Operation Massa Family Red - Muscat-Alicante-Zinfandel

[CK55]

Down to 1.006 now. 78°

Still looking very active and the cap was still strong. Might be done punching to let her go undisturbed underneath for a day so she can concentrate on finishing the job. I’ll
Make that call later today.

With the added sugar in a natural ferment sans nutrients—Anything under 1.000 will be a win.

Sounds like a winner! I am eager to hear how it goes.

 

[AkTom]

I’m thirsty!!!

 

[Ajmassa]

Had a golf outing today that went later than expected. Did some prep work - but it’s late and I’m tired. One more day won’t kill me.
72° and .996 SG. Success. Pretty stoked this went dry.
I left the cap in place since last night, and I can here the wine bubbling away within. Will jump back at it tomorrow.

*Side note- I did finally taste the d254/d80 Chilean Malbec, still unblended. The 254 is clearly the early winner. Big nose. Big flavor. The 80 more mellow. Color on both is the best I’ve ever seen on my wines. I also blended the samples and tasted. I believe the term used was “hot diggity!” And Heather agreed. An extremely satisfying feeling.

 

[CK55]

Had a golf outing today that went later than expected. Did some prep work - but it’s late and I’m tired. One more day won’t kill me.
72° and .996 SG. Success. Pretty stoked this went dry.
I left the cap in place since last night, and I can here the wine bubbling away within. Will jump back at it tomorrow.

*Side note- I did finally taste the d254/d80 Chilean Malbec, still unblended. The 254 is clearly the early winner. Big nose. Big flavor. The 80 more mellow. Color on both is the best I’ve ever seen on my wines. I also blended the samples and tasted. I believe the term used was “hot diggity!” And Heather agreed. An extremely satisfying feeling.

Nice

 

[pgentile]

Had a golf outing today that went later than expected. Did some prep work - but it’s late and I’m tired. One more day won’t kill me.
72° and .996 SG. Success. Pretty stoked this went dry.
I left the cap in place since last night, and I can here the wine bubbling away within. Will jump back at it tomorrow.

*Side note- I did finally taste the d254/d80 Chilean Malbec, still unblended. The 254 is clearly the early winner. Big nose. Big flavor. The 80 more mellow. Color on both is the best I’ve ever seen on my wines. I also blended the samples and tasted. I believe the term used was “hot diggity!” And Heather agreed. An extremely satisfying feeling.

Good to see this coming along nicely. Had confidence it would. By the way I keep hearing how dark alicante is supposed to be, but my petite sirah is much much darker.

 

[Ajmassa]

I mean, it is a dark grape. And the only grape containing red juice inside the berry. (Thought that was pretty interesting). You can see in The pic above at crushing. But not as full as a PS I think- which is both super dark and tannic- right?
And the Muscat is not thin. Doesn’t darken up too easy. This wine is looking exactly like I had anticipated. Which is pretty light. Really meant as an every day type of wine. Good to crack open with any meal. Which is exactly what a “[censored Italian slur] Red” is supposed to be.

 

[Bts]

A pH of 3.5 with cheap california grapes? Interesting. I always wondered why D Red called for white grapes, but now I'm thinking that at least part of it was for the lower PH without having to mess around PH meters and tartaric. My cali red grapes and buckets always seem to come in around 3.8 to 4.2, but I guess 40% muscadet would fix that pretty reliably.

 

[CK55]

Good to see this coming along nicely. Had confidence it would. By the way I keep hearing how dark alicante is supposed to be, but my petite sirah is much much darker.

Pure Alicante Bouschet is the darkest wine you will find. It can be diluted by blending.

 

[pgentile]

I mean, it is a dark grape. And the only grape containing red juice inside the berry. (Thought that was pretty interesting). You can see in The pic above at crushing. But not as full as a PS I think- which is both super dark and tannic- right?
And the Muscat is not thin. Doesn’t darken up too easy. This wine is looking exactly like I had anticipated. Which is pretty light. Really meant as an every day type of wine. Good to crack open with any meal. Which is exactly what a “[censored Italian slur] Red” is supposed to be.

Just for clarity I was comparing my alicante buckets to my petite sirah , the alicante is a very dark burgundy color and the ps is a deep twilight purple to blackhole black. I would expect your drego to be lighter.

 

[pgentile]

Pure Alicante Bouschet is the darkest wine you will find

Side by side my petite sirah is darker. But the alicante are juice buckets.

 

[CK55]

Side by side my petite sirah is darker. But the alicante are juice buckets.

Key thing, that juice bucket doesn't have skins right??? That might be why.

 

[pgentile]

Key thing, that juice bucket doesn't have skins right???

That's true, that's why I mentioned they were buckets.

 

[CK55]

That's true, that's why I mentioned they were buckets.

Yeah, that's probably why. Alicante is usually jet black, high in Alcohol due to grenache parentage. But it does have tannins and acidity to age long. It does benefit from oak aging.

 

[pgentile]

Yeah, that's probably why. Alicante is usually jet black, high in Alcohol due to grenache parentage. But it does have tannins and acidity to age long. It does benefit from oak aging.

It will get oaked, thanks

 

[CK55]

It will get oaked, thanks

Let me know how it turns out. It's a grape that I really like I planted vines of it.

 

[mainshipfred]

I mean, it is a dark grape. And the only grape containing red juice inside the berry. (Thought that was pretty interesting). You can see in The pic above at crushing. But not as full as a PS I think- which is both super dark and tannic- right?
And the Muscat is not thin. Doesn’t darken up too easy. This wine is looking exactly like I had anticipated. Which is pretty light. Really meant as an every day type of wine. Good to crack open with any meal. Which is exactly what a “[censored Italian slur] Red” is supposed to be.

Norton is another with red juice. At crush it's almost inky.

 

[Ajmassa]

I know a winemaker who is a master at blending with Norton

 

[mainshipfred]

I know a winemaker who is a master at blending with Norton

Then you need to introduce him to clueless me.

 

[Ajmassa]

I know a winemaker who is a master at blending with Norton

So humble. Fred, those Norton blends were fantastic! I mean that wholeheartedly.
And I even have an existing bias against local grapes. It’s not intentional, but I am at least aware of it. Chamboricin, Norton, Marquette, etc.. always expecting to be less than impressed.
And those blends- you clearly selected winning blend ratios.

*must be those 60mL syringes. Same kind that you so generously gifted me for blending. And also the mad scientist technique using every yeast ever made! You’re definitely finding your own unique style down there. I hope to eventually develop my own unique styles. As long as I keep the addiction going I’m sure that’ll happen organically. Right now I’m still just trying to not screw things up as I continue to bite off slightly more than I can chew.

 

[mainshipfred]

So humble. Fred, those Norton blends were fantastic! I mean that wholeheartedly.
And I even have an existing bias against local grapes. It’s not intentional, but I am at least aware of it. Chamboricin, Norton, Marquette, etc.. always expecting to be less than impressed.
And those blends- you clearly selected winning blend ratios.

*must be those 60mL syringes. Same kind that you so generously gifted me for blending. And also the mad scientist technique using every yeast ever made! You’re definitely finding your own unique style down there. I hope to eventually develop my own unique styles. As long as I keep the addiction going I’m sure that’ll happen organically. Right now I’m still just trying to not screw things up as I continue to bite off slightly more than I can chew.

Wow, thank you very, very much. By far the nicest compliment I ever received.