HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
May the luck of Irish be with you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsletter published by
Fine Vine Wines, LLC
"The Wine Maker's Toy Store™"
1300 N. Interstate 35-E, Suite 106
Carrollton, Texas 75006
March 2010
Volume 8, Issue 3
866-417-1114 (Long Distance)
972-323-7921 (Local)
972-323-7955 (Fax)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
WELCOME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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, home brew 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 and beer brewing needs. It continues to be my hope that every time you visit our web site or retail store, you will find something of value. |
|
CORKS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Understanding corks and then choosing the correct cork seems to cause as much concern with a lot of my wine makers as choosing the wine kit to make. As such, I am going to try to simplify wine corks for each of you.
First of all, keep in mind that corks are not expensive, especially when compared with the total cost of the wine. Depending upon the quality of the cork and the number of corks purchased at a time, the cost is between $.17 and $.43 per bottle. When you consider that the cost of a wine kit is somewhere between $2.00 and $8.00 per bottle, the cost of the cork is around 10% of the total cost of the wine. As such, I would hate to see you lose the other 90% of your investment because you saved a penny or two per bottle; I have seen this happen.
There are a number of opinions about which corks are best, but most of that discussion revolves around aging your wine. For the most part, a majority of the wines made from kits are consumed within 1-2 years, with the balance being consumed within 5 years. Consequently, the benefits from those corks designed for 1-20 years is a moot point with the wine kits. Straight corks come primarily in 2 sizes, #8 and #9. The #9's are about 1/16th of an inch fatter than the #8's. For this reason, the #9's make a better seal, but can be more difficult to remove from the bottle.
There are principally 3 types of corks available for home wine makers:
- Natural Corks - Corks that are stamped from a single piece of bark
- Agglomerated Corks (Colmated) - Pieces of cork molded and glued together
- Synthetic Corks - Made from different polymers
The Natural Corks are considered the best corks for your wines and are the only ones used by wineries that consistantly make the best wines in the world. They are used so you can store these wines for decades. The primary benefit of the natural cork is aid in aging wines: the ability for a limited amount of oxygen to pass back into the wine. Since most home made wines are consumed within 5 years, these corks definitely make the wines look more traditional, but after having used these corks, I can not say I noticed any difference in my wines.
With the shortage of cork trees that appeared in the 90's, an alternative was needed and the synthetic cork was born. It is used by a lot of wineries around the world due to its availability, consistant cost and appearance. The principal drawback of these corks is that they do not allow the wine to breathe at all. Once the corks are inserted, the only oxygen the wine will ever see is what was trapped when the cork was inserted. In addition, these corks are not designed for long-term storage, most only guaranteeing 2-3 years of storage.
Agglomerate corks, cork pieces glued together and molded into a cork shape, are a great option for home wine makers and come in enough sizes and styles to fit the needs of most home wine makers. The biggest drawback of these corks is that they are not all alike. Some of them are soft and plyable which makes them easy to insert and remove, but they are not dense enough for storage more than 2 years.
One last point is the size of the bottle. The neck on 375 ml bottles (splits), is about 1/16th of inch smaller than 750 ml and 1500 ml bottles. For this reason, the #8 is a better choice. I am not aware of any natural corks in this size, so you will need either an agglomerate or a synthetic.
We have now sold millions of corks to home wine makers and to wineries with well over half of them being our "Perfect" cork. Although we have had quite a number of reported issues with corks over the years, such as leaking , being tainted and falling apart, we have never had any of these issues with our "Perfect" cork. The only issue with the "perfect" cork is the tight seal they make, as they are #9's. This can be significantly reduced by not boiling or soaking the corks. In fact, we have a featured article on how to prepare your corks, found at:
In closing, the "perfect" corks I sell and recommend are very dense which will allow you 5 years or more of storage. In addition, each batch of corks are tested by the manufacturer prior to shipment for "cork taint" and are therby guaranteed to be free of any harmful bacteria.
I hope all of this information helps you to choose the correct cork for your wine making needs. If you have any questions about choosing your corks, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. |
| LEAKING WINE KITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have been having more of an issue with leaking wine kits than ever before and it is not with just a single manufacturer. The issue appears to be with the bag itself, as all of the manufacturers use the same bag supplier. The problem kits seems to have all been made about the same time last fall.
The bags used in the wine kits are a 2 ply bag. The concentrate/juice is poured into the bag, then the cap assembly is attached. During the filling process, some of the juice can wind up between the layers of the bag. If enough pressure is exerted on the bag, the trapped juice can leak out. It does not take much juice to soak into everything and make a complete mess of your shipment. Normally, the leakage should be contained by the plastic wrap, but it the box is turned upside down, the juice with leak from the top of the wine kit box and get all over everything.
When this happens, the juice is not contaminated and the wine kit is still good. If you receive a leaking kit, examine the juice inside the bag. Specifically, you are looking for mold or signs that fermentation has started. Both of the these signs indicate that oxygen has entered the bag and your juice is contaminated; however, if you do not see either of these signs, the juice is still good and should not have any problems.
If you decide the wine is still good, be sure to keep the date code. If you run into any issues along the way, we can still get the kit replaced, but the manufacturer will want the date code, since this tells them when the kit was made. If they have a significant problem with a particular date code, they need to know about it to determine what went wrong with that batch so they can modify their processes to make sure it does not happen again.
If you receive a leaking wine kit and have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to contact us. If there is a problem with the kit, we will replace it. |
|
MONTHLY GIVE-A-WAYS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Starting in July 2009, we began giving away two $50.00 gift certificates each month. Their are only 2 requirements:
- You must place an order during the month, AND
- You must be a registered user.
These gift certificates can be redeemed for any product we carry, but can only be used for the cost of the product. Any sales tax and/or shipping cost will not be covered by the certificate. Any registered user that places an order during the month will automatically be entered in the contest and we will announce the winners in the monthly newsletter and via email.
The winners for January 2010 were:
Whitney Roe from Allentown, PA
and
Steven Boore from Point of Rocks, MD
Congratulations to both. Maybe next month you will be the winner. | |
|
WINES OF THE MONTH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have had a significant number of customers tell us the Vinifera Noble wine kits from Mosti Mondiale are the best "Value in the Store". To give you the opportunity to try these kits (or make more, if you already like them!), we are putting them on special for 15% off. In addition, we are also taking 15% off on all of the Renaissance kits from Mosti Mondiale. These 16 liters kits make excellent wines mostly in the traditional European style.
If you have ever been tempted to try one of the these kits, now it the time. To see this month's special pricing, click on the following link:
Wines of the Month
Please note, we can not anticipate demand. As such, we could run out of some of the flavors as was the case last month when we sold a ton (actually more than 3 tons) of Cabernet and Merlot. When this happens, we will advise you of such and give you the option of changing your order or waiting for the replacements to arrive. |
| BEER OF THE MONTH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have a new beer kit, the Oatmeal Stout and you can get it for $5.00 off during the month of March. This kit is regulary $40.89 and you can have as many as you like for only $35.89. To learn more about this kit and to order, click on the following link:
|
| Toys of the Month
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems that no matter how well you take care of your tubing, over time, it will start to look discolored and old. As such, it is a good idea to periodically replace your tubing. In that end, we are putting all of our tubing on sale for 10% off.
In addition, we are also putting our 3 auto-siphons on special for 10% off, as well. The auto-siphon is a great toy to simplify your racking and reduce contamination.
To see all of these products, click on the following link:
|
| NEW PRODUCTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have been diligently adding more and more products to our web site. 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 Crosby & Baker, Ltd and LD Carlson. 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. | |
|
Now with over 120,000 posts!
When you have a question or just want to learn more about wine making or beer brewing, don't forget our forum! We have over 1,600 registered members with over 120,000 posts! We have some extremely knowledgeable wine makers and brewers 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 members 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 and brewers. 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 and home brewers.
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 5% 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 a 10% discount on all non-Winery Related Items. 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:
|
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 or home brewing, 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
phone: 1-866-417-1114 |
|
