16 Valley Life THE
RENTAL CENTER
Anza couple bottles wine! (cont. from page 9)
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“The toughest part is the summer pruning, the basic maintenance of the plants,” he said. “And then we have to deal with the yellow jackets. We have developed a method of working in the vineyards in the evening, using a small lamp so that we won’t get stung quite so much.”
“Oddly enough, the yellow jackets can be a good indicator that the sugar content of the grapes is getting to the right levels,” he said. “They will pierce the grape skins releasing a wonderful aroma in the vineyard which tells us it’s about harvesting time.”
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HARVESTING, FERMENTING AND RACKING After the four year wait for their plants to collaborate with Mother Nature, the Marlins were ready to harvest. They picked, de-stemed and crushed the grapes by hand (no “I Love Lucy”-like episodes here!), culling the best fruit from their 120 plants. The harvest is then moved to 35 gallon vats while the grapes react to the introduction of yeast.
“A key player in the process is the yeast,” Mapes explains. “The grapes grow with a white coating of natural yeast and we supplement that with packets of produced stuff formulated just for wine making.” Much like bread when it reacts with yeast, the grapes will rise and need to be punched down to encourage oxygen to mix with the juice. This punching down of the grapes allows the pigment in the skins to interact with the clear juice and gives red wines their distinctive colors. At this time the active yeast is consuming sugars (Mapes calls them “yeast beasts”), and the wine is fermenting. All the while, Dan Marlin is monitoring the sugar content, looking for the magic moment when it gets to zero and the maximum alcohol content reached.
As one might expect, even though material is being consumed some of the grape skins and pulp are still resident in the mixture. This is where a process called “racking” comes into play.
“This is when we transfer the wine into containers in which the sediment can settle to the bottom,” Marlin pointed out. “Some wine makers use oak barrels because it gives their product a distinctive flavor, but we are using five gallon-bottles called “carboys” to hold the batches.”
The wine is racked for up to five months in these carboys (which look a lot like Sparkletts’ bottles) and then it is time for the bottling. THE BOTTLING PROCESS
All the knowledge that Ken Mapes has acquired over the years really comes to play in the bottling process. He brings to the Marlin’s home boxes of equipment he has put together over time that makes the process safe, sanitary (all who bottle wine must wear gloves) and as professional as bottling by hand can be. Mapes and Marlin first siphon the wine from the five gallon carboys into a same-sized carbon dioxide container, the very kind you would find hooked up to a soda machine. Using the pressure created by the CO2, they will then use a pump tube with a valve on the bottom to carefully fill the squeaky clean bottles that the Marlins have purchased from a local wine equipment dealer.
Mapes, looking a bit like a friendly mad scientist with a tube of flowing wine winding around his body, fills the bottles perfectly. He then hands them over to Dan Marlin who is manning the corking machine. Marlin rests each bottle on a round platform and positions a cork inside their openings. He then pulls down on a large lever (it looks like an oversized pump handle) and a metal extension forces the cork into the bottle tightly and securely. It is not an easy task to master right off the bat. One must have the bottle positioned perfectly and have the lever adjusted so that the cork, when inserted, is flush with the bottle’s opening.
calls “muffins.”
On his first few tries Marlin produces what Mapes (cont. on page 17)
BASEBALL & SOFTBALL YOUR CHILDREN MAY QUALIFY
FOR THE FREE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM AT COTTONWOOD OR HAMILTON!
The California State Preschool Program is now taking applications for the 2011-2012 school year. We have classrooms at Hamilton Elementary and Cottonwood Elementary. Your child may qualify for our free preschool program for children who are 3 or 4 years old before December 2, 2011. Qualifications are based on family size and income. Please phone 951-765-1648 or Susan Blankfeld at 951-704-9396 for more information.
El Programa Prescolar del Estado de California esta aceptando solicitudes para el año escolar 2011-2012. Tenemos aulás en la Primaria de Hamilton y la Primaria de Cottonwood. Su hijo/a puede calificar para nuestra programa gratis para niños que cumplen 3 o 4 años de edad antes del 2 de Deciembre, 2011. Calificaciones se basan en el tamaño de la familia y los ingresos. Por favor llame al 951-765-1648 or Susana Blankfeld at 951-704-9396 para mas informacion para mas informacion.
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