Cotes DesBlanc is good for sweet wines
Sherry is for Sherry (Did you figure that one out?)
Montrachet is good for general use
Champaign is not only for Champaign but is also our favorite for other dry wines.
Now close the fermenter. If you are using a custom wine fermenter, put the air lock in place. If you are using another type of container (such as a plastic waste basket) just cover the top loosely with pastic film or something like that. DO NOT SEAL! The carbon dioxide has to have some way to escape.
Put the tank in a warm place (75 to 80 degrees). Stir the must every day or two. Fermentation should begin in 2-3 days and be largely finished in about a week. You can monitor the fermentation by the rate of bubbles coming out of the air lock.
When most of the fermentation is done your juice has become wine. but it is still along way from drinking. Use the siphon to transfer the wine into a glass carboy where it will finish fermenting. Be careful to leave the thick sludge at the bottom of the primary fermentation tank behind. Crush a couple of Campden tablets and add to the wine and then seal the carboy with an airlock. Place the carboy in a cool, dry dark place and leave it alone for about a month.
At this point your wine is rather cloudy. It is full of solids (also called lees). We need time for this sediment to settle out. As the sedment collects in the bottom of the carboy, we periodically "rack" wine. That is -- we siphon off the clearer wine and leave the sediment behind.
The first racking should be about one month after the initial fermentation. You should rack again at the 4 month point and again at the 7 month point.
If you have the opportunity, you can supercharge one of these rackings by storing the wine in a cold place for a couple of weeks. An unheated garage or breezeway works nicely during the winter. You want it cold ( around 30 degrees). The alcohol will keep it from freezing unless the temperature is below zero. This chilling will cause Tartrate crystals to form and fall to the bottom, further clarifying the wine.
