New jersey winemakers talk

[Mario Dinis]

Hi everyone, just discovered this thread. I'm a newbie at wine making, 3 years. Hope to learn some things here. Been buying my juice at Corrados's, but this year heard about
Europa Pmbalense in elizabeth and gave them a try. So far so good.

 

[porkchopmessiah]

That place have a web site...I'm real close to corrados, but always looking for better options

 

[joeswine]

Who here is in southern new Jersey? I'm in Franklinville .

 

[Kiazer]

Did Partenopi's wine ever clear up? The marbles were a good idea if he cleaned them really well first. (Sterilized clean)

My 3 gallons of marbels (dollar store) in boiling water works well

 

[Ajmassa]

Also curious about Europa Pmbalense myself. No wine grape info online. Curiosity- peaked.

And Joe, I’ve moved since we last spoke. Near Mt Holly. It’s not unusual to see the Giants on my DD coffee cup instead of the Eagles. It’s painful.

 

[Mac60]

Who here is in southern new Jersey? I'm in Franklinville .

Joe,
I'm in Manahawkin NJ

 

[porkchopmessiah]

Fyi guys, I was picking up some chems at Corrados, they will be getting Chilean grapes in May....

 

[Ajmassa]

Fyi guys, I was picking up some chems at Corrados, they will be getting Chilean grapes in May....

I know there’s all kinds of options in the fall for grapes, and I have only made a small fraction, but so far the Chilean grapes I’ve made have far exceeded the quality of the California’s grapes.
So far I’ve made a cab and a merlot from Chile which were excellent quality. (Bought from Gino Pintos). I didn’t plan to make a spring batch this year. But I am a little disappointed with my fall grapes (Paso Robles cab) considering the price. (Low acid and light color- also from pintos)
The grapes I bought from corrados and Procacci Bros in Philly weren’t expensive so I guess my expectations weren’t the same.
But I don’t know man, so far I gotta give it to Chile for being the better option for price/quality. Please forgive my blasphemy.

 

[Johnd]

I know there’s all kinds of options in the fall for grapes, and I have only made a small fraction, but so far the Chilean grapes I’ve made have far exceeded the quality of the California’s grapes.
So far I’ve made a cab and a merlot from Chile which were excellent quality. (Bought from Gino Pintos). I didn’t plan to make a spring batch this year. But I am a little disappointed with my fall grapes (Paso Robles cab) considering the price. (Low acid and light color- also from pintos)
The grapes I bought from corrados and Procacci Bros in Philly weren’t expensive so I guess my expectations weren’t the same.
But I don’t know man, so far I gotta give it to Chile for being the better option for price/quality. Please forgive my blasphemy.

FWIW, my experience has been pretty much the opposite. The Chileans I did a couple years ago are decent, especially when considering that MLF didn't complete, low BRIX, high acid, slightly vegetal, required some front end work, I enjoy them nonetheless.

The Cali's that I've done have been better, Lanza fruit, Brehm fruit, and last two years the Colavita's fruit from Lodi. A pretty penny has been paid for both the Lanza and Brehm fruit, mostly because the grapes were crushed, destemmed, frozen in pails and shipped to me, a much more costly option but the best I could muster at the time.

Also did some frozen must from Spain through Grapemasters, not as costly as the first two, not as inexpensive as the Lodi fruit, this stuff is turning out great, the tempranillo is two years old now and came out of the barrel yesterday and is really good.

The Colavita / Lodi fruit has been a blessing, fresh Cab grapes this year for $29 / lug (closer to $39 / lug with shipping), costing under $3 per bottle for the fruit. Jury's still out on the finished product from 2018, and will be for some time. 2017 wine is still in the 30 gallon barrel, progressing very nicely, and will turn out to be really good, but I do believe that the 2018 vintage may be one of my best in the end.

Just a little different view from my perspective........YMMV

 

[Ajmassa]

FWIW, my experience has been pretty much the opposite. The Chileans I did a couple years ago are decent, especially when considering that MLF didn't complete, low BRIX, high acid, slightly vegetal, required some front end work, I enjoy them nonetheless.

The Cali's that I've done have been better, Lanza fruit, Brehm fruit, and last two years the Colavita's fruit from Lodi. A pretty penny has been paid for both the Lanza and Brehm fruit, mostly because the grapes were crushed, destemmed, frozen in pails and shipped to me, a much more costly option but the best I could muster at the time.

Also did some frozen must from Spain through Grapemasters, not as costly as the first two, not as inexpensive as the Lodi fruit, this stuff is turning out great, the tempranillo is two years old now and came out of the barrel yesterday and is really good.

The Colavita / Lodi fruit has been a blessing, fresh Cab grapes this year for $29 / lug (closer to $39 / lug with shipping), costing under $3 per bottle for the fruit. Jury's still out on the finished product from 2018, and will be for some time. 2017 wine is still in the 30 gallon barrel, progressing very nicely, and will turn out to be really good, but I do believe that the 2018 vintage may be one of my best in the end.

Just a little different view from my perspective........YMMV

Thanks for the insight. I kinda like that you’ve had the opposite experience. Tells me we shouldn’t generalize anything in this hobby. I’ll be plugging away trying new options, but so far that’s been my experience.
Both my Chilean cab and Malbec finished MLf quickly, and right now the Malbec is easily my best wine to date at only 8 months. The ‘17 cab was a small batch but a rock solid homemade wine. About $52 a lug and both had ideal sugar and acid numbers w/ no tinkering needed.
The Paso Robles cab was the 1st “non Central Valley” grapes I’ve purchased in the fall. At $69 a lug. Ph was very high but was anticipated. Now post MLf at 3.9 still. And in spite several vigorous daily punch downs and lallyzyme ex-v, the color is much lighter than I expected for a cab at that price. So much so that I’m not sure it should or could stand alone as a single varietal.
Much like my light Tuscan field blend last year- which I chalked up to using too much Sangiovese and not enough cab/merlot. (Also had high ph which I overadjusted down to 3.6. Still aging awaiting an acid removal attempt I guess). And now need to adjust this cab closer to healthy without effing it up.
I’m not hating on Cali- obviously I dig the process and this is all part of the experiences that help ya improve. Between Lanza, Lodi, amador, (and WA) etc, there’s a ton of variety on the menu for us northeast winemakers. But if @porkchopmessiah is thinking about spring grapes- the Chilean grapes offered locally get my full endorsement. I’m thinking about a spring batch to use for blending those 2 I mentioned. Petite Syrah if offered maybe. (And obviously enough the have some by itself of course [emoji3])

 

[mainshipfred]

You should consider the SA CAB from Stellenbosch. @pgentile made it in 2017 and mine is 2018. Paul's is excellent and mine is my best to date. I have to say though I'm happy with all my 2018 Chileans.

 

[Boatboy24]

You should consider the SA CAB from Stellenbosch. @pgentile made it in 2017 and mine is 2018. Paul's is excellent and mine is my best to date. I have to say though I'm happy with all my 2018 Chileans.

But that was from Harford, no?

 

[pgentile]

I know there’s all kinds of options in the fall for grapes, and I have only made a small fraction, but so far the Chilean grapes I’ve made have far exceeded the quality of the California’s grapes.
So far I’ve made a cab and a merlot from Chile which were excellent quality. (Bought from Gino Pintos). I didn’t plan to make a spring batch this year. But I am a little disappointed with my fall grapes (Paso Robles cab) considering the price. (Low acid and light color- also from pintos)
The grapes I bought from corrados and Procacci Bros in Philly weren’t expensive so I guess my expectations weren’t the same.
But I don’t know man, so far I gotta give it to Chile for being the better option for price/quality. Please forgive my blasphemy.

I'm having a slightly different experience as well, but some different grapes and one different source than yours.

I know it's only 3 month but I feel this years Paso Robles Zin is going to surpass(with age) the 2016 and 2017 premium zins from Procacci Bros. And I don't dislike those , but this years zin has so much more in every aspect than the others at the same age. Time might prove me wrong.

My ranking of quality grapes so far is this:

South African Cab Sauv 2017 & Pinotage 2018
Paso Robles Zin 2018
Premium Lodi/Central Valley Zin 2016 2017
Chilean Carmenere 2016 2018
Regular Lodi/Central Valley many varieties 2014 2015 2016 2017
Chilean Malbec 2017 2018

Every grape made a good wine except the 2017 malbec was exception. But you know that story.

 

[Ajmassa]

Gonna keep a long standing multi-generation homewinemaking tradition going—-

........and blame every subpar wine on the grapes !

 

[Ajmassa]

Also- to be fair, I shouldn’t call those wines “subpar” at all. The Paso Cab is a baby- just a little light and in need of some acid.
And the Tuscan is also a little light, with a touch of sweetness. Im optimistic that if I can remove some of the ‘tartness’ the wine will fall into balance. And a little Chilean PS might go a long way. This game is a
marathon, not a sprint.

 

[mainshipfred]

But that was from Harford, no?

It was but I think Gino or Procassi has the same source. Probably be a road trip.

 

[Ajmassa]

It was but I think Gino or Procassi has the same source. Probably be a road trip.

Yeah Gino pintos. Procacci only does fall harvest. Corrados I believe took a few Yes off from spring grapes but seem to be back on the Chilean grapes for the 2nd yr in a row.
And keystone I know sell spring grapes that at not the from the same supplier s the others.

 

[Amelione]

New to wine making. In northern NJ. When does Corrados usually sell grapes? Is there any other place in the area to get grapes?

 

[Ajmassa]

New to wine making. In northern NJ. When does Corrados usually sell grapes? Is there any other place in the area to get grapes?

Welcome to the most addictive hobby ever!

Local distributors really only have 2 options to sell fresh wine grapes. The fall harvest from Cali/wash/Oregon are only available sept-October roughly. (And most wine grape regions in northern hemisphere)
And some distributors like Corrados offer grapes from spring harvest too - usually Chilean and sometimes SouthAfrican are available to us around May.

 

[Amelione]

Welcome to the most addictive hobby ever!

Local distributors really only have 2 options to sell fresh wine grapes. The fall harvest from Cali/wash/Oregon are only available sept-October roughly. (And most wine grape regions in northern hemisphere)
And some distributors like Corrados offer grapes from spring harvest too - usually Chilean and sometimes SouthAfrican are available to us around May.

Thank you! And already addicted...on second batch of a cab table wine - first batch came ok eh, I bottled way to early after reading some posts on here. So second batch is bulk fermenting right now, going to let it go for 6 months I think (will taste periodically). Have a mixed berry wine fermenting right now, hoping for it to be ready for mid spring. Looking to start the JAOM mead recipe soon...have gotten bit by the bug for sure.

Do you have certain local distributors that you like to use?