Making Wine
Your First Wine Gallon! Part II
This is Part II of a four part series:
Part I, Part III, Part IV
Does the thought of understanding those wine chemicals, wine additives, wine proteins, and wine bacteria scare you just a bit? Not to worry, as it is not that bad. The good news here is that the additives used in winemaking are completely safe and there to enhance and extend the life of the wine. Technically, you could make wine without any additives or chemicals. But without them, the quality of the wine would suffer. So let's now review the key chemicals and additives used in home based winemaking, each of which can be purchased from winemaking stores.
- Wine Acids
- Campden Tablets
- Grape Tannin
- Pectin Enzyme
- Potassium Metabisulphite
- Potassium Sorbate
- Sulfite Solution
- Wine Yeast
- Yeast Nutrient
Wine Acids
There are three core acids involved with winemaking: tartaric, malic, and citric. If your recipe calls for these, you can buy each individually or get an acid blend, which combines the three for you. The amount to use will depend on the type of fruit and the sweetness of the juice. A pH checking tool can be used to test the acidity. These acids help add balance, character, and sharpness to wine.
Wine Campden Tablets
These are tablets used in wine as a stable source of sulfites (SO², sulfur dioxide). It is a very common sterilizing and antioxidant agent used to kill unwanted bacteria existing in the wine. They help insure the juice is free of anything that could cause bad flavors or ruin the wine.
Wine Grape Tannin
Tannins are a family of natural organic compounds that are found in grape skins, seeds, and stems. They are an excellent antioxidant and natural preservative; also helping give the wine structure and texture. Tannins provide an important flavor dimension in wine.
Pectin Enzyme
Used to break down the fruit's cellular structure and aids in clarifying. Pectin is found in the cellular walls of fruit, and by helping to destruct the cellular walls; more juice is extracted from the fruit. Further, you need it so you do not end up with cloudy or syrupy wine.
Potassium Metabisulphite
This is the technical term for a source of sulfur dioxide in winemaking. Sulfites work by releasing sulfur dioxide that fights off yeast, mold, and bacteria. Not only does it kill these problems, but it also blocks the surviving organism's ability to reproduce. Without it, you would have sanitation and spoilage problems.
Potassium Sorbate
This is the key element that inhibits re-fermentation, and is added before bottling. Understand that sorbate does not kill the yeast; it merely inhibits renewed yeast activity under the correct conditions, thus preventing any additional carbon dioxide gas from being generated.
Sulfite Solution
You will use this solution (Sodium Metabisulphite) to sanitize all of your hardware and anything that is exposed to the wine. Just as there are weeds in your plant beds, there are weeds on in your kitchen. There are microorganisms on the products we use, and can cause a poor flavor or ruin the wine. To prevent these intruders, cleanliness is the only answer. Check the directions on the product, but generally, you add an ounce to a gallon of water. Use it and be thorough.
Wine Yeast
The yeast is a single-celled microscopic fungus, which converts sugar to carbon dioxide and ethanol (CO2 and C2H5OH). Different yeast strains have different fermentation and flavor properties. Do not skip this ingredient!
Wine Yeast Nutrient
This provides all the vitamins and minerals for which yeast needs to grow. It promotes rapid starting and complete fermentation.
Next is Part III, which reviews the various "Hardware and Equipment" products used during the process.
Contributor: WineDefinitions Staff Writer