On-Premise Winemaking FAQs

Q. How long does it take to make the wine?
A. Four to eight weeks depending on the type of wine.

Q. When is the wine ready to drink?
A. Again, It is dependent upon the wine style and your taste buds. At least 2-3 months aging is required for the wine to reach it's full potential.

Q. Can I get some right now or a sample to taste?
A. Nope, we’re not allowed to do that… it’s the law!

Q. How do I know what type of wine to buy?
A. If you know what kind of wine you like to drink the store staff should be able to suggest a wine that you’ll enjoy.

Q. How much work do I have to do?
A. You will have to pitch the yeast (which takes only a second) and you’ll have to come back and bottle the wine – it will take less than an hour.

Q. How much wine do I get?
A. About thirty standard (750 ml) bottles of one type of wine.

The Environmental Benefits of Wine made with Kits

• Wine kits contain less preservatives then commercial equivalents.
• The wine is transported from the wine regions in bulk, reducing packaging waste and energy.
• When you make your own wine, you will be using the same wine bottles over and over. This is an even better option than recycling.

Wine Consumed Within Canada

15% of all wine consumed within Canada is consumer made wine.

Wine Facts

• Thirty million gallons of wine were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

• There are over 10,000 varieties of wine grapes.
• The average cost of grapes used to produce a $20 bottle of wine is $2.64.
• Dom Perignon (1638-1715)-the Benedictine cellar master who is generally credited with "inventing" the Champagne making process-was blind.
• Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.
• The primary fruit crop in Napa Valley during the 1940’s was Prunes
• 20 million acres are planted to grapes worldwide.
• The wreck of the Titanic holds one of the oldest wine cellars in the world.The depth of the wreck has not affected most of the wine which is still intact
• Rose bushes you see planted at the end of rows of grape vines, are used to act as early detection for infestation of diseases and insects such as aphids.
• Every wine contains a certain amount of sulfites. A natural by-product of fermentation.
• It takes an average of 100 days between a vine’s flowering and the harvest.
• 86% of a bottle of wine is water.
• The average age of French Oak trees harvested for wine barrels is 170 years. Only 20 of the 400 oak species are used for making oak barrels. Only about 5% of the oak tree is suitable for making the high grade barrels.
• Wine has so many organic chemical compounds it is considered more complex than blood serum.
• In describing wine, the term "hot" refers to a high level of alcohol, leaving a hot, sometimes burning sensation.
• As early as 4000 BC, the Egyptians used corks as stoppers.
• Portugal has 1/3 of the world's cork forests and supplies 85-90% of the cork used in the U.S.
• Putting ice and kosher salt in a bucket will chill white wine or Champagne faster.
• In terms of acreage, wine grapes rank #1 among all crops planted worldwide.
• To prevent a sparkling wine from foaming out of the glass, pour an ounce, which will settle quickly. Pouring the remainder of the serving into this starter will not foam as much.
• Old wine almost never turns to vinegar. It spoils by oxidation.
• In King Tut’s Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.
• Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.
• When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in volcanic lava in A.D. 79, it also buried more than 200 wine bars.
• Grapevines cannot reproduce reliably from seed. To cultivate a particular grape variety, grafting (a plant version of cloning) is used.
• The lip of a red wine glass is sloped inward to capture the aromas of the wine and deliver them to your nose.
• We’re seeing more and more synthetic corks these days, but the latest technology to prevent contaminated corks is the use of microwaves.
• Labels were first put on wine bottles in the early 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1860s that suitable glues were developed to hold them on the bottles.
• In describing wine, the term “hot” refers to a high level of alcohol, leaving an hot, sometimes burning sensation.
• The auger or curly metal part of a corkscrew is sometimes called a worm.
• Graves is thought to be the oldest wine region in Bordeaux.
• The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower.
• The Egyptians were the first to make glass containers around 1500 B.C.E.