What R you doing today?

[zalai]

On Saturday I bought 3 lugs of Petite Shirah for batch #1 . 2 lugs of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 lug of Merlot for batch #2 . On Sunday I de-stemed and crushed the grapes , adjusted the sugar and acid levels and added yeast . Everything is on track . I am following Morewine's guide to red wine making . This is my first time trying to make wine from fresh grapes . This is a lot of work , doing everything by hand .
Hopefully I will be able to make better wine then my kit wines .

 

[Boatboy24]

First day of school for the kiddos. We are in a new county this year - they used to start before labor day. The new school starts an hour earlier, than the old school, so I was interested to see how they'd react to getting up at 6:30am. Doing great so far. We'll see if that's still the case come December.

Normally, I'm out of the house around 6:15. I like the first day of school, when I go in late so I can see them off.

 

[Rocky]

Freshening the old homestead

We just had the exterior of our house painted (soffit, fascia, gutters, downspouts and rear cedar) which made our outdoor lighting look like something from the junkyard. I priced a new set of lighting (I needed 10 lights in all) and I was looking at about $800-900 for new. Anyone who knows me realizes I am frugal (some would not be so kind and just call me a tight a$$) so I started to explore alternatives. I settled on three spray cans of Rust-O-Leum Brown "hammer finish" paint at a cost of about $18. I disassembled the lamps, cleaned them and spray painted them. I am pleased with the results.

 

[ibglowin]

They look brand new to me!

 

[ceeaton]

Rocky, very nice. You can come spruce up my homestead anytime! (all the wine and grilled food you can consume)

I took a 1/2 day since I had very little work today, was planning on trimming the yard and figuring out what lumber I need to rebuild the porch (22 yrs old, held up pretty well for pressure treated lumber).

Well, it's 91*F and getting humid, so I ended up in the basement researching some of the wineries that will be at the Gettysburg Wine Festival my wife will to treating me to this weekend. Boy, where did these places all come from? There are a bunch I drive by about a mile away and never knew they were there. Where's the marketing people!

Started a list of the ones I want to visit (looking for local dry reds, more than I thought existed) and gave up. Hope we can visit all of them, there are 25 in all. Food looks good too, at least two places with pulled pork or brisket, some Cajun, some wood fired pizza. I think I'll be in heaven....

 

[Boatboy24]

They look brand new to me!

Same here. Now you've got about $880 for juice buckets.

 

[Boatboy24]

Watching the Nat's season go down the toilet. I root for them, but my true team is the Red Sox. #notagoodyear #firemattwilliams

 

[Boatboy24]

Just ordered an extra Brute and lid from trusty Amazon. I'll have three fermentations going on soon.

 

[ffemt128]

Working from home all week due to being rear ended while sitting on my motor cycle at a red light Tuesday morning. I made it out with a sore back, my motorcycle has $2k in damage. Hard to believe those parts are so expensive.

 

[Boatboy24]

Working from home all week due to being rear ended while sitting on my motor cycle at a red light Tuesday morning. I made it out with a sore back, my motorcycle has $2k in damage. Hard to believe those parts are so expensive.

Glad all is relatively well. Could have been much worse.

 

[ffemt128]

Glad all is relatively well. Could have been much worse.

I have to agree with that one.

 

[vernsgal]

Working from home all week due to being rear ended while sitting on my motor cycle at a red light Tuesday morning. I made it out with a sore back, my motorcycle has $2k in damage. Hard to believe those parts are so expensive.

Glad you're okay!Bike parts are expensive but at least can be replaced

 

[Runningwolf]

Doug glad to hear all is fairly well with you. I say send your parts to Rocky, he did one heck of a nice job on his lights.

 

[Boatboy24]

Early morning run to Lowes to get some extra buckets for the upcoming grape run. Then off to my son's soccer game. Just finished lunch and about ready to bottle the 2014 Chilean Cab/Merlot and 2013 Blueberry Port. Weather permitting, we're supposed to be having a neighborhood block party later.

 

[Hokapsig]

After making fun of Doug's most recent daily misfortune, I am working down in the winery backsweetening 44 gallons of our General Braddock wine (a Catawba/Fredonia) blend. Next up will be to backsweeten our Major Forbes wine (a Catawba, Fredonia, Concord blend).

 

[ceeaton]

Went to pick up some grapes this morning. Took 25 minutes to get there since some of the back roads I had never driven on and I was behind a moving van and Lexis with new MD plates, those Maryland drivers.... and it was pouring rain. Not what a vineyard owner wants to see this time of year (the rain that is).

Really liked Jeff's setup, stainless steel and a rinse-able floor. He had the grapes already crushed and destemmed. Was quite willing to share what he was doing, just couldn't tour the vines since it rained the whole time. Loaded them in my 20 gallon brute then in the Corolla. Strapped it in (used shoulder belt) for the roller coaster ride back home. Now have to wait for my oldest son to get home to help me get them out of the car. I'm getting weak in my advanced age.

Will see him again in about 2 weeks when the Chardonel are ready to pick. Left a bucket for him to put the juice in (he'll crush/destem and press for .20 a pound).

 

[heatherd]

Labelled 30 bottles of Aglianico and 30 bottles of Pinot Grigio.

Picked up from Harford:
-Three lugs of Maryland Seyval Blanc
-Bucket + lug of California Old Vine Zinfandel
-Bucket of Viognier
-Bucket of Chardonnay
-Lug of Nebbiolo
-Lug of Barbera

Did all the testing and adjustments. I used my new Hannah pH meter, and it's super easy.

I'll go back in a few weeks to get the buckets of Barbera and Nebbiolo, so I made some grape packs for the two buckets that aren't available yet, and am going to ferment the balance of the grapes.

In the morning I will press the Seyval, pitch yeast, and pitch MLB.

Heather

 

[ceeaton]

Always pondered what I'd do if the grapes came in before the buckets, that's a great idea.

Now what do you do if the buckets come in before the grapes?

 

[ceeaton]

Excited for some wine sampling. After Church my wife and I are going on a rare date. Driving about 20 minutes or so to the Gettysburg Wine Festival. Just might have to dig the boots out since we had a lot of rain up this way yesterday.

If I really like a wine at a certain booth, I can tell my wife my boots are stuck in the mud and I need more wine to give me the strength to pull them out. May take more than one sample.

 

[cmason1957]

Out at a friend's vineyard helping pick Norton. 400 vines, probably end up with 200 lugs or so. Then crush and destemm later today. I am very tired this morning. It isn't just me, but even so, we are all not used to working this hard.