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Reserved the juice today. Their prices continue to be attractive. 55 gallon drum @$5.50 per gallon, 6 gallon buckets @$40 each. Total $422.50 to conservatively make the 60 gallons net or 300 bottles. $1.40 per bottle. If converted back to fruit cost it is around $.35 per pound, $700 per...

Go for the juice! I’m picking up a Chardonnay juice out of Lodi in a few weeks. It made the best white I’ve ever made. PM me or give me a call if you want me to pick some up for you.

From earth to bottle, congratulations

I’m getting cab out of Amador and it too will probably be early Oct.

later. Suisun is closer to the coast, I’m further inland. Starting to hear local vineyards talking about grapes coming off next week and the following two weeks. My front yard cab sauv is at 23 brix, so looking at next weekend.

Netting. I don’t have bird problems. I think it is due to our local hawk population. They get a chicken or two of ours every year, I guess a small price to pay.

An update. #1 helped pick my vineyard for 4 hours. He is all in, has all the equipment and is going out to the vineyard that the grapes are coming from and taking his own brix readings. Total future winemaker. #2 came over with his wife tonight and brought 2020/2021 bottles from the vineyard...

@crushday, thanks and as always I appreciate you. I’ve moved on to trying to improve upon my Chardonnay making skills this year.

Suisun Valley is a cooler climate than my Sierra Foothills, so would make sense that they are trailing by a few weeks.

Last year I made a barrel fermented Chardonnay from fresh, local juice (link to thread), the first time of making a white on this scale. I want to parlay the things I purchased (barrel) and what I learned from last year to make an even better wine this year. It was the first time I ever made a...

I agree. Late, plenty of fruit. I know of a few vineyards that struggled with powdery mildew this year, so that is something to keep an eye out for. I suspect some vineyards will be forced to take their late ripening varieties off at lower brix, another thing to look out for.

Well to end this thread on an “oh well”, viognier is not available this year from the source that we located. Maybe next season. Instead, I’ll be doing another barrel of Chardonnay and take what I learned last year and apply it.

It really depends on the region. I’m getting Cab Sauv from Amador, about an hour away and they are still a month out.

Another change of plans. - 60 gallon barrel of Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, with a splash of Petit Verdot - 60 gallon barrel of Lodi Chardonnay (Viognier not available this year) - 60 gallon estate Syrah 65%/Zin 35% field blend - 20 gallon estate Zin I got so much more fruit from the vineyard...

I talked to the person that is running the 20 acre vineyard I used to manage and they too had to take extra steps to combat mildew this year.

One of the lessons I have learned with helping people is to make the expectations clear up-front. The goal of this year is not make a carboy of wine for you. The goal is for you to learn the fundamentals, acquire the minimal amount of equipment necessary, so that next year you could then do it...

One of the things I enjoy about this hobby is that it is an opportunity to meet people or spend more time with good friends. Especially being an introvert, the hobby has expanded my world. I’ve agreed to help 3 unrelated people make wine this year. I thought it would be fun to chronicle their...

PS and PV are my favorite blenders. Myself and @4score have used them for a decade. I’d say I prefer PV over PS, but I know 4Score uses PS almost exclusively. PS adds color, tannin, depth to a lighter wine. I think PV adds color, mid pallet and a wonderful finish. It’s my go to for Merlots...

I can appreciate that level of separation. I may make another pass through the vineyard and drop any clusters that I see with mildew, but I’d be fooling myself if I think I’ll get it all.

250-300 pounds. I would try to make the cluster decision at pick, before it went into the bucket. Electric destemmer.