Ok here we go... 2017 first crush

[Smok1]

Ok so 24 hours in. Here we go. Added nutrients for mlf ( leucofood ) 10g. And viniflora oneos. Split into 2 batches.

 

[Smok1]

Ok so today sg on merlot .996, sg on syrah .994. Used my AIO coupled with a stainless steel strainer to rack out most the juice and then ran it through my press. Syrah yeilded about 31 liters, merlot yeild about 38 liters. Merlot came out a bit lighter colored than i would have liked to see but the syrah is a deep rich purple im happy with that, both smell good. Fermentation went really good, no off smells no h2s.

So my one concern is i tested ph on the syrah (i will run ph/ta on both tomorrow morning) but my ph is 3.8 ( when i got these grapes initial ph was 3.9-4.0 on both, i adjusted to 3.6 using tartaric acid) i co-innoculated MLF 24 hours after i pitched yeast (rc212). So now im concerned with my high PH. From what ive read 3.8 puts me in the danger zone if not protected properly by so2. Should i add tartaric acid right now to 3.6? Should i leave it a week and do a chromatography test? Do a chrom test now? Dose with kmeta now?

Question2: after about 8 hours it accumulated about an inch of lees, given im doing MLF should i leave it or rack it off?

Oh, and i posted a photo of me and my wife at a wine and paint night we went to on wednesday, it was really fun, the artist walked us through painting our own version of there "wine under candlelight" painting, we enjoyed a nice bottle of 2015 australian shiraz.

 

[Johny99]

Sounds like a fun night painting. I wouldn’t worry about the syrah pH quite yet. 3.8 is not out of range. Make sure Mulford is complete and sulphite appropriately. Then as time goes you can adjust by taste. 3.8 can be a safe stable wine.

As for color of the merlot, you can always blend in a bit of the Syrah. One of my tutors says that you blend for three things: Color, bouquet and taste. Yet, not necessarily all three.

 

[pgentile]

. Should i add tartaric acid right now to 3.6? Should i leave it a week and do a chromatography test? Do a chrom test now? Dose with kmeta now?

Question2: after about 8 hours it accumulated about an inch of lees, given im doing MLF should i leave it or rack it off?

Q1 & Q2: Wait 24-36 hours then rack off lees, more will drop out, no k-meta yet. Then take pH reading again. I wouldn't do chroma test for another 3 weeks or so.

 

[pgentile]

My zin/cab/ps was co-inoculated, did chroma at 18 days, test showed malo still present, at 27 days it's still showing visible MLF activity. No k-meta yet.

 

[Ajmassa]

First time MLF might help to do a control test though to see where your at. And also to familiarize yourself with the test. Plus you might get lucky.
This one was done only 12 days after inoculation.

 

[NorCal]

3.8 is fine, I wouldn't adjust, seeing how you already added tartaric. You will probably hit your TA threshold, where the wine will start tasting sour with further additions.

 

[Boatboy24]

Agree with what everyone else said. Always rack 24 hours or so after pressing. Don't worry about the pH. From what I understand, CO2 can throw the reading off anyway. If you want, go ahead and to a chromatography test. Helpful if this is your first run to get some practice, plus you'll have a baseline to measure against in a few weeks. Nice paintings.

Where did you get the stainless steel column strainer? I love it.

 

[Smok1]

Ok thanks guys, ill do a chrom test and rack today, otherwise i will leave it alone, the stainless strainer ive had for a while, but its just a stainless steel utensil holder but works great for what im using it for.

 

[Smok1]

Heres my first chromatography test, the kit i bought only came with 125ml of solution, it barely makes contact with 1/8” in the bottom of the jar, anyways i can clearly see there no malic spots on the paper and if you put it up to the right light you can see the lactic spots, this was taken after only 7 days of co-innoculation. Both wines smell and taste really good, color extraction was not the greatest. The syrah was a nice color, maybe not as dark as i would like to see but a nice deep color never the less, the merlot on the other hand is quite light in color, taste and smell really nice but definty lighter in color than i would like to see

 

[Johnd]

Your developer solution didn’t get all of the way to the top, either because there wasn’t enough, or because you took the paper out too soon.

Were your standards liquid or powder that had to be mixed with water? Spots are all very light. Looks like you only had malic and lactic standards, and I don’t see any malic spots, that’s good.

Mine are much more pronounced, see below:

 

[Smok1]

Your developer solution didn’t get all of the way to the top, either because there wasn’t enough, or because you took the paper out too soon.

Were your standards liquid or powder that had to be mixed with water? Spots are all very light. Looks like you only had malic and lactic standards, and I don’t see any malic spots, that’s good.

Mine are much more pronounced, see below:

There liquid solutions, i only used malic and lactic solutions, i left the paper in the jar for 24 hours. They only sent me a 125ml bottle and by the time i poured it into the jar ( because the jar isnt perfectly flat on the bottom) the paper was only making contact with about 1/8” of the paper max. Im putting another order in for chromatography solution but its a huge pain because of the “hazardous material” shipping charge. Im in the middle of trying to figure out exactly what the chemical for that solution is so i can just order it through my wife who works at a compunding pharmacy. Either way the liquid made it far enough up the sheet to show the absence of malic acid which is all i needed but i will order more solution in the next few weeks so i can test my next mlf run.

I used the tiny glass pipettes to do my drops on the paper so i dont know why its not super pronounced. Either leaving it in the jar for 24 hours was too long ( but still didnt have enough solution to make it to the top of the paper) or i didnt put enough sample on the paper, i made a 1/4” round spot, i thought that was enough.

 

[Johnd]

There liquid solutions, i only used malic and lactic solutions, i left the paper in the jar for 24 hours. They only sent me a 125ml bottle and by the time i poured it into the jar ( because the jar isnt perfectly flat on the bottom) the paper was only making contact with about 1/8” of the paper max. Im putting another order in for chromatography solution but its a huge pain because of the “hazardous material” shipping charge. Im in the middle of trying to figure out exactly what the chemical for that solution is so i can just order it through my wife who works at a compunding pharmacy. Either way the liquid made it far enough up the sheet to show the absence of malic acid which is all i needed but i will order more solution in the next few weeks so i can test my next mlf run.

I used the tiny glass pipettes to do my drops on the paper so i dont know why its not super pronounced. Either leaving it in the jar for 24 hours was too long ( but still didnt have enough solution to make it to the top of the paper) or i didnt put enough sample on the paper, i made a 1/4” round spot, i thought that was enough.

Probably just the lack of solution...

 

[Smok1]

Probably just the lack of solution...

Ya thats what i thought, if i cant find locally i will put another order in thos week, i just pitched mlf on my new batch today so i wont need to test for a few more weeks.

 

[Smok1]

This years crush haul so far, minus a couple of the back carboys which are just aging kits. So far about 140 liters of wine. With one last crush to go this weekend hopefully, fingers crossed.

 

[Bubba1]

Last crush of the year 4 boxes of ruby cabernet first time with this grape its getting late in the season and most of the popular grapes are long gone.

 

[JohnT]

What is that big red wheel and stick on your crusher?

 

[Donz]

What is that big red wheel and stick on your crusher?

Looks like it's a manual crusher no motor! We had one like that back in the day. Good for 20 cases and less... Get above 50 as we are now and you definitely need the motor.

 

[JohnT]

Looks like it's a manual crusher no motor! We had one like that back in the day. Good for 20 cases and less... Get above 50 as we are now and you definitely need the motor.

My very first year of winemaking was with a hand-crank. It also proved to be the LAST year of winemaking with a hand crank.

 

[Ajmassa]

What is that big red wheel and stick on your crusher?

I can smell that pompous jersey attitude from here. It's an acquired taste.