Chayav Inish Libsumei...

As Purim is around the corner, it seems a good time to talk about wine. My friend Ted and I have been blogging (or, writing a few posts, anyway) about our wine-making adventures that started before Rosh Hashana. Below, for your reading pleasure, are excerpts of those posts, from israelwinetrail.com.

PS. We didn't end up blogging the most important part. A month ago, we ended up tasting and bottling the wine. It is delicious! Ted and I each took home 31 bottles, plus one given as a gift to David Fox, who walked us through the process.

After hours of back and forth discussion, we decided to call our wine Sod, the Hebrew word for secret. As the gemara says, when wine goes in, the secrets come out.
We have a friend assigned to making our label, but he go married this week, so I can't say I'm expecting them anytime soon. And I'm not sure any will be left after Pesach...

The old posts:

It was time to press on!
Written by Ted
Thursday, 28 September 2006

"When do we get dirty I asked myself? How can you make wine without messy floors and stained clothing?"

- Ted (Sept 21, 2006)

I remember asking those innocent questions just last week. The answers came early in the pressing phase - YES you get dirty, YES your floor gets messy and YES your clothes get stained. I began to understand why the wine press was the single most important piece of equipment in wine making.
Needless to say, we didn't have one.

But we did have a couple of plastic bowls, a spare garbage bin, a funnel, a sieve, a jug, a new t-shirt, 3 pairs of hands and a bottle of Castel (Petit Castel 2003). The Castel was courtesy of our friend Sarit, who also was the owner of one of the pairs of hands mentioned above.

After taking maaser on the wine, we were ready to press.

We had a plan. We would scoop the must out of the containers and into the sieve. We would capture the liquid (i.e. "free run") that flowed through the sieve with one of our handy plastic bowls and then pour it through the funnel (via a t-shirt) and into the 54 liter glass demijohn. The must caught in the sieve would be dumped into the spare bin for later pressing.

Well, it was an ok plan on paper, and it was exciting to see the drops of wine drop into the demijohn, but it didn't take long to realize that this was not going to work. At the rate the wine was dropping into the demijohn the wine at the bottom was going to complete its 2 month aging process long before we finished pressing! In other words, this was way too slow even for our already planned all-nighter. 1 drop per second multiplied by 60 seconds, multiplied by 60 minutes - 3600 drops per hour. How many drops in 54 liters?

So we cut the t-shirt (which was too thick of a filter) in half and we used one side between the sieve and the jug and one side between the jug and funnel. We also made sure to wash both shirts between uses to clear away the dregs. I did a lifetime of laundry that night.

Each person had their specific job. After a few hours the three of us became a well oiled machine, though no one would mistake us for an actual wine press (although we began to look like one with our grape stained hands and shirts).

Aside from a small dinner break (Burger's Bar goes very well with Castel), we worked throughout the night. At various points in the night we lost members - a little too much wine between pressings. But there was always at least two of us working.

And then a funny thing happened I think around 3 am.

The demijohn began to play tricks on us. As we peered through the top it appeared that it was almost full. It appeared that with just a few more pressings we would reach the "line" that we were aiming for. The line itself was not the end - but it was the point at which the wine would become visible to us (the glass demijohn was covered by an opaque grey plastic up until its neck). Once the wine reached the line we knew we were only one or two pressings away from filling the demijohn. We would leave a small vacuum at the top to allow the CO to escape as the wine continued to ferment.

But the more we added it seemed the further away we were from filling the demijohn! Each time we peered into the demijohn it seemed like the level was decreasing. Were our eyes playing tricks on us? Was the wine (that we had consumed) playing tricks on us? I know that wine is magical but this was too much. And to make matters worse we were running out of time and must. We continued pressing, and watched in amazement as we began to see the bottom of the third plastic bin that was the source of our must.

Now this was not good. The biggest enemy of wine is oxygen, and therefore NO MATTER WHAT we had to make sure that the demijohn was full in the end. We could not leave that much unfilled space at the top of the demijohn.

Had we filtered too much? Was the must mysteriously evaporating? Was our demijohn too big?

Getting extra must is not an easy thing. We couldn't exactly knock on the neighbor's door at 4 am and ask for crushed Merlot grapes, skins and seeds. Believe me I thought about it.

So we squeezed what we could, sealed the demijohn, and went to sleep. In the morning we would speak to those who knew better and would figure out what to do.

The next morning we were told to do what we already knew we had to. We were to open up a bottle of Merlot wine and use it to top off our demijohn. As we debated back and forth, Zev decided to give it one last push with what remained of our grape skins. 20 minutes later I got word that he had reached the line! The demijohn decided to hide the fact that we were THAT close. Only once we reached the line did we know that we had reached the line.

Schrödinger would have been proud.



[Sidebar:
For those of you actually interested in the "final" process, here it is in a nutshell:

a) Person number 1 scooped the must out of the large garbage bins and poured it into a plastic bowl (through a strainer). The remaining must in the strainer was then gently pressed to release additional juice.

b) The juice in the plastic bowl was then poured into a plastic jug (through one side of a t-shirt). Person 2 would massage the wine through the t-shirt until all of it (minus the dregs) was in the jug.

c) The juice in the jug was then poured into the funnel (through one side of a t-shirt) and squeezed into the glass demijohn by person 3. Person 3 was also responsible for cleaning the t-shirts between use, to make sure that the juice would flow smoothly through the shirts.

As you can see we used multiple levels of filtering to make sure that we would get as little sediment as possible. The down-side was that it took longer, and we lost more juice along the way. This became quite an important down-side later on when it seemed like we were running out of must. Also, we don't know what negative effects the tap water used to clean the t-shirts (or the t-shirts themselves) will have on our final product. But, as became increasingly obvious to us, sacrifices had to be made along the way. There is a big difference between "how to make wine" and actually making wine (especially in a home setting).]

[Sidebar 2:
Something else happened during the process - we now know where we stand on the whole sulfide debate.

The debate over whether or not to use S02 in the wine making process is really not much of a debate at all. People have been doing it for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A Prussian royal decree made it official in the year 1487 - it was permitted to use sulfur dioxide as a wine additive. Some say the Romans had already been doing this over a thousand years before.

S02 is known to cause severe allergic reactions, which is a big reason why those who oppose its use oppose its use. Also, I imagine that they turn their noses up at the seemingly unnatural interference in the normal process of wine making. I wonder though, why no one seems to mind adding yeast?

So with all these drawbacks why do people insist on using it? Because it stops the growth of undesirable yeasts and bacteria. Wine that is going to undergo any type of aging process needs this. Without it, your chances of having a good product at the end decrease dramatically. But the key is not to use too little or too much.

Half way though the pressing, we dumped in 1 teaspoon of sulfur dioxide (SO2).

G-d help us!
__________________________
A stirring experience
Written by Zev
Thursday, 21 September 2006
This first week of fermentation, my job is easy and fun. At least twice a day, I get to get down and dirty mixing up the grapes.
It works like this: Inside our trusty black garbage bins (pictured below), the crushed grapes tend to float to the top, while the juice stays below. That's basic physics-- the lighter element floats to the top. But we don't just want our beautiful crushed Merlot grapes to cover the juice, we want to use all of the grape in the winemaking process. That means I have get in there and and push the grapes down.

As each pail is filled to about elbow height, I get to stick my whole arm into the mixture. When I first go in, the top 40% or so is solid grape mass, not wet at all. Then, when you get past that level, the bottom is pure liquid. I stir each mixture a bit until it starts foaming, and then move on to the next one. My arm is stained a deep red after each one, and some of my clothing is starting to match. (The color comes off my hands easily, but restoring my pants to their glory is a tougher ordeal.)
Before we started, we were told to keep the mixture out of the sun, because that would speed up the fermentation process. We were also advised to keep bottles of ice inside to keep the temperature down. So far I've been doing that, but the mixture seems to stay cool on its own.

Its been fascinating to watch the smell and taste of the mixture develop over justa few days. Monday, the day after we brought everything home, licking my hands after mixing was a delicious treat, better than I ever imagined grape juice could taste. Now Thursday, the taste is acrid, and similar to wine than an exotic drink. The smell (and yes, the smell has gradually penetrated the entire apartment, although I guess I am used to it now) is also a bit closer to that spoiled-fruit smell. In any case, its still makes me happy when I walk in the door.

Friday and Shabbat are Rosh Hashana, so I won't get to stire the wine then, but the day after, when we finish fasting on Tzom Gedaliah, we are going to press the grapes and move them to a different home. I won't get to stir the grapes on those days, but I'll be thinking about them...

Shana Tova!
____________________________
Fermentation
Written by Ted
Thursday, 21 September 2006
“G-d made yeast, as well as dough, and loves fermentation just as dearly as he loves vegetation.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The week of fermentation. Fermentation, in the case of wine, refers to the breakdown of the grape's natural sugar into alcohol (caused by yeast). I was worried that the yeast of the second phase was the crusher of the first phase (was it too going to do all the work?).
When do we get dirty I asked myself? How can you make wine without messy floors and stained clothing? I was thinking about what the wine maker lady told us on Sunday - we like to think that we are wine makers, but in reality the wine makes itself. Are yeast and time all you need to ferment wine?

Luckily, no! We humans also have a job to do this week. The solid parts of the must (the skins) have a tendency to rise to the top gradually. When you make red wine you want the skins to come into contact with the juice as much as possible to impart the grape's tannins to the wine. And for color too - the more contact, the better the final color. Having the skins floating on top doesn't do you a lot of good. So at least twice a day we have to stir or mash down the wine until it is a complete mixture and the skins are fully integrated with the juice once again.

As the wine is sitting in Zev's apartment this is primarily his responsibility. And I had a feeling that he was going to find a way to do it more than twice a day. And I wasn't going to let him have all the fun either.

We were told by some that we should get a stainless steel metal rod, by others that we should use a broom handle, and yet by others that we could even use our arms. That's more like it. We'll leave the stainless steel rods to the boys at Golan Heights or Carmel. Zev and I were going to get in touch with our wine.

I finally made it over to Zev's apartment Tues night. When I entered I was hit with the unmistakable smell (scent, odor) of wine. Zev doesn't even notice it anymore, living among the containers as he does. I might just have to bring a sleeping bag over!

So, some time between the moment I got there and the moment I had my arm submerged in the wine we came up with a name - for the wine. The name had been eluding us for some time. We had plenty of material - there was symbolism staring at us from every direction. The location of the vineyard, the time of year, our own personal histories. But the name, just wasn't coming.

It was time to stir the wine. I carefully washed my arm. Punching through the thick top layer and reaching the juice is an indescribable feeling. I recommend not wearing anything you are concerned about staining though.

And as for the name?

I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag just yet.
____________________________
We will crush or be crushed!
Written by Ted
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
There are two things that I've always wanted to do, and as luck would have it I am doing them both right now. I have always wanted to make my own wine, and I have always wanted to write a blog about wine.

After months of anticipation Sunday was finally the day. Zev and I arrived at the site minutes before the truck arrived. The truck was carrying probably close to 1 ton of Merlot grapes from a secret location up north (well, it won't be a secret very long). 100 kilos of them belonged to us. Golan Heights Winery need fear not - they produce tens of millions of bottles per year. Zev and I will be lucky to come out with 75.

75 is plenty for our first foray into the wine making process. Ambitious even. After all, we could end up producing 75 bottles of very expensive vinegar.

We are wine lovers, but as we learned quickly on Sunday that did not make us wine makers. Two minutes after we arrived we found ourselves chatting with a fellow wine maker also waiting for her grapes to arrive - a pleasant woman who has been making home made wine for many years. She asked where we stood on the whole sulfide issue.

Zev and I looked at each other and realized that we were clearly in over our heads. Well, I figured that if we answered the question (what exactly WAS the question?) we had a 50% chance of either impressing her or annoying her. We could not afford to annoy her - clearly we were going to need all the help we could get.

Now Zev and I are not wine novices. We love wine, and we drink a lot of it. We have visited dozens of wineries in Israel, we have spoken to wine makers, we have participated in one winery tour after another (often saying the words along with the guide). We have written articles and encyclopedia entries and conducted radio interviews about the Israeli wine industry. We have held public wine tastings in our homes.

But neither of us knew what the sulfide debate was - and that was depressing. And exhilarating. Because we knew we were about to get a real education. We'll get back to the sulfides later (not too late, we don't want to ruin our wine).

The truck was surrounded by aspiring wine makers and their curious relatives. Among all the neighborhood kids were my nephews and nieces, who were on hand to observe and participate in the process. Probably wondering why their uncle didn't have any normal hobbies.

Zev and I were ready - give us something to step on, stand in, crush with our feet.

When you have a process as ancient as wine making and an industry as modern as the Israeli wine industry, there are going to be some paradoxes. And one of those is the $1,000 motorized crusher (destemmer).

We would not be pulling clusters of grapes off of stems today. We would not be gently crushing the grapes with our hands or feet. We would be pouring crates of grapes into a brilliant stainless steel machine that through sheer magic would do the work for us. The machine made short work of the grapes, spewing out the stems from one shoot and the must (grape juice, skins and seeds) from another.

Despite the existence of the machine, there was plenty of good old fashioned labor to be done. We still had to lift the crates (each containing 16 kilos of grapes) and pour them into the top of the crusher. Perhaps next year we will have a motorized lifter. We had to capture the flowing must in plastic containers (in our case 50 liter garbage bins). Someone had to make sure that the stems were being captured and removed as well. Once the crusher was turned on there was a frenzy of activity around the machine. And the work continued for hours into the night, until all the grape containers were empty, and all the wine containers were full.

We added yeast to the must - another piece of magic, this one not man-made, that would actually turn our grape juice into wine. We tested the level of sugar content in the grapes. We were told that ~23 Brix was optimum (our grapes measure out at 25).

All that was left to do was to get our three 50 liter containers into the back of my very average sized car, and get them back to Jerusalem in one piece. And of course, to celebrate the occasion with a nice bottle of wine.

The wine now rests in Zev's cozy apartment in Jerusalem, and the fermentation process is well under way!

Now comes the fun part...
__________________________
Let there be wine!
Written by Ted
Wednesday, 20 September 2006

This past Sunday (Sept 17), one week before Rosh Hashana 5767 (the Jewish new year), Zev and I began the process of making our own wine for the first time.

As day passed into night, we entered the 25th of Elul. According to most opinions, the 25th of Elul was the first day of the creation of the world. How fitting that it turned out to be the first day of the creation of our wine. What was grapes (and grape juice) on the 24th, was well on its way to becoming wine by the end of the 25th.

To include others in this amazing process, we have decided to share our first time wine making experiences through this blog.

Hope you all enjoy!