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I approach home winemaking like a caveman. Pick, crush, ferment, press, age, pray. The last part is a add-on, because I am pretty sure religion wasn't around when the cave people were living large. At any rate, the last two years, I have taken my wine, post fermentation, to the wine lab to get...

Another one of the old vines hanging around Lodi is Carignon. It is truly sad to drive through the country roads surrounding Lodi and see all of these old vineyards being ripped out and replaced. I totally get it from the financial point of view, but it is still troubling to see.

I have a couple here. Two from last year and two that are being sent to the printers later for the 2020 vintage.

Thank you for the information. Looks like I am going to take a trip to the Amazon to buy me a book! By the way... I see you are fairly close. Maybe we can do a bottle exchange in the future!

Got my results from the lab today. 1) Pinot is at 13.11% and .9 residual sugar. Kinda surprised me a bit, as it seemed like a very healthy fermentation that had run its course. I am not, by any stretch, complaining though. I am not a fan of high alcohol Pinots. I was also a bit surprised, as it...

Absolutely heartbreaking to see this.

This weekend, I racked my Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon out of secondary. Overall impressions so far: Cab Very interesting at this stage. There was a light effervescence on the tongue that gave it a little zip I was not prepared for. Overall the aroma was fairly good, still had a little...

See, now you went and said something that makes total sense. I have said in other posts that I am cheap. Now you have my hooves tapping... More money may be in the future. Lol

I'm afraid I am not much any help to your question, but I am gonna watch this like a hawk. I'm starting to get the itch to move up to a barrel.

hat wine looks perty! I have not filtered before. In fact, I have not done clarifying either. I have lucked out with no residual in the bottle/glass. Although clear and pretty, it will never achieve that elusive luster that the commercial wines have. I am okay with it though. I cannot swear to...

I am a fan of letting the grapes do what they will do during fermentation. Once I have done my first racking, I add oak, straight from the sealed package. I do not boil, rinse, or sanitize. So far, I have not seen any ill effects doing it this way (only two vintages in). Racking this weekend on...

Last year, I did a 50/50 blend of Cab/Pinot. I have since learned that there are certain "rules" that dictate what is blended with what. Lucky for me, I am a Donkey and can get away with breaking those rules without too much thought. 🐴 At any rate, it turned out amazing! The Pinot I have free...

Your wisdom is wise. lol

Man, what a view! Welcome to the forums!

I picked mine from the central valley. The morning we picked, there was so much ash on our car it looked like dirty snow. The rising sun was a faint red color and the grapes were loaded with fallen ash. Because the smell was so strong in the air, I could not tell if the grapes were affected...

I am lucky enough to live about 4 miles from them, so I did not have to deal with shipping. But, here is the link, because you never know Lodi Wine Labs

I bought several cases last year from Lodi Wine Labs. The total ended up being about .80 per bottle. Man, that was so nice. The previous year (my first), I spent way too much time soaking and peeling off labels.

Each year I end up buying more. This year, I bought two 7.9 gallon conical fermenters. Those compliment a 7.9g Speidel, two 6.5, two 6, hell if I know how many 5s, and two 3s. lol Winemaking isn't the problem. Its storing all the damn carboys that is driving me crazy. With regard to your...

I need to stop being so cheap. I have free access to all the Pinot Noir and Cab Sauv that my little Donkey heart desires. I think I need to open the wallet up and seek a little more diversity in my grapes next year.

Much appreciated!