What did you do this weekend?

[JohnT]

I saw the discovery at the Smithsonian annex in Virginia a couple of months ago. Just like the Endeavor, it looked dirty. They did this on purpose apparently. Nasa offered to clean up the shuttles, but the museums wanted the shuttles to look just as they did when they landed after a mission.

Yup, very impressive bit of tech, but depressing as all get-out! I walked away, though, with mixed feelings. I was very glad to be able to stand so close to an actual shuttle, but I also felt depressed. It was sad to realize that what was once a symbol of American Technological superiority is now collecting dust as a museum piece.

We currently do not have an American manned space program. We have not had one since July 21, 2011. That is over 5 years! I find that to be a bit depressing.

 

[JohnT]

Another busy weekend..

Two weeks ago, the wife told me that we have not really had any kind of cook out this summer. We have gone to plenty of parties, but have not really hosted ourselves.

'nough said!

I spent most of Friday evening / Saturday morning helping to get ready for the cookout. We ended up having 12 people, mostly friends of ours from town.

We ended up having brisket, burgers, and hot dogs. I poured mostly the multipulciano and some well chilled Riesling. In the end, we went through half a case of wine.

On Sunday, I cleaned up after the party, did laundry, and washed the dog.

I then ran some errands and then stopped off at the farm stand to pick up some peaches. What an offer!!! Laurie, the farm stand owner who I got to know over the years, said that she had a crate of "seconds" and wondered if I wanted it.

What she does is picks through peaches that she wants to sell. Only the big, pretty, and unblemished fruit gets to go into the display baskets. Any peach that is too small, having a weird shape, or having a blemish or bruise are rejected. There is nothing really wrong with the them, they just are not perfect enough to be an "eating peach".

So a 24 pound box of seconds came to $10. WOW!

I got the fruit home and then did 4 batches of peach jam. I ended up with 30 jars in all.

After making jam for 3 hours, I relaxed to my recliner. Man, were my feet killing me!

Then it was time to do some winery work. I had a new 225 liter barrel that has been soaking for a week (filled with k-meta solution). I pumped out the water, placed the barrel "bung-side-down" to drain. I then set the barrel in its final resting place, and transferred the 2016 Chilean cabernet into the barrel. I ended up filling the barrel, filling a 54 liter demijohn, 2 gallon jugs, and 4 half gallon jugs (for topping off).

I then scrubbed and washed the tank and then cleaned all of the equipment used.

The good news is that there was about 500ml of wine that I was able to steal in the process.

I then relaxed and sipped the "sampling". The wine is definitely young and is a little biting and I am VERY happy to say that the earlier sulfur issues has been fully resolved. The wine is quite simply fantastic! Can't wait to see what it is like after a bit of barrel aging!

After the (ahem) sampling, it was time to start making dinner. I ended up making London broil (seasoned with salt, pepper, worchestershire sauce, and rosemary), baked taters, jersey sweet corn, sautéed mushrooms, and a nice garden salad.

After dinner, I continued sampling and then hit the sack around 10pm.

I definitely made the most of this weekend!

 

[Boatboy24]

I packed for the Outer Banks, departed for the Outer Banks, and subsequently arrived in the Outer Banks.

 

[jgmann67]

I packed for the Outer Banks, departed for the Outer Banks, and subsequently arrived in the Outer Banks.

So wait... Where are you again???

Love OB. Best vacation I've had in years was in Corolla.

 

[BernardSmith]

Traveled to Syracuse to the NY State Fair on Sunday to learn that I won a bronze medal for my gooseberry wine.

 

[ibglowin]

Heading back to little LA today. Yesterday we took a VIP Studio Tour of Warner Bros Studio. Had a blast. Lots of fun going through the backlot, the archives, property shops. Highlight for me was seeing the set of Big Bang Theory and of course the entire collection of Batmobiles!

 

[Boatboy24]

So wait... Where are you again???

Love OB. Best vacation I've had in years was in Corolla.

I'm in the southern end of Corolla - south of the Currituck Club.

 

[JohnT]

I'm in the southern end of Corolla - south of the Currituck Club.

Ahem.. We need pictures to prove it!!!!

 

[Boatboy24]

Ahem.. We need pictures to prove it!!!!

Tranquility

 

[Hokapsig]

Friday, we set up for the Italian festival in Connellsville and sold out of 2 of our wines that evening. Saturday, back at the festival and AGAIN sold out of 2 of our wines (even after doubling the supply). Sunday, the final day of the festival, we sold out of another wine (love when people come back and buy a case). We then packed up early and got out of town before the town was flooded by 5 inches of rain in 90 minutes.

 

[JohnT]

Yet another busy weekend!

On Saturday, I began cooking for "crush". I made up 2 big pans of lasagna and two big pans of sausage-n-peppers. Got them into the freezer just in time to clean up and shower.

I then went with some friends and family to the Beneduce Winery where they had a live band event. The music was great, all 60s and 70s stuff. I packed a cooler full of fruit, meats, chesses, and shrimp, spilled them out on two tables. What a time! We ate, sipped on some rather good wines, then danced the night away. Got to be around midnight.

On Sunday, It was a run down to the Atlantic Highlands (about 1/2 mile from the ocean) to make some beer with my cousin. What a set up he had! made up 10 gallons of a lower octane IPA, so the beer requirements for "Crush" have been met. This was an all day event. My cousin made some killer chili and he had us taste through a flight of his other beers. All of them were simply amazing!

On Monday, I continued on my "Crush-day" checklist by doing some basic yard work. I then began servicing my press. The bottom pan has some rust and some of the paint is peeling. Spent about an hour scraping paint down to the bare metal. I plan on repainting next weekend.

Around 11am, the brother came to give me a hand getting the crusher/destemmer out of the shed so I can service it next week. Once done (took all of 60 seconds), the brother skillfully suggested that the newly barreled Chilean wine should be tasted. The last time he tasted it, we were dealing with a minor sulfur issue which I had since cured. Being a firm believer in it always being a good time to do some sippin, I pulled a sample off of the barrel. He sipped, simpled, and me a hug.

We then headed down to my Parent's house. We got our nerd on and played D&D for 4 hours. Mom cooked up a nice London broil, Corn on the cob, and spuds. Yum.

Got home around 7pm. Finished laundry and went to bed. Slept like a baby.

 

[JohnT]

OK, This weekend took a lot out of me. Rather feeling it this morning!

We are getting close to crush, so this weekend was mostly about getting ready.

Saturday:

- ran to store for groceries.
- I removed equipment from the winery that was not needed for crush (bottle trees, corker, fillers, etc).
- Racked all SSVC tanks. When empty, I pressure washed each tank.
- Scrubbed and washed the winery floor. That concrete looked clean enough to eat off of.
- Pulled all of the crush equipment out of the shed (primaries, lug-trays, brutes, etc) and gave them a quick inspection.
- Ran down to the brother's house for a visit with the family. My brother needed help roofing. got home around 10pm and slept like a baby.

Sunday:

- Laundry
- Made 3 dozen (2 trays) of meatballs and Home made sauce for crush. They are now very happily in the freezer.
- The nephew then came over at 9am and we made a dozen jars of fig jam plus 3 jars of pickled cherry peppers. The wife was happy to see that I left her an immaculate kitchen afterwards.
- He then leant me a hand and we scrubbed out all of the primaries and equipment. Put all of the (now clean) items in their proper place in the winery.
- Scrubbed and cleaned the press basket, the press and the crusher/destemmer.
- Sipped a well earned beer and watched my Giants beat the Saints (what a great blocked punt / TD!) After all of that scrubbing and washing, it felt good to dry off.
- Vacuumed the house and washed the kitchen floor. This was a result of a deal I made with the wife.
- Cooked Dinner and then went to bed.


I have a checklist of what needs to be done (and when) for crush. This list has been refined over the last 20 years or so. I am happy to say that I am well ahead of the game and very close to being ready for CRUSH!!


Next week, I make the Goulash and spaetzle, do some volunteer work at a Octoberfest, and continue working the items on the check list.

 

[jgmann67]

Worked around the yard on Saturday and power washed the house on Sunday. Got to move the Bravado Super Tuscan to a carboy to finish fermentation, too. Drank an LE14 ST with dinner, so, it wasn't all work, no play.

 

[Boatboy24]

Friday: Worked from home and took a run at lunch time. Then took the Mrs. out to celebrate her birthday. We went for a nice casual dinner and a Cirque du Soleil show.

Saturday: Up at 5:30 to get the buckets ready. Made coffee, cleaned up, then went and got Dad. We ran up to Harford Winery to pick up the Lanza Zinfandel. It did not disappoint. Got the buckets home and into the fermenter. Sulfited, tested and added enzymes. Then hit the yard for a few hours, cutting back all the perrenials (we have a crapload of 'em) and bagging up the cuttings. Played catch for a bit with my son before heading off to his baseball game. We were short on coaches, so I ended up warming the kids up in the field, throwing, shagging balls and running around, then helped out with BP. Continued to assist with coaching through the game.

Sunday: Up at 6:30 for what should have been a 9 mile run. After exercise Thurs, a run Friday, and yardwork/baseball Saturday, my body simply said "No!". I went out anyway and managed to eek out 5 miles. Did some tidying around the kitchen, then got ready for and attended church. Came home, had lunch, then a little more prep for Dad's arrival at 2:30. We watched the Skins/Cowboys for about 20 minutes, then downstairs to bottle the 2015 blends. We finished around 4:00 and began the brutal work of tasting the remains of what we'd just bottled, adding OptiRed to the Zinfandel and preparing/pitching the yeast starter. During that, Mom showed up w/ Italian takeout. We watched a little of the Broncos game, then had dinner. Spaghetti, meatballs, chicken limon, and a fantastic salad, along w/ some bread. Then some of Mrs. Boatboy's leftover birthday cake. Got the kids showered and ready for bed. Not long after, I crashed as well.

 

[JohnT]

Sounds like a busy/fun one BB!

 

[heatherd]

Bottled twelve gallons: six of Australian Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre and six of Australian Sauvignon Blanc. They both aged six months in bulk.

My hubby and I enjoyed a bottle of the SB and were surprised at how nice a fruity it is.

I tasted the GSM and it is nice, too; that one had two medium plus French oak spirals and a tablespoon of tannins during bulk aging, which was surprisingly not overpowering. Couldn't taste the oak much at all, even though they were two brand new spirals for six months. Not a bad thing, just meant the oak was an integrated flavor in the overall taste.

 

[Boatboy24]

@heatherd: were those kits?

 

[Johny99]

Saturday, 6 adults and two kids came over and we picked over 1100 lbs. Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, merlot and cab franc. Crushed it all and pressed the whites. All followed with pizzia and "tasting" of past vintages.

All are bubbling nicely away today. Merlot 40 gal, Tempranillo 35 gal, cab franc 65 gal, Chardonnay 13 gal, and Pinot blanc 10 gal.

A great weekend, but I need to go to work and rest

 

[JohnT]

Any pictures @johny99

 

[heatherd]

@heatherd: were those kits?

@Boatboy24 Yes, they were both kits.