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You're spot on about the acceptance rate! We were picking out every little leaf we saw at the start....not so much about half way through! I didn't take my must with me. JohnD has a 60 gallon barrel he's going to use for this batch and he may need some of my wine to make certain that barrel is...

We had fun today! We did have a lot of grapes, so there was some work involved in getting them all crushed, but it was some beautiful fruit and I'm thankful to John for helping me learn! Here's some pictures of JohnD and his set up.

Would Labrusca be grown in California? That seems very odd to me. This says its mostly an east coast vine. https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/vitis/labrusca/

I certainly don't know my grape leaves....yet....but the closest I've seen is Malbec, but even that doesn't look correct to me. The leaves you have appear more rounded.

I haven't made or bought any labels yet, but I do like the professional look that I've seen on Stoney Creek. I've mocked up a few and they look great. So I may go that direction first. How good do the Avery labels look? Can someone share some pictures? I know there's a LABELS thread, but not...

I did a little tasting of my very first kit, the Fontana Merlot this Labor Day and I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor and color. Still not much bouquet and while the flavor was ok, it was still thin. I did add the single oak spiral in hoped that will give the wine the little extra boost...

Thanks for the insight! I like the fishing line idea!

I'm glad I read this! I have two medium plus oak spirals arriving this week for my recently finished Merlot kit. The kit tastes a bit thin and I'm hoping the oak will help it out. It looks like the smart thing to do is just add one spiral. Maybe I should break it in two and just add half of one?

Thanks JohnD! I'll be out working today, but will have time to grab a bottle of Lodi Cab from Acquistpace or Dorignac's. I'll top it off and then she'll sit for at least another 5-6 weeks, then rack again. I'm sure I'll be reaching out to you for advise.

Another update and question for the group. I racked to glass, added oak cubes and degassed the Lodi Cab tonight. Once again, JohnD's little vacuum pump worked like a charm, although it did take me a bit longer to degas this one than the Merlot. I kept the pump in and adjusted the vacuum for...

Ok, I pulled the Cab off the skins tonight and racked over to the big mouth bubbler. I pressed the skins with JohnD's fruit press and got a bit more juice. I want to let it sit in the bubbler for 24/48 hours and rack in into glass. I don't like the head space I have in the bubbler. Plus,I need...

I'm ready to learn! Just hope I'm a decent student! JohnD continues to offer his time and experience and I'm quite thrilled for the opportunity to try grapes this quickly!

I like those suggestions John. I was planning on catching those skins in the muslin bag and just hand squeezing them for more extraction, but I'd like to try the fruit press for experience.

My WE Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet has been in primary for 17 days now as I'm trying a bit of EM. I added a dose of sulfite on day 13 and have been more or less gently shaking the bucket twice a day to keep the skins wet. I opened it up today for the first time since the adding the sulfite to...

I like McCartney. And as the Stones also noted..."Time is on my side".

You're probably right. I did drop my initial water amount hoping that would help some. I do have my second batch already in primary! I have a WE Eclipse Lodi Cabernet going, so I'm hoping that one will be nice. It'll be a while before I get that one done though. JohnD has even offered me a...

Thanks @mainshipfred It's a Fontana Premium Merlot.

I added all of my kielesol and clarifiers this weekend and did another small tasting. Everything seems ok, but just ok. They body is a bit thin and I'd like to have a little more tannic bite to the wine. I did add oak chips in primary, but not in secondary. At this point is it too late to add a...

I do have my WE Lodi Cabernet going as well! So I'm moving along pretty good. Going to do some work on that one today too!

John, that pump worked like a charm! I had enough room in the 6 gallon carboy that there was no concern at all for any back flow. Plus, the machine was far enough away from the carboy there was no concern regarding any oil getting to the wine. No doubt I will probably invest in something like...