2017 Harford Vineyard Chilean Grape/Juice Pickup

[jas3019]

Yep. Just some clear and green Bordeaux bottles. He's got some discounted to push them - frosted clear and blue. But I stuck with my old standbys.

 

[mainshipfred]

Talked with the boss, she says around 10 am plus or minus an hour on Saturday is fine (Sunday is out). She would love to meet some "wine people" since I spend so much time on here and none with her. She likes to do a sampling of their wines since I'm the designated non-drinker/driver. All could change if one of the kids hasn't informed us of an activity, I'll give them the "inquisition" tomorrow morning, if they don't answer correctly they don't get breakfast (just kidding).

We are flexible as long as she can get to Longhorn Steakhouse in Hanover PA for lunch (because I'm paying).

Funny, just checked my email and I didn't get that one yet. Maybe they did give you my grapes?

Craig, looks like it's only you and I for Saturday. I'll be there around 10:00 or sooner. I want to bring you a bottle of wine from a local winery but need to know if you like Norton.

 

[ceeaton]

Craig, looks like it's only you and I for Saturday. I'll be there around 10:00 or sooner. I want to bring you a bottle of wine from a local winery but need to know if you like Norton.

Like I said, when I give away wine I don't expect anything in return other than an honest opinion. If you bring a bottle of Norton, I won't turn it down since that is one of the grapes I could conceivably grow in my back yard, and I'll have to admit I never tasted one, that I remember (thinking Gettysburg wine festival, way too many wines to remember).

Last I heard we are still aiming for 10 am or a little sooner. I'll P.M. you my cell number and you can text me when you get there. If I get held up I can text you back so you aren't waiting around for a long period of time.

 

[ceeaton]

Finally Saturday is here! After a quick breakfast and some coffee to go, driving with my wife down into Maryland to pickup some Chilean raw materials. Coming the long way home through north central Maryland to end up in Hanover PA for a nice lunch at a restaurant of my wife's choice (probably LongHorn or Texas Roadhouse). Hope to meet and trade a wine or two and some tall tales with mainshipfred!

 

[heatherd]

Typically with Harford they maybe send one email about the spring products, so it's pretty easy to ignore when I'm skipping. This year they keep sending email after email and it's making my resolve wear thin!

 

[Johnd]

Typically with Harford they maybe send one email about the spring products, so it's pretty easy to ignore when I'm skipping. This year they keep sending email after email and it's making my resolve wear thin!

Buck up and make some wine!!!

 

[dcbrown73]

I picked up mine today (Chilean Carménère, and Cabernet) though I didn't go to Harford. Too far, I picked up at a local place here in Connecticut.

Already prepped for fermentation, just waiting on the temperature to come up. It tastes fantastic!

 

[ceeaton]

Typically with Harford they maybe send one email about the spring products, so it's pretty easy to ignore when I'm skipping. This year they keep sending email after email and it's making my resolve wear thin!

Their son said that there were issues with the new email service (many like myself didn't get he "grapes are here" email, so they duplicated the emails using the old method (which I still didn't get)). So that is why you got so many emails. Their son said they are planning to sell a bit more of their grapes this Fall to us small time winemakers. And my wife liked the Traminette this year!

 

[ceeaton]

Finally got home around 3 pm (long lunch, Lowe's for paint strainer bags, Kohl's for shoes, Giant because it's a daily thing...). Buckets are still plenty cold since it is a miserable, rainy day. Bright spot was meeting @mainshipfred today. He just spent too much time purchasing that barrel, so I couldn't quite get his ear to fall off with me talking so much. I look forward to meeting up with him again this Fall.

Got a Chianti bucket (recreating my wife's favorite wine, OB Cranberry Chianti), Syrah bucket and a lug of grapes, and a Muscato bucket. Have them inside trying to warm them up, but it will probably be until tomorrow until I can test/adjust/pitch yeast. Hand de-stemmed and crushed my lug. The grapes are in good condition, no greenies, but I noticed many more damaged ones plus a lot of raisins. Got more raisins in one lug that I did in all of the other grapes I've ever ordered from them combined. Tested some of the juice from the grapes and it was 19.5 brix. Crushed lug is hanging out in the garage in a bucket with Lallzyme EX-V added (temps around 55*F). Here are some images:

 

[Bodenski]

My wife and I got there around 3 PM. Picked up a Chilean Pinot Grigio bucket, a South African Cabernet bucket and a lug of South African Cabernet grapes.

I tried to test everything, but the acid titration didn't seem to work at all. The wine is still cold (39 degrees) but I don't know if that has anything to do with titration of acids. I didn't think the NaOH was that old, but maybe it is. For what I could check these are the numbers I got.

Pinot Grigio
SG 1.090
pH 3.58

Caberbnet juice
SG 1.094
pH 3.76

I hand destemmed the single lug, and added about 2 gallons of the cab bucket to it. I don't know if that will end up being a single batch after fermentation or if I'll keep them separate. Here's a pick of the grapes.

I hope to pitch yeast tomorrow (after I recheck the SG and the pH, and attempt titration again), and I'll end up doing MLF on the Cab. I don't have a way to check completion, so the plan is to pitch the bacteria when I go to secondary and just let it run for two months before I start adding chemicals to stabilize. Hopefully they'll get the memo that they're supposed to be done at that point!

 

[ceeaton]

I don't have a way to check completion, so the plan is to pitch the bacteria when I go to secondary and just let it run for two months before I start adding chemicals to stabilize. Hopefully they'll get the memo that they're supposed to be done at that point!

Here's what I use. Nice easy instructions, you'll be good for many years of MLF testing:

http://www.piwine.com/chromatography-test-kit-vertical-paper.html

Interested to hear how your South African wines turn out. How did you like the grapes, did they seem to be in good condition? And more importantly, in a year or so, what do you think about how the flavor of your wine is progressing. Post often, pictures like you included are nice (like a young kid, books with pictures are more interesting).

Have fun!

 

[Bodenski]

Interested to hear how your South African wines turn out. How did you like the grapes, did they seem to be in good condition?

This is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not really sure what "good" grapes are supposed to look like. Before I added some bucket juice to the grapes I tasted a little of the straight grapes juice. Taste was more or less equivalent. It's hard to taste nuances of the flavor with all that sugar!

The one thing I'll say is that a handful of the grape bunches had some mold (I think) growing on them. It was easy to separate those out, but some may have made it into the mix. I did add a couple of campden tablets to help keep everything at bay, but it still makes me a little nervous. I'll be sure to hydrate the yeast I'm adding well so that it can be predominate.

Also, for having never started from grapes before, I was surprised at how small they were. I didn't realize the grapes I get at the store for eating are monster sized compared to viniferous grapes!

I'll have more pictures after I pitch the yeast. For the single lug of grapes I have them in a bag so I can squeeze them easier. I guess the choice is either ferment with the grapes in a bag or let them loose and filter everything afterwards. I think I prefer using the bag, so that's what I'm doing this time. Luckily I have the headroom in the bucket for them.

 

[ceeaton]

This is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not really sure what "good" grapes are supposed to look like. Before I added some bucket juice to the grapes I tasted a little of the straight grapes juice. Taste was more or less equivalent. It's hard to taste nuances of the flavor with all that sugar!

The one thing I'll say is that a handful of the grape bunches had some mold (I think) growing on them. It was easy to separate those out, but some may have made it into the mix. I did add a couple of campden tablets to help keep everything at bay, but it still makes me a little nervous. I'll be sure to hydrate the yeast I'm adding well so that it can be predominate.

Also, for having never started from grapes before, I was surprised at how small they were. I didn't realize the grapes I get at the store for eating are monster sized compared to viniferous grapes!

I'll have more pictures after I pitch the yeast. For the single lug of grapes I have them in a bag so I can squeeze them easier. I guess the choice is either ferment with the grapes in a bag or let them loose and filter everything afterwards. I think I prefer using the bag, so that's what I'm doing this time. Luckily I have the headroom in the bucket for them.

I know what you mean about knowing what is "good" and "not so good". I've only bought grapes 5 times since I'm pretty new to this too. It is good to remove anything that is growing on it's own, but wine making is pretty forgiving (verses beer making).

These grapes seem to be shipped with Kmeta pads to keep things from growing on them, so if you have an issue with your MLB, it might be due to the extra Kmeta (see last Springs posts by @Boatboy24 for Harford Chilean grapes). So adding nutrients for the yeast and the MLB is a good idea. Get them a healthy start and you usually won't have problems down the road.

I do the bag "thing" for a single lug too. Easy to punch down with a squeeze, no need to "press" the grapes as you are doing that every time you squeeze and let it sink in your fermenter. When you are done with those grapes, save the skins in the freezer (if you have a vacuum food saver it works great) so you can add them to kits or other buckets down the road.

Remember to post any concerns you have, many here are quite willing to help you out, especially the group who use Harford for their raw materials. Hope you are having fun and learning a lot!

 

[Boatboy24]

@ceeaton: 19.5 brix? Are you comfortable with that reading or do you think it could be higher?

 

[ceeaton]

@ceeaton: 19.5 brix? Are you comfortable with that reading or do you think it could be higher?

That was literally right when I was breaking them up. I'll check it tomorrow a.m. once the Lallzyme has done it's thing to the skins and I've mashed it up a bit. Plus I haven't checked the bucket yet, but once I get the two readings, I'll figure 1 1/4 gallons from the grapes + the 6 gallon bucket and aim for 23-25 brix, if I have to add acidulated water with sugar, so be it. I'm just too tired to test everything tonight, plus the buckets are still really cold since it's only 68*F in the house (I am NOT turning the heat back on -- kids and wife have formed a strong lobby for me to do it, but I'm resisting with strong indifference and wine drinking).

 

[sour_grapes]

Bright spot was meeting @mainshipfred today. He just spent too much time purchasing that barrel, so I couldn't quite get his ear to fall off with me talking so much. I look forward to meeting up with him again this Fall.

Psst, Fred: You better start saving up for another barrel to purchase in the fall! ::

 

[mainshipfred]

Psst, Fred: You better start saving up for another barrel to purchase in the fall! ::

Believe me the thought has already crossed my mind. I'm thinking the 6.5 gal being new could possibly be freed up by fall. Not sure whether I want another 6.5 or a 10 or both or 2-10s or a 20 plus I need a Vinmetrica. Heck, going back to the thread of expensive hobbies, boating and golf are nothing compared to wine making.

 

[Ajmassa]

I went with one of those brew bags with handles that line the primary bucket. For a 3 lug batch of Cab. Thinking that would be nice and easy to just lift out when I press with my makeshift bucket press I still haven't made.
Curious if the raisins in these lugs have any negative effects to the wine?
And is there anyone out there who actually tested the S02 levels of the grapes that came with the so2 protective pads for any additions???? I meant to but got caught up in everything else going on.

 

[mainshipfred]

I went with one of those brew bags with handles that line the primary bucket. For a 3 lug batch of Cab. Thinking that would be nice and easy to just lift out when I press with my makeshift bucket press I still haven't made.
Curious if the raisins in these lugs have any negative effects to the wine?
And is there anyone out there who actually tested the S02 levels of the grapes that came with the so2 protective pads for any additions???? I meant to but got caught up in everything else going on.

From a novice standpoint I can't imagine commercial wineries picking through and removing the raisons. I would imagine all the goodies are still in there just not as much water.

 

[Boatboy24]

From a novice standpoint I can't imagine commercial wineries picking through and removing the raisons. I would imagine all the goodies are still in there just not as much water.

Pretty sure the larger ones use mechanical sorters that can somehow figure out what's good and what's not.