# 2018 Nappa Cab Sav



## jburtner (Sep 18, 2019)

Hi, I'm making four buckets of 2018 Calistoga Napa Cab Sav from Winegrapesdirect.com this season.
http://winegrapesdirect.com/2018-cabernet-sauvignon-frozen-grape-must-2/

Also ordered two five gallon Merlot juice buckets from Walkers Wine Juice - These will ferment on the CS skins once pressed and use some for bottling, blending, and top-up.
https://walkerswinejuice.com/shop/merlot/

Might do a 3rd skin ferment with a kit wine for something or another but have a little time to decide.

The Cab Sav is listed with these spec's so I'll measure once I've got it thawed and blended but interested in recommendations for adjustments and yeast. I'll need to take stock of additives I have on hand and order anything else I need soonest.
*
Calistoga Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
Brix: 24.7, pH: 3.91, TA: .66*

We'll document the process here.

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## Johnd (Sep 18, 2019)

Should be some pretty nice stuff to work with, at least it better be at those prices!! I'll be very interested to hear how it turns out.


----------



## jburtner (Oct 3, 2019)

Buckets arrived and are thawing. These will go into a 32g brute which i’ve had soaking in a mixture of star san, kmeta and citric acid for a couple days in anticipation of arrival. These buckets were shipped last friday. Six days in the mail and still not completely thawed. Very nicely packed. 

Came with some BDX yeast, go ferm, opti-red, ft rouge, and a mix of light and medium toast cubes. I’ve got VP41 in hand and will co inoculate after lag phase. 

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## Johnd (Oct 3, 2019)

jburtner said:


> Buckets arrived and are thawing. These will go into a 32g brute which i’ve had soaking in a mixture of star san, kmeta and citric acid for a couple days in anticipation of arrival. These buckets were shipped last friday. Six days in the mail and still not completely thawed. Very nicely packed.
> 
> Came with some BDX yeast, go ferm, opti-red, ft rouge, and a mix of light and medium toast cubes. I’ve got VP41 in hand and will co inoculate after lag phase.
> 
> ...



Curious to see what your BRIX and pH come in at when you actually measure, looked like you might need a touch of tartaric. 

It'll be nice to reuse the skins for your Merlot, plus they'll come with VP41 and yeast already on board!


----------



## jburtner (Oct 3, 2019)

I’m going to take some measurements later tonight and I moved it all into the 32 gallon brute. Hope there’s enough room for the cap. Each bucket also came with 30g of tartaric. Probably pitch yeast tomorrow or Saturday and I’m starting the yeast now so i’ll have a nice colony going. I think I’m going to stick with the supplied BDX. 

Merlot juice is ready once I press - maybe next weekend. 

Cheers,
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 3, 2019)

Tonight brix measures in the area of 24.7 and pH of a 1cup blended and strained must sample is about 4.18. Higher than I was hoping. I’m going to start by adding 60g tartaric and retest as it comes up to temp. 

-johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 4, 2019)

Started the BDX and rehydrated with some go ferm. Added a cup of must juice and they’re loving it. I’ll add another cup of must juice before bed tonight. Also gave the must a dose of scottzyme color pro. It’s about 25*F so having a nice cold soak. 

-johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 4, 2019)

After the 60g tartaric addition last night to four buckets of must, A test sample of juice this morning reads pH 4.03. I’m concerned about adding enough to bring it down to the 3.6 range. 

-johann


----------



## stickman (Oct 4, 2019)

Frozen must is notoriously difficult to get accurate sugar, acid, and pH numbers. Warming a sample of grapes will not cut it, the must needs to be near fermentation temperature with adequate mixing to blend the entire lot, don't make any significant additions until then.


----------



## Johnd (Oct 4, 2019)

jburtner said:


> After the 60g tartaric addition last night to four buckets of must, A test sample of juice this morning reads pH 4.03. I’m concerned about adding enough to bring it down to the 3.6 range.
> 
> -johann



With a TA of .66, you do need to be a little cautious, as we know, TA is what we perceive in our tasting, not the pH. As @stickman said, make sure your must sample is proper. I prefer to get a well mixed sample, warm it, run it through a blender, strain off all of the solids, and then test for pH and TA. pH should rise and TA should lower through AF and MLF, so you do have a little freeboard there........


----------



## jburtner (Oct 4, 2019)

Thanks guys! Next season I'm considering a larger batch and a larger barrel - maybe shooting for 20 gallons of wine.

I have been mixing the must well as it warms up and taking a sample of about 1 cup berries + juice, blending, straining, and warming up to room temp. The pH readings have been consistent. I have not done a TA test yet. 

Once I'm done testing the sample I add the remainder of the sample into the yeast starter which is building the colony over a day or two as the must warms up and cold macerates. Getting the pH down to protect it asap is my goal with the hope that I can get rid of any excess TA throughout the MLF, cold stabilization, and AF.

I added 60 more grams tartaric this morning and it's down to a pH of 3.85 which I think is pretty good at this point. About 45*F earlier this morning.

To 20 gallons of the Cab Sav must I have added 1lbs of french oak chips.

I'll be preparing another sample as the must continues to warm up and mixes.

In addition to MLF I'll be cold stabilizing this winter (and potentially next winter as well) in a section of the winery that get's pretty cold with the weather.

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 4, 2019)

This afternoon my blended and strained sample measures pH of 3.70 and TA of 0.95 g/L. I haven't measured the merlot juice yet but it says Acid: 0.50 so that's my Aces in the hole and I'm going to need a bigger boat...

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## stickman (Oct 4, 2019)

Make sure when you prepare the sample that the grapes and juice have been warmed up before straining. Also be sure any pH testing is done on samples that have been warmed to room temp, if you try testing pH on 45F must it will give a false high reading, possibly .1 or .2 units high.


----------



## jburtner (Oct 6, 2019)

The final acidity measurements were pH 3.74 and TA 0.9

My yeast starter was going quite well so yesterday I mixed it with about 1.5 gallons of must. By evening that bucket was forming a cap so I fed a little fermaid O and late evening pitched the whole thing into the main fermenter. This morning we have a nice firm cap and fed the rest of the first half of the fermaid O regimen. 

Preparing MLB now. 

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 6, 2019)

Mlb pitched this morning. Foamy purple love. 

Cheers,
Johann


----------



## Johnd (Oct 6, 2019)

Be interesting to see your post AF / MLF numbers, that .9 TA number is a little scary. In years past, I’ve seen those numbers rebound back in the direction of the starting point.


----------



## jburtner (Oct 8, 2019)

Vacation is over so punching down morning and evening. Already dropped 40 SG points and added second round of nutrients. Smells and looks great. Looking forward to the press probably this weekend and starting the merlot. 

Cheers!
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 10, 2019)

I realized that my TA titrant solution is probably out of date so I ordered another bottle to retest and confirm TA readings. I know my pH calibration solutions are accurate because I also confirmed with a solution of cream of tarter saturated with distilled water and measured pH 3.56 which is a good test to confirm calibration in the desired range. 

Anyone know whether I would get unusually high TA results with old 0.133N NaOH?

Thx,
Johann


----------



## cmason1957 (Oct 10, 2019)

Yes, you will get off results, if your NaOH isn't the concentration you think it is and probably high.


----------



## dmguptill (Oct 10, 2019)

NaOH reacts over time with carbon dioxide in the air to generate sodium carbonate, lowering the potency. If the concentration was lower than expected, you'd have thought you titrated more acid than you actually did, which would give a high TA value.


----------



## jburtner (Oct 11, 2019)

Here’s a procedure on the Vinmetrica site to standardize and confirm NaOH normality.

https://vinmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/KHP_standardization.pdf

Cheers!
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 13, 2019)

Cap is gettin’ a wee bit slooshy and SG is at 1.012. Looks like It’s going to be a Monday night after work pressing the grapes and moving the new wine into glass for next steps. I might be able to get another day of maceration on the skins and press Tuesday evening. 

Hope the new NaOH 0.133N arrives in time and I’ll check the merlot juice #’s as well and adjust before pitching it onto the pomace. 

Might pick up a kit tomorrow just to have a bit more of something on hand for blending and topping up and a 3rd wine through four buckets of skins on a six gallon kit. 

Cheers!
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 14, 2019)

SG was down to 1.010 this afternoon so i’m holding out to press tomorrow night for a little more extraction action. I was expecting it to drop more. Seems like it might have slowed a little. I stick my head in the fermenter and the CO2 bite isn’t as strong either.

We lit an orange candle last night for the harvest moon and the grapes. I have good feelings about this wine. 

Cheers!
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 16, 2019)

The pressing went very well last night. I’m estimating 2 six gallon carboys plus maybe a 3gallon one once I rack iff the gross lee’s. I had ordered some AIO accessories including Steve’s racking tube which performed like a champ.

The two Merlot juice buckets went right on top of the pomace and it’s capped as of this morning. Merlot pH was 3.49 and SG of 1.092. No adjustments.

We drank a decanter of the new wine and a decanter of last years pinot and had an interested neighbor give a hand. He might get in on some grapes next order. 

Cheers,
Johann


----------



## Boatboy24 (Oct 16, 2019)

I like the shrink wrap around the press.


----------



## jburtner (Oct 16, 2019)

Last time it looked like a murder scene  Full of character though...

Cheers,
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 16, 2019)

Racked off the gross lees after 24h. Only about an inch if heavy sediment. Blended free run and press wine. 200# of calistoga cab sav has netted about 13 gallons to complete any AF and MLF. I’ll wrap a heating pad and keep the fine lees in suspension to keep warm till MLF is done.

Merlot is moving along nicely on the second ferment of these skins.

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 17, 2019)

Not perfect nor lab grade control but the cellar stays a nice chilly temp and this setup with one heating pad shared by two six gallon carboys and a one gallon jug wrapped in reflectix should keep things at a good MLF temp. 

Cheers,
Johann


----------



## jburtner (Oct 21, 2019)

Consistent tiny bubbles in the cab sav carboys indicate a strong MLF. I haven't run a paper chromatogram yet and will once airlock activity stops along with TA tests t see where we're at. 

AF is done or near done @ FG around 1.000 on the merlot juice this morning so will be pressing that tonight. Expecting just short of 10 gallons merlot after pressing and maybe 9 gallons after racking off the gross lees. That's going to work great in a 6 and 3 gallon carboy with some top up perhaps in a 750.

Other tasks to complete soon or this week are racking some pinot and preparing it for bottling, racking (and maybe blending) a chilean PV and Syrah that's been bulk aging about 18mos and preparing for bottling, racking a chardonnay and a pinot grigio kit off the lees (sur lie'd both of those), and starting another chardonnay bucket.

I've got a neutral barrel that will soon be empty and need to fill with something.

Cheers,
johann


----------



## Adam Beck (Nov 2, 2019)

I’m curious, are winegrapesdirect buckets whole grapes, or have they already been crushed?


----------



## stickman (Nov 2, 2019)

They are usually crushed and destemmed then frozen.


----------



## jburtner (Nov 4, 2019)

They were crushed and destemmed. Very few stems. These are still producing tiny bubbles and I haven't measured MLF or TA again yet but will soon as the tiny bubbles stop. 

Cheers!
-johann


----------



## jburtner (Sep 16, 2020)

Little update on this 2018 Calistoga Napa Cab Sav from Winegrapesdirect.com.
http://winegrapesdirect.com/2018-cabernet-sauvignon-frozen-grape-must-2/

I was concerned about my addition of tartaric acid and potential high TA. Tested this last week and it's very good and smooth. Still have a full carboy that i'll definitely not be blending. I expect there will be plenty of diamonds at next racking.

Cheers!
-jb


----------

