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@CDrew Pics did not come thru... I'm interested to see how your harvest turned out.

My supplier had no Chardonnay grapes on the truck. Very unusual.

Welcome.

4-5 times in one year. And yes, this is from fruit or grapes. Juice would be 3-4 times in one year. I use K-meta when it needs it.

I rack 3-7 days after fermentation. Next, 3-4 weeks after that. Thereafter, approximately every 3 months. Finally, 1-2 weeks prior to bottling.

The vacuum release valve is the push button valve in the line.

At this point you can use whatever you can find. Half-gallon juice containers will work. DO NOT DILUTE with water, you'll lose the flavor.

@Handy Andy The rule of thumb, is to rack 3 days after the primary fermentation is completed and the wine is in the secondary. Then rack 3 weeks after that, and then 3 months after that. You can rack simply by siphoning the wine from one container to the other, no pump required (just a hose)...

Yes, unfortunately, you want to leave the sediment behind. On the first rack off of the gross lees, I am not too concerned about getting some sediment into the next carboy. Another thing to do, is dump the sediment into a mason jar and put that in the fridge. It will settle further and you...

I have cats, so I have a lot of empty "kitty litter" buckets. They are square-ish and fit/stack much better in the freezer or refrigerator. Since litter is a form of Bentonite, I don't worry about any residue left after washing. This trick has allowed me to make wine on my time schedule...

I always get the wine off the gross lees pretty quick. I have left some white wine on the fine lees for a few months. This is a French technique (sur le lees?).

@capablanca Are you using enzymes in your musts?

I try to "go metric," but I'm old and I don't think in metric. Consequently, I am forever going back and forth doing the conversions. That said, I do my chemistry in grams and liters, it makes the math easier. I keep notes on each batch I make in Word. I think the app should gently remind me...

@ceeaton I made pizza last night for the in-laws. My stone was about 600F for the first pie and went down to 500F for the second, which took longer to cook. I had TOO MUCH trouble getting the pies to slide into the grill. Some people have mentioned using semolina under the pies. I've tried...

Some people say that they can taste the Sodium MetaBisulfite (tastes "salty"). They would be used the same way.

I used to use SO2, but the vapors get to me if I do a lot of bottles. So I switched to StarSan. I just bought the Fast Wash system from the folks who make Fast Racks. This makes short work out of sanitizing bottles.

Based on the geometry, the 8 o'clock piece does not move. All the others move with the arm.

My attempt at a sour dough starter failed. It was going good for a couple days, then it separated and smelled bad. Not sure what the problem is, but I will attempt again.

@NorCal The PV fruit looks great. Do the leaves turn brown before the fruit is ready?

@Figo I used Medium + spirals in my Carménère, and I think it turned out great.