2023, What are your plans?

[wood1954]

My chicken wire fence is 6 feet high and keeps all the critters out except rabbits, when i expanded the vineyard i didn't tie down the new fencing yet.. there was rabbit poop around every single vine, but no damage to the vines. it's a cheap and effective deterrent.

 

[NorCal]

For 2023, I am going to do repeats of what I have made in the past, that I enjoyed.

- 60 gallon barrel of Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, with a splash of Petit Verdot
- 60 gallon barrel of Lodi Chardonnay
- 15 gallon estate Zin Rose
- 15 gallon estate Syrah


What are your plans?
———

A minor change of plans.

- 60 gallon barrel of Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, with Petit Verdot
- 60 gallon barrel of Lodi Chardonnay Viognier
- 15 gallon estate Zin Rose
- 15 gallon estate Syrah

I have enough Chardonnay from this last year to last a few years. I‘m going to make another barrel fermented white, this time Viognier. I will make it in the same manner I did the Chardonna; barrel fermented, stirred, beta mlf.

 

[mainshipfred]

A minor change of plans.

- 60 gallon barrel of Amador Cabernet Sauvignon, with Petit Verdot
- 60 gallon barrel of Lodi Chardonnay Viognier
- 15 gallon estate Zin Rose
- 15 gallon estate Syrah

I have enough Chardonnay from this last year to last a few years. I‘m going to make another barrel fermented white, this time Viognier. I will make it in the same manner I did the Chardonna; barrel fermented, stirred, beta mlf.

Is it a common practice for you to MLF whites? I understand the Chardonnay but I like my crispiness the malic provides in the other whites.

 

[NorCal]

Is it a common practice for you to MLF whites? I understand the Chardonnay but I like my crispiness the malic provides in the other whites.

I’ve made Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Viognier from grapes in 30-60 gallons. I‘m not a fan of the Sauvignon Blanc crisp, acidic style wines unless I’m eating a 3 pepper Thai meal, which is not often. I’m also not a fan of over the top buttery Chards.
I do like the easy drinkers and I think the Vio will respond well to the barrel fermented, daily stirred (not shaken), diacetyl producing mlb.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I’ve made Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Viognier from grapes in 30-60 gallons. I‘m not a fan of the Sauvignon Blanc crisp, acidic style wines unless I’m eating a 3 pepper Thai meal, which is not often. I’m also not a fan of over the top buttery Chards.
I do like the easy drinkers and I think the Vio will respond well to the barrel fermented, daily stirred (not shaken), diacetyl producing mlb.

Viognier responds well to barrel fermenting, though I don’t like it as much as Marsanne or Roussane that’s been barrel fermented

 

[NorCal]

The front yard vineyard is loaded with fruit, making me rethink my plans on doing a rose with the Zin. How do you think a Zin/Syrah blend would taste?

 

[Nebbiolo020]

The front yard vineyard is loaded with fruit, making me rethink my plans on doing a rose with the Zin. How do you think a Zin/Syrah blend would taste?

Honestly I say try it one of my favorite blends ever is a weird Zinfandel/Cabernet Sauvignon blend.

Have not tried a zin and syrah wine though

 

[crushday]

How do you think a Zin/Syrah blend would taste?

I have a 2021 Zinfandel that is 75% Zin and 25% Syrah - it’s exceptional. You’ll get a few bottles this fall…

 

[winemaker81]

The front yard vineyard is loaded with fruit, making me rethink my plans on doing a rose with the Zin. How do you think a Zin/Syrah blend would taste?

If it wasn't for having to drive for 3 days to get there, I'd help you taste test it!

Based upon Zin blends I've had, I'd initially try 75/25 and 25/75, e.g., one needs to be dominant. This will produce completely different wines, and I would consider making both, assuming the taste tests indicate they're both good.

 

[NorCal]

If it wasn't for having to drive for 3 days to get there, I'd help you taste test it!

Based upon Zin blends I've had, I'd initially try 75/25 and 25/75, e.g., one needs to be dominant. This will produce completely different wines, and I would consider making both, assuming the taste tests indicate they're both good.

My hope is that I would get enough of Zin/Syrah out of the vineyard (close to 50/50) to fill a 60 gallon barrel.

 

[winemaker81]

My hope is that I would get enough of Zin/Syrah out of the vineyard (close to 50/50) to fill a 60 gallon barrel.

So between the two, you hope to get 1 barrel? Ok, scratch my idealistic idea. You're where I was a few years ago in making field blends to fill 54 liter barrels.

My 2020 Meritage Plus (40% Merlot, 40% Zin, 20% Bordeaux blend) is preferred by most people over the Meritage (66.67% Merlot, 33.3% Bordeaux blend), so I suspect a 50/50 will work for you.

Another thought -- buy a few Zin and Syrah, and experiment with 50/50 blends to see how you like them. If you buy 2 of each you get 4 test subjects, and if you like them, then you'll probably like your own.

 

[Mac60]

We are planning 2 vintages this season Our Sangiovese Blend and a Barbera, they were the best wine we made last year. We will most likely do a 80+ cases combined. What we may change is the Petite Sirah to a Petite Verdot, does anyone know what the difference it would make in the taste?
We only use between 6- 10% of the Petite Sirah in the blends, and I would love to know what to expect in comparison between the 2 (Petite Sirah/Petite Verdot) Any input would be appreciated.

 

[NorCal]

We are planning 2 vintages this season Our Sangiovese Blend and a Barbera, they were the best wine we made last year. We will most likely do a 80+ cases combined. What we may change is the Petite Sirah to a Petite Verdot, does anyone know what the difference it would make in the taste?
We only use between 6- 10% of the Petite Sirah in the blends, and I would love to know what to expect in comparison between the 2 (Petite Sirah/Petite Verdot) Any input would be appreciated.

PS and PV are my favorite blenders. Myself and @4score have used them for a decade. I’d say I prefer PV over PS, but I know 4Score uses PS almost exclusively.
PS adds color, tannin, depth to a lighter wine. I think PV adds color, mid pallet and a wonderful finish. It’s my go to for Merlots, Cabs, Cab Franc. You have to be careful not to exceed 4or 5% or else the PV will dominate the wine and you lose the varietal that you were blending with.

With Sanjo or Barbera, I think 1-3% PV would compliment it quite well.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

PS and PV are my favorite blenders. Myself and @4score have used them for a decade. I’d say I prefer PV over PS, but I know 4Score uses PS almost exclusively.
PS adds color, tannin, depth to a lighter wine. I think PV adds color, mid pallet and a wonderful finish. It’s my go to for Merlots, Cabs, Cab Franc. You have to be careful not to exceed 4or 5% or else the PV will dominate the wine and you lose the varietal that you were blending with.

With Sanjo or Barbera, I think 1-3% PV would compliment it quite well.

Yeah I agree with needing to be careful with blending PV and PS I don’t blend them and have made both as a single varietal I’ll blend cab and merlot or make single varietal wines only.

 

[winemaker81]

Our 2023 plans were 8 lugs Cabernet Sauvignon, 8 lugs Cabernet Franc, and 3 lugs Merlot, all fermented and aged separately. We considered a Bordeaux blend for the third wine, but decided to go with just Merlot. We intended to make 2 blends: CS / CF / M and CF / CS / M; same varietals but different dominant grape.

However, this plan has changed every few days for the last 3 weeks. It looked like we couldn't get CF at a price we can accept. My niece asked what's in Chianti, so we shifted gears and considered swapping in Sangiovese for the CF. At that point the plans were CS (barrel #1), Sangiovese (barrel #2), and Merlot (carboys), with the intent of making the same blends with Sangiovese swapped in for the Cabernet Franc.

Now it looks like we can get CF at a good price, so we're back to the original grapes.

However ... and you knew there would be a "however" ... we recently bottled 2 wines: FWK Tavola Merlot fermented with 8 lugs worth of Grenache pomace and the same kit with 8 lugs of Tempranillo pomace. The M/T was bottled today, and we are very pleased with the results. This makes excellent use of the pomace and is heads-n-shoulders above a second run wine. I expect both wines to have a 5 to 8 year lifespan.

This success gave us reason to repeat it ... AND ... we can get Sangiovese juice buckets ... so we're probably going to get 2 buckets, ferment separately with pomace, then blend into a single semi-Chianti wine.

There are so many good ideas -- it's hard to restrict myself to just a few.

 

[GSMChris]

Plans certainly have a way of evolving.

The year started with my wife and I planning to make a barrel of Tempranillo in conjunction with three other couples who participated in the Syrah project last year. We also thought we made a few carboys with whatever resulted from our second leaf vineyard - probably a couple of field blends plus a Syrah and a Primitivo.

Well, the group project spawned another group with eight couples making a barrel of Primitivo. I also got an opportunity to join up with a commercial winery making gobs and gobs of wine.

Well, piling on that, I‘ve just finished thinning fruit out in our vineyard. I was really aggressive and pruned about 75% of the clusters - nearly 1200 pounds of fruit (I weighed the garbage cans because our yard waste service is limited to 300 pounds per container). Having said that, that leaves me with 400 pounds of clusters which will grow up over the next 6 weeks…

I‘m certainly not complaining - but I’ll definitely be making more wine than planned this fall…

 

[Nebbiolo020]

Plans certainly have a way of evolving.

The year started with my wife and I planning to make a barrel of Tempranillo in conjunction with three other couples who participated in the Syrah project last year. We also thought we made a few carboys with whatever resulted from our second leaf vineyard - probably a couple of field blends plus a Syrah and a Primitivo.

Well, the group project spawned another group with eight couples making a barrel of Primitivo. I also got an opportunity to join up with a commercial winery making gobs and gobs of wine.

Well, piling on that, I‘ve just finished thinning fruit out in our vineyard. I was really aggressive and pruned about 75% of the clusters - nearly 1200 pounds of fruit (I weighed the garbage cans because our yard waste service is limited to 300 pounds per container). Having said that, that leaves me with 400 pounds of clusters which will grow up over the next 6 weeks…

I‘m certainly not complaining - but I’ll definitely be making more wine than planned this fall…

Good more wine is always a good thing, untill you end up like me with a few hundred cases of wine.

 

[winemaker81]

Good more wine is always a good thing, untill you end up like me with a few hundred cases of wine.

I sometimes have has much as 35 cases on hand. You must have a large space to store hundreds of cases.

 

[Hazelemere]

On Friday my son in law who has an electric Italian apple grinder will help me grind ~300 lbs of King apples to make a cyser with unpasteurized blueberry blossom mead to get the apple juice (pressed grindings in a a bladder press) up to about SG 1.085 and then ferment with pectic enzyme, nutrient and Lalvin 71B yeast with bentonite 6 days into ferment with racking I should get 55-60 bottles and will blend it with a separate batch of russet/cox cyser to get the tannin and acid levels up.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

3-5 gal Elderflower wine, still and sparkling. Hoping to learn from my experience last year, when I made 2 small batches of elderflower 'shampagne' - neither of which was really great. But in each case I know what I did wrong...

3-5 gal Elderberry wine. It's hard to tell this early but I think my 2022 iteration was an improvement over 2021. Planning to significantly increase fruit per gallon next time. If I have enough fruit, I may try to do separate batches from my European and American cultivars.

30-60 gal barrel fermented Chardonnay. Hoping to join with one or two others to process 1-1.5T fruit.

30 gal (1/4T) of something red, probably not Pinot noir since I have a lot of my 2021 pinot in the cellar. It depends what's available, could be Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel... we'll see.

I did make my still and sparkling elderflower, the sparkling has already been bottled and sampled and is good but with a slight bitter/grapefruit note. One more thing to fix for next year... The still wine tastes great but is taking forever to clear, I might try fining if it's not clear by the time grape harvest is done.

I have 16lb elderberries stocked in the freezer already from my American cultivars, and the European plant is just starting to ripen. I think it will be just a single blended 5-6 gallon batch.

The chardonnay isn't going to work out this year

...but I do have 1/4 ton of Syrah lined up, expected harvest around the end of September. This will be my first non-pinot noir red, so excited to see how it turns out. I have a couple of new primary fermenters and a 112L barrel ready to go