Try eating something ULTRA spicy then eat a peppermint lol. You would think this would help cool off the heat but whats really happening is the body is sensing a delta between the cold receptors and the hot receptors and that amplifies the heat sensation lol. I think the same thing can happen with taste, certain taste buds work coopertiavely or uncooperatively :)
When it comes to varietals like you guys were talking about here, there’s a clear distinction between the old world (Europe and Middle East regions) and the new world (pretty much everywhere else). In the old world, wines are more defined by their region as opposed to the grape varietal. That’s why we have wines such as Champagne, Bordeaux, and Chablis. There are no Chablis grapes and never have been, only the Chablis region. The wine makers in the area are mandated by law in what specific grapes and what methods are used to produce a given wine (I think Bordeaux is a plans of some 4 or more different grapes). Unless it comes from the region and is the mandated blend, it can’t be called that type of wine. New world wines are different in that they mainly lead with the varietal description and the area it came from. Thats what you’ll see California Cabernet Sauvignon or a Washington Merlot. The US does have specific naming conventions based on geography but they work differently. The US separates wines by what they call appellations which are the different regions. Additionally, a wine can come from a specific vineyard in an appellation, in a state. The general rule of thumb is that the more specific the label is, the better. A California Cabernet Sauvignon will often be of lower quality than a Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. Sorry for the ramble, I geek out on this stuff!😂😂
Here's a fun tangent if/when you do a deeper dive about French wine varietals. In the early 1900s there was a man from Texas named Thomas Volney Munson who helped the French graft their grapevines onto a Texas root stock that was resistant to an insect that was devastating their entire wine industry. The French government gave him a Legion of Honor medal for his work, only the second person after Thomas Jefferson to receive it.
A suggestion for future weather disasters; just before you bug out, get some dry ice and place it in your freezer and refrigerator, it will help keep it cold longer, as long as you don't open the door.
Living in California we do frequent many wineries and breweries. And yes there is a difference between wineries. We have actually tasted wines and walked out because it was so bad tasting. And we poured in a few tasting rooms. We definitely enjoy living here in California. We enjoy your channel 😊
That's right, Brian! 😀 One of our favorite wineries, up in Paso Robles, has some "pure" wines, such as Viognier and Tannat, but also some wonderful blends, such as Contemplations and Opulence-- the proportions of the "pure" wines that go into those change every year, based on the blender's tastes.
One of the last wines I made is a variation of your Simple Red wine; BUT I missed an important ingredient at the start. When I used a red grape juice, also red grapes, and tea or wine tannins. It fermented out to 0.992, which is normal for my fermentations. But it had no flavor. it had a light alcohol flavor some mouth feel but tasted like water. I had not added any dates or prunes like I usually do for the simple red. I added dates, prunes and I found Zante Currents. to the wine for a week then racked off the fruit. Why those things, it is common to get those flavors in specific red varietals. I was trying to reproduce a varietal from a tasteless red. I have since stabilized and back sweetened. Will be bottling soon.
Also, I love that you mentioned that you guys were wanting to make a blood orange mead. I hope that happens soon, as I think it'd be a fun one to watch. But as you said, blood oranges can be difficult to get
The whole thing about red wine being served at room temperature and white wines being served chilled dates back to a time when the ambient temperature of a house whas significantly cooler than we would now have. I.E. Go ahead and slightly chill your red wines too :)
Each of your videos teaches me something new, I'm always joyfull when I see a new post. ??? As someone new to winemaking and brewing, how should I treat my bottles after they're opened? Refrigerate?, Countertop? And how long, roughly, can they sit open? Consuming an entire bottle in one sitting is normally not a good idea 😂 Thank you in advance
We are considering bottling in smaller bottles actually. 750ml is a bit to finish in a sitting, but 16 or 12 ounces doesn't seem too much most times. What we do is, once open, keep in the fridge and try to consume within a week. Some say they oxidize faster than that, but we haven't noticed much loss of quality in a week as long as it's kept cold.
you mentioned blood orange mead and I laughed. I made one last year, it was like my 4 batch ever and I messed up calculates. I wanted like a 12% and ended up at 16% but I still love it. so I cant wait till your video comes out and I see how you did it
France guards the name "Champagne" with such jealousy that several years ago they destroyed a large shipment of Miller beer because it was labeled as the Champaign of bottled beers. It violated the French marketing laws.
Regional differences also changes due to the water used, u don't know if comes through as much in wines and meads as it does in ales. There is lots of information about the water profiles of specific breweries (usually a natural well) and regions ie London, Suffolk. You can almost exactly clone a beer by adding and buffering the mineral contents of your own tap, well or bottled water (online calculator ls available) with some serious homebrewers saving dreggs of commercial brews to get the yeast strains if not commercially available. In Europe and the UK we have the Protected Geographical Indication framework that protects the names, Champagne, Parmesan (as mentioned) cheader cheese, Cornish pasties also breeds of livestock and wild / farmed fish caught and or processed in a specific area and during specific dates. If is a moohosive rabbit hole
Yup, and imo, not worth the trouble for a lot of brewing, lol. We just prefer to keep it simple. Not saying it's a bad thing if folks are into that, but.... it's not our thing.
Regarding the blends, I don't know why people would consider them a lower quality wines given that one of the most famous wine regions in the world - Bordeaux, produces almost exclusively blended wines, most often consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Blending those varietals in just the right proportions so that each contributes something to the overall quality - ultimately resulting in something that's greater than the sum of its parts, is as much an art as it is science. Similar are the wines from Tuscany that don't fit into the very narrow geographic region of Chianti Classico - wherein the wines need to have at least 90% of Sangiovese grapes in order to get that label. Burgundy in France is specific for requiring 100% mono varietal Pinot Noir...etc. California has some incredible blends, in the vein of Super Tuscans - as they're known in Europe, but it also produces some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir in the world - Sonoma county or the Russian River Valley for example. Oregon is super famous for its Pinot Noir and many of the French producers have actually bought vineyard plots there, because the terroir is fantastic, and Pinot Noir reflects terroir phenomenally. I have 30L of 15 months old Pinot Noir I've made in Denmark, from the the German Pinot grapes, whereby I've done my best to replicate the German methods - very similar to those from Burgundy, and from what I've tried while bottling recently, I've gotten pretty darn near. Of course, the fact that a friend of mine with a vineyard allowed me to hand pick the best grapes, certainly helped.
I’m going to do a test, finding as many different grape juices as I can(likely concord, regular grape juice and white grape juice) ferment one blended juice wine and then ferment each of the 3 juices individually and blend after fermentation. I’m curious how they will differ, if one is better than the other or the same. Likely I’ll blend all of it at the end to see how the two final wine blends are. My goal is to make something big and complex with just juices.
I once brewed a cherry and blackberry wine. When it was at 1.002, I thought it might be done, but I left it another week, and ended up with 0.992. Yet another week later, no change. It goes to show, as you said, a brew is not guaranteed to be finished at 1.000, or so. Call me weird, but wouldn't it be fun to make a varietal wine with small amounts of other fruit? Like a cotton candy grape wine with 4 oz. of cherries for a touch of tartness. P.S. - Iowa has rich, black dirt with astounding nutrients. You can get bags of that soil at some gardening stores. I wholly recommend growing something in that to compare to the natural soil at your place.
True. It’s just easier access it to the kits and lower cost. The 6 gal Merlot kit that company constantly drink up was $80 and consistently easy to find. I think I did mix the concentrate so that it made 5.5 gallons and not 6.
That's fair. The prices may vary but I usually find it cheaper to just buy the concentrate than a kit, but some "kits" really are the concentrates too 👍
First off, $65??? That kind of takes away the whole point of homebrewing 😅 Second, THANKS! I really enjoy these educational videos in between brews. ❤ I can't believe people wouldn't make a brew because you only score at 7... I've only had three brews thar I, personally, know where well deserving of a 9, and they were my most difficult brews to make!!! ( my store-bought grapes wine, handpicked blackberry wine, and my Elderberry wine)😅
the same thing happens with honey and other fruits, the conditions in the area and in the ground is gonna be different everywhere. My favorite example is Linden honey vs Basswood honey. they are the same family of trees but the area they are in is 100% different and the other flowers around them is also different so they are drastically different honeys. I hear people in forums say they are the same tree but linden is very lemon sented and basswood is more floral it is very cool that the same family is so different when grown on another continent.
Without having a TARDIS, the only close way to achieve what Derica is talking about with comparing all 3 stages, would to be make 3 different batches where they would be ready at each interval. The problem with that is something you guys have talked about before, and that's differences in when each batch was made. Sure you can make each one as close to your favorite version as you can, but little things could also make each one slightly different outside of just aging, like maybe one went dryer than the rest, or one ended up slightly more acidic. Without a time machine/TARDIS, there's no real way to get ONE batch with all three stages to eliminate variations other than age
I have a question. I started a brown sugar wine on 11/26/24 with 2lbs of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar with one mandolin orange peel in it. 4 cups of black tea with 71-beast. OG was 1.086. I just took a reading and racked it. I can read a hydrometer, it 0.860. I used you graph of OG minutes fg time 135. 30.51%. How??? lol wow
Pretty sure the French would give that a challenge. Champagne has many rules necessary to be champagne. And usually ALL the grapes must be from their respective region, afaik, for French (and Italian) wines.
@@CitySteadingBrews French wine laws have various requirements for the percentage of grapes in a wine that must come from a specific region or variety: Wines of Origin laws 75% of a varietal wine must come from the designated variety. Fortified wines must be at least 80% from the designated region. Appellation name on the bottle Some wines must be 100% of a specific grape. For example, in Burgundy, white wines must be 100% Chardonnay, and red wines must be 100% Pinot Noir. Varietal names on the label If a single varietal name is used, the wine must be at least 85% of that variety. If two or more varietal names are used, they must appear in descending order.
It appears I might have been comparing two different levles under the same type of laws. France appears to have one more level at the very top. I was comparing just the varietal label level. So it might be technically true, just because France calls their top "appellation" 🤔 😅 but that's not a real comparison.
Try eating something ULTRA spicy then eat a peppermint lol. You would think this would help cool off the heat but whats really happening is the body is sensing a delta between the cold receptors and the hot receptors and that amplifies the heat sensation lol. I think the same thing can happen with taste, certain taste buds work coopertiavely or uncooperatively :)
When it comes to varietals like you guys were talking about here, there’s a clear distinction between the old world (Europe and Middle East regions) and the new world (pretty much everywhere else). In the old world, wines are more defined by their region as opposed to the grape varietal. That’s why we have wines such as Champagne, Bordeaux, and Chablis. There are no Chablis grapes and never have been, only the Chablis region. The wine makers in the area are mandated by law in what specific grapes and what methods are used to produce a given wine (I think Bordeaux is a plans of some 4 or more different grapes). Unless it comes from the region and is the mandated blend, it can’t be called that type of wine. New world wines are different in that they mainly lead with the varietal description and the area it came from. Thats what you’ll see California Cabernet Sauvignon or a Washington Merlot. The US does have specific naming conventions based on geography but they work differently. The US separates wines by what they call appellations which are the different regions. Additionally, a wine can come from a specific vineyard in an appellation, in a state. The general rule of thumb is that the more specific the label is, the better. A California Cabernet Sauvignon will often be of lower quality than a Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sorry for the ramble, I geek out on this stuff!😂😂
Hey, that's good information!
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks! You guys are the ones that sent me down this delicious rabbit hole about a year and a half ago. You guys are the best!
Here's a fun tangent if/when you do a deeper dive about French wine varietals. In the early 1900s there was a man from Texas named Thomas Volney Munson who helped the French graft their grapevines onto a Texas root stock that was resistant to an insect that was devastating their entire wine industry. The French government gave him a Legion of Honor medal for his work, only the second person after Thomas Jefferson to receive it.
And Munson bred grapes, too. I grew one of his varieties.
A suggestion for future weather disasters; just before you bug out, get some dry ice and place it in your freezer and refrigerator, it will help keep it cold longer, as long as you don't open the door.
Maybe a day or two but not as long as was needed.
Living in California we do frequent many wineries and breweries. And yes there is a difference between wineries. We have actually tasted wines and walked out because it was so bad tasting. And we poured in a few tasting rooms. We definitely enjoy living here in California. We enjoy your channel 😊
That's right, Brian! 😀
One of our favorite wineries, up in Paso Robles, has some "pure" wines, such as Viognier and Tannat, but also some wonderful blends, such as Contemplations and Opulence-- the proportions of the "pure" wines that go into those change every year, based on the blender's tastes.
As long t should be!
One of the last wines I made is a variation of your Simple Red wine; BUT I missed an important ingredient at the start. When I used a red grape juice, also red grapes, and tea or wine tannins. It fermented out to 0.992, which is normal for my fermentations. But it had no flavor. it had a light alcohol flavor some mouth feel but tasted like water. I had not added any dates or prunes like I usually do for the simple red. I added dates, prunes and I found Zante Currents. to the wine for a week then racked off the fruit. Why those things, it is common to get those flavors in specific red varietals. I was trying to reproduce a varietal from a tasteless red. I have since stabilized and back sweetened. Will be bottling soon.
18:37 the fact that Brian actually had to look made it even funnier 🤣
Also, I love that you mentioned that you guys were wanting to make a blood orange mead. I hope that happens soon, as I think it'd be a fun one to watch. But as you said, blood oranges can be difficult to get
We're always looking!
I made a Moscato, it was quite costly, but ever so nice.
The whole thing about red wine being served at room temperature and white wines being served chilled dates back to a time when the ambient temperature of a house whas significantly cooler than we would now have. I.E. Go ahead and slightly chill your red wines too :)
I'd never thought of the temperature of the house. Thanks for pointing that out.
My house is currently a snug 62°😅
Agreed, in the south it’s basically chill the reds a little and let the whites warm just a little.
11:15 I’m sure there is a Whole Foods group somewhere. We have one for Costco that’s like what you’re talking about
Each of your videos teaches me something new, I'm always joyfull when I see a new post.
??? As someone new to winemaking and brewing, how should I treat my bottles after they're opened? Refrigerate?, Countertop? And how long, roughly, can they sit open?
Consuming an entire bottle in one sitting is normally not a good idea 😂
Thank you in advance
We are considering bottling in smaller bottles actually. 750ml is a bit to finish in a sitting, but 16 or 12 ounces doesn't seem too much most times. What we do is, once open, keep in the fridge and try to consume within a week. Some say they oxidize faster than that, but we haven't noticed much loss of quality in a week as long as it's kept cold.
@CitySteadingBrews good idea...but then I need to come up with more storage space.
you mentioned blood orange mead and I laughed. I made one last year, it was like my 4 batch ever and I messed up calculates. I wanted like a 12% and ended up at 16% but I still love it. so I cant wait till your video comes out and I see how you did it
France guards the name "Champagne" with such jealousy that several years ago they destroyed a large shipment of Miller beer because it was labeled as the Champaign of bottled beers. It violated the French marketing laws.
Regional differences also changes due to the water used, u don't know if comes through as much in wines and meads as it does in ales. There is lots of information about the water profiles of specific breweries (usually a natural well) and regions ie London, Suffolk. You can almost exactly clone a beer by adding and buffering the mineral contents of your own tap, well or bottled water (online calculator ls available) with some serious homebrewers saving dreggs of commercial brews to get the yeast strains if not commercially available.
In Europe and the UK we have the Protected Geographical Indication framework that protects the names, Champagne, Parmesan (as mentioned) cheader cheese, Cornish pasties also breeds of livestock and wild / farmed fish caught and or processed in a specific area and during specific dates. If is a moohosive rabbit hole
Yup, and imo, not worth the trouble for a lot of brewing, lol. We just prefer to keep it simple. Not saying it's a bad thing if folks are into that, but.... it's not our thing.
Regarding the blends, I don't know why people would consider them a lower quality wines given that one of the most famous wine regions in the world - Bordeaux, produces almost exclusively blended wines, most often consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Blending those varietals in just the right proportions so that each contributes something to the overall quality - ultimately resulting in something that's greater than the sum of its parts, is as much an art as it is science.
Similar are the wines from Tuscany that don't fit into the very narrow geographic region of Chianti Classico - wherein the wines need to have at least 90% of Sangiovese grapes in order to get that label.
Burgundy in France is specific for requiring 100% mono varietal Pinot Noir...etc.
California has some incredible blends, in the vein of Super Tuscans - as they're known in Europe, but it also produces some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir in the world - Sonoma county or the Russian River Valley for example.
Oregon is super famous for its Pinot Noir and many of the French producers have actually bought vineyard plots there, because the terroir is fantastic, and Pinot Noir reflects terroir phenomenally.
I have 30L of 15 months old Pinot Noir I've made in Denmark, from the the German Pinot grapes, whereby I've done my best to replicate the German methods - very similar to those from Burgundy, and from what I've tried while bottling recently, I've gotten pretty darn near. Of course, the fact that a friend of mine with a vineyard allowed me to hand pick the best grapes, certainly helped.
I’m going to do a test, finding as many different grape juices as I can(likely concord, regular grape juice and white grape juice) ferment one blended juice wine and then ferment each of the 3 juices individually and blend after fermentation. I’m curious how they will differ, if one is better than the other or the same. Likely I’ll blend all of it at the end to see how the two final wine blends are. My goal is to make something big and complex with just juices.
I once brewed a cherry and blackberry wine. When it was at 1.002, I thought it might be done, but I left it another week, and ended up with 0.992. Yet another week later, no change. It goes to show, as you said, a brew is not guaranteed to be finished at 1.000, or so.
Call me weird, but wouldn't it be fun to make a varietal wine with small amounts of other fruit? Like a cotton candy grape wine with 4 oz. of cherries for a touch of tartness.
P.S. - Iowa has rich, black dirt with astounding nutrients. You can get bags of that soil at some gardening stores. I wholly recommend growing something in that to compare to the natural soil at your place.
Check nearby wineries. You might find imported juice by the pail
That's certainly possible!
You two as Time Lords with a Tardis 😮 Sounds like trouble, but very fitting. What would your sonic screwdriver look like?
How do you feel about wine kits?
(I throw out the kieselsol and chitosan) and have pretty enjoyable results
They're fine I guess? Could just buy the concentrate though.
True. It’s just easier access it to the kits and lower cost.
The 6 gal Merlot kit that company constantly drink up was $80 and consistently easy to find. I think I did mix the concentrate so that it made 5.5 gallons and not 6.
That's fair. The prices may vary but I usually find it cheaper to just buy the concentrate than a kit, but some "kits" really are the concentrates too 👍
@@CitySteadingBrews agreed. I guess I’m thinking of the kids is just an easy way to get the concentrate. Thanks for the response.
Oh for sure if you can't get them other ways. We have a homebrew wine shop that has tons of both kits and concentrates.
First off, $65???
That kind of takes away the whole point of homebrewing 😅
Second, THANKS!
I really enjoy these educational videos in between brews. ❤
I can't believe people wouldn't make a brew because you only score at 7...
I've only had three brews thar I, personally, know where well deserving of a 9, and they were my most difficult brews to make!!!
( my store-bought grapes wine, handpicked blackberry wine, and my Elderberry wine)😅
It's $42 right now and should make more than a gallon...
blood orange trees had an issue this year so it was short everywhere
the same thing happens with honey and other fruits, the conditions in the area and in the ground is gonna be different everywhere. My favorite example is Linden honey vs Basswood honey. they are the same family of trees but the area they are in is 100% different and the other flowers around them is also different so they are drastically different honeys. I hear people in forums say they are the same tree but linden is very lemon sented and basswood is more floral it is very cool that the same family is so different when grown on another continent.
When / if I taste something the way Derica does (swishing) I taste more and better then when just hold an swallow
Without having a TARDIS, the only close way to achieve what Derica is talking about with comparing all 3 stages, would to be make 3 different batches where they would be ready at each interval. The problem with that is something you guys have talked about before, and that's differences in when each batch was made. Sure you can make each one as close to your favorite version as you can, but little things could also make each one slightly different outside of just aging, like maybe one went dryer than the rest, or one ended up slightly more acidic. Without a time machine/TARDIS, there's no real way to get ONE batch with all three stages to eliminate variations other than age
Exactly
I have a question. I started a brown sugar wine on 11/26/24 with 2lbs of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar with one mandolin orange peel in it. 4 cups of black tea with 71-beast. OG was 1.086. I just took a reading and racked it. I can read a hydrometer, it 0.860. I used you graph of OG minutes fg time 135. 30.51%. How??? lol wow
It's probably 0.986, most hydrometers don't even go below 0.990.
@ it’s at the 3 lines above 0.990
That's 0.984.
If you had to pick one of your recipes that tastes as close to a varietal grape wine without using a varietal grape concentrate, what would it be?
I honestly couldn't answer this. I wouldn't say I could that well discern the various grape types in a wine to be able to say.
Oregon has the strictest wine label laws in the world. I think it was 97% in ava grapes to get the ava label.
Pretty sure the French would give that a challenge. Champagne has many rules necessary to be champagne. And usually ALL the grapes must be from their respective region, afaik, for French (and Italian) wines.
Additional information from Google says federal law is 75%.
winefolly.com/deep-dive/looking-for-good-wine-start-with-the-appellation/
@@CitySteadingBrews French wine laws have various requirements for the percentage of grapes in a wine that must come from a specific region or variety:
Wines of Origin laws
75% of a varietal wine must come from the designated variety. Fortified wines must be at least 80% from the designated region.
Appellation name on the bottle
Some wines must be 100% of a specific grape. For example, in Burgundy, white wines must be 100% Chardonnay, and red wines must be 100% Pinot Noir.
Varietal names on the label
If a single varietal name is used, the wine must be at least 85% of that variety. If two or more varietal names are used, they must appear in descending order.
It appears I might have been comparing two different levles under the same type of laws. France appears to have one more level at the very top. I was comparing just the varietal label level. So it might be technically true, just because France calls their top "appellation" 🤔 😅 but that's not a real comparison.
California just labels their bubby as “California Champagne.”
0.790 would be pure EtOH, did you mean 0.979?
0.790 is pure ethanol, yes. When mixed with water to 10% abv it would be 0.979.
@@CitySteadingBrews As a benchmark I believe most vodka’s at 37.5%abv are around 0.950 sg