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Now, tell me about your glass fermentation weight... :h

Started the Forte Pinot Noir yesterday. Doing this pretty much to spec. But, with this one I added some Tannin FT Rouge in the primary to see if I can mellow the vegetable nose a little.

FWIR, oak chips. The consensus I gathered was that oak chips in the primary don't really add much in the way of flavor. They provide sacrificial tannins (i.e. structure and some complexity) to the wine. If you're oaking for flavor and using chips, shoot for about a quarter cup of chips in the...

Yes. I did this one by the numbers, except for the added oak in the finish.

A few weekends ago, I bottled two batches of wine. Finally got to capsules and labels this weekend. Batch 1: The first was wine from 100 lbs of locally grown Cab Franc that my wife and I picked in 2021. Honestly, I didn't have any hopes that this wine would be drinkable. After fermentation...

Not at all. Spirals are more challenging to get out of the carboy. But not so much so to skip the extra oaky goodness I like so much.

IMO - your wine would have been fine for an extra few days in the bucket just to get the extra little bit of skin contact. I know the directions say snap the lid at 1.000, but the wine is so loaded with co2, your danger is really low. Cubes give all they have after three months (maybe less...

I had been interested in winemaking since living on the Monterey Bay in California in the mid 1980's as a 20-something kid. Fell in love with the idea back then... but moved away, divorced, remarried, kids, college, law school, job.... you know, life... got in the way. Flash forward to 2000...

That’s very unusual. If it’s me, 9 days is long enough to wait. Message LP and see what’s up. I think we put in our orders the same day and I’m half way through fermentation.

I was watching a review of FWK on YouTube. I’ve watched this guy’s videos before. He seems to know what he’s talking about for the most part. But as he’s reviewing the kit, one of his complaints related to the skins. He said he wished the skin bags were labeled so he could be sure that the...

Right there with you. Kits arrived on Thursday. I prepped everything last night before dinner and will drop my yeast this morning when I go check on things.

I put one pack of skins and seeds in one, and the the other pack of skins and oak chips in the other. Punch down 2–3 times a day. End up with just particulate and dead yeast at the bottom when it’s finished.

Yep. I do.

Oak and seeds go in the muslin bag in my wines. So much easier to clean up after.

That’s Day 15 from starting the wine (pitched the yeast). You’ll usually get to 1.010 in about 4-5 days, sometimes sooner. But either way, a day isn’t going to make or break anything. Many folks do an EM for weeks beyond the 15 day mark.

I waited too long the pull the trigger on the Forte Pinot Noir and they're out of stock. It is very good - rave reviews at every event I bring it to. Instead, I ordered another Petite Sirah and Northern Rhone blend, with delivery likely this weekend (haven't gotten shipping info yet). The...

Maybe make the Syrah with the skins but skip the oak. The wine will likely have a brighter fruit taste and will have less tannin overall. Just seems a waste to make a Forte kit without the skins. If you're looking for a low tannnin red, I'd check out the Pinot Noir. The Forte PN is out of...

The northern Rhône blend, the Pinot Noir and the Petite Sirah - all very good. If there are any left, money we’ll spent.

Agreed. Vinny - nicely done.

Since I had Friday off and an entire weekend of not going anywhere, I did some work in the wine room - processed some bottles, bottled about 22 gallons of wine (11 gallons each of the Bordeaux blend and a WE Luna Bianca). Gave me an opportunity to do some tasting. I tasted the Bordeaux...