It’s always nice when new gadgets come along and the Auto-Syphon Clamp is long overdue. I’m sure most winemakers are aware of the Siphon Clip- the little red clip that attaches to your siphon combo and secures it to your pail or carboy. It allows you to ‘hover’ the end of your syphon over the sediment bed so you don’t pull in any sediment while syphoning.

The Clamp- holding the Auto-Syphon to a Primary Fermenter

The Auto-Syphon Clamp works exactly the same in that it clips onto pails and carboys. The bonus is that it is designed specifically to fit the Auto-Syphon – something the red Syphon Clip could never do. You can now use your Auto-Syphon when filtering and bottling or filling your Wine-On-Tap system (which are on sale until July 24th!) 

I’ve had an Auto-Syphon for years but have never used it to bottle because it stirs up the sediment too much- which ends up in the bottle or plugs your filter pads. Now that problem has been solved and for the low price of $3.99 you can have one too.

If you don’t have an Auto-Syphon pop on down to your favourite Wine Sense location and we’ll be happy to show you how it operates… no more having to suck on your syphon to get it started!

Cheers,

Bob, Manager (Wine Sense- Springfield Rd.)

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Filed under: Equipment, New Products by Craig

For all of you who use the Nomacorc synthetic cork, just a reminder. After you cork your wine you should leave your bottles upright for at least 5 days, not the usual 3 days. Because Nomacorcs provide such a good seal (compared to natural corks) it can take more time for the air pressure to equalize. If you put your bottles on their sides too soon, as the air escapes, it may take a little wine with it.

Wine Sense Nomacorcs!

For those of you who have not used Nomacorcs, you should give them a try. They never break apart when you pull them out of the bottle and they have a zero failure rate due to cork taint. Most importantly Nomacorcs are a great improvement on the 400 year old technology of natural corks and are the best option available for the home winemaker. Let’s face it, if winemaking was invented today we would not be running into forests and digging into tree bark to seal our bottles!

 Nomacorc is an impressive company that looks beyond their corks and are considered an industry leader in all facets of storing wine including how oxygen affects wine, bottle shape and optimum cork insertion. I use Nomacorcs for all of my wines and recommend them to my customers. Click here to read an impressive Wall Street Jounal article about Nomacorc.

Wine Sense currently has all of our corks on sale for 20%off so it’s a great time to give Nomacorcs a try or to stock up on your cork needs. (offer ends July 3rd, 2010)

Cheers,

Bruce, Manager (Wine Sense- Pembina Hwy)

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Filed under: Equipment by Craig

Last week when the Carboy Cleaners arrived- I had to try one. I had two carboys to clean and the Carboy Cleaner not only did a great job but it was fun to use. Think of a ‘car-wash’ inside your carboy.

No more having to scrub with a Carboy Brush while trying to get into the shoulders of the carboy. No more trying to carefuly ‘aim’ the tip of the brush to get that tough spot on the bottom of the carboy. 

It took only 1 litre of water and 1 tbsp of Sparklebrite to clean the carboy (not counting the rinse water). This significantly cuts down on the cost of cleaning by using less Sparklebrite and as a result less water.

The best part was that I finished with the cleaning and put the carboy away in 10 minutes (yes- I did play longer than necessary).

Make life easier- get a Carboy Cleaner!

In the past, my problem with cleaning carboys was filling them up to soak and forgetting to come back and finish. Now everything is cleaned up and put away before I leave the room… my wife likes this.

Click here to view a brief video and see why the Carboy Cleaner (exclusive to Wine Sense)  is the fastest, easiest and best way to clean your carboys!

Cheers,

Jim- Manager (Southdale)

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Filed under: Equipment, New Products 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