Recent content by Chuck-crisler

I have 21 Marechal Foch vines. Some ~21 years, some 3 years. Some grow really well, some don't. I think that it is the soil - mine is awful. In my opinion, it makes an excellent wine, but should be aged a few years. I also have 6 Frontenac vines. They grow like weeds but the wine is only OK...

My Marquette, Frontenac and Marechal Foch have started turning. I just took a break from putting up bird netting due to a thunderstorm. It has been a very dry, hot and humid summer.

Has anyone had experience controlling phylloxera? How do you control them? This year I had a significant phylloxera problem. I have 72 own rooted vines and about 1/4 had phylloxera galls on the leaves, which also means on the roots. There are 2 Himrod (table grapes) that had them the worst. But...

I live in New Hampshire, and it is cold. A few weeks ago I finished my initial racking and started cold stabilization. At that time the outside temp was getting down to the low 20s. I put my carboys out on a North porch protected from light. I thought that the stabilization would probably be...

I like to grow most of my own fruit. I am planning to plant a dedicated row of raspberries specifically for wine. I want to grow floracanes because the harvest will be early enough to miss the peach and grape harvests. There are only 3 of me (me, myself and I) and it can be busy, so spreading...

For the last few years critters have eaten my grapes just before harvesting (naturally). Last year I got 6 gallons of wine, this year 16. But it was a race against 'the critters', though most of the grapes were ~21 B, the Frontenac and Marquette were ~24. I thought that the 'critters' must have...

This year I anticipate making some wine from Traminette. It is a cross of Gewurztraminer and Seyval. I read info about making the wine from Cornell and they suggested fermenting on the skins. Then I read an article from Purdue and they suggested not fermenting on the skins at all. According to...

Count me in! I have registered for the newsletter and the kit that I would like is the Winexpert Eclipse Washington Columbia Valley Reisling Wine Recipe Kit. It looks like they should do well...already 3 pages of responses! By Bad!!! 24 pages - WOW. Chuck Crisler

This past fall/winter I made my first wine from my grapes. I planned to cold stabilize during the winter but 2 things stopped that. First, a difficult/failed MLF and second, a really cold winter. Since I didn't plan to MLF the white, I put it in the basement/garage while I waited on the MLF to...

Follow on question If you are starting on the skins/pulp/stems, how do you get an accurate initial reading? Mine gave me just about any value I wanted because the must was so thick. Chuck Crisler

This past week I bottled my first wine made from my grapes, 1 white and 2 reds. I only made 6 gallons, but that is probably a good amount to start with. Through the process I was discouraged several times. but I turned here and got quick help with the decisions. The result is some pretty decent...

My wine is almost complete. I have racked it for the third and last time. This is the first time I have succeeded in taking production this far and I have really learned a lot. I have gotten some very good and much needed help right here. I am really feeling good about what I have accomplished...

I have 4 containers of wine aging now. 2 1 gal of white (mix of Cayuga and Seval), 1 gal of Marquette/Frontenac and 3 gals of Baco/Foch. Critters really hit my grapes hard just as harvest was getting under way. I have read elsewhere about trying different yeasts 'just to see what happens'. Well...

Is this some kind of intelligence test? What kind of person wouldn't be in??? Thank you!!!

Thank you for a problem avoided! That is exactly why this forum is so useful. I would not have expected any impact. Chuck