It is almost impossible to pour clear wine from one bottle to another without stirring up the lees. Because of this, it is a good plan, to siphon off the clear wine when rebottling it.
Using about a yard and a half of surgical rubber tubing or plastic tubing, siphoning is a very simple operation. First, put the bottles or jars of wine on a table and the empty bottles on a stool or box on the floor. Next, put one end of the tubing in the first bottle of wine and suck the other end of the tube until the wine comes; pinch the tube at your lips and - holding on tight - put this end in the empty bottle and then let the wine flow. As the level of the wine falls, lower the tube into it, being careful not to let it touch the lees. When nearly all of the wine has been transferred, pinch the tube at the neck of both bottles, put one end into the next bottle and allow the wine to flow again.
In this way a constant flow is maintained and you have bottles of crystal-clear wine. The sediment from each bottle may be put together; this will clear in time to leave a little more wine.
Most of you will already have heard of one or other home-made wine and will have decided which to make. For those who have not yet decided, preference for a 'port* or 'whisky' may be the deciding factor and this must rest with yourselves.
I would advise you only in this: make, say, a gallon or a half-gallon of a variety of wines and then decide which you prefer over a period of time. I have whittled my own preference down to nine different wines which I brew regularly according to season, leaving the dried fruit for the time when fresh fruit is not available and when roots - potatoes, etc. - are too fresh for wine-making purposes.
NOTE:
Different recipes will call for slightly different approaches, but it must be remembered that whatever else has to be done, the brew must be kept in a warm place throughout the fermentation period, and that the process after fourteen days* fermentation in the tub is the same with all recipes.
Who Made the First Wine Anyway? Although details are understandably sketchy, it is believed that, around 6000 BC, grapes were being grown and wine was being made in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Mesopotamia and Egypt Wine was popular with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt from about 3000 BC onwards. Inscriptions and illustrations of grape harvesting and wine making have been found in a number of tombs. Many temples had vineyards attached to them and it is thought that wine was used for religious ritual purposes. However, as is still true today, the majority of Egyptian wine was produced in the Nile delta area. Wine was stored in c ..
Now select your recipe and go ahead with your wine-making, bearing in mind all that I have warned you about.
Wine Utensils
Ideal wine making utensils to use for boiling ingredients & juices are those consisting of good quality enamel. If possible, try to purchase wine utensils sold under proprietary names, as they are often most reliable. They cannot be chipped.
Cheap enamel utensils often contain lead in the glaze and this might be boiled into the brew. If this happened, the wine would then be dangerous.
If copper or aluminum is used, there could be a slight risk of small particles of the metal being boiled into the brew. This could poison the yeast, which would prevent fermentation.
For fermentation purp ..
About The Author
James Wilson owns & operates http://www.e-homewinemaking.com, a site providing wine-making tips, tricks and techniques. If you're interested in making your own wine, visit http://www.e-homewinemaking.com today and sign up for the FREE wine-making mini-course!
James WilsonWine Bottling and Syphoning
