# St. James Winery (St. James, MO)



## winemaker_3352 (Jun 21, 2013)

I am looking for 1-2 folks to split 55 gallons of Chardonel from St. James Winery.

If anybody is interested reply to this thread or PM me.


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## BobF (Jun 21, 2013)

How prominent is the flavor of Chardonel? I've been thinking about doing an experiment using a white wine grape juice as the base for a fruit wine like elder or blackberry.


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 21, 2013)

BobF said:


> How prominent is the flavor of Chardonel? I've been thinking about doing an experiment using a white wine grape juice as the base for a fruit wine like elder or blackberry.



I think it is better than the grapes I got at the local vineyard. The harvest late at nite to preserve the flavors and sugar. They cold soak it for a bit then press and SO2 and then chill it to about 35* to drop out solids.


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## homer (Jun 25, 2013)

When is the delivery date? bk


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 26, 2013)

I will get a notice about 2 days before pickup. It will be after harvest - late august early sept.


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## homer (Jun 26, 2013)

Forgive my ignorance, this is a white? Have you made wine from this juice before? Are you a member in the MVWS? What is the cost? Thanks. bk


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 27, 2013)

No worries.

Chardonel is a white grape - it is a hybrid of Chardonnay and Seyval.

The cost is $6.75 per gallon of Chardonel Juice.

I have 30 gallons of the 2012 Chardonel in carboys now that I need to filter and bottle.

The wine turned out great!!


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## homer (Jun 27, 2013)

So we just transfer it to 5 gallon containers? What happens If I'm a day late? What's the city of delivery?


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 29, 2013)

St. James, Missouri is the city pickup.

If you said you wanted say 5 gallons, and you are not going to be there to pick it up you would either:
* not get the juice and I would have to pay for and get 5 extra gallons
* or make arrangements to pick it up from me

There is a binding contract that is signed and returned to St James that states that we will get xx gallons for $xx.xx per gallon and to be picked on the scheduled day.

Yes you can put it in 5 gallon containers and take home with you. He will have a nozzle hooked up to the tanks and he will transfer into our containers directly from the tanks...


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## homer (Jun 30, 2013)

I'm in, for what ever you don't want, but at least 20 gallons to make the trip worthwhile, what were you thinking. bk


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## winemaker_3352 (Jun 30, 2013)

Sounds great - there is another guy interested as well.

I was thinking 24 gallons.

There is a contract that St. James sends me that requires me to sign - so when i get that I will PM you to get your email and i will send it to you to have a look over before i sign and return.


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## homer (Jul 1, 2013)

Do we rave to buy it in 55 gallon amounts? Can we buy 75 gallons? bk


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 1, 2013)

Yes we can buy more. I would need to know how much. Because the contract will need to indicate how many gallons we are getting


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Jul 1, 2013)

I've got some Seval coming this year. Just getting around to cold stabilize the Chardonell from last year.


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## Pantaleo (Jul 1, 2013)

I may also be interested in going in on this. When do they need to have the contract? Also, do they provide stats on the juice (pH, etc.)?


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 1, 2013)

Yes we get the stats on the wine at the final stats on the wine when we pick it up.

He generally lets me know the Brix of the grape when it was harvested.

The sooner the better on the contract as harvest is probably less the 2 months away..

Just let me know how many gallons you want and if you will be able to pick it up yourself at St. James, MO...


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## Pantaleo (Jul 2, 2013)

I've got a few more questions before I can say yes or no.

How do you pick it up? What type of containers will I need to get in order to safely transport it back home? Can I store it and make smaller batches at a time? If so, what is the best way to store it?

Thanks for the help!


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 2, 2013)

You can purchase 55 gallon blue drums for $15. That is what I am going to dot his year. Last year I used brute containers and some 5 gallon buckets. You pick up the juice at the winery in st James, mo

You pull back to the tanks and they hook up the line to the tank and put the nozzle in your container and turn it on and then turn it off when we have our juice


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## Pantaleo (Jul 2, 2013)

I as thinking of getting 20-24 gallons, but don't have the equipment for doing it all at once. Would 5/6 gallon buckets work for picking it up? Could they then be stored in a refrigerator until I am ready for it? Thanks for the help!


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 2, 2013)

5/6 gallon buckets will work fine. As far as storing it, I am not sure. I guess if you keep the so2 levels up in it you can store in a refrigerated environment for a spell. How long we're you wanting to store it??


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## Pantaleo (Jul 2, 2013)

I really just need to convince my wife that we need more carboys....lol. I really only have enough to do 12 gallons at one time (without having to bottle a couple of kits prematurely). What would be the minimum that i could do without being too inconvenient for everyone else?


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 2, 2013)

12 would be fine. I have enough folks to satisfy the 55 gallon minimum.


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Jul 3, 2013)

Jon, for those people who can't make it to the winery, you could drop off their juice at the store. I can use the liquor stores walk in cooler to keep some juice for a short time.


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 3, 2013)

Yeah. But honestly I would rather have everybody meet at the winery and take care of everything there.


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## Stressbaby (Jul 3, 2013)

I would be interested if there is still room. However, it sounds like they don't give much notice. I would have a hard time getting there weekdays during the day. I'm about 1:45 from St James.


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## winemaker_3352 (Jul 3, 2013)

I will get 1-2 days notice and more than likely it will be during the week.

It is not as busy there during the week as it is on the weekends..


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## homer (Sep 16, 2013)

Jon, thanks for the invite quite a place in the middle of Missouri.


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## winemaker_3352 (Sep 17, 2013)

Not a problem - it was nice to meet all of you!!!

And a special thanks for all who pitched in with me. If not for you all I would not have been able to do this!!

I will probably do the same thing again next year...


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Sep 17, 2013)

Now we have photos to go with last years verbal tour, thanks Homer:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f6/st-james-winery-winemaker-32966/

First photo is looking in from the doors,
Second photo is of two of the chiller tanks
The last photo it two of the 25,000 gallon tanks.


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## Pantaleo (Sep 17, 2013)

winemaker_3352 said:


> Not a problem - it was nice to meet all of you!!!
> 
> And a special thanks for all who pitched in with me. If not for you all I would not have been able to do this!!
> 
> I will probably do the same thing again next year...



We also enjoyed meeting everyone! You guys laughed at my duct taped brute trash can/lid, but I'd like for you to know that I didn't lose any juice on the way home. Keep me on the list for next year.


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## winemaker_3352 (Sep 18, 2013)

Pantaleo said:


> We also enjoyed meeting everyone! You guys laughed at my duct taped brute trash can/lid, but I'd like for you to know that I didn't lose any juice on the way home. Keep me on the list for next year.



I wish i would have done that last year - i had some slosh out during the commute home.

I got a 55 gallon drum this year to avoid that issue.

I will definitely let you know when next year rolls around..


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## winemaker_3352 (Sep 18, 2013)

Here are some more pictures.

Sorry that some are blurry...


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Sep 18, 2013)

winemaker_3352 said:


> I wish i would have done that last year - i had some slosh out during the commute home.
> 
> I got a 55 gallon drum this year to avoid that issue.
> 
> I will definitely let you know when next year rolls around..



Some...??


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## winemaker_3352 (Sep 25, 2013)

Brew and Wine Supply said:


> Some...??



Yeah - I lost about 1-2 gallons..


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