All set for my Fall line up...

[Rocky]

I had to re-arrange my wine area for my Fall 2014 wines. All my fermenters are in readiness and I will pick up my juice on Saturday at L'Uva Bella. They just got a last truckload in on the 5th and I am going for all Italian juices. I plan to make 24 gallons of co-fermented Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 gallons of Amarone, 18 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 gallons of Verdicchio and 6 gallons of another white TBD. I also have 8 home-made Zinfandel grape packs which I will add to the reds. Should be a good line up to keep me out of trouble until Spring.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Looks a lot like my basement with everything from carboys down to 375 bottles with airlocks on them. My wife looks at that setup and shakes her head and walks away.

 

[Runningwolf]

Rocky is rocking!!!! Looks really good and sounds like a well layed out plan. Are you going to ferment on oak?

 

[sour_grapes]

Rocky, I LOVE the "et 2 Brute" and then the follow-on "et 3 Brute." Very clever.

 

[Enologo]

Looks like you'll be a be a busy beaver. I just picked up and started 4 pails of Amarone myself.

 

[Rocky]

Doug, I know what you mean. I see a lot of sympathetic looks and head shaking myself.

Dan, Yes, I am going to add oak powder to all of the bags with the grape packs. I will not add any to the Verdicchio and the other white unless I settle on a Chardonnay.

Paul, Thanks. I was going to name them "Et won Brute" and "Et two Brute" but I could not come up with a homonym for "three."

Enologo, where do you shop for your juices? I am assuming they are from Italy, right? I don't think there is an Amarone juice bucket from CA.

 

[JohnT]

Wow Rocky.

Looks like you will have a lot of wine to keep you company during those long winter months!!!

 

[ffemt128]

Rocky,

What time are you planning on heading over to Luva Bella? I may make a run up for a bucket or two..

 

[Enologo]

Enologo, where do you shop for your juices? I am assuming they are from Italy, right? I don't think there is an Amarone juice bucket from CA.[/QUOTE]

I've been getting my juice and when I can some grapes from Carrado's in Clifton NJ. They are the closest LHBS to me about 45 min. to an hour ride for me each way. The juice is from Italy but no grapes available from Italy although they get the Chilean grapes in the spring an of course the cali grapes. It was a toss up whether to go with Brunello or the Amarone but the Amarone won out. This will be my first crack at an Amarone. I was also thinking how can they have Amarone juice this time of year since the grapes are supposedly harvested in October and then have go through their drying time and the other processes that are supposedly required for an Amarone ??? But hopefully all will turn out. I also have two Amarone kits waiting in the wings that I'll have to fit in somewhere along the line. I just didn;t want to miss out on fresh juice.

 

[Rocky]

Rocky,

What time are you planning on heading over to Luva Bella? I may make a run up for a bucket or two..

Doug, my son-in-law and I will be heading out of Columbus at about 8:00-8:30. Should be in Lowellville around 11:00-11:30 AM. We plan to have lunch at the restaurant and then load up an head back.

 

[shoebiedoo]

Nice line up Rocky I had to scale back this year got real busy at work plus with the new Puppy didn't know how much time I would have to devote to wine. I just have 18 gallons of Barolo and 6 gallons of Montepulchio. 4 buckets seems like such a small order. Guess we'll have to stock up his fall eh?

 

[Rocky]

Phew! I am glad that is over! I have everything racked from my fall wines and it took every container that I have to accommodate the wines. I have a little more than 170 gallons in carboys, barrels, jugs, bottles and my one demijohn. I had more carboys but my son-in-law has taken up the madness and I gave him a few to get him started. I have three kits waiting in the wings and they will just have to wait until I bottle some of the wine I have in bulk aging.

 

[Runningwolf]

Rocky that's awesome. I am down to about 10 full 6g carboys and a couple of 15g vessels. I've really cut back for awhile as all of my shelves are filled (about 1500 bottles). I think after playing in wine all day I am not quite as enthusiastic about it once I get home.

 

[brutus]

Rocky,

What do you use to transfer all of that? A pump, or gravity siphon?

Steve

 

[Rocky]

Hi Steve. I use both a vacuum pump and auto siphon from time to time depending on the situation. I recently ran into a problem when I had a full demijohn (about 14.5 gallons) on its dolly on the floor and I wanted to put the wine into barrels. I could not lift the demijohn by myself so I ended up pumping into 5 gallon carboys and pouring the wine from the carboys into a funnel on the barrels. I then filled the demijohn with wine from carboys on the table. With the height differential, the auto siphon worked well. I don't like to use a vacuum pump to go into my demijohn because of the thin glass walls. I am looking for a transfer pump that is safe to use with wine and does not cost an arm and a leg. With that, I will have a lot of flexibility. I won't have to lug juice buckets from the garage, through the house, to the cellar any longer. With a strong enough transfer pump, I would just get a long enough hose and pump the juice from the garage or my yard to the cellar.

 

[brutus]

I'm just using the auto siphon, but I noticed all of your various carboys, barrels and demijohns, and I was curious to know if you had something that worked for it all!

How do you like those demi's? Think I might pick one up when the Chilean juice is ready.

Steve

 

[Enologo]

Hi Steve. I use both a vacuum pump and auto siphon from time to time depending on the situation. I recently ran into a problem when I had a full demijohn (about 14.5 gallons) on its dolly on the floor and I wanted to put the wine into barrels.

I thought I read somewhere that you can use the vacuum pump to go into the barrels, anyone try that yet ???

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes
I have made a lot of custom adapters for this process -for using it barrels and other equipment. I recommend using a 1/2" racking cane assembly

If you want you can PM

 

[Rocky]

I'm just using the auto siphon, but I noticed all of your various carboys, barrels and demijohns, and I was curious to know if you had something that worked for it all!

How do you like those demi's? Think I might pick one up when the Chilean juice is ready.

Steve

I like the demijohn, Steve but there are some cautions that go along with it. I definitely needed to construct a dolly for it. That makes moving it around the cellar much easier. They are only useful if you are making larger batches of wine, i.e. if you are only making 6 gallon batches, they are not the answer. They have thinner glass than carboys and require more careful handling. There would be a concern in pumping into a demijohn due to the thinness of the glass and the pressure involved (which is another reason I am looking for a transfer pump). Once you choose to fill it and it is on the floor, you are fairly we stuck with that.

On the positive side, they make bulk aging a large batch more consistent and easier to treat/adjust if necessary. They have built in UV light protection with their plastic enclosure. They hold roughly the equivalent of three 5 gallon carboys and are a less expensive alternative to three carboys. I recommend looking at L'Uva Bella in Lowellville, Ohio. Their demijohn is $59, recently up from $49, but still a good buy. Three new 5 gallon carboys would set you back at least $75.

 

[ffemt128]

I like the demijohn, Steve but there are some cautions that go along with it. I definitely needed to construct a dolly for it. That makes moving it around the cellar much easier. They are only useful if you are making larger batches of wine, i.e. if you are only making 6 gallon batches, they are not the answer. They have thinner glass than carboys and require more careful handling. There would be a concern in pumping into a demijohn due to the thinness of the glass and the pressure involved (which is another reason I am looking for a transfer pump). Once you choose to fill it and it is on the floor, you are fairly we stuck with that.

On the positive side, they make bulk aging a large batch more consistent and easier to treat/adjust if necessary. They have built in UV light protection with their plastic enclosure. They hold roughly the equivalent of three 5 gallon carboys and are a less expensive alternative to three carboys. I recommend looking at L'Uva Bella in Lowellville, Ohio. Their demijohn is $59, recently up from $49, but still a good buy. Three new 5 gallon carboys would set you back at least $75.

Rocky,

I picked up a couple of the blue furniture dollies from Harbor Freight and used a piece of plywood across the rails to support the demijohn. It fits on the rail but I'm happier with the ply. I think I only paid $20 for each of them.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lbs-lb-steel-reinforced-movers-dolly-69566.html