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I tasted estate home grown Regent and only liked it as a red blended into a red potpourri of blackberries-Syrah-elderberries and a bit of raspberry chambord. The blends are better so I am going to make Regent Rose Spatlese for the first time ever this year at SG 1.086 with only 71B yeast (i.e. no RC212). I've never done this before e.g. 15 to 30 bottles.

Then I'll take the rest of the Regent and make it as a red with the red potpourri above e.g. 30 potpourri and 20 Regent to make a decent red with RC212/71B combo or mix it with wild cherries and blackberries plus dried elderberries.

I can even try some of the Marechal Foch the same way as the Regent e.g. Marechal Foch Rose (what a concept?!)

Regent is a work in progress.

Right now I'm tasting homegrown organic home grown Marechal Foch hand-destemmed and uncrushed on RC212/71B yeast with medium toast American oak on a 12 day ferment. I like this better than Regent so far. This may only mean I haven't tried the Rose! It is very easy to have preconceived ideas about winemaking even if you are an old pro like me. I have lots of options that I haven't even tried from organic homegrown (grapes and raspberries), wild (black cherries and blackberries), organic blueberries and even black currants with or without honey. Winemaking done properly should be an endless learning experience where we can do experiments on a small scale and things that we know that we like on a larger scale e.g. in my case I can do Regent and/or Marechal Foch in at least 4 or 5 different ways in the same vintage with or with or without RC212 yeast and 71B on all of it to drop the malic acid. I know that that the blackberry, dried elderberry, wild cherry blends with or without organic homegrown dead ripe raspberries, with or without Chambord liqueur (black Raspberries) will improve it.

I can even make Port in which case I'll need to add EC1118 yeast to the ferment.

The choices are obviously not paint by numbers. I'll do what I always do.............choose on instinct and hope for the best.

PS. I've never made blueberry wine and have access to high quality fresh or frozen organic blueberries.
 
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Vacuum sealing up some fermented summer sausage that just finished (dry for 3 days or so after smoke cooking). Fridge and freezer is starting to fill up, have two other versions of summer sausage, a bunch of fresh sausage (frozen), pepperoni, pastrami and some Lebanon bologna. Time to start eating some....

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Yum!
 
It's March 5th. I know I've seen snow on St. Patricks Day and almost always a frost before the end of March. If I was a betting man, I would put money on Mid-Mo and by extension the bootheel getting some frost.
Welp @cmason1957 i take it you're happy now, it frosted on my poor fruit trees last night, you just had to jinx me, :h
you just couldn't leave it alone, my hopes dashed, :i
Dawg
 
Welp @cmason1957 i take it you're happy now, it frosted on my poor fruit trees last night, you just had to jinx me, :h
you just couldn't leave it alone, my hopes dashed, :i
Dawg

Just a dose of reality after living in MO for most of my life. Don't plant nothing or hope anything buds out before mid-April. I'm really sad for your fruit trees. We got lucky and didn't get down quite that cold. Hopefully my grape growing friends around here didn't get any either.
 
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It’s a fresh sausages right? You’re not cooking them are you? Just a little smoke for flavor?
Sorry, was overly busy the last two evenings with meetings and can't access this site at work because there is "wine" in the name. I ended up cooking them to 154*F after smoking, so not fresh. It was a bit too warm out (70s) for true cold smoking, plus I was short on time.

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Just had one for lunch, they are pretty good! About to vacuum seal the rest in 2-packs and freeze.
 
What do you mean by veneer plaster?
Beautiful! I have made tables but never chairs.

Veneer plaster is just how they do plaster now. Instead of lath you hang blue-board and apply two thin coats of plaster. First a base coat then before it dries follow up with a thin finish coat. Unlike drywall finish, no need to sand joints.
 
I had gotten behind on my racking and sulfiting regimen so I went down to my cellar to do that work. I started with a 6 gallon batch of FWK Bordeaux, which I racked to a fresh and sanitized carboy, except for a small amount which I drank. Next was a 5 gallon carboy of Carignan which I racked and sulfited, except for a small amount, which I drunk. Nest, I had to work on a 6.5 gallon carburetor of my house blend of Zinfandel and Musket, which I whacked and sulfured, except for a very, teeny amount, which I shrank. I then had two fife galleons of Sinfandel, which I worked into some kind of bottles, 'cept for a dram or so, which I, well, you know. That is when I noticed that I did not need to stir in the sulfite 'cause the cellar was schpinng just fine. As all of the wine came by, dancing happily, I was aware of my Bride saying, "Why are you lying on the floor?" I said I never lied to you and that is the last recollection I have...

Seriously, I realized today that there is a practical limit to the number of carboys that can be final racked and sulfited prior to bottling. I am sure it will vary for everyone, but my limit seems to be about 5 or 6. I should say that I was following the "Five S system" of wine tasting prior to bottling; See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savor. I may need, however, to reduce my volume in the "savor" step.
 
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