Hi all,

Thanks for the responses.

Doug, I'm thinking you may have a point in moving my operation into the
basement. It doesn't go below freezing down there, but when I started the
wine back in May it was still fairly chilly here in Atlantic Canada. I
usually have my main floor no warmer than about 60-65 F in winter, so the
basement was probably ten degrees lower, a bit chilly to start the
fermentation process. May be that the answer would be to invest in a heating
belt for that portion. I had considered the furnace room, but while that's
warmer, it could provide some unwanted flavours. Nothing like that fuel oil
note to round out a good white wine.

The light bulb idea is also worth trying out. Someone else once told me to
just get a lamp with a 100 watt bulb in it and have it aimed in the general
direction of your primary, that warms it sufficiently for your yeast to
catch.

Looks like I have some experimentation to do! So far my winemaking equipment
is mostly just the basics, but eventually I may overtake a whole room
instead of a closet! There are so many little doodads that I'd like to
have...

Thanks,

KD





"KD" > wrote in message
...
> Hi folks:
>
> My first batch of Savignon Blanc is still in the carboy, currently getting
> nice and clear sitting on the basement floor. I'll probably be filtering
and
> bottling tomorrow. Overall I've really enjoyed this, and since I regularly
> enjoy wine from the liquor store, I see myself continuing to do this for
> years to come.
>
> Question though...in my household, I have several things that affect where
I
> do my winemaking - a husband who doesn't want to trip over things, cats
who
> are naturally curious and want to investigate the fizzing bucket by
knocking
> off the lid, etc. I did my fermentation in a closet in a spare upstairs
> bedroom, because my basement was too cold a month ago. I drag a stool into
> the bedroom when I'm going to siphon since there really isn't a table in
> there, have hubby there to hold things steady and stuff everything back
into
> the closet when i'm done.
>
> So as I've been doing my thing with the wine kit, I've often had thoughts
of
> a table that would make things easier for the person without lots of
space.
> In my mind, my fictional winemaking table has higher shelf for placing the
> primary for ease of siphoning, a groove for it to fit into to make it
> unlikely to tip. A lower shelf for the carboy to sit on with a groove too,
> maybe even something bottles would fit into once you're ready to start
> bottling, to keep them steady. Even a storage area to put your stuff when
> you're not using it. All of this would fit in a standard closet.
>
> Surely I'm not the first person to think of this. Is there such a thing as
a
> table for this purpose? Or do I have to build my own?
>
> Thanks!
>
> KD
>
>