The Fascinating Business of Wine Making

A fellow blogger left a comment on one of my previous blog posts today about how she had always been intrigued with the winery business. I guess I was intrigued with this business at one time, too. 80 hour weeks making wine and running a retail store selling brewing supplies and winemaking supplies can sure make it unintriguing (apparently that is not a word, my blog's spell checker just hiccuped!).

In my prior life I was a combat flier in the Viet Nam, taught high school and was a commercial banker. The flying was exciting (and slightly dangerous), the teaching was interesting (maybe even more dangerous), the banking was tedious (and the hours were long) and the wine making is a fascinating way to make a living (but the hours are very, very, very long).

Mondays are spent packaging beer brewing supplies, winemaking supplies, and WinExpert and Cellar Craft wine kits which were sold on via the internet over the weekend. Any time left over is spent checking our in process wine, and restocking our retail store shelves with winemaking equipment and home brew supplies. Restocking can be a time consuming process as many of the wine making ingredients must be weighed, labeled and packaged. If we have sold some of our BlueStems Best home brewing ingredients kits then replacement kits must be packaged and put out for display. This can take a great deal of time as the grains must be milled, weighed and packaged and the hops must be weighed and packaged, too. The shelves for our Cellar Craft and WinExpert ingredient kits need to be restocked, too.

Tuesdays are spent doing more of the same with less packaging and more of the other things. If we are going to start fermenting a new batch of wine we will start this when my wife gets off from her high school teaching job. It usually takes about four hours to get a 150 gallon batch of wine in the fermenters. Evenings are also when we will typically rack wine from one tank to another tank to get it off its sediment.

From Wednesday through Saturday we are open from 11 to 5 so I spend my time in the store. I spend time between customers vacuuming (isn't that intriguing!), restocking shelves and heaven forbid, dusting! Early mornings are spent packaging the website sales of homebrewing equipment and home winemaking supplies plus any WinExpert wine kits or Cellar Craft kits sold overnight. Evenings are sometimes spent racking wine or filtering wine or adding needed additives to wine in the secondary fermenters.

Sundays we are open from Noon until 4 and we actually have a little shorter day at the store. Unless we are going to bottle wine! If we have wine to bottle we usually have one person watch the store while we get the crew (myself, my wife, my son and his wife, my daughter-in-law's parents and anyone else we can corner) together to bottle wine. It takes the crew about six hours to bottle and cork 1,600 bottles of wine.

The fascinating business of making wine! Between the homebrewing ingredients and homebrew equipment and the Cellar Craft wine ingredient kits and the other wine making supplies we find the time to put together tanks of wine, rack the wine from tank to tank, filter the wine, and bottle it. If my calculations are right, our average week is 70 hours or so. Banking? Hell no! Teaching? Maybe. Climbing back into an EC-47 and flying over northern South Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia? Absolutely (especially if we can just go do the flying and leave out the shooting part!). Making wine? Intriguing, fascinating, and even though it is week after week of very long hours, it is the best job I have ever had. I especially like the not having a boss part of doing this job!

Acid Reduction in Wine through Malolactic Fermentation

Malolactic fermentation is an effective way to reduce both malic acid and citric acid levels in wine. This article will not discuss the procedure for conducting a malolactic fermentation (a subject for a leter blog article) but will only provide background information.

A malolactic fermentation reduces total acidity (TA) in wine and when conducted, its goal is to reduce the harsher malic acid concentrations into lactic acid which is a much softer acid.

It is virtually impossible for home wine making enthusiasts to determine the levels of malic acid present in their wine. The only method of determining the effect on the wine is to take a TA measurement prior to conducting the malolactic fermentation and then take another reading post fermentation. The difference between the initial reading and the final reading is the amount of TA reduction which has occurred. If acid levels have been reduced too far it can be increased by the addition of acids or by blending with higher acid wines. If the acid level has still not been reduced to the desired range, then other acid reduction methods including blending, the use of potassium bicarbonate, dilution with water or cold stabilization can be used to further reduce acid levels.

BlueStem Winery is a full service retail and web source for winemaking supplies, wine making equipment and ingredients for making wine. BlueStem Winery also carries a large inventory of WinExpert wine kits and Cellar Craft kits for the wine making hobbyist who enjoys making their favorite varietals from around the world.

BlueStem Winery also carries a large inventory of homebrewing supplies, homebrew ingredients and brewing equipment for the zymergy enthusiast. Our own line of beer brewing ingredients kits is known as BlueStems Best. We are the only source for home brewing supplies in northeast Iowa and continue to increase our American and worldwide sales of beer brewing supplies via our website.

If you are a beginning home brewer and need a basic home brew supplies setup, we can provide the equipment and ingredients you need and also the expertise to help you get started. If you are a beginning vintner, we recommend our WinExpert kits and Cellar Craft wine kits because you will enjoy fantastic wine with your very first attempt at home winemaking.

Wine Number 2 Gets Label Approval

BlueStem Winery's second wine will be available for retail sale very, very soon. Our label application to the federal government for this wine named Red Crescent was approved today and we should be able to have the artwork on the way to our printer early next week.

Red Crescent is a dessert wine made from Cabernet Franc grapes raised in the Yakima Valley of Washington state. A very smooth after dinner sipping wine with a fairly solid punch to it! We are hoping that this wine will be on our shelves for sale by mid-March 2008 followed shortly thereafter by our third wine which is a dry red which will be named Dark Side.

BlueStem Winery is a licensed and bonded Iowa winery. Our business consists of the winery plus a retail and web outlet which features winemaking supplies, homebrewing supplies, wine making ingredients, brewing ingredients, home brew and wine making equipment and WinExpert and Cellar Craft wine kits.

Wine making is our livelihood but we also enjoy a good home brew on occasion. Our store and website feature our own line of beer brewing ingredients kits known as BlueStems Best where you can choose from approximtely 30 different beer styles with pre-measured ingredients provided in the kit.

If you are into home winemaking we will always recommend one of our Cellar Craft or WinExpert wine kits and you will not be disappointed. World class! For all of your home brewing supplies and supplies for making wine, look to BlueStem Winery.

Acid Reducing Solutions for Wine Making

Both potassium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate solutions can be used to reduce acid levels in finished wine. The preferred of these two is the potassium solution because the calcium carbonate solution results in an unpleasant taste to the wine.

When adding either of these solutions to wine, the wine maker should realize that the first acid that the solution will lower is the preferred acid, tartaric. The wine maker must take care that the tartaric acid present is not eliminated completely from the wine.

Reduction in acid levels in finished wine are accomplished at about a 1:2 ratio. Total acidity is reduced by 1g/L for every 2g/L of bicarbonate that is added to the wine. Dissolve the bicarbonate in a small quantity of wine and then add the solution to your wine. If your initial acidity reading indicates that you need to reduce the total acidity by 2g/L, do not make a solution totaling 4g/L (remember the 1:2 ratio) and add it to your wine all in one swoop. Instead, make small incremental additions of the solution and taste and take additional acidity measurements in between each further addition of solution.

BlueStem Winery operates a retail store in Parkersburg, Iowa selling winemaking equipment plus ingredients and supplies for home winemaking. BlueStem also carries a large inventory of both WinExpert and Cellar Craft wine kits to enhance your home wine making experience. If you are a brewer and not a vintner, BlueStem also carries a large inventory of homebrewing supplies, homebrew equipment and home brewing ingredients.

Making wine for the first time? Let us help you through the entire process. We offer expert guidance and we are only a phone call or an e-mail away from helping you make world class wine with one of our WinExpert wine kits or one of our Cellar Craft kits.

We can also assist if you are wanting to start brewing at home. Our homebrewing equipment is first rate and we keep an ample amount of homebrew supplies and beer brewing ingredients in stock.

On the web 24/7 at the BlueStem Winery website and available for telephone assistance during store hours. See our website for details.

Acid Reduction by Blending

When you are attempting to increase (or decrease) the acidity of wine by blending two wines together, the first step is to determine the titratable acidity (TA) of both wines. The second step in this process is to determine the volume required of the blend wine which will be required to raise (or lower) the TA of the wine you are trying to alter.

The formula for determining the volume of blend wine required is:

Z = X * (DTA - W) / (Y - DTA) where

DTA = Desired Total Acidity
W = TA goal of wine to be modified
X = Volume of wine to be modified
Y = TA of blend wine
Z = Volume of blend wine

Example: If you had 6 gallons of wine (X) with an existing TA of 6.2 and you desired to raise the TA of this wine to 6.5 (DTA) by blending an unknown volume of wine (Z) which has a TA of 7 (Y) your formula would look like this:

Z = 6 * (6.5 - 6.2) / (7 - 6.5) or

Z = (6 * .3) / .5 or

Z = 1.8 / .5 or

Z = 3.6 gallons of blend wine with a TA of 7 will be required to increase the TA of our 6 gallon batch of wine with an existing TA of 6.2 to our desired TA of 6.5.

BlueStem Winery is your full-service source for wine making equipment and homebrewing supplies in beautiful, downtown Parkersburg, Iowa. Our store hours are posted on the BlueStem Winery website and we are on the web 24-7 with a complete line of wine making and homebrew supplies.

If you are home winemaking or want to order beer brewing ingredients and have questions, do not hesitate to call us at 319.346.1046 during business hours or you can e-mail us at any time at bluestemwine@mchsi.com.

BlueStem Winery stocks a large of inventory of WinExpert wine kits and we also have a growing inventory of Cellar Craft kits. Cellar Craft wine kits and WinExpert kits are industry leaders in excellent quality kits for making wine at home.

The next time you purchasing winemaking supplies, home brewing supplies, brewing equipment or ingredients we will be ready to meet your needs. Excellent products, prompt shipping and knowledgeable, friendly service.

Increasing Total Titratable Acidity in Wine

One method of increasing total titratable acidity in wine is with the addition of acids in the form of either tartaric acid or with the addition of what is called an acid blend. The preferred additive is tartaric acid, especially if the vintner is planning for the wine to undergo a malolactic fermentation. Acid blend is a mixture of tartaric, malic and citric acids. Many acid blends sold through home wine making shops is a 10-40-50 blend of tartaric, malic and citric acids. The acid blend that BlueStem Winery sells (mixed here at our store) is a 50-40-10 blend. Instead of the heavy concentration of citric acid that is in most shops (citric is cheap), BlueStem's acid blend is heavy on tartaric acids. Heavy concentrations of citric acid tend to give your wine a sharp, citric acid bite (similar to tasting a grapefruit).

BlueStem Winery urges caution in the use of acid blends (especially those prepared with large concentrations of citric acid). Acid blend should never be used with wines planned to undergo a malolactic fermentation.

Making wine at home with one of the WinExpert or Cellar Craft wine kits from BlueStem Winery? Then you won't have to worry about total acidity. Both Cellar Craft and WinExpert kits are acid balanced and will be perfectly balanced when you make them.

Need any other winemaking supplies or home brewing ingredients? BlueStem Winery would be happy to supply you with what you need. We stock a large inventory of wine making ingredients and home brew supplies and have the expertise to help you if wine making or beer brewing is a new hobby.

Our homebrew equipment is top drawer and comes from the best suppliers BlueStem can locate. Whether it is beer brewing supplies or one of our superb WinExpert wine ingredient kits, we can have your order on its way tomorrow!

Acid Reduction in Wine

Four different acids can be typically found in wines during fermentation. These include tartaric, citric, malic and lactic. Acids in too high quantity have an adverse affect on the taste (and quality) of wine. Whereas increasing the acid levels in wine is a relatively easy process, reducing acid levels in wine can be difficult.

Over the next few days a discussion will be held about procedures for reducing or increasing the various acid levels.

A summary of these articles is as follows:

Addition of tartaric acid will result in an increase of the tartaric acid levels (that one was pretty obvious!);

Addition of acid blend will increase the levels of tartaric, malic and citric acid;

The blending of other wines with the wine in question can either increase or decrease the levels of tartaric, malic, citric or lactic acids;

The addition of potassium (or calcium) bicarbonate will decrease the level of tartaric acids;

Causing the onset of a malolactic fermentation will decrease the tartaric and malic acid levels while increase the lactic acid level;

Cold stabilization will decrease the level of tartaric acids;

Use of products known as ACIDEX or SHADEX will reduce the levels of tartaric and malic acids; and

The addition of water will decrease the levels of tartaric, citric, malic and lactic acids.

BlueStem Winery is a purveyor of wine ingredient kits from both WinExpert and Cellar Craft. These kits allow you to make excellent wines with never a worry about tartaric, malic, citric or lactic acids as the kits are acid balanced to assure you a perfect wine every time. Making wine could not be easier and the results are world class. WinExpert wine kits have been part of BlueStem's inventory for almost four years and our customers have expressed nothing but satisfaction with these fine kits. We added Cellar Craft wine kits about eight months ago and the reports coming back from customers have been nothing but fantastic!

BlueStem also has a full array of winemaking equipment, wine making supplies, homebrewing ingredients, homebrew supplies and brewing equipment.

Today was a fun day at the store with two couples getting started with their new wine making hobby and another couple purchasing beer brewing supplies to start their new hobby. I always tell my new customers that home wine making is the greatest procrastinator's hobby that there is. Other than the first week when you have to stay pretty close to the schedule it is a hobby that you can attend to with quite a bit of variance in timing.

Need home brewing supplies? A good Cellar Craft wine ingredient kit? Our website features one low cost shipping fee per order. We would very much like to ship a new hobby to you and are more than willing to support you with answers to your questions after you get started.

Long Term Home Wine Storage

My son is becoming quite the collector of wine. Personally, if I part with cash to purchase a bottle of wine I like to enjoy that wine sometime in the not too distant future. Nick (my son), on the other hand likes to have some wine that he imbibes and other wine that goes onto the shelf to enjoy (hopefully) in the distant future. This brings us to our topic for today . . . storing wine.

Wine storage does not have to be expensive but it does need to be done properly.

Three elements can affect the future well being of your wine collection. These three things are air, heat and light. Wine will rust (I mean oxidize) if exposed to air.

Minimizing air contact is accomplish by purchasing wine which has been corked with high quality cork and then by laying the wine on its side to keep the cork moist. Corks which dry out (caused by the wine bottle being stored vertically) will allow air to pass through.

Red wines are typically bottled in dark green bottles and many whites are bottled in cobalt blue or dark amber bottles. These bottles reduce the amount of ultraviolet light that the wine is exposed to. Ultraviolet light can break down the structure of the wine. Heat can also potentially damage wines.

So, to reduce the chance of environmental damage to your wine, follow these suggestions:

1. Purchase wine with quality closures and store corked bottles on their sides.

2. Purchase wines which are bottled in darker colored glass and store your wines where it is generally dark.

3. Store your wines in a cool place (not too warm, not too cold).

This cool location for wine storage is best if the temperature remains fairly constant and there is a reasonable amount of humidity (too dry and corks will suffer). A good temperature range for basement storage is from a minimum of about 40 degrees (F) to as high as 65-70 degrees. Most homes will not maintain a constant temperature but if the changes in temperature are gradual this type of storage will suffice.

A more expensive way to approach wine storage is creating an area which is both temperature and humidity controlled but in some locations this could be the only alternative for long term wine storage.

BlueStem Winery operates as a licensed and bonded Iowa winery and also operates a retail store selling beer brewing supplies, homebrew ingredients, homebrewing equipment, winemaking supplies, wine making ingredients, equipment for home winemaking, WinExpert wine kits and and also ingredient kits for making wine from Cellar Craft.

Have the perfect place to store your wine but have no wine? Let us show you the how to's of home wine making. If you want an easy way to get started in this hobby, let us help you decide on either a WinExpert ingredient kit or a Cellar Craft wine kit and with a little bit of patience you can have your wine storage full and still have wine to enjoy. Prefer a cold one? Bluestem also can help you with home brewing supplies and home brew ingredients and can help set you up with brewing equipment to get started on another fulfilling hobby. Cheers!

To Samsung or NOT to Samsung!

Andy at The Big Bald Blog got me revved up about Samsung again. His blog article yesterday about his vacuum cleaner experiences with Sears (where not to buy anything that SUCKS because it won't). You can read Andy's blog for his slant on vacuum cleaners . . . my experience is with over-the-range microwave ovens.

Yes, I know, this blog is supposed to be about BlueStem Winery, selling home brewing supplies and making wine but my tag line also says that I sometimes rant and rave about things that make me angry (or make me feel good). Today it is angry!

Apparently Samsung feels that before you purchase one of their over-the-counter microwave ovens you should read the warranty so that you know that if you install the oven and it does not work that you are responsible for paying the bill to install it, remove it and then reinstall another one. Apparently I did not understand that because Samsung makes junk and then sells junk this somehow becomes my problem.

I guess if you are big enough you obtain a license to dump on your customers at will. I operate a small winemaking supplies and homebrew ingredients store and we also retail our own label Iowa wines. If one of my customers bought something that was defective, even though they opened it in the process of finding out that it was defective, I would take responsibility for the item sold and replace it or refund the money. No cost to my customer!

We (my wife and I) bought a Samsung over-the-counter microwave oven with the thought that it would work at least for a reasonable amount of time. Silly me! It didn't work long enough to heat up one slice of cold pizza. In fact, we never were able to use it at all. But . . . we paid $268 (plus sales tax of $19) to Lowe's and then paid $140 to have the microwave installed. This was a fairly major job as we had to disassemble part of our kitchen cupboards to get the thing in. So, we are now in this for a total of $427. Before I forget, Samsung treated us like crap, Lowe's treated us with a tremendous amount of respect.

Never fear, the goods are under warranty. This means that Samsung will repair, replace or refund. Well, it turns out that there isn't a Samsung repair facility within a hundred miles so that takes out option 1. Option 2 was replacement. Now why on God's green earth would I want to replace this Samsung beauty with another one of their pieces of junk. Remember, it cost me $140 to put it in. Now I get to pay another $80 to remove the bad one plus another $140 to put in the replacement. We took Option 3. Not because it was a good option but because I was sick and tired of dealing with the morons at Samsung Customer Service. Do me a favor! Ship these peoples jobs off to some non-English speaking place. I couldn't have been near as mad if I had not been able to understood what they were trying to tell me as they were screwing me over!

So, we now have a new microwave oven. The total damages were zero as regards to the microwave. We paid $268 and we got back $268. But . . . we are out the $19 sales tax, the $140 for install, the $80 to remove, about $6 postage because we had to mail in the cord for the defective microwave (like I was going to fix it myself or something!) and another $20 plus gas to haul the damn thing to the landfill and dispose of it. That little Samsung gem didn't heat up even one bowl of soup and it cost me $265 plus fuel to the landfill and a whole bunch of frustration.

Thinking of buying a microwave? I think you know what my advice is. In case you don't, let me remind you that SAMSUNG SUCKS! Maybe they should start making the vacuum cleaners that Andy needs. After all, if they can make a microwave that SUCKS making a vacuum cleaner should be a piece of cake!

Looking for a great deal on some beginning wine making equipment to begin a home winemaking hobby or some homebrewing supplies to continue your beer brewing hobby? We can help you and when you call with a problem, you won't get the crap that Samsung hands out from their customer service department in New Jersey. You get to talk to me. No lies, no excuses, no problems! If it is broke we will fix it. If FedEx breaks it we will replace it (not meant to be a slam against FedEx as they do a marvelous job handling my shipping needs).

In addition to homebrew supplies and brewing equipment BlueStem Winery is a retailer for WinExpert wine kits and for Cellar Craft wine kits. Both WinExpert and Cellar Craft ingredient kits make world class wines and it is a great hobby. Where else can you spend so little (a maximum of $4 per bottle) and have a wine that is truly first rate to drink and share with your friends. Lots of friends! The more wine you make the more friends you will have! It works the same way if you are buying beer brewing supplies . . . just more friends.

Procrastinator? Then Making Wine is Your Hobby!

When a couple comes into our store and I start talking with them about making wine as a new hobby, I usually tell them that women make better winemaking hobbyists then men because there are only two simple rules: Keep your equipment clean and read and follow directions. Women are better at both!

Another attribute that makes helps when wine making is the ability to procrastinate! The great thing about wine is that if it is good today, it will be better tomorrow. This statement is for the most part true but during the very initial stages in the winemaking process you do have to stay on schedule in the addition of the various additives and moving the wine to a clean vessel when necessary. Once the process is a few weeks on its way the calendar becomes more flexible and you can go through the various stages with quite a bit of variance in the timing of the winemaking steps. In fact, I have delayed bottling wines for up to two years but for a very good reason. Wine that is stored in bulk ages about 50% faster then which which has been bottled. Here is a time when dallying is a good thing!

BlueStem Winery carries both WinExpert wine kits and Cellar Craft wine ingredient kits and both make superb (even world class!) wine. We have had customers make various kinds of kit wines which they declare are the best they have ever had.

One of our special wine kits this year is one Cellar Craft's Limited Edition kits, the Super-Tuscan Rosso Fortissimo Reserve Cuvee. This kit provides twice the amount of Tuscan Sangiovese juice than Cellar Craft's Showcase Rosso Fortissimo. The crushed grape pack is 30% larger at 2.6 liters and the crushed grapes have been upgraded to Walla Walla Appellation Quality grapes.

This Rosso Fortissimo is truly special and would be a great way to start your wine making hobby.

In addition to the WinExpert wine ingredient kits and the Cellar Craft wine kits we carry, BlueStem Winery also carries its own line of homebrew ingredients kits known as BlueStems Best. BlueStem carries a complete line of wine making equipment, winemaking ingredients, and wine making supplies plus all of the homebrew supplies, home brewing ingredients and beer brewing equipment you need for these great hobbies.

Remembering (those who rescued) Dad!

For several months now I have been writing sometimes daily blog articles about making wine an selling home brew supplies here at BlueStem Winery. Occasionally I would write about some other event or life experience that didn't relate to wine making supplies or beer brewing equipment and the other day I wrote a short blog article about my Dad and just a little, little bit about his experiences as a soldier with Battery Chicago of the 60th Coast Artillery on Corregidor Island in the Philippines prior to World War II and his subsequent imprisonment in several Japanese POW camps in the Philippines (Cabanatuan, Bilibid, Palawan) and then his transfer by hellship (the Canadian Inventor) in 1944 to Moji, Japan and then on to Nagoya Camp No. 3 at Funatsu, Japan for the remainder of the war.

Several months ago I started making up my own brewing ingredients kits at BlueStem Winery and I started to name a few of them after experiences my Dad had during the war. But, I digress! There is a story to tell before I get to naming a beer!

When my father was released from captivity he was transported by train to Nagoya harbor on the east coast of Japan. After a short medical examination he was issued a new set of clothing (to replace the rags he had worn for the last 3-1/2 years) and taken by U.S. Navy barge out into the harbor and taken aboard the British destroyer HMS Wizard (pictured above).

The Brits promptly had the ex-POWs throw their new clothes over the side. Dad was not happy! But . . . the Brits then deloused their new charges and collected extra clothing from the crew to outfit the newly freed POWs. Then it was off to the mess! Dad said they started eating breakfast in the morning and were still eating breakfast well into the evening.

Anyway, I knew that Dad had been aboard the Wizard for a short trip from Nagoya to Tokyo and when I wrote a brief article for Roger Mansell's website about Japanese POW camps, little did I know how small the world really is.

Not too long after Roger published my photos and information about Dad I received an e-mail from England. A member of the HMS Wizard Reunion Society had found the article and had read them at a meeting of the Society. It seems that a lady who attended the meeting wanted to correspond but did not have e-mail and so they had contacted Roger who provided my e-mail address and contact was made. I have been corresponding with Adeline Medford from Wales ever since. Ady's husband was a crewman on the Wizard the day they picked my Dad up off the coast of Japan!

So, my first beer brewing ingredients kit was named Morrison Hill Pale Ale (after the hill on Middleside on Corregidor where my father's battery was stationed) and I then wrote to Ady and asked for the help of the Wizard in naming the second beer. Although Ady reports that some of the ideas were a bit bawdy, the final decision was to name the brewing ingredients kit HMS Wizard Magic Circle Mild Ale.

So, in a fit of excitement over the naming of my beer, I wrote to Ady and told her that I was going to send enough ingredients to England for everyone to have a beer at the next meeting.

Soon I received a package from Ady with a Wizard silk necktie and a certificate naming me as an honorary member of the Wizard Reunion Society. Before this all could go to my head, Ady told me that she thought the the honor had little to do with the service of my Dad or her husband but more to do with free beer!

So, while I remembered by Dad in my blog article the other day, today I remember the brave crew of the very small British warship H.M.S. Wizard and all they did in the service of their country and in the rescue of my Dad from the shores of Japan. Cheers, mates!

BlueStem Winery is a full-service winemaking equipment and homebrewing supplies store located in Parkersburg, Iowa. While we are purveyors of home winemaking and homebrew supplies and both WinExpert and Cellar Craft wine kits we also are busy wine making, too! Our own label BlueStem wines are about to become 3 with the soon to be released Number 2 (Red Crescent) and Number 3 (Dark Side) to join our first issue Once in a Blue Moon. Blue Moon is a Riesling dessert wine, Red Crescent is a Cabernet Franc dessert wine and Dark Side is a Chilean Montepulciano.

Remembering Dad

It is slow at BlueStem Winery today which isn't really unusual for a Thursday afternoon in January! My normal blog writing consists of writing about our home brewing supplies and wine making equipment business here in Parkersburg, Iowa and trying to get as many links from my blog back to my website as is humanly possible without being too redundant. To be honest, that really gets kind of boring.

It has been almost 66 years since my father (Holger Larsen Holm) left the family farm in Grundy County, Iowa (in February 1942) and went to Fort Des Moines to take his army physical and then come home to await his call to active duty. That never happened! The coming home part, that is. After taking his physical he was put on a troop train bound for San Francisco and soon was aboard the USS Republic on his way to the Philippine Islands.

I have bumped into (well, figuratively anyway) several bloggers from the Philippines while blogging around on EntreCard and it just reminded me again of Dad. To make a very long story short, Dad wound up stationed on the tiny fortress island of Corregidor in the mouth of Manila Bay, served with Battery Chicago of the 60th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), was awarded three Silver Stars, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts in about a 30 day period of time in late April and early May of 1942 prior to the surrender of Corregidor.

He then was imprisoned for about 3-1/2 years at Cabanatuan, Bilibid and Palawan POW camps in the Philippines and was transported by hellship (the Canadian Inventor) in mid-1944 to Mogi, Japan and then on to Nagoya Camp No. 3 at Funatsu, Japan. Links are provided to articles about Cabantuan and Bilibid. Dad was lucky enough to be sent away from Palawan prior to the murder of the POWs remaining there. A link is provided for reading about this atrocity by the Japanese, too. A special link is provided for information about Nagoya Camp No. 3 including information I provided to Roger Mansell who maintains this site about Japanese POW camps.

You know, wine making is my job. Selling homebrewing supplies, brewing ingredients, and beer brewing equipment is something I also do. Teaching people about home winemaking using either Cellar Craft or WinExpert wine kits is fun . . . but, that whole thing pales in importance when I think about the sacrifices my father (and his whole generation) made by bringing the Germans, Italians and Japanese to their knees during World War II.

Somehow, talking about WinExpert kits, Cellar Craft wine kits, winemaking supplies and home brew supplies just is not too significant in comparison. Dad has been gone since 1995 but he always was and always will be my hero. He won 4 very distinguished medals for bravery in combat and won 2 medals for being wounded and he never fired a shot himself! He was a lineman who repaired the wires in the communication equipment so that the anti-aircraft batteries would fire in unison. If what had happened to Dad had happened to me, I would have hated the Japanese for the rest of my life. Dad never felt that way. In fact, my brother's son lives on Okinawa (he is a civilian employee of the US Air Force there but had been stationed there previously with the Marines) and is married to a lovely Japanese girl. So, Dad, if you are watching . . . it has been 12 years . . . and I still think of you every day.