What are you making and what have you made ???

[Wexbish]

tooth>> you have a nice list there! makes me want a beer.

Primary:
nothing

secondary:
lots of commercial wine
wild praire mead for home use

past made wine (not counting duplicates from above):
apple
apple black currant
apricot
apricot brandy
basil (thai and ?)
blackberry
blackberry merlot
black currant
blueberry
cherry
chocolate raspberry merlot
clementine
concord
elderberry
gooseberry
green tomato
guava
jalapeno
jalapeno apple
mango
peach
pear
pecan bourbon
pecan brandy
persimmon
pineapple orange
pineapple tangerine
plum
raspberry
raspberry chipotle
raspberry merlot
strawberry
tomato
watermelon

about half of the wines have been made multiple times. some as many as 4 or 5 times.

First time making elderberry wine and it doesn't seem to be fermenting. Any thoughts?

 

[BigDaveK]

My first thought is we need more details.

 

[winemaker81]

First time making elderberry wine and it doesn't seem to be fermenting. Any thoughts?

As Dave said, we need a lot more detail. What is the OG, what yeast did you use, did you make a starter, what is the current temperature, etc.?

Start a new thread in the Country Wines forum, as you'll get far better attention.

 

[Jovimaple]

@Wexbish And welcome to WMT!

 

[joeswine]

Here’s a couple I made for my girls

 

[Hazelemere]

wild black cherries with wild blackberries ("Black Iris" - my neighbour Iris' tree) with or without Syrah and with or without Marechal Foch and Regent

I'm picking 2 wild cherry trees now. They are a pain in the *** to pit because they are small and the pits are large but they have a stunning, intense flavour and smell unlike commercial black cherries which are much larger, less tangy, not as dark and softer (less tannic)

organic end of season raspberries to make Raspberry Chambord table wine with RC212 yeast and Blackberry-Raspberry-Dried Elderberry with medium toast American oak cubes with more Chambord liqueur as a fruit port with EC1118 yeast.

homegrown organic white wine grapes including Siegerrebe, Ortega, Reichensteiner, Madeleine Angevine 1st and 2nd run (skins and sediment with pectic enzyyme soak and repress) blended or not with Russet apple wine (sugar added) and/or cyser (unpasteurized blueberry or raspberry blossom or cranberry blossom honey) to make Apple Edelzwicker or Cyser Pyment.

I picked Russets, some Cox and some some pears (mostly Russets) at SG 1.047 in fresh pressed juice and chaptalized it to SG 1.083 with cane sugar, pectic enzyme and nutrient. The acid is a bit high but the smell is incredible at SG 1.030 just ahead of racking with bentonite to remove protein. This has the potential to be sensational. I've never used 71B yeast on apple wine before having always used EC1118 but this is incredible so far and a total eureka surprise. I should get at least 6 cases alone or in blends. I'm going to baby this one.

 

[Hazelemere]

Advice please :

I am hand destemming 200 lbs of the best homegrown organic Regent grapes that I have ever seen at 22 Brix and SG 1.092 (which smells like ripe black cherries) compared to SG 1.086 all other years (which smells like red currants). My question is if I split the ferment between RC 212 yeast on 1st batch and 71B on the 2nd batch to get the intensity of RC212 and the fruitiness on 71B, how would you split the total wine in terms of % RC212 vs % 71B. I'm going to try to ferment both of these to SG 1.000 for 2 weeks plus if possible, and then press. This feels like a an estate red to last until 2030 at least in a temperature and humidity controlled walk in cooler, i.e. has the potential to be an absolute smasher of a wine i.e. my best homemade estate red in 50 years. Do any of you have experience with 71B on reds? I use RC212 all of the time with very good results i.e. rich, smooth, spicy, fragrant long lived reds from hand destemmed grapes.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Advice please :

I am hand destemming 200 lbs of the best homegrown organic Regent grapes that I have ever seen at 22 Brix and SG 1.092 (which smells like ripe black cherries) compared to SG 1.086 (which smells like red currants). My question is if I split the ferment between RC 212 yeast on 1st batch and 71B on the 2nd batch to get the intensity of RC212 and the fruitiness on 71B, how would you split the total wine in terms of % RC212 vs % 71B. I'm going to try to ferment both of these to SG 1.000 and then press. This feels like a an estate red to last until 2030 at least in a temperature and humidity controlled walk in cooler, i.e. has the potential to be an absolute smasher of a wine i.e. my best homemade estate red in 50 years. Do any of you have experience with 71B on reds? I use RC212 all of the time with very good results i.e. rich, smooth, spicy, fragrant long lived reds from hand destemmed grapes?

I have no experience with this grape but why not go RC212 all the way? It's known for emphasizing red fruit flavors.

 

[winemaker81]

Advice please :

I doubt that anyone can give you experience tested advice on this topic.

I've used RC-212 and read the specs on 71B. My gut feel is to go 60% RC-212, 40% 71B. My (hopefully) educated guess is that 71B is going to provide a smoothness to the wine, softening harsher notes.

At the same time, going 50/50 or 40/60 is going to work. At the other end of the spectrum, RC-212 provides a backbone to stiffen the 71B. IMO you can't make a bad choice. The decision will produce differences, but you get a solid wine regardless.

What is your gut feel for what to do?

 

[sour_grapes]

The funny thing is, that if, by some stroke of luck, I was faced with this dilemma, I would want Klaus's opinion!

 

[Hazelemere]

I doubt that anyone can give you experience tested advice on this topic.

I've used RC-212 and read the specs on 71B. My gut feel is to go 60% RC-212, 40% 71B. My (hopefully) educated guess is that 71B is going to provide a smoothness to the wine, softening harsher notes.

At the same time, going 50/50 or 40/60 is going to work. At the other end of the spectrum, RC-212 provides a backbone to stiffen the 71B. IMO you can't make a bad choice. The decision will produce differences, but you get a solid wine regardless.

What is your gut feel for what to do?

80% RC212 20% 71B

 

[winemaker81]

80% RC212 20% 71B

You're interested in a different mix from what I was thinking. 80/20 should leave the RC-212 effects mostly in place while softening the acid.

 

[Hazelemere]

You're interested in a different mix from what I was thinking. 80/20 should leave the RC-212 effects mostly in place while softening the acid.

Actually I'm doing 72%% (5 boxes with RC212) and 28% (2 boxes with 71B). I'll taste that at ~SG 1.000 when I press and blend the 2 batches pre-malolactic with medium toast American oak cubes at 1 per bpttle. Thanks for your input.

 

[joeswine]

Blueberry first attempt my way

 

[Clover]

I'm making a peach with about 10lbs of peaches and a gallon of white grape peach juice. Interested to see how this turns out. I was shocked when the ph came to 3.56. Last time I made peach with only peaches and water I had to significantly raise it.

 

[vezePilot]

Another batch of Watermelon fruit wine. It's been a year since my last batch of this. Has the same additions of Conditioner and Cranberry-Raspberry fruit juice. The fruit juice goes into the fermenting, and at the end to adjust the flavor and color. The SG went right along as hoped. Tasty!

 

[wood1954]

My plum wine is still fermenting, I think it’s undergoing spontaneous MLF. I’m going to press my Marquette today if the electric comes back on a small storm just went thru and bottle the twenty gallons in barrels.

 

[hptasins]

I think I've maxed out the carboy collection for this season:

Two Pinot Noirs: a tiny batch from my 8 vines, larger batch from a home vineyard a couple miles away, both Petaluma Gap AVA
- through AF and going through ML now

Rosé of PN
- through AF, need to do a cold stabilization trial to see if a) it's necessary and b) how much the pH will shift

Piquette of PN (from the Rosé pomace)
- through AF, settling, will be primed and bottled "soon"

World's smallest batch of Cabernet Sauvignon from a new backyard vineyard in Sonoma Valley AVA
- through AF, need to inoculate for ML

Asian Pear Cider
- just starting AF

 

[Hazelemere]

Right now last ferments:

Washington Dineen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon at SG 1.030 (9 day ferment on RC212 with nutrient uncrushed and hand destemmed.

Washington Dineen Vineyard Petit Verdot at SG 1.020 (8 day ferment on RC212 with nutrient uncrushed and hand destemmed.

Nutrient is DistilaVite GN (1 tbsp per ~12 gallons of must). Works really well with RC212 yeast, musts smell really good and taste fine.

We'll press the Petit Verdot on Thursday ~SG 0.995 or maybe slightly higher and the Cab the same day or the day after.

 

[winemaker81]

In a few weeks I'll bottle the remaining 2022 wines:

8 lugs Grenache
8 lugs Tempranillo
3 lugs Rhone Blend (Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Syrah)

In August I started 25 liters (6.6 US gallons) Cyser Metheglin (spiced mead backsweetened with apple juice concentrate)

A few weeks ago I started 130 lbs each Chambourcin and Vidal, each of which net about 10 US gallons (38 liters)

Over the weekend I started:

8 lugs Cabernet Sauvignon
8 lugs Cabernet Franc
4 lugs Merlot

And I have 2 Sangiovese 23 liter juice buckets that will be poured into the lightly pressed pomace from this year's CS, CS, & M.

What I have previously made is too long of a list to post.