My plan for 2017 wine from California grapes

[mainshipfred]

Exactly. They're food grade... perfect for winemaking.

Not that I didn't believe you but I went online and looked it up. I would have never guessed they would be food grade. With that being said I promise I will buy new ones for making wine and not use my construction trash containers.

 

[Ajmassa]

Forgive me for asking but what is a Brute? In construction it is a large gray trash can.

I needed a 20 gal and waited until last minute to grab one for spring grapes. All the new trashcans in stores have these grooves and indent air pockets in em for easier lifting bags out, but tougher for getting lees out. Need a 44, Planning ahead and ordering a smooth white can off amazon this time.

https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-reds.html
This is the $5 additive pack.

 

[jgmann67]

https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-reds.html
This is the $5 additive pack.

That's perfect! I may struggle to get to $59 for the free shipping from morewine... yeah right.

 

[jgmann67]

My local Home Depot has a 32 gallon in stock... Looks like I'm getting me a new primary fermenter for my cab grapes this fall.

 

[Ajmassa]

I picked up a 32 gal from depot in May at the last minute. All the cans had vented sides and bottoms. Really not a huge deal, but would have preferred smooth for cleaning/scooping skins for press.
Now that I need another I'm ordering a smooth can off Amazon for a great price. Not a Brute, but is food safe plastic. --some brands are food safe while many others are not.

 

[Ajmassa]

Hey I wanna throw out a couple questions for my batch. For a Tuscan blend majority Sangiovese. With merlot and cab. Thinking BM-45 but ICV-D21, and BDX are also highly recommended. But w/o experience with these yeasts I'm just shooting darts. Any reason one would be the best option? I like bm45 simply because it's said to be best choice for Sangiovese.

And also since it's only 1 lug each of cab and merlot, I was curious about substituting the cab for Ruby Cab. I don't know much about ruby cab aside from that it's a carignan hybrid made more for blending then for a single varietal. Am I correct in thinking if using ruby cab I gain color but lose complexity?

 

[Boatboy24]

BM4X4 is one of my favorites - often used for big reds and almost always on big Italian reds.

 

[ibglowin]

Unless you have a whole lot of experience with problematic yeast you should avoid BM45 like the plague. Go with BM4x4 and rest assured you are getting the best of both worlds. One of the best yeast I have ever used and when used with Sangio you will be hard pressed to not grab a carboy straw from @ceeaton and start carboy tipping almost immediately.....

 

[Ajmassa]

Thanks. That's actually one of the handful of yeasts I have used before. I don't mind go-ferm and step feeding nutrient since I'll be doing that anyway if that's one of the bm45 concerns.
My 3 choices were based off of morewines yeast pairing pdf and these were the only 3 yeasts shared by all 3 grapes. (And the only 3 at all for sangio)
But I won't get picky and trust those that have been there before. Bm4x4 it is.
This is the biggest grape batch I'll have done myself , not just as a helper. Usually a 5g packet per 5-6 gal juice. Morewine sells 8g though. For 250 lbs I was thinking x2 8g packets. Or should it be 3 packets?

 

[ibglowin]

You could get by with two 8gm packs or just go full bore crazy and use three 8 gm packs........

It will cost you a whole extra $2.69 though to do so!

Usually a 5g packet per 5-6 gal juice. Morewine sells 8g though. For 250 lbs I was thinking x2 8g packets. Or should it be 3 packets?

 

[Boatboy24]

Anyone hear anything from Harford? I thought they are usually up and taking orders by now. I figured they're getting peppered with inquiries by now, so I thought I'd ask here first.

 

[mainshipfred]

This is the response I got on the 7th.

Fred,

We are still waiting for our fall pricing. As soon as we get it we will be able to update website.

As soon as we are able to take orders we will send a email letting everyone know.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[jgmann67]

Anyone hear anything from Harford? I thought they are usually up and taking orders by now. I figured they're getting peppered with inquiries by now, so I thought I'd ask here first.

I emailed them last week. Haven't gotten a response yet. Bet they're hopping.

 

[Boatboy24]

 

[mainshipfred]

I just got a price for local grapes. It was $1.50/lb. That should be in the ball park shouldn't it?

 

[Boatboy24]

I just got a price for local grapes. It was $1.50/lb. That should be in the ball park shouldn't it?

Comes out to about $54/lug. About right, I'd say, relative to Harford. Then again, you're not paying to ship 'em 3,000 miles.

 

[mainshipfred]

Comes out to about $54/lug. About right, I'd say, relative to Harford. Then again, you're not paying to ship 'em 3,000 miles.

The benefit of local, I would think, is they are harvesting their grapes for their own wines as well and more likely to harvest at the right time. A commercial exporter may not be quite as personal with their harvest.

 

[jgmann67]

Checking the news, things have kicked off nicely with the harvest in California. Reading that Pinot and Chard in some regions are already in. Lots of rain this season (85" compared to the usual 35-55"). Now, they just need dry weather over the next couple months. Berries are smaller, but yields are supposed to be average and the quality should be good.

(I'm a little giddy right now)

 

[ceeaton]

I just got a price for local grapes. It was $1.50/lb. That should be in the ball park shouldn't it?

What type are they? Last year I got mine locally for $1.35/lb (for the Cab Franc) and paid $0.20/lb to get them de-stemmed and crushed (two years ago that included pressing my Chardonel that I purchased, though the base grape price for whites is in the $0.65/lb range).

So that sounds like a pretty fair price to me. I can't complain about any of the grapes I've purchased that were grown locally at this point. My local source keeps me updated as to the brix and when he plans to pick. First year I drove around with my brute as a constant back seat passenger in my car for a couple of weeks. I soon got wise and just delivered my brute to him when I ordered the grapes, much easier! (And the brute was a pretty quiet passenger anyway, never responded to any of my questions).

 

[mainshipfred]

Petit Manseng, Tannat and Norton. Planning on 6 gal of PM and Tannat and 10 gal Norton. I'm still waiting on a confirmation from another vineyard for Nebbiola.

On another note I'm picking up two 5 gal and one six gal carboys and a floor corker than was used to cork only 40 bottles all for $40.00. Good ole Craigslist.