Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[grapeman]

Here are some pictures from racking with my little aspirator vacumn pump. Don't worry, it was new and not used for it's intended purposes.

Here is the pump- excuse the crude bench- it is in place for holding all the carboys I need to fill(or at least some).

It takes about 8 inches for it to work best and moves about a gallon a minute with the 3/8" hose.
Stick the racking cane in the source- this one is NY76.0844.24
and it moves it through the tube to the waiting carboy

And onto the LaCrosse brute container.

Getting done with them

Did a Frontenac Gris and Vignoles

And now "The Whole Shebang"

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Edit:
I know someone is going to ask - maybe you Wade? so I will give the answer first. The blue painters tape is to make sure the bungs stay put. My local wine shop only carries #7 bungs and when they are new they tend to pop out. I tape them in for a while to make sure they don't pop out. I have had it happen before to me. Like a dummy I forgot to order more multi-fit bungs and airlocks from George before I needed them.Edited by: appleman

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks for sharing the photos..Nice to see how 'The BIG Guys' do it.

 

[Waldo]

I like that pump appleman. thats "slicker than snot on a doorknob"

 

[BonnieJoy]

You betcha! I saw ALL your grape varietes. They're real beauties.

 

[Wade E]

Great pics Rich, what did you mean about needing 8 inches? And yes I was going to ask about the painters tape!

 

[grapeman]

Wade I found 8 inches of vacuum works best. It starts to draw at about 5, but when I ran it at 8, it moved faster.

 

[Wade E]

OK thanks, wasnt sure if you meant an 8" height differential. That looks awesome by the way and Im sure that the pump really saved your back by not having to lift up all those full carboys! Let us know how the degassing goes with it and what you set that at, Im pretty sure that you have done 1 batch already with it though, have you done others with it also?

 

[Dean]

my first thought was "wow nice". My second one was "what's with the blue tape?" and you answered before I could ask.

What did you use to press the grapes to get the juice, and how did you press? Crush first and press, or press whole clusters? What kind of press?Edited by: Dean

 

[grapeman]

Wade I have used it to degas quite a bit but never to transfer. I set it at the max it will pull which is about 22-24" vacuum. It works very well.


Dean if you check back a few pages you will see the destemmer and press I use. They both came from George. The destemmer/crusher works well for my quantities. For whites I runthe grapesthrough and add liquid pectic enzyme. I then let it set overnight and press the following morning with the #45 ratchet press. I get varying amounts depending on ripeness and variety. The amount of must varies from 12-15 pounds. I found it presses easier and doesn't squeeze the grapes out if I put layers of stems back in every few inches. It gives the juice a path to follow.


With reds I run them through the destemmer/crusher into the Brutes and add pectic enzyme, nutrient and a bit of sulfite. I let it sit for a day and then pitch the yeast. It gets going well and I let it ferment in general about a week on the skins then press. There are a couple varieties that I press soon because they have excessive color and tannins. I am not doing any of these this year.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

What a busy place yours has been getting the harvest in and the wines started. Looks Great!

 

[AlFulchino]

great pictures Rich.....both beautiful and educational!

 

[grapeman]

How's your wine doing Al? Haven't heard from you in a few days.

 

[OilnH2O]

Rich, re: your comment about putting in stems (in layers) for the wine to follow - just how do you do that???

 

[grapeman]

Rich, re: your comment about putting in stems (in layers) for the wine to follow - just how do you do that???

It's really easy Dave. I have a tub to catch the stems from the destemmer. I cover it after destemming and keep it until the next day when I press the whites. I take a few handsful of stems and lay on the bottom. Then put in about 6 inches of must followed by another layer of stems and so on finishing off with stems and then the press plates. When you press, it keeps the berries from coming out the cracks at the tops and makes pressing easier and more complete.


Reds don't need the stems. They are pretty soft after fermenting for a week.

 

[AlFulchino]

Hi Rich.....been a bit busy...had to start work on a small greenhouse..had a court day and then today we racked x gallons to the wine cellar...we had an old waterfall pump in a box that i never had opened...just a small one and hooked it up to 150 feet of food grade hose and pumped it from the garage to the wine cellar (basement)


I hope to rack my own grapes tomorrow or this weekend...i have one small batch that may have gone vinegar on me....luckily its only a gallon or two
Your progress is looking fabulous!

oh..and by the way i had a bung stuck in a carboy from last year.....and that trick on You tube came in handy...we got the bung right out after inflating the bag inside the carboy....it was a bit of a tug..but out it came

 

[grapeman]

Yesterday was Catawba harvest day. It got down into the upper 20's overnight and was there again last night. The vines are on their way out so I decided it was time to pick on the weekend. I want to make Catawba wine with a bit of a pink hue so I am crushing them and letting soak with pectic enzyme for two days before crushing. Anyways back to the harvest. It was a bit special for me because my boys don't help out much in the vineyard. My oldest son Joe came out and helped me get the nets off and after a while he came back out with his youngest brother Will. A bit later the middle son Rick came out, so naturally I needed to get a picture of it - My Three Sons picking grapes. It really sped things up and we were done picking about 500 pounds in no time.

Here are the grapes first as shown by my son Joe's hand.

Then mine with a smaller bunch

Some in the rows waiting picking

And Seventeen lugs in the pickup going to be crushed at "le Winery"

THE END

 

[NorthernWinos]

Nice the boys all pitched in...will make a nice 'Family Wine' and a day to remember.

Pretty clusters of grapes.....Hope you get your color extraction your looking for.

 

[AlFulchino]

beautiful!....you might even name it My Three Son's Wine....or better yetage it three differentways and nameeach after them....that will put a connection on it for them that you and theycannot lose...


....afterall...it is not just vines we are growing!

 

[Wade E]

Those look very pretty with that hue! Glad you finally got some help.

 

[grapeman]

I thought I would throw this in here for a comparison. The first is a shot after pruning and training Catawba to an umbrella kniffen. Then the second shot is the same vine at harvest.

So when you guys prune, remember that you get grapes off what grows in the pruning year so you don't need to leave a ton of vines.Edited by: appleman