Craft & Cork >> Wine

Every year summer comes around and you’re sipping on amazing wine but by the time next summer comes you’ve forgotten the vintage and varietal!  As a DIY-er, we know you were busy crafting, bottling and blending batch upon batch for the upcoming spring season.  Now is the perfect time to sit back and sample some of your early spring creations.  This summer, start your very own wine journal! While doing so will help you keep track of what you like, don’t like and need more of!

Wine journals are the best way to keep track of tastings (wine name), colors, nose, palate, and time needed to age. Start by purchasing a journal notebook, this simple note book in which you catalogue each batch, will help you build your appreciation of wine as well as help you remember the great wine you’ve crafted. Some basic wine headings for your wine journal can include: red wines, white wines, rose wines, sparkling, and beers. Then under each heading, create subheadings and include the brand tier and weeks needed to make wine.

Next you’ll want to have wine tasting notes should include, where you crafted your wine, all the kit information off the craft wine box, your personal experiences, from pitching the yeast to bottling, as well as, detailed notes on the actual taste. The following is a quick and simple how-to on recording your tasting notes:

Wine name and varietal:

En Primeur Winery Series Cabernet Shiraz
Crafted on April 1^st
Bottled on June 1^st
Opened on June 20^th

Color

 White Wine Color

• Pale Yellow/Green
• Yellow
• Golden
• Dark Gold/Amber
• Brown

Red Wine Color

• Fresh Red Berry Hues
• Ruby/Garnet
• Terracotta/Brick
• Violet
• Dark Purple/Opaque
• Brown

Rosé Wine Color

• Pale pink
• Watermelon
• Salmon
• Other (write what you observe)

Nose, Aroma and Bouquet:
Note the aromas of the wine. There are so many variables to the nose, so here you want to try to identify any scents of fruits, vegetal or earthy notes. Everyone has a different nose, so try to be descriptive as possible as to what you smell.

Palate:
Here you want to list the taste, mouth feel, body, acidity and tannins. Be as detailed as possible so you can easily understand how the wine was perceived by the palate.

Conclusion (final notes):
Any other comments or notes to help you remember your wine, and the experience of crafting. This will help you in your future wine making and add value to your full experience.