# 2014 California Grapes



## Boatboy24 (Oct 14, 2014)

Did everyone have very high Brix grapes this year? What did you get and what was the initial Brix/SG?


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## wbc1174 (Oct 14, 2014)

I posted earlier thinking I must be doing something wrong. I had three varietals all of them in the 23 - 23.5 range. Measured twice with a hydrometer to be sure. 

They started fermentation this week and are moving right along.

I didn't make any adjustments with the Brix coming in near perfect.


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## Boatboy24 (Oct 14, 2014)

wbc:

Which varietals and from what region? I have Zin from Amador.


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## tmmii (Oct 14, 2014)

All Luva Bella juice, cab, sauv blanc, Pinot Grigio, moscato and reisling were all 1.090. 


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## ibglowin (Oct 14, 2014)

Jim,

Remember California is in severe draught and water was tough to come by. Hot summer with no or very little water means high brix. Everything I got was from the Lodi AVA and came in at 27-28 Brix.


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## sour_grapes (Oct 15, 2014)

Boatboy24 said:


> I have Zin from Amador.



And its initial Brix/SG was.......?????? 



  Just yankin' your chain, Jim.


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## wbc1174 (Oct 15, 2014)

Boatboy24 said:


> wbc:
> 
> Which varietals and from what region? I have Zin from Amador.




Wish I knew. They are from Colavita & Sons. Cabernet Sauvignon said Dana Smith Ranch, Merlot just said Colavita and Cab Franc was Laguna Creek Ranch. 



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## Boatboy24 (Oct 15, 2014)

sour_grapes said:


> And its initial Brix/SG was.......??????
> 
> 
> 
> Just yankin' your chain, Jim.



It was 29+. 

I added acidulated water to bring it down, but will still be pushing the limits of my BM4X4 yeast. It's humming along so far though.


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## ibglowin (Oct 15, 2014)

Instant Port!



Boatboy24 said:


> It was 29+.


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## ibglowin (Oct 15, 2014)

I have gotten fruit from the Lodi AVA every year since 2011. I have had to lower the Brix on every batch that comes in. After awhile you just get used to addling close to a gallon of acidulated water to each Brute. This year I brought everything down to ~24 Brix in previous years I only brought them down to ~25. Hoping to achieve something a little more restrained in ABV and bring out more aroma and bouquet instead of high octane fruit bomb bottles. Something different at least for this year.


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## Boatboy24 (Oct 15, 2014)

ibglowin said:


> Instant Port!



That was my first thought, but I don't need 8-10 gallons of port. Who knows, if this yeast quits, I may be forced into it.


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## ibglowin (Oct 15, 2014)

Thats the minimum you should make! LOL It goes fast once people get a taste of it and it last forever and actually gets better with each passing year. Win/Win!


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## JohnT (Oct 15, 2014)

This year, I had very high Brix (most at or above 26%) and very low acid. I did nothing to dilute the juice. I simply added acid.


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## Boatboy24 (Oct 15, 2014)

JohnT said:


> This year, I had very high Brix (most at or above 26%) and very low acid. I did nothing to dilute the juice. I simply added acid.



You're using RC212?


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## JohnT (Oct 15, 2014)

Yes, RC-212 and it did a complete fermentation. O% residual.


I have found that rc-212 is a lot more resilient then they say.


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## ColemanM (Oct 15, 2014)

My old vine Zinfandel from winegrapesdirect is coming in at 29+ I am planning on making a port out of it. Debating adding acidulated water to bring it down to 24 brix?


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## ibglowin (Oct 15, 2014)

If your planning on making a Port out of it why in the world would you bring the brix down? You would be shooting yourself in the foot if you did that.



ColemanM said:


> My old vine Zinfandel from winegrapesdirect is coming in at 29+ I am planning on making a port out of it. Debating adding acidulated water to bring it down to 24 brix?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## terroirdejeroir (Oct 15, 2014)

My grapes all came from Lodi and this is what I got:

Cab Sauv 25
Merlot 25
Malbec 25.5
Cab Franc 22
Petit Verdot 25


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## ibglowin (Oct 15, 2014)

Those all look really good for Lodi. CF is a tad low but everything else looks great.


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## sdelli (Oct 15, 2014)

All my grapes came in last weekend from CA... This year the grapes were a lot of work! Most needing adjustments. And of course on a year I doubled my order so it made for even more work..... Cab came in low from Chalk Hill at 21 brix.... Added sugar to raise it. Zin came in high at 26 1/2 brix.... Added water and acid to lower it.... Pinot Noir second harvest came in real high at 28 brix! Added water and acid to lower it. PV came in ok at 24 brix... Merlot came in ok at 25 brix....


Sam


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## Treeman (Oct 16, 2014)

I hear a lot of folks are adding acidulated water to lower brix. My preference is to bleed off some high brix juice for a rose, and then add back acidulated water to keep the volume of juice to skins approximately constant and lower the brix to ~24. In theory this should keep the flavors up on the primary, and it gives some high brix sangee that can be acidulated to ~18 brix to make a nice low alcohol rose.


Cheers!


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## Boatboy24 (Oct 16, 2014)

Treeman said:


> I hear a lot of folks are adding acidulated water to lower brix. My preference is to bleed off some high brix juice for a rose, and then add back acidulated water to keep the volume of juice to skins approximately constant and lower the brix to ~24. In theory this should keep the flavors up on the primary, and it gives some high brix sangee that can be acidulated to ~18 brix to make a nice low alcohol rose.
> 
> 
> Cheers!



I've been wondering about the impact of diluting, despite the addition of the acid. Would the addition of tannin help in that situation?


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## ibglowin (Oct 16, 2014)

Its such a small amount really volume wise and especially when you think about the ratio of skins to the volume of must. I have never been able to see or taste any difference and I sure don't want a 16.5% ABV wine except if making a Port. I always use a fermentation tannin (Tannin FT Rouge) as well in all my red wines.


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## Treeman (Oct 17, 2014)

Boatboy24 said:


> I've been wondering about the impact of diluting, despite the addition of the acid. Would the addition of tannin help in that situation?




I don't have enough experience with zin to know. I guess it depends upon the style of wine you want to make. I typically add a 1/2 dose each of booster rouge and optired to all of my red ferments because I've read that it helps with color stabilization. If you want to make a bigger extracted wine, then I would suggest adding the tannins and getting the fermentation temps up towards 90.


Cheers!


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## Boatboy24 (Oct 17, 2014)

I just finished pressing a little while ago. SG was 1.006. I do add Opti Red and Llalzyme EX prior to pitching, so that should help. It is tasting pretty good. Maybe a bit hot, but it'll mellow out. This should finish around 15%. Almost in the Amarone class. Perhaps I'll call it the Zinarone.


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## Treeman (Oct 18, 2014)

Glad to hear that it went well. I crushed my Wa Syrah and pinot today and I'm letting them cold soak in a large fridge while I go camping this weekend. Hope the numbers are reasonable on Mon.


Cheers!


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