Author: Jake Huolihan
Beer was my first foray into home fermentation, mainly because it’s what I most prefer to drink. In the following years, I dabbled in fermenting a number of other consumables including cider, mead, pickles, and dough, though for various reasons, I was hesitant to make one of the world’s most popular fermented beverages. While the term wine is associated with a number of fermented liquids, I’m referring specifically to that which comes from grapes.
Whereas beer has historically been viewed as a working person’s refreshment, wine was more common among those with wealth during ancient times. The consumption of grape wine in the modern western world likely dates back to its immense popularity in the pre-modern Mediterranean where vineyards were planted and spread as the Romans took over much of Europe.
Having been raised Catholic, wine was the first alcoholic beverage to touch my innocent pre-adolescent lips, and my parents usually allowed me to have a glass during fancy family meals. These early experiences certainly contributed to my appreciation for various types of wine, though refrained from making my own due to the idea that good versions required acquiring and pressing specific grape varieties. Given the success I’ve had fermenting cider from store-bought juice, I was inspired to suspend this romantic notion and picked up a wine kit that was on sale at my local homebrew shop.
| Making Corazón Chilean Red Wine |
I really enjoy red wines produced from grapes grown at certain vineyards in Argentina and Chile, and it just so happened one of the kits my local shop had in stock was the Winexpert Limited Edition Corazón Chile, which is a blend of juices from Carménère, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Pais grapes. According to the manufacturer, this blend results in a finished wine that is “full of expressive black and red berries surrounded by cherry and tart plum notes in harmony with underlying oak, bright acidity, and smooth polished tannins.”
I also picked up a couple packs of Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast, as it was a recommended strain.
Finally, I bought some RO water to mix with the juice blend in order to achieve the proper volume of wine.
PROCESS
The first step in this winemaking process involved mixing the bentonite, a clarifying agent, with a small volume of water in the primary fermenter.
Next, I poured the bagged juice blend into the fermenter then added enough water to reach the recommended 6 gallon/23 liter mark. After stirring to combine, I sprinkled 2 packs of yeast onto the must then left the wine to ferment at 68°F/20°C.
Per the kit instructions, I took a hydrometer measurement after 14 days showing the wine was fully attenuated.
I used the dump valve to pull the lees from the bottom of the fermenter before adding sulfite and vigorously stirring the wine to degas. At this point, I added a pack of Kieselsol, a fining agent, then let the wine sit one more day before adding Chitosan, yet another fining agent.
I reduced the temperature of the wine to 45°F/7°C and let it sit for 30 days before taking a small sample showing it was clear and ready to package.
After dumping whatever had settled at the bottom of the fermenter, I connected a racking cane to my Ss Unitank valve and began transferring the wine to sanitized bottles under small amount of CO2 pressure. I then used a corking device to seal the filled bottles with pre-soaked corks, an immensely satisfying task!
The bottles were labeled and placed in my basement where they were left to age for a year before I popped one open for evaluation.
| IMPRESSIONS |
Grape wine is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world with a fascinatingly long and rich history. Viewed by many as being more sophisticated than beer, wine can often be found as the booze of choice at various events, from births and weddings to funerals and communion. While my love of beer is unbreakable, I certainly possess an appreciation for wine and was excited to finally make my own.
One of my biggest hang-ups when it came to wine making was sourcing grapes and extracting their juice, a process I’ve heard can be quite tedious, particularly for the uninitiated like myself. For this reason, purchasing a kit that came with a concentrated blend of grape juices was very appealing to me, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying the wine making process. The only real bummer for me was the cellaring time– as a brewer, I’m used to drinking my concoctions within a couple weeks, whereas wine requires some age.
Thankfully, the results were more than worth the wait! I’m no sommelier, but I know what I like based on years of drinking experience, and this Corazón Chilean red wine was delicious. In the aroma, I got an intense burst of black grape and cherry that was reminiscent of fruit syrup, very pleasant. The flavor largely followed the nose, though I also picked up some currant and subtle spice notes in the finish. While objectively dry, I was surprised with the impression of fullness this wine left on my palate.
Overall, I was beyond pleased with the way this Corazón Chilean red wine turned out and felt it was better than many commercial wines I’ve drank over the years. This is the type of wine I trust will continue to develop over time, to the point I look forward to serving the remaining bottles to family and friends in years to come. So positive was my experience with this wine kit that I will not only be purchasing more in the future, but recommending others interested in wine making do so as well.
If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making something similar, please feel free to share in the comments section below!
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10 thoughts on “Brü It Yourself | Corazón Chilean Red Wine”
I started making wine about the same time as I started homebrewing. What you didn’t emphasize was that making wine is so much easier than making beer because you don’t have to make wort, you jump straight to juice. You were very patient to wait a year before drinking, but often, while not as good, the wine is quite drinkable at 4-6 months. An early lesson I learned was the importance of degassing. You can demonstrate this to yourself by taking a sample of the young wine and putting it in a small bottle, put the lid on and shake vigorously, open the lid and release the gas. Repeat tightening the cap, shaking and releasing the gas several times until you get no more gas. Now, taste a sample of un-degassed wine and the wine you degassed. The difference is remarkable and explains the numerous bottles of homemade wine that I have been encouraged to taste or have been served but found undrinkable.
Another thing that I do is that rather than bottle, I age my wine in a carboy with a bubbler for six months or more which allows the wine to degas naturally, although you need to do the bottle shake thing described above to be sure you are thoroughly degassed before the next step.
Finally, something that home brewers will appreciate, rather than bottle my wine ,I keg it and serve it by pushing it with nitrogen, (don’t be tempted to use your CO2 – that would just be putting gas back into it), This is much easier than bottling, and since I live alone, I can pour just one glass, or if I have guests, can fill a decanter and serve it. If you don’t want to get into having a nitro bottle, you can still reduce the bottling work and have the single serve convenience by using Bag in a Box, You can reuse one from a previous wine purchase or get them on-line from ebay and likely other sources.
The downside is that I find making wine so much easier that I have become lazy about home brewing and find myself drinking more wine and buying beer.
Does degassing introduce a lot of oxygen after fermentation? Is it necessary for reds that are fermented on skins and pressed after (which presumably also introduces a lot of oxygen)? Sorry for the odd question – new to making wine and coming from a hoppy beer background, so slightly obsessed with the role of oxygen in determining final flavors.
Doesn’t this shaking during de-gas oxidize the wine post-ferment? Is that part of the character? You want it to oxidise a bit?
One thing that has prevented me from doing a wine kit is purchasing bottles and a corker. Thoughts on bottling in 22’s?
See my comment above about kegging & Bag in a Box – which are very convenient. Many winemakers just gather up used screw top wine bottles, sanitize and reuse those.
Nothing wrong with it, I’ve seen a few people do it. Not quite the same though.
I’m curious about the degassing process. I understand we don’t want CO2 in wine but are we not concerned with oxidizing the wine while degassing? Seems like the process would induce a lot of O2. What is the solution to this or is it not a concern? Just curious.
There are various stirring things you get at wine making shops that you put on a drill to stir the wine to degas it. Apparently it does not add much O2 to the wine as the wine ages well for years. One potential explanation is that CO2 is heavier than air and forms a blanket reducing the oxygenation. I prefer to naturally degas it by allowing it to stand with a bubbler on it, but even after months it may require stirring. It has made me wonder if we get a touch OCD about cold side oxidation when brewing though.
Red wines are far more resistant to oxidation than beer. That and the fact that sulfites are added means that your wine should be ok if degassed properly.
What was the ABV? Did the labels come with the kit? I notice wine kits really vary in price, how does this affect the quality of the finished product? And was this kit a cheap, middle of the road or Expensive one?
Whats the deal with the big bottle of anti-freeze behind you? Did it come with the kit? 🙂