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Normal air is 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 1% argon and traces of other gases (including 0.03% CO2). You will not produce 1 cubic foot of CO2 from 6 gallons of must. The CO2 will disperse rapidly into the open air. If somehow you filled your basement 3/4 full of must and rapidly fermented it in a...

Coincidentally I ordered 2 Shiraz Voignier kits :) Not exactly white, I know

I've never had one with a "hint" of oak. More like oak wine with a hint of Chardonnay.

I've used concentrates and love the flavor, but have gotten haze from it more than once. Not all concentrates are crystal clear.

I was up north visiting relatives for a birthday party and I didn't bring any wine. Someone else had a 1.5 liter bottle of Cab that was shared and I had a small glass... it really lacked balance and congruence. The oak tasted like it was made up separately and added before bottling... like an...

The other thing to note is the method of adding a finishing tannin. Pull about 10 ounces of wine from the carboy, mix in the tannin (completely yet gently), then add it gently back to the carboy and stir well. If you intend to just plop it on the bottom and rack over it, you'll get about half...

Oh yeah, and I'm good with Chardonnays... especially the fruity blended ones. I enjoy a barely off-dry Chardonnay as a summer time refresher.

This is one wine I really don't get. I'm sure lots of people like them, but not me! To me it's like drinking soapy water! (zips up fire proof suit :))

Powder is meant for primary fermentation (it reacts in a matter of hours or a couple days). The active yeast change the outcome of oak contact. If I'm given 2 packs of toasted oak chips, I usually opt for one in primary and one in secondary. The larger oak cubes (sometimes called beans) will...

You haven't built a warehouse and wine cellar yet? Let us know when you start shopping for a forklift.

It's not that aging doesn't occur in glass, but when evaporation takes place like it does in a barrel, air is pulled into the barrel. I don't see any noticeable evaporation in a 6 gallon glass carboy. In a barrel you can plan on losing 5% per year. The air space created by the loss is called...

Well, I know there is at least ONE big difference... aging in glass with oak chips, staves or cubes will result in virtually no evaporation and no oxygen incursion. Barrels, on the other hand, have plenty of both.

Wow the Barolo kits I've started (3 now) are all very high in tannin and good body. All 3 are MM kits, one is a Meg. I do have one issue with the Megioli kit; the 23L juice and grape pack barely fit in a 7.9 gallon fermenter. Unless you have a 10 gallon fermenter, I'd pass on the grape pack...

Excess tartaric acid precipitates as potassium bitartrate crystals, sometimes referred to as "wine diamonds". If you cold stabilize, they'll drop out nicely for you. That way you won't have to deal with them if/when they form in the bottle. They come out looking like little flakes or a...

I read that somewhere, too. The problem is, with that logic, a tank load of wine wouldn't age at all! I bulk age for clarity and to drop wine diamonds, then bottle.

I'm underwhelmed with my EP super Tuscan. I just bottled it. It tastes like a nice Merlot to me. Not what I expected at this stage.

Hmmm $105 with shipping. Still not bad.

$79? I see it in pre-order for $119.

The only way to know is to taste it. Tannin usually doesn't add a lot of flavor, just mouth feel. I've had commercial wines that are super tannic (probably to hide their mediocre finish) but they were still drinkable.

Just to be fair, I use zorks instead. We just like the convenience and 100% success rate. They are a bit spendy at 32¢ each but I don't need a corker, wax, capsules, or a corkscrew. So the extra cost is really minimal, if anything. Besides, I'm no good at soaking the corks. SNL Soaking the corks