I was planning to ship my Calamondin wine as holiday gifts to moderators of this forum and other friends. The laws have changed in California making it illegal for a hobbyist like me to do so. I have your wines, but you have to pick them up. They will be ready when you are within the vicinity of Northern California and we can arrange for a pick-up or visit our place. I will keep them until you show up, one more excuse to visit my yard.

Here's the personalized wine labels used on the bottles of wine:
For Millet, Laaz, Gina and Patty


Bonnie and Benny (he pciked up his own wine already)



And here are the references as to why I can't ship wines anymore,

http://www.wineinstitute.org/programs/shipwine/main.htm

SO, is it REALLY legal to ship wine from one state to friends, family, customers or consumers in another state? The short federal answer: Sending wine by U.S. mail is a crime. The not-so-short state law answer: well, that depends on where it's coming from and who it's going to. Whatever way you transport or send wine, whether by FedEx or rail or truck or in your personal luggage, chances are good that you might be violating the letter (and/or spirit) of state law (see "Who Ships Where").



http://wi.shipcompliant.com/Faq.aspx

IS IT OKAY FOR A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL TO SHIP WINE?

No, it is never legal for an individual to ship wine. The US Postal services will not carry alcohol under any circumstances. Both FedEx and UPS have company policies that strictly prohibit accepting alcohol shipments from individuals for delivery. These rules are based on their requirement that only entities who have signed a “wine shippers agreement”, which has special provisions regarding liability and packaging requirements as well as reporting components for deliveries into the other states. These agreements are only available to license alcohol retailers and wineries themselves. A primary reason for this is also the special handling and adult signature requirements that are required for alcohol deliveries. The goal is to avoid any possibility of a package being delivered into the hands of a minor. Packages shipped under the wine agreements have to meet rigorous labeling standards, and cannot be handled in the normal default manner of other packages (i.e. adult signature (over 21 years of age) is required for delivery, there can be no signature waiver, and packages cannot be left even with a consumer signature request – the delivery must be made in person so ID can be checked.) Most states do NOT allow shipments from individuals to enter their state – regardless of these rules though, the carriers do not make such shipments.

Well, we will just have to come to California for a visit. I have been talking to Laaz, about the possibility of a California trip for some time now. As always Joe, your labeling is a real work of art. You do a good job. - Millet

thnks Millet! Benny and I will entertain those who come for a visit, now that our room additions have been completed, actually last July. Didn't have the chance to take the pics, my daughter's camera broke down.

Joe, may I ask a question?

I'm considering trying my hand at wine-making and I have been reading about it. The book I'm reading recommends the use of Campden tablets for sterilizing the must and for stabilizing the wine. This, I understand, is the source of the sulfites.

I noted on your labels that you make unsulfited wine. I presume that you do not use Campden tablets. I also know that rarely people have allergic reactions or are otherwise intolerant of sulfites, but that most commercial wines have sulfites added.

Can you walk me through your decision-making as to why you choose to make unsulfited wine and the pluses/minuses/problems you might have encountered in doing so?

Joe, those labels are great and the wine sounds wonderful. Until just recently you could not even order wine by mail from a commercial biusiness and have it shipped to Minnesota, against the law. We are just now talking about being able to get a law passed that will let us buy it in the grocery store. UFF DAH!

Stressbaby,

I developed a wine making technique that did not use any sulfites, and it can be done, the first time I made wine was an accident, I was supposed to make vinegar from a tropical fruit (Sandoricum koetjape), but it never turned vinegar. Then I began starting to make wine and was able to forego using sulfites as called for in various recipes. Although very few people have very strong allergic reactions to sulfites, there are more than 15 million people who have mild reactions ranging from mild headaches to mild hangovers. So practically none of my guests would suffer such types of reactions and feel good in the morning instead of suffering, provided that they are not allergic to the type of fruit used and are also not allergic to yeasts.

Another major reason why I avoid using sulfites is that I make wine in my garage which is well insulated. Using sulfites would release sulfur dioxide which can accumulate into harmful concentrations in an enclosed space.

When you open my wines, there is no need to aerate them in a decanter (or leave open for a while) to release sulfites and the taste improved, as commonly done with my favorite wines such a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot before they are served.

There are only a few instances when I have to add sulfites for highly oxidative fruits like the prickly pear which can spoil easily once opened. But about 5 years ago, I was able to circumvent using sulfites and produced good quality wine.

I have developed my techniques very well and would surpass the requirements for producing organic wine. Sulfited wine is not acceptable to organic wine making.

I can discuss more, very scientifically how this technique can be achieved in wine making, been doing that for more than 30 years now, but that would take time so a summary would suffice. You can email me for more details if interested.

The main principles are to reduce microbial contamination, using natural sterilizers, work fast in preparing the must, and apply rapid fermentation techniques to achieve more than 10.8% abv in your fermented broth in 3 days or less. The 10.8% is the biological limit in the solution where about 99.99% of known pathogens to humans would die off. The wine becomes very stable above this alcohol content, even when exposed every now and then during subsequent processing.

Reducing microbial fermentation could start by properly cleaning the yard, the harvested fruits, using high quality fruits, having a clean work area, minimize air drafts in the working area. Use clean water at all times.

Natural sterilizers include ethanol, which you can use to rinse your equipment. Citric acid at high concentration is a very good primary sterilizer for plastic and glass equipments. For highly corrosive equipment,s, use alcohol (ethanol based only). You don't need to rinse off with water when you use these.

Depending upon your fruit processing style and recipe, some fruits would require boiling or pressure cooking, and these are naturally sterilized by the heat treatment. If processing raw fruits by pressing or grinding, it is best to add some acid during the crushing or grinding part to minimize oxidation.

To achieve rapid fermentation, I use the principles of excessive overwhelming. A couple of days before, I have already prepared the nutrient broth with sample of fruits, and loaded the big erlenmeyer flask with the appropriate wine yeast, kept that aerated, and make the yeast multiply massively from just one packet. As soon as the juice is ready, I dump the whole starter that was prepared and mix it right away. There is no wait time, as the yeast population would have increased at least a hundred fold, and they will overwhelm any microbial contaminants that happen to slip through, rendering their effects useless. My fermentation usually begins minutes after adding the massive amount of yeast culture.

I usually do split application of sugar to help some yeast that could not tolerate high concentration of sugar when needed.

I sometimes use two types of yeast. For example, the Montrachet is very well suited for fruit wines when sugar concentration are lower and the ferrmentation is very rapid, usually in about 2 days you would have achieved the biological limit. I then follow this up with the left-over Lalvin EC-1118 from a previous batch (conditioned for high alcohol tolerance) along with the added sugar. The EC-1118 is an extreme competitor and will eat up the cells of Montrachet yeast for its own nutrient requirement. With high tolerance to alcohol and plenty of montrachet yeast, you can achieve alcohol content of more than 20% without fortifying. The wines are always stable without the use of sulfites.

There are more principles involved, but unsulfited wines can be done easily. It may be more laborious and expensive, but well worth for me. I happen to be mildly sensitive to sulfites.

But I use sulfites when necessary, and in that case, I would use K-meta, measured accurately with a jewelry type weighing scale. And would have labeled my wine as sulfited.

Joe

Thank you, Joe, for the detailed reply. So to restate in the terms used in my book, your "excessive overwhelming" is like a yeast starter culture. The book also recommend the staged addition of sugars.

Thanks again. I've got more reading to do!

I will have to make plans to head that way some time.. Maybe stop over in Mile high city to tour the citrus "industry" there as well..
At this point in time I can't make it out of the drive.. Been prepping for this storm for couple of days now.. last time weather like this blew through I was with out power for 4 days.. so I have been shuffling plants buying supplies etc.. now there is about a foot of snow and still coming down.. If Ya don't hear from me for a few days you will know why.. dang town.. power goes out for any weather good or bad.. LOL They don't want to get out to feed the squirrels in the generator when the weather gets bad.. LMAO
I have my plants in the kitchen where I can keep temps up if power goes out..
Kids got out at 10 am from school and it is canceled for tomorrow..
Beautiful powder snow!!! makes me want to go skiing!! Need a snowmobile to get to the store.. if it was open.. I think they shut down the town though.. No movement AT ALL on the roads..

I'll answer the e-mail shortly Joe.. If the power stays on till then.. LOL

Gina *BabyBlue*

Joe, that is very sweet of you! I too have all recipes that use sulfites (campden). I too wondered how you made wine without sulfites, & how they made wine in old days when there was no camden tabs!
The best wine I made is plum. I made it sorta like recipe for port wine adding sugar 3 different times... it's 16%!
SB, I can give you email addy of a store here that sells supplies for beer & wine making. Jerry & Mary Uthermann own it & he wrote a book called "Mary's Recipes" --for serious & beginner winemakers. I think it's only $5 - 7.00 and VERY informative with a ton of recipes for you-name-it wines. I saw it listed on I'net as a good book to have. Or, I can buy it & send it.
Joe, email or PM me your shipping addy. I am going to send you a bottle of mine!!! When I was in Mx, I brought back 3 bottles of tequilla & THAT was legal --go figure?
Pick one of these:
Vino Rosa ( fruity rose' made with peaches, strwberries, dark plums, blueberries, raspberries, & frozen white grape juice)
Mulberry (w/ some raspberry blended)
Dandelion (picked where no doggies roam!)
Blueberry
All were fresh picked.
I only made 1 gal of the plum & my son stole 3 bottles leaving me with 2.
I also have 5 gal's of elderberry working - soon to be bottled if you want to wait for that. Made that out of juice concentrate but it was so good last time, I did it again.
Ohyeah, I have a 1 lite bottle of wild grape (fresh picked here) left. I could open it and re- bottle it in 2 bottles & send you one also. Most will need decantering.
Gina, I hope you are surviving the snow storm...mine's coming tomorrow!
I can't do much lately w/ my right arm in cast, but I should get some wine going again. I have gal. bags of wild grape, concord grape, & mulberry juice in freezer!

Thanks Patty, I'll check it out.

I will be coming to Cali. for the holidays on a plane. My parents are driving to Cali. and back from S.C. I would be honored to hand deliver Todd's wine to him, after my parents get back with the bottle.
Scott

Where in Cali Scott? If Northern California, you could sample some of my citruses right now, aside from wine. Send me PM if you'll be somewhere near us.

Hello Joe,
We fly into San Fran late on the 20th. We shall rent a car, tour the city for a day or two, and then head North to see redwoods,bouquet breweries, and family up in Eugene OR. We will spend a day or two in Eureka before Christmas. We will be driving back south after Christmas to depart San Fran on the 29th.
The offer to sample the citrus treats that come from your famously mega-multi-grafted trees is gracious. More important to me would be to shake your hand, and pass along a word of thanks to someone who has helped many on this and other forums. You are the most generous person that I've never met.
I'd really like to hand that Calomondin wine to Lazz. It is something that I can do for him to say "thanks" as well.
I'll PM you to see if we can set up a meeting.
PEACE>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Scott

Check your PM.