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Be optimistic. Château Petrus ain't half bad. Still looks like fun!

CDrew Thanks for input. I will be more patient. But ambient temp is now creeping up........74 deg That gets my skin crawling, as I would never store my good stuff like that. Am I being too paranoid. Patience is virtue...I know. Wineview Yes, I definitely want that CO2ish taste to dissipate...

Today's update on this maiden batch of Washington st malbec. "Barrel" tasting today. Clarity: fantastic. Had racked 2 months ago. Color: fantastic and deep Nose : I'm an optimist... Taste: surprisingly still has a bit of C0 2 ish element. Sharp. The wife's comment, " a bit of spritz". Mouthfeel...

All good points. All the wine is dry and finished MLF so I am not worried about those issues. I guess it should be standard protocol for wine to be appropriate for bottling weather blended or not. I could see problems either way if not. As far as tartrates go, in reds I never seem to be...

Thanks for the reply. Seems good logical common sense. Which is a good thing! I have seen various mixing tools online . I was definitely concerned about longer term storage as the volume of coarse changes and that would be a wrinkle. Let's see if I don't drink it all while trialing blends. I...

Ok So beginning to think about what to blend my small carboy of Malbec with when the time is right. Plenty of varietal options so thats not an issue. What I am wondering is when I choose my blending wine and ratio, how long should they sit and integrate before bottling? I assume I mix them...

Cool project to watch. I am curious regarding the perceived benefits of a 21 day ferment over maybe a more traditional "heat it up and cool it down" approach. Most pros that I have talked to seem to wrap everything up in plus or minus 14 days. Or is that 21 days including extended maceration...

Yep, I was headed there. But then my homemade "press" became unhinged. Literally. Right when I needed her most. Still managed a growler extra but I felt that it went south while MLF was supposedly happening. So left with sole junior carboy. Still this Wine 101 class has been fun. Can't wait for...

It started out as a 5 gal bucket of frozen grapes.

Sadly it's just a 3 gallon. I was also heavy on my weight so I figured I should be good for now. Time will tell........

UPDATE got lab results: PH 3.65 TA 7.6 FreeS02. 3.0. Mg/L Malic. < .04 So, this morning I racked off light lees and hit with S02 dose. Added an oz of med toast French oak cubes and topped with just a bit of store bought. Under airlock for hopefully cool Socal late winter storage. Surprised...

Thanks all for the historical perspective as well as a little confidence booster. It's hard when you can be so book smart, but having never actually made that step off the ledge to the unknown............ It amazes me that the wine will be OK without sulphur for so long. I'm filled way up to the...

So I have a carboy of malbec sitting in my barrel room ( ok, it's in the walk in shower of the downstairs bathroom). It is the most temp stable room I have. This batch was fermented from a frozen bucket of grapes in what I refer to as the " ready, fire, aim" process. Learning as I go. Sometimes...

Hi First single carboy ferment is now in MLF. Learned a ton by making mistakes. Goal is to make a nice Zin or field type blend every year and go from there. Been driving by old vines for years that are all but vanished. Light went on last time in my head and so I bought a book, and then a...