Last week we had days in the 70’s and this week, 11 inches of snow. What’s the best thing to do besides shoveling? Make wine; and that’s exactly what I did. Well, sort of. I have a box kit and completed the initial steps a few weeks ago. Now it’s time for racking (i.e. removing sediment by siphoning wine into a new container).
I guess some might say it’s cheating if using a kit. I disagree. If you’re new to making wine then a kit is perfect. It provides step-by-step instructions about the nuances of making wine. There are many options available and each kit produces about 30 bottles. My cost should be under $1.90 per bottle if I produce the promised amount noted with my kit. Well I hope so, because I need every bottle I can get of blackberry/merlot wine.
I recommend starting with a wine kit that claims to have drinkable wine within 30 days. Even though I think this promise is misleading (since mine is taking longer), I don’t want to wait a year for my first trial. My goal is to make a few wine kits before attempting something more complicated on my own. I also joined a Wine Making Guild and found two friends that allow me to tag along with during their winemaking adventures. Recently, I provided 15 pounds of fruit from our garden for a batch of black raspberry wine. They’re providing their technical expertise. Soon, I’ll be rewarded with 1/3 of the finished product. I believe this is a fair exchange for all.
My base wine of merlot (so the box tells me) has reached 1.0 on the hydrometer. This is the magic number that I was told to reach, and thus I now have to move the wine. I’ll do this by siphoning the fluid into a glass carboy. I’ll probably have to rack (move) the wine again to further clarify and remove more sediment.
So, today I rack. The process is simple. If you can follow a recipe, you’ll have no problems. At least, this has been my experience so far. But then again, I haven’t tried any of my wine yet.
I’ll post an update on this project when I add the blackberry concentrate. At that time, I will also start the process for stabilizing and clarifying the wine. In the meantime, I’ll open a bottle of Pinot Noir.