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Would love to hear more about how you did this!

Crabcakes! This is our traditional New Year's feast, though since crab season was late this year we missed out... this was our make-up dinner. Crab fresh from our local village store (they have a boat that goes out regularly), and washed down with our 2022 Blanc de Noir, which continues to make...

Oh, I have more than enough fruit now, picked over 40lb last season... in fact I pulled up one elderberry patch because I didn't need that many... I found that the European cultivar that I have (I think Korsor) is much more fragrant (flowers) and with more fruit flavor than the American...

This is what we use - though the N2 comes from a generator in the winery rather than a portable bottle. The 'straw' connects to a keg with a standard 2" triclover fitting. To clean after each topping session we just flush it with peroxycarb followed by tartaric.

You may have found this already, but most of the wine producing regions have a message board where grapes are listed for sale. Here's Sonoma county for example, they also indicate whether they will sell in home winemaker quantities. I sourced my Syrah last year from the equivalent Mendocino...

Whatever your fermentation must temperature is, it's fine to use for your starter. Just bear in mind that the temperature difference between your starter culture and the wine should be no more than 10C/18F when you pitch it. I like Scott Labs guide to yeast starter preparation. For home...

Yes I only did that for my first attempt (2021), subsequently just freeze/thaw. Too early to compare my more recent (2022, 2023) batches - they're not in bottle yet - but so far so good, with the caveat of surprisingly high TA as I mentioned in another thread. And to @Ericphotoart, I agree with...

Not me, maybe it was @Nebbiolo020? though I would be interested to try them based on your report

In fact my 2021 wine was made from a blend of elderberries and black monukka grape (which I grow as a table grape), about 80% elderberry, 20% grape. That year I only had ~3lb elderberry per gallon; 2022 was similar (but without the grapes) and in 2023 I increased to 5lb elderberries per gal.

I've been making elderberry wine for 3 years now (2021, 2022, 2023) using fruit from my own bushes. The 2021 is already bottled; it was my first attempt and came out a bit more tart than I'd hoped, but I think not bad for a first attempt. I'm also aware that folks say elderberry takes many years...

It works just fine - that's how I use it.

Agree with @cmason1957 , for white juice ferments I would do it in a closed vessel (with fermentation bung and sufficient headspace of course!) and try to keep temperature on the lower side to preserve aromatics. I don't think oxygen should be a limiting factor but you could consider stirring if...

Here's another one I found that's fairly local to me, though I don't know if the vineyard would be open to selling home winemaker quantities. I guess it doesn't hurt to ask, though probably way to early right now.

Do you have a source for CA pinotage? I've always enjoyed it but as I'm sure you know it's fairly unusual in CA. I know of a few wineries that make it but don't know where I could get just 1/4 or 1/2 ton...

We're 2 weeks into the New Year already - what do you have in store? Revisiting familiar wine(s) or trying something new? Any new gear on the horizon? I'm going back to pinot noir this year - I last made red pinot noir in 2021, then made sparkling and still pinot noir-based whites in 2022. This...

Interesting... I'm pretty sure that's what happened to my 2023 syrah. Went through AF, pressed out to barrel and keg and then inoculated with MLB. I actually used 2 inoculations because the first didn't seem to work, but the second was just as anemic. But, several weeks later my chromatogram...

Sodium or potassium metabisulfite certaily will remove chloramine from tap water (see, eg https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/dechlorination.pdf). But I agree with @Ohio Bob , the extra cost of 5 gallons of water from the store is minimal compared to what you've already invested in the kit.

Title says it: Holiday Sale | MoreWine

I second @winemaker81 's recommendation to let things ferment out before testing and potentially adjusting. The devil is in the details... How did you remove CO2 and what acid test did you use? For removing CO2 I just shake my sample tube vigorously and 'burp' it several times until there is...

Fixed it... thanks!