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Issue #3, 2004

Mist Wine Kit Sales Continue to Grow
by Bill Reddy

Welcome to another issue of "Clickabrew News". This is the time of year that wine and beer makers start stocking up for those long hot summer days ahead. Maybe this season you would like to try something different.

Although traditional wine kits continue to be staples of our hobby, mist wine kits are the fastest growing segment. Mist wines combine varietal table wines with the luscious flavors of natural fruit. The result is a delicious fruit drink that is sure to please everyone. This semisweet beverage will be a hit at any party. Serve chilled in a wine glass or splash it in a tall glass with plenty of ice.

Island Mist kits are now available at our Clickabrew online store. You now have a choice of either Orchard Breezin' or Island Mist — the two leading brands of mist wine kits. Please visit our Clickabrew website now to view all of our Mist Fruit Wine Kits and to take advantage of our featured pricing.

Bill has been an avid wine and beer maker for over 30 years. He is an owner of Brewery Lane and edits the Brewery Lane Brew News. He can be reached at billr@brewerylane.com

New Sale and Clearance Center

Visit our new Clickabrew Sale and Clearance Canter. Check out our Feature of the Month Wine Kits with special pricing. You'll also from time to time find great deals on discontinued and clearance items. This month we are featuring Vintners Reserve French Cabernet Sauvignon and Piesporter plus a selection of Orchard Breezin' and Island Mist wine kits.

You Asked Us

My wine smells like rotten eggs! What happened?

What you are smelling is hydrogen sulfide gas. This is a natural byproduct of fermentation. Some yeast strains are notorious for generating excessive hydrogen sulfide gas. Most good quality wine kits use yeast strains that produce very small amounts of this offensive gas. If you use one of these better kits you should not have a problem. If a “rotten egg” smell is detected, it may often be eliminated by early racking and aerating of the wine while the fermentation is still in progress.

Chardonnay or Pinot Chardonnay?
by Angela Reddy

What is the difference? The Pinot Chardonnay grape is one of the best from the White Burgundy region in France. When you buy a California varietal wine it is referred to as simply Chardonnay. The difference in a Chardonnay and a Pinot Chardonnay occurs from the origin of the grapes. No matter if the Chardonnay grapes are French or Californian they produce a superb dry white wine.

Pinot Chardonnay is a varietal wine. A term which is used to distinguish premium grade wines from those of a lesser quality. The Pinot Chardonnay grape is cultivated on the vitis vinifera, a species of vine from which nearly all excellent wine grapes are grown. The vitis vinifera is cultivated extensively in Europe, South America and California.

The Pinot Chardonnay grape gives a firm, full-bodied and strong wine. Its scent and character are known to be luscious without being sweet and a crisp green apple bouquet predominates. Pinot Chardonnay is a wine which ages well. Oaking also helps it considerably by bringing about the natural vanilla aroma it displays.

Chardonnay or Pinot Chardonnay pairs well with poultry, veal, pork and rabbit. It is also the perfect accompaniment to pasta dishes featuring cream, butter or mushrooms. Chardonnay is a wine that will delight the sophisticated palate with its deep and complicated characteristics.

Common Wine Kit Questions

Look, I really don’t want to add all those chemicals and stuff. Is that okay?

Most of the additives in the kit are actually things like fruit acids and fining agents. The fruit acids are the same ones you’ll find in an apple or a bunch of grapes. The fining agents are gelatin, Kieselsol (essentially beach sand finely pulverized and dissolved in water) and bentonite (a type of clay found in places like Wyoming). The only “chemicals” in the kit are potassium metabisulphite and potassium sorbate. Both of these are government-controlled food additives with extremely long histories of use. Sulphites are produced naturally during fermentation, and the sorbate is derived from the berries of the mountain ash tree.

Should I sprinkle my yeast on or rehydrate it?

Laboratory tests done by Spagnol’s showed that the difference in the finished wines that used sprinkling rather than rehydrating was almost nil. However, if you don’t rehydrate exactly right, you can keep the yeast from working quickly, or even from working at all. Even being a degree or two off in your calculations, or having 10% too much water, can hurt it. You can see why we recommend just sprinkling.

I added my yeast yesterday and I don’t think my wine has started fermenting yet.

Sometimes fermentation takes longer to start than at other times. Allow about 48 hours for signs of visible fermentation to take place. If it looks as though nothing is going on after that time, take a hydrometer reading and compare it to the reading you took when you started the kit. (If you don’t have a hydrometer, you should get one right away. It’s the best tool you have for trouble shooting your wine kit. The current hydrometer reading is also the first thing we’ll ask for if you call us for advice.) In 48 hours your reading should have dropped by at least 5 points (for example, from 1.075 to 1.070). If it hasn’t, get another package of wine yeast and sprinkle it on top of the wine. That should do the trick.

I’m on day 6 but my specific gravity is higher than it should be. Can I put it into the secondary anyway?

No, you’re going to have to wait a little longer. Regular wine kits should be below 1.020 and fruit wine kits below 1.040. If they’re not, wait an extra day and take another reading. When it drops low enough, proceed with the instructions, counting that day as day 6 even if it took an extra day or two. Depending on many factors, like temperature, yeast vigour, etc., some kits can ferment quite slowly. Be patient, and things will turn out fine.

My wine isn’t clear, and I even waited the extra week like the instructions said. What do I do now?

Don’t bottle the wine. It’s not going to clear up in the bottle. Have a careful look at it. If it isn’t completely opaque, you can probably use a filter to remove the haze. If you don’t have a filter, rack the wine to a sanitized carboy and add more fining agents. Wait another week to 10 days for it to clear, and that should do it.

How critical is the temperature of the room where I make my wine?

Well, there is a little leeway, but if you go too far one way or another your yeast will rebel. If the fermentation room is too cool, the fermentation will go very slowly, and may stop altogether. If it’s too hot, the yeast will go slightly mad, and produce some strangely flavoured compounds. Try your best to keep it just right.

Reprinted courtesy of RJ Spagnols.

Last Month:

Last month our feature article was "Sulpnites and Your Wine". We also told you about Winexpert's astonishing success at the Winemaker Amateur winemaking contest. We had a great tip on sanitizing with Iodophor and talked about cloudy beer. If you missed these or other interesting articles you can view our back issues at http://www.clickabrew.com/newsletters.html.