Educating for Responsible
Wine Consumption

Fellow Enological Society Members,

What a lovely time of year in the Wenatchee Valley!

Last month I posed a question to the membership asking how you remove red wine stains. I’m pleased to report that only 2 members have experienced this problem! Here are their solutions:

Tom & MaryAnn McNair wrote:
“Our friend Mary Ann Johnson, a co-owner of the Windmill Restaurant, before her death a few years ago gave me this advise (she was also a Home Ec Teacher and know her food and fabrics. Pour almost boiling water on the stain and blot with clean white towels. Try to do as immediately as possible. Mary Ann said they used this technique on the restaurant tablecloths and it would also work for any fruit juice stains. I have used it successfully on silk blouses, beige carpeting and white tablecloths.”

Steven Bechard says:
Blot as much up immediately. Then douse a clean cloth with hydrogen peroxide and dab at the stain, alternating with a clean dry cloth to continually blot it up.

Also, I work at a winery and we sell a little 2.0 oz. spray bottle of wine stain remover called Wine Away Red wine stain remover formulated to remove most red wine stains from fabric and carpet. It is made from fruit and vegetable extracts and has a fresh citrus scent. Shake lightly and test on a sample of fabric or carpet first. Carpet: absorber excess stain. Saturate with wine away and let sit for 1-5 minutes. Blot area until stain disappears. Then, follow with damp rag to remove any residue. Fabric: saturate with wine away and launder according to manufacturer specifications. One 2 oz. spray bottle is $8.50.

I’ve not yet tried the boiling water method; it takes a brave soul to pour boiling water over a silk blouse! I do plan to use this on some stains I have and will report back!

I’ve seen Steven’s hydrogen peroxide work like a snap, but it is more of a stain prevention method. What if it is a darker carpet? I would worry that it would bleach a bit.

Here is my old tried and true stain preventative for darker colors:
Pour mounds of salt on the stain immediately. You will see the wine pulled out of the carpet, being absorbed by the salt. I’ve hidden many a disaster this way!

Pet Peeve?

Yes, absolutely! Don’t you just hate it when the wax covering the cork is so hard you can’t get it off? And if it is an older bottle, you want to be careful about handling it so as not do disturb any sediment? What to do, what to do?

Fellow wine lovers, share your tricks with me! I tried everything the other day including scissors, knives and a foil cutter. I was almost too tired to drink any wine by the time I got done! Ok, ok, that’s a lie, I confess.

Please send your suggestions, ideas and tricks to deal with these pesky hard waxy cork finishes to:
editor.wenwine@live.com
Your answers will be posted in the next newsletter.

“Three be the things I shall never attain: envy, content and sufficient champagne”
~Dorothy Parker

I do love this quote!

Cheers!
Michelle Jeffers