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Me, relaxing with an Old Fashioned in Hermosa Beach after harvesting this season.

Tonight, my wife and I will be cracking into our home brew. I know what you're thinking.... 2109 vintage? That's right. Not only is our Donkey a winemaker, he is also a time traveler. We were delighted when we found out he had traveled to the future and discovered his great-granddonkey was...

Sounds like my story is similar to most. I was searching google for any information I could get about winemaking. WMT consistently kept popping up. Eventually, I realized it was not a coincidence. lol I am still very new to the forums and trying to glean whatever I can as a post stalker. I...

I generally use a course cheese cloth to allow a lot of airflow. To combat those pesky fruit flies, I use those fruit fly traps (look like little apples) from Lowe's. They work like a charm!

Interesting dynamic. When I pressed my Pinot, it was fruit forward, but very dry. No activity whatsoever from a secondary fermentation standpoint. It did this same thing last year and turned out well. Just totally opposite from my Cab. I pressed my Cab yesterday. Great flavor and starting to...

Had about a week and a half straight of 100+ a little while back. Pinot shot from 20 to 26 brix in 5 days. Thin skinned little buggers.

I truly appreciate the education. In my head I keep thinking, "I need to try a barrel". Honestly, there is a certain fear. Once the basics are second nature and I feel I have a good grasp on what I am doing, I might throw caution to the wind and go with a barrel.

I picked at 21 brix. Added some dextrose. All the levels were good on the analysis, with exception to the TA. It's not too bad, but has a tartness that may relax over time. On the Pinot... It is grown in the hot central valley in California which is not conducive to a good Pinot. It came out...

It's kind of dumb on the conical. If you buy the 3 gallon or the 14 gallon, it comes with a stand and brackets. If you buy the 7.9 (like mine) it comes with the wall brackets but no stand. The stand costs 25.00. so, I built this for about 20 bucks and 30 minutes of my time...and it will hold a...

I really am enjoying the process and learning more about it. I figure (or hope) that after this year, I will have more of the basics (and equipment) nailed down, preventing a last minute sprint to the local wine lab. This is my first time using the FastFerment Conical. I would say this is new...

My desire to make try making wine can be traced to a single day in 2018 when I went to a "wine camp" put on by Riaza Winery in Lodi. A month later, I had a small tub of free grapes and the determination of trash panda trying steal a twinky from the campsite table. In 2018, I managed to produce...

Just missed it. I hand picked and crushed about 400 pounds of Pinot last Wednesday and 400 pounds of Cab on Sunday. Pressing the Pinot tomorrow morning.

Man, that sounds great! So...out of curiosity... What would you consider a "home wine maker quantity of grapes"? I am so new to this that I do not really know what that is. Most I have produced in my staggering 2 years is 96 bottles. lol

What's interesting is that last year, Lodi exported more Cabernet Sauvignon than they did Zinfandel. There are a couple of wineries here that can give Napa a run for their money with our local Cab. Sadly, I am starting to feel a personal departure from Zin. I made a mistake of taking a swig of a...

I live in Lodi and love going into LWL. Last year I sent in my wine panels at the end of the day. Within two hours, I had my results. The staff there is absolutely amazing. They are as passionate as they are knowledgeable. I am pretty certain my next car will have to wait, because LWL is gonna...

Central valley here. Not far at all.

I lucked out and get the grapes for free. Since I make such a small amount (last year was only 96 bottles), I can play and there is no real loss, except time. For me, it wasn't a thought. More of hey, let's try this since it's all I have anyway. I truly appreciated your post, because I am very...

I get my pinot from Manteca and my cab from Stockton. I can already hear the gears turning .... pinot in the central valley? lol I get it all for free, so I can't complain. And, so far, they have turned out well.

Last year, I did a small batch (co-ferment) of Cab and Pinot. I'm very new to winemaking, so figured... What the heck, it can't hurt. Holy cow. It turned out amazing.

Draw a 10-mile radius around my house and I have about 80 wineries to choose from. Pretty much heaven. Lol