# Blanc du Bois wine



## e-wine (Jul 15, 2010)

We finally harvested our Blanc du bois vine. We ended up with over 40 pounds of grapes with 24 pounds going to the madeira aka, Figeira. That left more than 16 pounds which we juiced and ended up with about 1 1/3 gallons of grape juice. We added 1 1/3 campden tablets and put the juice in the refrigerator. We will add a little pectic enzyme tomorrow just in case and will pull the juice out of the refigerator on day three. This is our first attempt with BdB and only our second grape wine so we'll have to see how it goes.

e-wine


----------



## countrygirl (Jul 15, 2010)

great! keep us updated...i have one catawba, but it's a baby, lol. we are preparing for 10 each next spring, vidal blanc and norton. maybe more catawba, too, if i can talk hubby into it. what kind of press do you use?


----------



## Tom (Jul 15, 2010)

What was the brix when you picked them?


----------



## e-wine (Jul 15, 2010)

countrygirl,

I have fond memories of a Catawba wine that was made in Ohio and I wish we could grow them down here but PD excludes them as a possibility. Since we only had just over forty pounds, we used the same method we used for the mustang and mulberry which was to juice them in a nylon bag. Oh, and this vine is also a baby since it was only a six inch long twig February of '09.

We plan to take part in two other BdB harvest over the weekend and we hope to get some pictures. I'll keep you posted.

e-wine


----------



## e-wine (Jul 15, 2010)

Tom,

They were just short of twenty. I know the northern part of the state and the northern parts of the U.S. can wait longer but they start falling of the vines down here along the coast. It's basically use them or lose them. Additionally, we've had over 9" of rain this month. We had 5 days without any rain before I harvested this morning. Then we just got 0.70" afterwards with more rain predicted. As I understand it, a lot of rain before harvest is not good but I welcome anyone's input. 

e-wine


----------



## e-wine (Jul 20, 2010)

We've chilled the juice and transferred it into the secondary. We had to add sugar to bring the s.g. up to 1.090 and we added the nutrient. This morning, we added the yeast which is a different yeast than recommended. Since we will use most of this batch for the Figeira, we went with the same yeast we used for it. Hopefully, there will be little difference but in reality, we will never know. If the BdB does not come out good, was it a mistake in the process or was it the yeast . . . or was it the harvest. We helped with the harvest on two other vineyards over the weekend. On the second harvest, we left tons of grapes on the vine. (I wish that vineyard was closer!) On both harvest, there was a lot of rot in the clusters and the sugar levels were low. The vines were loaded and they were expecting a bumper crop but the rains from t.s. Alex really had an impact. So if our BdB does not go in the right direction, it runs the risk of becoming a Madeira.

e-wine


----------



## countrygirl (Jul 20, 2010)

e-wine said:


> On the second harvest, we left tons of grapes on the vine. (I wish that vineyard was closer!) On both harvest, there was a lot of rot in the clusters and the sugar levels were low. The vines were loaded and they were expecting a bumper crop but the rains from t.s. Alex really had an impact. So if our BdB does not go in the right direction, it runs the risk of becoming a Madeira.
> 
> e-wine



delete if this offends anyone, or put me in corner (watch out steve n nikki)
but 
mother nature, she can be a nasty ole' ho
(tobacco farmer humor)


----------



## Jarret (Jul 27, 2010)

I have 3 bdb vines that are in their second year. We got a little fruit, but I chose to just eat them this year.

I am also on the texas gulf coast. I am located in Deer Park.


----------



## e-wine (Jul 29, 2010)

Jarret,

Welcome to the forum! Glad to hear of someone else working with the BdB. 

Yesterday, I went over to a local vineyard and picked more of the BdB. Their harvest was over and they had some grapes left on the vines so they invited anyone to come over and pick what they wanted or could find. This was one of the vineyards we helped harvest a couple of weeks ago. So I now have 4 more gallons in process. It was very wet in the vineyard as it has been most of this month. Average July rainfall for Houston is 3.xx inches and we've had over 14 inches. The sugar level was up marginally but there was a lot of rotten grapes on the vines. For free, we can work around that.

e-wine


----------



## Jarret (Jul 15, 2011)

E wine,

Update please on the wine and on the vines.

I just harvested here in Deer Park. I came in at 20.5 Brix. The birds beat me to half of them though.

Thank you,
Jarret


----------

