The Spaniards

[jburtner]

I almost lined up some grapemasters tempranillo around that time also but fedex shipping dropped the ball with customs and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I’d like to do some at some point.

Glad yours has turned out well

Cheers!
Johann

 

[stickman]

Nice summary, glad it all went well, it seems like you've got the pipeline filled with some good stuff and more on the way.

 

[Chuck E]

I almost lined up some grapemasters tempranillo around that time also but fedex shipping dropped the ball with customs and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I’d like to do some at some point.

Glad yours has turned out well

Cheers!
Johann

I had HUGE problems with FedEx bringing wine from Italy to US. I think FedEx has a rule that they will not ship wine or alcohol. But they neglected to tell us that in Italy when we shipped it. It made it to Memphis, sat there for a while, then was returned to sender. Only it got stuck in Milan for incorrect paperwork, so it was returned to Memphis. Just received it yesterday (shipped 10/31/18). The boxes have more stickers on them than a steamer trunk from the old days. I think the boxes have more frequent flyer miles than I do!

 

[Johnd]

I had HUGE problems with FedEx bringing wine from Italy to US. I think FedEx has a rule that they will not ship wine or alcohol. But they neglected to tell us that in Italy when we shipped it. It made it to Memphis, sat there for a while, then was returned to sender. Only it got stuck in Milan for incorrect paperwork, so it was returned to Memphis. Just received it yesterday (shipped 10/31/18). The boxes have more stickers on them than a steamer trunk from the old days. I think the boxes have more frequent flyer miles than I do!

@jburtner was having Tempranillo grape must shipped in, not wine......

 

[Chuck E]

John, where did you get that perforated tube that you are using to rack your fermenter?

 

[Johnd]

John, where did you get that perforated tube that you are using to rack your fermenter?

LOL!! You mean the “tube of a gajillion holes”? I made is from a piece of schedule 40 pipe, used a piece of perforated soffit to guide in the hole drilling process. Got the idea from here and ran with it, works like a charm.

 

[Ajmassa]

John, where did you get that perforated tube that you are using to rack your fermenter?

Check out this thread. All kinds of ideas and info in there.


https://www.winemakingtalk.com/index.php?threads/Pvc-tube.58301/

 

[salernovic]

Wrapping this thread up tonight, having bottled the partial carboy (27 bottles) a few days ago, bottled the remaining full carboy today (31 bottles), 58 bottles in all.

The GrapeMasters Tempranillo must arrived on 1/6/17, thawed, adjusted, and BM 4x4 was pitched on 1/8/17. BRIX was adjusted from 23 to 24 with sugar; pH from 3.95 to 3.56, and TA from 4.8 to 6.4 with 70g tartaric just prior to adding yeast. VP 41 added on 1/11/17, racked and pressed on 1/15/17, MLF completed shortly afterwards.

Carboys moved to the wine room at 55F on 2/11/17, where they stayed (with two additional rackings) until April of 2018. In April, the wine went into a neutral 11 +/- gallon Vadai with 4 Wine Stix, one French, three American. Final numbers on the wine, pH 3.70, and TA 7.0.

Wine tastes great, bright with lots of red and black fruit, hint of tobacco, and it has a really long finish. Didn’t do any bench trials, no desire to raise the TA above 7.0. It’s two years old now, bottles will get labeled soon and the wine will go into the drinking rotation after it settles down a bit.

And that’s a wrap!! I’ll definitely do some Grapemasters fruit again, it turned out great!
View attachment 52756

I’m glad you’re liking the results with your must From spain.
I really like my Tempranillo as well . That has been in barrel for 7 months and i bottled it in late August. I remember as soon as I pressed it it was metallic and super super dry and tannic. Now it’s completely different .
I suggest you try the syrah from Montsant. I sent a bottle to Daniel pambianchi and I was short one mark from extraordinary but he also said it was way too young and shouldn’t drink beautifully in 5 years or longer.
I can’t wait to put my Montsant merlot in barrel. It’s a 2017 and it has some wonderful rich flavors but super dry as well for now.

Love reading your posts
Really detailed and I’m learning a lot as well
Ciao

 

[Johnd]

I’m glad you’re liking the results with your must From spain.
I really like my Tempranillo as well . That has been in barrel for 7 months and i bottled it in late August. I remember as soon as I pressed it it was metallic and super super dry and tannic. Now it’s completely different .
I suggest you try the syrah from Montsant. I sent a bottle to Daniel pambianchi and I was short one mark from extraordinary but he also said it was way too young and shouldn’t drink beautifully in 5 years or longer.
I can’t wait to put my Montsant merlot in barrel. It’s a 2017 and it has some wonderful rich flavors but super dry as well for now.

Love reading your posts
Really detailed and I’m learning a lot as well
Ciao

Sounds like yours turned out pretty good as well, our early tasting observations were pretty similar, they seem consistent in young red wines with good extraction, tight and tannic at a young age, to be expected. Mine was a 2016 vintage, though it didn't get here and start until the early January of '17. No doubt from all of the wines that have been through barrels that it makes a huge positive impact upon the development of the wines. The '16 Montsant Merlot has been bottled for quite a while, and hasn't been sampled in quite some time by me, though a few bottles were drank over at my parents house during the holidays. Gonna have to sit down and give it a go pretty soon.

Glad you enjoyed the thread, does my a lot of good to chronicle the process, and I refer back to them sometimes when my batch notes aren't as detailed as they should be.

 

[Johnd]

2016 is officially in the books now. Montsant Tempranillo is capsuled, labeled, and ready to be shelved. Started this wine two years ago from 5 pails of frozen must, so it’s got a little age on it and will go into the rotation after a short rest in the cellar. It’s very approachable right now, though I do expect to see some improvement as it ages more. With 58 bottles, it should still be around for years to come.