No readings on the cab, maybe after the first of the year, I’ll be out of town at the ranch til then. Head procrastinator here......
2018 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
- Thread starter Johnd
- Start date
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No readings on the cab, maybe after the first of the year, I’ll be out of town at the ranch til then. Head procrastinator here......
Scott Harbison
Member
Scott, I think right now is the right time, he's got an awesome looking dinner on the table!
Scott Harbison
Member
HaHa!! That would be a good time! Plus, I bet he's pulling out a nice bottle from his collection to celebrate the new year! Hang on John, I'm heading over!
I think he described it as a Fat juicy Cab in another post. Let us know how it tasted!
I’ll be home most of the day tomorrow, at my moms for corned beef, cabbage, etc. during the LSU game. If you wanna come by later in the day, that’d be fine.
What are you gonna do with the Lodi Cab? My 12 gallon Vadai will be empty as soon as I take the Tempranillo out, and it’s past due. Neutral, but good for microx, concentration, etc. if you’re interested......
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Scott Harbison
Member
Absolutely would love to borrow that barrel! The Lodi Cab is stashed away in my carboys for now. If I can borrow the Vadai, that would be fantastic! Just let me know when you get the Tempranillo bottled up!
I'll try to run the carboys by tomorrow and bring you a check for the grapes! Thanks!
Perfect, bring the carboys, we’ll rack (and sample) the Tempranillo into them, and you can take the 12 home with you.
Scott Harbison
Member
Sounds good!!
John, of all my wines this year the Tempranillo is my least favorite. It hasn't seen a barrel or oak of any kind yet. I know your barrel was neutral but did you oak it any way or do you prefer not to oak it?
Just finished racking it out of the barrel, it’s grapes from Spain and has been been in the 12 for almost a year with four French M+ Wine Stix, and really tastes great. I’m drinking a glass now, pH 3.70, TA 7.0, not much intervention that I recall, but should check my notes. I very much prefer the barrel, whether it oaks or not, it makes a huge difference in my opinion. The 12 didn’t quite hold 12, so I bottled one partially full carboy, the other will get bottled soon. @Scott Harbison made off with my barrel and stand..........LOL
Scott Harbison
Member
I'm fortunate to live near @Johnd ! He's making so much wine these days, he's running out of space! I've been lucky enough to not only learn from him, but also to take some of his used barrels off of his hands to use for my wines! Here's a shot of the 11 gallon barrel I absconded with this afternoon along with a shot of the 6 gallon barrel I got from John back in October. The 6 gallon has my Eclipse kit Lodi Cab resting in it and the Vadai will soon be filled with the real grape Lodi Cabernet that I helped John with this year!
Thank you JohnD for all of your help! I know the barrels are going to make a BIG difference in the quality of my wines!
Thank you JohnD for all of your help! I know the barrels are going to make a BIG difference in the quality of my wines!
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Wow, you really cleaned it up nicely! Next time you’re in the area, let me know so I can get you some of this Tempranillo I just bottled.
Scott Harbison
Member
I got to taste his Tempranillo today and it was terrific! Really terrific!
Scott Harbison
Member
I did a little tasting of the Lodi cab this evening and its coming along nicely. The 12 gallon barrel I got from @Johnd although its neutral, is still absorbing a decent amount of wine. I had to add an entire bottle of the "extra" cab I had bottled and saved when I racked from carboys to barrel. The winestix I added seem to be imparting a nice bit of oakiness. I'm going easy on the SO2 though. I plan on keeping it in barrel until at least January, which will be 12 months.
No doubt, although my wine started life in the same fermentation as @Johnd's
it will be a much different wine.
No doubt, although my wine started life in the same fermentation as @Johnd's
it will be a much different wine.
Im looking forward to comparing the two down the road, though it’ll be a bit longer for my contribution, as I plan to go two years in the barrel.
I did sample both barrels last weekend, ‘17 in the 30 gal St. Martin is really coming around nicely, it’s the Cab / Petite Sirah / Merlot blend, 19 months old, big and jammy. ‘18 Lodi Cab in the 60 gal Alain Fouquet is a bit mor subdued and primitive, green, tannic, but quite smooth, 7 months old and has a ways to go.....
Glad to see that barrel enjoying the next phase of its life!!!
A little thievery from the 60 gallon barrel befor it gets sulfited / topped up. A smidge smoother than last month, but all of my other observations hold. The barrel aroma when opened is a dark, jammy, plum aroma, not getting that out of the wine aroma or taste yet, but I’m hoping it’ll develop. It’s drinkable, but not quite enjoyable yet, no oak showing through the fruit yet, but it’s got another 16 - 18 months to go in the barrel.
Interesting tidbit about the slow oaking of the wine. That may be one of the reasons that oak barrels give higher quality results.
Any other monitoring? You adding more sulfite at this point?
Any other monitoring? You adding more sulfite at this point?
Yep, it’s time for sulfite and topping up, gotta get the sulfite up from 7 to 35 or so. Really can’t overdo it at this point, it’s got so long to go. My focus is mostly on keeping the barrel topped up, and do that more regularly than sulfiting.
