# Now I've Done it! The pressure is on!



## grapeman (Oct 2, 2009)

As many of you know, I work at the Willsboro Cold Hardy Grape Trial Vineyard. I do the daily work needing to be done to maintain the vineyard and such. This week was our first main picking for 2009. We ended up picking 12 varieties and got a couple tons of grapes or so. 


This year we will again be sending 10 varieties of grapes to the wine lab in Geneva at Cornell. They will be using standardized methods and set yeasts to compare grapes varieties for wine. We had the 10 done last year and most folks were less than impressed with the generic lab wines. We want to send them again this year, but requested a wine more typical of a commercial wine. We were told that they don't do that type of wine




, they only have lab type facilities.


That's when my foot got shoved in my mouth as I agree to a request to make matching wines of the grapes we send out there. By that I mean, they get half the grapes and I get half the grapes, to each make our version of wine. I'm expected to make the commercial type wines- 10 in all. I know I can do it, I already have from all the varieties, but.........
I am up against some pretty heavy hitters here, including the head folks at the Enology Department of Cornell - including Anna Katharine Mansfield - formerly of the University of Minnesota where many of them were developed. 


This should be fun, but makes my life even more hectic. We decided to do this yesterday afternoon so I arrived home with half of them today or about 600 hundred pounds. Stay tuned!


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## Tom (Oct 2, 2009)

Appleman,
I have TWO words for you.


GOOD LUCK. I know you can beat them.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Oct 2, 2009)

Way to go! Kind of odd that they wouldn't attempt to make the best that can be made from the varieties available. I would sure think yours would better represent what the grapes can and cannot do. Good luck with them!


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## Wade E (Oct 2, 2009)

Wow, you have your work cut out for you now Rich!!!!!!! All that on top of what you already have going on. Do you have the vessels for all this? Hows the selling going on your grapes this year?


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## grapeman (Oct 2, 2009)

JW we were thinking the same thing!


Wade they will need to get replacements for me to fill up. I haven't picked much myself yet. I have been letting things ripen as much as possible, but that is coming to a close. I will start picking more very soon.


Now tomorrow I will need to get going in the winemaking area more again. I'm letting them chill tonight. This morning my door was frosted shut on the trunk when I went to leave to pick!


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## hannabarn (Oct 2, 2009)

Good luck, Rich! I know if anyone can do it, you can. I have the utmost confidence in you,


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## Wade E (Oct 2, 2009)

I will be checking on this wine making area and vineyard of yours in a few weeks!!!


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## OilnH2O (Oct 2, 2009)

Rich,

Nothing like a challenge



-- but remember, we're all here for you! One of my favorite sayings is... (besides the one below) "_none of us_ is as smart as _all of us!"_


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## Dean (Oct 3, 2009)

Way to step up to the plate! Crush it!


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## Waldo (Oct 3, 2009)

You the man buddy !!! Now lets get some pictures posted on this thread and keep us appraised of the priogres s it develops.


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## Joanie (Oct 3, 2009)

As I recall the Cornellians were at your place a while back and you completely wowed with your wine. You have nothing to worry about.


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## fivebk (Oct 3, 2009)

Rich, 

I wish you all the best. I know that you will produce the best wines you can to showcase each variety.

P.S. I would really like to know where you find the time and energy to do all this. I think one word sums it all up.DEVOTED


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## ibglowin (Oct 3, 2009)

Wow, you are going to be one busy winemaker!

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.


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## grapeman (Oct 3, 2009)

Now that i have prepped enough large fermenters, I am headed out to run them through the criusher/destemmer. I don't have time for a lot of pictures but will try to get a couple.


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## Goodfella (Oct 3, 2009)

They don'y stand a chance!!! go get em....


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## Wade E (Oct 3, 2009)

Is this the first run with the motor? Hope she purrrrrs for ya!


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## jobe05 (Oct 3, 2009)

I suspect your welcoming this challenge with a huge smile!

I think this is a challenge that you can do with ease

Good luck to you and hope the grape Gods look upon you to make great wine from them.......... Could lead to a promising future in "professional" wine making....

WHADDA MEAN NO TIME FOR PICTURES????????

THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR PICTURES!


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## farmer (Oct 3, 2009)

Sure wish I was closer, I would love to watch, learn and help!


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## grapeman (Oct 4, 2009)

Thanks everyone. I am indeed enjoying this. I have offered to do it for two years now, and I guess the time is right. 


I already put a few of mine up agianst the generic lab ones and the people choice awards made mine the clear winners. 


I had 600 pounds from the 5 varieties this week and will get another 5 next week. The crusher motor worked great. After hooking the power back up into my winery,I fired the motor up. The first batch was 200 pounds of LaCrescent and it took all of 5 minutes to run them through into a Brute.


After crushing them yesterday I sulfited them all and added pectic enzyme to the whites. I am pressing the whites today and may get a few more pictures then. I did get a couple pictures yesterday and will upload them along with a couple from today.


I am not getting super fancy with these wines. I just want to show what the average winemaker is capable of getting making these cold- hardy grapes without fancy chillers and other sophisticated equipment. Sometimes simpler is better. Using simple techniques, materials and yeasts is sometimes better for making good to great wines. I have no chillers for primary orbladder presses or even stainless tanks, but I do have patience............ and pay attention to what the wine is telling me it wants to become!


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## AlFulchino (Oct 4, 2009)

impressive impressive impressive

lets see..intellectuals versus an innovator???? hmmmmm gee i wonder where the winner will come from


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## Jeff H (Oct 4, 2009)

Rich,


I have no doubt that the wines will come out excellent. Glad to see the motor worked on your C/D. This sounds like alot of fun, enjoy the experience!


Jeff


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## grapeman (Oct 4, 2009)

Yes Jeff the motor works well on the C/D. Thanks again for the pictures.


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## Jeff H (Oct 4, 2009)

Rich, very good, I'm glad they helped out. I was wondering....on most of the motorized C/D's there is an auger in the hopper in addition to the paddles wherethe manual ones just have the paddles. Was there any problem with moving the grapes to the crushing rollers at themotor speed?


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## grapeman (Oct 4, 2009)

No problems at all. Many of them are set up with a hopper and paddles.


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## grapeman (Oct 4, 2009)

OK here are some pictures but I don't have a lot of time for narrative so.

Truck of grapes






LaCrescent grapes





Grapes in the hopper





Crusher Destemmer





In the press





LaCrescent must





Prairie Star





St Croix





I also did Sabrevois and St. Pepin but didn't ake pictures of them.

The End.


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## Brewgrrrl (Oct 4, 2009)

WOW! Very impressive. No wonder you thought my uncle's half-bushel gift of Concord grapes wasn't very many.



I hope these all turn out beautifully - the must looks great.


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## Wade E (Oct 4, 2009)

Looking good there bud!


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## Tom (Oct 4, 2009)

I can smell it here in NJ !


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## ibglowin (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the pics Rich. Looks great!

How many gallons will you end up with?


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## fivebk (Oct 6, 2009)

Looks great Rich, make some knockout wines and show those lab boys what they are missing.

BOB


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## rrawhide (Oct 6, 2009)

Rich

You WILL do it!!!!! With all of us behind you the 'lab boys' do not have a chance. Experience - experience - experience!!!. 

Have fun and keep us up to date

rrawhide


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## grapeman (Oct 7, 2009)

I know the folks at Geneva do a great job making the wines having to do hundreds of batches every year to compare varieties and so forth. I want to show what these grapes we are growing are capable of doing at their best expressing their own individual characteristics.


With any luck some of them may end up in a photo op like this one from this year's Wimemaker Competition.


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## ibglowin (Oct 7, 2009)

Wow,

Thats a lot of hardware, very impressive!


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## Wade E (Oct 7, 2009)

Thats a pretty sight, next time but the 2 darks in the center though!



You always like to hang me on my picture presentations!


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## rrawhide (Oct 7, 2009)

great job Rick

C - O - N - G - R - A - T - U - L - A - T - I - O - N - S

RRAWHIDE


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## paubin (Oct 12, 2009)

Impressive bud ! Now I'm really lookin forward to the move to your part of the country. I'll have to stop by for a taste of the results...lol


Pete


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## hannabarn (Oct 12, 2009)

Paubin, believe me, you will not be disappointed. I really enjoyed my short visit with Rich and Cindy!!


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## xanxer82 (Oct 17, 2009)

How is your project going?


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## grapeman (Oct 22, 2009)

I’m still working with the wines from my own grapes and have a couple hundred gallons to press.I will finish up the Willsboro primary ferments soon-eight down two to go. Overall I think they have a lot of potential this year in spite of low brix and high acids because of the bad weather. The aromas and tastes are superb.. I pressed the Frontenac today – it has plenty offruity character but a bit of herbaceousness– oh well. I alsopressed the <?amespace prefix = st1 ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficearttags" /><st1:City wt="on"><st1lace wt="on">Marquette</st1lace></st1:City>. It had ripened quite well in spite of fairly low sugars (about 22-23 brix). I let some run into a small glass, stuck my nose up to it and it was almost blown off by black cherry aromas - ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! And taste – plenty of black cherry and a touch of Pinot Noir earthiness. Now this is what we all have hopes for with <st1:City wt="on"><st1lace wt="on">Marquette</st1lace></st1:City>. I’m hoping I don’t screw it up, because this is good stuff!<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />


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## jobe05 (Oct 22, 2009)

appleman said:


> <st1ity wt="on"><st1lace wt="on"></st1lace></st1ity>
> I’m hoping I don’t screw it up, because this is good stuff!</span></font>



Rich, I'm sure with your expertise and experience, screwing it up isn't going to happen........... I'm sure the term "screwing it up" isn't in you vocabulary when it comes to wine making.

I don't get on the board as often as I'd like to anymore but when I do I check back in on this thread to see how it's progressing.............



No updated pictures...........

And the description of the wine made my mouth water.


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## grapeman (Oct 25, 2009)

OK Jobe, here is a picture for you of the wines cooking. I love the assortment of colors in all the different wines. There are extras of some of the wines and they get condensed down at racking to fill the headspace when done fermenting. The wines include:
LaCrescent, St. Pepin, Prairie Star, Sabrevois, St. Croix, Petite Amie, NY 76.084.24, Frontenac Gris, Marquette and Frontenac.


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## Goodfella (Oct 25, 2009)

Ummmm......ummmmmmm....... I guess I'm speachless!!!


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## Tom (Oct 25, 2009)

A true rainbow of colors !


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## AlFulchino (Oct 25, 2009)

Rich, how are you heating this area? what is the square feet of it? and what temp are you able to keep it at?


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## Wade E (Oct 25, 2009)

Since I was there yesterday I can answer some of this for him. He has a small baseboard heater in there and the rest is heated by everything fermenting! Id say the room is about 200 sq. feet approx.


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## grapeman (Oct 25, 2009)

The room is 18 x 15 feet or 270 sq ft. It is insulated some, but I need to redo the insulation. It stays about 65 degrees until it gets really cold. Like Wade says, 15 fermenters going at once generate a fair amount of heat. When I start mlf, I kick the heat up a notch to try for about 70 degrees.


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## AlFulchino (Oct 25, 2009)

great.....is the baseboard heat an electric model?

i am going w an electric unit and was told to expect $1 per day in heat/electric costs


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## Wade E (Oct 25, 2009)

Get yourself a Hydroelectric as it will save some money. It has a special fluid in there which will retain the heat like an old cast iron heater does. It doesnt cost that much more up front and will save you money with the heaters staying warm for awhile unlike a plain electric baseboard does. I bought ours for our basement at HomeDepot and they work great.


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## Dean (Oct 26, 2009)

I use oil filled electric radiators like this one

They work awesome and are cheap to run.


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## grapeman (Oct 26, 2009)

I have two of those Dean that I use around the house and office. They do work great. 


The heater I use in the winery is an oil filled baseboard heater also and also works very well. I'm not looking to replace it at this time.


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## xanxer82 (Oct 26, 2009)

wow! that's a lot of carboys. Are they all glass or do you use better bottles too? Currently I have two 6 gal. better bottles. 
I got a cheap gallon of merlot that i'm using to cook with. (mm mmm venison stew) and i plan to use the just to ferment a concoction i'm working on.
That is a great array of colors there too. 
Good luck on your endeavor! Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## grapeman (Oct 26, 2009)

I am working with the project to make 10 carboys of wine. 1 each of 10 varieties from the cold hardy trial are being made to compare to ones made in the lab winery at Geneva. These are all glass. The extra ones are just the beginning of my own. I make 30+ carboys of my own. All but 6 of them are glass. I can transfer with a vacuum that way.


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## Wade E (Oct 26, 2009)

He does have a few Better Bottles though, I seen them on the shelf!


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## grapeman (Oct 26, 2009)

That's right. The six that aren't glass are Better Bottles! You can't use vacuum on them- they flatten.................. I much prefer the glass, they are just slippery when wet. I don't care for the new Italian carboys. They got me ten for the Willsboro Wines. They are taller and narrower in diameter. The bottoms are more rounded and make it difficult to handle them without handles.


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## xanxer82 (Oct 26, 2009)

I'll be sure to avoid the italian carboys. They sounds like a hassle. I've been wondering about vacuum racking and it's gotta be less messy than the human powered suction method. it took a little practice to clamp the tub so i could resanitize the end before putting it in the carboy and still hold the siphon action.


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## Tom (Oct 27, 2009)

xanxer82 said:


> I'll be sure to avoid the italian carboys. They sounds like a hassle. I've been wondering about vacuum racking and it's gotta be less messy than the human powered suction method. it took a little practice to clamp the tub so i could resanitize the end before putting it in the carboy and still hold the siphon action.


Now you dont have a choice. The Mexician ones went out of business. So, the Italian ones are the only ones available.


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## AlFulchino (Oct 27, 2009)

"the new Italian carboys. They got me ten for the Willsboro Wines. They are taller and narrower in diameter."

the point of them being narrower..is more space on yourshelf.


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## grapeman (Oct 27, 2009)

Al Fulchino said:


> "the new Italian carboys. They got me ten for the Willsboro Wines. They are taller and narrower in diameter."
> 
> the point of them being narrower..is more space on yourshelf.




That's right and they do. I just wish the bottom wasn't as rounded- oh well, gotta live with them.


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## xanxer82 (Oct 27, 2009)

I'd be really upset to have a glass carboy slip on the wedges because it's too rounded. Perhaps I can find a used one somewhere. Craigs List is proving fruitless (hehe) I did find a nice press but it's out of my budget right now.


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## grapeman (Oct 27, 2009)

Don't worry about that. They aren't like a ball or anything. I have jsut handled so many carboys with the slightly flattened semi-rounded edges that the new ones seem different.


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## xanxer82 (Oct 27, 2009)

Good to know they aren't like a ball. How long have you been making wine?
You're so knowledgeable about it and always have good advice. 
I have a lot of time to read the forum. I work 3 12 hour shifts a week and 4 days off.


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## ibglowin (Oct 28, 2009)

And the new Italian carboys are more like 6.15 gallon so more headspace to worry about than the ones from Mexico......


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## Wade E (Oct 28, 2009)

Just like all carboys they probably all vary in size.


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## Brewgrrrl (Oct 28, 2009)

I always put those Italian carboys in milk crates before I work with them. No more extra space from them being skinny but I don't worry as much about dropping them or having them slip around when I tilt them.


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## Wade E (Oct 28, 2009)

Ill be picking up an Italian this weekend. Wish i could afford a few more.


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## Dean (Oct 28, 2009)

wade said:


> Ill be picking up an Italian this weekend. Wish i could afford a few more.



are you going to make this italian work the fields, or just cook for you?


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## hannabarn (Oct 29, 2009)




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## ibglowin (Oct 29, 2009)

Don't leave him alone with your significant other either!







wade said:


> Ill be picking up an Italian this weekend. Wish i could afford a few more.


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## Wade E (Oct 29, 2009)

She'll be tending to my new Black Currant fields and then its lights out! Momma Mia!


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## grapeman (Oct 29, 2009)

Wade I thought you had a beautiful woman at home that likes wearing a naughty nurse's outfit? What do you need an italian with a round bottom for?


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## Wade E (Oct 30, 2009)

My wife cant make Pasta Vasul!


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## grapeman (Oct 30, 2009)

Getting back on topic here, I tasted a bit of the LaCrescent yesterday afternoon. The aromas are delightful and strong. The tastes are wonderful and crisp - true to type for LaCrescent. It has begun clearing so it will be racked again soon along with a number of the others. I also tried a bit of Marquette a couple days ago and it is wonderful and fruity with lots of black cherry up front.


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## xanxer82 (Oct 30, 2009)

Glad to see that they are coming along nicely.


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