I sold a red wine Vinturi to a customer last week.  He was having friends over and was serving a newly bottled Limited Edition Australian Petit Verdot. He wanted to know if the “thing worked better than the magnet” he had been talked into somewhere else. I explained that there was nothing in wine that a magnet would react to, so unfortunately magnets are useless.

It works!

The Vinturi however, injects the right amount of oxygen into the wine to open up the aromas and flavours. He picked one up and grumbled that “I hadn’t lied to him yet” so he would try one. Flattered by his compliment : ) I told him if he wasn’t 100% satisfied with it to bring it back.

He phoned the next morning and said that it worked better than I had said and that it really opened up his young wine. His guests were very impressed with his Australian Petit Verdot and the Vinturi. He thanked me for helping to make his dinner party a success.

The Vinturi really works! They’re great for the home winemaker because we typically don’t age our wine long enough. Using a Vinturi will open up your young wines so you can appreciate the fruits of your labour a little sooner!

Cheers,

Bruce

Manager- Wine Sense (Pembina Hwy)

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Filed under: General by Craig

One question that new winemakers keep asking me concerns pitching the yeast when starting a wine. Although the printed kit instructions say to sprinkle the yeast on top of the unfermented juice, the little yeast package tells you to hydrate the yeast in warm water.

Which method should you use? Always follow in the instructions that come wiht your wine kit. Simply sprinkle the yeast onto your warm must. The yeast cells know what to do and will happily start working their magic.

For a simple cell- Yeast are pretty smart!

Hydration of yeast as per the yeast package’s instructions, if not done properly, will actually hinder yeast reproduction. Hydration is high risk- low reward.

When in doubt always follow the printed instructions that are included in your wine kit. I do and my wines turn out pretty darned good.

Cheers,

Bruce

 Manager- Wine Sense (Pembina Hwy)

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Filed under: General by Craig

I was just thinking about the first time I used a Better Bottle carboy. My first thought was wow- is this thing light! I couldn’t believe how light it was after I racked my wine from the pail to the carboy, and proceeded to lift it up onto my wine bench. It was also a lot easier to get a good grip on it too. The big neck and the indent on bottom made it feel very secure as I lifted it up. No fear either of banging it up against another carboy and watch the ensuing disaster unfold!

When you’re cleaning your Better Bottle, they are light and easy to grip. They don’t get slippery like glass carboys.

I have a converted closet turned into a carboy storage area. It is quite elaborate with separate shelves for each carboy and a cloth cover to stop any breakage due to inadvertent collisions. I’m thinking to myself, that if all my carboys were plastic all I would have to do is stack in there without the high tech storage structure.

I have had far too many conversations with customers about the clean up after a carboy breakage. With the Better Bottle there’s no need to worry about that.

As the Better Bottles are on sale at the moment, I would give them a big thumbs up and would highly recommend this product.

Cheers,

Bob

Manager- Wine Sense (Springfield Rd.)

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Filed under: Equipment by Craig

I was having a dinner party the other evening and was serving barbequed garlic shrimp and steak. I had chosen a 2008 Limited Edition New Zealand Merlot which I felt would be a perfect accompaniment to the meal.

One of my guests tasted the wine and exclaimed: “Wow, if dinner is half as good as this wine it’s going to be a memorable meal!” It really was a perfect combination of wine and food.

When in doubt always choose a Limited Edition wine and it is sure to impress.

Cheers,

Carol (Wine Sense- Portage Ave)

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Filed under: General by Craig