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We booked a trip to ebike northern Portugal next year which happens to be in wine and port region. So we went to Total Wine to get some Portugal wines and came across this wine. It is finished in a port barrel. It is delicious for about $18 a bottle. The initial taste gives an impression of...

I would like to add a hint of mocha to my Merlot. I found some mocha oak chips, but I know that you need to be careful with oak chips post fermentation. Does anyone have a rule of thumb for adding oak chips to provide a hint of flavor? If you only do light oak with chips, I could also use...

It depends. If your only reading was just after the grapes were crushed, then it can change. Not all the grapes are typically broken up yet. When I went to a wine making forum, the professional winemakers stated that the chemistry can change a lot over the first few days as the enzymes...

I pressed the Merlot today as you suggested. It smelled and tasted wonderful. I believe it is my best wine yet. Thanks again for the advice!

I was fortunate to get some really good Merlot cab grapes from Red Mountain. I crushed the grapes 9/19, did a 5 day cold soak. After 5 days of fermentation, I transferred the fermenting wine and strained a majority of the seeds. Fermentation completed Sept 29th. It now has been almost month...

I saw your blog and purchased this kit. However, I cannot find a variable calibrated micro pipette to bench trial below 100ppm using their 5% solution in 50 ml of wine. Did you find a micro pipette for lower levels? if so, then can you pass along the link? If not, then I will just start with...

Just wondering what people's experience with longer EM at cooler temperatures. What is your longest EM and what was the result? What temperature was the environment after fermentation was complete?

When I was in Prosser picking up grapes near by, I went to Mercer winery and tasted their Viognier which has a "bright acidity is balanced by a creamy mouthfeel, added by the portion of wine fermented in our clay amphora". They do this to micro ox the wine to bring the creamy mouthfeel. The...

Worked as a charm. Wine is still nicely fermenting. Thanks for the great advice.

We are going to be out of town one night and I won't be able to punch it down one night and one morning. Unfortunately, we recently moved and there is no one here that I know well enough or trust not to contaminate my wine. I have a batch of wine that is about 1/3 fermentation. Should I cover...

Curious, did you Saignee some off after adding water so the skin to juice stays the same? This is the first year I had to add water. It would be nice to know what you do since you have dealt with this often and the outcome of the finished wine.

Yes at the winemaking course in OR, the person who did a thesis on GAIA yeast stated that the studies do not show any material difference. He stated that his conversations with professional winemakers is that they like what they make and they cold soak. So they don't want to change. I love...

I have pitched 5% of the yeast before warming up. The first time I did a cold soak, I did not add any yeast thinking I would wait till the right temperature range. However, I noticed some signs of fermentation while warming up. Since then, I have read it is best to add a little before...

I use the glycol chiller that my husband got for beer making, so it might not be the best but it works. It also supports 2 trash cans at one time. https://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/glycol-chiller-1-5hp There is a pump that sits in the glycol chiller and pumps glycol through the immersion...

Gaia yeast can be used to improve the odds of less spoiler organisms. This yeast will not create any caps nor any real sign of fermentation, so you will know that things are ok. GAIA only has tolerance to 3% alcohol so it will not compete with the yeast you inoculate for fermentation. It is a...

This year I will get 300 lbs of Merlot and 350 Cab from Red Mountain. Unfortunately the temperatures are around 90 degrees in Benton so the grapes will be early and not the best year. I plan on doing what I did last year is cold soak with GAIA yeast and then inoculate with Ruby yeast. Last...

Based on all the I learned about micro-oxygenation, I purchased a 15G eco flex tank. I have noticed that the SO2 was low, much more than normal. I know that initially more SO2 becomes bound early on and you need to add 30% to 50% more initially to compensate for the amount that becomes bound...

This looks like someone who knew how to get in and what to do. It has to be personal. To me it looks like a female walking. Hopefully they catch the person...

This year I tried 2 different things. délestage as Winemaker81 suggested (and cold soak). I just tasted the wine after MLF was complete and what a difference that made. There was no tip of the tongue bitterness. Just good tannins. I’m definitely going to do both going forward. I delestaged on...

Sorry just following this thread. I went to the winemaking magazine course this last year and there was several discussion regarding micro oxidation. The tannins need a small about of oxygen to develop. Wine in a glass carboy that hasn't been racked because of snow will need racking. O2 does...