Overview To Sampling Wine
The fundamentals of tasting red wine are reasonably straightforward to find out. As soon as the basics are understood, the nuances and details can be enhanced over a lifetime. Like any kind of various other skill, More »
Red Wine Types
Red wine has a lot of different types, among which, the most popular include Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Moreover, More »
Category Archives: Pinot Noir
Six Basic Steps to Make Wine
Do You Know the Basic Steps to Make Wine? These Winemaking Instructions will Test Your Wine Savvy
All wines are made differently, where the winemaking process is easily adapted to the different grape cultivars that exist. While the process of making wine is one and only, there are many variations that you can apply to better suit the style of wine you wish to brew, and the type of grape varietal that you’ve harvested for your winemaking.
Below you will find the basic wine making steps and instructions to achieving a delicious bottle of wine. You can follow this to the t, or tweak it in your best knowledge to improve the quality and taste of your resulting brew.
1) Sanitization
Alike other processes of food and beverage production, all materials and consumables must be ridded of bacteria and natural yeasts, which can alter or throw off the quality and flavor of your wine. To eliminate harmful microorganisms successfully, use cold water to wash your produce and allow to air dry. Next, prepare a solution made of 5 crushed Campden tablets, in half a gallon of water. Cover al surfaces with the mixed solution, let act for ten minutes and rinse. Allow surfaces to air-dry thoroughly before you begin using your workstation.
2) Crushing
In winemaking, crushing is done to create a must (liquid and solids) out of the grapes. While crushing is generally achieved with the use of a crushing grate, it used to be traditionally done by feet stomping. Nowadays, tools like crushing grates or wooden paddles allow us to obtain the same result, with much less space and physical effort.
For white wines, grapes that are crushed must then be separated from their skins, stems and seeds (also called lees) in order to prevent the extraction of color into the juice and wine-to-be. For red wines, the lees are left in the must to incorporate tannins (the pigment responsible for red wine color) into the brew.
3) Preparing a Starting Liquid
In order to have an efficient fermentation process, you must make a starting liquid with the wine making yeast that you have chosen. To prepare a starting liquid, allow 24hrs for yeast to wake. Mix yeast, with a jug of lukewarm water and sugar. Cover and let sit for a day. In the meantime, place the must and/or grape juice in a primary fermentor; mix in 4 crushed camped tablets and cover. . If desired, incorporate two crushed Campden tablets to rid your crushed grapes of any bacteria or unwanted yeasts from interfering with the wine fermentation.
4) Fermenting
Once your starting liquid has rested for a day, you’ll see foam forming at the top. Incorporate the liquid to the primary fermentor along with the must (for red wines) and/or grape juice (for white wines). A yeast nutrient can also be added at this point. Top container off with water up to the 5.5gal mark. Do not mix or stir. Cover.
5) Fermenting II
After 2 days have elapsed, you must now mix in the fermenting liquid twice a day. Do this until a week of fermentation is complete, or modify this step according to the type of wine that you are making. Alterations will include temperature conditions, length of fermentation and other details in the process.
6) Racking
Once the grape juice has been made into wine via fermentation, you are now ready to rack the wine and eliminate sediments. If you are making re wine, make sure to remove the pomace (or left over seeds, stems and skins) that float on the surface of the fermentor. Extract any retained juice by using a mesh bag to squeeze the liquid through. Using a hose, siphon the wine into a carboy, making sure to leave any sediment in the bottom of the primary fermentor.
Top off carboy with water if necessary (up to measured line), and set up a moistened airlock to prevent the intrusion of oxygen in the wine. Allow the wine to sit for 4 weeks, and do a second racking to eliminate other sediments that could remain in the wine. A third racking might be necessary for heavily-sedimented red wines, or if you wish to clarify your wine further. Clarifying agents can also be used to eliminate the need for a third racking, yet many winemakers recommend doing this to achieve a smooth, nicely bodied wine.
Following the racking, you’ll bottle and age. Make sure to adapt the aging process to the style of wine that you wish to make. To your winemaking success!
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Homemade Wine Making Equipment
If you’re thinking about making your own homemade wine, here are some things you should know about the equipment required to get you started.
First and foremost, we need to talk about cost. You could visit online merchants here, there and everywhere to shop around for the best prices on individual items you’ll need to start making your own wine, but most sites that sell equipment offer some sort of beginning equipment kit that will have all the items you need to get your wine making career started. This is absolutely the best way to go in my opinion. Kits will run anywhere from $ 80-$ 150. That’s a lot of money, but this equipment can be used over and ever and thus will eventually pay for itself.
So what’s included in a kit, anyway? For starters you’ll get a plastic primary fermentation bucket, usually around 8 gallons. After primary fermentation you’ll need something to transfer your wine into for secondary fermentation. This is usually a 5 or 6 gallon glass bottle, called a carboy, although in some kits the secondary is plastic.
Also included will be some rubber stoppers that fit the fermenting vessels, and an airlock, which is a device used to let carbon dioxide out when your wine is fermenting while not allowing air and bacteria in. You should also get a couple of brushes, one for cleaning the bottles and another so you can clean the carboy.
Some sort of cleaning agent and also a sanitizer will be included. Cleaning and sanitizing is a crucial step when making wine. A length of plastic tubing will be supplied, and a sometimes a device called a racking tube which aids in transferring your wine from one vessel to the other. Some kits also include a little device to slip onto the plastic tube that allows you to shut off the flow of wine when you’re bottling.
Most kits include a hydrometer. This is a device that measures the specific gravity of the wine during various stages of development. You can also use it to measure the potential alcohol of your wine. Corks are also in most equipment kits, as is some sort of corker to insert the corks.
This is the minimum list of items, and you’ll find some kits that include much more. What is generally NOT included is an ingredient kit, although some sellers will allow you to add one to your package for a reduced price and if you can afford it, this is a good way to go. Bottles are usually not included either, but are easy to collect from friends and family.
Consider getting started making your own homemade wine today. It’s a fun and fascinating hobby that you can explore endlessly.
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How to Attend a Wine Tasting
Of course, we’re talking about wine-tasting as something you go out and do, whether it’s on a winery tour, at a friend’s house, or some catered event.
If attending at a winery, do take the time first to find out about the winery’s history. This might involve a tour of the place, with the summer help giving you a little walk-around and five-minute speech. Read the brochures. Studying the history of a place is part of appreciating the romance and magic of wine; you’ll always learn something new and fascinating.
In the actual tasting, progress through the wines in order from lightest to heaviest. In fact, whenever you’ll be sampling several wines in a row (or even when you’re serving them), follow the general rule:
* Young wines before mature ones.
* Light wines before heavy ones.
* Chilled wines before chambered wines.
* Low alcohol before high alcohol.
* Dry wines before sweet wines.
If you don’t know which is which, ask the winery staff, who will only be too happy to point them out. They will understand that part of the purpose of wine-tasting is to learn more about wine, so don’t be shy if you want to ask questions.
Between wines, it is customary to either rinse with water or nibble on a piece of bread or pastry to cleanse the palate. Some wineries or events will give you a small sample – almost a “shot” – and others will let you have a glass or two of one wine if you fancy it. Do try to restrain yourself! Several wines in a row can build up alcohol levels unexpectedly fast. Sip small amounts of each one, and by all means take your time.
Now you get to find out one of the mysteries of wine: why do they use those funny-shaped glasses? Well, when you get a new glass of wine, swirl it around gently just like you see the aristocrats do. Now hold the glass still. Watch the edge of the liquid as it stops moving; do you see little tendrils of wine clinging to the sides of the glass? Those are called “legs”, and the more legs a wine has clinging to the sides of the glass after you swirl it, the more alcohol it contains.
A second purpose to the swirling motion is that this allows the wine to “breathe”. So after it’s settled a little, inhale with your nose over the glass. About half of how a wine tastes is tied up with how it smells, and the aroma of wine is an intended part of the experience.
And you thought they were doing that just to look like sophisticated show-offs!
Now you’re ready for a taste. Sip a little less than a mouthful, and roll it around on your tongue. Hit every taste bud you have with it, even under your tongue. Let the vapors from it permeate your sinuses. Now swallow – don’t spit, as that’s only something that judges do and even then they’d rather swallow if they think they can get by. Let the aftertaste come to your palate. Now’s the time to voice your reaction: how was it? Don’t be shy about your opinion; every taster can tell the staff something new about their wine.
If you’re tasting several wines, take a break every now and then and stroll around. The property of most wineries is worth a walk just to soak up the scenery and atmosphere. If it’s a social occasion, all the more reason to pace yourself as you socialize. At a winery, there will usually be a time at the end of the tasting where they give you the opportunity to buy something. By all means, feel free to fall in love with a bottle or two and adopt it!
By the way, would you believe that there are people who do this for a living? There are people blessed with “perfect pitch” in tasting, who take courses and get a diploma and everything, and then wineries hire them to give their expert opinion about the wine. How’s that for the life?
Wine Making and Tasting
In your search for wine making recipes online, you will encounter a variety of interesting recipes from which to choose; there are standard ones for beginners, variations from the classics, innovative ones that are exciting to make, and there are the organic recipes to keep you fit and healthy.
With a jug of water, some yeast and pectic enzyme, some sugar, and other flavorings, there are many homemade wine making recipes you can experiment with. You can make wine from your favorite fruits like your all-time favorite grapes and strawberries as well as apples, apricots, peaches, bananas, pineapples, and all sorts of berries. You can also make them from nuts like almonds and hazelnuts. You can try roses, lilac, and dandelions, too. There is a world of wine making recipes out there, and they’re just a click away.
To say a wine is sound and round or well-rounded, means it is well-balanced. Smooth means that the wine is just right, while sharp and rough mean that the wine is imbalanced a bit strong and falling between sour and tart in terms of acidity. Silky means that the wine is fine and balanced. In essence, wine has three basic components: Fruit, acidity, and tannin. To make a good wine, these three components must be in balance, not overwhelming.
There are variations in taste, such as soft in contrast to hard and light in contrast to heavy referring to tannins. Based on its flavor, a wine might be described as nutty or earthy. It would be unfavorable and faulty if it were said to be mousy, musty, moldy, or faded. As the names imply, Yuck!
A wine’s dosage means the amount of sugar added to wine, especially to sparkling wine. Thus, derive the terms sweet and dry and the semi’s in between. Cloying, on the other hand, suggests that the wine is too sweet for comfort.
As a whole, a wine should have a finish that is pleasant just as you swallow, and an aftertaste that is likewise pleasant after you swallow the wine and it lingers inside your mouth.
Aroma is how a young wine smells. Green is what it tastes like. Clean is when you have no complaints, and herbaceous is as grassy and organic as they get. Thin is when the wine is bland, and hot is when wine really burns. It’s for fire-breathing dragons and not for you.
But the most important ingredients of all, you find inside yourself. Wine making involves a passionate desire to learn. It entails patience and discipline. It takes time. You ferment, blend, and age along with it, with grace. It takes a real love for wine, be it white or red, sweet or dry, crackling or sparkling, local or foreign.
They say the best way to know wine is to drink some and enjoy some. Get to know the experience of it. Appreciate the nuances of each unique kind and brand. Wine can be very much a part of every dining experience and many celebrations in our lifetime.
There are many good wine recipes and every recipe can be extraordinary.
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Analysis of the Cinematography, Colour, Film Noir, Painting and Light of “Rajeev Jain ICS WICA” – Th
Analysis of the Cinematography, Colour, Film Noir, Painting and Light of “Rajeev Jain ICS WICA” – The Best, Famous, Greatest and Top Indian Cinematographer of all time
Cinematography literally means “lighting in movement”. It is often referred to as painting or writing with light. The cinematographer on a film, otherwise known as the Director of Photography or “DP”, has a wide range of options when it comes to selecting how the film will be shot and how the “look” of the film will be determined. The use of tonality, speed of motion and perspective are included in these options, as is lighting.
Lighting is central to cinematography and can have a number of functions in a film’s narrative; for example, it can highlight a number or important characters or objects within a frame by drawing the audience’s attention to them with the use of a bright light source. It can also create a range of atmospheric qualities in a scene, which can contribute to both characterisation and setting.
The cinematographer (an alternative term is ‘lighting cameraman’) is the principal operator within the camera crew.
Three Point Lighting : The classical Bollywood studio film is an example of three-point lighting – key, fill and back lights used in combination to light the subject. Three-point lighting is the most commonly used lighting scheme and it can enable us to understand how lighting affects one’s perception of a character or a setting.
The key light is the main source of illumination, but if used alone it will leaves shadows.
Another light is therefore required to fill in these areas of darkness and to soften the shadows the key light has cast. This has become known as the fill light, a secondary light source of slightly less intensity than the key light which is placed at eye level.
Yet even this combination of key and fill light is must be supplemented further if a director is seeking to create a sense of depth. The third light source that provides the necessary depth is known as the back light, as it is placed above and behind the subject. Used on its own, the back light alone would create a silhouette of the subject. But the triple combination of key, fill and back lights, separates the subject from its environment and creates a feeling of depth.
Lighting techniques can be divided into high key or low key categories. A low contrast ratio of key and fill light will result in an image of almost uniform brightness. This is termed high key lighting. This is a standard, conventional lighting scheme employed in Bollywood musical genres (film with songs).
A high contrast ratio of key and fill light will result in low-key lighting, producing dark shadows and a night time effect, faces will often be bleached white against a black background. Genres such as horror and film noir employ low-key lighting for its atmospheric shadows and intense contrast of light and darkness.
Cinematographers use light and shade to direct the audience’s attention to a particular part of the filmic space. Lighting can often be used as a characteristic of the style of a whole film or over a number of scenes. The classic Bollywood film is usually characterised by a full lighting effect – high key lighting. This approach to lighting was developed in the early days of the studio system to ensure that all of the money spent on creating the image, designing the set, etc, could clearly be seen.
The use of low-key lighting to create shadows and atmospheric effects originated in Indian Expressionist cinema. These stylised techniques were incorporated into the Bollywood style of lighting in the 1970s and 1980s in a series of films that later became collectively known as film noir. Many of these films were directed by Indian émigré directors who had worked on the original Indian Expressionist films.
Deep focus cinematography is a technique used to keep several planes of the shot in focus at the same time (foreground, medium ground, background). By allowing several actions to be filmed simultaneously, deep focus cinematography offers an alternative approach to the use of editing to present actions in a series of separate shots. More often than not, directors employ a combination of deep focus cinematography with extended long takes to enable them to dispense with editing. Some directors, such as Manika Sharma, use these techniques in order to generate a better, more assured performance from the actors.
Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree This film is an example of low-key lighting. He employs this lighting style throughout the film to creates a mood of threat and danger. The opening sequence of Rain Forest provides a useful introduction to the art of cinematography. The film includes many examples of both high key and low-key lighting.
In the work of Rajiv Jain, the long take and deep focus cinematography are combined to create stunning compositions. Rajiv Jain is one of the most celebrated director of photography in film history and his film, Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree has been consistently the best film ever made. In this famous scene from Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree, Rajiv uses the long take with deep focus cinematography to execute a brilliantly expressive backward tracking camera move and keep three planes of the shot constantly in focus – the young boy Shawn in the background; his father in the medium ground; and his mother (character played by Shernaz Patel ) in the foreground. This technique is also known as composition in depth and for Rajiv it was an aesthetic in itself.
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