My plan for 2017 wine from California grapes

[jgmann67]

Tiny bubbles... in my wine.



Now that that song is stuck in your head, three of the four carboys are showing good signs on MLF. The petit verdot is the slow starter.

 

[Johnd]

Tiny bubbles... in my wine.



Now that that song is stuck in your head, three of the four carboys are showing good signs on MLF. The petit verdot is the slow starter.

So you saw the little bubbles, that’s a good sign. Sorry bout the song, you’ll have to figure out how to manage that!

 

[jgmann67]

So you saw the little bubbles, that’s a good sign. Sorry bout the song, you’ll have to figure out how to manage that!

A little Don Ho isn't a bad thing. [emoji12]

Hoping to see some bubbles in the PV this morning. The funky sour smell is thinning out, too. Life is good (knock wood).

 

[sour_grapes]

A little Don Ho isn't a bad thing. [emoji12]

Where is @hokapsig when we need him?

 

[Boatboy24]

Tiny bubbles... in my wine.



Now that that song is stuck in your head, three of the four carboys are showing good signs on MLF. The petit verdot is the slow starter.

Foolproof way to get MLF going is to simply play a little Don Ho.

 

[jgmann67]

PV started active MLF this morning.

 

[jgmann67]

I gave the wines a good stir and headed out to Pittsburgh for work. Going to sleep really well this weekend.

Been a week in secondary and the wines have a bit of a sour nose.

 

[jgmann67]

No bentonite, no clarifiers... going clear without them.

 

[mainshipfred]

Doing my first all grape batch. What is the trick to getting enough of a sample to test the gravity. I put a strainer over a measuring cup drained the free run, but had to repeat several times.

 

[jgmann67]

Doing my first all grape batch. What is the trick to getting enough of a sample to test the gravity. I put a strainer over a measuring cup drained the free run, but had to repeat several times.

Patience... I did the strainer thing last time around and it was a bit of a pain. Changed gears this year. When the cap is good and solid, I take my wine thief and punch through the cap to where the juice is. No fuss or muss... Works like a charm.

 

[mainshipfred]

Appears I have more cap then juice. I tried that but no juice.

 

[jgmann67]

Appears I have more cap then juice. I tried that but no juice.

Try punching the wine down first, wait 5 min, then thief some wine. YMMV.

 

[mainshipfred]

Well after the Cali and my local order I will end my first year of making with 75 gallons of wine.
Varietal Amt What? Start
Malbec 6 gal Wine Expert Eclipse 10l kit 1-02
Trio Red 6 gal RJS En Primeur 18l w skins 1-28
Amarosso 6 gal Mosti Mondiale Megioli 23L w raisons 3-10
Pino Noir 6 gal RJS En Primeur 18l w skins 3-14
Syrah 8 gal Harford Juice & 1 lug 5-06
Peach 5 gal Vintner's Best & 4lb fresh fruit 7-15
White Zin 5 gal Harford Juice 10-08
Barbera 6 gal Harford Juice 10-08
Zin 9 gal Harford Juice & 1 lug 10-09
Norton 12 gal? 176 lbs Local Grapes 10-24
White Zin 6 gal Harford Juice 10-28

Bring on the 2018 South American harvest.

 

[Boatboy24]

Doing my first all grape batch. What is the trick to getting enough of a sample to test the gravity. I put a strainer over a measuring cup drained the free run, but had to repeat several times.

After punching down, I partially submerge a fine mesh strainer into the must, then scoop out a sample from inside the strainer with a measuring cup.

 

[jgmann67]

Well after the Cali and my local order I will end my first year of making with 75 gallons of wine.
Varietal Amt What? Start
Malbec 6 gal Wine Expert Eclipse 10l kit 1-02
Trio Red 6 gal RJS En Primeur 18l w skins 1-28
Amarosso 6 gal Mosti Mondiale Megioli 23L w raisons 3-10
Pino Noir 6 gal RJS En Primeur 18l w skins 3-14
Syrah 8 gal Harford Juice & 1 lug 5-06
Peach 5 gal Vintner's Best & 4lb fresh fruit 7-15
White Zin 5 gal Harford Juice 10-08
Barbera 6 gal Harford Juice 10-08
Zin 9 gal Harford Juice & 1 lug 10-09
Norton 12 gal? 176 lbs Local Grapes 10-24
White Zin 6 gal Harford Juice 10-28

Bring on the 2018 South American harvest.

Way to jump in with both feet!

 

[jgmann67]

Just to put my own fears to rest, I tasted an ounce or so of the Merlot to make sure that the sour nose I was getting didn't mean that the wine was also sour. The short answer is: No. It tastes like very good, young wine. I'm hoping that the sour nose will go away after the MLF is done when I dose it with kmeta and rack it over to clean carboys.

10 days since the start of MLF and it seems to be going along swimmingly. All the wines are still showing tiny bubbles. I'm on a schedule to stir twice a week - once mid week and again over the weekend. The LHBS does not carry a test kit for MLF (the kid that works there over the weekend looked at me like my dog does when I talk to him... head cocked to one side).

 

[mainshipfred]

Received my Lalvin MBR 31 bacteria today and ready to MLF once I press my Norton. My question is would you do MLF on the White Zin?
Nothing to do with Cali grapes but I also ordered some grade 3 corks for when I bottle my first wines. don't know how much a difference they would make but they sure look more authentic then the agglomerated corks.

 

[Boatboy24]

Received my Lalvin MBR 31 bacteria today and ready to MLF once I press my Norton. My question is would you do MLF on the White Zin?
Nothing to do with Cali grapes but I also ordered some grade 3 corks for when I bottle my first wines. don't know how much a difference they would make but they sure look more authentic then the agglomerated corks.

I would not MLF a white zin. But that's just me.

 

[mainshipfred]

I was thinking the same but just wasn't sure.

 

[jgmann67]

The tiny bubbles have slowed.