Wine is a very sensitive beverage which gets easily affected by temperature, lights, vibrations, and oxygen among others. Ordinarily speaking, one can use any type of bottle to bottle his/her wine as long as it can be sealed well (some inset a thin layer of nitrogen before sealing it to prevent any chance of oxygen reaching the wine and oxidizing it) and at the same time protect the wine from direct sunlight.

Easy identification of wine type and place of manufacture

All wine bottles are made of glass. Wines, such as Champagne are fermented in the same bottle they are sold in, while most other types are bottled after the fermentations process has totally stopped. Most of the times the wine is bottled in a certain type of bottle for two main reasons – (i) to identify the area from where it comes (manufacturers, vineyard, country, etc), (ii) type of wine.

In the early days wine was stored in wooden kegs. After a while it became fashionable to have wine in large amphorae. Then, with the advent of the popularity of wine and its transport throughout the world, it became commonly stored in glass bottles. These bottles are usually thick, dimpled at the bottom and dark in color. Thick because it should break during travel/ transport; dimpled at the bottom so it can have better stability and easier for stacking while transporting; lastly dark in color to prevent the access of direct sunlight which can destroy the wine within the glass.

Today, the wine bottles are normally of 750 ml and the shape of the bottles in which they are stored usually denote the type of wine and many times the place from where it is produced. This article will attempt to describe a few of the most popular wine bottles below:

1. Bordeaux – this bottle is usually tall with a small neck, light green in color. You will find this type of wine bottle in Italy, Spain, and in parts of the Northern Europe for bottling Bordeaux wines.
2. Burgundy – this type of bottle has slopping shoulders making it elegant and longish. The bottle is green too and also has a large dimple at the bottom. This bottle is mostly used for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
3. Rhone – this bottle is much thinner than the burgundy one, but similar in shape otherwise.
4. Champagne – this bottle has very gentle sloping shoulders, is taller than any other bottle, thicker and has a deep dimple at the bottom. This particular shape is to protect the wine within, which ferments after being put in the bottle, and also prevents the bottle from breakage.
5. Rhine – this bottle usually comes in brown color, though they have green bottles too.

There is actually no real rules. The types of bottles have been adopted as a tradition rather than any other reason. There are places where the bottles of wine have been thus for hundreds of years. The main concern for wine bottles, remain to protect the wine. Hence, most of the bottles are thick, dark and longish. All these three attributes help in keeping the wine as healthy as can be till it is drank.

In this world where inflation is the order of the day, and salaries are stagnant making the ends meet, even with only the basic amenities, has become a great challenge. The problem gets compounded when you find yourself crave for a few small pleasure that have now moved out of your reach – such as a good glass of wine occasionally.

People tend to get frustrated when they are unable to have a little enjoyment every once in a while. And when they do, their productivity goes down; their interaction quality gets down, and so on which catapults the person into depression. To cut a long story short, it is better to find ways of indulging in yourself every now and then, to prevent the possibility of depression. Many times, just a good glass of wine with a good hot meal can do wonders.

Wine is expensive, true. However, there are many ways in which anyone can make quite good wine right at home with ingredients that are already there on the kitchen shelf. That means, you can make good wine at no additional expense to you, no fancy tools, etc.

The basic tools you will need to make wine at home are simple too. You will need a container where you could measure a gallon of liquid. Then, you will need a normal cup to measure sugar. You will need a container with cover where you will have to agitate the mixture to mix it well. It has to be covered or you will not be able to shake it vigorously and hence the quality of your home-made wine will suffer.
You will need a water heater, where you will warm a bit of water to dissolve the yeast (or hydrate it). This could be done in a cup also.

Next you will a few balloons – actually you will need only one, but sometimes the balloon bursts and you will need to replace it fast, so it is always good to have 2-3 extra ones on hand. Since the balloon will need to be fixed very tightly to the mount of the container, it is good if you also have some twine or a good rubber band to fix it. It so happens that the fermentation will push the balloon off the container sometimes.

Once the wine is done (you will know that process is over when the balloon that was tied at the mouth of the container deflates) you will need to take out the wine through a strainer into another container. The strainer should be extra-extra fine since anything else will allow the residue pass through giving you a murky wine. The wine should be totally crystal clear and for that purpose the best tool would be a clean piece of cheese cloth.

Once the wine has been strained thoroughly and has absolutely no dregs in it, your wine is ready for consumption. Before doing so, you would need to store in appropriate containers. Hence, you will need some nice bottles (there are a lot of fancy bottles available at very competitive prices) to pour it in. These bottles should be sealed ideally with a cork. So, for each bottle you should have an appropriately sized cork to the bottle can be sealed for storage.
Storage, brings us to the next step of tool requirement. You can store wine in the fridge – this would be for immediate use – and on a specifically designed for this purpose, wine rack. A wine rack makes it possible to keep the wine bottle in a reclined position, which is the best way to store it. The longer it stays this way, the better the wine becomes. So, the quality of the wine stack should be such that it can be used for a long time.

All in all – these are the tools you will need to make your own wine at home.

By definition only those beverages which are obtained through fermentation of grapes are called wines. Those which are produced from rice or starchy raw materials are called rice wine, sake or barley wine. Those wines which are produced from any other thing are called fruit wines.

The pros and cons of chemicals in fermentation process

Fermentation was used in ancient times to prevent food from getting spoiled. Today, it is better known for the addition of alcohol than anything else. The alcohol percentage in the wine is due to the fermentation started and supported by the sugar. In order to prevent the growth of the toxic organisms, the modern world adds sulphur dioxide to the wine. The advantages of this additive are that it is an excellent anti-oxidant which can totally stabilize the wine fermentation and prevent damage.

However, the disadvantages of this added chemical is found in the possibility of triggering acute allergies in people who consume the wine. Other symptoms are nausea, vomiting, headache and even the triggering of asthma. Since, all the above symptoms are very serious, the adding of chemicals to stabilize the fermentation process has been reduced and even banned in some places.

The pros and cons of natural fermentation

Most people all over the world will always prefer one hundred per cent natural way of fermentation of the wine. Most of the time, it is indeed that greatest gift from Gods. However, there are times when uncontrolled growth of microbes influence the process of fermentation and alter the taste, color and texture of the wine, completely ruining it.

While searching for natural ways to stop wine for spoilage researchers have found lactic acid bateria, also known as LAB as one of the most promising types of bacteria that can fight against the harmful micro-organisms quite effectively and hence, protect the wine from any further damage. Since it is natural, it is accepted happily by all the organic enthusiasts all over the world.

There is only one concern – these types of bacteria do not act on gram-negative bacteria, for example moulds and yeasts. Hence, if these are present and you consume the wine, you will fall sick. However, if you measure the odds, it will be very rare that they reach to such an extent.

The conclusion

Both the processes are useful in their own way. However, since the world is moving away from chemicals and their usage in food, it is far more preferable to use he natural way to start fermentation, and the stop it.

The main concerns in using either of the systems for fermentations and controlling the bacterial growth, is public safety. If safety is assured, then everything will be perfect. This will also assure higher quality, and will demand a higher price as well. Once the natural preservatives (in the form of friendly bacteriocins) then the Sulphur dioxide can be reduced or even eliminated from he wine production, other than using it in a very limited condition as an anti-oxidant.

While looking through different winemaking terms, you will see that a number of them explain what the processes involved in winemaking are. These terms are not always concise and it is essential that you understand the different terms which are used in the winemaking process. It is difficult to learn these terms but in the end it will be easier when you learn from people trying to tell you about winemaking process and what it entails. A number of different explanations exist online about the different winemaking terms or you can go to the library or bookstore and pick up a few books that teach you about the winemaking process.

People sometimes talk about letting wine breathe; this usually entails allowing the wine mix with air by letting the wine remain in a bottle that has been opened or in your wineglass. It is a short process which lets the wine come to full flavor before you take a drink. If wine has too much acetic acid in it, this is a bad thing. All wines tend to have acetic acid but too much of this acid is bad for wine. If your wine smells like vinegar or tastes like it, it means that you have made a mistake. This wine will be flawed and shouldn’t be drunk at all. If wine is referred to as corked it means that the cork of the wine is moldy or damaged in some in some way. What this does is that it creates a chemical reaction within the wine which changes the bouquet as well as the flavor in the negative sort of way. Corked wine isn’t drinkable as well.

Yeast and sugar react together to create ethyl alcohol. The percentage of alcohol in wine is determined by the presence of alcohol in the wine. Bottle sickness is also called bottle shock and the term is used when wine in a bottle has been shaken too much during travel. This usually occurs when wine is still in its early stages after it has been bottled. This wine can be remedied by being left for some days so that it settles down.

Botrytis is a double-edged sword and it can either destroy you or be to your benefit. It is actually a fungus which tends to attack grapes and which may eliminate a vineyard. It is also a good thing sometimes, especially when it causes noble rot instead of destroying the grape crop. Noble rot takes water away from the grapes and this leaves behind a sugary juice which makes sweet and great tasting wine.

Chaptalization is the process through which sugar can be added to juice before you ferment it. This way, more alcohol is made during the process and the name comes from the man who invented this procedure Jean-Antoine Chaptal. These are just a few of the simple terms that concern winemaking and a number of other terms exist which you can familiarize yourself with over time depending on how interested you are in the winemaking process.

When you are buying your winemaking supplies, you have to also think of if you’ll have enough bottles which you can put your wine in when it is time to age the wine. Certain people collect wine bottles as soon as they have decided to start making wine. These people save the sort of bottles that have long necks in order to be able to cork them and they ask people who they know to help them collect such bottles as well. It also saves you the cost of buying new bottles which may not be particularly expensive but which saves money anyway.

You should also ensure that the bottles which are being reused are clean and have been sanitized as well. This is usually because the smallest bit of anything in a bottle can easily ruin the quality of your wine. You should commence by soaking all the labels off these bottles. The bottles should be soaked in a strong detergent. A good sanitizing agent should also be used to ensure that they are really clean as well. If you own a dishwasher, you should also make extra precautions and check if these bottles are really clean. If you’re making your first batch, you’ll usually need something between thirty to fifty bottles. Bottles when bought tend to be sold in dozens.

If you couldn’t get enough free and used bottles for your winemaking, buying should be an easy thing for you. A lot of bottles exist for purchase and they vary in size and shape but in the end you have to choose what works for you. Some of these bottles tend to gave various purposes but they are usually purchased depending on personal preferences. They also tend to come in a number of colors and these colors are clear, green, amber or blue for a number of the regular bottles.

A typical wine bottle should hold an average of 750ml of wine. Smaller bottles also exist which tend to hold 375ml and larger ones which may take up to 1.5l also exist. Using the typical one is usually what most people choose to do instead. You can make use of larger ones if you’re planning for a family event of if you need to do so for logistical and storage reasons.

In terms of corks, you can get those which are natural or synthetic. Some people prefer natural corks while others have a positive bias for man made ones. Any wine corks that you use should be FDA approved and should seal instantly, they should also be trouble free in the aging process and easily extractable with good corkscrews. When you are purchasing corks you should also remember that the size of cork which you purchase depends on the length which you want your wine to age. Anything more than six months will usually require much longer corkscrews. Any good winemaking supply store should have all that is needed. You can either find such stores on the web or by visiting one that is close to you.

As long as you have decided to start winemaking, you’ll discover that there are a number of things that you’ll have to figure out before you start off. If you start off you’ll need to think about the kind of wine that you really want to make. If you’ve decided to make fruit wine, then you’ll have to make a selection from all the different fruits available at your disposal. As long as you have enough in terms of the quantity of fruit, nothing else will matter provided that you are sure you will enjoy the taste. Different fruits exist and they range from berries, plums, apples, cherries or peaches. Wine can even be made out of bananas, if you want to attempt this as well. If you enjoy the taste if the wine and you think you’ll enjoy it you can easily opt for trying something out of the ordinary or use a fruit that has been tried and tested by other people.

One of the different reasons that you should make your own wine, is that they are so many different things that you can make wine out of. If you don’t have too much fruit at your disposal, then you can use a fruit base or fruit concentrate bought from companies that sell winemaking supplies. Despite the fact that the flavors will be a lot more limited, the thing is that you’ll be able to get ahead faster. Using a concentrate means that you can easily choose to make your wine at any time of the year especially as the issue of how much fruit is at your disposal won’t be an issue.

The question is how to decide on the kind of fruit to pick for your first winemaking venture. For fruit wine, the amount of concentrate that is used in the mix will ultimately determine the taste of the wine. If you want to make a wine which is light tasting and not heavy, you should use less concentrate. If you want to have a strong and heavy taste then you should use a lot more concentrate. Depending on what you want, you’ll use between one to five tins of concentrate.

Other than this, you might want to combine a fruit wine together with a grape wine. This may make a taste which is unusual but which is nevertheless popular. If you use a Chardonnay or Zinfandel which has the right flavor which has already been combined, then you can have a fruity grape wine that meets with your tastes.

Another consideration that you can think about when you’re making these fruit wines is the level of sweetness that you want them to have. The natural sweetness might just suit your purposes but if it isn’t, then you can easily use sugar or a wine conditioner as well. A wine conditioner is a sweetener which is in liquid form and which can be used for sweetening wine easily. Winemaking juices may also be added to the fruity wine in order to achieve the same purpose.

Why should anyone make their own wine? Is it out of curiosity or the desire to do something that you have always wanted to do for a very long time? A certain number of people have attempted to make their own wine over the years. It really doesn’t take scientific genius to succeed and a number of them have set up the equipment that they need for the process in places such as their basements and their garages. Some people make as much as fifty to a hundred bottles of wine in a single winemaking process. Others have succeeded in making great wine while some have given up in frustration due to failed efforts. After all said and done, a lot of people enjoy brewing their own wine, the question is: Will you be one of these people?

If winemaking is something that you’re really serious about doing then what you first have to do is learn about it and what it entails. As soon as you have spoken to people who have had a pleasant experience in making their own wine, you should make the necessary assessments and decide if you want to make a substantial investment in buying the sort of equipment which is associated with the making of wine. You should also learn about the various terms which are associated with your hobby. If you don’t, you may discover that you are following instructions that make no sense at all because you do not understand the meaning of these terms. You can easily gain the knowledge that you need by searching the Internet and looking for websites which have something to do with winemaking. There are a lot of websites which explain the process and which will tell you what these seemingly difficult terms mean.

As soon as you have understood these terms, you will be able to communicate better with people whenever you need to purchase your winemaking equipment and associated supplies. You will also find out that the people you are purchasing from will be able to deal with you a whole lot better if you can converse intelligently about winemaking and what it entails.

This knowledge will also be required when you are trying to make the necessary decisions about which grapes that you should be trying to use to make your wine. You may also discover certain additional details which may be helpful in the winemaking process such as the use of fruits, honey and herbs as flavoring elements.

When you have successfully made your decisions, then it will be time to start. You should ensure that you adhere carefully to the instructions so that you get yourself a good batch of wine in the first year. Every little detail is important from the way you clean the bottle to the way you stack your wine. With a little focus, you will have a great winemaking experience which will make winemaking an enjoyable hobby for you for a very long time to come.

There is a widely circulated belief that the longer you keep a wine bottle, the better will the wine get. It is not necessarily this way. Let us see why we are actually storing the wine in the first place, and then you will be able to understand the importance of the time kept between preparing the wine and drinking it.

Time is give in order to age the product to make it better than the original. This is not applicable only to wine, but also to cheese, to meet, and so on. This aging habit originates in the past because people back then has to use whatever available for making the wine. Because, they depended totally on the Providence for what their mix for wine was, they needed to give sufficient time to the wine to age to become palatable. This time that was given to the wine to become palatable post fermentation has come to be known as aging period.

This theory has been proved by the fact the there are many old wines sold today (above 50 years or so) which are completely drinkable. However, this might not be so because the wine was okay when it was bottled; rather it was too harsh for consumption, so harsh that it took some 20-50 years to become palatable. Some need 100 years to become ‘good wines’ – and you can imagine how much money you will need to keep wine for so long in storage.

Applying today’s modern technology grapes cultivation has seen a lot of changes, as has the production of wine. Today, wine can be drunk almost as soon as it is bottled, though some of the wines would benefit by aging it a few years. There is a demand for wines that need long ‘incubation’ period, but the world is moving fast into the era when they want a fresh wine on the table without worrying when it was bottled and how long would I have to wait before I can have it.

There are some wines which will need some 2-3 years to reach their peak potential while some take about 5-7 years to reach that level. The critical point is to know about what time each type of wine needs to fulfill its potential or you will loose the wine bottle. There are many people who hang on to a ‘good’ bottle of wine for years and years, only to find out then they open it that it has separated into sediment and some inconclusive liquid.

The best time to wait before you have your wine is at best a few years from the bottling, unless it is mentioned otherwise. Do not get into the idea that the more the wine is kept the better it would taste. That period of time is over. The modern technology of wine production and the grapes we grow today, do not need decades of aging before developing into a world-class wine.
Hence, enjoy your wine as soon as you can!!

With all the different types of grapes which are available, it is often very difficult to make a decision as to which grapes to use for the winemaking process. One very popular grape which can be used for winemaking is the Shiraz grape. In the United States, it is usually known as the Syrah grape, a term which is also used in countries such as France. Most other countries such as Canada, South Africa and Australia however refer to the grape as the Shiraz grape. It is believed to be an ancient grape which originated from Persia which is the name for what is now Iran. It has been shown that Shiraz existed as far back as seven thousand years ago and archeological studies of a place which is known as Haiji Firiz Tepe has shown proof that winemaking existed a long time ago in Kurdish cities.

The Syrah grape was believed to have been brought back to France by a soldier who was on the way back from Persia and brought these grapes with him to Northern France where they were then grown. This soldier later became a hermit and started the growth of his grapes on the hills. This was the reason why these grapes and the resultant wine were called Hermitage, before their true Persian origins were actually determined.

Syrah grapes are still quite popular in the French art of winemaking and some people still argue that this is where they originated from. Syrah grapes are used to make a number of different kinds of red wine which is dry and tends to be aged for between ten to fifteen years before it can then be sold to the public.

Australians have created two wines which are interesting, from these grapes. One of these wines is a blend which contains a small amount of apricot and gives it a great bouquet as well as a popular taste. Another wine which is a sparkling wine is made from the use of these grapes.

Something which is of interest is the fact that the taste of this wine tends to vary according to the places which it is made in. The bouquet varies from a small hint of chocolate to other such as berries or black pepper. A variation of the aroma is so evident with the different regions and no one particular bouquet is associated with this particular wine. However despite this inconsistency, the aroma which tends to come with this wine is both full-bodied and strong tasting as well. It is also known as the secondary flavor which makers each winemakers finished product somewhat different. These differences may be caused by simple things such as the nature of the barrels used or the manipulation of the yeast which is used in the process.

Certain laws in the United States govern the labeling of wines and they should be followed to the letter if winemakers want their wines to be sold in stores. Such wines should be labeled as either Syrah or Shiraz. The state of Washington is another place where the Shiraz is grown and if it is these grapes that you want to use for your winemaking you can easily find the vines or use the concentrate in order to create your wine.

The eternal debate that seems to be unanswerable in the field of winemaking is the question of what gives rise to better grapes and thus better wine. Some people tend to believe that older grapes result in wine of much better quality. This belief is so strong that a large number of wineries actually stipulate the age of their vines on the labels of their wine bottles. The aim is to impress customers so that their wines become more popular and shared across a wider section of the population. But is there really truth to the older-grapes-better-wine theory?

This theory seems to be derived from the fact that the fewer the grapes which grow on a vine, the better the grapes and the wine taste. If you have too many grapes per vine, then you have grapes with different tastes and thus a wine with a bad flavor. The lesser the grapes the more likely that the wine flavor will be excellent and unique at the same, older vines tend to be less hardy than younger ones so they grow fewer grapes hence the theory that they tend to give rise to better grapes and wines.

Certain other people tend to disagree with this theory. They claim that this isn’t the process which results in the best grapes or the best wine. According to their theory, the first few years of wine growth aren’t anything at all. You don’t get any grapes from your vines until year 3 or year 4 of their growth. When the growth actually comes there is a full harvest of grapes which continues until the 20th year of growth. It is after this period that you get the best flavored grapes according to this group of people.

If you’re confused with this explanation, you should know that it gets much worse. Research has shown that if the vines have been attached properly to their trellises, pruned regularly and cut, they should give rise to good grapes. Thinning is believed to increase the taste as well as reducing the yield. What this research claims is that the age is not what gives rise to the better tasting wines but the size of the yield.

Despite all this, after all the arguments have finished and each side has stated their position on the matter, conflicting evidence still shows that the higher the yield is , the better the grapes you get. In a particular acre of Chardonnay grapes, ten tons of grapes were produced and it was a good yield. When six tons of grapes were produced in the next harvest from the same acre, the grapes and the wine tasted better, which seemingly proved the theory. However the next year yielded four tons which tasted worse than the first two sets.

The final end to the question came from research which showed that grapes will have a great taste and produce better wine if they come from a vineyard that keeps its vines well taken care of and maintains them effectively.