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THE STOMPER
The Monthly Winemaking Newsletter of grapestompers.com
April, 2002 Issue #21
http://www.grapestompers.com 1-800-233-1505
Hours: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern Monday - Friday
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Welcome to the latest issue of "THE STOMPER", a newsletter
of winemaking hints and other wine-related articles.
You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a
subscription and have an interest in home winemaking.
Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter.
Feel free to pass along this newsletter to your winemaking
friends; we only ask that it be sent in its entirety.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Feature Article - Wine Kit Descriptions Now Online
=> New Products
=> Bonnie's Bin - Bonnie in Wonderland
=> This Month's Specials
=> Tom's Cellar - Which Wine Should I Get?
=> Feedback from Our Customers
=> Customer Service Update: Just Call Us!
=> Guest Column - Who's Next?
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Weathering The Storm - Corks Fly in Laurel Springs
=> Corky's Winemaking Definition
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
*^* Hot Tips are sprinkled throughout the newsletter
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FEATURE ARTICLE: Descriptions of Wine Kits Now Online
By Brant Burgiss, Editor
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Every now and again, a customer will call or write, asking
for a description of the wide array of wine kits we stock.
Which ones have oak? What about elderberries?
Can you describe the body of this wine? Is it light,
medium, or full?
How sweet is this wine? Can I sweeten it further?
The answers to all of these questions may be found in our
latest web page:
http://www.grapestompers.com/wine_kit_descriptions.asp
This page also provides a nice description of the wine,
which usually includes information about taste and aroma.
We hope you'll enjoy this new page on our web site... and
will refer to it again and again whenever you have the
occasion to place your next order.
Here's to you... and Happy Winemaking!
You can write to Brant at webmaster@grapestompers.com
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NEW PRODUCTS
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Here is a list of products recently added to our catalog:
- Item #3140 Cellar Classic Bergamais Wine Kit $77.00
- Item #2117 500 ml Olive Bottles, 12 to a case, $5.50
- Item #3238 Pinot Grigio (Italian Style) $73.33
Bolero Full Strength Sterile Must - 23 liters
Balanced for acidity, sugar, and pH.
Comes in its own bucket, ready to ferment!
Made by the vintners at RJ Spagnols.
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BONNIE'S BIN: Bonnie in Wonderland (apologies to Alice)
By Bonnie Brown, Manager
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Editor's Note: Bonnie and her husband Don recently returned
from the annual Wineries Unlimited winemaking show in
Lancaster, PA and reports they had a ball. She mentioned
something about "feeling like Alice in Wonderland"!
I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date, THE STOMPER!
Sorry for the delay, but my husband and I took a very
important trip to Florida recently and now I am more
behind than ever. Ain't life great?! Others must be behind
too, because I have not received any little "reminder"
e-mails from Brant.
I have a Traditional Ice Wine going. Can't wait until it
is done. In fact, I couldn't wait. I have already sampled
it and the flavor is excellent! Now if it does nothing but
get better I will have several wonderful bottles for
Christmas baskets!
Now that the weather is getting nicer, don't forget to get
the wine out when you do your grilling. What rich flavor
it adds to the meats. Also add some wine to your salad
dressings. Did you know that full wine glasses hold down
the table cloth? But you had better not rely on them; if
your wines are great, they won't be full for long!
Enjoy your spring. See you again in May.
Save the water... Drink Wine!
Bonnie
May wisdom be with our leaders today...
May we all help to raise wise leaders for tomorrow...
'Tis a wonderful day in the mountains...
Life is too short... to drink bad wine... so make your own!
You can write to Bonnie at bonnie@grapestompers.com
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THIS MONTH'S SPECIALS
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grapestompers' specials for the month of April 2002 are:
Save over 10% on 6 different Wine Kits
AND
Save over 16% on our Basic Winemaking Equipment Kit
AND
Save over 16% on our popular 1.5" agglomerate corks
AND
Save over $70 on the purchase of a
Complete Winemaking Starter Kit
which includes a RED or WHITE Concentrate
(see wine kit selection below)
Item # Description Reg. Price SPECIAL
3278 CM Raspberry White Zinfandel Kit 45.37 40.77
3282 CM Kiwi Gewurztraminer Wine Kit 38.41 34.55
3280 CM Peach Chardonnay Wine Kit 38.41 34.55
3164 CM Blackberry Merlot Wine Kit 45.37 40.77
3142 VDV Jermillon Wine Kit 51.26 46.11
3227 VDV White Bordailles (Bordeaux) 39.38 35.44
1001 Basic Winemaking Equipment Kit 49.40 39.77
2308 #9 x 1.5" Agglomerate Cork (100) 12.00 9.98
3200 Complete White Wine Starter Kit 246.68 175.00
3100 Complete Red Wine Starter Kit 259.79 185.00
All wine kits shown above will make about 30 - 750 ml
bottles of great wine in as little as 28 days.
Be sure to stock up on these agglomerate corks - they work
great with hand corkers! Please remember... you'll need to
buy at least 100 corks to get the special price.
Here's what you get with the COMPLETE Starter Kit:
If choosing the Complete WHITE Kit, your choice of either:
Fume Blanc, Piesporter, or Chenin Blanc VDV concentrate
If choosing the Complete RED Kit, your choice of either:
Valpolicella, Shiraz, or Cabernet/Merlot VDV concentrate
PLUS ALL THESE GOODIES:
Tom's Winemaking Video Bottle Rinser
Fermenter Bucket with lid Three-Piece Airlock
6-Gallon Glass Carboy Carboy Brush
Bung (stopper) Bottle Filler
Five feet of vinyl tubing B-Brite Sanitizer
Portuguese Hand Corker FermTech AutoSiphon
2 Cases of 750-ml Bottles Long Handled Spoon
Bottle Washer Adapter Brass Bottle Washer
Bottle Drainer, 45 station
AND YOU GET THE FOLLOWING ITEMS FREE ($16.59 value):
- Free Wine Labels (text of your choice)
- Free $5 coupon towards your next concentrate purchase
- Free Corks (30 corks, enough for one batch)
Just think: This complete kit offers EVERYTHING a brand-new
hobbyist would need to begin making his own wine. All you
need to decide is which wine kit you want!
And don't forget... you can always return your winemaking
video and receive a credit for $19.95 on your next
purchase... that's like getting the video for free! All
we ask is that you return it in good condition.
This is the best deal we've ever offered on a complete kit,
so don't miss out... order one for yourself or a friend
today. Ask for RED Complete Kit # 3100 or WHITE Kit # 3200
and be sure to let us know which wine concentrate you want.
NEW! Now you can "personalize" your Complete Kit -
Let's say you don't need or want some of the items that
normally come with the Complete Kit... just give us a call
at 1-800-233-1505 and let us know which items you don't
need, and we will adjust the price of the equipment kit
accordingly. Likewise, if you'd like a different wine kit,
just let us know and we can adjust the price.
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TOM'S CELLAR: Which Wine Should I Get?
by Tom Burgiss, Owner
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Which Wine?
The question often arises here at grapestompers...
"White Wine or Red Wine... which should I get?" the
customers ask.
I will pass along for your information the following from
our sales here at grapestompers.com:
a. We sell more red wines than white wines.
b. The #1 selling red wine for us is Cabernet/Merlot
c. Our #2 selling red wine is Merlot
d. The #3 selling red wine is Valpolicella
The number one white wine seller is White Zinfandel,
then in second place comes Riesling, followed by Pinot Gris
(a newcomer this year).
In our Wine Coolers, our best seller is Peach/Chardonnay,
followed by Blackberry/Merlot, and finally Raspberry/White
Zinfandel.
Of all of our wines, White Zinfandel is our overall best
selling wine. This is the second year in a row that White
Zin has led the sales race. For the record, the #2 overall
selling wine for us is Cabernet/Merlot.
*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*
When putting wine labels on your bottles
of wine, start by placing the middle of
the sticky label against the bottle, and
work your way towards the ends of the label.
It's easier to see and correct alignment
problems, and there's less chance of air
bubbles forming underneath the label.
Have a tip you'd like to submit?
Send it to tips@grapestompers.com
*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*
If you look historically nationwide, you will run across
this scenario -
Long ago, red wines were the most popular - then white
wines ran along even, finally overtaking the red wines.
Now the two types are about even again. I find that more
doctors are recommending red wines - and actually we have
many physicians purchasing wine kits from us, so they are
certainly "practicing what they preach"!
Sweet wines sales are going down as many customers are
switching over to drier wines as their palate matures.
It reminds me of more folks drinking 2% or skimmed milk
instead of whole milk. Once you get used to a drinking
the healthier skimmed milk, it is hard to go back to whole
milk again because it taste like cream!
Well, the same seems true for wines; once you acquire the
taste of a drier wine, it is difficult to revert back to a
sweet wine! So this is what makes the world go around -
different folks like different flavors and we hope we can
continue to supply your needs here at grapestompers.com
with the wine you are looking forward to bottle.
You can write to Tom at tom@grapestompers.com
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FROM OUR CUSTOMERS
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As you might imagine, our office receives quite a bit of
correspondence - mostly through e-mail - here are some
comments we've recently received:
Tom,
Thanks for the update. The order arrived tonight. I'll be
getting to it in a couple of days.
All my friends and neighbors are looking forward to trying
this "new" wine. New for us, I've got them curious to try
each new batch I make up. Seems like the more times I make
up a new batch, there's less for me to enjoy. But it all
works out in the end; I like seeing my friends enjoying
the wine as much as I enjoy making it.
Besides, this way I can say I am enriching their experience
and introducing them to new tastes. Maybe I can even talk
them into purchasing their own from you too.
You know to show them how much joy they can experience by
sharing their wine with me!!!!
Thanks for your effort,
-- John Barilone
Augusta, GA
Dear Tom and Bonnie,
Thank you! I really appreciate your genuine interest in
satisfying your customers. I hope, no matter how big your
business grows, you'll keep this philosophy.
-- Marie Eldred
Cambridge Springs, PA
Dear Tom,
Thank you so much for your offer [to provide instructions
about a new floor corker], but Bonnie already e-mailed me
with instructions, which were very helpful and highly
successful.
I used the corker this weekend and it made the whole
process a lot of fun! I had been using a hand corker with
limited success, so I was very pleased with my new "toy".
I really appreciate your professionalism and helpfulness
and I look forward to doing much more business with you
in the future.
Sincerely,
-- Sheryl Meilner
North Liberty, IN
Tom,
A web site should be a resource of information, not a bunch
of crap about something I don't care about. Yours is easy
to navigate and if I am looking for something specific, I
can find it... good job...
-- Brandon Lowery
Huntersville, NC
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CUSTOMER SERVICE: Just Call Us!
by Tom Burgiss, Owner
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The telephone rings frequently here at grapestompers.com,
with folks asking all kinds of winemaking questions. Often
you may experience a busy signal or a ringing phone that
reverts over to our voice mail system. We apologize for
this, but we DO want to speak with you. If you should
reach our voice mail, please leave a detailed message so
we can call you back. We could install more phones, since
either Bonnie, Brant or myself always like to give the
advice on a one-to-one basis. We appreciate your patience
when you cannot reach us at your first attempt.
We do not, at anytime, want you to guess what to do if
you are stuck with a winemaking problem; so please don't
hesitate to call before taking action. We will help take
the guesswork out for you. Our winemaking video (VHS or
DVD) does a good job of covering the basics of making wine
from a concentrate and by observing it, 95% of your
questions can be answered.
If you are unsuccessful at reaching us "live" on your first
attempt, you can help us keep costs down by returning a
call to us yourself. By calling our 800 number, you get a
free call and we get a better rate when compared to us
returning a call via standard long distance. Our 800
number gives us a block of minutes by the month, saving
expense to our overhead - which helps us to continue
offering lower prices on the web. Thanks!
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GUEST COLUMN - Who's Next?
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Sorry, but there is no guest column this month. We had a
couple of nibbles out there, but were unable to "land the
big one" this month.
Any volunteer contributors out there? We'll give you full
credit for your home winemaking article, as well as a link
to your web site or e-mail address. You'll even get a
discount on your next purchase, as well as our thanks.
Read on to find out how to be our next guest columnist...
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How To Be A Guest Columnist For STOMPERS Newsletter
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If you'd like to be our next guest columnist, simply
send your three- or four-paragraph article to
articles@grapestompers.com. If your article is selected
for use in a future STOMPER newsletter, you'll receive
the attention of thousands, a coupon good for a discount
on your next grapestompers.com order, as well as our
heartfelt thanks. So what are you waiting for??
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WEATHERING THE STORM - Corks Fly in Laurel Springs, NC
By Tom Burgiss, Owner
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Just yesterday we had a mystery here in our Bodega!
Brant and I were both out in the warehouse checking in a
truckload of supplies, and upon re-entering the Bodega we
saw this red wine all over the place. Seeking out the
source we found it!
A customer of ours (as so many do) had brought in a bottle
of his homemade muscadine wine for us to admire. Placing
it in our clay tile rack to get some more age, we had not
checked it recently. It turns out that the wine was still
working... and had gathered up enough "steam" to blow out
the cork! It took us a while to find the cork... it had
flown across the Bodega and landed inside of an open box.
In the meantime, that red wine was everywhere. Believe me,
I mean EVERYWHERE!!
So this brings to mind a couple of items not to overlook
when you bottle your homemade wine from your fruits or
backyard grapes:
1. Wine should not be bottled in temperature under 59
degrees F (the coolness will mask the fact that the
wine could still be working and when it warms up,
fermentation will start again).
2. The "fill heights" should allow plenty of headspace
between your wine and the cork, thereby eliminating the
small "ups and downs" of temperature variance in your
storage area. We recommend a headspace of around 3/4"
to one inch.
Corks are very important part of the equation, and if you
read our newsletter each month, I touch on this subject
often. The reason is simple - Good natural corks are
virtually impossible to find and if you do get your hands
on them, the cost is almost unbelievable.
We get samples in from several cork companies, test them,
and not once have we found a company with a consistently
good quality of natural corks. Plastic closures (never use
the word "cork" for this group) are becoming more popular
with wineries only because they, too, have difficulty in
finding a good consistent cork. And now, many are talking
of screw caps. Believe me, no winery wants to go this
route, but because of the demand on the cork industry, all
may someday have to resort to this!
Our best cork is the grapestomper corks # 2320 and # 2322.
It is a molded cork that has good consistency. It is a
tough cork and requires a lot of strength to put in the
bottle with a hand corker. We basically recommend this
to be used with a floor corker. For those of you who have
hand corkers, we recommend corks #2308 and #2310.
To show you our interest, the next time you order from us,
just request a sample of corks under the "comments" section
of your order. Then you can see the corks for yourself!
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CORKY'S WINEMAKING DEFINITION
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Chaptalize
- The process of adding sugar to grape juice that does not
naturally possess enough sugar (brix) to make good wine.
Look for other wine-related definitions by clicking on
the 'Glossary' button from our home page at
http://www.grapestompers.com
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NEXT MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS
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- More Winemaking Stories from Tom's Cellar
- Another Surprise from Brant
- More Specials
- The next article from Bonnie's Bin
- More Customer Testimonials
- New Winemaking Products
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LIST MAINTENANCE
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http://www.grapestompers.com/newsletter/archives
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Copyright (c) 2002 grapestompers.com
Boring Legal Stuff: Content is gathered from sources
considered to be reliable, but the accuracy of this info
cannot be guaranteed. Opinions expressed by guest
columnists and customer letters are those of the authors
and not necessarily those of grapestompers.com
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