syphoning into. This
will prevent air getting into the wine which can introduce infections.
A 'U' tube attached to the syphon tube will also help, as this rests
above the sediment allowing you to draw off the clear wine. We highly
recommend the "Ritchie" auto syphon. This a super bit of kit, and works
with a simple backward and forward movement, requiring no additional
suction.
Finings
Not all kits have the same fining agents. Some only
give one sachet of finings, others two sachets. Follow the instructions
carefully which are given with each kit. Some will ask you to shake
these well, others will ask you to gently add this. This is important.
There is no reason why the wine should not be superbly clear once the
finings have been added and left to work.
Filtration
Is it necessary? We always recommend that this is
only done to give the wine a polish. The kits we supply are all
designed to produce a clear wine. This should always be achieved before
the wine is filtered. Don't use a filter to clear the wine. The pads
will block up quickly and will not be effective. You must also be
careful not to introduce air into the wine at this stage, this can
again cause infection and oxidisation. We only recommend two filters,
the Vinamat and Buon Vino Minijet. The Vinamat works on the wine being
transferred to a pressure chamber which is then pumped through two
pads. The Buon Vino Minijet is similar, but is automatically pumped
through several pads. This makes life very easy and can also be used as
an automatic pump for those of you who find it hard to lift 23 litres
of wine. Both filters will do up to 75 litres (maybe more) of wine on
one set of pads (depending on the clarity of the wine), so once
purchased they work out to be very economical. The filters are not
cheap, but if it's good (and they are) you wouldn't expect it to be
anyway. There is a strong feeling amongst several experts that a
filtered wine should be left at least 4 weeks before drinking
Bottling And Storage
When the wine is ready to drink you have several options as to what
to do (never leave it on the yeast). Firstly you can leave it in the
fermentation container. If this is glass it can be left for any length
of time. If it's plastic it shouldn't be left for more than 1-2 weeks.
Glass is the best and as a general rule the larger the container the
better it will mature. However it's important to make sure the
container is full, don't leave an air gap of any size at the top
because again there is a chance of introducing infections.
Secondly, the wine can be stored in a glass demijohn. This is very
much our preferred option. The demijohn should be full and have a
plastic safety lock fitted. This allows the wine to breathe, but will
not allow air to get into the container. The wine matures well stored
this way, but also when you are ready to drink the wine you can then
transfer it into a "Ritchie" useable plastic wine dispenser. This has a
small tap fitted and you can draw off what you want. It's a collapsible
bag and will not allow air to get into the wine. It can also be stored
in the fridge (great for white wines), and once empty can then be
reused.
Thirdly, you can bottle the wine in any size glass wine bottle. These
can be corked and stored. Alternatively you can do any combination of
the above. Always keep the wine away from sunlight, especially direct
sunlight, as this can cause oxidation. The ideal storage temperature is
6o-12oC
Corking
Over the years the quality of corks have deteriorated and it is
increasingly difficult to get good quality. The type of corks that are
available and recommended are:
Plastic Stoppers: Fine for using if the wine is going to be drunk in
less than 6 weeks. They do not look very nice from a presentation view
point. Store bottles upright.
Waxed Corks: These come with a coating which means the
corks should not be soaked prior to use. We recommend a light rinse to
remove any likely dust.
Untreated Corks: These need to be soaked prior to use
and are not as easy to insert as the waxed ones.
Both waxed and untreated corks come in varying grades. Also buy the
best
corks for storage over 6 months.
Silicon Corks: These have only just been made
available and require a good corking machine to insert. It's unlikely
you'll be able to use a hand corking machine, but it is possible to buy
a "Ritchie" Floor Standing Corker.
Labeling
A lot of people like to present their wine in a very
commercial way. It's possible to buy many different labels, some are
ready gummed, and others need sticking. The gummed ones can be put on
simply. For labels without glue we recommend a "pritt" stick, or
alternatively you can use milk. Don't laugh! Place a small amount in a
saucer, then dip your finger into the milk and rub this along the edges
of the label. It will stick it to the bottle. It also makes it very
easy to remove when you've finished the wine. We always recommend that
once you have finished a bottle of wine, you rinse it out and place a
plastic stopper in the top. This really makes life easy when you come
to doing your next batch and prevents mould forming in the bottom of
the bottle.
Shrink tops are available in a variety of colours
and you can also get them with a gold band around them. When applying
the shrink, place this over the bottle top and with one finger pushing
this down, rotating the bottle in the steam of the kettle. The top will
then shrink down and fit snugly onto the bottle. Be careful with the
steam as this can burn you.
Stock
One of the secrets to producing good quality wines
(as well as buying a good quality Ritchie wine kit with lots of grape
juice) is to store it for a good length of time. We give guidelines at
the start of the leaflet. All will taste good even after they are just
made but they will improve considerably with keeping. So you can't have
too much stock. There is no substitute for time though, do yourself and
the wine justice by having plenty on the go!
Blending
We often get asked why don't you do a Cabernet/Shiraz or a
Cabernet/Merlot in all our ranges? As you can imagine it would ba a
nightmare for our retailers to stock them all. However, many of our
customers get enormous pleasure from blending their own wines, and have
great fun experimenting. We actually recommend up to one third is
blended but it is very much up to your taste. Have a go and if you find
any combination you are particularly delighted with let us know
Alcohol
Many people ask us how do I work out my alcohol levels? The best way
is to take the starting specific gravity, from the finishing specific
gravity and divide this by 7.36, i.e. 1080 - 990 = 90 divided by 7.36
=12.23% ABV. The other option is to acquire a Ritchie Vinometer. This
is a simple device you can pour a small sample of wine into which will
give an ABV reading. It's simple and quite useful as a guide. Price is
under £5.
Serving
It is important to make sure the wine is served at the correct
temperature - this will help the bouquet and taste. White wine and rose
should be served at 10oC, and red wine at room temperature. It also
helps considerably if the red wine is opened at least 1 hour before
serving.
