Growing Grapes and Making Wine
(Page 5 of 7)
April/May 2003
By Jef Cox
Check the level of the wine monthly, adding enough similar wine to top off the carboys or barrel so no air can enter. Most home winemakers bottle after one year, but I think aging wine two years is better. If you're using a new oak barrel, however, bottle the wine after one year or less, or it may get too "oaky" tasting. (To season a new barrel, rinse and fill it with a solution of potassium metabisulfite and water, until you're ready to fill it with wine.)
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When you're satisfied with your vintage, siphon wine from the container into old wine bottles you have saved or new bottles purchased from a winemaking shop. They should be scrupulously clean. You also will need corks and a corking device, available at a winemaking shop. You can buy foil capsules for the top of the bottle and make or buy your own labels, attaching them with a glue stick.
And when the time is right, you can uncork a bottle of your finest vintage and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
BUYING ORGANIC
If you're wild about wine, and want to go organic, you're in luck: A number of wineries now are producing organic wines that rival conventionally produced vino. The purist might want to consider truly organic wines, processed from pesticide- and herbicide-free grapes, with no added sulfites. Others less concerned with added sulfites can satisfy their organic cravings with wine labeled "made from organic grapes."
Wineries with widely distributed organic wines include Badger Mountain, Bonterra, China Bend, Frey, Honeyrun, LaRocca, Lolonis, Nevada Wine Guild, Octopus Mountain, Organic Wine Works and Orleans Hill.
Wine distributors can be a useful resource for finding organic wine in your area. Organic Vintages, based in New York, has a toll-free number and will assist in finding organic wines nationwide [(800) 877-6655].
Another option is to order organic wine by mail, but in many places shipping wine is restricted by state law. Whether or not wine can be shipped to you directly from the vintner depends on where you live and from which state you are trying to order wine.
The states that currently have the fewest restrictions on shipping are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Regulations vary even among these states, but wineries should be able to tell you whether or not they can legally ship wine to you.
For more information about wineshipping laws, visit www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine/ .
WINEMAKING Supplies
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