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United by the interest in making wine at home, this forum has enabled a few relationships that I hold dear. The collaboration of our little group with the intent to share wine making best practices and general life joys and tribulations has been a joy. We have a blind wine tasting...

Probably more than necessary, however, the 10 minutes it takes gives me the information I need to have the confidence that things are tracking as expected.

Here in Sierra Foothills we have 3 weeks of 100+ heat. We only irrigate for around 8 weeks of the year, 2-3X per week, but we increase it during the peak of the heat.

Great feedback. I once asked my brother (who is a contractor) how long it would take to build this loft I wanted in the garage in a previous house. He asked me if I was going to help, which I said yes. He said 4 hours if I do it myself and 5 hours if you help. While I think the same...

I use to host crush, press and bottling parties as well as look for help while racking barrels. Over the past few years I’ve figured out how to do it by myself, with the Mrs or a buddy. Now I’m thinking I’m missing one of the real joys of wine making, the social aspect. I need to rethink this...

The wine that I have made, whose quality ended up not being worth the time to make: - poor quality grapes, specifically those with any sign of powdery mildew or bunch rot. - 2nd wine (reusing skins, adding sugar + water)

They are shortbread and they are in fact as good as they look.

Both our daughters are expecting and we are throwing a “sprinkle” at our barn. Cookies she made for the occasion.

I too keep a spray bottle of Starsan for such occasions.

Our little collective here in Nor Cal does the same thing, buy in bulk and distribute. This is typically spearheaded by @4score (thank you). We use the Fermentation Calculator spreadsheet I made and put what each individual is making (and other locals that want in) and then buy all our supplies...

Here is a simplified one I made based off the UCD scoring system.

I've been waiting to enter this wine in the California State Fair. The last home wine making competition they had was in 2019. They recently announced that they are doing the competition again in 2023! I still have a case of this Cab Franc Blend left, so it will be entered in the competition...

Some pics. It was a lot of socializing, we did a limoncello and barrel tasting to start things off. 298 bottles and a fun game to watch in the background.

Super Bowl bottling day! Setting up the bottling line in the barn, with friends and an aspiring winemaker coming over to help. I promised to taste anything bottled or in the barrel in the winery, so we’ll see how many of the 8 wines we will try. The plan is to bottle the 58 gallons while we...

no, just bentonite

One last look. .2g/ liter left, .6g/liter right. I am able to pick out the taste difference blind. .6g/gallon tastes crisper, less weight/mouthfeel. Not better/worse, but noticeably different. I prefer the taste of the .2g/l, I prefer the look of .6g/l. May split the difference next time.

Racked the Chardonnay today. Here are the results. The one on the left is .2 gams per liter of bentonite, the one on the right .6 grams per liter. The one on the right also spent a week in the fridge. The one with the higher dose of bentonite is clearer. I haven’t tasted them side by side...

A new addition to the family. She’s a big 1,300 pound Quarter horse. Sweet personality, but not the neatest horse in the barn.

Good suggestion. I did a bottle trial at 2 grams per gallon and it turned out super clear. In fact the pic below was after day two. That is what lead me to try a minimal dose. I figured I could always do another fining if needed.

Fair question. I surveyed what was recommended. I went with (.75g/G) more than the min, but purposely conservative. Using more, the upside it is clearer, the downside of using too much is stripping flavor.