Search results

There is some great advice and isight here. I make an apple wine in my winery that I really love and I do it as simply as possible. Mine is made mostly of a tart variety called Haralson, but any mix of sweeter and tarter would be good. You do want some tartness to it. My process is simple. I...

You should be able to easily get them up to 23 or 24 Brix which is where I like them. They can get higher also. The most important thing is to check the pH and do not pick when the pH is too low. It should be at least 3.2 or even a little higher if possible.

I made a couple hundred gallons of a Blueberry Lemon version of Dragon's Blood for the winery. It sold like crazy. I've been out of it for about a year, but every day people come in asking for it. My wife has now started putting a check mark on our blackboard every time someone asks to remind me...

Are you ready for a culinary tour? Here we go. Let's start with some hand pulled Biang Biang noodles with a garlic, chilies, green onions and peanuts. Steamed bao buns stuffed with ginger, garlic and shiitake mushroom. Stir fried Chinese eggplant with black bean. Korean cucumber...

I think it's not a bad idea. There are lots of great recipes out there for steeping fruits in vodka or other spirits and making things like limoncello, etc. I do think we need to be careful not to digress into discussions of illegal distillation.

#sigh

Near Healdsburg - Martarana family vineyards. Christopher Creek is nice. I also like Lambert Bridge. You can find Seghesio and Dry Creek Vineyards there to but I haven't been to those.

Here's an article on 'Viking' and 'Nero' varieties. The fruit apparently is very similar but the bush growth is a little different. Vikings are taller and more upright, while Nero is shorter. http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/aronia-black-chokeberry/ There are a few other varieties too. I...

Here's one of the better ones. There are lots of youtube videos with a variety of recipe inspiration. I did not do the hot chili oil on top, but rather heated oil in a pan, toasted my peanuts, added my garlic and the white parts of the scallions, a bit of chili oil and a tsp of black bean chili...

I made some hand pulled biang biang noodles. These are traditionally from the Xi’an province in China and topped with chili flakes, garlic and green onions and then hot oil is poured on them to sizzle the toppings. It is flavored with soy and Chinese black vinegar. I don’t think peanuts are...

No problem leaving them in there. After they give up their flavor, they will just sit happily until you rack.

Our first basil of the year means pesto.

I'm not completely sure. It may be the heavy clay subsoil in this area or salinity. But the vines in the lower spots actually seem to grow better than the higher spots, so pooling of salts doesn't make sense. They never got established well and have pretty much died down to the ground every...

I’ll join the Friday pizza gang. I love my little portable propane pizza oven that blasts them at 900 degrees.

I have a Hudson backpack sprayer. It was about $125 a couple years ago on Amazon. It does the job well. I also have one of the $50 roundup sprayers and it works fine too. For the vineyard, I'd opt for the extra for Hudson.

Ribz, potato salad and greens. What could be more July fourth?

I feel your pain. After seven years, I've never harvested a single grape from 350 vines.

Frankly, if it isn't growing well yet, it is almost too late in the season to get a good root system developed. You could throw these into pots and see if they develop root and shoots and grow. Then you could over winter them indoors and plant them out next year. If something comes out of the...

Too much potassium sorbate? It should be fine. Sorbate can have kind of a bubble gum flavor. If you are not noticing that in your wine and the wine tastes good, you should be ok.

Mike posted a really good link for information. Bottom line, you want to start a fungicide spray program early in the season before any signs or symptoms show up. Mancozeb is pretty effective at controlling black rot.