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15C (60F)). If your pH is very low, the wine can be partly neutralized
to raise the pH. Be careful at this point as adding too much chalk can
add a chalky taste to the wine. See section G21. ACID BALANCE. So,
inoculate early -- many do it soon after yeast fermentation has started
(the must is warm and has little sulphite). Doing it early also avoids
the culture being killed off by high alcohol levels during
innoculation. Don't fine the wine until after the MLF is finished as ML
bacteria like the solids, and add a nutrient good for MLF. MLF survives
very well in barrels, so if you are putting your Pinot in a barrel that
has held a wine that has undergone MLF, it will take off on its own.
This has historically been a common occurence in the spring following
harvest.

The lees in the barrel or carboy harbour the bacteria, so leaving wine
on the lees until late spring can encourage MLF. Some wines, like
Riesling, don't like MLF. A moderate sulphite dose almost always
provides adequate protection against it and other bacterial
fermentations.

You can tell that MLF is happening in 3 ways. One is to use
chromatography to measure relative malic and lactic acid levels.
Another is to notice the onset of renewed CO2 action (bubbles) well
after the yeast fermentation is done. Another is to taste the change in
the wine from sharp to more mellow and buttery.

Lee Stirring

When this is done this in a winery, it's usually in conjunction with
barrel fermentation. Hence, the primary lees are the ones that are
stirred. Having said this, it should be pointed out that the juice has
been racked once before inoculation so the solids are in the lees than
2% range in the juice at inoculation.

Stirring frequency is up to the winemaker but even no stirring will
result in what is described as a greater mouthfeel. This can lead to a
sense of richness, softness and definitely better integration of oak,
malolactic character and fruit. Many wineries start off stirring weekly
(originally the stirring was done to encourage malolactic fermentation)
and then gradually tapering to once every two weeks to once a month
with usually the end being at 6-9 months depending on taste. And that's
the most important indicator. Sometimes, there can be a sulphide
problem, so you have to taste the wine throughout the process. If you
push the wine through MLF you shouldn't have a bacterial problem. Also,
once MLF is complete you should add some sulphite to avoid bacterial
spoilage.

G21. ACID BALANCE

Why is a low pH (3.0 to 3.5) important to winemaking? For three reasons:

1. Chemical Stability: Wines become unstable at pHs above 3.50. One
result of this chemical instability is a severe effect on the wine's
pigment.

2. Biological Stability: Very few organisms (especially spoilage
organisms) can survive in an acidic environment (pH 2.90 - 3.50).
Because of this, fresh grapes or juices with pHs above 3.50 should be
avoided.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Sulphite Additions: The amount of sulphite which
should be added to a must to achieve an aeseptic environment is directly
based on the pH of the must. Aeseptic levels are achieved with SO2
concentrations of .6 ppm in red musts & .8 ppm in white musts. To
achieve these concentrations, varying amounts of free sulphite need to
be added to the musts based on their pH.

Finished wines usually should have the following acid levels (expressed
as tartaric acid):

Fruit wines       0.60%  6.0g/L  6000ppm
Red grape wines   0.65%  6.5g/L  6500ppm
White grape wines 0.75%  7.5g/L  7500ppm
Sherry types      0.50%  5.0g/L  5000ppm

Common fruits will have the following acid levels:

Apple:        1.0%- 6.5%
Apricot:      6.0%-15.0%
Black Cherry: 3.5%- 7.0%
Elderberry:   6.0%-15.0%
Orange:       0.0%-35.0%
Peach:        3.0%-10.0%
Pear:         1.0%- 3.5%

1 ounce of acid blend will raise 5 imp. gal. by 0.13%. 1/4 ounce
calcium carbonate chalk or 1/3 ounce potassium carbonate chalk per
gallon will lower acid by 0.15%. Maximum recommended chalk is 0.5 ounce
calcium chalk per gallon to avoid a faint chalky taste. Potassium
bicarbonate produces better results with less taste then calcium
carbonate, and will work better with cold stabilization.

If your wine is really high in acid (VERY low pH), add some water or
mix with a wine with a VERY high pH. Alternately, add a 0.5%
sugar solution to your carboy about 1-2 days AFTER you have added
potassium sorbate to "stop" the fermentation. (0.5% = about 1 cup of
sugar/5 gal. of wine).

Here is an conversion table with tartaric to sulphuric equivalent:

ACID LEVEL (most useful range)

Tartaric Sulphuric
 (g/L)    (%)
  7.7     0.5
 15.3     1.0
 22.9     1.5
 30.6     2.0
 38.3     2.5
 45.9     3.0
 53.6     3.5
 61.2     4.0
 68.9     4.5
 76.5     5.0
 84.2     5.5
 91.9     6.0
 99.6     6.5
100.7     7.0

{How do I relate grams per litre of acid to pH.}

That is because it doesn't relate. The two are completely different. 
When measuring pH you are looking at how well the acid disassociates in
solution, but grams/liter is a measure of how much acid is actually
present. There is no way to compare the two.

In theory curves could be built to compare g/L to pH, however the
relationship changes from grape to grape, year to year, fruit to fruit
and of course the particular blend of acids that are in the wine. This
constant changing and unpredictability makes it impossible to relate pH
to g/L acid.

G22. CHILLPROOFING

Tartaric acid crystals may fall out of solution to form a white,
crystalline sediment after a while, particularly if your wine gets
chilled. They're harmless and do not add any taste to the wine. To
avoid the problem, chillproof your wine for a couple of weeks in the
carboy in a cool to cold place -- an old fridge or a cold cold room is
appropriate. Desired temperature is 4C (36F). Rack off before allowing
the wine to warm up as the crystals may dissolve back into the wine.

G23. DO ALL WINES CONTAIN SULPHITES?

All wines do contain sulphur compounds, and almost invariably sulphur
dioxide, a commonly added preservative. Yeast produce sulphur compounds
as a byproduct of metabolism. The level they produce is usually enough
to require the "contains sulphites" addition to labels. Yeast typically
produce around 10 ppm (10mg/L) but may produce more. It is thought not
to be harmful unless one is very allergic to sulphur compounds. There
are varying degrees of sulphite sensitivity, ranging from sinus
inflammation to, in extreme cases, respiratory failure. Many
winemakers, both commercially and at home, are trying to reduce
sulphite levels.

Sulphite is often added to the wine as a microbiological and oxidative
inhibitor in wines, the amount wildly ranging depending on the
producer. Often the value may as well be related to the colour of the
eyes or the height of the chief winemaker. :)

Ways to avoid using sulphite are to increase the amount of vitamin C
(ascorbic acid), the alcohol content of your wine, tannin levels, and
lowering the pH.

G24. HOW MUCH SULPHITE IS NEEDED?

Neither SO2 nor sorbate kills yeasts; they inhibit them, and can
prevent microbial activity, but only if cell counts are low. If you
have a mounting problem, they won't do a good job in controlling it.
The amount of sulphite needed depends on the pH of the wine -- the
lower the pH the less you need (at pH 3.2, you need 21ppm (21mg/L) free
SO2; at pH 3.5, you need 50ppm (50mg/L) free SO2.) This has to do with
A) the fact that the active form that inhibits bacteria forms better at
lower pH's and B) the lower the pH, the better the acidity in the wine
is in itself able to protect the wine. The following is the pH
dependant equilibrium. The forms depicted in the left are favoured by
higher pH's; the right by lower pH's.

SO2 + H2O <---> HSO3- + H+ <---> SO3-- + H+

1 ppm = 1 mg/L, therefore for 5 imperial gallons of wine with a pH of
3.2, you need:

5gal*4.5L/gal = 22.5L

21mg/L*22.5L = 472.5mg

Since this is free SO2, we need a conversion for potassium and sodium
metabisulphate, (K2S205 and Na2S205 respectively) which are 1.74 and
1.48 respectively. So we need 0.8g or 1.7g of each respectively -- a
little under an eigth of a teaspoon. Through the same process you need
a quarter teaspoon for 5 gallons of wine with pH 3.5. A campden tablet
has a mass of either 0.44 or 0.55 gram (depending on where you get your
tablets), or about 1/15th or 1/12th of a teaspoon respectively.

It's always important to remember that both of these products work
better with low pH's, so a non-standard wine (i.e. fruit wine) may
require really large amounts due to high pH.

There is unfortunately no handy way to actually kill all the yeast in
your wine at home.

As a general guide, here is how much sulphite is needed as per the pH of
your wine:

the following free sulphite levels are needed:

 pH   Red     White
2.90    7ppm  11ppm
3.00    8     13
3.20   13     21
3.40   20     32
3.60   31     50
3.70   39     63

G25. TOPPING UP YOUR WINE

Topping up your wine is the process of making your carboy as full of
wine as possible to make sure that there is as small a contact with air
as possible, therefore minimizing oxidation risks.

Some suggestions follow:

A) Make more than five gallons, particularly if you're using fresh
fruit; when racking, squeeze the pulp to get the liquid out to maximize
wine volume to begin with. Keep the extra must in the fridge until
needed.
B) Add water. This can change the sweetness and acidity of your wine.
C) Add a honey/water mixture.
D) Top off with some commercial wine of the same type as you're making.
This will keep the taste from being watered down.
E) Use an inert gas such as CO2. This can be gotten from a supplier, or
if you have access to it, use food grade dry ice. Some suppliers also
have cans of inert gas used to top up bottles of wine. CO2 can be made
by mixing baking soda and vinegar -- but -- only pour off the CO2 gas
on top, don't actually pour in the liquid!
F) Add clean and sanitized marbles or aquarium gravel to reduce the
amount of room in the carboy so the wine is closer to the neck.

When you do rack and you introduce something to your wine to top it up,
add some sulphite. Sulphite also helps reduce oxidation and will help
inhibit any bacteria introduced when racking.

G26. BULK AGING

There are varying opinions on the exact effect of bulk aging on wine;
some wines benefit more than others. It is generally agreed that it is
a good thing.

Some references will say that a wine ages faster in bulk while others
in the bottle. Bottom line is that wines will age differently in the
bottle than in the carboy, and each adds a different aspect.

Bulk aging is not recommended in plastic carboys beyond three to five
months as the plastic is sufficiently porous to allow oxidation.

Using oak barrels is covered above.

G27. WILL MY WINE LAST?

{I heard that home-made wine starts going bad after two years. Is that
true it sounds strange? I was planning to age some is there something
special I should be doing?}

What you're asking -- assuming that the question doesn't come from what
are now misconceptions formed up to the late 1960's when "wine death"
may have been somewhat more common due to kits and grapes sent to
market for use by us "commoners" that were of lesser quality than those
available today -- has to do with things like:

A) Sanitation throughout the winemaking process
B) Whether there are enough preservatives (sulphite, sorbate, ascorbic
acid -- vitamin C)
C) Whether there is enough tannin in the wine
D) Whether the pH is low enough
E) Whether the wine is the "type" that won't mature too soon and become
flat and bored too soon.

A) Sanitation is really important. An infection anywhere from before
innoculation of the yeast to after the wine is corked and everywhere
and every way in between can either cause spoilage or change things
that can be detrimental to the wine.
B) Sufficient amounts of sulphite and sorbate can prevent infections
and growth. The longer you plan on keeping the wine, the higher these
sort of need to be, as things like sulphite can deteriorate with time.
Sulphite and ascorbic acid also help avoid oxidation spoilage.
C) Tannin has some antimicrobial effects as well as other preservative
effects, but levels will decline slightly over the years.
D) A low pH will also help avoid spoilage in and of itself, as well as
increase the other preservatives' -- assuming you use any -- abilities
to keep the wine.
E) Usually if the other things exist plentifully, this isn't as much of
a worry, but it can be. Usually the fruit flavours and other compounds
have to be very concentrated in order for the wine to be worth keeping
beyond 10 years.

A good homemade wine can last about as long as commercial wines.

The main thing you may want to consider is that whether it's made from
fruit (note that in this use, fresh grapes as well as other fresh
fruits as opposed to concentrates are meant), and made from fruit that
would make it appropriate to last a long time. Wines intended to be
kept for a really long time shouldn't be made from a kit.

Most kits will last a long time, but usually peak at a year to a year
and a half.

I (the editor) once made a fruit wine whose last bottle I opened at age
4 1/2 years. I strongly believe that it would have easily lasted --
nay, peaked (and lasted longer) -- at least till 6 or 7. Probably until
8 or 9 or longer. Other people in this group have made wines that no
doubt have lasted way longer.

Wine from concentrate tends to be light and contain little tannin, so
it is usually best drunk within a few years. Although good concentrate-
made 5-year-old red wine can be made, it had begun to fade. The short
life exceptions are Sherry and (to some extent) Chardonnay. Sherry is
deliberately oxidized and keeps for quite awhile. American style
Chardonnay has components from the decomposing lees and malolactic
bacteria which tend to allow a longer life than other dry white wines,
but most Chardonnay reaches its peak in a few years anyhow and may
begin to fade in 5 years.

Red wine from fresh grapes can be very long-lived if it is made to
last. Just remember that many styles of red wine and most styles of
white wine, commercial or home-made, are intended to be drunk fresh or
within a few years.

G28. HOW TO KNOW WHEN A WINE IS READY TO DRINK

The first thing to remember is that wine-tasting (and therefore when a
wine is "ready") is a subjective exercise and your favourite wine is
someone else's least favourite some of the time. Everyone has a
different palate. Some like oak, some acid, some fragrance, some body.

Kit wines tend to peak at 1 year. Check that the acid balance and
tannin level are high if you want it to last longer. Many other fruit
wines peak at 3 to 5 years. Most fine wines that take time will still
usually peak long before 25 years unless tannins, acids and fruit
flavours are unusually concentrated. Red wines as a group will last much
longer than whites, of course with exceptions on either side.

Two of the easiest ways of assessing a wine's maturity are tasting the
wine at intervals and holding a bottle up to the light to assess the
wine's colour. Reds will shift from deeper reds and even purples to
orange and brick; whites will shift from straw colours to darker golds.
Acidity and astringency (the latter from tannins) will gradually
diminish with age, while fruitiness will typically diminish and give
way to more subtle and developed aromas with age, so look for
smoothness and complexity. But watch out! After a certain time, the
wine can actually get tired and move past its peak. Watch out for wines
that have a tired, thin, flabby taste. A practical way to taste over
time is to make a lot of small bottles.

You should also be careful: In the reductive environment of the bottle,
many wines develop hydrogen sulfide smells, and if it smells bad
initially, swirl the wine around in a glass. Decanting can help, but
it's tricky because you can overdo it with a delicately-balanced wine.

You should also be inspecting the corks for A) leakage B) rot, and C)
dryness. Outside development of mould is not bad, but escape of some
wine through the cork is bad.

Also, when examining the bottles in the light, check for clarity --
haziness can indicate A) protein haze B) metals casse (haze) C)
microbiological activity, or D) pectin haze. The worst of these is
microbiological activity. You should also check the ullage (fill level)
-- if that has decreased, it could indicate excessive evaporation or
leakage, which could oxidatively deteriorate the wine or indicate the
possibility of microbial infection.

Now for some tips on wine tasting, which might help you determine what
you like, and therefore impact how you make and age your wine. Deciding
what was liked about his wines was what caused the editor (and no doubt
others) to determine how he went about making his wines.

Don't mix sweet wines with dry wines unless you drink the sweet wines
last.

Taste the wines twice or even three times and rescore them. They change
flavour on exposure to air or if they warm up.

Drink white wines cool; let red wines air out.

Find out what styles you personally like and what your friends like and
why.

See if you can find wines that everyone likes. These are the hardest to
make and usually the best buys.

Try to agree on the cause of wines' mousy smell (bad filtration, mould
or bad corks), oxidation etc. The main thing is to not be too serious
and not to talk too much while you're tasting e.g. "Oh ... this is just
great!" Save comments till later and don't force your tastebuds on your
neighbour.

Have lots of chlorine free water and bits of bread or unsalted crackers
to clean your mouth between wines.

Put the bottles in brown bags until everyone has tasted. This is a lot
of fun and removes a lot of personal bias related to the label, which
has nothing to do with tasting (don't confuse this with the fact that
the label actually does contain valuable information.)

G29. VINOMETERS

{Could someone tell me the principle of how a vinometer works?}

Water's structure causes it to have a very high surface tension and
exhibit marked capillary action. In other words if you stick a narrow
tube in the water the water is pulled up the column.

The more alcohol present the more the capillary action is affected thus
the height of the column changes. Add graduations based on standard
solutions of water and alcohol and you have a reasonably accurate
method of determining the concentration of a water alcohol solution.

Problem is that wine has lots of other things that can affect capillary
action and surface tension. The most prominent of these are residual
sugars. That's why the instructions that come with the device probably
say to only use it on dry wines (wines with minimal residual sugar).

G30. HOW TO MEASURE ALCOHOL LEVELS IN YOUR WINE

To calculate Alcohol by Volume: Subtract the last reading from the
initial gravity and divide the result by 0.0074. This gives the
approximate alcohol content in %.

Ex.:
S.G. = 1.070 F.G. = 0.995
1.070 - 0.995 = 0.075
0.075 / 0.0074 = 10.15%

It does not matter what the first or last reading is, both mean little
alone. The difference between the two does!

Usually there is also an alcohol scale marked directly on a hydrometer;
subtract initial potential alcohol reading from final, and the
difference is the approximate alcohol content.

Using the Brix scale, 1 degree Bx = 1 g/100 ml, or 10 g/liter. When you
read a Bx of say 22, divide the 22 by 2 to get 11, and add 1, for a
final alcohol of 12%. It is an extremely good rule of thumb.

Another method is the boiling method:

- take 250 ml of wine
- measure specific weight and temperature
- boil the wine down to 125 ml
- bring up to 250 ml using boiled water
- cool to the same temperature as above
- measure specific weight
- the difference between the two is related to the alcohol level; use
the following table:

diff. alcohol
 s/w volume %
  8  5,63
  9  6,40
 10  7,18
 11  7.98
 12  8,80
 14  10,51
 16  12,30
 18  14,10
 20  16,00
 22  18,00

spec. weight is in gram/litre

G31. WHAT'S THE BEST PAPER AND ADHESIVE TO USE FOR LABELS?

Fist it is important to remember that the label A) only identifies the
wine and B) can be very important to the aesthetic (but NOT tasting)
experience of wine tasting and therefore should receive an appropriate
yet not undue amount of care and consideration.

Paper:

Any paper will do -- printer paper, copy paper, whatever. Envelope
labels (such as Avery, etc.) are more difficult to take off.

Inkjet printouts may run if exposed to the slightest moisture; try
photocopying.

Adhesives:

Typically, you should use a water soluble adhesive that is easy to
apply and allows for quick, easy removal of labels.

Milk: Use a small brush and lightly coat the back of the label, then
press it onto the bottle.

Stick glue (UHU or Pritt or the like).

Water/sugar/flour: The old kid-paste trick.

Diluted wallpaper paste.

Making the labels:

Varying software will make your labels. Projexis Inc. has a shareware
program that will make labels. Check the NET RESOURCES posting to get
the address, as well as other locations for software, clipart, and so
on.

A good word processor that will support graphics will do the job (if
you want to insert graphics, of course.)

There are also a number of good graphics and presentation programs that
will do the job, and there are many good graphics/clip art libraries
available that will certainly contain something that you like.

Make four (or however many -- up to six if you want a decent sized
label) labels per 8 1/2 X 11 page.

G32. BOTTLES & CORKS:

Any glass bottle without defect that will hold a cork firmly in its
neck will do. However, bottles that used to contain wine are
recommended. Sources are home use, friends, relatives, restaurants and
recycling bins.

Use one style of bottle for your wine, or at least one style per batch
of wine. That way the "whole experience" is more visually appealling,
and it may help you when storing & handling the bottles (uniformity =
easier).

There is a multitude of methods and general procedures for preparing
bottles for bottling; basically, they involve washing the bottle and
sanitizing them. To wash, soak the bottles in soapy hot water (which
incidentally will remove most labels without any labour) for half an
hour, rinse the outside, rinse the interior with a jet-spary bottle
washer, sanitize with a sulphite solution, and bottle your wine.
Dishwashers with HOT water can replace the rinsing of the outside of
the bottle (but NOT the inside) and sanitizing with sulphite.

Using soap to wash and/or chlorine bleach to sterilize the bottles is
not a concern as long as you rinse the bottles thoroughly on the inside
to remove any residue.

Corks should not be reused. When preparing, soak the corks in just
boiled water with sulphite in it for at least half an hour before
bottling. This will soften the corks and the sulphite will avoid
contamination from the corks and their handling. Steaming also works.
Another method is to rinse corks in a sulphite solution, about 500 ppm,
then shake off the excess solution and place them in a bag for a week
before use. This allows the moisture to get absorbed into the corks
which softens them and makes it easier to insert.

Short corks are for short term storage, long corks are for long term
storage. Composite corks are for short term storage. The editor has had
more corked bottles from composite corks than whole ones.

Short corks are easier to pull, and often have fewer defects than
longer ones. End bevelling is only important for hammer corkers. The
narrower corks (and silicone lubricated ones) are easier for hand
corking, and the wide ones are more secure and allow slightly
carbonated wines to be made without too many corks popping. Pure corks
are a little easier to put in and take out, but they have a lot more
defects than composite corks.

Plastic corks appear to be mildly inadequate, although useable for
short term storage. Problems include difficulty in retraction and
leakage. Some people have found that they work well and that they are
less expensive.

{I just bottled last year's wine and I noticed a tea like colour
resulting from soaking the corks in a sulphite solution. If this
discolouration can come off in the sanitizing solution then it can come
off in the wine after corking. Does anybody know if this residue can
have a detrimental effect on the wine?}

The colouring caused by soaking the corks won't harm your wine. Corks
are made of the bast of the cork-oak, and good wine is layed in oak
vessel. The substance that causes this colouring is a tannic acid
which will improve your wine (can be stored for a longer period).

However, you have to remember when you are soaking them, the whole
surface area of the cork is exposed to the solution, while only the
bottom is exposed to the wine. You would have to have very sensitive
taste buds to notice a difference. This should not be confused with
poor quality corks that were not properly handled when made and lead to
"corked" wine, which is the result of a virus in the cork. To minimise
this treat the corks as above

G33. CORKERS

Many styles of corkers exist and each can have advantages and
disadvantages.

Hand corkers: "Hammer" style corkers are the type in which you put the
cork into a constricted neck and using a plunger and mallet, you force
the cork through. Usually this is the cheapest style and may have
wildly varying results. "Plunger" style corkers are better and use the
principle of a lever to compress the cork using wrist action. A plunger
operated by your free hand pushes the cork into the bottle. Very
reliable but only recommended if you're making little wine or need it
for small bottles.

Table corkers: The corker is attached to a table and compresses the
cork either similar in style to the "plunger" style or differently and
uses a lever to force the cork into the bottle.

Floor corkers: Identical to table corkers, but whose base is on the
floor.

G34. HOW ABOUT DISTILLING MY WINE?

Distillation is basically heating an alcoholic beverage to the boiling
point and cooling its steam, with the intention of concentrating the
alcohol.

Though at perfectly safe levels when you ferment your wine,
distillation will concentrate the methanol content in your beverage to
levels that may be dangerous.

Because of the potential dangers of not properly removing the minute
amounts of methanol present found in most fermented products, home
distillation is illegal in most Western countries, and likely most
others. There is a remote possibility that it may also invite the
government to your house for an unwelcome visit.

THE EDITOR THEREFORE STRONGLY RECOMMENDS AGAINST ANY HOME ATTEMPTS AT
DISTILLATION.

G35. WHAT ARE GOOD REFERENCES FOR WINEMAKING?

For the beginner:

Modern Winemaking by Jackisch

Grapes into Wine by Philip Wagner

"The Roots of Health" by Gypsy Petulegro

Better Winemaking Magazine, which is published by Ben Harrison at
Cybercom Marketing, 416 483 8660, fax 416 483 7937.

Getting Started in Winemaking, by Paul Jean. More information is
available by contacting Paul at jeanpaul&magi.com (&=@)

"Making Wine" -- a 45 minute video by Bacchus Productions. More
information is available through http://www.sentex.net/~bacchus

For the more advanced:

Winemaking Basics by C.S. Ough. Don't let the title fool you, although
there are basics in there, some areas look like a chemistry course.

Wine Analysis and Production, Zoecklein et al., Chapman & Hall, and is
available through the magazine PWV (Practical Winery and Vineyard) for
$79.95 + shipping.

The Mid-Atlantic Winegrape Grower's Guide, Publication number AG-535
Publisher: North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina State University
Department of Agricultural Communications
Box 7603, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7603
Price: $20 (includes tax and shipping)

For both:

Winemaking: Recipes, equipment, and techniques for making wine at
home. Stanley F. Anderson and Dorothy Anderson. A Harvest/HBJ
Original. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. San Diego, New York, London.
1989.

You Made This? A Guide to Making Wine No One Knows is Homemade.
Thomas Bachelder. Kylix Media Inc. Montreal, Canada. 1992.

GETTING STARTED WINEMAKING, Paul Jean Jr. Published by JE Underhill,
1993. Covers all aspects of winemaking from kits, introduces
winemaking from juice and grapes and gives recipes for wines from 48
non-grape fruits. Instructions on the use of a hydrometer, acid
testing (6 easy steps) calculating parts per million (ppm) and proper
use of sorbate to stabilize wines. Also are items on how to fix
problem wines. $5.00 by mail. Write to Paul Jean at jeanpaul&magi.com
(&=@) for further information.

First Steps in WineMaking by C.J.J. Berry ISBN 0-900841-83-4

WINES FROM A SMALL GARDEN, planting to bottling, James Page-Roberts,
Abbeville Press

FROM WINES TO VINES, The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes & Making your
own Wines, Jeff Cox, A Garden Way Publishing Book.

'The Pan Book of Wine and Beer Making' by Ben Turner ISBN 0 330 28245 X,
1985

On cellars:

"How and Why To Build a Wine Cellar" by Richard M. Gold, Ph.D.

For Winery startup:

Practical Winery and Vineyard
15 Grande Paseo
San Rafael, CA 94903-1534
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G36. WHAT IS [INSERT WINE TYPE HERE] LIKE?

The first and best piece of advice is to try a bottle of that wine
yourself. What someone else likes may be what you dislike, and vice
versa. Their descriptions may prove hard for some people to recognize
in the glass in front of them, and irrelevant.

Next is to take the plunge and make that kind of wine yourself. In the
process, refer to section G27. HOW TO KNOW WHEN A WINE IS READY TO
DRINK.

There is also an FAQ on the topic of wine itself, which may be useful
in determining the answer to your question, which is available at:

http://www.speakeasy.org/~winepage/cellar/cellar.html

You can also ask Peter Granoff of Virtual Vineyards, "The Cork Dork",
who's a sommelier. His address is pgranoff&virtualvin.com (&=@), and
his page is at:

http://www.virtualvin.com/

Such questions are not unwelcome in the group; you may get an answer
that you want, or you may get answers along the lines of the above.

G37. WHAT KIND OF WATER SHOULD I USE?

When making wine that calls for water, care should be taken not to use
any kind of water from any source.

One rule that is generally agreed upon is that chlorinated water,
particularly during the summer when levels are usually higher, is not
good for winemaking. While it will work, the chlorine in the water may
react with the ingredients and produce a slight off flavour. It is
also bad for yeast and therefore could slow down the yeast's ability to
ignite in the wine.

Generally you can use either distilled (or reverse osmosis) water or
spring water. Distilled and reverse osmosis water are ultra-pure waters
that have next to no dissolved solids and therefore no tastes. All
tastes will therefore develop from your fruit and/or concentrates and
fermentation. Spring water may add a slight taste to your wine, though
usually not a significant taste.

The editor frequently uses water from various surface and artesian
wells with great success. Generally they should be regularly tested to
be free from infections and should be low in dissolved solids. Artesian
wells are usually sterile, but may be high or low in dissolved solids
depending on the well. Care should be taken that the water be suitable
as it may contain, depending on your area, agricultural wastes or
fertilizers or pesticide that may be detrimental to your wine and
fermentation. If you're not sure, either use distilled water or bottled
spring water.

G38. ARE ELDERBERRIES TOXIC? HOW ABOUT {INSERT FRUIT HERE}?

Debate has come about with respect to whether or not making wine from

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