Wine Making Supplies - Home Winemaking

      This week I have been preparing wines and blends for our “Tap the Barrel” event and thought it would be a great week to talk about tasting wine. The difference between tasting and drinking is similar to test-driving a car you may buy and the relish of driving it afterwards. Tasting is a matter of concentration, and almost anyone can acquire the technique. When tasting a wine it is important to eliminate all distractions, especially comments made by others; it is all too easy to be swayed. In the winery I shut the radio off and close the door to the lab for total concentration. The three “basics” of wine tasting are sight, smell, and taste, known as “eye”, “nose”, and “palate”. 

THE SIGHT OR “EYE” OF A WINE 

This week there has been a fair amount of talk about Cab Sauv in the media and around the winery, so I decided to chose that wine as my topic of choice. That along with the fact that I just started fermenting a batch of it at home that came from Chile.

It's been a very busy and exciting week here at Presque Isle Wine Cellars. This past weekend I met hundreds of home wine makers as they were picking up their Chilean juice. It was exciting talking to them and listening how they put their own spin on the juice as they're making it. For those making it for the first time or wanting to make good wine great, it was also enjoyable talking to them and explaining different techniques.

A few days into Spring and it feels like the middle of Winter. It was a long ride into work today with the slow moving traffic and cars off the road everywhere. Just as I was wondering if Spring was ever going to get here I looked out over the vineyard that was all neatly prunned and I was reminded Spring is right around the corner. It won't be long before the buds start breaking out.  

Last week we spent a lot of time working on different blends I talked about previously. This week I held several workshops ensuring all PIWC associates could come up to the Isle House and taste each individual blend. The comments were very interesting as they varied so much between different folks depending on whether they had a preference for dry or sweet wine. It was also interesting how some people could pick out one fruit taste while someone else picked out something completely different.

This was a very cold week here at Presque Isle Wine Cellars but the sun still shined though making each day a scenic picture.

This week  I made the final adjustments on last years Chilean Juice we got for our own testing. It certainly in an excellent product. I plan to be bottling it iin about three weeks and it will be available for sampling. If any home winemakers plan on pickiing any up this year be sure to place your order early and take advantage of the discount.

Today we are racking the Dornfelder from the barrels to steel tanks. Below is a picture of us doing blending trails to determine the best mixture for this 2011 vintage.