2018 Grape Season Underway

[Boatboy24]

Well, the little buggers were busy last night. Both containers at 0.998 this morning. No worries about pressing now!

I took a taste (in the name of science) and its remarkably smooth already. I'm afraid: don't know if that means the pH has shot up, or the MLF is just cruising along quickly.

 

[stickman]

The good thing about it, at least I suppose this is good, it will ferment a shoe if called upon to try. It is a failsafe, low foaming, ferments to completion yeast. Those are also the reasons most kits include it. The only thing I add it to is skeeter pee or dragon's blood, which I don't make very often any longer. But I always have a packet or three in my yeast fridge, never know when you might need to try to restart something and about once every two years something goes awry and needs a kick in the seat of the pants.

I agree, EC1118 seems to be one of the universal yeasts used, dependable etc. Another reason for its use commercially and in kits originates from the 1980's when ethyl carbamate (suspected carcinogen) was found in some wines. At the time, the Wine Institute and UC Davis recommended the use of EC1118 or Prise de Mousse, as these yeasts are capable of degrading urea, which is the precursor to ethyl carbamate. Technology changes, so I don't think it's an issue anymore. I know that urea was previously used to supply nitrogen in some yeast nutrient blends, but most high quality blends today have eliminated it.

 

[mainshipfred]

@Boatboy24 Jim and I are going to combine our skins and try our hand at a Second Run batch. Neither one of us has ever done it before. We have 9 lugs of Carmenere, 7 SA Cab Sauv, 2 Malbec and 1 PV. We would like to get 6 finished gallons to split 3 each. any suggestions?

 

[Johnd]

Well, the little buggers were busy last night. Both containers at 0.998 this morning. No worries about pressing now!

I took a taste (in the name of science) and its remarkably smooth already. I'm afraid: don't know if that means the pH has shot up, or the MLF is just cruising along quickly.

Probably just a little of both, plus a little sweetness left in there to knock down the rough edges.

 

[pgentile]

@Boatboy24 Jim and I are going to combine our skins and try our hand at a Second Run batch. Neither one of us has ever done it before. We have 9 lugs of Carmenere, 7 SA Cab Sauv, 2 Malbec and 1 PV. We would like to get 6 finished gallons to split 3 each. any suggestions?

By second run you mean a bucket on the skins? Adding water and sugar? Dragon blood?

 

[Ajmassa]

With Fred’s skins I think he meant 6th run wine with some sugaracidwater

 

[pgentile]

So it looks like my spring wine production this year will be approximately 64 gallons. Never thought I'd make that much.

200 lbs Pinotage
3 SA juice buckets cab/syrah on pinotage skins
200 lbs carmenere/malbec
3 chilean juice buckets carmenere/malbec on carmenere/malbec skins that I will press tomorrow or monday

One thing I ended up today with is 2+ gls of sangiovese/barbera from last fall and 2+ gls of cab/syrah and 1/2 gl of elderberry orphans that I mixed into a 5 gl carboy with oak. So it's a sangio/barbera/cab/syrah/elderberry. Taste is pretty darn good.

Made it through all ferments so far with no h2s odors like last years malbec. Thanks to @heatherd 's pinotage story I went with bm 4x4 in mine. All other ferments were rc212 with two ferments having a bit of h2s odor but vanished after racking off gross lees. Might be my last ferments with rc212.

Also like say to thanks everyone on this website for all your help and info.

 

[mainshipfred]

By second run you mean a bucket on the skins? Adding water and sugar? Dragon blood?

Never looked into Dragon Blood and don't know exactly what it is, we're just going to add water and sugar to the skins.

 

[mainshipfred]

With Fred’s skins I think he meant 6th run wine with some sugaracidwater

LOL, you remember correctly and are exactly correct.

 

[mainshipfred]

So it looks like my spring wine production this year will be approximately 64 gallons. Never thought I'd make that much.

Wow, that's a lot. I thought I was doing well at 33 gallons. Hope you have enough bottles and room for the fall harvest.

 

[Boatboy24]

Well, the Carm/Petite Verdot is pressed. Thanks for the assist, Fred. Made things go more quickly.

We'll see what that 2nd run wine looks like. I know @vacuumpumpman has done a few. Wonder if we can get him (or others) to chime in. All told, we have (I think) 17 lugs of 'used' skins. My thinking was to add 7-8 gallons of water with sugar and acid to maybe get 6 gallons of finished wine out of it.

 

[Ajmassa]

That’s a healthy season with 64gal. More than I’ve got aging in total.
Ok so now some barrel talk...

I ended up with 21gal of Malbec.
Still separated with 9gal of each ferment and another 3gal combined press. Unsure if I will barrel age separately or let them blend within the barrel. Either way with an 8gal barrel I have the option which is nice.
I also have another 20gal of Tuscan blend from fall that will get barrel time.

Given the vol of wine and an 8 gal barrel I’ve got minimum 4 runs total. That’s too long to wait plus thinking neutral before finished.
Plus I’d like to let it go longer and get more micro-oxygenation like the pros do for the Tuscan.
So the plan is now dedicating the new zemplen 8gal to this 21gal of Chilean Malbec. And another new 10-15 gal barrel needed for last fall’s Tuscan.
Carolina barrels sell ideal volumes for good $ but all out of stock. Anyone with any good suggestions I’m all ears. This hobby won’t stop growing and it’s out of my control now. These are all necessities!

 

[mainshipfred]

Carolina barrels sell ideal volumes for good $ but all out of stock. Anyone with any good suggestions I’m all ears. This hobby won’t stop growing and it’s out of my control now. These are all necessities![/QUOTE]

Just to let you know the Zemplen barrels are shipping the end of June - early July. It takes about a month to get here. There are still 3 - 8 gallon barrels left I might take a second leaving 2.

 

[Ajmassa]

Just to let you know the Zemplen barrels are shipping the end of June - early July. It takes about a month to get here. There are still 3 - 8 gallon barrels left I might take a second leaving 2.

Interesting. And noted.
I know it’s said for a new barrel it’s about the #of gal equals the # of weeks for a 1st run and then doubling. But don’t they do new 60gal barrels for 20-24 months commercially??
Anyway if it’s 8 weeks then 16 weeks then I’m at 6 months after 2 runs and 1 yr straight for 3 runs. With an 8gal and so much oak contact i can’t seem to find the answer- how long until neutral? Lots of planning needed here.

 

[mainshipfred]

Forgot to mention, if you call Carolina Barrels they are no longer selling these barrels. My last correspondence with him was a text on 2-24 that he didn't know what they were getting if anything. He is a really friendly person to talk to though. I his cell is 828-640-0181.

Rick Foster
Carolina Barrel & Custom Wrx
828-585-4477
[email protected]

 

[mainshipfred]

Interesting. And noted.
I know it’s said for a new barrel it’s about the #of gal equals the # of weeks for a 1st run and then doubling. But don’t they do new 60gal barrels for 20-24 months commercially??
Anyway if it’s 8 weeks then 16 weeks then I’m at 6 months after 2 runs and 1 yr straight for 3 runs. With an 8gal and so much oak contact i can’t seem to find the answer- how long until neutral? Lots of planning needed here.

If I remember correctly the gallons per week is a guideline. Not having much experience myself I would have to believe it's logarithmic scale when it comes to size of barrels.

 

[pgentile]

Hope you have enough bottles and room for the fall harvest.

I have 200 clean bottles ready to go. I'll need to bottle last falls batches first. But this coming fall I am going to try and do around 60 gls again. A barrel with 2-3 more carboys and I can pull it off.

 

[pgentile]

Ok so now some barrel talk...

I have to starting reading up on barrels, I know absolutely nothing. But with one coming this summer I better get with the basics.

 

[stickman]

This is the Demptos 2017 price list, they indicate a 7.5, 15, and 30gal sizes as well as the typical commercial barrels. I'm sure you have to call for availability.

 

[sour_grapes]

We'll see what that 2nd run wine looks like. I know vacuumpumpman has done a few. Wonder if we can get him (or others) to chime in.

I did a second run from the fall press of very purple Syrah grapes. Stressbaby made a fair point against this idea:

Right but your time is not free. It's not the end of the world if you do it and it's no good. But most of us have been there - a carboy full of subpar wine which you can't bear to dump, but it's not good enough to bottle.

To which I replied:

Stressbaby's point is well-taken. However, *I* have not been there. Some things you have to learn for yourself. One simple reason I decided to go forward is, frankly, just to get one more practice turn at winemaking from grapes. Maybe the second time I press, the "purple typhoon" will have a smaller footprint. Maybe I will learn something that will help for 2018.

So, how do I feel now? My "sloppy seconds" are, indeed, subpar. Not very wine-like. More like a wine cooler or perhaps "second-run is to wine what orange drink is to orange juice." Slightly artificial/chemical tasting. However, I am happy enough with it. It's an enjoyable beverage that I intend to drink slightly chilled in the summer months. Or make sangria with it.

As for volume, this is what I did. I had the skins from about 15 gallons of first-run wine, to which I added just over 6 gallons of acidulated water. So just under 50% of initial volume.