wine making

An Introduction to wine

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Wine is a fascinating and diverse world, offering a wide array of flavors, aromas, and experiences. Whether you are a novice or a connoisseur, interested in simply sipping or expertly analyzing, enjoying a glass of wine can be a sublime experience. In this article, we will provide an introduction to wine, covering the basics of wine tasting, the different types of wine, and tips for beginners to start their wine exploration journey.

Understanding Wine

Good wine is one of life’s greatest pleasures. However, many people find wine and how to choose, serve, and describe it more intimidating than enjoyable. The very scope of the topic seems daunting. But never fear — you don’t have to take a class to appreciate the subtleties of fine wine. Still, as with many things in life, a little knowledge goes a long way[1].

Getting Started

As you set out to explore the world of wine, you might feel unsure about how to begin. Should you take a class? Join a wine-tasting group? Visit a winery? Buy a variety of wines and start sampling? There’s not one set rule you must follow; rather, think of it as having unlimited choices! Every new journey benefits from the presence of an experienced guide. Whether you’re exploring a mountain landscape, the wildlife of a faraway land, or the ins and outs of wine, an experienced guide can be your key to discovering hidden gems and expanding the horizons of your knowledge[1].

Wine Tasting

Learning to taste and appreciate wine is an essential part of the journey. It’s important to understand that responses to wine are as individual as fingerprints. An aroma or flavor that is pleasing to you may not be so to another. The trick is translating your preferences into words. Accomplish this, and you will add new dimensions to your enjoyment of wine[1].

Types of Wine

There are five main classifications of wine: white, red, rosé, sparkling, and dessert. Each category has a wide variety of wines within, which makes choosing wine for beginners especially daunting. Exploring these different types of wine is a great way to get started and find your perfect beginner wine[3].

  • White Wine: Known for its lighter taste and made from white or green grapes. Popular varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling[4].
  • Red Wine: Made from red grapes and has a rich taste, high in tannins. Popular varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Merlot[4].
  • Rosé Wine: Made from red grapes but has a shorter skin contact period, giving it a pink color. It’s known for its refreshing and fruity flavors. Popular varieties include White Zinfandel, Grenache, and Sangiovese[4].
  • Sparkling Wine: Known for its bubbly nature and often associated with celebrations. The most famous type is Champagne, but other varieties include Prosecco, Cava, and Sparkling Rosé[3].
  • Dessert Wine: Sweet wines often served with or as a dessert. Popular varieties include Port, Sauternes, and Ice Wine[3].
  • Fortified Wine: Wines with a higher alcohol content due to the addition of a distilled spirit. Examples include Sherry, Port, and Madeira[3].

Shop HERE for Red Wines     

Shop HERE for White Wines

Tips for Beginners

  • Find your own approach and consistently follow it. Whenever you have a glass of wine in your hand, make it a habit to take a minute to stop all conversation, shut out all distraction and focus your attention on the wine’s appearance, scents, flavors, and finish[2].
  • The ideal beginner wine will generally be something that is not too extreme, not overly dry or exceptionally bold. The most important thing you need to know is what you like. Reading and researching are fantastic but they’re no substitute for experimenting[3].
  • Enjoy the journey! Learning about wine can be an exciting adventure that can take you all over the world, exploring different regions, grapes, and styles of wine—you might even learn a bit about yourself in the process[3].

In conclusion, the world of wine is vast and diverse, offering something for everyone. By understanding the basics of wine tasting and exploring the different types of wine, beginners can embark on an enjoyable journey of discovery. Remember that there are no set rules when it comes to exploring wine—find what you enjoy and savor the experience.

[1] Source: Seven Doors Winery
[2] Source: Wine Enthusiast
[3] Source: Usual Wines
[4] Source: Wine Folly

Citations:
[1] https://sevendoorswinery.com/an-introduction-to-wine/
[2] https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine-for-beginners/
[3] https://usualwines.com/blogs/knowledge-base/best-wine-for-beginners
[4] https://winefolly.com/wine-basics-beginners-guide/
[5] https://www.veranda.com/food-recipes/a44451471/best-wines-for-beginners/

5 Myths About Homemade Wine

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There are many misconceptions and misguided assumptions about making wine at home. Most all of them are perpetuated by individuals who never even tasted or made homemade wine. Others are simply born out of the mystique surrounding the commercial wine industry.

How can something so sophisticated be made at home?

Here are the ones that we run into the most. The ones that flat-out drive us silly every time we hear them.

  1. Homemade Wines Don’t Taste That Good.
    Without question, you can easily make wines that are just as good, if not better, than the wines you find on the store shelf. And not with practice, but with your very first batch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done side-by-side, blind tastings with a challenging friend or an acquaintance between a glass of wine made from one of our wine ingredient kits and a glass of store bought wine, only to have the homemade wine win – hands-down. I’m not going to name any names, but I’m not talking about doing a blind tasting against the $8 stuff. I’m talking about higher dollar stuff that you’d buy to take to a dinner party, etc. Wouldn’t it be nicer to take your own personalized wine gift, that you made, to the party instead.
  2. Homemade Wine Takes A Lot Of Time To Make.
    Learning how to make your own wine is much easier than most individuals can even begin to imagine. It’s deceptively easy. There are a lot of wine making products on the market today that make it as simple as following a few directions. And, it doesn’t take that long. You can be bottling your first batch of wine in as little as 28 days. And as far as the time it takes out of your day, I’d say it doesn’t get any worse than the time it takes to bottle the wine – an hour to get it start, another half-hour to siphon it to a second container, etc.
  3. Making Homemade Wine Requires A Lot Of Expensive Equipment.
    This may have been partially true 20 or 30 years ago. Back then, depending on what type of wine you were making, you might need a grape crusher to crush the fruit and a grape press to press the fruit. Today it’s different. You don’t need to crush and press the fruit if you don’t want to. You can buy it already done for you. Now there are hundreds of wine making juices packaged up and ready for use from all over the world. You can get Cabernet grape from France, Shiraz grape from Australia, Merlot grape from California…  The choices are endless.
  4. Homemade Wine Spoils Easy.
    Absolutely not. Homemade wine keeps just as good as commercially made wine. There is no difference in the keeping abilities between the two. There is no reason for one to keep better than the other. They are both made the same way from the same basic wine making materials. One’s just on a smaller scale than the other.I currently have several bottles of homemade wine that have been in my cellar aging since 1998 and 2002 and I would not hesitate to drink them myself or serve them to my friends and family.
  5. Making Homemade Wine Is Illegal.
    Wrong! Ever since October 14, 1978 it has been perfectly legal for Americans to make their own wine and beer. This is when President Jimmy Carter signed into law legislation introduced by Senator Alan Cranston of California. You can make up to 100 gallons per year. If you live in a household with another adult, you can make up to 200 gallons per year. It can be for your own personal consumption or to hand out has wine making gifts to friend and relatives. Just make sure you don’t sell it. That would be illegal!

—–
Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.

Courtesy Adventures in Homebrewing

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The Benefits Of Wine Kits vs Fresh Grapes

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What is the going opinion of making wine with fresh grapes and crushing them, as opposed to using a wine kit? Is one better than the other by default, or would you say either method can produce excellent or horrible results?

What is the going opinion of making wine with fresh grapes and crushing them, as opposed to using a wine kit? Is one better than the other by default, or would you say either method can produce excellent or horrible results?

Phil B. – TN
_____

Hello Phil,

Thanks for bringing up this great question about wine kits vs fresh grapes. It’s a question we get from time to time, so I’ll be more than happy to answer it here…

Whether you are making wine from grapes or making wine from kits the quality of the wine starts with the quality of the grapes. There is an adage in the wine making industry that says:

“You can never make a wine that is
better than the grapes used to make it.”

What this means is that you’ll never make great wine out of poor wine grapes. The quality of the wine always starts with the quality of the grapes.

When making wine from fresh grapes the individual winemaker usually has a limited selection of grapes to choose from. Quality can suffer when dealing in the take-it-or-leave-it type of market that often arises for the home winemaker.

The quality of grapes that you will find in wine kits varies from good to outstanding. It is not in the interest of these kit producers to spend their time preparing and packaging poor wine grapes. It doesn’t make economic sense, so great care is taken to locate and acquire grapes that are above average quality.

This is one of the major advantages to using a wine kit vs fresh grapes. You are able to rely on the wine kit producer’s expertise in selecting quality grapes. So on the whole you’ll be starting with a better quality grape when using a wine kit than when obtaining grapes on your own. Of coarse, there are always exceptions. Living near a grape growing mecca such as Napa can turn this point on its head, but for most home winemakers, this is a consideration that should be given some weight.

We offer an array of different brands of wine kits. As you go up the ladder in price, the finer your selection of grape. How much you spend depends on the level of taste. Some people are completely happy with the On The House wine kits and could not tell a difference even if they did choose a more expensive kit. For others, the On The House simply would not do. How far up the ladder one goes is very much a personal choice.

Unfortunately, quality grapes do not guarantee a stellar wine, it’s just the first requirement necessary to get there. Between the grapes and the wine bottle is a whole host of other factors such as: acidity, alcohol, sweetness, etc.

Making wine from a wine kit alleviates you from these variables. This is because all these factors have already been taken care of for you by the wine kit producers. They balance the acidity, sugar content and many other features such as clarification and oak treatment to match the typical character of the wine you are making. By eliminating as many variables as possible they are helping to insure that you will make a remarkable wine every time. This is a very valuable benefit of using wine kits vs fresh grapes – especially for the beginner.

Now having said this, I understand completely that we are talking about a hobby, and for some, part of the hobby is the passion that goes into the picking, the crushing, the pressing, and so forth. I get that. And if this is you, I completely support your efforts to make wine from the dirt to the wine bottle. I’m just trying to bring total objectivity to the consideration of using wine kits vs fresh grapes.

Shop Wine Making Kits

So while both wine kits and fresh grapes holds their own rewards, by starting with a wine you are virtually eliminating any chance of producing a bad wine. Add to that the incredible selection that is now available to the home winemaker and it starts to become apparent that a wine kit is the way to go for the beginner.

I hope this covers all your questions and curiosities about wine kits vs fresh grapes. Please realize that regardless of which path you decide to take, we will be more than happy to help you in any way you need.

Best Wishes,
Ed Kraus
—–
Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.

From ADVENTURES IN HOMEBREWING

Below you will find listings for Small Batch Wine Kits and One Gallon Wine Kits, there are several wines listed. What is your favorite wine? If you see it or one similar make note, Read the article How to Make Wine at Home, watch the videos read the article, and see how easy a wine kit can be. Try one, enjoy the results of your efforts. Start your new hobby and share it with family and friends. You never know your wine could be in great demand.

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What Is In A Bottle Of Wine?

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Wine is composed of unmodified grape juice which was fermented to create an alcoholic drink that many people enjoy the world over. In many countries, dinner or even lunch is not complete without a bottle of wine. Celebrations often require a bottle of wine and this is accompanied by cheers and saluts.

Generally, there are two types of wines; the red wine and the white wine. Both wines are made from grapes, although, different varieties of grapes and both are also fermented to create the wine. The two types of wines also have several kinds of wines. As such, they are usually named after the region they come from in the world or the type of grape used to make the bottle of wine. There are also several other kinds of wines other than the red and the white but these two are the more common.

Composition of a Bottle of Wine

A bottle of wine is primarily composed of grape juice. The grapes made into wine are the key factors to the taste of the beverage. These grapes are usually from the European grapes species. The location of the vineyard and the climate in the specific location has a lot to do with the taste of the wine. This is what is called the terroir and it plays a big role on the quality of the wine.

Yeast is also added to the wine composition to ferment the grape juice. The fermentation may take a few months to achieve the right flavor f the wine. Water is also one of the main components of a bottle of wine and definitely the most abundant component in it. Alcohol also comprises wine and the alcohol content depends on what kind of wine we are talking about.

The Uses of Wine

A bottle of wine is commonly used for drinking, of course. It is also used in liturgical events or other religious based events. Many use wine to celebrate victories and to drown out defeats. A bottle of wine can also be used in cooking, baking and to create cuisine around the world. It is usually used to flavor stocks (beef, chicken etc) or braising the food.

A bottle of wine can also be used to relax the body; as such it has gained a reputation of being medicinal and an aphrodisiac. Some researchers have stated that re wine may be more beneficial for preventing cancer compared to white because red wine contains more poyphenols.

Try something new

How to make wine at home. A Great lesson. CLICK HERE

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The Total Wine System

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BOOKS

WINE MAKING BOOKS

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What Is In A Bottle Of Wine?

Things to know about making wine

How To Brew Wine At Home

HOW TO MAKE WINE AT HOME From ADVENTURES IN HOMEBREWING blog

The Benefits Of Wine Kits vs Fresh Grapes From ADVENTURES IN HOMEBREWING

5 Myths About Homemade Wine

ADVENTURES in HOMEBREWING BLOG

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