Category: Merlot Wine

Wine Making Recipe For Homemade Wines

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The equation to a successful home made wine is fifty percent strictly following the instructions and fifty percent involving a good wine making recipe. If you do not have one, and even if you follow the instructions down to the letter, chances are you end up with home made vinegar rather than wine. Among the most basic recipes around involve only five ingredients which are grapes, granulated sugar, Campden tablets, pectic enzyme and wine yeast.  

Grapes  

Have at least eight to ten gallons of grapes. Buy those really sweet varieties and seedless types for an easier process. Crush the grapes in batches to produce a consistent grape must. Place the must in really clean buckets or similar containers leaving at least a fourth of the container empty.  

Squeeze some of the must with cheesecloth to produce a cup of juice. With a hydrometer, the juice should have a specific gravity reading of less than 1.090. Properly covered, set aside the juice.  

Campden tablets  

With a cup of warm water, completely dissolve five Campden tablets. Stir the solution into the must with a wooden spoon. The tablets will be used to kill any present bacteria and prevent the must from getting contaminated in the future. Leave the bucket covered with cloth and wait for at least twelve hours before mixing in the next ingredient.  

Pectic enzyme  

Add four teaspoons of pectic enzyme to the must. Cover again and set aside for another twelve hours.

Wine yeast  

While waiting for the twelve hour period from adding the pectic enzyme, mix at least five milligrams of wine yeast to the juice earlier set aside. After the second twelve hours, mix in the yeast juice with the must. Stir the whole mixture two to three times a day keeping it covered in between. As with any wine making recipe, the fermentation process is the most crucial.  

Granulated sugar  

When the fermentation process is done, add sugar to taste and to reach a specific gravity reading of 1.090 after removing the non-wine particles and substances present.  

This wine making recipe allows you to switch the grapes to any fruit you wish to make your wine with and experiment with the amount of sugar to come up with the sweetness your wine would have.  

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Wine Storage

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Any oenophile, popularly known as a wine connoisseur, would tell you that one doesn’t really need to be a specialist in wines or even a wine-maker who has a basement wine storage cellar in order to appreciate fine wine. However, the truth remains that proper wine storage does have the ability to enhance the taste of the wine.

We all know that wines are perishable because of insufficient alcohol content. Certain wines are recommended to be aged so that they are able to achieve peak quality. However, most of us are unaware that wine storage has a great influence on how well the wine will age. The science behind aging the wines can go a long way in establishing the importance of proper wine storage. So, let’s take a look at what makes a fine wine storage that can lead to real fine wines!

One can’t really expect to store and age the wines by stashing them in the basement or stuffing them in a refrigerator and then hope for the best. Wine storage units have controlled environments specially created and maintained such that the wines age naturally and optimally. Good wine storage maintains the best combination of humidity, temperature and light so as to create the ideal conditions for storing wine.

Ideally, wine should be stored at a temperature of around 55’F to ensure proper rate of maturity. Proper humidity is also important to wine storage. A relative humidity of 60% to 70% is considered to be ideal for wine storage. Too high or low humidity in the wine storage environment can spoil the wine. Ultraviolet light can be harmful to wine and as such, good wine storage involves eliminating all natural light.

The above mentioned can be considered the general rules of thumb for proper wine storage. However, you must appreciate that wine storage requirements may have to be adjusted according to the type of wine being stored and its intended use. This is what people find the most difficult thing to do when using their own wine cellars or basements to store their wine.
Regulating the wine storage environment for different types of wine is easy to achieve at a professional wine storage company than in one’s cellar or basement. Most self-storage companies offer professional wine storage facilities that can take real good care of your precious wine. So, go ahead and chalk out the plans for your wine storage requirements.

Wine Hampers

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This assortment of Wine hampers makes great gifts for the variety of times. Choose the wine hampers as the business gift for clients & employees; we had wine hampers to fit all budgets. & remember the ‘apology’, ‘thank you’, ‘well done’ presents too…say this with style with lone of the hampers.

Hampers Australia – Champagne Baskets & Wine hampers

A Little lavishness has Australia’s main range of Wine hampers through internet & Champagne Gift containers. We offer over seventy five quality wines & champagnes; all of this can be included to any wine hamper. The wines have been cautiously selected from wineries at New Zealand, Australia & France. Most of the Australia’s main wine mounting regions are represented counting: the Capel Vale (Margaret River) in Western Australia; Tatachilla (McLaren Vale), St Hallett & Henschke (the Barossa), Pikes Wines (the Clare Valley), & Tapanappa (Adelaide Hills) in South Australia; Giant Steps & Domaine Chandon (the Yarra Valley) in Victoria; & Brokenwood (the Hunter Valley) north of the Sydney.

We have included a selection as of New Zealand’s Marlborough district (Montana) & France (Joseph Drouhin). more than a few major champagne resides are also represented counting Moet & Chandon, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, Piper Heidsieck & Dom Perignon. Each of the wines can too be purchased on the own or along with a matching put of glasses through the wine gifts

Each of the champagne baskets & wine hampers are done to order & can be delivered earlier to anywhere at the Australia. As with each of wine hampers, they could be easily customized in the net. Each gourmet wine or food item is able for being changed by selecting the alternative item at the drop down catalog in the customization options for each wine hamper.

An outstanding worth Christmas wine hamper along with an attractive Chilean Cabernet Carmen ere nestled beside the perfect mixture of sweet & savory goodies. False Sundried Tomato Biscuits, Whisky Fruit Cake, Dark brown Coated Marzipans, & Sweet Apple Chutney are obtainable in the handmade basket & gift wrapped along with ribbon. Celebrate Christmas along with this wine hamper chock-complete of Xmas treasures. The Rich Fruit Cake, Duck Liver Pate with Chocolate Roasted Almonds, Port, Organic Toffee Biscuits & a medal charming Sauvignon Blanc are amid the goodies grafts in the beautiful lidded basket with faux skin straps. The perfect yuletide present for friends, family, colleagues or staff, this is the ideal way to tell ‘Merry Christmas!’

The classic combination, the Cheese and Port Choice is the real delight for some Port or else Cheese enthusiast. The award-winning Extra grown-up Cheddar is joined through Belgian Chocolate parts, Scottish Oatcakes & Hand Made Olive and Oregano Biscuits. This Ramos Pinto harbor is a rich, slight wine which goes completely with cheese & chocolate. An occupied bodied Chilean crimson is beautifully presented along with the mouth-watering collection of celebratory goodies! The tempting shocks include a Brandy Xmas Pudding, Chocolate Coated Nuts, Gourmet Cinnamon Biscuits & more. Delivered along with the Xmas greeting, the handmade basket & gift wrapped along with ribbon.

Personalised Wine

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We all know someone that likes a tipple, and wine seems to be at the top of the list when it comes to buying them presents. The only problem could be that this particular gift can get a bit boring after a few years, so why not go the extra mile and give them personalised wine instead?

Need to find the perfect gift? Personalised wine could be just the thing

Personalised wine bottles give you the chance to present your loved one with something totally unique. What initially looks like a regular bottle of wine is actually a wine that’s based around them, with the label being tailored to the recipient. It’s the perfect opportunity to mark that special occasion, and once the wine has been drunk in celebration the bottle can be treasured for a lifetime.

How personalised wine bottles work

The whole process is incredibly simple. All you have to do is decide upon a wine before crafting the label to match, and with plenty of designs on offer you’ll be able to find something that perfectly suits the occasion as well as the recipient. You can even include a photograph for something totally original, making personalised wine bottles ideal for a birthday, retirement or indeed any other occasion that deserves a unique gift. Then all you have to do is present your carefully-crafted bottle to the recipient, and just sit back and wait for the appreciation.

But, where can you possibly find such a thing? You can’t find personalised wine just anywhere, and you want to be able to source quality products from a supplier you can trust. That’s why you need to come to us here at Celebrationwines.co.uk.

Let Celebrationwines.co.uk create your ideal personalised wine

We’re a specialist supplier of personalised wine bottles, giving you the chance to present your loved one with a totally unique gift. We have plenty of different wines to choose from to suit all tastes, and with a whole range of label designs we’re sure you’ll find something to appeal.

Just give us the relevant information and we’ll craft a totally unique wine bottle to give them something that can be treasured, and you’re sure to be the highlight of the party. When you come to us for personalised wine bottles you’ll be able to create a truly memorable gift that simply can’t be replicated, so get in touch today and see what we can do.

Wines Of Niagara

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Niagara Wines – there’s an appellation that just doesn’t roll off your tongue. Some wine growing regions are instantly recognizable even to the most casual of wine drinkers…. places like Napa, Bordeaux, Montepulciano… but Niagara?

Why not? Grapes are grown all over the world now… anywhere they can find the right microclimate and the proper grapes to grow there.

The Niagara wine region actually sprawls across the Ontario and New York border making it a two country wine region. There are over sixty wineries in this area, and the number is growing.

The majority of wineries are in Canada. If you want to visit and taste on both sides of the border, remember that you now have to show your passport even when driving across the border between Canada and the United States.

The Niagara Wine Trail represents some of the wineries. It is well organized with maps and special events at the participating wineries.

The wineries in this region will tell you that the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario create a unique microclimate. One of the wines that they are most famous for is Ice Wine…. that makes a certain amount of sense doesn’t it? It gets cold there in the winter. They have a similar latitude to Bordeaux and Montepulciano, but it’s the microclimate that lets them make this liquid gold.

Ice Wine (or Eiswein borrowing from German) is a dessert wine made from grapes frozen while still on the vine. Some late harvest wines just hang on the vine forever increasing the sugar content…. In good years when the frost comes at the right time, they produce small quantities of great Ice Wine.

But Ice Wine isn’t all they make. Expect to taste wines made of all the usual suspects from Rieslings and Chardonnays to Merlots and Pinot Noirs. Plus some local varietals and natives like Catawba and Frontenac, and oh yes, even occasionally from Niagara grapes.

There are tasting fees at most of the wineries… generally between two to five Canadian dollars. If you plan to taste at more than a couple of wineries you might want to consider a “Vino Visa Passport” from the Niagara Wine Trail wineries…. that might save you money. It’s good from one year of purchase. It gets you free tastings at some wineries, discounts at others, and even some discounts at hotels and restaurants.

Whenever you are wine tasting, if you are driving yourself, remember to have a designated driver or taste responsibly.

The beauty of the Niagara Wine Trail is that you’re in the country, but not far from other tourist destinations. Niagara Falls is only minutes away from many of the wineries. You can stay at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a well-preserved town with Victorian architecture that’s worth a visit in its own right. You’re only about an hour and a half from Toronto and half an hour from Buffalo.

So if you’re visiting Toronto or Niagara Falls, treat yourself, and do a little wine tasting…. if you never knew about this wine region before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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