2011 Chilean Carmenere

[joea132]

[Iquote=gush;126752]So I found myself at m&m yesterday buying 2 more lugs of grapes. 1 lug of carmenere and 1 lug of malbec. The carmenere grapes were delicious all on their own. The malbec were decent but not as sweet and had a good amount of mold near the bottom of lug. I'll be using rc212 on both and then I also bought a acid test(one that also tests so2 levels). The results on my merlot were 30ppm of so2 (without adding any before or during) and 6.0 acid, which is on the low side but the taste is amazing. It took me and the girlie 2-3 hrs to hand destem and crush 36lbs of grapes. How long did it take for your entire process?[/quote]

Good for you, you'll thank yourself next year! I don't know if you're aware but m and m will crush for you for a fee.

It took a good 45 minutes to sanitize the crusher and the vat. The motorized crusher destemmer did 15 cases in less than 10 minutes. Then another 45 to clean it out again and pick up that mess!

I'm guessing you got the Accuvin kit right? As stated in another thread, make sure you're under incandescent light, not fluorescent. Although personally I can't see the color change under either!(

 

[ibglowin]

Whatever they charge its worth it for sure. I hand destemmed 200lbs last year...... Never again!

 

[gush]

M&m crushed my last order or grapes for me. I wanted to get more hands on and see how long it would take by hand etc. I also was able to be a bit kore picky about the moldy grapes going into the must. It was actually kind of fun and wasn't too hard to do.

Eventually, when I buy my next house, I will be planting vines and I wanted to see if it would be feasible to not blow 2k in equipment for crushing and destemmig. I think with a red neck destemer(wire basket over a large bucket) and some tubs for the girls to jump around in for crushing I will be ok for the first year or two. By that time maybe I will be able to afford the crusher and destemer that I ultimately want without making multiple equipment steps to get there. Plus, it will be entertaining.

I think it is the accuvin test. I will have to read up some more about it onthe forums before using. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[ibglowin]

Here is a link to a [ame="http://youtu.be/1qjEV_2xmsA"]You Tube Video[/ame] for the Accuvin SO2 test. You need good color perception and proper light for an accurate result.

 

[Mikael]

i know i might get some flak for this but i stand by it....you don't need a crusher/destemmer....just a crusher is fine..people swear up and down that the stems can ruin the must, the wine..the final product...not once have we had the stems ruin wine and we only use a crusher. now im NOT SURE if it goes the same for the particular grapes YOOU'R using..but for us..destemmer..nahhh non important..and a regular stainless steel motorized crusher will only set you back about 500 bucks compared to 1,200 or so. as in the words of dennis miller 'thats my opinion...i could be wrong' CHEERS!!!!



Mikael


p.s. as of right this i looked to the side of me and noticed hanging...a grey hair : ( *siiiigh* *PLUCK!*

 

[JohnT]

i know i might get some flak for this but i stand by it....you don't need a crusher/destemmer....just a crusher is fine..people swear up and down that the stems can ruin the must, the wine..the final product...not once have we had the stems ruin wine and we only use a crusher. now im NOT SURE if it goes the same for the particular grapes YOOU'R using..but for us..destemmer..nahhh non important..and a regular stainless steel motorized crusher will only set you back about 500 bucks compared to 1,200 or so. as in the words of dennis miller 'thats my opinion...i could be wrong' CHEERS!!!!



Mikael


p.s. as of right this i looked to the side of me and noticed hanging...a grey hair : ( *siiiigh* *PLUCK!*

Stems will not ruin a wine, just potentially make wine bitter and too tanic.

of course this can vary depending on how long the wine is exposed to the stems.

Myself, I like a lot of body in my wine. As a result, I macerate the wine on the skins for an extended period of time. Far too long, in my opinion, to expose the wine to the stems.

A good way to "soften" wine is to make sure to remove the stems prior to maceration.

(of course, this is only my opinion).

oh yea, and don't use welches!

johnT

 

[joea132]

M and M has the best prices I could find anywhere. Even haggling for an extra $100 off a Beer-Wine Hobby in MA, I would have still gotten a better deal at M and M. The smallest painted crusher/destemers are only around $840-$900. Or since you have the extra hands you can get a manual one for considerably cheaper. Plus like I always say, walk in with cash and buy other stuff at the same time and see if you can't get a discount.

If you read "From Vines to Wine," the author uses his wife's sanitized feet to crush. And he does alot of wine too...

For everything I've read about keeping stems in wine, I would rather destem. They can also add a "herb-like" or "vegetable-like" taste from what I hear... A few got through on my crush and I didn't purposefully didn't remove them.

 

[Racer]

Don't know if this helps folks trying to plan ahead or not but here's where I bought my equipment from a few years ago. Item's 5505,8054, and 8058 is what I currently have for processing my grapes that I harvest or buy. If you can swing it buying stainless really helps come time to clean up and care for.

 

[roblloyd]

I am getting my carmenere grapes tomorrow afternoon. M&m is going to crush and destem them for me for $4 a lug. If I had time I would have made the trip to wades house but no time.
I am going to use wyeast Bordeaux yeast along with fermmax and nurtiferm.

 

[Wade E]

Unless you are making tons of wine from grapes the manual crusher destemmer is fine. I have a very bad back and I have no trouble at all using my manual crusher destemmer nor does my 6 year old son and they go for about $450. You can get the smaller crusher alone even cheaper. As far as stems go it really depends on what wine you are making. Big reds can take or hide lots of stems while mild red wines will show the stems harshness.

 

[gush]

I have the best future wife ever! My fiance says randomly last night "I want more grapes to crush with my hands!" as my buddy and I had two batches of beer boiling away for a friends wedding. My response, "yes dear, absolutely!" haha.

On that note, I (atleast for now) find it entertaining. I did read from vines to wines and honestly that how I've decided that the foot thing isn't all that gross and plan to use it. I think we might name the wines "tub girls", if you catch that joke.... You've seen too much on the Internet as I have lol.

As for desteming, I will continue to do it but will try to improve my speed at doing so. Crushing, I may eventually buy an innexspensive hand crank one but I'm gonna wait till the fiance gets her fun out of stomping on them a few times. I used to work for a sheet metal shop, and my brother still does, so getting things made to convert hand crank to electric motor is easy. Hmmm, I will have to draw up my own crusher in 3d and see if I can make it myself.... Now where to farm rollers?

On topic (kinda)... I inoculated my 2 new musts last night after a 24hr sit with 2 campden tablets and some pectic enzyme in each. My numbers were a bit off from yours Joe. My carmenere was 1.092 or so. I ran out of time to test the acid levels but I can do that tonight I believe. I dont think I'm going to add any sugar because I'm still up in the 11.5-12% potential alcohol and this might end up as part of a blend as well. Either that or this will make an earlier drinker.

Joe, what are you using for a primary, kinda looks like one of those big tubs with rope handles from what's in the picture. I bought a 2-pack of gray 12 gallon totes with rope handles that I planned on using for my crush. Unfortunately they aren't stamped with what they are made of so I'm not sure if I can do my primary in them without getting the plastic flavor. I have plenty of time to research that before the fall though.

 

[Runningwolf]

Gush you are well on your way. Getting your spouse's support or better yet hooked is a great thing!

 

[joea132]

The tub girl idea is awesome for those of us with a sick sense of humor...

I bought a large plastic fermenter from M and M. The kind they have inside the door to the right when you first walk in. I'm not sure how big it is, maybe 300 Liters?

As far as you other guys, my crusgher/destemmer is available to any of you guys if you ever need it or if Wade isn't around. Just so long as you clean it good

 

[roblloyd]

Just got home with my carmenere grapes from M&M. They crushed them and I have 2 buckets. What's next?
I added SO2 to it and am waiting for the temp to come up and the yeast to do it's thing (wyeast) before adding. I was going to do 2 seperate batches to see how different yeasts perform but I'm not sure I have that in me for the 1st batch.
When do I add pectic enzyme? And how much?

I will test later tonight when I have more time for PH and TA.

Too bad these grapes are hard to get all the time. I'd love to snack on these! Much better than grocery store grapes.

 

[gush]

Pectic enzyme can be added when you sulfite. I added 1.5tsp for 1.5-1.8 gallons worth of must. Both of the musts that I added it to are much more soupy then the merlot that I did not.

I must agree with you, these grapes are amazing just by themselves right off of the stem. They have a great fruity sweetness to them.

 

[joea132]

Yeah they are really sweet grapes. I forgot to add pectic enzyme myself at sulfite and I'm just not going to bother. I'm also doing an extended maceration so I would imagine the cell bodies would tend to break apart more being exposed to alcohol for longer.

I pitched my yeast at 58F and it has gone up to 76F in a few days.

 

[roblloyd]

We will have to trade a bottle when we're done. I'd like to see the difference with yeasts and whatever differences you are doing vs mine.

I added liquid pectic enzyme.

 

[joea132]

Better yet we should do a "meet and greet" kind of thing. There seems to be an ever growing number of us in the CT area.

 

[gush]

I am down for a meet and greet. Any decent pubs in the Hartford area? Would Hartford be pretty central to everyone?

 

[joea132]

Hartford isn't bad, Meriden might even be more central. But Hartford does have City Steam Brewery. Either way this is way down the line.