How To Make Champagne Using Cheap White Wine

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Came across this short little video on YouTube showing how to make champagne using cheap white wine and a soda streamer. Enjoy!

How Can I Increase The Alcohol Content?

I received an email the other day asking what kind of sugar was needed to increase the alcohol content of a typical wine to 13 or 14% and I thought this would make a great blog post!

So if you’re interested in learning how you can increase the alcohol content of your wine read on!

What you’ll want to use is corn sugar, which you can buy from your local wine making supply shop.

Incidentally – if you’re into making your own beer you can use it also to carbonate your beer in the bottle (so it has multiple uses).

To increase your alcohol level you typically would do this as part of the primary fermentation and it is called “chaptalization” and is a common practice when making port or other fortified wines to increase the alcohol content.

Basically you let your primary fermentation happen and once the S.G. reduces to the point when you would rack to your secondary you add the sugar to your wine must (in the primary) so that you can reenergize the yeast to produce more alcohol (typically adds another 3 or 4 %).

So in essence you are doing your primary fermentation twice before you transfer your wine must to your secondary.

I followed this procedure when I made a chocolate raspberry port kit from Winexpert and I can tell you it definitely works.

To help you all further I tracked down some online instructions from Winexpert for one of their port kits  and this should point you in the right direction if you wanted to give it a try.

Wineexpert Downloadable Wine Kit Instructions:

• #1 – Selection Speciale
• #2 – Selection Speciale

Try it and let me know how it goes!

- Scott “The Wine Making Guy”

P.S.  To find out how you can easily calculate the alcohol of your wine read “Easiest Way To Calculate The Alcohol Content Of Your Wine”

P.S.S. He was also curious if the extra alcohol affected the taste and if so how. Would love to hear your comments on this!

P.S.S.S. Be sure to read the follow up post “Follow Up Warning To Increasing The Alcohol Level In Your Wine“

Making Correct Food And Wine Pairings

The selection of appropriate food and wine pairings was at one point an art practiced only by the gourmand, the Maitre d’ or the sommelier at your favorite expensive restaurant. Today the choices of wine in the grocery and wine stores across the world are incredible. It is in fact possible to make food and wine pairings using almost any good quality wine and well prepared food. However, many folks still regard it as important to only combine appropriate wines with certain foods.

Food Selections With Red Wine

Red Fruit Wines is said to enhance the flavors of the food and in most cases provide a set of supporting not overpowering tastes to your meal. Red wines are described in terms of body, depth of color, smoothness and mix of tastes and tannins. Cabernets and merlots are red wines that should not bite when they go down and should be soothing to the palette. It is for these reasons that the traditionalists favored food and wine pairings that combined these red wines with red meats such as beef, and exotics such as ostrich and emus. Other red wines that are usually paired in this way are varietals from Spain, such as the Rioja and the red Bordeaux’s from France and some of the Tignanellos from the Tuscany region in Italy. Of course not all red wines should be thought of in this way.

There are many red wines today that are more sweet or lighter in nature. Food and wine pairings for Texas red, Beaujolais Nouveau or a Valpolicella can be extended to almost anything you eat. These wines are often drunk a little chilled and can add to any meal. Roses can also be included in this category and outstanding food and wine pairings with a good Rose are easy.

The other most frequently drunk red Fruit Wine in Italy is the Chianti. It has been said that the right Chianti can be paired with almost any food and it is truly hard to argue that there is food and wine pairing that is wrong for good Chianti. However, there should be a warning on the label, bad Chianti ranks among the worst things anyone can imbibe. If you are serving up a grand meal make sure that you choose a good Chianti or the occasion will be a real disaster.

Food Selections With White Wine

Food and wine pairings for white wines and Liqueurs are traditionally very broad. Often lighter and crisper in taste many white wines can be used at all stages of a meal, depending on your palette and taste. Common main course food and wine pairings for white wine include Chardonnays with fish, poultry and roast pork. As deserts are offered sweeter desert wines such as a Sauterne may be offered. In fact, as with red wines there are perhaps no food and wine pairings that are bad if good choices are made. Wines such as Fume Blanc, or Cabernet Blanc or even a good Chablis or German wine can be served with any food. Who is to say what is right and wrong, as long as the particular food and wine pairing provides a pleasant eating experience.

Information On The Wine Bottle

A wine bottle is a bottle which is used to hold wine like Rose Wines, and which is generally made out of glass. Some wine bottles are also used during the wine fermentation process as advised in the Wine Making Recipes, although for the most part the wine is only put into a wine bottle after the entire wine making process is complete.

Wine bottles are available in a large variety of sizes and styles, and they are typically sealed with a cork, although screw-top caps have become especially popular recently. When you purchase wine from a store you will just get it in whatever wine bottle it is offered to you in, however if you bottle your own wine, then you are able to choose whatever sort of bottle you like.

Bottling Your own Wine

As long as your wine as been fermented and racked, meaning that it is cleared of sediment, then you are able to put it into a wine bottle and store it. The first step is to choose the actual wine bottle that you are going to use, and then if is new and unused, you just need to rinse it with hot water and dry it.

You want to prepare the corks by soaking them in water for a couple of hours, and then rinsing them off with cool water and letting them stand to dry. You then want to place the bottles below the wine container, insert the notched end of the siphon tube into the container of wine, making sure that the tube is not touching the bottom of the container.

Then you need to suck on the other end of the tube until the wine begins to flow through it, and then insert the tube into the wine bottle. You want to fill the bottle up until it is about

Hosting A Wine Tasting Party

You do not have to be a sommelier in order to know something about Fruit Wines. You can always tout yourself as an expert even though you are trusting your mouth to tell you what actually tastes good to you. Therefore, you can host your very own wine tasting party if you would like to do so. This should not be something that causes you to panic or get uptight. You are suppose to relax, enjoy yourself and have a little fun whenever you are hosting such an event.

How To Host A Wine Tasting Party

If you did not know this before, there is a little secret you should know before you host your party. There are actually wine tasting party kits that you can not only purchase online but also from various local shops. Of course, there is no rule stating that you have to purchase a kit, but if you want to make sure that things go smoothly, there are some things that you are going to need to have on hand for your event.

Of course, any good party is going to need some guests. You should take some time to think about who you know that likes and drinks wine. Make sure that you do not invite a lot of people though as this should be a small, intimate affair.

You are also going to need to purchase a few bottles of Citrus Wine that you think you might enjoy. More than likely you will not need more than 2 bottles of each red and white wine that you purchase. Of course, you can also ask your guests to bring their favorites with them. However, you will need to know what they plan to bring ahead of time so that you can print up cards that tell you what each type of wine is.

It is also a good idea to have some pens or pencils for guests to write with; 2 wine glasses per person; some plain saltine or oyster crackers and plain water for guests to use in order to cleanse their palates; and some nice, soft music. You can also introduce wine charms to people for them to choose from for on their glasses. These are fun things to attach to your glass.

If you would like to throw a twist into things you can serve champagnes instead. If you choose to do this, you should have cava, prosecco, sparkling wine and champagne available for sampling.

Above all else, make sure that you drink responsibly.

Weight Control And White Wine

It is true that there are 80 calories in a glass of the sweeter white wines and the calories are all in the alcohol. For most Chardonnays there are only about sixty calories. The higher the alcohol content of the Rose Wines the more calories the wine has. Typically, the drier the white wine tastes the less calories it has.

However, it is true that most white wine is only a mixture of alcohol, water and flavoring. The grape juice that begins the process is acted on by the yeast added by the winemaker. The sugar and oxygen found in the grape is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Water does not have calories and the amount of calories in the flavoring is small, therefore, it is only the alcohol that contains any calories. If it is calories in white wine that you are counting, then having one glass of wine occasionally is fine, but if you can’t stop with one glass of your favorite white wine then you might want to try cutting back your calories elsewhere. Of course if you prefer red, the flavorings of red wine include antioxidants that are helpful to you. Whether your preference is white wine or red wine both provide a degree of digestive comfort that is hard to duplicate or value.

Selecting Your White Wine

Now that you have made your choice that you prefer white Low Alcohol Wine and you are prepared to monitor your usage as part of your weight control program, you should select a wine that you can afford and is commonly available. There are tons of white wines available in the stores. From the cheapest Chablis and German varietals to the most expensive wines from France and California, there are thousands of bottles of white wine available at any time.

Your choice needs to be based in your palette. Do you prefer sweeter tastes or do you like tastes that are more robust and have perhaps an oak or other wooden taste. There are white wines with both these tastes. In fact, there are today wines available that are mixed with pears, apples and other fruits to provide a variety of tastes for all drinkers. There are even peppery wines that are developed in rather special soils that actually give the grapes a little bite to them.

Of course you should not mix exercise and white wine. This can be disastrous as wine is mostly alcohol and your capabilities are typically diminished after drinking. So if an exercise program is included as parts of your weight control program then you really need to consider only drinking Liqueur Recipes when you do not exercise shortly thereafter.

Information On Box Wine

Box wine is Fruit Wine that is packaged in a bag, which is typically made of aluminum, and which is protected by a box, which is usually made of standard corrugated cardboard. There are many advantages to box wine, such as the fact that it the packaging method itself is arguably superior to other methods.

Therefore not only is the box wine easier and safer to transport around, but as well it preserves the wine better and thus allows it to age to perfection, without any unnecessary oxygen being able to seep in and tamper with the flavor of the wine.

As well there is the fact that box wine is not subject to cork taint or spoilage, even after you have actually opened the wine. There is also a much greater efficiency of storage and in particular an elimination of the risk of breakage incurred by transporting wine in bottles.

Just as there are advantages to the box Citrus Wine however there are disadvantages as well, such as the fact that the bag used in this method is not hermetically sealed, and so because of this it has an unopened shelf life that is much shorter than most other types of wines. The box wines are also labeled by many wine connoisseurs as being ‘cheap’ wines, as they claim that the wine simply does not have the authentically aged taste and depth that other wines do.

Where to buy

If you are interested in purchasing box Fruit Wines, you can generally find at least a remote selection at any wine or liquor store near you, however if you have no luck here then you are going to want to locate a specialty wine store in your localized area. There are also various companies available online that you can order from, and because the box wines are easy to transport, you are really able to order wine from anywhere in the world.

The best idea is to have a selection of both box and bottle wines, so that you can have more of a variety, but you do have to remember that because box wines have a shorter life span they are going to need to be opened and drank before the others. As long as you do not drink these wines after the due date specified then you will be fine.

You also want to remember that your options are much more limited when it comes to the boxed wines, because they are fermented and stored differently than bottled wines and so there is not as much variety to choose from.

Finding A Wine Tour

Going on a making wine tour can be a truly fun, enjoyable and learning experience. There are many locations across the world that offer a wine tour, however you will obviously find more options in a locale which is more prone and popular in the matter of wine growing.

Niagara, for example, is a location where there are plenty of different types of offerings in regards to wine tours. This is because Niagara is not only an area that is rich in tourism, but it is also an area that is prominent in the growing, storing, and preserving of all different sorts of wines, which explains a lot as to the wine tour popularity in this area.

Who Offers a Wine Tour in Niagara?

Grape and Wine Tours is a wine tour company that is located in the Niagara region, and they offer an escape to the wonderful and magnificent Niagara wine country. Here you will be able to discover some of the most incredible wines and stroll through gorgeous grape vineyards. You can even enjoy multi-course meals here, with an entire group of your friends and family, and enjoy the sights of beautiful courtyard settings, bistros with expansive vineyard views, or exceptional award winning winery restaurants.

Some of their most popular liqueurs tours include that of: Afternoon Delight Tour, which includes an extensive winery tour at one winery, and then wine tasting at three other wineries, and you are even allowed to meet the winemaker if one is so available; Lunch Fiesta Tour, which allows you to enjoy private wine tasting at four separate wineries, as you stop and shop at the winery boutiques of your choice.

This particular tour includes several definitive components, which are: a professional tour guide, pick up at your accommodation, a tour of one winery, a three course gourmet lunch inside of a fine dining or winery restaurant, and wine tasting at all four wineries.

There is also the Best Kept Secret Dinner Tour, which involves wine tasting using wine glass at three boutique wineries, an extensive tour of which during you learn about the history of wine and a gourmet three course dinner; or, there is also always the option of choosing the gourmet picnic experience, where you can spend a day traveling through wine country with your significant other, and of which there are numerous different options you can choose from, in order to make the experience personalized, and so that you are ensured that you will have the best and most enjoyable time you possibly can.

Blending Homemade Wine – The Keys To Creating A Truly Unique Wine You Can Call Your Own

The home wine makers may want to blend wines in order to improve the taste of a particular wine. This is different than commercial wineries that blend wines in order to create consistency in the wines that they sell.

To be able to calculate how to properly blend wines, it is recommended that the home winemaker use the Pearson Square because it is a visual math tool that can help determine values when blending wines and it is a tool that anyone can use.

Pearson’s Square:

	Acidity Level	Desired Level	Parts
Wine A	A (1.2)		D (0.4)
Desired Wine (Wine C)		C (0.8)
Wine B	B (0.5)		E (0.3)

Let us look at an example of using this simple application. Let us say that you have two wines, and one has an acid level of 1.2 and the other is 0.5. Let us say further that you want the end acid result to be .8. The top left corner (A) and the bottom left corner (B) represent the acid level of the two wines you are trying to blend. The center number in the square (C) is the desired acid level. The two numbers on the right are numbers that you calculate. Square D (0.4) is the difference between square A (1.2) and square C (0.8); in addition, the square E (0.3) is the difference between square B (0.5) and square C (0.8).

You now have the numbers 0.4 and 0.3. This creates a 4 to 3 ratio of the wines. When you blend these two wines, you will use four parts of the first wine for every three parts of the second wine in order to get an acid level of 0.8. This simple calculation is already taking you down the road of creating the blended wine that you desire.

There are certain rules that should be followed when attempting to blend two wines:

• Blend two wines at a time in small quantities. Make sure you write down the results.
• Filter the wine after you blend.
• Spit don’t swallow when testing.
• Blend two similar wines of the same year.
• Wait a day before blending large quantities and retest your final formula.
• Test with the end product in mind. What is it you want to improve?
• Need some inspiration? Go to your local wine store and see what commercial wineries have blended.

If you follow these simple ways you should be able to make your own wine blend with fantastic results.

Interested In Learning More?

Here are some great resources I have found online that you should consider having a look at:

• Using Pearson’s Square (PDF) (from the North Texas Wine Makers Guild)
• Person’s Square Calculator (Excel Spreadsheet) (from the North Texas Wine Makers Guild)
• Tim Patterson’s Blending Spreadsheet (from WineMaker Magazine)

Scott “The Wine Making Guy”

Summer Wine Pairings

For a lot of people summertime means grilling. However, just because you are grilling does not mean that you have to forgo some great wine. This is especially important since grapes are able to trigger almost all 150 of our flavor sensations.

Matching Summer Wine With The Food You Grill

It is an art to be able to match Fruit Wine with food. Thankfully there are some reliable guidelines that you can use to make things go better for you. For instance if you have strong tasting, hard chewing foods, you will want to have a full bodied wine such as Malvasia or California Chardonnay. On the other hand you will want a sweet wine for a sweet desert. Fatty foods go well with Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs and most sparkling wine. Protein-rich dishes go well with Cabernets and Syrah.

In the summer we tend to grill some special foods though and special foods require special summer wine.

For instance if you are making shrimp skewers you will want to serve Pinot Grigio, which is light, crisp and fruity. This summer wine has mild flavors of citrus and peaches.

If you are making chicken you will want to use Shiraz because it is soft, rich and has red berry flavors that go well regardless of how you spice your chicken. On the other hand, if you are grilling turkey breast you should serve Chardonnay to really bring out the grilling flavors.

Barbecued ribs are also great in the summertime. The best summer wine to serve here is Syrah because it is rich and spicy due to it having been made with black plums.

For grilled pork chops you will want to serve Riesling. This is a soft and lightly sweet Citrus Wine that has golden apple and peach flavors with just a hint of citrus.

New York strip steaks are very popular on the grill in the summer. A nice summer wine to go with these steaks is Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a black cherry fruit wine.

If you are going to cook salmon, then you should serve a fruity summer wine. Some good choices would be Grenache, Mourvdre, Syrah or Zinfandel.

For those of you who want to get really fancy and grill up some peaches, pears, pineapples or bananas brushed with oil and then caramelization on your grill, you will be serving up a very memorable treat of Liqueurs.

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