------------------------------------------------------------ THE STOMPER The Monthly Winemaking Newsletter of grapestompers.com September, 2002 Issue #26 http://www.grapestompers.com 1-800-233-1505 Hours: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern Monday - Friday ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 it. Instructions to cancel 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. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => Feature Article - How to Fix "Rotten Egg" Smell => New Products => Bonnie's Bin - Start Your Own Tasting Group => This Month's Specials => Tom's Cellar - grapestompers 5th Annual Wine Tasting => Feedback from Our Customers => Guest Column - Improve Your Wine Kit => How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist => Corky's Winemaking Definition => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information *^* Hot Tips are sprinkled throughout the newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------ FEATURE ARTICLE: How to Fix "Rotten Egg" Smell in Wine By Brant Burgiss, Editor ------------------------------------------------------------ It's a real STINKER of a problem... you've just racked your wine, and it smells like rotten eggs! Should you throw out the batch and start all over? Or is there something you can do to prevent pouring your wine down the drain? Luckily, the problem of hydrogen sulfide is solvable - provided you act quickly, that is! Learn how to treat this smelly problem by reading our latest winemaking article, at: http://www.grapestompers.com/articles/hydrogen_sulfide.htm The article provides a little background on possible causes and offers tips to help prevent H2S in the first place. OH! And before I forget, please be sure to attend our 5th Annual Wine Tasting in Laurel Springs, NC on Sunday, October 6th. Read Tom's article below for more details. Here's to you... and Happy Winemaking! You can write to Brant at webmaster@grapestompers.com ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW PRODUCTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Here is a list of products recently added to our catalog: - Item #2203 Clear gallon jug, with screw cap, $3.00 - Item #2200 Amber gallon jug, with screw cap, $5.06 - Item #2120 Wine bottles, 150 ml (5 oz), Flint with screw on cap, 12 per case, $6.77 ------------------------------------------------------------ BONNIE'S BIN: Start Your Own Tasting Group By Bonnie Brown, Manager ------------------------------------------------------------ Tom said he was going to write about our Annual Wine Tasting so I should write about a smaller one that we both attended recently. So here goes... Everyone should have a tasting group that meets every couple of months to share all that we have made over that time. What a collection we had. It was WONDERFUL! What a treat to see the labels, pride, and hear the tales from each! How wonderful to hear the excitement of the others. We had one couple who was starting their first batch and the other three couples had been into this hobby for about one year. It was also fun to be able to just sit back and enjoy tasting wines! What a great treat that was for Tom and me. NO work, NO phone! Just enjoy the people and the wines. To live like everyone else does!!! We are so very fortunate in that great friends are made in our business. I would like to again thank our friends, Edie and Jim, for hosting our gathering. Tom and I are quite proud that we were in on getting these people into the hobby of winemaking. Good things spread to friends far and wide. It was such fun to hear many different thoughts and find that we are not so different after all! We had 6 couples and it was just right. Our host had been working on his new English Pub. What a pub! We had been hearing about it for months so I was thrilled to finally get to see it. Words cannot describe it. Check out the photos we took that evening in the "Customers" section of our web site: http://www.grapestompers.com/customers/wine_photos_2.htm It shows a hint of what we got to enjoy. We lined ALL of those bottles up and started tasting! We had so many there was not room for me to have a full glass of any one wine! We are talking about doing this tasting often but it will now have to wait until later this fall. Tom and I will be very busy getting prepared for our 'big' wine tasting in October (see Tom's article below)! Now, you heard me say 'GET PREPARED'! I swear I am not going to let any detail go until the last minute this year like I have for the past three!! I swear that I am not going to let Tom put anything off until the last minute like has happened for the past 4!! WE are going to be prepared and enjoy this one more than any of the others! If I repeat this often enough it will become true, right???? I swear we will be prepared, I swear we will be prepared.... and time will tell! Here's to a great September ya'll... May you tip your glass in health and clink it with good friends. Bonnie Life is too short... to drink bad wine... so make your own! You can write to Bonnie at bonnie@grapestompers.com ------------------------------------------------------------ THIS MONTH'S SPECIALS ------------------------------------------------------------ grapestompers' specials for September 2002 are: Save 10% or more on 3 different wine kits AND Save 12% on one of our bottling spigots AND Save over 14% on our most popular hand corker AND Save over 10% on the wine thief / test jar combo AND Save up to 12% on selected winemaking chemicals 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 3132 CC Valpolicella 78.76 69.99 3227 VDV White Bordailles (Bordeaux) 39.38 34.99 3230 CC Chamblaise (Chablis) 58.85 52.99 2208 Bottling Spigot (w/gaskets) 2.73 2.39 2262 Portuguese Hand Corker 15.13 12.99 2598 Wine Thief / Test Jar Combo 6.69 5.99 2731 Campden tablets, approx 100 tabs 2.10 1.89 2732 Potassium Metabisulfite, 4 oz. 1.82 1.59 3200 Complete White Wine Starter Kit 246.68 175.00 3100 Complete Red Wine Starter Kit 259.79 185.00 The three wine kits shown above will make about 30 - 750 ml bottles of great wine in as little as 28-45 days. Wine kit abbreviations explained: CC = Cellar Classic wine kit GC = Grand Cru wine kit VDV = Vino del Vida wine kit CSP = Cru Select Platinum wine kit CSG = Cru Select Gold wine kit 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 ($26.59 value): - Free Wine Labels (text of your choice) - Free T-shirt (sizes available: M, L, or XL) - 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, as well as the size T-shirt you need. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------ TOM'S CELLAR: grapestompers Hosts 5th Annual Wine Tasting by Tom Burgiss, Owner ------------------------------------------------------------ Mark your calendar for Sunday, October 6 for our 5th Annual wine tasting. The event will be held at 3:00 PM at the Burgiss Barn in Laurel Springs, NC. Everyone should be here for this one, because we will have some new wines for you to taste! The advantage of a wine tasting, of course, is the opportunity to taste different wines and try them out before purchasing a bottle or making a batch on your own. Some you will like, and others may not suit you, but at least it will expose you to different varieties and maybe help you pick out a new wine to make and enjoy in the future. Those who cannot come, we urge you to attend any wine tastings close by your own home or state. So mark your calendar now! We're looking forward to seeing you, and hope you will enjoy the wine tasting, food, and live music. Admission is free, but you must BYOG (bring your own wine glass). If you plan to come, please RSVP by calling 800-233-1505 or sending an e-mail to tom@grapestompers.com. Let us know how many are in your party, so we'll be sure to have enough wine and food for everyone. To allow the staff of grapestompers a chance to mingle and chat with fellow vintners, the retail store will not be open for direct sales that day. However, if you call in or place an online order before September 24, we'll get your winemaking supplies together and have them ready for pickup at the wine tasting. It's a great way to save on shipping costs! If you'd like to arrange this pickup service on the day of the wine tasting, just let us know you want a 'Wine Tasting Pickup' when filling out the comments section on the online order form. *-----------------HOT TIP------------------* Having trouble lifting a carboy full of wine? Try this trick: The best carboy lifter I have ever used is a milk crate, the plastic kind that is designed to hold 4-1 gallon milk jugs. A 5 gallon carboy fits nicely and it not only gives you handles to hold onto, but gives some protection to the carboy as well. Speaking as someone who has broken a couple that's a pretty good thing. Our thanks to Paul Downs for this great tip. Have a tip you'd like to submit? Send it to tips@grapestompers.com *-----------------HOT TIP------------------* Here is a preview of some of the wines that will be here for your tasting pleasure. Enjoy the fruit of the vine and the autumn colors in the mountains of North Carolina. Pinot Noir I finally was able to age it for 12 months - it gets gone too quickly! A medium bodied red wine. It is delicate, yet rich in complexity with a warm, oaken flavor. Certainly one of my favorites! Amarone Classico This Cru Select wine is rich in raspberry, blackberry and cassis flavor and during a recent mini-wine tasting up in the mountains (see Bonnie's article) in Ashe County it took top comments from the crowd. Coteau-sur-Mer This is a lighter wine that is claret styled with a taste of plum and a hint of chocolate. Vieux Chateau du Roi This classic, full-bodied red wine is deep in color, carrying a warm nicely rounded bouquet of ripe berry fruit. Chenin Blanc A white wine that makes France proud. It is refreshingly crisp and dry, with a subtle notes of honey and fruit. Peach-Chardonnay This wine is considered a "wine cooler" because it only has 6 to 7% alcohol, but it's delicious and the perfect gift for a sweet wine lover. Served chilled. White Bordeaux This brother to White Burgundy is one that everyone fell in love with at last year's wine tasting. It is a dry, medium bodied, French­style white with citrus and herbal notes and medium oak. White Zinfandel Our best-selling wine is an off-dry, light bodied Californian-style blush that's best served chilled to emphasize its strawberry notes and bright flavor. We will serve the dry version and will sweeten to YOUR taste on site! These are just a few of the wines we'll be serving at this year's tasting; there'll be lots more wines there too! We invite any and all home winemakers to come and share your abilities with a great hobby of winemaking. Drawings will be held throughout the evening for door prizes. It really pleases me to see so many folks participating in our wine tasting... over 200 people attended last year! Rain or shine, cold or hot, we will be expecting you to join us. As per usual, we'll start in the barn... The folks who have supported us throughout the year will be there to help Bonnie and me on this venture. Please remember to bring your own wine glass for tasting! Music and food will be there to help entertain you and again Jimmy Benge will fix up a bit great-tasting food that will please you just like he's been doing for years. Note from Tom: You might want to come early on wine tasting day for a Sunday Buffet at Burgiss Barn on October 6th. We started serving lunch buffets this year on Memorial Day Weekend and will continue this weekly buffet through the middle of October. The lunch buffet always offers 4 meats, 6 veggies, drinks, choice of dessert, and most importantly... fresh baked hot buttered rolls that are thrown to you! Tax, tip and all the above for $6.95 period! We serve the buffet from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM. It must be good because folks keep coming back! Learn more about the Burgiss Barn here: http://www.burgissbarn.com/ You can write to Tom at tom@grapestompers.com ------------------------------------------------------------ FROM OUR CUSTOMERS ------------------------------------------------------------ As you might imagine, our office receives quite a bit of correspondence - mostly through e-mail - here are some comments we've recently received: If I understand correctly, you get FREE labels!!?? How can that be? No one that I know of does such a courteous service anymore. Have I found a new supplier? If the label offer is true, then I would love to have them... By the way, I was very impressed with your newsletter. Straightforward, personal and very interesting info. It didn't seemed to be bombarded with all sorts of marketing fluff. Great job! Hey, if your products are nice and the prices are attractive, people will keep coming back anyway, right? I look forward to doing business with you in the future! Thanks again and have a GREAT weekend!! -- Wayne Hemrick Dawsonville, GA [Editor's note: Wayne is right! With each purchase of a grape concentrate from grapestompers.com, you get 30 free wine labels. Just go to http://www.grapestompers.com/cat104.htm to see them.] Tom, I really appreciate the help. Your service is superb!!!! Thanks again! -- Bob Chambless Lizella, GA Tom, It was really a pleasure speaking with you on Friday, August 10. Your information on the gravity-fed bottle filler was enough for me to purchase it and a floating thermometer, which I have received today. It actually arrived sooner than I had expected. I am receiving your newsletter monthly for the last two months and have gone into the archives and have printed off all of the past newsletters which I find interesting and informative since I have only been making homemade wine for the last three months. Keep up the good work and customer service. -- Greg Bonier Newnan, GA Bonnie, Just a thank you note... Received my package in perfect condition. Cheers! -- Mark Evans Dear Tom and Bonnie, Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how we did at the Indy International Wine Competition... We entered 4 of our fruit wines and we were awarded 4 medals. We were so surprised!! All of our wines were made with fresh fruit and supplies that we purchased from your fine establishment. Pear-------------- Gold Medal Blackberry ------- Silver Medal Wild Raspberry --- Silver Medal Strawberry ------ Silver Medal Thanks for all your help and support. Your friends, -- Brenda & Roger Hasler Sullivan, IN Bonnie: My order was at my front door when I arrived home from work yesterday. The labels look fantastic! As always, many thanks for the best service ever!! -- Steve Kerchner Highland, IL Bonnie & Tom, Thanks for the great service -- It's great to have you folks in my "back yard". You have one of the most enjoyable and informative web sites I have found-- keep up the good work and how about another quiz? -- Dan Veilleux Janet Montgomery Vilas, NC [Editor's note: We're currently working on another winemaking quiz, so get ready to test your skills!] ------------------------------------------------------------ GUEST COLUMN - Improve Your Wine Kit by Don Schiller, Minnesota ------------------------------------------------------------ Wine kits are great, but some are better than others. One reason wine kits are great because they are available anytime of the year. You get grape juice all ready for that magical change to wine - just add water and yeast. But some wine kits could use some improvement. Let's look at some ways: Wine kit basics The better the kit, the better the wine. That is a good rule. The higher grade (and priced) kit generally have a higher percentage of grape juice and so are closer to the fresh pressed grapes. Those kits that are more concentrated and lighter will require more water. You may find these kits just a little thinner body and flavors. Go high end when you can. Improve flavor Wine kits are designed to make approximately 5-6 gallons of wine at about 12% alcohol. Change the amount of water or juice and you change those numbers. NOTE: you should never modify kits more than a couple percent. If you remove some juice (called a reserve) before you add the water and reduce the amount of water slightly you will reduce the amount of wine to be bottled. Now, after fermentation is complete and after potassium sorbate has been added, add the juice back to the wine. This will add more body, sweetness and flavor to the lower alcohol wine. Works great with a Riesling and a Gewurtz. Doesn't work as well with reds as you don't want sweet red wine. Experimentation may be the key to find your best reserve quantity and which wines work best with a reserve. *-----------------HOT TIP------------------* Ever been tempted to use bread yeast in your wine, to save a trip to the store? Don't do it. Bread yeast (even some beer yeasts) weren't designed to take the high levels of sugar and alcohol that wine demands, and they will result in off-tasting, weak, and syrupy wines. Have a tip you'd like to submit? Send it to tips@grapestompers.com *-----------------HOT TIP------------------* Consider additives to improve flavor. Simple additions like oak to a wine will add complexity and enhance flavors. Toasted French oak in a red wine adds vanilla flavors, softens the wine and adds tannins. American oak in a Chardonnay adds oak flavors without covering the Chardonnay grape characteristics. Other additives may include: elderflowers (white wines) or elderberries (red wines), golden raisins for white wines or regular raisins for red or white (may darken color) wines. Improve body The body is the mouth feel of the wine, if it isn't there, it's thin like water. Again, using the reserve mentioned above would add body, but that doesn't work for all wines. A couple ounces (up to 4 in 5 gallons) glycerin will add body to wine. Other methods that have been used in wine to improve body (not all tested or approved by me) include: banana, apple juice, red or white grape concentrate, and raisins. Not all ideas will work with all wine kits. Know your wine kit, the wine style you are making and your desired results. Experimentation is probably the best way to learn what will work with the wine type you are making. It is always best to try a little and see how it works. If it is good, next time use more, if it is bad, you haven't put in too much to ruin the wine. What a great hobby; experiment, learn, and improve your wines. ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Don has recently retired as the Vice President and newsletter editor for the Purple Foot Wine Club in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. In addition to writing articles for the "PurpleFootnotes", he also sometimes shares articles for Grapestompers. If you have suggestions for articles or wine questions, you can contact Don at vintner@prodigy.net. ------------------------------------------------------------ How To Be A Guest Columnist For STOMPERS Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------ 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?? ------------------------------------------------------------ CORKY'S WINEMAKING DEFINITION ------------------------------------------------------------ Aftertaste - The flavor that stays in the mouth after swallowing wine. Also known as a wine's finish, this flavor can be buttery, oaky, spicy, tart, bitter, etc. Look for other wine-related definitions by clicking on the 'Glossary' button from our home page at http://www.grapestompers.com ------------------------------------------------------------ NEXT MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS ------------------------------------------------------------ - More Winemaking Stories from Tom's Cellar - Another Surprise from Brant - More Specials - The next article from Bonnie's Bin - More Customer Testimonials - Another Guest Article - New Winemaking Products ------------------------------------------------------------ LIST MAINTENANCE ------------------------------------------------------------ To SUBSCRIBE to the STOMPER winemaking hints newsletter, send a blank e-mail to newsletter@grapestompers.com with a subject line of: subscribe stomper To quit receiving the STOMPER winemaking hints newsletter, send a blank e-mail to newsletter@grapestompers.com with a subject line of: unsubscribe stomper Past issues of the STOMPER can be found at http://www.grapestompers.com/newsletter/archives ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 2002 grapestompers.com. All rights reserved. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------