WINE
Christ’s first Miracle
John 2:7-9 “Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.”; so they filled them to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
How I got started
Grape stomping party
The process from grape to table
It all started when a customer and friend of mine for 20 years asked my Dad and I if we wanted a beer. I don’t normally drink on the job but it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the last job, the temperature was 95 and we were thirsty. It was delicious. She said a friend of hers Alex, made it and he makes wine too. I was interested. She gave me his phone number and when I called him I said I was a friend of Carol. His comment immediately was “Any friend of Carol is a friend of mine”. We met and became instant friends and have been for years now.
He offered to let me borrow his equipment and in 2001 I made wine. I had no idea what I was doing. Everybody I spoke to had a little different technique on how to make wine. So I decided to read. I read about the chemistry and find out, wine and pool water have similar characteristics that show a relationship. For instance: The amount and effectiveness of chlorine used to sanitize a pool, is directly related to the Ph of the water. The amount of sulfites needed to preserve the wine, is directly related to the Ph of it too. Total acids too. To little acid and you have flabby unstable wine. Too much tastes astringent. Every year I have learned to balance my wine with minimum sulfites and chemicals. Interesting. I still have a few bottles left from the 2001vintage and I must admit it’s very good today.
Wine has been around forever. It’s first mentioned in the Bible in the 9th chapter of Genesis. It’s mentioned another 300 times literally and symbolically. It was Jesus Christ’s first miracle.
Wine has been around for thousands of years. Probably most of our ancestors have made it and drank it. Did you know that “A little wine is good for you” comes directly from the Bible? 1 Timothy 5:23 - Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. The key word here is “little”. We all know drinking any type of alcohol to excess, is NOT good for you. But, a little is what the Bible talks about. In the bible both symbolically and literally.
Now, this hobby of mine has turned into an annual grape stomping event shared by family and friends. We work at this picnic style event with enjoyable results. Everybody especially likes to step on the grapes because before they enter the grape pool, I wash everybody’s feet. When it comes to the “I Love Lucy” scene of grape stomping, we do it the same way. Fourteen cases of Merlot grapes never felt so good between your toes. See the pictures below.
2001
Vintage:
Thompson Seedless, Alicante, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Zinfandel, Merlot
2002
Vintage:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chablis, Muscat, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Petite
Syrah, Alicante, Red Blend, Merlot. Also made dessert wine, flavored red wine
with oak, and made several types of champagnes.
2003
Vintage:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, Alicante, Red Blend,
Cab Sauvignon & Red Blend, Merlot. Oak aged Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Red blend, Cabernet Sauvignon & Red Blend in Feb of 2005.
2004
Vintage:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Alicante, Oak aged
2005
Vintage:
Projected wines: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and a few others
This is the simplified version. Purchase or pick the grapes. Whites get crushed and pressed the same day. Reds get crushed and put into the fermenting barrels with any juice. The juice in the fermenting barrels is ready to test for sugar, acid, specific gravity, which converts to potential alcohol. The additions of balancing products are added and a chemical that kills all wild yeasts is added and it sits for 24 hours. Then the yeast is added to a special starter mix and gets added to the fermenting barrels. When the bubbling starts, the yeast is eating the sugar and the bi-products given off are carbon dioxide and alcohol. The cap of grape skins needs to be pushed down into the liquid below 2 or 3 times daily to give the juice color and adds flavor, tannins and character to the wine. It takes approximately 1 week to 2 weeks to turn from grape juice into wine. After its wine we drain off the liquid and put it into a large glass tear shaped vessel called demi johns. Wine drained off is called free run wine. We then press out the remaining grapes and skins and get a bit more wine. The wine then sits for about a month, settles and the process repeated for the next 4 months leaving sediment and dead yeast at the bottom of the jars. That process is called racking. When all the sediment is gone, we age it and bottle it into 750ml wine bottles. It’s that simple.
Here is how it works. I give you the bottle filled with wine for free. You pay for a customized bottle label.
One Example: We took photos of a newly married couple at the church. We printed out 6 labels, put them on the wine bottles, and placed the bottles at the head table. What a surprise and gift of a lifetime. Very Cool.
And photo can be scanned or we accept digital photos. Birth Announcements, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, Graduations, Parties, sunsets, vacation memories, any special memories and Special events. Maybe even just for fun or as a joke. Then we can put on any text.
We offer labels:
750 milliliter bottles $30
1500 milliliter bottles $40
Custom Labels:
Call and ask for Larry if you have any
questions.
203.994.1662
