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Steve Graham – making wine on the spot

June 25, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield – How do you take your coffee or tea? For a snack, will you have a few carrot and celery sticks or do you prefer to dive into a chocolate brownie or a piece of pie? Do you put lemon on your fish? What type of cologne do you prefer?

Based on your answers to these questions, Steve Graham can have a pretty good idea of what type of wine suits you best, even if you are not too sure yourself.

Owner and chief bottle washer of his business, Brewers’ Haven, Mr. Graham began his working life studying to be a chef at George Brown College, which including courses in wine pairing (what goes best with what) and wine making.

Life got in his way for that path and he turned to a succession of other jobs until the opportunity came up to buy Brewers’ Haven from its owner, who worked with him for some time, “a fella who just wanted to retire but wanted to see the business continue.”

“Brewers’ Haven was the first wine making business in Orangeville,” Mr. Graham said. “And we consider that it is still a very different experience to make wine here.”

Very laid back, he assured us, was the tone of the place. Very traditional.

“It’s old school,” was his remark, “we don’t use a lot of gadgets. The brewing is hand done.

“We had a wedding party here, making the wine for their big day and they had a great time,” he said.

So, making wine in a traditional way with Mr. Graham is a learning time too.

Naturally, he uses concentrates, some of which still have fruit in them. All the concentrates come from the Niagara region. Big vintners have smaller lots from which they make the concentrate from the vines specifically grown to that use but, yet, still the high quality of the rest of their crops.

This means that good quality Ontario grapes are used to make Brewers’ Haven wine but for much less that the cost at the LCBO or the supermarkets wine kiosks.

As Mr. Graham put it, “We can give you a product that is pretty darned close to what you can get at the LCBO for one third the price.”

There is frequently a memory association with a kind of wine for many people and, here again, a description of the wine and the event connected to it help Mr. Graham lead his customers to exactly what suits them.

The law dictates that Mr. Graham is not allowed to give tastings except at a specifically organized event in cooperation with the wine companies. Hence, discussion and intuition must substitute for what the pallet might suggest.

Here is the process: on first acquaintance, when a customer, say, you, comes in, there is a discussion about the type and taste of the wine to be made. Once that is established, Mr. Graham builds the batch, perhaps with you looking on and adding the “leaven” or yeast. He then babies and cares for the batch for the next eight to ten days while it rests in its vat, fermenting.

That process is followed a week of clarifying and some 14 to 20 days of de-gassing.

Finally, it is time for the filtering (eight days) and, then, you come back to do the bottling. This takes about an hour for the work, depending on your presentation, with nice labels, maybe, netting – whatever you like for whatever is the occasion.

Once satisfied with the process and the results, you can begin a routine of choosing the batch and waiting the time for the next resulting brew to bring home.

A batch is 23 litres, resulting in 30 bottles at 750 ml each.

It is best to age the wine you have bottled for not less than one month and, even better, up to six months, to appreciate the full vigor and flavour of your vintage.

In other words, for instance, because Christmas is only six months away and, in spite of your not necessarily having thought about small gifts or wine for the many meals you might share either in your own home or others,’ now is the right time to think about preparing your own special choice of vino. This way, your Yule tide generosity will actually cost you considerably less than a lack of forethought might allow.

Said Mr. Graham, “It was a real leap of faith when we bought this business in 2013 but I am happy to work hard and we are holding our own now.”

Just for the record, we went through his taste quiz about coffee, fish with lemon and snacks. Given our responses, his guess at our preference in wine was right on.

Brewers’ Haven is located in the Mono Plaza at 633419 Highway 10, just north of Orangeville. Telephone 519-942-2510 and email: brewershaven@gmail.com.


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