Search results

I put mine in my compost bin. I wonder if the inoculation of my compost with the winemaking yeast that I most frequently use gets into my vineyard and then competes and beats out some of the fungus and mildew that might otherwise be lurking. Then, I'm wondering, if I crush some grapes and...

I find that when I siphon the wine to a new carboy, any stuff floating on the surface clings to the side of the old carboy as the level of the wine goes down. So, the wine in the new carboy loses both the sediment in the bottom (or most of it) and the gunk floating on top.

Sometimes I press at 1.010 or 1.020, depending on what the fruit is. Some fruits can release too much bitter taste from the skins and seeds if they don't get removed after a few days. That's why I have an airlock on the carboy. In such a case, I'll rack the first time from the carboy after a...

If your vines are 6 feet apart, then you have 3 feet of arm in each direction for each vine. Your end vines are 6 feet from the end post. If you put them 3 feet from the end post, they would be 3, 9, 15, and 21 feet.

Clethodim (Select and other brands) for grasses. Roundup if there are no leaves or shoots near the ground.

It might have been sodium bicarb that is considered less healthy. I'm wondering if there's any difference in the taste of the wine after treatment with potassium bicarb vs potassium carb. Twice as much potassium left with the bicarb? Some people take potassium supplements. But does it leave a...

What do you spray for?

Looks like muscadine vines. Are you in zone 7 or 8?

I pruned one vine yesterday and spent the day today working on my gas engine hedge trimmer. It's a Poulan. Be forewarned. Don't settle for anything less than a Stihl.

I started pruning muscadines here in southeast Missouri today. They won't be leafing out for a while since we might have more cold weather and possible frost in the next 2 or three weeks. It has been a very mild winter so far. I cut some elderberry limbs 3 weeks ago. I make a slice in the...

I bought some plants from Willis a few years ago. They were guaranteed. None of them survived because they had hardly any roots. To use the guarantee, they require you to send the bottom half of the plant back. I did and got replacements. None of them survived. 2 years of my life gone. So I...

Muscadines are hard to propagate by cuttings. If you're talking in a year or two, I'd start selecting particular individual vines that you know will produce grapes, because some don't. Tie a wire or something on them to mark the vines. Then start pinning some of the vines. That's layering by...

It's the chlorine in tapwater that is objectionable. My municipal tapwater is heavily chlorinated, so if I use it, I heat it on the stove for a few minutes or let it stand for a while to let the chlorine dissipate (no, I don't use hot water in the wine.) The other thing is the minerals that are...

When you rehydrate the yeast, did you wait until it was active before adding it to the must? I just sprinkle mine on top of the must right out of the packet. I sometimes wonder if the rehydrated yeast is a different temp from the must and gets shocked when it's dumped in. Sprinkling lets it...

Looks like he waited 24 hours between adding the campden and the Red Star Montrachet yeast. The yeast packet should have an extremely difficult to read expiration date, but it's usually good way past the date. I would check the juice being used and make sure it has no preservatives and that it...

There are 3 ways to deal with high acidity that I know of. Somebody will probably chime in with more: 1. Balance acidity with sweetness. Backsweeten in other words. 2. Add potassium bicarbonate or calcium bicarbonate to neutralize the acid to some extent. 3. Add water or a low acid juice or...

He might have meant tartaric instead of titrate.

A corkidor should be used to sanitize things without getting them wet. It should be used for minutes or hours, but never for long term storage. One of the members of another forum was storing corks long term in a sealed bucket with an open container of k-meta solution and they molded. I think...

Assuming the question is wine related: I have 56 gallons of 2016 white and red muscadine, blackberry, elderberry, and cabernet (in a moment of weakness, I bought a bucket) in carboys to age and bottle and I have more of each of the first 3 in the freezer. I have one 5 gallon, one 3 gallon, one...

In my vineyard, which is 8 miles from my house, I have rows 12 feet apart and vines offset in relation to the adjacent row. Seemed like a good idea to me at the time. The vineyard is poor, sandy soil. We plant and trellis in rows looking at things in a linear way, but the roots go out in all...