Making My Way To The Mecca!
- Thread starter ibglowin
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That's him behind the counter.
Here they come......
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Man, this has not gone as originally planned. We are traveling with our 85lb Golden Retriever as well as a bunch of empty Brute trashcans in the back of an Expedition. Truck was supposed to be here yesterday and we would be home by now. Now the truck won't arrive till 3:00PM today (est) and that means home around 2-3AM. Guess the grapes will be happy in the back in the cool dark of the night on the drive home.
We found an unbelievable dog friendly hotel here in Dallas thanks to SWMBO who is the absolute internet goddess of finding deals online. We are staying at the Palomar Hotel in big D. Nice place to say the least and highly recommended if traveling with pets (or not) and the room rate wasn't too bad considering they didn't charge for the dog. Some places wanted as much as $100 a night more for a pet. I feel out of place in my truck for sure but they love pets and no extra charge for them.
Jack is the best car dog in the world. Just chills and sleeps the whole way, gets excited when we stop and he faithfully does his bidness and gets his reward (cookie). We took him to to a nearby lake here in town yesterday (White Rock Lake) and he had a great time at the dog park and walking around the lake. We went out to Costco yesterday after visiting the toystore and found some shade to park in. SWMBO picked up a new Samsung Galaxy II s Android phone and she has been trying to figure out how to run the thing all last night while we watched the ballgame.
Not a bad trip all in all. Now if we can just get some gosh darn grapes!
We found an unbelievable dog friendly hotel here in Dallas thanks to SWMBO who is the absolute internet goddess of finding deals online. We are staying at the Palomar Hotel in big D. Nice place to say the least and highly recommended if traveling with pets (or not) and the room rate wasn't too bad considering they didn't charge for the dog. Some places wanted as much as $100 a night more for a pet. I feel out of place in my truck for sure but they love pets and no extra charge for them.
Jack is the best car dog in the world. Just chills and sleeps the whole way, gets excited when we stop and he faithfully does his bidness and gets his reward (cookie). We took him to to a nearby lake here in town yesterday (White Rock Lake) and he had a great time at the dog park and walking around the lake. We went out to Costco yesterday after visiting the toystore and found some shade to park in. SWMBO picked up a new Samsung Galaxy II s Android phone and she has been trying to figure out how to run the thing all last night while we watched the ballgame.
Not a bad trip all in all. Now if we can just get some gosh darn grapes!
We are hanging out killing time till tonight. Went back to the lake and dog park just now. Will drive as far as we can tonight and if we can't make it home we will get a room somewhere down the road. Grapes will be fine in the back of the truck for the night. Situation now FUBAR but what can you do.....
AlFulchino
Winemaker of 30+ years
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did i miss something mr photog? no pic of you actually in there...did you have these emailed to you? get back in there and take a pic of you all together w big smiles 
AlFulchino
Winemaker of 30+ years
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Wade, he did this once before when he said he was swimming in the Carribean
Day 3
The grape hostage crisis continues.......
The truck didn't show at 8:00 and at last check in was still 300 miles away from Dallas. The natives are getting restless and I feel a mutiny is close at hand......
I fear for the safety of the ships captain and crew.
Another night in another hotel in Dallas.......
We try again to take the grapes by storm in the morning.
If the truck shows.........
The grape hostage crisis continues.......
The truck didn't show at 8:00 and at last check in was still 300 miles away from Dallas. The natives are getting restless and I feel a mutiny is close at hand......
I fear for the safety of the ships captain and crew.
Another night in another hotel in Dallas.......
We try again to take the grapes by storm in the morning.
If the truck shows.........
Robert123Carr
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Got my grapes and back home at 6am Sunday. What a day, in 2 years I will know if it was worth it!
That's great news Robert! So glad to hear the truck has arrived and we will finally get home tonight. It was great to meet you as well!
Bartman
Senior Member
I have returned triumphantly to my home with my 12 gallons of wine-to-be. 'Course, I only had to drive 15 minutes back form George's shop. I didn't have as far to travel, but it still made for some frustrating weekend-activity-scheduling. From delivery scheduled for 9 am Friday (that's when FVW would open for pick-up) to Sunday at 1 am, the truck must have gotten lost along the way
. The white grapes I saw looked a little worse for wear, as if they had been harvested a couple weeks ago (which I guess they were), but the red grapes all looked pretty good - not too big and not much raisining.
On George's recommendation, I'm using Bourgovin RC 212 for both blends I'm making: Old Vine Zinfandel (2/3) with Pinot Noir (1/3), and Sangiovese (2/3) with Barbera (1/3). pH was 3.58 for the Zin/Pinot Noir and 3.79 for the Sangiovese/Barbera.
On George's recommendation, I'm using Bourgovin RC 212 for both blends I'm making: Old Vine Zinfandel (2/3) with Pinot Noir (1/3), and Sangiovese (2/3) with Barbera (1/3). pH was 3.58 for the Zin/Pinot Noir and 3.79 for the Sangiovese/Barbera.
Robert123Carr
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It was great to meet you also. It was a quite an experience, picking up grapes at 2 o'clock in the am, but it was neat to meet and talk to everyone.ibglowin said:
rhoffart
Rick
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Well you beat me home by an hour. The truck pull in at 1:00am and I was on the road with 30 gallons of must by 2:10am. I pulled into my driveway at 6:55am.
I tested and made my first adjustment this afternoon. Here are the numbers
Merlot
3.66 ph
Brix 24.2
SG 1.106
TA 0.310
TA 0.337
Added 60 grams Tartaric acid - 1/2 of what is needed
Cab
3.85 ph
Brix 24.5
SG 1.106
TA 0.322
TA 0.315
Added 60 grams Tartaric acid - 1/2 of what I showed needed
I did two TA tests, that is why there is two numbers
I tested and made my first adjustment this afternoon. Here are the numbers
Merlot
3.66 ph
Brix 24.2
SG 1.106
TA 0.310
TA 0.337
Added 60 grams Tartaric acid - 1/2 of what is needed
Cab
3.85 ph
Brix 24.5
SG 1.106
TA 0.322
TA 0.315
Added 60 grams Tartaric acid - 1/2 of what I showed needed
I did two TA tests, that is why there is two numbers
