Restarting tradition in wine making

[s2000]

Hi my name is George. I have been away from winemaking for 5 years now or last time my Dad and friends made their wine. My dad passed on with cancer about a year and a half ago.

I am interested in restarting the tradition once again. I have a pretty good memory on how to make it and still have all his equipment and wine room to make it.

I am on here to learn a little more about the specifics into the wine making process as well as find the best sources to purchase equipment.

I am currently taking some old notes of my dad and going over the equipment.

I guess first question I have is what do you use to sterilize wine equipment? All his equipment is rather dusty and requires a good cleaning.

Thanks - George.

 

[PCharles]

Hey George

George, Welcome to the forum. My dad passed away 5 years ago also. It's wonderful that you have winemaking memories and the equipment to put into use.

You asked about cleaning agents. I'm sure you'll get loads of feedback and also find a good bit under the search feature. I use two prodocts. First of all, I use Potassium Metabisulphite (M-Meta). This is a two purpose product. I can be added to wine must 1/4 tsp. per 6 gal to kill wild yeast, or 2 oz to 1 gallon of water to sanitize. I also use Five Star Star San which is an acid sanitizer for surface sanitation. It is what is known as a contact cleaner.

I look forward to seeing your progress as you wade back into wine.

Paul

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

I am sorry for you loss - but like stated above - it is a wonderful thing to carry on the tradition and to keep the memories alive.

I mix up a k-meta solution for my sanitizer. 3 tablespoons to 1 gallon ration.

I also put this same solution in a spray bottle - i spray down the equipment before use.

 

[ffemt128]

Welcome to the forum. There are quite a few wine makers here from CT. I believe Wade may be in your area. There is a lot of information to be learned here.

 

[jtstar]

Welcome keep the tradition alive I am sure your father would be proud

 

[mrpoland]

Hi there!!!
That’s so nice of you to keep the tradition in your family I am sure it will remind you when you were a kid and wondering what your father is making with all that juice. One day your kids might ask you the same questions as you did to your father! You have the equipment what is great now just update the knowledge and enjoy your own special wine!

For sanitizing same as PCharles I use Potassium Metabisulphite
For sanitizing 20-30g per 1 liter
For fresh fruit 5-8g for 100kg depends of the condition of fruit.
For stabilizing 6-10g for 100L

Be very careful with proportion. Good scale is very important. Before I got my scale I killed all my yeast in wine 2 times. Also when you use it remember to have air access in the room, dissolved M-eta react with oxygen and after some time you have it in the air. If you see any rust on the metal equipment, get new one, same with wood if you see any fungus don’t use it.

Have fun with your wine journey!

 

[Flem]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome to WMT!

Are you by chance a fellow S2K owner as well?

 

[Redtrk]

Welcome to the forum George and sorry to hear of the passing of your dad.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Many of us differentiate between cleaning and sanitizing, although some of the agents you choose have elements of both. For cleaning, I use something like Oxyclean. For sanitizing, I use Sodium Metabisulfite.

Here's some more info

 

[s2000]

Thanks Everyone for the kind words. I have a bunch of old pictures but still need my post count up a few more to post them.

Thanks for the tips on cleaning/sanitizing. I will be busy doing that this Saturday. I'll report back on what I may still need. I am going to contact all dad's old buddies as well I believe they are still making the wine.

I recall them taking a day and going up to the farms in Upstate NY to source all their grapes. I'll tag along with the old timers to get some good knowledge.

Unfortunately, like someone posted earlier I too always wondered what the draw was from all this grape to wine was all about will growing up. I mean it didn't taste like grape juice

And yes I drive a S2000 and pretty active on the s2ki board.

 

[ibglowin]

Hey cool, I have been a member over there since I picked up a Silverstone MY04 with the red/black interior back in Oct 2003. I still believe the Silverstone is the fastest!

And yes I drive a S2000 and pretty active on the s2ki board.

 

[Affe]

Welcome to the forum!

For cleaning, I use something like Oxyclean. For sanitizing, I use Sodium Metabisulfite.

I also hear Oxyclean is good for removing labels from bottles, etc.

 

[abigtroutt]

Welcome! I am new here also and there is a lot of great people and information here. I just made my first batch of grape wine and during the crushing of the grapes my two boys and I washed are hands and started to crush them by hands. We had a great time and when we were done I rewarded my boys with a glass of fresh grape juice Hopefully they will remember this long after I'm gone and share it with their children.

 

[s2000]

Thanks all. I got my post count up and here is what I am talking about in old fashioned wine making. My dad on top and uncle below crushing/destemming the grapes.

 

[ibglowin]

Awesome pic!

 

[Brian]

Greay picture and welcome to the forum..

 

[Runningwolf]

Great picture, I hope you print it out and hang it in your cellar. Welcome to the forum and feel free to ask questions anytime.

 

[joea132]

We almost have enough people from Middlebury, CT alone to make our own forum! Welcome to the obsession.

 

[Wade E]

Soon Middlebury folks will rile thos forum. Bwaaaaaahaaaaaaaahaaaaaaa!