Hill House Vineyard

[rrawhide]

UPDATE

Added 1.5#'s of French Oak (medium toast plus) cubes to barrel. Added a eye hook to underside of bung and suspended the oak about 1/2 way down barrel. It is suspended in a pantyhose leg.!!!!! Be this way for about 8 weeks and then into a neutral barrel, I hope. Victor said he can add a neutral barrel to his order this year for me and it should be 3 year old for $25. At least that was the price last year. What he does is buy a new barrel and a neutral barrel and make a batch of wine in each. Then when it is ready to bottle he will blend both together - the neutral will soften the harsher new oak and come out gooooooooood!!!

Anyway, this is where it sits for now - more later - we will taste in about a month. In this period of time it should be pretty clear on its own.

 

[grapeman]

Wow, a neutral barrel for $25? That's a deal and a half!

 

[rrawhide]

Hey Rich - go to www.winebusiness.com to the used barrel section and you can get all kinds at all prices. racks too!! Usually prices are negotiable at the bigger wineries. Enjoy the publication - there is lots there!

rrawhide

 

[Waldo]

WOW!!!! You got it going on buddy !!!! WOW !!!!

 

[Waldo]

I received a shipment via UPS today from Oakhill lane Cellars aka wines by rrawhide that are meant to test my patience.

3 bottles of Syrah and one bottle of Merlot with the following instructions. The Syrah's are all from the same batch but the bottle with the green shrink was aged with American oak, The blue was Hungarian oak and the red was aged on French oak..Now comes the testing..I have to wait one year before opening the Syrah

but...I can go ahead and drink the Merlot ( second bottle with green shrink cap)

Whadda think...Think i can wait a year to pop a cork on these ??

 

[grapeman]

You can do it Waldo, but............... what happens if you don't.......... and who will know?

Where is mine rawhide?

. I'll send you back some of NY's finest! Bribe. Bribe!

 

[AlFulchino]

that all sounds well and good..i want to know who gave Waldo roses

Rawhide i like your color coding system

 

[rrawhide]

Well, here we are with the Rkatsiteli - just about done fermenting:

I decided to try 3 batches - each with a different yeast. Interesting
results:

They were all (originally) in 5 gallon carboys with different liquid levels (lazy) and different yeasts.

#1 - Lavlin 71-1122
#2 - Lalvin EC-1118
#3 - Red Star - Cote des Blancs

In 7 days the fermentation was pretty much done.

They all were pretty violent fermenters - - they all left about a 2" band of dead yeast around the inside of the carboy. Just wonder if that is because I used a 5 gr packet in each. Maybe too much yeast for the size container. hummmmmmmm?

#3 was done first - s.g. 1.0 on day 6
#2 was 2nd - s.g. 1.1 on day 7
#1 was is still sorta going on day 8 - s.g. 1.2

#3 today is .998 and is starting to clear. All have been racked into

#1 - 2.8 gal
#2 - 3 gal
#3 - 3 gal

I will keep them all separate and finish them and then see if there are any different tastes and which is better/worse or ?. Kinda fun experiment.

This will be the label (i think). I asked our friend Joanie to draw me a mysterious woman.. Kinda on the Marie Laveau - swamp woman song. Well, this is her take-off of that. Marie was pretty scary lookin'.

Virtually no one has ever heard of this wine Rkatsiteli and it is from the Russian country/state of Georgia so that is where this all came from.

This is where we are now with the white - will be waiting on the red for a long time - so will keep ya'll posted.

rrawhide

 

[admiral]

What a great thread! Please keep it up. Thanks!

 

[Waldo]

Lovin it Rick !!!

 

[R Ziegler]

Just a little info on this grape I found - In caseanyone else was interested.


I can't find the recommended planting zone yet.


Rkatsiteli



[ruh-KAT-see-TELL-ee] White-wine grape that is the most widely planted variety in what was formerly the Soviet Union-it's extensively grown in Russia and Georgia. Rkatsiteli is also widely grown in Bulgaria and is now thought to be the world's second most planted white grape after Spain's airén. There are even a few acres in California and New York. Rkatsiteli produces good-quality wines with high acidity good sugar levels, and pleasantly spicy, floral characteristics. It's vinified in a variety of styles ranging from dry to very sweet, used in sparkling wine production, and even processed into sherrylike wines and cognac-style spirits.