Stephan Way Chardonnay - Part 2

My dad is a big fan of evaporation as a phenomenon. Yeah, evaporation is cool......but do you know what is even cooler? Fermentation! Fermentation is a chemical change brought on by the action of yeasts and bacteria. The souring of milk, the rising of dough, and the conversion of sugar to alcohol are all examples of fermentation. 


Making wine is really quite simple in principle. Grapes are crushed to release the sugar-rich juices. Yeast is then added. In the fermentation process yeast enzymes break down the sugar producing both alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The grape juice is allowed to ferment for a number of weeks, at which point it is moved to different containers and fermented at a slower rate, and eventually aged or bottled.


Making a great wine requires a lot of experience and finesse. I began my project humbly, with only the wish of creating a non-offensive, drinkable table wine that I could share with the neighbors who live within a block of where the grapes were grown. As I seem to do with everything these days, I turned to the internet to guide me in my first batch of wine made from fresh grapes. I found a recipe for dry white table wine that I would follow. I had a large bucket with 34 pounds of Chardonnay grapes. Lacking a grape press, I did it the old-fashioned way. I stomped them. (After thoroughly scrubbing my feet!)

It felt like stepping on a sea anemone at first

But then I got used to it and quite enjoyed it

This first batch yielded 2.4 gallons of juice. It was almost syrupy sweet. After tasting and sharing a bit of the juice, I set the remaining 2 gallons to fermenting. I did add sulfur dioxide in the form of 3 crushed campden tablets. Sulfites are a natural by-product of the yeast metabolism during fermentation. So even if you do not add any additional sulfur dioxide, your wine will still contain sulfites. Sulfur dioxide is antioxidant and antibacterial and plays an important role in maintaining wine's freshness.


A week or so later Marilyn, the neighbor with the grapes, called. Did I have any interest in making more wine? The vines were still laden with perfect, ripe grapes. It was almost mid-October by then and it could freeze anytime. Sure, why not? My 5-year-old son and I headed over with our huge bucket. Marilyn cut the bunches off the vine and handed them down to me. Soon the bucket was reaching capacity. Scott, Marilyn's son, weighed the grapes by standing on a bathroom scale with and without the bucket. 80 pounds!!

Here I am stomping and pressing simultaneously

They yielded almost 6 gallons of sweet grape juice. I set the juice to fermenting with some yeast and yeast nutrient after adding some more sugar, campden tablets, and toasted American oak cubes. Cross your fingers! This is a lot of Chardonnay!

Okay, fast forward through waiting part. The wines were racked (siphoned) off of their sediments to clean containers from time to time. First to be bottled was the smaller batch and a week later (Jan. 20) the larger.

The Big Mistake

The second batch was so big that I wanted to sweeten it at different levels to provide for a larger range of tastes. I was aiming for half to be on the dry side and the other half to be in the medium sweet range. I added 2/3 cup of sugar to the 5-gallons which raised the specific gravity (SG) .002. I then bottled half (or 2.5 gallons) of the wine. Then, desiring to raise the SG another .006, I multiplied the 2/3 cup of sugar by 3 and came up with 2 cups. So I added that. Yep, I neglected to account for the decrease in the volume of the wine I was sweetening! Only half as much. So, 1 cup was what was called for, not the two. The SG shot up and there was no way to take it back. 

After all of the picking and picking over, the crushing and hand-pressing, the recycle-bin diving and label scraping, the sanitizing and patience; I had pretty much spoiled half of the large batch at the very last step. To me it is overly sweet. I got on-line again looking for recipes using sweet white wine. I found a pear galette that called for a sweet white wine reduction sauce and several poached pear recipes...... So, I'll keep a bottle for next summer's neighborhood pears. But if any of my readers like sweet Gewuztraminer types of wine please let me know because I have 11 extra bottles! It will pair well with cheesecake, creme brulee, and fruit.

On the bright side, I have high hopes for the 20 bottles of Chardonnay that were not mistakenly over-sweetened. Everything seemed to go fine. The alcohol level is at an ideal 13% by volume for both batches, the clarity is good, there was no contamination, and the taste was pleasant at bottling. I plan to have a neighborhood wine tasting party in May for the Stephan Way Chardonnay. It should be fun regardless.

Cheers!

Limoncello

Limoncello, pronounced Lee-mon-chello, is a lemon infused liqueur of Italian origin. In Italy it is served chilled at the end of the meal. Friends of my parents made their own upon returning from Italy many years ago. They gifted my parents with an Orangina bottle of their elixir. My parents, who have never been hard liquor drinkers, enjoyed tasting it but then passed it on to me. I kept the Orangina bottle in the freezer and drizzled it over ice cream. That was my first experience with it. Then a friend of mine made some a while back and that got me to thinking about it again. A year ago I made my first batch.


Other than a weakness for a good margarita in the summertime, I'm not a hard liquor drinker myself. But I have grown to like an occasional digestivo with desert. I am fond of late harvest zinfandel port with dark chocolate or berry crisps; my spicy orange mead with ginger cookies or spice cake; and in the summertime, limoncello with lemony desserts or with chocolate-dipped or Mexican wedding cookies. 


If you have a source of good lemons and are interested in trying it, it is a super easy project to take on. The ingredients are only lemon zest, liquor, sugar, and water. A bit of patience is required as you wait for the essence of the lemon to be imparted to the liquor. Most recipes you find call for high-octane grain alcohol such as Everclear which is illegal to sell in California. I substitute vodka. I think this makes for a milder tasting final product but because of its much reduced alcohol content, (40% vs. 95%!), it doesn't draw quite as much color or flavor from the lemons. So if you are using vodka I'd say the more zest the better and the longer you can let it sit the better. 


When I was ready to try making my own limoncello I called my friend and asked what kind of vodka I should use. She told me to buy the cheap stuff because it will be completely transformed anyway. For my first batch, as I did with this most recent batch, I went mid-shelf. I am planning to start a third small batch this weekend and I think I am going to try top-shelf and see if I can taste the difference in quality in the final product.


Basic Limoncello Recipe
10 or more lemons
750 ml. vodka or more high octane grain alcohol like Everclear
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
(I doubled this for yesterday's batch)


First you need some beautiful, fresh, unsprayed, unwaxed lemons.....

Then you need to zest them, leaving the pith on the lemon. Some people use a peeler and get much larger pieces but my zester gives me more control. It took me about 45 minutes to do 21 lemons this way.

Put zest into a large glass container. Pour alcohol in. Let sit for 40 days swirling occasionally. Strain out zest. Simmer water and sugar together for a few minutes until well dissolved, let cool, and add to lemon liquor, stirring well. Let sit at least another week in original container or in bottles before drinking. You can bottle your limoncello in any size or shape of bottle with any type of seal (flip-top, screw cap, bottle cap, cork). When made with vodka the limoncello is kept in the refrigerator. If you use Everclear it would probably stay liquid in the freezer.

After zesting, I juiced all of these lovely, fragrant lemons. Some of the juice is in the fridge and some is frozen in containers for future use. Think lemonade in the summer, in hot water when you have a cold, in salad dressing, in lemon curd or bars, to brighten soup, etc.

Making citrus-cello for summer enjoyment is becoming a winter routine. This weekend I will try a 3-citrus-cello with orange, grapefruit, and lemon zest.  Small bottles of limoncello make nice little gifts and tiny chilled glasses of it are a special treat for summer company. 


I will post a link to a pleasant YouTube video I found which shows the basic process of making limoncello. There is an advertisement at the beginning which can be skipped after a few seconds if you like.
3 minute limoncello video to music


Enjoy!!!

A Favorite Appetizer

Our trip departure was delayed by a day so I thought I could squeeze one more little post in before we go. I'd like to share a simple 5-ingredient appetizer that I like to make. It is not particularly seasonal so it can be made any time of the year. I like to pair it with a frizzante, or semi-sparkling wine, like a Prosecco.


Rosemary Walnut Goat Cheese Honey Toasts
You will need:
a fresh baguette
6 oz. of soft goat cheese
1 T. fresh or dried rosemary
1/3 cup walnuts
some honey for drizzling
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop walnuts and toast until fragrant in an iron skillet. Bring goat cheese to room temperature for ease of spreading. Crush dried rosemary with a mortar and pestle or with your fingers until it is in small pieces (~1/4") or chop fresh rosemary. Slice baguette into rounds. Spread with goat cheese. Place on a baking sheet in preheated oven for 9 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with toasted chopped walnuts and crushed rosemary. Drizzle with warmed honey and serve.

Enjoy!!

One last photo of my birthday bouquet looking Christmassy 

Happy Holidays!