Crush 2015

[Steve_M]

Friday afternoon I picked up our grapes;
4 lugs of Cabernet Sauv.
4 lugs of Zin,
2 lugs of Merlot
1 lug of Allicante.
I wanted to get either P.V. or Petit Syrah but they were out.
Our goal is to blend 80-20 Cab/Merlot
Zin will be blended with some of the Allicante.

A friend of ours whose father-in-law is no longer with us, and was a passionate old Italian home winemaker is where I was able to get both the crusher and press for free as well. I later learned he would crush and ferment everything never took the time to remove stems! I do have to say his wine was indeed pretty good to.

That being said, I did take the time to sift through the pails as we crushed wanting to remove as many stems as I could, which I think we did a pretty good job of it. Would seriously consider purchasing a crusher/destemmer moving forward.
Saturday morning I began testing, and that is when Murphy decided to show up! I was able to get the PH for both the Cab and Merlot but when rinsing tester off for the zin can't tell you what happened but the ph readings would read all over the place down to 3.0 shoor right up to 7.5?
Tried cleaning it removing batteries no luck, new one will be here tomorrow.
Reason for the T/A post ferment again I know I should have taken reading before fermentation but......
Saturday evening pitched BM4X4 and as of this morning I have a very active fermentation going on!
Cab Sauv.
Brix 24.6
PH 3.65
T/A post ferment

Merlot
Brix 25
PH 3.56
T/A post ferment

Zin
Brix 24.2
PH ?
T/A post ferment

Pat is the one at table sorting grapes and I am sifting for the stems.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[salcoco]

My Dad, also and old Italian wine maker, would leave the stems in the grapes. end result was a very tannic wine. Good idea removing as many as you can.

Your ph numbers that you have do not seem to bad. wait until wine is clear before doing any taste test and additions. three months should be about right.

the ph probe may have gone bad.

 

[Steve_M]

Took an S.G. reading this afternoon;

Merlot 1.022
Cabernet 1.018
Zinfandel 1.004

Pitched yeast Saturday evening, observing the fermentation beginning to slow down now as well.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[JohnT]

OK, so it looks like you crush them, but can't destem them?

I know that some use chicken wire to screen the stems out of the must (post crush).

 

[Steve_M]

John,
Correct, this crushes grapes and does not separate completely the stems.
Works well for the volume we did this year, but if we plan to increase and I think we will next year will most likely look at getting a crush/destem unit.

 

[eightysixCJ]

Very cool! I have a similar crusher from someone who fermented the stems also. I crushed into a 20-gal brute with a 24" x 24" sheet of perforated stainless steel on top. the steel has 1" holes in it. I'm not doing large amounts so I can push the skins and pulp off the stems as they pile up on the sheet without to much issue. A piece of folded ss sheet metal between the crusher and the sheet on the can catches the juice spatter.

Tom

 

[Steve_M]

If one did not get a T/A reading prior to pitching yeast when would you test? I will be pitching MLB on wine by end of weekend. My understanding is you would wait until after ML is complete?
(I take full responsibility of not testing T/A prior to pitching yeast) [emoji85]

 

[ibglowin]

There is no point doing one now until your through MLF and fully degassed and things clear and settled. MLF will affect the TA and CO2 (carbonic acid will affect pH).

 

[Steve_M]

That's what I thought.

Thanks Mike

 

[Steve_M]

We pressed off the wine on Friday evening. Our first press of 2015 is now complete!
I must have had a brain freeze when I picked up the grapes last week.
Our goal was to have 10 gallons of finished wine consisting of Cab/Merlot, this, I will achieve.
The Zinfandel though I shorted myself a case so our yield here will not be a final 10 gallons.
Note to self Count twice!
This morning I racked off the gross lees and started ML. I am using VP31 not sure if I added equal portions of it to each carboy only time will tell. In each carboy I have also added Medium Toast + American Oak cubes.

A couple of questions;
how do each of you handle the distribution of ML into several carboys?
What do I do now until next years crush? LOL

 

[Boatboy24]

A couple of questions;
how do each of you handle the distribution of ML into several carboys?
What do I do now until next years crush? LOL

1) The Vp41 packet is enough for 60 gallons. If you only have a few carboys and you're over on some and under on others, no big whoop.

2) Lots to do, but most of it involves longing for next September.

 

[Steve_M]

While racking off the gross lees on Sunday, one carboy of Zinfandel I siphoned over too much of the gross lees. Looking at the picture I am curious to know why it didn't drop sediment as much as some of the others? Also I see no ML activity in this one, if you actually can see ML activity?

Thanks

Steve

 

[ibglowin]

You need a good flashlight, a nice warm 70 degree carboy and a bit of luck too see MLF. Tiny pin prick bubbles that come up every once in a while, if its really going strong they are pretty steady. Its kinda like fishing with an old cane pole and a bobber. You just keep staring at the darn thing and wondering did it just move a little……


On the Zin, did it get the exact same amounts of things like enzymes etc. Looks like it is having some trouble clearing perhaps its still fermenting a bit or still degassing.

 

[Boatboy24]

Looks like it's trying to clear - the top inch or two seems relatively sediment free.

 

[Steve_M]

It did get same amount of enzymes Opti red and tannins. It is clearing slowly just interesting that there is such a difference from this one and the one next to it

Those dang fishing bobbers out on the lake with the slightest of chop and you are constantly thinking fish on! [emoji245]

 

[Steve_M]

Reorganized my work area and noticed that my 6 gallon of Zinfandel has a good amount of sediment. Much more than any other carboy, we racked on 11/15/2015. I wasn't planning on racking until February, should I take the
time and rack off the lees in this o e?

Steve

 

[ibglowin]

Thats pretty normal from Zin from my experience. You can rack now or in February. Won't hurt it either way as long as it smells good right now.

 

[cmason1957]

It has only been a month (six weeks, I guess). I would not, but I try to stick to every three or six months and not much more.

 

[Steve_M]

Thanks,
Just needed that affirmation going to stick with plan rack in February.
Steve

 

[NorCal]

My Zin carboy was "dirty" as well and couldn't help myself and racked it. My grapes were not in the best shape, so I thought sooner was wiser.