Can I ask why you had to dump the Zin?
Finally! 2024 Winemaking Season Begins
- Thread starter crushday
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Yesterday was Syrah. I'll grab the Pinot Noir on Tuesday (October 8). I'm confident my trip to White Salmon will be uneventful and spectacular at the same time. The Columbia River gorge is stunning and stretches for at least 80 miles. Checking my notes, I picked up the 2023 Pinot Noir on September 15 from the same vineyard.
Update: It's a HOT MESS...
My revised plan was to crush the Syrah this morning at 6am. Ultimately, this was a problem because I didn't remember that it's still dark at that time of the morning. First morning light is closer to 7:20am...
I had a 8am meeting that I had to reschedule and a 9am staff meeting, which I lead. I was working fast and got the Syrah crushed in about 17 minutes, so by 7:30am that was done. HOWEVER, there is clean up.
You don't want that sticky mess to dry, especially on your destemer/crusher, as it can be a chore to get clean if it does dry. I pulled out my pressure washer and didn't pay close attention to the location of the spray line in relation to the cylinder manifold of the gas powered engine. Within a few minutes there was a geyser behind me!
I ran over to Lowes to buy a new line and bought the wrong size. This morning was going all kinds of sideways! I transitioned my staff meeting to zoom and was able to keep that meeting. Technology is great...
After the meeting I made another trip to Lowes and bought the right sized line and finished cleaning everything from the crush in short order. I then transitioned to pressing the Tempranillo. I was able to get 100 gallons of wine. I decided not to keep free run separate from press wine.
Next up, I'm bottling 80 gallons of Mourvèdre after dinner. I just made a pizza...
A few pics...
My revised plan was to crush the Syrah this morning at 6am. Ultimately, this was a problem because I didn't remember that it's still dark at that time of the morning. First morning light is closer to 7:20am...
I had a 8am meeting that I had to reschedule and a 9am staff meeting, which I lead. I was working fast and got the Syrah crushed in about 17 minutes, so by 7:30am that was done. HOWEVER, there is clean up.
You don't want that sticky mess to dry, especially on your destemer/crusher, as it can be a chore to get clean if it does dry. I pulled out my pressure washer and didn't pay close attention to the location of the spray line in relation to the cylinder manifold of the gas powered engine. Within a few minutes there was a geyser behind me!
I ran over to Lowes to buy a new line and bought the wrong size. This morning was going all kinds of sideways! I transitioned my staff meeting to zoom and was able to keep that meeting. Technology is great...
After the meeting I made another trip to Lowes and bought the right sized line and finished cleaning everything from the crush in short order. I then transitioned to pressing the Tempranillo. I was able to get 100 gallons of wine. I decided not to keep free run separate from press wine.
Next up, I'm bottling 80 gallons of Mourvèdre after dinner. I just made a pizza...
A few pics...
