Making Wine That’s Truly Special
Have you ever asked yourself or wondered before about the origins of making wine?
Many wine making recipes will show you that the production of wine has already evolved over the years. Wine makers and consumers have opened up to the idea that wine can be created out of many different sources which you will find out as you read on. These days, grapes are not the only fruits or product for that matter that you can use in making wine. Read on…
Non-Grape Wine
The term non-grape is already self-explanatory. True enough, there are wines that can be made out of starch and there are those that can come from flowers like the dandelions or weeds like marijuana. You name it and most of the time, it has already been done. It’s all about doing correctly the process of fermentation and producing the correct flavors or taste.
Fruit Wine
In Scandinavia and North America, home wine makers have preferred making wine out of various fruits than from any other kind. Fruit wines are very popular among them and it is usually a part of their meals. The reason for this is that it so happened that many of their fruit crops can really produce good tasting wine which can be consumed every day, perhaps because the cost is cheaper and the quality is great. Even when there are times that the sugar levels of these fruit wines is quite low, wine makers supplement it by using the process of chaptalization. By doing so, making wine, great tasting wine so to speak, tends to be a lot easier and simpler.
The process of chaptalization helps the fruit in producing enough amounts of alcohol in making wine. And then wine makers will add sugar, sucrose to be precise, to make the acidity level go down. This is usually the case for those that use fruits with high acid content (malic or citric acid). What the sucrose does is it helps the fruits split its content into fermentable sugars and glucose.
Though fruit wines are great and best for everyday consumption, many of the fruit wines tend to lack natural yeast nutrients needed for longer and better fermentation. So what wine makers do is they add potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen to help promote further fermentation. Therefore, unlike grape wine, fruit wine should not be stored for too long. Their kind does not sit well to getting better with age. Instead, fruit wines (that are non-grape) are best if consumed within a year after it has been bottled.
Starch Wine
You may not be familiar with this kind but it is true. Starch can be used in making wine.
To give you an example, have you heard of rice wine and Sake? Both are made of starch. Of course, the way they are produced are quite different from how wines are usually done. In fact, their process is much more similar to making beer. But nevertheless, they still produce good tasting wine.
Other Wines
Wine does not end with the fruity and starchy kinds. For instance, Chinese use fish in making wine. While Scottish folks experiment with turnips and carrots. Others produced wine from honey, orange, lemons, leaves, herbs and even marijuana. The people in the Celtic regions are fond of making wine out of dandelion. While people from Africa love making wine out of palm trees. As you learn more about making wine, you will be able to experiment on your own and from them create your very own homemade unique wine recipe.
Simon Thomas is a homemade winemaker, enthusiast and author. He lives in California and spends his time teaching others how to setup an amazing boutique winery. His latest book, ?Homemade Wine Profit Secrets ? Big Profits from Your Wine Hobby? and four other amazing wine books (Great Wines Made Simple, Liqueurs and Party Specials, Healthy Fruit and Herbal Wines, Ladies? Wines) are available at http://www.homemadewinesecrets.com.