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Congratulations on your success at the San Francisco Chronicle Competition. That's fantastic.

Yeah, that's a problem. I think I ordered it from Gusmer. You may try looking for the same yeast packaged as Biodiva.

Another Avante fan. Great results and as @CDrew says, no H2S. I also produce wines with fairly high alcohol and hot fermentation environments and Avante powers through. Lately, I've been doing a 2-step yeast process beginning with Prelude (non-Saccharomyces) and finishing off with Avante.

Bijendra, here is a good article for reference: https://www.homecidermaking.com/hard-cider-acidity-ta-ph/

I think you are right. Any acid adjustment to lower your pH will increase your TA. I don't get caught up in the numbers because I don't try to make "massive" adjustments. Small pH adjustments should be planned, then use half of the plan in tasting trials before adding the full adjustment.

I agree on the varietals. Not sure if the Chenin will be bottled by then....if not, Viognier will work. I should have my 2018 CF bottled by then. It promises to be a beast! What about 4 from each of us representing those varieties and one commercial (4 total)? You pick up two and I'll pick...

I agree, I think the malic acid is the right choice. Maybe don't waste one of your experiments on the malic vs tartaric, but rather 3.65 no adjustment vs 3.5 adjusted with malic.

Hello, I'm a grape winemaker with no experience outside of grapes....maybe a couple batches of Skeeter! I have a friend, @Bijendra Lal Dangol, who is located in Nepal and learning how to make wine and cider. He is a sponge for information. I recently informed him of this Forum and he just...

I'm hoping Bijendra comes on here soon for his own introduction. I know that making wine in Nepal is challenging. For example, he gets all his grapes from somewhere in India. I don't think they even know the grape variety they get, much less the desired Brix and TA...so they must work with...

It is my pleasure to introduce @Bijendra Lal Dangol to the Forum. He is a winemaker from Nepal who I met and is very enthusiastic about learning how to make great wine. Please join me in welcoming Bijendra to this global Forum!

Results?

I would give it an energetic splash-racking. I've had marginal results with Redulees. Splash racking was actually more effective. Real hard-core H2S required copper sulfate (carefully bench trialed and applied). We eventually started using Avante yeast - it is engineered NOT to produce H2S...

I think there's too much worrying about fermentation lids. I ferment 1000 pounds of grape must in an open bin all the way to zero sugar. There's so much CO2 in the must that the wine is well protected.

Renaissance Yeast markets yeast specifically cloned and engineered not to produce H2S. "Patented H2S-preventing technology that is the result of a natural trait in yeast that increases sulfur and nitrogen utilization efficiency during fermentation, thereby preventing hydrogen sulfide formation."

My local favorite commercial winery is Runquist, in Amador. They make wines that always motivate me to try harder. The owner, Jeff Runquist, has been fairly open with me about his approach to his award-winning wines. His Barbera, for example. He told me the precise Brix (and pH) to harvest...

I've always gone by the guidance of not allowing unmeasurable amounts of copper into wine. There are safer ways to approach an H2S wine, like splash-racking, Redulees and Copper Sulfate (carefully measured). I contacted Daniel Pambianchi, renown winemaking consultant and author and asked for...

StarSan users have a saying..."Don't fear the foam." I would stand them up and let the heavy foam drain out then you're good to go.

RC 212 should be a fine yeast. Just make sure you have a good nutrient plan (ie Ferm K) as it's sensitive to that. Definitely recommend MLF. Cabernet already will have big tannins, and you want to tackle the malo acid to help soften the wine. Have fun and good luck!

LOL

Generally it's rare that we barrel during AF.....this was an exception and only 1 Brix to go. But our process is ferment fully outside the barrel then barrel everything and do MLF in the barrel with vented bungs. After MLF, we rack, usually November/December. Then another Spring racking and...