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I've always wondered, Just what is foxiness?" I know that native American grapes, especially Concord are overwhelmingly grapy, to me, they just taste like grapes and the wine from Concords tastes like grape jelly even when fermented out to dry.

I find labels to be more trouble than they're worth. I simply use an enamel paint marker to label bottles; scrubs off easily with a stainless scrub pad.

25 or 30 years ago a friend bought California grapes from a produce dealer in Nashville, TN. I can no longer contact him so do any of you know of sources for fresh grapes (California or otherwise) near SC Kentucky?

Rehydration is not the same thing as making a starter. Rehydration is just that, rehydration. It does not include feeding the yeast in order to get the population started.

I've never used stick on labels, I use enamel paint markers. Easy to remove with a stainless scrub pad.

Might be interesting but QA23 is usually used for whites. But certainly worth exploring. RC212 is the classic yeast for Pinot Noir in Burgundy. From the Lallemand site, " Lalvin Bourgovin RC212™ has been isolated in the Burgundy region of France, by the Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de...

I a couple of thousand bottles (most of them are full at this time) that I got from restaurants in Kentucky. Admittedly, those restaurants were customers of mine. Regardless, it doesn't hurt to ask, especially if you frequent a particular restaurant often and they know you.

I have used pressed skins from Vidal and Seyval, added water and sugar. Unfortunately my notes do not tell how long I macerated them but they do note that the result was very tannic. I would think that adding white skins to pressed red skins and adding water and sugar might result in a palatable...

As I mentioned, I have been very satisfied with the Gamay kits that I got from Crafted Series. I would like to add that their heavy-bodied kits use a full 4.22 gallons of concentrate. Most other kits have a bit over 2 gallons of concentrate.

Yes, the ABV Crafted Gamay is very much like a Beaujolais. Well balanced, fruit forward, with lots of varietal character. I've made the light version several times, sometimes adding used skins from another wine kit. I have a heavy bodied Gamay under way at this time.

I've bought several Gamay kits since ABV crafted is the only vendor for this variety. All have been sensational Beaujolais type wine. I have added a skin pack from a previous kit from Finer Wines. I also use RC212 yeast.

Viognier is blended with Syrah in the Rhône, in Italy Pinot Grigio (Ramato) is fermented in contact with skins. These are two techniques that you could try with using pressed skins and fresh juice.

Are you talking about the gross lees from primary fermentation or sediment from secondary? If the former, I would definitely syphon off. If the atter, you might notice a difference in mouth feel and possibly a difference in taste. I typically rack off the gross lees from the primary and then...

Assuming that you actually let the kit ferment out to SG .996 or less, you may identify "kit taste" as sweetness. I'm not really sure what "kit taste is" but I find that most kits lack tannin which produces that mouth puckering, dry sensation. You might consider adding grape tannin as a tweak to...

Odd, I've never had a kit wine turn out sweet; nearly all kits that I've made vinify out to .994 or less SG. My most recent FWK Bordeaux finished at .994. I made a Brunello last year that finished at .992, very jammy wine, not as tannic as I'd expected.

I've made their medium body Gamay several times; added skins from another kit a couple of times. I like the Gamay since it is a light, quick drinking wine and Crafted series is the only source for this variety. Their kit produces a nice wine with plenty of varietal character.

I almost never use the EC1118 yeast that comes with most kits. for Sauv Bl I'd use D47 or QA23. I always rehydrate the yeast. 15-20 grams of oak in primary. You can certainly ferment in a sealed container, I used to always do that. However, it's not really necessary and if you use a yeast like...

I made 72 gallons in 2022, down quite a bit from 2021 When I made 125 gallons. Cellar's full now so I'll probably do 5-12 gallons month now just to replenish stock as I consume it.

Wine had been a big part of my life for 15 or 20 years before I started making wine. I moved from Chicago where I was a bit of a wine snob and I had a pretty decent collection. I moved to a rural location, decided to live a self-sufficient lifestyle and began to produce much of what I consumed...

Why would you add skins to a rosé? The thing about rosé is the wine is vinified with minimal contact with the skins. The FW Grenache rosé like many other kit rosés is already much darker than a typical Provence rosé where Grenache is the basis of most rosé blends. It is much more like a Rhône blend.