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Label Design Contest

It is time to get started on our label design competition for our 2nd vintage! Here are the rules:

1. You will do 3 things in this contest:
   • Design the label
   • Name the wine
   • Incorporate the IHSI logo somewhere in the design. The size can be changed, but you can download the logo here
2. The size of the label is to be 4" wide X 3.33" high
3. Designs will be accepted from IHSI Winemaking Club members only and are due by Sunday, 2/20/2011 11:59 p.m.
   Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
4. Once all of the designs are in, we will post them on the Italian Heritage Society's web site. All registered users of the web site (IHSI members and non-members alike) will be allowed to vote, but only one time.
5. Voting will take place from Monday, 2/22/11 until Sunday, 3/13/11.
6. At the conclusion of the voting period, all votes will be tabulated and a winner will be declared.
7. In the case of a tie, the top candidates will be voted on by the Winemaking Club members to determine a winner.

All I ask is that you be creative and have fun!!

Some facts about this year's wine:

• The type of wine is "Red Zinfandel"
• It is sourced from "Central Valley, California"
• The alcohol by volume (ABV) is "12.5%"

A big 'Thank You' to all who showed up on Saturday to help rack the barrels!  Since we did a good job filtering the wine before putting it in the barrels the first time around, we lost less volume this year than last as the sediment settled out.  So after this last racking, we are now looking forward to bottling the wine, most likely in late March.

To get you ready for bottling, here are some tips on removing labels and getting your bottles ready to be filled.

• First, soak your bottles in HOT water.  This will do two things: 1. It disinfects and cleans the bottles, and 2. It loosens up the glue on the labels.
• Second, remove the labels.  There are many options for this, but I have found this method to work very well.
  1. Use a pampered chef scraper or the backside of a butter knife to scrape off the paper and most, if not all of the glue.
       
  2. If there is any residual glue left over, moisten an S.O.S. pad and use it to remove this easily (be sure not to use this in the same water where you are soaking your bottles).
     
• Third, allow the bottles to dry completely.  Store these upside down to allow all of the water to drain.
• Finally, place a cork in the bottle (or cover with Saran Wrap).  This will keep anything from entering the bottle before we are ready to fill it with wine.  When you come to bottling day, we will sanitize each bottle with a small amount of sulfite to make sure anything that is in the bottle gets taken care of.

The wine is coming along very nicely.  It has great flavor and structure at this point.  I'm really looking forward to bottling in just a couple of short months!

Mark your calendars!

On Saturday, January 22, 2011, we will be racking the wine at the Murphy Building in Fountain Square (1043 Virginia Avenue, Indianapolis, IN) at 11:00 a.m. So enjoy your Christmas and New Years celebrations, but be ready to help us on the 22nd!

For those of you new to this part of wine making, let me explain... Racking the barrels takes place after the wine has settled for a number of months. During that time, the sediment in the wine has settled to the bottom of the barrel, and the wine is starting to clear up (as opposed to the cloudiness we had just after pressing). So at this time, we siphon off the clarified wine and put it into a fresh barrel to sit for another couple of months. We're getting close to bottling, since this is the last step before we do so

Please reply by clicking here if you plan on attending on the 22nd. Be sure to bring some food, wine, etc... as we always need to have a few goodies on hand for when we finish working!