First step- add the bentonite to 1/2 gallon of hot water (I used purified tap water brought almost to a boil) and stir vigorously. As mentioned in my last post, bentonite is a clearing agent. It's used early on in the process with some WineExpert kits because it binds to positively charged particles, in this case the yeast and helps to bring the yeast back down into the mixture. Bentonite isn't some fancy man made chemical, it's actually a clay granule!
The next step is to add the grape concentrate! I stirred this into the bentonite mixture gently at first. The line in the bucket is the 6 Gallon mark which is where the mixture should be before adding the grape skins, oak and yeast.
I added 1 gallon of warm water to the bag that the concentrate came in, got all of the last of the juice out, and ended up very close to the line. I topped it off with a bit of lukewarm water and ended up with the picture below:
The next step is adding the bag of grape skins! I sanitized my cloth bag and placed it around the mouth of a sanitized bowl as seen below:
Then I poured the grape skins into the bag that's now sitting in the bowl. Once these grape skins are in, it's time to tie off the bag, leaving plenty of room for the grape skins to move around, and then place it into the fermenting bucket. I also poured the bit of concentrate that was filtered into the bowl into the bucket.
Next, it's time to add the oak shavings. The cubes are saved for later stages after a couple of rackings. For now, I added two packets of 20g each of Hungarian Oak shavings. These are a bit messy and have to be stirred underneath the mixture so they don't float on top. Of course this oak gives the wine it's characteristic oak flavors. In the future I may play with the amount of oak in the wine, but for this kit, I added exactly what was sent.
Here's the mixture with the oak stirred in (mostly- I did a bit more stirring later on):
Next, it's time to measure the Specific Gravity of the wine. Without getting too technical, specific gravity in the case of wine making is a comparison of the density of a substance (in this case the wine must) as compared to water. To start, this kit should be between 1.080 and 1.100 on the hydrometer. You can use a glass cylinder, but in my case I decided to just place the hydrometer directly into the wine as seen below:
I was holding it for the picture, but you simply let the hydrometer sit and look at the reading (don't forget the meniscus!) and I found the reading to be at 1.094. However, my must was at a temperature of 75 degrees and the scale for the hydrometer is based on 60 degrees. I did a calculation which determined that my specific gravity was 1.096 which is well within the normal range for this kit. On to the next step! The yeast:
The Lalvin yeast RC212 is added (both packets) to the must. It is not first reconstituted in water like in some recipes. With this kit you simply pour the yeast over the top of the wine must and the yeast will do its thing. This is where the bentonite comes in, it will bind with the yeast and the combined weight will bring it to the bottom of the must.
And that's all for now. I placed the lid gently on top of the bucket and it will sit for around 7 days. I will gently stir it every couple of days and I will take a reading of the wine's specific gravity each day as well.
Until next time!
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