With wedding season just around the corner and summer only a few months away, entertaining friends and family is something we're looking forward to after a long winter. Sharing a great bottle of wine is a great way to celebrate any occasion - or make a wonderful meal even better - but, having a cellar of wine at your fingertips was once an expensive investment. That's changed with the option of on-premise winemaking and winemaking has come a long way!
On-premise winemaking has become very popular. You can always have a great bottle of wine on-hand for a fraction of the cost as each kit produces approximately 30 bottles of wine in as little as four weeks.
Not too hot, not too cold.
shrink caps. All the necessary equipment and assistance for you to accomplish this with ease is provided. If you are looking for a more hands-on experience you can also make your own wine at home. You don’t need a lot of space and most kits include easy-to-follow instructions.
Store your wine in a spot with a consistent cooler temperature, around 12-15 C, to allow for steady aging and prevent oxidation or premature aging. If you store wine in your basement, keep it off the cement floor. Also, never store wine on a heated floor.
So, how does this work and what can you expect from the experience?
The process of making wine on-premise starts with choosing the type of wine you want to make and what quality of wine kit you want to use. The wine options are varied with the kits, there is something for every taste or occasion. Most of the wines have a dry finish, but you can adjust the levels to your taste and there are sweetness indicators next to the wine names. The alcohol level in most wines ranges from 11 per cent to 14.5 per cent. There are so many options to choose from in addition to the many reds, whites and roses including specialty wines like dessert wines, ice wine styles, and uniquely- flavoured varieties such as chocolate orange, cucumber melon and strawberry watermelon. You can also choose a premium kit offering exceptional wines from some of the world's most renowned winegrowing regions. The LCB requires that you, the customer, own the ingredients and begin by sprinkling the yeast on the juice to begin fermentation. We assist you at all times to whatever extent required. After the batch is started you have no further obligations until the wine is ready to be bottled. When you arrive for your bottling appointment you need to sanitize your bottles, fill and cork them and finish by applying labels and
Clean your wine bottles as soon as you can.
About four to six weeks later, you’ll have about 28-30 bottles.
For special occasions you can use a customized label - what a wonderful idea for weddings, anniversaries or any significant date. Winemaking is easy and fun, but we've all made mistakes! We've gathered a few winemaking tips we've learned over the years for you when aging your wine.
Rinsing out your wine bottles as you finish them and soaking for a few minutes to remove the label will make things easier when it's time for a new batch. If possible, store your empty bottles upside down - it keeps out the dust and bugs.
Sulphite is your friend.
Sulphite solution is handy to spray on your equipment after sanitizing at home. This inhibits bacteria growth while storing your equipment. You can also use the sulphite solution in your airlock to help repel fruit flies. Chris Howard is the owner of White Oak Cellars in Summerside. White Oak Cellars offers brew-on-premise services as well as retail wine and beer kits and all the equipment needed to brew at home!
Keep the cork moist.
For the first three to five days, store your wine upright. Then after those first few days, store your wine on its side to keep the cork damp. Try to maintain a relative humidity of 50-70 per cent in the room to prevent the cork from drying out or becoming too wet and encouraging mold.
Store in a dark place.
There is a chemical reaction that takes place when the wine has constant exposure to light that causes the wine to deteriorate. White wines and champagnes are the most susceptible to this reaction.
White Oak Cellars 105 Walker Ave Summerside info@whiteoakcellars.com 902.888.2340 www.whiteoakcellars.com
WINTER 2019 www.pei-living.ca
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