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Vintner

From "What's Your Hobby"
episode DWH-204

Harris' own label lines the shelves of his wine cellar.

Hobbyist Don Harris may have retired from his career, but he hasn't slowed down . Harris dedicates his time to his passion -- wine making -- as a home vintner. Harris turned his backyard into a vineyard and his basement into a winery and cellar, and now produces 9 different varieties from 55 different plants.

Harris shares his wine-making method:

Harris says a good vintage depends upon good grapes. While Harris designed the vineyard's layout, watering and trellis system, he says sunlight is the most important aspect of growing them -- even more important than soil quality. Harris is careful to pick the grapes when the sugar content is just right -- plants need to be at least 3-4 years old to produce grapes mature enough for wine.
After the grapes are picked, they are poured into a crusher/destemmer, which discards all stems and extraneous plant material and collects the fruit and juice in another receptacle.
The juice and pulp are then added to a press which separates the two. The pulp is then discarded.
The juice is then poured into a primary fermenter, where a mixture of yeast and warm water is added to the juice. A solution of sulfite and water is added to a tube on top of the fermenter. The solution begins to bubble when the wine has fermented (a process taking 3-6 months).
After the wine has properly fermented, a siphon is used to bottle the wine and eliminate air - wine's worst enemy.
Then, Harris corks his product. The corks are soaked in hot water for a short time -- making the corking easier. A corking device is used to constrict the cork as it pushes it into the bottle.
Finally, Harris labels the bottle and adds it to his cellar, where it is allowed to age in the bottle.