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Haha how I drink wine on my days off. Like a Viking! Sorry, event prep in the background. This is a 2020 80 Zinfandel / 20Malbec blend that is very woody. Strong scent of pepper, ripe fruit, and noticeable alcohol. Introductory taste is mostly on back and sides of the tongue. Greets you...

Sounds good! We won't touch acid unless by taste. I agree with this 100% also. The strips are a game changer imo. I have a feeling the sugar content will continue to rise as it reaches room temp and sits on the skins. It will rise further if we use enzymes to help with grape flesh breakdown...

Temp is raising nicely! Hoping to see a little more sugar tomorrow and then we can make some choices. In the spirit of making a wine together, what would you do: 1. Do we want to do a more accurate pH test? 2. Do we want to boost/add sugar (chaptalize is the fancy word for this) this must...

Data 03/14/2014 Temps Coming in at 15°C / 59°F this morning. Ambient temperature is between 19-20°C. Check the temps at any time here. Sugar Juice sample from the must (after 4 sessions of 10 gallons of pour over) is measuring at 21.1°Brix. pH The pH continues to be consistently slightly...

This inconsistency with the sugar content is pretty normal. I expect it to steadily rise from here, now that all the grape flesh has defrosted. Nothing too exciting today. Slow and steady!

Data 3/13/24 Sugar Fairly consistent 19-20°BRIX this morning between top and bottom. Temperature In an ambient temperature of 19-20°C, the must has risen to 6°C.

Here's how the must looks today. The bubbles are not fermentation, I was pouring over causing that.

Well, I'll go in between! The grapes are in a false bottom fermenter. So I drop a gallon at a time and pour over manually.

Stirring it is! 😂

I think I'm going to do a pump over for a few hours tomorrow. I realize this isn't something a home winemaker will likely have, but a home winemaker probably doesn't have to stir 20+ gallons at time lol

I suspect the center is much colder and keeping the temps down on the thermometer. Once the temps start to rise at all over 2° I'll bet that the defrosting is finally done and a good mix is in order.

Data 3/12/2024 Sweetness! The top of the must was defrosted enough to take a sample from this morning. First sample from the top of the must measured at 17.5°. Second sample from the sample port (near bottom) measured at just over 30° this morning. Acid This was indistinguishable from...

Well... if you insist! :D This is our well trained guard dog that has since abandoned all her training to guard and care for a single human: our daughter. It very adorable to watch them together.

I'm fine with this if we blend. I think I'd want to do it before press, thoughts? This is intended to be a forum-led wine make! No bad suggestions. I love all these yeast suggestions! So far we are planning on rp15 for a batch (feel free to add more if you'd like!) and bm4x4 and/or amh on a...

Sounds good! Should we dose with more than 1 yeast? Split the must in two, one for rp15 and another for BM4X4? My only hesitation in splitting the must is the added complexity of keeping track of 2 sets of wine on a single thread. Could always make a second thread if that's what we decide, of...

It ABSOLUTELY does. Don't take that measure too seriously. It's at 1-2°C There are still solid chunks in the must. I got impatient. Going to stir and measure each morning for the next few days until we're >17°C. Yeast starter at 18°C, then last measurement and yeast inoculation 12-24 hours after.

Ordering RP-15 now. Everyone ok with this choice? I've never worked with it, but looks great on reviews!

We'll see! Gotta give it time to separate a bit. But I sure hope not. I'm secretly a little excited about it being that high. Could be a fun challenge. I'm personally not a fan of solving a problem to create another one (dilution just to need to add acid). But I'll do whatever the forum recommends!

It is! Typical ports have a lot of residual sugar, or sometimes little to no yeast fermentation at all. It can be anything from stabilized juice up to stabilized wine. Just needs to be stabilized with brandy and aged to be considered a port if I remember correctly. The most common aim is 20% ABV...

I have used over sweet grapes to make a killer port. You carefully stabilize with a brandy that matches the best you can. Port is much easier than a bold red, however!