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Newsletter published by
Fine Vine Wines, LLC
"The Wine Maker's Toy Store™"
1300 N. Interstate 35-E, Suite 106
Carrollton, Texas 75006
March 2009
Volume 7, Issue 3
866-417-1114 (Long Distance)
972-323-7921 (Local)
972-323-7955 (Fax)
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I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Fine Vine Wines, LLC, "The Wine Maker's Toy Store". Whether you need home wine making products or just need information, we are here to serve you. I want to extend my thanks again for making The Wine Maker's Toy Store your home for your wine making needs. It continues to be my hope that every time you visit our web site or retail store, you will find something of value. |
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POST FERMENTATION TANNIN
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The Wine Makers Toy Store carries two post fermentation tannin products that were obtained from Scott Laboratories: Tan'Cor and Tan'Cor Grand Cru. Both products are a blend of proanthocyanidic (grape) and ellagic (oak) tannins. The products were developed to aid in color stabilization and protection against oxidation. In addition Tan'Cor Grand Cru increases structure and mouth-feel through the creation of long-chain polyphenols.
We decided to try the tannins on a Castel del Papa, the 10-Liter Vinifera Nobel kit from Mosti Mondiale. Since these tannins are to be added post-fermentation, we added them after the wine had been degassed and fined. The amount of tannin added can be increased with each racking, however the final adjustment should be made at least three to six weeks before bottling. For our test we made only one addition.
For both products Scott Laboratories recommends a dosage of from 10 to 30 grams per hundred Liters. For our test we selected the low end (10g/hL) and the mid-point (20g/hL). The wine was divided into five one-gallon batches. One batch had no tannin added and was our control sample. Tan'cor was added to two of the one-gallon batches, one received 0.4 grams and the other 0.8 grams. Tan'Cor Grand Cru was also added to two one-gallon batches in the same amounts. The wine was then allowed to age for about six months.
The wines were tasted after three months of aging. The wines with the tannin additive were somewhat smoother than the control sample but there was no significant difference in aroma and taste between the samples. When tasted at bottling, the wines with the tannin addition were noticeably smoother that the control. During this period, all the individual wines had improved aroma and taste. The tasters were mixed as to which tannin product and which dosage produced the better aroma and taste. All did agree that the wines with the tannin additions had a more pronounced fruit aroma and taste than the control.
After three months of bottle age, the wines were again tasted. The body of all wines was consistent with expectations from a 10-Liter kit. The tannin additions did however; create the perception of increased body. This perception was from the wine being more fruit forward and the improved mouth-feel. All wines with the tannin addition were noted as having more pronounced fruit aroma and taste than the control. The larger the dosage, the more fruit forward the wine. The wine treated with Tan'Cor Grand Cru showed better mouth-feel than the control or the wine treated with Tan'Cor.
Another tasting was conducted after eight months of bottle aging. The tannin treated wines were still smoother than the control but the difference was not as significant as it had been when the wines were younger. The wines treated with either Tan'Cor Grand Cru or Tan'Cor continued to show better mouth-feel and were more fruit forward than the control. Tan'Cor Grand Cru had better mouth-feel and was fruitier than the Tan'Cor treated wine. The tasters were not able to discern a significant difference due to the increased dosage of the tannin products.
In summary, the wines with the tannin addition were smoother and more fruit forward than the control wine. As the dosage of tannin increased, the fruit became more emphasized although this emphasis seemed to diminish with time. Both products improved the mouth-feel of the wine; however, the improvement was more apparent in the wines that had the Tan'Cor Grand Cru added. The difference between the treated and the untreated wine is not subtle; the difference is very evident. The tannins integrated well into the wine and there was no noticed harshness or excess astringency. Based upon our tasting, these tannin additions can make an improvement in a young wine. Unfortunately, because of frequent sampling we do not have enough wine left to determine the longer term effects of these tannin products.
These two tannin products were developed to be added to the wine after fermentation is complete and at least three weeks before bottling. As previously indicated, Scott Laboratories recommends a dosage of 10 to 30 grams per hundred Liters. Based upon our trials, one teaspoon of either Tan'Cor or Tan'Cor Grand Cru in six gallons will approximate a dosage at the low end of the recommended range, two teaspoons is about the mid-point and three teaspoons is the high end of the recommended range.
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WINESTOCK 2009 - April 10-12, 2009
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Due to poor planning on my part (Easter Weekend) and the economy, registrations for this years Winestock have been extremely light; therefore, we have revamped the event. The 2 big changes is that we will have the event in the store and the People's Choice Awards have been eliminiated this year. We will still have Nino Piazza and Matteo Meglioli and Buon Vino, but MacDay will not be attending.
Since we are not renting the Addison Conference Center, the price has been reduced to $65.00 for all events. To have a good head count for the food and give-a-ways, please register as soon as possible. For those of you that have already registered, we will be sending you a revised registration with the new costs for your approval. To learn more click on the link below:
PLEASE NOTE, since we will be having the event at the store, the store will be closed all day on Saturday, April 11th. | |
WineMaker Magazine Conference
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The 2nd Annual WineMaker Magazine Conference will be held in Napa Valley, California on May 15-16, 2009. This will give you the opportunity to join fellow winemakers from across North America in the heart of Northern California's wine country for two full days packed with seminars and special events to help you make your own great wine.
- 26 big seminars
- Classes on winemaking techniques, grape growing & more!
- Special social events to trade ideas with fellow winemakers
As with last year, The Wine Maker's Toy Store will be one of the sponsors of this oustanding event. In addition, we will be providing free shirts to all of our customers that are attending. If you would like a free shirt to wear at this event, please send me an email with your size. We will bring the shirts with us and hand them out at the show. In addition, we will have a table set up and if you would like to help at the table, please let me know.
To learn more click on the following link:
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| WineMaker Magazine Awards
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Each month, we will remind you about these awards because we want to be the "Retailer of the Year". This is based on the total scores of the wines entered for each retailer. Last year, we finished 6th in the U.S. and 13th overall and I would like to be #1.
The due date for this year's competition is March 17, 2009, so you still have time to send your wines.
It appears we will have well over 100 entries this year. To all of you that submitted your wines, "Thank you very much". I hope I give out a $100 certificat to everyone who entered. |
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WINES OF THE MONTH
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In keeping with prior months, we are going to give 6% off on 2 more wine kit lines. This month the lines are
All of these wine kits are ready to bottle in 5-8 weeks and are ready to drink in another 6-12 months. These wine kits will definitely improve with 6-12 months of additional aging. Remember with all of our "Wines of the Month", we try to anticipate demand, but may not be 100% successful. If we run out of a special, we will advise you of such and an expected ship date. We appreciate your understanding.
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| DFW AREA HOME WINE MAKING CLUB
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The next Cork's Crew, the Home Winemaker's Club meeting will be on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Rick Racinskas, 224 Mockingbird Lane,
Coppell, TX 75019.
If you would like to be added to the club mailings, please give me a call.
Hope to see you there. |
| Toys of the Month
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We finally have a new spigot! This one has been tested and does not have the leaking problem that we have experienced with existing spigots. It only has one gasket, but it does the trick. For those of you that would like to replace the ones you have, we are putting them on special at $1.99 each for the month of March. They come in 2 sizes. One for use with 5/16" or 3/8" tubing and the larger one for 7/16" and 1/2" tubing.
In addition, we are putting all of our tubing on special for 25% off. To see the pricing on these items, click here. |
| BREWER'S BEST BEER KITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For those of you that also make beer, we have put all of our Brewer's Best beer kits on sale for the month of March. These kits make 5 gallons of your favorite beer and come complete with the appropriate malt, grains and hops. In addition, each kit contains 53 beer caps, priming sugar and excellent instructions for brewing your beer.
This month also introduces 2 new beer kits from Brewer's Best, the Smoked Porter and the Rauchbier. Both of these are on special as well. To see the complete line of these kits, click on the following link:
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| NEW PRODUCTS
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To see all of the products added during the last 60 days, visit our New Products Page whenever you visit the web site.
If you are looking for a product that I do not carry, my distributors are LD Carlson and Crosby & Baker, Ltd. You can see their complete product list at their public catalogs. If you find anything you would like me to add, please let me know. |
ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the next several months, I will be re-designing the online ordering system to make it more user friendly and provide more information. I have looked at several "canned" shopping carts, but none of them provide me with the flexibility for offering my special discounts. As such, I will be making the changes myself.
Some of the planned changes are:
- Ability to fill your shopping cart anonymously,
- Ability to move items from your cart to your wish list,
- More information about the wine kits, including links to our online database of the wines we have made.
- Ability to track your order through our online system.
If you have any suggestions, please email them to me. If possible, I will incorporate all suggestions. |
| BOTTLING PARTY
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The next bottling party will be in June. We have not set the date, but will let you know next month. Just wanted to give you a "head's up!. | |
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Approaching 100,000 posts!
When you have a question or just want to learn more about wine making, don't forget our forum! We have over 1,375 registered members with over 99,000 posts! We have some extremely knowledgeable wine makers with loads of valuable information willing to assist you in your wine making needs. Responses to most posts are made within minutes. We are also known to have an occasional contest available to forum member only with valuable gifts, savings and coupons!
Whether you are an expert or a novice, it is an excellent place to ask questions, exchange ideas and meet other home wine makers. If you haven't logged into the forum, try it sometime. I think you will find it most informative and enjoyable, as well as, a great place to meet fellow wine makers.
DISCOUNTS
The most common discounts are listed below:
CUSTOMER REFERRAL PROGRAM
We have a customer referral program that provides additional discounts to registered users. We will give you a coupon worth 10% of the first order placed by any person that you refer to our web site. The stipulations are as follows:
- You must be a registered user of finevinewines.com,
- The person placing the order must register and provide your full name in the appropriate field on the registration screen, and
- The discount is only good for future orders with finevinewines.com and is not redeemable for cash.
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PROGRAM - FVW GROWERS CLUB
Please check out our FVW Growers Club. You can get all of the details on our web site, but the bottom line is we want to buy your loyalty! Once you spend $500 with us, you get at least 5% discount on everything you buy from us (10% on orders over $100.00). Find out more on the web site.
REGISTRATION DISCOUNT (FIRST TIME ORDERS)
To receive this 5% off, all you have to do is register with us and place an order for $50.00, or more (excluding shipping and taxes). If your first order is for more than $140.00, we will give you 10% off. When you register, you will also be given the opportunity to sign up for our monthly newsletter, which is the only recurring email we send. We will not blast you with email after email touting our current specials. We encourage you to register to make the ordering process easier on you.
BIRTHDAY CLUB
If you are a registered user and have provided your birth day and month, every year you will receive a coupon good for $5.00 off any order over $25.00. This coupon is in addition to any other discounts in which you may be entitled. These coupons are emailed on the first of the month and are good for your birth month only. To join up, register, go to the My Account section and provide your birth day and month.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
We appreciate all of your comments, whether good or bad. To demonstrate our commitment to outstanding customer service, I have created a web page with your feedback. As we receive emails that comment about our service, I will post them on this page:
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As a reminder, we continue to add products and content to the web site, therefore, if you have any special requests, please let us know. We like to hear what you have to say about our site, our products and/or our customer service, good or bad. Please send your comments and/or suggestions to winemaster@finevinewines.com.
Don't forget we like you to CALL!
If you have any questions about our products, our service and/or wine making, please call us. We are here to serve you and enjoying assisting you in any way we can. We have an international toll-free line so you WILL call us. Someone is usually at the store between 9 am and 7 pm, Monday through Saturday. We always try to answer the phone when you call; however, sometimes, we are unable to answer the phone as we are on the other lines or we have customers in the store. If you get the voice mail, please leave your name, number, brief message and a best time to call. We will return your call just as soon as we can. If you don't want to call, just send us an email. We usually answer our emails daily. Please remember, we are a resource and we are here to serve you.
We don't want to be the biggest store, just the BEST!
Cheers!
George Cornelius, President
Fine Vine Wines, LLC, The Wine Maker's Toy Store
Contact Information
George Cornelius - President
Mark Cornelius - Shipping Manager
Joseph Schuitema - Resident Wine Maker and Technical Creator
phone: 1-866-417-1114 |
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