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Oh, that way. I thought I was missing out on some new piece of lab equipment that came out recently. 🍷 Three big days coming up. Will be harvesting ~500 Sabrevois tomorrow, 350 Brianna and Louise Swensons on Friday and 300 Prairie Stars on Saturday. Winery threw me for a loop and asked to get...

Wood, I guess I don’t know the answer to that or know how to measure the tanin level. Kinda new to the finer elements of wine making. Just started measuring pH and TA last year. Anyway, the barrel aging has been interesting.

Last year I got 15 gals of Marquette. Did the MLF and have been cycling them through a 5 gal oak barrel. It’s tasting pretty good now. This years harvest was a bust. Birds, late frost and some very heavy rains at bud break all affected the yield. Sabs and Brianna will be picked this Thursday and...

I use the bag with my bladder press. When done pressing or between varieties, I’ll just hose the bag out as best as possible. When done for the day, hose and let dry. The grape pieces will dry too and are easy to flake off the mesh bag. Then hose again and repeat. Works for me.

I have my Marquettes, Sabrevois, Brianna, Prairie Star and Lacresents on VSP and don’t have a problem. My Louise Swensons are on TWC and I find them difficult to manage. I’ve tried to put a couple on VSP but they ended up just flowing downward anyway no matter how much I tried to get them going...

I find the JB like my Prairie Star, Marquette, Brianna and Lacresent and tend to not bother my Sabrevious and Louise Swensons as much. My grapes are very vigorous and have to hedge them 2-3 times a season. Leaving the JBs on the leaves helps control the vigor. Closer to harvest, I’m out there...

We are not a winery. I sell to local wineries though.

Probably will not put up a fence. The deer really have only given my young vines attention. Once the vines are older, they leave them alone. For the first time I saw turkeys pecking at my grapes. They usually are pecking at the ground for bugs. They left after a salvo of bottle rockets.

Had an almost perfect growing season in west central Wisconsin this year. Sabrevois, Brianna and Louise Swensons are doing very well. Marquettes did not produce though. Out of ~ 250 Marquette vines, I might get 6 gals. Granted, only half are 3 years olds but my 10 year olds had a rough spring...

Do you have some wax in the ready in case there are leaks. What barrel company did you use? I just conditioned and then filled my 2.5 gal new oak keg with my Marquette. I had exactly what ibg stated above. No water leaks but just a couple wine leaks quickly fixed by wax. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. My main concern would be getting a good seal for the lid as stated above. Yesterday I visited a local distillery who sells his used 30 gal oak kegs. I may just go that route.

Has anyone used a kambucha oak barrel for wine aging. From what I see, they sit upright on end and have a lid you can open. I would think this would make it easier to clean. You can get a 5 gal barrel at Barrels online. I have 4 smaller barrels from them with good success. Thoughts?

If you don’t mind doing a little work, check your local winery. Where I from, they can’t re-use the bottles they consume for their wine tasting. I get once used bottles for $5 a case from my local guy. You just have to soak the labels off. If you have a couple wineries around you, find the one...

Thanks. I was leaning in this direction. Bought a log chain a couple months ago and will use my 3-pt to lift out and pull. With the air temp down to 4 F last night, I think this will be a spring project.

Thx. I was leaning in this direction. It will have to be spring. I’m afraid winter has arrived in west central Wisconsin.

The hybrid Brianna. They have their own roots. I have a total of ~350 and 50 of them are the 3 year olds. They are a needy grape variety and I spend much more time on these than the other types.

Hello, I am thinking about removing a couple rows of vines and planting more of a variety that is more suitable, hardy and less disease prone. When is the better time, fall or spring and what method proved best for those who have done this? The vines are 3 years old. Do I just wrap a chain...

Getting ready for September harvest.

Your life will change with a bladder press. Pressing 30 gals of Marquette this afternoon. Thinking about an oak keg. I have a 5L keg I use for whiskey, brandy and now wines.