Summer Drinks #1 - Wine

I'm a little late this year.  I've been so occupied elsewhere that my fermenters are all empty.  Every single one of them.  So on July 1st I finally decided to get back to work. 

Being in the summer drinking season I decided that I needed to start a few batches that would not only be light and refreshing but would also be ready to drink with a minimum of aging.

Let's talk wine first.  Once a year my beautiful wife asks really nicely for a cheap fruit flavoured wine.  I always end up breaking down and make her one.  Her favourite is the Niagara Mist Raspberry Merlot kit by Vineco.

I've made this kit a few times now and it always turns out well.  My local supplier sells these kits for $52.00 and the corks, labels, and seals usually add only about another $10.  So by the time I'm done we're looking at around $2.00 per bottle.

I follow the directions fairly closely for these kits.  The flavour packs don't allow for much tinkering so I concentrate on the clarity and crispness.  I want it as clear as possible without any leftover syrupy feel that you sometimes get from the flavour packs.

After sterilizing everything I added about 1/2 of the juice concentrate to my primary.  I like to add about half then start to mix in the water.  I find that I get the concentrate to combine better this way since I am not trying to move all that heavy concentrate off the bottom.  Once it has been combined I add the bentonite.  Please don't just sprinkle it on top make a slurry and pour it in it just makes it so much more effective.  Now I add the rest of the concentrate and top up to 23L.  Mix really, really well and take my initial reading. 

Take the reading people. I listened to some "experienced" home winemakers and they talked me into assuming that if I followed the instructions it was a waste of time to take the readings since "they always end up right".  Without those readings you don't have a starting point or any reference as to where you are in the process.  There is a reason why the instructions give an estimated reading. Take the readings and become familiar with what they mean.

For this wine in particular I had a reading of 1.085.  I have found that this is about right for the balance later on so I didn't add any sugars to it. 

Now we wait until I see most of the bubbling stop and take another reading to make sure we are in the right range.