To help the home wine maker produce the highest quality wine, J.W. Dover offers the following information. If you have other questions please contact us and we will be glad to answer your questions.

• Fresh Juice Instructions
• Chemicals for Wine Making
• How to Clean Your Wine Barrel
• Wine Bottling
• Wine Evaluation Sheet

Fresh Juice Instructions

Juice purchased from J.W. Dover has been adjusted, when necessary, to meet the standards we use in our winery. The sugar content is adjusted to approximately 22 brix on the balling scale. This should yield an alcohol potential of 11% to 12%. The acid has been adjusted so that it is between 0.6 and 0.9. Perfect acidity is 0.777. There is no need to add more sugar or acid, but you may choose to. We are providing the following information to promote the finest result in your endeavor.

SANITATION

Clean and sanitize all equipment including fermenters, mixing equipment, bottles and all other equipment used in the immediate operation. Do not clean and sanitize equipment today for use tomorrow; clean equipment prior to use.

FERMENTATION

This begins in the jug. We do not recommend the use of open fermentation vessels unless working with actual fruit. The use of plastic jugs is only recommended for primary fermentation. Glass jugs should BE used for secondary fermentation and the aging of your wine. When you get home, remove and save approximately 1 gallon. We recommend that you add wine yeast to your juice. It helps to produce a consistent wine from year to year. Pectic enzyme is also recommended for keeping of color and enhancing clarification of the wine. Heavy fermentation should begin within 48 hours and will continue for 7 to 14 days depending on the temperature. The ideal temperature is 58 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. After three (3) days, start taking daily hydrometer readings. When your reading is 8 on the Balling Scale, rack your wine into a secondary container and start topping with the juice you removed originally. Add small amounts to prevent boil-over. Keep wine under airlock throughout this time period. Fermentation is complete when hydrometer reading is below zero (0) or .990 on the Balling Scale.

RACKING, AGING, & CLARIFYING

After fermentation stops, rack wine into clean and sanitized container. At this time, addition of a fining agent is recommended. The faster a wine clears, the better it will taste. Rack as often as significant sediment occurs. Add three (3) Campden Tablets per five (5) gallons of wine at each racking. A wine may hold a haze if there is sediment in the bottle.

SWEETENING & BOTTLING

Wine should be six to eight months old before it is bottled and it should be clear. Wine can be sweetened to taste at this time using cane sugar. To sweeten your wine, remove approximately one quart of your wine. Slowly add table sugar to taste (to the quart). If the quart gets too sweet, add more wine. When the wine tastes as you like, take a hydrometer reading. Add one cup of sugar per one percent balling for every five gallons of finished wine to be sweetened. Stir and add Sorbistat K at ½ teaspoon per gallon and ½ Campden tablet per gallon. Replace stopper and check for renewed fermentation over the next couple of days. Bottle if there are no signs of fermentation. Add more sorbates if fermentation begins again. If bottling with corks, soak corks in sodium metabisulphite solution. One tablet per gallon of water or ¼ teaspoon per gallon. Stir or submerge corks for 10 to 30 minutes before use. Do not boil corks, as this will cause the corks to leak and become brittle. Using a quality cork press, install corks and let stand for up to 12 hours. If corks push out, reinstall and check for renewed fermentation. After 12 hours, lean bottles on the width part of a 2 x 4 for an additional 48-72 hours. This is to allow the corks to re-swell and seal without leaking. After this time, the bottle should be placed on their side or upside down for storage.

Chemicals for Wine Making

• ACID BLEND - Used to raise the acidity of the wines that are low in acidity (mainly California wines).
• BENTONITE - A finishing agent used to clarify wines after fermentation. It will lighten red wines when alied. It is the best clarifier for wines.
• CALCIUM CARBONATE - Used to lower the acidity of wines that are high in acid.
• CAMPDEN TABLETS - Same as Sodium Metabisulphite.
• SORBISTAT K (POTASSIUM SORBATE) - Used to stabilize wines that are not completely fermented out or wines that will be sweetened.
• SPARKOLOID - A wine clarifier that will not reduce the color of red wines.
• SODIUM METABISULPHITE - Alis free Sulphur Dioxide to wine to keep bacteria and wild yeast under control. Mainly used as a cleaner.
• YEAST ENERGIZER - A fermentation aid that causes yeast to ferment faster and harder. Mainly used for stuck fermentation.
• YEAST NUTRIENT - Used to make the yeast cell grow faster with lower risk of stuck fermentation.
• SPARKLE-BRITE - Bottle sanitizer. Should be rinsed.

How To Clean Your Wine Barrel

All water additions use approximately 20 gallons.

1. Burn two sulfur sticks in barrel.
2. Place half a pound of baking soda into barrel and add the hottest water available from your tap.
3. Swirl the solution around vigorously in the barrel. pour the solution down the drain.
4. Rinse the barrel with cold water.
5. Add water and eight ounces of acid blend to barrel and, again, swirl the solution vigorously.
6. Rinse with cold water.
7. Rinse barrel two more times with cold water. your barrel is now ready for wine fermentation.

Wine Bottling

Wine is ready to bottle when it is clear and the hydrometer reads below 0 on the balling scale. To sweeten your wine, remove approximately one quart of your wine. Slowly add table sugar to taste (to the quart). If the quart gets too sweet, add more wine. When the wine tastes as you like, take a hydrometer reading. Add one cup of sugar per one percent balling for every five gallons of finished wine to be sweetened. Stir and add Sorbistat K at ½ teaspoon per gallon and ½ Campden tablet per gallon. Replace stopper and check for renewed fermentation over the next couple of days. Bottle if there are no signs of fermentation. Add more sorbates if fermentation begins again.

If bottling with corks, soak corks in sodium metabisulphite solution. One tablet per gallon of water or use ¼ teaspoon powder per gallon. Submerge and soak corks for 10-30 Minutes. Do not boil corks!! As this will cause the corks to leak. Using a quality cork press, install corks and let stand for up to 12 hours. If corks push out, reinstall and check for renewed fermentation. After 12 hours, lean bottles on the width part of a 2 x 4 for an additional 48-72 hours. This is to allow the corks to re-swell and seal without leaking. After this time, the bottle should be placed on their side or upside down for storage.

Wine Evaluation Sheet

The J.W. Dover / Heartland Vineyards wine evaluation sheet is available as a Microsoft Word document for Windows 95 or higher. Click on the link below to begin the download:

Wine Evaluation Sheet  << Download

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