So, having planted some Marquette, thought I'd better get my feet wet (not literally) with fresh grapes in preparation for mega harvests in a few years. (maybe)
Started small with 3 cases of Cabernet. Grapes looked to be excellent with very few leaves or raisins. Crushed with an upside down milk crate into a Brute. Beginner's luck, SG was 1.1 and PH was 3.5. Used 1118 and it was .990 in 7 days. Bought a used press, cleaned it up and pressed 28 liters with VERY little pressure, almost free run, with the intent of doing a second (false) wine. It is sitting in a 23 liter carboy and a 5 liter mini demi john. When I put it to sleep after racking I will add some oak. I have chips now but like the idea of spirals. I will let it age (stay out of it) until next September.
Not sure if I am going to do MLF. Going to source the bacteria today. I do like the idea of a softer, rounder wine vs sharp and acidic. But as a beginner I may skip it.
Lessons learned/observations ...get more organised. I hate looking for something during the middle of a task.
The upside down milk crate works well and I would do up to 5 cases this way. But next year I will have a proper crusher -destemmer.
I had read about punching the cap, but I had not expected that much of a cap. Several inches thick.
After punching the cap I would have a taste and it was easy to track the declining sweetness, and taste the full bodied, big flavours. Was REALLY sweet on day 1.
When you load up cases into the SUV, give it 20 minutes for the bees to escape before driving off. Made for an interesting drive!
Second wine has the skins plus lots of residual juice, 2 concentrate bags from Argentinia (Costco) kits, sugar and water. PH 3.4 and SG 1.09. Tastes a thin by comparison. Maybe less water next time. But 70 liters of "something" is already fermenting. I am hoping that kits plus second wine will keep me out of the good stuff. I will not oak some of the second wine as I don't see it aging more than 3 months.
Lots of great info on this forum and many projects ahead. Thanks!
Started small with 3 cases of Cabernet. Grapes looked to be excellent with very few leaves or raisins. Crushed with an upside down milk crate into a Brute. Beginner's luck, SG was 1.1 and PH was 3.5. Used 1118 and it was .990 in 7 days. Bought a used press, cleaned it up and pressed 28 liters with VERY little pressure, almost free run, with the intent of doing a second (false) wine. It is sitting in a 23 liter carboy and a 5 liter mini demi john. When I put it to sleep after racking I will add some oak. I have chips now but like the idea of spirals. I will let it age (stay out of it) until next September.
Not sure if I am going to do MLF. Going to source the bacteria today. I do like the idea of a softer, rounder wine vs sharp and acidic. But as a beginner I may skip it.
Lessons learned/observations ...get more organised. I hate looking for something during the middle of a task.
The upside down milk crate works well and I would do up to 5 cases this way. But next year I will have a proper crusher -destemmer.
I had read about punching the cap, but I had not expected that much of a cap. Several inches thick.
After punching the cap I would have a taste and it was easy to track the declining sweetness, and taste the full bodied, big flavours. Was REALLY sweet on day 1.
When you load up cases into the SUV, give it 20 minutes for the bees to escape before driving off. Made for an interesting drive!
Second wine has the skins plus lots of residual juice, 2 concentrate bags from Argentinia (Costco) kits, sugar and water. PH 3.4 and SG 1.09. Tastes a thin by comparison. Maybe less water next time. But 70 liters of "something" is already fermenting. I am hoping that kits plus second wine will keep me out of the good stuff. I will not oak some of the second wine as I don't see it aging more than 3 months.
Lots of great info on this forum and many projects ahead. Thanks!