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Bottled Phat Elvis, labeled and dressed 80 bottles.

@Resonant11 - if you intend to use Normacorc wine closures you need to pay attention to @cmason1957. My own experience, having used Normas (Reserva) for MANY bottles of wine, is the Italian floor corkers (brass jaws) strike a channel in the side of the cork when compressed. Wine drips from...

Just one opinion here (there will likely be opposing views...) - I would bottle! Here's my rationale: 1. You're happy with the wine now 2. It's going to continue improving whether in one carboy or 30 bottles 3. The carboy provides significant "span of care" - you have to keep moving it...

I'm sure it will be very light in color. As an example, here are a couple pictures of a Rosè made from Carménère. The wine in the carboy is the Carm about two hours after the fill - BTW, yeast was applied the following morning. The other picture is the wine bottled. The color difference is...

Saignee - because of your influence, I tried this method on two wines this past year: 1) Cab Franc (the Rosè is very good) and, 2) Carménère (this Rosè is very good too). I don't have a full appreciation for the red wines yet and won't for a while. BTW - my Cab Franc is still fermenting...

@NorCal - I think I'm going to try aging and bottling ONLY free run wines this year*. I've been looking at Titus (Titus Vineyards) in Napa Valley - their wines are awesome - and that is their practice. Another practice seems to be only fermenting on the skins for a maximum of 14 days. This is...

Hello, Rob. Tell me more about your grapes. Where did they come from? And, tell me more about your meter. A pH of 3.11 seems very acidic - too acidic and, likely your meter isn't calibrated or is faulty. What was the pH before you pitched yeast? You're right, it (pH) should be in 3.5-3.6...

Just out of curiosity, how much vacuum are you exerting on the Speidels? I've been tempted to use my AIO to vacuum degas but don't want to collapse the fermenters either.

@NorCal A few months ago I listened to a podcast showcasing Kathryn "KK" Carothers (winemaker) from Bryant Family Vineyards. She said that once the wine goes to the barrels after settling 24-48 hours after press, it's there until they bottle. I was a little surprised by this but that's what...

Tonight at 7pm (over zoom) is the 2nd tasting of the Carménère wine provided in 4oz samples. Participants are @NorCal @CDrew @4score @Busabill This is a fun way to gauge how a wine develops over time. Specific to the Carménère is how different the split batches tasted given the only other...

Second half...

@NorCal did a wonderfully sneaky thing including my wines unbeknownst to me. It was a fun event and one I think we should consider replicating. Of course, as @NorCal rightly pointed out after our event, the future opportunity of surprisingly including wine from the judge is over. Just judging...

LOL - I may or may not be above legal limits per adult living under my roof. And @CDrew is correct. I am a solo operation but only because I can’t find anyone who wants to learn this awesome hobby. Mrs. Crushday helps populate the crush pad, when asked. She hasn’t helped bottle for a couple...

If you don't mind me asking - two gallons less of fermenting must or finished wine? From the Coloma website: Quote: Diluted Concentrate Approximate Yields of Single Strength Juice Yield of Single Strength Juice Diluted: 1 quart (1/32 fl oz) yields about: 4 quarts, 1 gallon, or 5/750 ml...

For many, making your own wine does make fiscal sense. Let's look at your situation: 2 gallons of Merlot concentrate will cost approximately $130, not including shipping. Properly constituted, you'll have 8 gallons of fermenting juice. After racking, your finished volume will be conservatively...

Bottled 550 bottles of various whites and rose' wines: 100 bottles Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 100 bottles of Yakima Pinot Grigio 100 bottles of Yakima Sauvignon Blanc 100 bottles of Yakima Soave (Garganega) 50 bottles of Orange Wine (Roussane) 75 bottles of Carménère Rose' 25 bottles of Cabernet...

Joe, feels like a loaded comment - “last time.” You ok?

@NorCal - this is a timely post. Two nights ago I had a bottle of my iteration of the same wine. I was actually blown away at how good it is. I was mentioning my reaction to the wine to my good friend and business partner Drew. He said, "that's really funny. I had a bottle of that wine last...

I just barreled a 50/50 blend of Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah, both free run. Label will be cream linen...

Here’s the label I designed for my buttery 2023 Chardonnay that I’m calling Phat Elvis. The cap will be bright orange hand dipped wax. ***no intended disrespect for the “king”, so no hate mail please.***