# MY FIRST WINE FOR 2008



## Waldo (Dec 31, 2007)

I decided that my first wine for 2008 will be a Muscadine. It will be a 6 gallon batch and the recipe I am using is as follows: 


42lbs. Muscadines 
6 Campden Tablets
5 Tbsp Yeast Nutrient
6lbs Wildflower Honey
1/4 Tsp Liquid Pectic Enzyme




I elected to use the traditional method of fermenting on the skins for this batch instead of steam juicing so my first step was thawing out the Muscadines which I actually started Friday evening.











Got them all processed early yesterday morning








Dissolved and added the honey and Campden tabsto the must. Stirred well and let it set until this moning at which time I added my Yeast Nutrient and Pectic Enzyme.
As you can see, with both strainer bags of the pulp in the primary I am just about too full.






I will more than likelydivide this into two primaries, let it ferment until I get ready torack it to glassand then I will consolidate both back together. 


My starting SG was a bit high [email protected] 72 degrees and I may add a bit more water when I divide the batch between the two primaries. My plans are to have my yeast ( Montrachet) ready and as the last few seconds of 2007 tick off I will begin adding the yeast to my first batch of 2008. I will wait until late this evening, check the SG again and make a final determination at that time.



*Edited by: Waldo *


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## JWMINNESOTA (Dec 31, 2007)

Sure looks good there Waldo, pics of the yeast going in as the ball drops would be nice.


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## grapeman (Dec 31, 2007)

You certainly are taking your first wine of 2008 seriously! Are you staying up until after midnight, or just gonna get up a few minutes early?






It should turn out great Waldo. You seem to have those Muscies down to a science.


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## Tomy (Dec 31, 2007)

Looks to me like your jumping the gun there Waldo, oh excuse me your going by kangroo time, they didn't specifiy that in the rules. Looking good there Waldo. Tomy














Happy New Year Everyone


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## bonvec (Dec 31, 2007)

If you don't want to add water you could use a higher alc. yeast another option is use your current yeast and make a sweet wine.


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## rem1 (Dec 31, 2007)

Waldo: Just curious, do you get your muscadine grapes from a market in season or have a gooood friend for your source? I will be getting my wine kit Tuesday &amp; will have to try some muscadine this fall. If my memory is correct you also had a great thread on blueberry a while back.


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## bj4271 (Dec 31, 2007)

Waldo,


I was going to start a muscadine for my next batch also. Just waiting for a rainy weekend to steam juice the musc. Have you ever tried steam juicing &amp; adding the skins, anyway. I wonder how that would go?


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## Wade E (Dec 31, 2007)

Honey &amp; Muscadines, that just sounds yummy. Have you tried this before?


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## Waldo (Dec 31, 2007)

Thanks All !!!


*appleman*...I am going to stay up and see the new year in


*bonvec......* I dont want it to finish off much above 11-12% and believe I am fruit heavy enough that I can add a bit more water and not degrade the quality of the wine too much. That is my hopes anyway.


*rem1* ....I picked these from a vineyard last fall. This is the last of whatI had






*bj......*have added the skins after steaming but could not tell it helped any as they are pretty much void of any goodies after steaming


*wade*...Have never tried the honey in a Muscadine but I have a good "gut" feeling about the outcome


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## NorthernWinos (Dec 31, 2007)

Congratulations Waldo...You for sure have started the FIRST wine for 2008....adding the yeast at midnight....no one can top that....YA-HOO!!!!


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND ALL MEMBERS AND GUEST HERE....


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## jobe05 (Dec 31, 2007)

I'm lost Waldo....... Your gonna pitch the yeast at Midnight?.....

Will you just be getting up to do that or just going to bed?





My hats off to ya buddy for planning ahead. Had I'd known you were going to do that, I would have taken mine out of the freezer and I could have followed along.

Instead, I'm doing a French Chardonnay, a Piesporter and a Watermelon Merlot.


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## PolishWineP (Dec 31, 2007)

And Waldo, to compliment your Muscadine, we will be starting a batch of choke cherry tomorrow!


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## Waldo (Jan 1, 2008)

Happy New Year Everyone !!!
The yeast has been pitched on the Muscadine !!
Life Is Good....All Is Fine !!!


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 1, 2008)

Always a step ahead of the rest!



Hope this one turns out to be your best!


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## uavwmn (Jan 1, 2008)

Looks delicious already!!!


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## uavwmn (Jan 1, 2008)

Jobe, which brand Piesporter are you going with?


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## K&GB (Jan 1, 2008)

Waldo, I know nithing about muscadines, but when I showed your posts to my sister, she said she would get me some (she lives in Northern GA). Question, why did you add the honey? 


Good luck and Happy New Year!


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## jobe05 (Jan 1, 2008)

uavwmn said:


> Jobe, which brand Piesporter are you going with?



I have a Vino Del Vida kit right now that I will be starting. It's a little different from my last kit. Ths one comes with a packet hat contains about a cup of what looks like it could e a sweetener with the elderflowers (not many) in it.

The last kit I did 2 years ago, don't know which one it was right now but I can see if I still have the paper work, came with dried elderflowers that you added during the fermentation process.


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## Waldo (Jan 1, 2008)

K&amp;GB said:


> Waldo, I know nithing about muscadines, but when I showed your posts to my sister, she said she would get me some (she lives in Northern GA). Question, why did you add the honey?
> 
> 
> Good luck and Happy New Year!




Thanks K&amp;GB....I love to experiment and therefore I used the honey instead of sugar soley on my gut feeling that it would possibly enhance the Muscadine once fermented. I may be totally wrong and only time will tell whether I am onto something or just blew a 6 gallon batch of Muscadine.


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## Waldo (Jan 2, 2008)

I did end up slpitting it into two batches as I was a little leery of pitching the yeast in the single primary at the level it was at. Anyway, fermentation has begun. A little slow right now as the must temp is only at 70 degrees.


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## myway22 (Jan 2, 2008)

Did I read that right, 42 lbs. of muscadines for a six gallon batch?


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## Waldo (Jan 2, 2008)

myway22 said:


> Did I read that right, 42 lbs. of muscadines for a six gallon batch?




Yes myway, you read correctly. I typically use 6lbs per gallon but this batch got a few extra just for good luck.


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## Waldo (Jan 3, 2008)

And it is fermenting beautifully.........


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 3, 2008)

Waldo....That's a very brilliant color.....interesting.


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## Waldo (Jan 4, 2008)

Thanks NW...Almost a dark Pepto color isn't it.
I squeezed all the goodies I could from the strainer bags this evening and incorporated the two batches back into one.


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## Waldo (Jan 6, 2008)

Fermentation continues at "Full Tilt Boogie" on this batch.


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## joeswine (Jan 10, 2008)

WALDO you got a steady hand not to get any on the floor,my wife would kill me if I didn't have protection under it



:


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 10, 2008)

Waldo works on his wines at 2:00AM and has the mess cleaned up by the time his wife gets up....


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## joeswine (Jan 10, 2008)

NW&lt;NOW I UNDERSTAND


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## Waldo (Jan 11, 2008)

I have had to clean up my share of "oops". My worst was a racking where I forgot to close the spigot on my bottling bucket I was racking into.


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## smokegrub (Jan 11, 2008)

And I thought I was the only one who had left the spigot open and I have done it more than once!

Great looking wine. Its early stages looked a lot like my cranberry which is underway. Now, however, my fermentation is slow but steady.


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## jobe05 (Jan 19, 2008)

Hey Waldo...........

I may re-think the whole crushing, juicing, bagging goodies to ferment on the skins.

I was talking to an old guy who picks his Muscadines, throws them in a bucket, doesn't even wash them, adds 5# of sugar (dry) adds water to cover and throws in a package of yeast...............

His wine is fantastic! Awesome color, just the right flavor versus acid, sweetness............... Are we over complicating muscadine wine?

I may try it with my next batch.


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 19, 2008)

Day 19 of the year 2008 and I finally got my first wine of the year started..... 


Another ChokeCherry wine using the same recipe as always....It should turn out as the last batches have.


However.....This time I might use Red StarMontrachet Yeast instead of Lalvin BOURGOVIN RC 212...I have more of the Red Star on hand so thought I would try that....I have till tomorrow to decide....I also have some Red Star Pasteur Red.....Decisions...Decisions...Maybe I should just go with what I always use and not complicate things. 


Has anyone compared these yeasts???? With what results????


I want the wine to finish dry.


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## Waldo (Jan 19, 2008)

I really like the Montachret with my fruits NW...Might give it a try and see how it does.


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## Waldo (Jan 19, 2008)

Alright, I am in need of some counsel on my Muscadine. I am trying something I have never done before and I figure I have a couple of hours before I reach the point of no return. I racked my 6 gallons into two three gallon carboys, degassed them and then I added about 2 ozs of Acidex Super-K Tartaric Acid reduction powder to one of the carboys and put it in my chest freezer to cold stabilize. Is it too cold in there? Not cold enough? How long do I leave it it there? Oh yes, I used a solid bung in lieu of an airlock too.






Plans are to let the Acidex do its work. rack the wine off the crystals and then blend it back with the untreated 3 gallon and hopefully it will be just right.


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## jobe05 (Jan 19, 2008)

I think it'll be to cold Waldo.

If your outdoor temps don't go below 32 at night and highs of 50 ish durring the day (although that has no bearing on it), I would just put it outside for a week or so. 45 degree's or so is good, 55 is OK...... 33 is best but you probably couldn't hold that temp outside.

I did this on a scuppernong and noticed a huge difference right away in the taste.


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 19, 2008)

How cold is it in there????


The volume [mass] of the wine will reduce the temperature of the freezer....Plus opening the door to check on it also reduces the temperature.


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## grapeman (Jan 19, 2008)

Too cold- A freezer is usually in the 0 range. For cold stabilization you want about 25-35 degrees for a couple weeks or so.How warm is it down there now? Can you set it in a shaded area that stays cold during the day and night?


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## Waldo (Jan 19, 2008)

Thanks all......How bout in a refrigator then? Would that work ok?


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## K&GB (Jan 19, 2008)

I tried the same thing with my sauv blac Waldo, and it began to freeze after a few hours, so I took it out.


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## jobe05 (Jan 19, 2008)

I think a fridge would work great Waldo. Keeps it a constat temp which is cold. Just leave it there for a few weeks.


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## grapeman (Jan 19, 2008)

Refrigerators work great. Take the shelving out and put the carboy in. Turn it down to about freezing and it should work great.


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## Waldo (Jan 20, 2008)

And there she now rests....


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## joeswine (Jan 20, 2008)

useing cold fermentation or just useing it for for another sorce of finding,keeps the fun in the loop,to cold and you will distort the flovor from the liguid and the acholo from the water and might have a hard time realining the comdonation ,it could get weak from to cold,this is true


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## space (Jul 9, 2008)

Waldo, do you remember how much water you had to add when using 42 lbs of grapes? Also, I'm curious why you had to cold stabilize the wine...was the TA wayyyy out of whack?
*Edited by: space *


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## joeswine (Jul 9, 2008)

cold stabilization,can be used as i stated above,as long as all the fermentation is completed however using it in another technique you can also ferment in the cold under the proper condition's,thats why i stated it keeps th fun in the loop knowing has to be out of wack/////////////







http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&amp;ref=12


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## space (Jul 9, 2008)

I cannot decipher what you said in either post.


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## Wade E (Jul 9, 2008)

Waldo had like you said to much acidity and he reduced with acid reducer which usually needs colder temps for the wine to drop out of suspension cream of tartar(wine diamonds) which is tartaric acid formed into an acid salt. the colder temps alone can do this but at a much slower rate.


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## space (Jul 10, 2008)

Thanks Wade.


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## Waldo (Jul 10, 2008)

It worked great too


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## Harry (Jul 10, 2008)

I have my first wine of tne year ,It is BlackberryAnd i started it Jan.1 08.


the second tome i racked it, it smelled sour So i started degassing it ,It smells better now just a little sour, is this mormal? It taste pretty good


Harry


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## Tomy (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Harry, how are things in Texas. My Blackberry don't smell sour, smells like Blackberries, but I'm not a expert vino maker so what do I know lol.
Tomy


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## joeswine (Jul 11, 2008)

should smell like blackberries,could have a acid problem,but not sure







http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&amp;ref=12


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## Wade E (Jul 11, 2008)

Blackberries are high in malic acid and that may be what you are smelling.


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## joeswine (Jul 12, 2008)

THOUGHT SO,HI YOU DOING WADE///////////////







http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&amp;ref=12


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jul 12, 2008)

Waldo, will the first wine made in 2008 be the first one opened in 2009?


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## Waldo (Jul 13, 2008)

My first wine for 2008 
Has met a most "tear jerking" fate.
In June, right before the family reunion, I moved it, along with two other carboys of wine from the bar area of our dining room to the back of the dining room. Aboutfive-six days later I discovered the bung/airlock had either popped out or one of the cats had knocked it out. Anyhow, my Muscadine had several fruit flies in it and I had to pour it out


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## grapeman (Jul 13, 2008)

So this is what happened to the Muscadine I read on you other post today. Sorry to hear of your loss. It's too late now, but next time don't assume it is bad. You could take and add an extra dose of k-meta and rebung it for a couple months to see if they contaminated it. I have found that sometimes the extra k-meta dose will keep the acetobactor from turning the wine to vinegar.


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## joeswine (Jul 13, 2008)

I UNDERSTAND THE LOSS ON A LOST CARBOY,I FEEL THE PAIN"http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN
http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jul 13, 2008)

That IS a tear jerker!


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## Wade E (Jul 13, 2008)

Say it isnt so buddy!


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## Waldo (Jul 13, 2008)

"SO"


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## gaudet (Jul 13, 2008)

More proof that my suspicions that cats are evil is true


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## joeswine (Jul 14, 2008)

CATS ARE VERY COOL MAN,VERY COOL







http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&amp;ref=12


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## gaudet (Jul 14, 2008)

Maybe Jazz Cats...................

Mine is a jerk





*Edited by: gaudet *


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