2018 Grape Season Underway

[pgentile]

I just tasted my spring wines. I'm not a huge Merlot fan but after 2 months it has a nice spicy nose and very fruity. Put in an American Oak spiral a few weeks ago. I got it primarily for blending but may just bottle some as a single. The Malbec doesn't have the spice but is also very fruity and no oak in it yet, waiting for a barrel. The Carmenere is very good as well but I can't put my finger on the nose or flavor profiles. It was made with a bucket and 10 lugs of skins. Last but no least is the all grape SA Cab, absolutely awesome. Been in a somewhat neutral barrel for 2 months. Not much oak given off yet and will probably put this in in a new barrel as well. After a year and a half this spring was the first time I felt totallycomfortable with what I was doing and I think the rewards will show. A big thank you to everyone that helped through the initial phases.

It's all sounding good Fred. I'm ready for the barrel. Carmenere/malbec field blend up first.

 

[pgentile]

Received this email today, check out this availability list Connecticut is not that far away......

Musto's 2018 Harvest Update
Hello Winemakers,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We have been working hard since the South African and Chilean seasons ended to secure your fall fruit. And boy do we have a lot of great options for you this year!

Grapes Available from Washington State:

Let's start with Washington State fruit. We have doubled our Washington State program and are bringing in grapes from not only one, but four different AVA's from the great evergreen state. These AVA's include Rattlesnakes Hills, Red Mountain, Waluke Slope, and the Columbia River Valley. Also, one of our growers will be out to visit us in October. Keep an eye on our website for more details coming soon....

• Rattlesnakes Hills:
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Merlot
  • Pinot Noir
  • Grenache
  • Malbec
  • Mourvedre
  • Petite Sirah
  • Syrah
• Red Mountain:
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
• Waluke Slope
  • Cabernet Franc
• Columbia Valley:
  • Cabernet Sauvignon

Grapes Available from Lodi:

• Old Vine Zinfandel (35 years+)
• • Which Paul says, "These are head pruned Zins out of Lodi. As you can see veraison has already happened, and now the berries are ripening and coloring nicely." Click here for more information about these head pruned vines here.
• Barbera
• • A great option for Rose as well as a Red Wine
• Old Vine Barbera
• Alicante
• Black Muscat
• Cabernet Franc
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Carignane
• Chardonnay
• Grenache
• Malbec
• Malvasia Bianca
• Mixed Black
• Merlot
• Mustcat
• Pinot Grigio
• Pinot Noir
• Pinotage
• Petite Sirah
• Petite Verdot
• Ruby Cabernet
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Syrah
• Thompson Seedless
• Viognier
• Zinfandel (under the age of 35)

Within the Lodi AVA there is a sub-AVA called Contra Costa. Here is where our Italian wine grape varieties are grown. This AVA has a similar Mediterranean growing climate. The Italian wine grape varietals flourish here and every year the wine from these grapes gets better and better. Located below Suisun Bay and East of the Oakland Hills, Contra Costa is the premier growing area for Italian varietal wine grapes. Many of the vines grown in this area are considered ancient. The Mediterranean climate produces wines with bold features and good color. The soil is deep and sandy, making the grapes fight for their water, only increasing the intensity of the fruit. Think big bold reds, with leathery notes, and supple tannins.

Grapes Available from Contra Costa:

• Aglianico
• Mouvedre
• Nero D'avola
• Sagrantino
• Nebbiolo
• Montepulciano
  

Another interesting region in our wine grape portfolio is our King's River ranch. The King's River Vineyard is located in Sanger, CA - Southeast of Fresno, on the way to Squaw Valley, Tahoe and the Sierra Foothills. The vineyard is made up of 40 acres of white ash & sandy loam soil. The vineyard has been in existence since 1954 and the family has grown everything from grapes for wine and raisins to peaches, plums, and apricots on this little piece of paradise. However, they ultimately decided to focus on what they love most - boutique style wines. Each block is meticulously managed. They thin leaves, drop fruit to secure intense flavors, and drip irrigate as to not over-water the vines. This family definitely produces grapes of distinction. For more information about working King's River Ranch grapes click here.

Grapes Available from King's River Ranch:

• Albarino
• Barbera
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Cabernet Franc
• Petite Sirah
• Primitivo
• Syrah
• Teroldego
• Tempranillo

The Central Valley, California's agricultural heartland, it is composed of 2 valleys that stretch almost 500 miles down the center of the state. The Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley are bordered on the east by the Sierra Nevada Mountains and by the Coast Range to the west. The total acreage under wine grape cultivation in the Central Valley dwarfs all other California regions.

Grapes Available from Central Valley:

• Alicante
• Barbera
• Cabernet Franc
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Carignane
• Grenache
• Malbec
• Merlot
• Mixed Black
• Petite Sirah
• Pinot Noir
• Ruby Cabernet
• Sangiovese
• Zinfandel
• Old Vine Zinfandel
• White Zinfandel
• Chardonnay
• French Colombard
• Malvasia Bianca
• Muscat
• Pinot Grigio
• Riesling
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Thompson Seedless
• Viognier

Other grape regions we are sourcing from include - Suisun Valley, Paso Robles, Amador, Napa, Sonoma, and Monterey County. Our next email will be focused on the AVA's above but click here to see our entire Harvest Menu.

Now let's move onto the juices for the fall. We are excited to announce that we will have juices from three different areas of California. We will have juice from the general California AVA, Suisun Valley, and our Fresco Juice Program. The Suisun Valley juices and Fresco juices will need to be pre-ordered, however we will have a rotating supply of our California AVA juices at all times.

Grapes Available from California:

• Suisun Valley {PRE ORDER}
• • Chardonnay
  • Gamay
  • Riesling
  • Muscat Cannelli
• California AVA
• • Alicante
  • Barbera
  • Black Muscat
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Carignane
  • Chardonnay
  • Grenache
  • Malbec
  • Malvasia Bianca
  • Mixed Black
  • Merlot
  • Muscat
  • Pinot Grigio
  • Pinot Noir
  • Pinotage
  • Petite Sirah
  • Petite Verdot
  • Ruby Cabernet
  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Syrah
  • Tannat
  • Thompson Seedless
  • Viognier
  • Zinfandel (under the age of 35)
  • Old Vine Zinfandel
  • White Zinfandel
• Fresco {PRE-ORDER}
• • Alicante
  • Amorosso
  • Barbera
  • Granbarile
  • Bourg Royal
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Castel del Papa
  • Il Toscano
  • Lambrusco
  • MARZEMINO
  • Merlot
  • Montepulciano
  • Nebbiolo
  • Nero D'Avola
  • Pinot noir
  • PRIMITIVO
  • Ruby Cabernet
  • Sangiovese
  • Shiraz
  • Valle dei Tempi
  • Zinfandel
  • Grenache (Rose)
  • Zinfandel Blush (Rose)
  • Blanc des Chateaux
  • Chenin Blanc
  • Gewurtztraminer
  • Il Veneto
  • Malvasia Aromatica
  • Moscato
  • Moscato Italiano
  • Pinot Chardonnay
  • Pinot Grigio
  • Riesling
  • Sauvignon blanc
  • Tocai
  • Trebbiano
  • Vinho Verde

 

[Boatboy24]

Got that email as well. The lucky buggers that live near Hartford will be able to get their hands on some Red Mountain Cab!

 

[pgentile]

About 3 weeks out from grapes arriving. Over the summer I been leaning towards old school and doing some alacante and sangiovese. But my dark red tannic palate has said otherwise. I have narrowed it down to, besides the red zin, a batch each of two of these grapes, mourvedre, petite syrah, petit verdot, carignane and/or nebbiolo. Never made petit verdot or mourvedre. It's been four year since petite syrah.

So far petit verdot and petite syrah are the front runners. I have plenty of cab sauv from the spring for some blending down the road,

 

[mainshipfred]

About 3 weeks out from grapes arriving. Over the summer I been leaning towards old school and doing some alacante and sangiovese. But my dark red tannic palate has said otherwise. I have narrowed it down to, besides the red zin, a batch each of two of these grapes, mourvedre, petite syrah, petit verdot, carignane and/or nebbiolo. Never made petit verdot or mourvedre. It's been four year since petite syrah.

So far petit verdot and petite syrah are the front runners. I have plenty of cab sauv from the spring for some blending down the road,

My definates are petit verdot and tannat. Would also like to do a cab franc and perhaps another norton. Still waiting for the prices and selection from my new source for everything else.

 

[pgentile]

My definates are petit verdot and tannat. Would also like to do a cab franc and perhaps another norton. Still waiting for the prices and selection from my new source for everything else.

I'm not familiar with tannat. All local grapes for the ones mentioned? I've been eyeing your bottle of norton blend, but think I'll wait for it to age a bit.

 

[pgentile]

Did chromatography on the the australian juice buckets from this summer.

By the results the cab still has a ways to go, the syrah is closer and the grenache is done with MLF. All three were the same yeast bm4x4 and co-inoculated with MLB Ch16. All three were under 1.000 at 8 days and racked to secondary. In secondary for a few weeks the grenache has been inert, the syrah has large active clear bubbles and the cab has the small pin-prick bubbles usually seen with MLF(at least here). The cab and syrah were the same starting brix, grenache was lower.

I didn't measure TA or Malo with these, but it's interesting to see how the three have proceeded differently. My guess would be I'm seeing the difference in Malo and TA levels in each with visual activity and chroma.

The carmenere/malbec on the test was my last batch in the spring.

 

[ceeaton]

Did chromatography on the the australian juice buckets from this summer.

Keep stirring. I always would forget to stir it up a few times a week, when I did it would complete within two weeks. I raise my beer can and drink to your Cab getting done, positive thinking is best!

 

[pgentile]

Keep stirring. I always would forget to stir it up a few times a week, when I did it would complete within two weeks. I raise my beer can and drink to your Cab getting done, positive thinking is best!

I always forget to stir too. Thanks for reminding me. Raise my beer can back at you.

 

[Ajmassa]

Keep stirring. I always would forget to stir it up a few times a week, when I did it would complete within two weeks. I raise my beer can and drink to your Cab getting done, positive thinking is best!

Yeah man, Im good for 1-2x before its forgotten completely. Mostly all of mine haven’t needed much hand holding.
Paul I’d be a tad concerned that the one didn’t take. (Sorry Craig ). And herein lies the fatal flaw of chromatography. Very difficult to determine if it’s started- or when it’s finished.
But you know the deal for needy batches. (And so does everyone else who’s pulled their hair out from pain in the *** MLF’s)
-Get temps to mid 70°’s
-Stir 1-2x a week
-Adding oak helps for bacteria to latch onto
and stay out of the lees
- maybe a half a shot of opti malo help get the
party started too.
- another test in a week or 2 and you’ll either be at ease- OR you and jgmann67 could be starting a MLF support group

 

[pgentile]

Yeah man, Im good for 1-2x before its forgotten completely. Mostly all of mine haven’t needed much hand holding.
Paul I’d be a tad concerned that the one didn’t take. (Sorry Craig ). And herein lies the fatal flaw of chromatography. Very difficult to determine if it’s started- or when it’s finished.
But you know the deal for needy batches. (And so does everyone else who’s pulled their hair out from pain in the *** MLF’s)
-Get temps to mid 70°’s
-Stir 1-2x a week
-Adding oak helps for bacteria to latch onto
and stay out of the lees
- maybe a half a shot of opti malo help get the
party started too.
- another test in a week or 2 and you’ll either be at ease- OR you and jgmann67 could be starting a MLF support group

Gonna lightly stir in a little bit. I'm not too concerned at this point, it's only been 3+ weeks since it was started. Temp is good. I have no opt-malo left. Ordering some this week though for fall grapes.

Thanks

 

[Ajmassa]

Gonna lightly stir in a little bit. I'm not too concerned at this point, it's only been 3+ weeks since it was started. Temp is good. I have no opt-malo left. Ordering some this week though for fall grapes.

Thanks

Nice. Not sure if your all opti-malo or use one of the many others , but I can offer a little ml nutrient anecdote.
I’ve used 2 - gopti malo, and microessentials malo nutrient. Both were in the same type of ziplock bag at purchase. In 6 months the micro essentials solidified becoming all rocky. The opti malo kept as new. Stored at room temp.
And another thing I learned was after struggling to stir topped up carboys during MLF. Wine gets displaced and spills out unless some is removed before. I had a little ‘aha’ moment and started stirring with a racking cane, problem solved!

 

[ceeaton]

Not sure if your all opti-malo or use one of the many others , but I can offer a little ml nutrient anecdote.

I've never used MLF nutrients (other than ACTI-ML to get the bacteria ready for the harsh environment I pitch them into; I pitch MLB post primary fermentation after racking off the gross lees). Never had an issue, other than when I forgot to stir. I'm kinda curious why Paul's Cab didn't get done since he co-inocculated. It's not like the BM 4x4 had a chance to produce too many SO2 like compounds...

 

[pgentile]

Nice. Not sure if your all opti-malo or use one of the many others , but I can offer a little ml nutrient anecdote.
I’ve used 2 - gopti malo, and microessentials malo nutrient. Both were in the same type of ziplock bag at purchase. In 6 months the micro essentials solidified becoming all rocky. The opti malo kept as new. Stored at room temp.
And another thing I learned was after struggling to stir topped up carboys during MLF. Wine gets displaced and spills out unless some is removed before. I had a little ‘aha’ moment and started stirring with a racking cane, problem solved!

Learned the hard way awhile ago also and use a racking cane. I've had a few powder adjuncts over the last few years turn to rock. But usually in the frig.

 

[pgentile]

I've never used MLF nutrients (other than ACTI-ML to get the bacteria ready for the harsh environment I pitch them into; I pitch MLB post primary fermentation after racking off the gross lees). Never had an issue, other than when I forgot to stir. I'm kinda curious why Paul's Cab didn't get done since he co-inocculated. It's not like the BM 4x4 had a chance to produce too many SO2 like compounds...

If they each have different levels of malo they theoretically would finish at different times? I'm not concerned with the cab yet, there appears to be MLF activity, not like the syrah but activity. But the grenache never showed anything in secondary and yet finished.

 

[mainshipfred]

I'm not familiar with tannat. All local grapes for the ones mentioned? I've been eyeing your bottle of norton blend, but think I'll wait for it to age a bit.

I'm going to open a bottle next weekend. It will be 2 months since I bottled it and wanted to wait to see how it melded together. I'll let you know. As far as Tannat I'm bringing a bottle when we get together for the barrels. It's a very big red.

 

[mainshipfred]

And another thing I learned was after struggling to stir topped up carboys during MLF. Wine gets displaced and spills out unless some is removed before. I had a little ‘aha’ moment and started stirring with a racking cane, problem solved![/QUOTE]

I've been using the racking cane ever since you first brought it up a year ago or so. One of the best tip I've gotten.

 

[mainshipfred]

Yesterday I splashed racked my fall 2017 Barbera, Zin and and Chilean Syrah. They all had some nose I didn't care for. Once splash racked everything is good. Checked and adjusted sulfite on everything. Now I have to bottle to make room for the fall harvest. I have to wait though to try my Norton I blended 2 months ago to see if it is what I expected it to be. If so I'll make more of the blend and also bottle some straight Norton. What's left of the Syrah, Barbera and Zin I'll bottle as a single or maybe try additional blending with these. Either way I'll be out of space in my cooler for bulk wines if I don't start bottling. I need a bigger cooler.

 

[pgentile]

Just got Gino Pinto Price List.

 

[mainshipfred]

Just got Gino Pinto Price List.

Can't wait to get my pricing from the local wine club and S&S.