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  1. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    Local pickup is definitely an option if anyone is in the Apple Valley area of CA!
  2. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    What are you paying? Legally compliant shipping (signature on delivery, using an alcohol shipper account) on FedEx is giving me around $27-30.
  3. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    I never understand why folks are so afraid of it. It's about 1.5 teaspoons of salt in 20 gallons of wine. In some cases a touch of salt also tastes great! Of course if you don't want a tiny hint of salt, use Potassium, totally fine too.
  4. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    WHAT?! Ok, I need to look into this. I'm getting gouged!
  5. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    I continue to be impressed with this wine. Just took a sample and it was crystal clear! So I took a sample from a lower sample valve--also crystal clear! Welp, I don't see a reason to not bottle at this point. Since this isn't going in to the barrel, and it tastes plenty oaky to me from the past...
  6. tjmeyer

    Backsweetening ?

    I just love this so much!
  7. tjmeyer

    Can this vine survive?

    Roots, roots, roots! Unless you're on a rootstock (looks like you may be, but can be hard to tell), I don't think this will finish your vine off. If you are on a rootstock, there's a strong chance that the vine will abandoned the graph and sucker from the bottom up, so you may end up with shoots...
  8. tjmeyer

    New to brewing. How long should I keep wine in plastic?

    Just a personal opinion, as I don't have a ton of PET experience with wine. Also keep in mind that how I make use of finings will not be the same as another winemaker. Here's what I can say for sure: If you're feeling rushed, you're doing it wrong! Take your time, take a breath, make note of...
  9. tjmeyer

    Putting together a Sonoma zinfandel buying group

    If you're in the Southern CA region, I'm happy to allow winemakers to harvest their own grapes in our vineyards. We have the following available self-harvest this year: Zinfandel, Malbec, Sangiovese, and Chenin Blanc. Price TBD. meyerwine.com
  10. tjmeyer

    Potassium Metabisulfite: When?

    Welcome to WMT! 1. Yes! I absolutely add potassium metabisulfite to freshly crushed must. This doesn't mean it needs to be done, necessarily. As a business, I can't risk 55g+ (barrel fermenter size) of product to a particularly aggressive yeast strain that happens to be around that year--yes...
  11. tjmeyer

    Wine does not last long once opened

    Sounds like a low SO2 wine, nothing wrong with that! If you're not finishing a bottle before it starts to go, consider smaller bottles. I regularly bottle in 350mL bottles for wines I don't trust to stand up to much more than a light breeze lol
  12. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    Perhaps this is where that gin-like quality is coming from. It's not unpleasant and adds a complexity I didn't expect.
  13. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    Couldn't help myself 😂 so I pulled a wine thief worth out to taste it. It has already darkened, but still very bright red. Currently it is high tannin, low acid, high alcohol, and sweet (sweet in a dry way, fermentation is totally complete). It has notes of sweet currant, something flowery...
  14. tjmeyer

    Yeast Rehydration is good stuff

    Oh my, what a question! I have tried many timings and they've all worked, but I must say that our recent WMT community ferment was probably the healthiest, fastest yeast take over after pitching I've ever seen. We did the standard stuff mentioned here with a few variations like adding must juice...
  15. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    True! But there are lots of kinds of sour. I was referring to the tell-tale acetic acid bitter/sour that doesn't really age out like strong malic or tartaric acids do. 👊 Clarified on the data post, thx!
  16. tjmeyer

    Zinfandel grapes -> wine! A new member's introduction via a 75L of red deliciousness.

    Data 04/11/2024 First racking complete! I would normally do this a little sooner, but the vineyard and planting season honestly forced this little fun side project completely out of my mind until last night. (sorry!) Setup I'm using 2x 14 gallon SS Brewtech conical buckets. They are not a true...
  17. tjmeyer

    The 2024 crop year

    warmer than i thought! nvm lol
  18. tjmeyer

    The 2024 crop year

    You're middle/slightly cold for most grapes if I know SLC weather at all. That late of a harvest is worrying, your growing season for that species might be too narrow. I'd be interested to see how some of the cooler varieties do there as an experiment. Try some Riesling! I'd love hear how it...
  19. tjmeyer

    The 2024 crop year

    Really? I thought most Malbec in central/northern CA were already leafed out! Our vineyards are all selected for exactly that kind of climate. An old wise man once told me that Italian grapes will grow anywhere Creosote will grow. So far that's been quite true! I think Malbec is supposedly...
  20. tjmeyer

    The 2024 crop year

    After about 2" of snow and upper 20s F last night, buds look ok! Still green, soft, and leafing. My apple trees weren't so lucky, buds on those are looking withered
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