April - Muscat Grape
Wine Making with Invert Sugar
The more formal name for table sugar is sucrose. We do not often think of sugar making as part of the wine making process but you can speed up fermentation, and reduce the possibility of crystallization, by converting sucrose into its two component parts - glucose and fructose - before adding it to the wine must. Inverting the sugar speeds fermentation because it is the glucose and fructose molecules that the wine yeast will eventually turn into the alcohol and carbon dioxide produced in the fermentation process.
Commercial invert sugar is made with an enzyme called invertase. You can buy commercially produced invert sugar from brewing and winemaking supply houses, but it is considerably more expensive than grocery store table sugar. Partially inverted sugar can be home made from common table sugar without enzymes. The invert sugar recipe below uses lemon juice but you can substitute citric acid, ascorbic acid, or cream of tartar depending on what you have at hand at the time.
Invert sugar is made by mixing two parts table sugar to one part water, and adding two teaspoons lemon juice per pound of sugar. The mixture is brought almost to a boil and then reduced to a vigorous simmer for about 30 minutes. There should be no residual sourness from the lemon juice by that time. Pour the invert sugar syrup into a sealable jar, and refrigerate until cool. You can make a large batch and use it for several wine making sessions.
Invert sugar is used for fermentation only. Do not use invert sugar to sweeten a finished wine as it may restart fermentation. Unless you are making champagne, bottle fermentation seldom has a good outcome.
(C) Peter Sabrage. Learn how to make homemade wine and why varietal wine juices will always produce a higher quality wine. |
Thoughts about Muscat Grape
Organic Wine, A Reprieve for the Allergic
When I was a kid, I developed an allergy to peanut butter, something I loved to eat by the spoonful. While others ate it, mixing clumps with strawberr...
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Featured Muscat Grape Items
Wine Cork Bulletin Board Kit
Pop those wine corks...and create wine corkboards trivits and message centers that capture both memos and memories. Our wine cork products are one of our most popular since half the fun is in the making! We supply the oak frame mounting board glue and instructions. You supply the wine corks. The wine corkboards perfect for kitchen home office or wine cellar. Available in size 22' x 22' also. Size: 16' x 16'. Gift boxed.
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News about Muscat Grape
Oroya -- The First Wine to go with Sushi
Wed, 15 Nov 2006 17:01:26 PST
Winemaker Yoko Sato has developed the first grape-based wine to compliment the diverse and delicate flavors of sushi. Having never tasted a wine that she felt complemented sushi, she experimented for more than a year, finally settling on a blend of airen, macabeo, and muscat grapes.
A Sicilian Rarity Wine: Zibibbo Odinetto By Baglio Oneto
Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:21:41 PDT
The Moscato grape, a variety that is cultivated in several wine regions, operates an extensive cast of subvarieties and serves as the primary foundation of several dessert wines. In Italy’s Sicilia, it is known as Zibibbo, the direct relation of Spain’s Malaga and Greece’s Muscat of Alexandria.
2007 Finger Lakes Weekend Wino Wine Awards- White Wines
Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:31:08 PST
When we last went to commercial break at The Finger Lakes Weekend Wino Wine Awards show, we had just announced the winners for Favorite Red Wines (click here to see the post for Favorite Finger Lakes Red Wines of 2007) and our host, Conan O’Brien was cracking bad jokes like "Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it’s up to women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with." (Can‘t wait until the Hollywood writer‘s strike is over). R
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Napa Wine | New Wine
Labels: Vintage Charts
