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Sorry to say there is no video. I didn't even get photos of when the grapes were hanging.

Asoleado translates into suntanned and refers farmers harvesting the grape clusters then placing them on top of the bush trained vines to "tan". The process that I think is going on is that by partially drying the grapes increases the solids and sugar content by decreasing the water content...

@Tim3 The process described to me in Chile was that it was supposed to ferment under pressure. "The yeast, sugar, and pressure should all be fighting each other in the barrel to make the wine." I thought I remembered something about the interaction of yeast under pressure in the Pambianchi...

Last year I wanted to try making an Asoleado wine in a similar method to what I learned and tried in Chile, but from MN grapes. I started with approximately 120lbs of frontenac gris grown about two hours from my house. Why this variety? It is what I could get. In Chile they now hang the grape...

This spring I have a Chilean chenin blanc bucket coming, For the fall I am thinking of 3 lugs of merlot and 3 of Cab franc with the intent of blending some and leaving some as single varietals. I also plan to get a Nebbiolo bucket, and was thinking that I could get an extra lug of merlot and...

When I built a basket I tapered the staves because that left a smaller flat of wood to be in contact with the hoop. When I tried a piece that wasn't tapered, only the corners of the wood would rest on the hoop. Tapering the staves made a better circle on the outside.

I have read your how to make an fpack. 2 granny Smith's I can do that. And yes the plan is low alcohol and semi-dry. Thank you. I'll let you know how it goes.

I just ordered a Gewurztraminer 11.5% kit from WineLovers to play with for the wife. I understand Gewurtz to have a base of stone fruit, sometimes pineapple, and spice with a prominent notes of lychee. A search of this thread only brought up one other attempt from a different brand with the...

Inconceivable

For what it's worth, one of the wine makers I visited in Chile this year has at least two wines that he doesn't top up, both sweet. They are fermented in the barrel, the barrel is opened once after fermentation is complete, and then sealed for 2 years. During that time he loses about 50% volume...

Will do. Going to start by dropping the one large maple that shades the back yard this weekend.

@GreginND your comment came just a little late. I found the listing of grape varieties from the UofM extension specifically for my section of the county. La Crescent was listed for here - supposedly I am in zone 4B at my house. So I ordered 5 vines. I also ordered 5 Frontenac Gris as i didn't...

:) I might have lived in Cadillac MI for a few years with 10 acres and very well drained soil. A couple of those acres were wild blackberries. Once I filled up the freezer for eating, they the rest were turned into wine and other things. I also had about 30 fruit trees that I had planted that...

That was exactly the thread I was looking for. Thank you @stickman ! If I follow the winemaker's instructions, wine will be sitting in the barrel for 2 years. Any thoughts on evaporation rates? I'd be leaving this at a fairly stable 62 degrees and 50% RH. In Chile they lose about 1/2 a barrel...

Depending on grape cost and availability, I am thinking of getting a 5 gallon barrel to use for this upcoming winter. I'm fairly certain I read on the forum somewhere that someone had asked about how to neutralize a barrel quickly but I can't seem to find it. Could someone point me to it or...

I have been thinking about trying to grow some of my own grapes in northern MN. By north I mean north of Duluth on near the zone 3/4 line. From growing up in zone 3 and seeing the trees I have in my yard, I feel comfortable saying I am on the zone 4 side of the line. The water table is high...

Checking my notes, I had .997 @65degrees after 14 days.

Here is a photo of 3 bottles that I did not recork and my culprit. Same bag of #8 corks and exact same bottles with a floor corker, and all my corking issues went away. The bottles that were worse than this I recorked. I know another guy who only uses a hand corker and has no issues - maybe it...

1.096 @24 hrs 1.097 @48 hrs Right in line with what I was expecting from other threads here. There is active fermentation going on, so I expect it to start dropping now

I had that issue when I was using a hand corker, switching to a floor corker solved my problems.