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[Paulietivo]

Hello wine making talk, Im Paulietivo and Ive been a wimemaker since 1999. Im new on here so Id like to chat about some recipies using fresh juice.
I make on average around 30-60 gallons a year and Id like to improve some more.
Ive ordered zinfandel and barbera and I plan on blending them using 2:1 ratio with zin being the dominant grape. Has anyone used these 2 before? Id love some feedback.

Salute.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to WMT.

I myself have only done kits and fruit wines but you'll meet many on this forum who, like you, do juice buckets.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome, Paulietivo! Great to gain an experienced member. Looking forward to your perspectives.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Made both but never blended those two together. Barbers is an excellent wine which will enhance the Zinfandel. Try a sample of the blend to taste before actually blending entire batch.

 

[Rocky]

Hi Paulie and welcome to the forum.

I have made a lot of Zinfandel over the years including from grapes, kits and juice buckets. The only wine I have ever blended it with is Muscat, which I realize is a little different but amongst Italian communities in the US is very common. The Muscat gives the blended wine a little sweetness and lots of body. I have made Zinfandel recently from a Kit (WinExpert Eclipse) and added a 96 oz. can of Cherries (Vintner's Harvest) to the primary. It really turned out well.

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish by the blending, i.e. what do you want the Barbera to contribute to the blend as well as what you want the Zinfandel to contribute. Both wines are intense in berry and cherry flavors and relatively high in tannins. Barbera grapes are very dark and that juice should add a lot of color to the wine.

 

[Paulietivo]

Bkisel. Thanks Ive made some good kits as well but now im returning to my roots. I started in Philadelphia and buckets from the italian market was how I learned. When I moved to florida about 10 years ago I couldnt find any suppliers of fresh juice so I started making kits. But now I have a supplier of buckets again & the price cannot be beat.

 

[Paulietivo]

Sour, Im full of useless knowledge & Im happy to share.

 

[Paulietivo]

Dj, Im debating trying different blends right at fermentation or just making one large batch of the same. Of course I can always bulk age and blend later. What do u think?

 

[Paulietivo]

Rocky, hows Adrian? Lol Ive never heard of the zin muscat blend, that must be a strong one? 15% alc at least im thinking.
Ive never done any fruit addition other then crushed grape skins packs. Interesting with the cherries but its ashame my wife is allergic to them.
Im trying make the zin just all around better. I love both wines but im trying to find the right balance. I got the idea from the vineyards website im getting the juice from. http://www.papagnifruitco.com/papagnihomewinerecipes.html
They call for a straight 50/50 blend but im not one for following directions. I prefer zin hence my names a play or primitivo. But my friends grandfather's barbera is the best wine ive ever had. We asked him for some instructions once & he told us to go outside & look at the moon! He was serious & followed the lunar cycle on when he racked & bottled. Thats an interesting topic.
Anyway back to zin/ barb, I think I also want to balance out the low acid of zin w the natural high acid of the barb. Some zins lack that bite but barbera can overpower with it as well. What do u think?

 

[sour_grapes]

Bkisel. Thanks Ive made some good kits as well but now im returning to my roots. I started in Philadelphia and buckets from the italian market was how I learned.

Sour, Im full of useless knowledge & Im happy to share.

Rocky, hows Adrian?

"Hey, Paulie, your sister's wit' me. Call you back later."

Cool! I am from Philly, too, born and bred. In fact, Sylvester himself went to my local HS.

 

[Rocky]

We have a thing about naming our cars and "Adrian" is my Acura. By the way, she is fine and thanks for asking.

Paulie, I think the Zin-Barbera blend will be great. They are two great wines which both have their own characteristics. Together they should be great. Keep us up to date on what you are doing. As far as the Zinfandel-Muscat 3:1 blend, the first time I had anything to do with that was in the late 40's making wine with my Grandfather. Actually, all I did at that age was strip the grapes from the stems and pull out leaves and other debris before the crusher. But I have made the blend on and off for many years and it is still one of my and my family's favorites. It "do" have a kick!

 

[Paulietivo]

Lmao! Sour you went to Lincoln? I went to Judge! Im from Tacony & grew up between cottman & princeton ave. In college I worked at Fruscos Steaks.

 

[Paulietivo]

Rocky that blend sounds awesome. Florida is filled with about a dozen types of muscadines so you have me thinking about the possibilities.

 

[sour_grapes]

Lmao! Sour you went to Lincoln? I went to Judge! Im from Tacony & grew up between cottman & princeton ave. In college I worked at Fruscos Steaks.

No way! I didn't go to Lincoln -- I went to Judge, too! Class of '81. (Notice I said that Sly went to my local HS -- not that he went to my HS!) What year were you? Small frickin' world!

"Here's, to our Crusaders, onward to victory..."

 

[Paulietivo]

Yea I saw that but who would brag about going to Lincoln? Lol & Wow! Small world is right. I'm class of 96. U still know more of the fight song then I do! Haha.

 

[Paulietivo]

Update.
Hey guys im concerned about this batch. The initial sg was 1.100 and 10 days later it was 1.0. Is this going to be to sweet? Can I add more yeast + a nutrient to try & get it lower? Or do u think it will be ok?

 

[sour_grapes]

You have more experience than I do, so I am loathe to give you suggestions. However, let me ask: How does it taste? 1.000 is not very high. As you know, you rarely get down below, say, 0.992 or 0.994.


Non Excidet. (Don't worry, I had to look up the motto, myself.)

 

[Paulietivo]

Ok, my experience with sulfites & hydrometers are near nil. Ive usually made wine w oldskool no sulfite techniques. However im starting to use the sulfites now since I almost lost a batch of chilean sav blanc when my air conditioner went out for 5 days. I sulphited it then & noticed it preserved the color beautifully. So I added the sulfites to this after 10 days but my old ways are playing with my mind. I keep thinking that if I didnt add sulphites then it would keep fermenting slowly & drop below 1.0. So I just wanted some clarification to put my mind at ease.