Surprise Second for Local Wine-Maker

Local resident, Phil Notarange, first started making wine while attending college. After college his wine-making stopped so he could pursue a career in finance. Now more than 30 years later Phil has reignited his passion for wine by once again pursuing his goal to produce great wine at home.

Passion for wine-making has been in Phil's family for generations since his grandfather started making his own wine when he arrived in the United Sates nearly 100 years ago. Like many Italian immigrants at the time, wine-making was an important part of their life and thus required the skills, time and a sizable portion basement space in their home in the Higlandtown section of Baltimore City.

The process of making wine may not have changed in Phil's family, but one thing is now different; earning an award for the wine. Phil found out last week that his entry into the Maryland State Fair Competition earned him a second place ribbon in the Red Vinifera class. His award for his Red Zinfandel entry was a pleasant surprise for Phil since he just revived his wine-making a little more than a year ago when he started his retirement.

The Zinfandel is one of many wines in Phil's wine making portfolio. He has bottled California Pinot Noir and is bulk-aging Valpolicella and some highly-anticipated Brunello in the basement of his Bel Air home. It's a little obvious that Phil's interest lies in Italian reds.

(Zinfandel is actually a descendant of the Italian Primitivo grape.)

But just how does the process of making an award winning wine begin?

In this case it started about a year ago in September 2009 when Phil purchased his wine juice from a local distributor. Grape processing and pressing required more time and space and since Phil wanted to focus on enhancing his wine making skills, he decided to start with juice.

The first major step in the wine making process is fermentation. The first 24 to 48 hours are the most critical. If fermentation doesn't start within this time, you could experience what is referred to as stuck fermentation. Phil says that those first couple of days is stressful, and he doesn't sleep well until he starts to see the bubbling in the fermentation container, a sign that the yeast is alive and working.

The bubbling is actually CO2 emitting from the yeast microorganisms. Phil explains fermentation in this basic but some what crude way. Phil says "When people ask me how fermentation works I tell them basically the yeast eats the sugar in the juice and defecates alcohol and emits CO2 gas." People never forget this explanation. Wonder why?

Fermentation is completed after the yeast dies off and falls to the bottom as sediment. The ensuing steps involve removing any residual gas (bubbles) in the wine and stabilizing it.

The longest step in the process is the aging. In this case the Red Zinfandel was aged in bulk for four months before bottling in late February of this year. The aging in the bottle continued until the wine was "released" by Phil last month. Friends encouraged Phil to enter his wine in the competition.

"My goal was to get professional feedback from the judges so I could tweak my skills," Phil said. He didn't anticipate receiving an award.

The toughest challenge in wine-making, according to Phil, is patience. Walking through your basement looking at all of these bottles of wine and knowing you cannot open them is torture for wine makers.

Phil plans to remedy this by creating a large inventory of wine in his cellar so he can just open and enjoy the "fruits" of his effort at anytime.

Phil's philosophy has always been, "True wine lovers are not just wine drinkers, they are also wine makers."

Well, based on this, it looks like Phil has a new love interest. Does this bother Phil's wife, Chris? No, actually Chris plays a major part in his wine-making. She is the chief wine taster and "judge." Chris, a retired Harford County teacher, gives Phil high grades for his wine.

Maybe Phil's second place award wasn't a surprise after all.