On the sidelines during Winemaking season is HELL.

[Ajmassa]

Well- it’s not pretty. It’s not ideal. Hell, technically it’s not even mine. But it’s winemaking at least! it’ll be nice to smell something fermenting

 

[Ajmassa]

Ok, Reading that back I sound like I’ve lost my mind. Full disclaimer: I deleted 80% of the above post for being waaaaay too forthcoming.

anyway, let me just say that it really was nice today grabbing some grape juice. The annual S Philly trip to Procacci Bros is always great. And every year they do a new t shirt— always with a slight political *** on it. This year‘s focused on gas prices & clean energy I guess lol

Ya drink last yrs wine w/ fresh cheese, pepperoni, salami, and chill out shootin the breeze as you wait for your pickup. On tap they had a 70%cab 30%petit Sirah. A big ass wine for sure!



We just did a simple all juice demi (x3 buckets) of “Family” D Red. 2:1 Muscat:Alicante (diff ratio used than if using grapes)
Procacci had a little sheet of diff blend suggestions. Never heard of majority of them. But mostly all seem appealing.

Afterwards I randomly ran in my youngest brother walking over to the ballpark with his new fiancé. We all ate a slice of salami together then said goodbye. That seems weird. But it was oddly completely normal lol. (salami was delicious btw)


Oh Also- does an Italian Grifo all-SS C/D for $1,100 sound absurdly cheap to you? All the prices on the gear appeared down today while grapes & juice were up slightly.

But I see zero scenerio where I don’t have this C/D by next summer. That unit is absolutely gorgeous! I really can’t wait to overcompensate for lost time.
(Unit with SS hopper only was $900. And All-paint was only $700. All brand new)

 

[Cynewulf]

Happy to see you back, @Ajmassa! It hasn’t been the same here without your posts, projects, and experiments.

 

[distancerunner]

Don't fool around. Buy the all stainless. You won't miss the money next year.

Muscat and Alicante for the win!

 

[Ajmassa]

Happy to see you back, @Ajmassa! It hasn’t been the same here without your posts, projects, and experiments.

thank u wulf. yea things went a little haywire over here and found myself completely avoiding the forum I hate to admit. And really I avoided all things winemaking. I was even reluctant to tag along yesterday.

bc I truly do love this. Perhaps more than I should. I love making wine. reading about it. Discussing it. Planning the batches and little experiments- hooking up my area, all the TLC involved i freaking love it. I do.
And I was proud of my wine. Proud of my setup. All the knowledge & experience obtained over time. And then I lost it. Most of my equipment. All my wine. lab gear. And that little inner-peace I’d get from it was killed. Lost in epic dramatic fashion too. W/o getting into the ugly details, just picture a sea of broken glass and a river of red wine like the elevator scene in The Shining! lol

Found myself somehow completely avoiding going down the basement for anything at all for months. Never logging into wmt. Avoiding any and all thought of making wine. Not b/c I chose to do it. It just happened. Completely involuntary. And if someone brought up making wine it honestly would stress me out.

It’s just stuff, I know. Much worse things in life to worry about. But ********* I can’t help how my whacked out brain reacts on its own lol. I really can’t wait to have myself properly set up again and able to dive back in the way I want and make myself whole. Because all that **** appears to have broken me.

 

[Ajmassa]

Don't fool around. Buy the all stainless. You won't miss the money next year.

Muscat and Alicante for the win!

Yessir! There’s was never even an inner debate tbh. And when the time comes— i will not be f***ing around!

 

[distancerunner]

Yessir! There’s was never even an inner debate tbh. And when the time comes— i will not be f***ing around!

Attaboy!

 

[sour_grapes]

Sorry for all your troubles, Andrew. That sounds rough.

It’s just stuff, I know. Much worse things in life to worry about. But ********* I can’t help how my whacked out brain reacts on its own lol.

TBH, your reaction to this sounds completely normal and appropriate. And it sounds like you are starting to edge back to the point where you will be able to enjoy this again someday soon. Good luck, my friend.

 

[Neb Farmer]

Oh Also- does an Italian Grifo all-SS C/D for $1,100 sound absurdly cheap to you? All the prices on the gear appeared down today while grapes & juice were up slightly.

But I see zero scenerio where I don’t have this C/D by next summer. That unit is absolutely gorgeous! I really can’t wait to overcompensate for lost time.
(Unit with SS hopper only was $900. And All-paint was only $700. All brand new)View attachment 92688

View attachment 92689

I have this exact same Grifo C/D and it has worked great for the last several years. It makes short work out of crushing and destemming your grapes!

 

[Ajmassa]

Sorry for all your troubles, Andrew. That sounds rough.



TBH, your reaction to this sounds completely normal and appropriate. And it sounds like you are starting to edge back to the point where you will be able to enjoy this again someday soon. Good luck, my friend.

You might even call it, SOUR GRAPES MENTALITY!

and thanks bud

 

[Ajmassa]

I have this exact same Grifo C/D and it has worked great for the last several years. It makes short work out of crushing and destemming your grapes!

Nice. Good to know. my old C/D is same style but older than dirt. I was in the middle of refurbishing it. Completely disassembled and was stripping paint Had plans to powder coat with a home kit & a rigged up old oven. Was gonna be a fun project.

But it was also incredibly time consuming. And a new one will still fit my SS cart converted into a mobile shoot/stand. (Another fun project)

 

[heatherd]

thank u wulf. yea things went a little haywire over here and found myself completely avoiding the forum I hate to admit. And really I avoided all things winemaking. I was even reluctant to tag along yesterday.

bc I truly do love this. Perhaps more than I should. I love making wine. reading about it. Discussing it. Planning the batches and little experiments- hooking up my area, all the TLC involved i freaking love it. I do.
And I was proud of my wine. Proud of my setup. All the knowledge & experience obtained over time. And then I lost it. Most of my equipment. All my wine. lab gear. And that little inner-peace I’d get from it was killed. Lost in epic dramatic fashion too. W/o getting into the ugly details, just picture a sea of broken glass and a river of red wine like the elevator scene in The Shining! lol

Found myself somehow completely avoiding going down the basement for anything at all for months. Never logging into wmt. Avoiding any and all thought of making wine. Not b/c I chose to do it. It just happened. Completely involuntary. And if someone brought up making wine it honestly would stress me out.

It’s just stuff, I know. Much worse things in life to worry about. But ********* I can’t help how my whacked out brain reacts on its own lol. I really can’t wait to have myself properly set up again and able to dive back in the way I want and make myself whole. Because all that **** appears to have broken me.

@Ajmassa Sorry you're going through that, but really glad your back! Hugs to you and the fam!

 

[David Violante]

AJ, glad you’re back… and good to see that you’re starting up again! I missed having your perspective and thoughts out here with everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing all that you’re up to!

 

[sremick]

And I was proud of my wine. Proud of my setup. All the knowledge & experience obtained over time. And then I lost it. Most of my equipment. All my wine. lab gear. And that little inner-peace I’d get from it was killed. Lost in epic dramatic fashion too. W/o getting into the ugly details, just picture a sea of broken glass and a river of red wine like the elevator scene in The Shining! lol

I feel you. I recently lost my vineyard... the vines I had slaved over for years. Due to losing the house/property they were one.

The sense of loss is crushing. I just recently rekindled some kit winemaking, but it's not the same... because kit winemaking was never meant to be anything more than a stepping-stone as I honed my skills to ultimately make wine from my own grapes. Who knows when I'll be able to plant vines again... future is too uncertain and I'm between homes still.

 

[Ajmassa]

@sremick

I feel you. I recently lost my vineyard... the vines I had slaved over for years. Due to losing the house/property they were one.

Hmmmm. That’s certainly a gutpunch. sorry to hear this. I think a joint pity party in Vegas is in order! Whattyaa say?

or I see you’re in VT. A long wknd on the best slopes of the east coast always helps. I’ve done 2 VT trips in the past. And not opposed to a 3rd!

 

[Ajmassa]

AJ, glad you’re back… and good to see that you’re starting up again! I missed having your perspective and thoughts out here with everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing all that you’re up to!

appreciate that. And to be clear, I’m not exactly starting up again just yet. Just sorta handling my dads wine for him right now. But you can count on seeing an absurd amount of energy spent on this hobby from me eventually. and the silver lining of starting from scratch?—designing and building a new wine room!

 

[Ajmassa]

@Ajmassa Sorry you're going through that, but really glad your back! Hugs to you and the fam!

those wine gods sure love to throw curveballs don’t they?
i think I need to buy another Fred barrel just to have an excuse to meet up & go pickin’ those Maryland crabs with you guys again!

also, I haven’t kept up with it. Is that pennsylvania weekend wine festival in the Poconos still a thing or did covid kill it? (The festival I mean. Not the wmt meetup aspect) @mainshipfred looking your way. I refuse to Google It just so I can drag you into the convo

 

[mainshipfred]

Hey AJ, I've not been as regular as I used to be either, as you know the construction industry is a bear right now and work has been killing me. I'm still making wine though but cutting back a little this year. My 700+ bottle cooler is full and that's not even considering the 2021s still in bulk.

Sorry things haven't been going well and hope they are getting better. I'll give you a call or shoot you a text.

Oh, as fun as it was the Poconos meet up was too much work to try organizing it again.

 

[CDrew]

Hey @Ajmassa, good to hear from you and know you are getting back in action. Sorry you've had some difficult times, and I hope they are behind you. I'm pressing Syrah today if you want to come by and lend a hand! The harvest was almost two weeks early due to hotter than average temperatures on the West Coast.

 

[Ajmassa]

Hey @Ajmassa, good to hear from you and know you are getting back in action. Sorry you've had some difficult times, and I hope they are behind you. I'm pressing Syrah today if you want to come by and lend a hand! The harvest was almost two weeks early due to hotter than average temperatures on the West Coast.

Thanks man. But not necessary. In no way shape or form am I seeking any type of sympathy or whatever. I’m cool. (And even when I’m not- I still say I am!) I’ve always been eternally optimistic. Sometimes even to a fault —believing that usually in life things just have a way working themselves out. and the more I think about it the more i look forward to starting anew

pressing by mid September eh? fruit flies would be pleased if that was Over here! Just remember —- EASY ON THE OAK!!! don’t go ruining any more wine k?