Best in Glass
Satek Winery's eNewsletter

March 2015

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Winter is almost over (hopefully) but be sure to check our Facebook page, Twitter or call us for possible weather related delays/closures.

Coming Soon:

Kreibaum Bay Moscato 2014

New Release :

Pinot Gris 2014

Traminette 2013

Almost Gone:

Dry Bleu

KB Vidal Blanc Icewine 2013

Sold Out:

Traminette 2012

KB Nouveau 2014

Shipping Wine

Satek Winery can currently ship wine to 10 states (though some do have individual restrictions); if interested, please give us a call at

(260) 495-9463 and we can fill in the details.

Looking for a fun weekend trip or holiday getaway? The WINE Tour may be the answer and it's always the right size. Seven wineries in the Northeast of Indiana open for you to come in and taste a wide variety and style of wine.

Before heading out, be sure to check the wineries' hours as some may have switched over to Winter hours.

For more information on the latest news from the WINE Tour follow us on Facebook.

WINE Tour Facebook Page

... of the penguins??

There are a lot of easy associations when it comes to March: basketball Madness, Lions, Lambs, Leprechauns (oh my), Daylight Savings, and Ides among them. It is the 3rd month of 12, a pivot from Winter to Not-Quite Winter, leaving April to be "cruellest" and May about flowers. Our February gave us a cold shoulder on the way out, along with a number of temperature record lows that we hopefully won't challenge any time soon. We lost Super Bowl Sunday to snow (see block to the left), but as the header picture for this month was being taken, the dripping sounds of thawing were all around. It might be replaced as soon as tonight with wind and snow, but the general feeling is optimism. Pruning may be on standby (see Tim's article below), but it will inevitably get the "green" light. It may snow, but everyone has their snow shoveling calluses and a "what's a little more" perspective. Being open year round, approaching nearly 3,000 hours, we have a wealth of comparisonal information to crosscheck against the calendar. March feels active. Things are stirring, if not already in motion. With that in mind, we'll keep chipping the ice and shoveling the snow until it slushes, pools, and evaporates, keeping one eye out the window, hoping to (see) you again.

Behind the scenes

We are quite conscious of the fact that you, gentle reader, have opted in to receive our newsletter, and want to make it as interesting and relevant as we can, hopefully informing and entertaining along the way. To that end, you are the first group to know that we are working on two brand new products, never seen before at Satek Winery, and will being debuting them as soon as they are ready, in the somewhat near future. One dry, one semi-sweet and hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as we've enjoyed conceptualizing them.

Wine can be very simple, you like it or you don't. Yet, what is it that you like or don't like, and perhaps as important, why? In an attempt to remove some of the barriers and answer questions you may have, assistant winemaker and Biology degree-holder Tyler Daniels is game to break down general wine-related concepts, continuing this month.

Wine Diamonds

Picture of potassium bitartrate crystals at 30x magnification, by Tyler Daniels

The term "wine diamonds" is the common name used to describe the presence of potassium bitartrate crystals in wine. These crystals are commonly found at the bottom of bottles or stuck to the bottom of corks. Visually they look like small crystals that resemble diamonds or glass. Due to this appearance many consumers mistake these crystals as actual glass splinters but in reality the crystals are harmless (Butzke 1).

Potassium bitartrate (also known as cream of tartar) is formed after juice is fermented into wine. The natural tartaric acid binds with pre-existing or added potassium resulting in potassium bitartrate. In juice the potassium stays dissolved and would never be observed. Potassium bitartrate however, is not as soluble in alcohol as it is in water so after fermentation the compound becomes unstable and drops out of the wine solution (Butzke1).

After the initial potassium from fermentation is used up, the wine is stable but only for a moment. Most winemakers use other compounds such as potassium sorbate (sorbic acid) to prevent re-fermentation in the bottle and potassium metabisulfite to prevent oxidation during ageing (Butzke 100-101). Both of these compounds release more potassium ions into the wine solution and as a result form more potassium bitartrate crystals (Butzke 1).

These crystals are harmless to consumers but due to the presence of visible solids in wine, these crystals can be misidentified as glass. Winemakers must take extra steps to prevent the formation of potassium bitartrate solids from happening once the wine is bottled (Butzke 1). This is done by chilling the wine down to around 25˚f. This drops the solubility of the crystals down even more, which forces the solids out of solution. Once out of solution the wine is transferred to a new tank and the crystals are discarded (Butzke 100). With this additional winemaking step, the wine is then considered cold stable and may be bottled with limited risk of forming "wine diamonds".

Butzke, Christian E. Winemaking Problems Solved. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2010. Print.

Butzke, Christian. "Wine Cold Stability Issues." Commercial Winemaking Production Series (n.d.): n. pag. Woodhead Publishing Ltd., Mar. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

Mother Nature has done it again. Just when you thought we made it through the winter without any worry about vine damage, we get this frigid February. I really believe that we should be alright after this winter, but it depends on how well the vines recovered from last winter. Hopefully the new growth and vines that survived last winter hardened off well enough to survive this winter. We'll need to evaluate the vines for any winter damage prior to pruning, taking bud samples and determine if there was any winter kill. This is done by randomly cutting twenty five shoots with five buds on each shoot, then using a small razor knife, you slice the bud in half. The bud will either be green inside(alive) or it will be brown(dead); you then figure the percentage of dead to alive to come up with bud damage or loss. We will then pre-prune leaving extra buds to accommodate for any bud loss or a late frost. Its going to be another challenging spring but like always, we get through it and harvest a nice crop in the end.

If you are thinking about growing grapes I would recommend planting vines that are very winter hardy. Remember, do your homework so you know exactly what you are doing when you start your own vineyard. Growing grapes is not an easy task but it is very rewarding.

So while I'm waiting for warmer days and the snow to melt away, I'm going to have a glass of Mango wine because they say it's like having sunshine in your glass. The way I figure it, the more glasses equals more sunshine, and man do we need it.