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It’s not highly toxic, basic goggles and respirator if worried about it buy any P100 respirator and long sleeve shirt is fine. Hell unless I know it’s bad I use a N95 sometimes for most sprays I use mancozeb in my vegetable garden for garlic as well in rotation with a systemic called Azoxystrobin.

I buy it both on Amazon and I buy it at my local hardware store walk in the door walk out with mancozeb lol. Please do not post incorrect information I have bought it in California and in Arizona within the last 30 days. For grapes Manzate Pro Stick is good stuff. I have never needed a license...

I have found that filters of any kind strip color and tannins and flavor from wine and it’s quite noticeable you lose a lot of the more delicate aromas and flavors and the wine tastes generic and mass market. It has long been known that filters damage wine. Whether a wine is filtered or not...

I only do K&C or egg whites I’m that old school lol.

It does vary depending on where it’s going, but we even deliver some of the wine locally ourselves. Saves on costs I would have to dig into shipping costs and get back to you.

Glad the wine turned out although yikes at sodium metabisulfite I always use potassium metabisulfite just because sodium can negatively impact wines but in your case you tested it but generally speaking I recommend people do not use sodium metabisulfite. Also dang that is expensive shipping, I...

I have had it clear white wines in 8 hours it’s fast, I usually let it sit 48 in reds then bottle them immediately after. I only use K&C or I fine with egg whites I don’t use filters they strip too much out of wines and every single filtered wine I have ever tried has been flat and lifeless it...

Water them in during active growth, the best time is before flower buds show up and several weeks after fruit set, you want it 2-3 weeks prior to fruit set as nutrients like Zinc, Magnesium and Boron essential for fruit set need time to be in the right location in the plant to ensure good fruit...

It’s pretty crazy how far along some of my vines are not a single other local winery has as much growth as my grapes I am seeing flowers already and fruit set is beginning as of this week on some grapes.

I loaded last years Zinfandel with a full heavy dose of French oak cubes in stainless and let it age 6 months and it got really oaky so I pulled it and bottled it oak does sneak up on you when you aren’t sampling it periodically

I did a split fermentation one year with the same syrah must in 3 containers totally different wine in each fermentation used D-21,BM45 which is the main strain in 4x4 and RP-15 and each was wicked different. I liked the D-21 the most had darker fruits, a richer rounder body more mellow tannins...

Hungarian barrels are my preferred barrels with the exception of American oak for Zinfandel or Syrah. I like the softer oak characteristics that respect the fruit a bit more you get the oak without losing the delicate notes from the grapes.

Yes, I know I just wanted to let everyone know why barrel prices are higher this year overall. It definitely helps that you are offering barrels to forum members who can’t get them as barrels can be difficult to buy as you either have to have a local supplier or someone who has reasonable...

That’s Zinfandel for you, particularly that sweet but dry note that usually shows up in my Zinfandel fermentations. The alcohol will calm down eventually. And as I said RP-15 is the go to yeast for quality Zinfandel. I also like it for Syrah and for Cabernet. BM4x4 tends to produce more red...

Barrel prices are up due to a shortage of wood and manufacturing of barrels right now, even us commercial guys are looking at long lead times like order today get them in a year. Which is part of the reason we switched to barrel alternatives it’s way easier to obtain them and I don’t have to pay...

Tartaric is not that bad, high malic can be really rough and abrasive. It’s easy to tell if a malolactic fermentation has finished by taste. I have had white wines made from grapes that were probably picked a bit early and since they don’t go through malo they can be super sour sometimes

Young wine can often times be sour because it’s young and not ready yet and it will age out. So a sour tang does not always mean you have a problem.

One of the wineries I worked for years ago had 4 big open top round stainless fermentation tanks we had one of those drivable lifts and would get on it and use a steel punch down tool. We also did some fermentations in macrobins at that winery all white wines were fermented in barrels or...

Yuck that’s cold, I’m just glad my minimum temp is like 40 at night and my vines are all past budbreak so it’s less risky the rain is annoying though.