Rattlesnake Hills Cab

[cgallamo]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had tried the 2016 pails from Wine Grapes Direct? I'm thinking about giving the Cab a go.

Chris

 

[Mismost]

No...but now I do have visions of rattlesnakes curled around grapevines. Thanks for that!

 

[ibglowin]

Its a good AVA that is for sure.

 

[cgallamo]

Well - I guess I'll be the gunea pig then - I went ahead and ordered.

I'll update once I get it rolling.

 

[ColemanM]

Sorry. Late to the thread. I have it sitting in glass going through mlf right now. Two buckets pressed with the blichman wineasy produced after gross lees 6.25 gallons. Could have gotten more with ratchet press I'm guessing. Worried about too much head space in carboy so have actually not tasted yet. I'll taste tomorrow and let you know what you're in for.

 

[ibglowin]

Did you end up paying $155 a pail? Is that price with shipping?

I am coming up with $9 a bottle (finished wine) all said and done!

 

[ColemanM]

Plus $30 per pail shipping. The cost of doing business in Minnesota [emoji33]

 

[Boatboy24]

Did you taste it? I'm dying to hear your thoughts.

 

[AZMDTed]

Normally rattlesnakes don't bother me, but having lived in Arizona for 26 years there was always one myth that you'd hear occasionally. Now it's happened, thank goodness it was Texas.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/texas-family-finds-rattlesnake-in-toilet-more-underneath-home

Okay, back to wine.

 

[ColemanM]

[emoji19] not sure what to say about that Ted.

 

[ColemanM]

I'll taste it tomorrow. Life and cleaning and 6 year old birthday parties just keep popping up!! Promise. Though I may be three sheets to the wind by the time I get to it, but I will taste it!!

 

[brewbush]

I am doing that one. I did 2 buckets of the cab and cofermented it with a merlot bucket. Just finished mlf and racked it over to a carboy. This one may be the best tasting red I have done so far!!

 

[cgallamo]

Sounds great guys! I'm picking my two pails up Friday.

 

[cgallamo]

I just heard from Andrew they are working on doing a bulk shipment to Atlanta and they are dropping prices and eliminating shipping. I'm thinking of doing a few more pails and blending. Any thoughts on a good blend for the Zin? Mouvedre, Durell Syrah?

I'll probably ferment separately and blend to taste...

 

[Tnuscan]

I just heard from Andrew they are working on doing a bulk shipment to Atlanta and they are dropping prices and eliminating shipping. I'm thinking of doing a few more pails (he said the Zin is now $90) and blending. Any thoughts on a good blend for the Zin? Mouvedre, Durell Syrah?

I'll probably ferment separately and blend to taste...

I would like info on when, where and how to get pails in Atlanta. Thanks! PM me if you wish.

 

[ibglowin]

If they drop prices and or toss in free shipping I will snag several for sure! Keep us posted.

 

[Johnd]

I just heard from Andrew they are working on doing a bulk shipment to Atlanta and they are dropping prices and eliminating shipping. I'm thinking of doing a few more pails (he said the Zin is now $90) and blending. Any thoughts on a good blend for the Zin? Mouvedre, Durell Syrah?

I'll probably ferment separately and blend to taste...

I'm with @ibglowin If they're dropping their prices a bit and shipping is reasonable, I'll be all over 30 or 40 gallons of the Rattlesnake Cab. That'll be my spring fling for 2017. Keep us posted.

 

[cgallamo]

Hi all,

I reached out to Andrew, and he is happy to take emails directly - [email protected]. For those of you in Atlanta you can get in on the bulk shipment.

Chris

 

[cgallamo]

pails in!

Guys - got the pails yesterday. They are bathed in SO2 and still warming. Going to make a "Cab" and a "Zin". Here is the plan:

Cab - Two pails cab, one pail Merlot, one pail Mouvedre (rolling the dice that this combination turns out well. Mouvedre adds aromatics, gets me to the right brix, and moves me closer on acid levels.
Tested Numbers - Brix 24.8, PH 3.77, TA (estimate) .55
Running this one with Lallzyme EX, then adding tannins and oak, BDX yeast and fermaid K half at cap and half at 1/3 sugar depletion

Zin
Two pails Lodi Zin and 1/2 pail Mourvedre going to blend with Syrah/Mourvedre after ferment and tasting using Lallzyme EX-V on these - pulled 3/4 gallon juice for a rose and to bump up the flavors in the zin
Zin pails numbers - Brix 25.4, PH 3.51, TA (estimate) .5
planning to ferment on AMH to bring out the spice - but not sure I can get it dry (morewinemaking says AMH only good to %15 Rockpile to %16)
Syrah/Mourvedre numbers - Brix 23.5, PH 3.5, TA (estimate) 5.6
Planning to ferment on Rockpile

I have two Vadai Hungarian Oak 50L barrels that each of these will go into after MLF.

So looking for your thoughts. I do not want to water down the Zin, so what should I do to get it dry? Blend with the Rockpile batch when it gets close to completion? Also should I add acid to the Zin batch to get the TA up or wait and test later?

 

[Boatboy24]

Your Zin numbers look just fine to me. Brix might be a tad high, but I wouldn't worry about it. I did a Lanza Zin last fall with starting Brix of 25.6, fermented with RP15 and it went to 0.996 with no issues. I imagine you'd be fine with AMH. Keep in mind it is slow. Worst case, if it gets stuck, you can throw some EC-1118 in there to finish it off. With proper temps and nutrient levels, I doubt that'll be necessary though.

Starting pH of 3.51 should get you around 3.6-ish after MLF. Not sure how you're estimating TA, but unless you're certain, stick w/ pH.