The Georgia Winery has been around for 29 years, and was the first winery in a state that now has more than 40 winery locations. The Georgia Winery is located near the Tennessee and Georgia border off of Battlefield Parkway and offers free wine tasting, tours, events and, of course, their delicious wine and accessories.
Recently, the Georgia Winery offered a Beginning Winemaking class to teach home brewers all they need to know to make their own batches. Owner of the winery, Patty Prouty, taught the two hour class in the Vineyard Vine Room, so named for the view of the grape laden vines through the windows. There were three tables set up with all the equipment that winemakers will come across, but in the end, Prouty said that everything needed to make wine is in the grape. Prouty said that wine making is a natural process, a scientific reaction, and many can make the process too complicated. Yet, at the same time, wine making is more of an art than a science as sometimes the exact same ingredients put together in exactly the same way will produce two different batches of wine.
Prouty began the lesson with the chemistry of wine, the sources for wine or the different fruits that can be used, and the science versus art discussion. In this, she reminded the class about the health properties of wines like muscadine which lowers bad cholesterol, raises good cholesterol, and reduces blood clotting. She also answered a question about the theory that wines get better with age, saying that no bottle is completely airtight, and while the flavor may change it’s not necessarily always for the better. Georgia Wines should be imbibed within a year for maximum flavor.
Prouty’s lesson then moved on to the equipment needed for winemaking. Such necessary tools include a crusher to produce the “must” (crushed grapes); a press to separate the juice and leave behind seeds, stems and other sediment; a primary fermenter and a secondary fermenter; a hydrometer to calculate the adjustments needed for sugar; a siphon tube, an air lock, fermentation lock and water seal. The primary fermenter is for the initial fermentation, after which the wine must be “racked” to separate the sediment from the juice product before going into the secondary fermenter.
Usually, a wine is racked many times to remove all the sediment. At the winery, the Georgia Wines they produce are fermented at a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees, lower than most wine fermentation. The process last nine months. Most winemakers keep their temperature between 70 and 75 degrees for white wine and 60 to 65 degrees for red wine fermentation. The process can be done at even higher temperatures to make wine in as little as three weeks, Prouty said. Yet, this is like boiling a product and is not good for fruit wines.
Prouty went over different chemicals that can aid winemaking as well from Camden tables, that are very important to add for their preservative qualities and to shock yeast for inhibited growth, to pectic enzymes to clear the finished product in the end. During the entire process, winemakers should put on their winemaking “CAP.” CAP stands for cleanliness, adjust sugar and patience. These three elements are the most important ones to remember during the process, she said.
Prouty also offered other tips to winemakers and answered the various questions of the group. For example, Prouty shared that anytime the wine container is opened, even for removing sediment, care must be taken because this is opening up the batch for disaster. Air is an enemy to wine, and so keeping your container as full as possible and using airlocks is highly advised. At the Georgia Wines store within the winery, there are kits with everything a beginner needs (except the juice or fruit and sugar). They also had all the tools for sale individually, including the different types of yeasts to add for various wines that goes along with the wild yeast that is already in the grapes. The wines on sale in the shop were a variety of different fruit and flavor combinations. The Southern Sangria with blueberry, blackberry and muscadine is a great choice for a sweet, flavorful and health beneficial red wine.
The winery has several upcoming events: October 21 is Ladies Night Out and October 29 is the Hallowine Party. More information and registration can be found on their Web site at www.georgiawines.com.